Sophia Madelina Prototype WIP 2nd peek NOT!

I've tried to upload pics today of Sophia in progress who MAY not be a boy but the blog is not letting me upload.

Here, let's do this:

~FACEBOOK POST~

That page is open so all should be able to see it.

And I'm off for a few days but I do have pictures to share on Friday :)

Hugs!

Sophia Madelina Prototype WIP

Well...here HE is!

From the beginning, I really had my heart set that this sculpt would be a sweet little girl but HE is telling me otherwise!

My pictures are really inconsistent in color so I guess you will just be surprised what his color really is. I took them very fast in the nursery late in the day without any added light. My photo studio is currently crowded over with the dissembled crib and changing table that I removed from the nursery in prep for the Gallery display. That will change tomorrow but I won't have time to work on this prototype until next week. HOW did the 4th of July weekend get here so fast?!?

I do get to paint on him today though! I'm excited about that. And...he is no longer Sophia Madelina. He is a little Japanese guy named.......

Oh you will have to wait for that :)

Oh, I forgot!

Did you miss me??

I was out of town on Sunday so didn't post and at nearly 1 pm on Monday I realized that I did not post on the blog today!

On my return home from being gone, I picked up our 8 1/2 yr old grand daughter so the first few days are difficult for me as I throw a real child into the mix.

She will be here for 3 weeks~the longest she's stayed with us at one time. We have lot's of adventures to enjoy so I won't be blogging as often but will try to at least a few times a week.

A wonderful customer-turned-friend of mine, whom I spent the night with the other night, blessed me with my first Antique dolls! One is a 1919 beauty! I'll share them as soon as I can.

I'll be setting up the gallery window on Wednesday with a 4th of July theme and I'm working on Sophia prototype so this week will be mega busy.

Check in...I'll do my best to post!
XXOO

Sharing my collection Friday~Conversations in the nursery

"Luke....have you gotten into trouble lately?!?!?!"

"Giggle...hey Jasmine, I wuv you a wot but you got your ebow in my mouf!"

"I hab my own dowwy and hers wooks wike me."

"Why do I aways git tha wild ones?"

"Hey Debbie, it shur is nice and uncwrowded down here on da fwoor, huh?"

"heheheheheheh.......

I hab dis whole crib to mysewf!"

"Daniel, do you EBBER smile?"

Ahhh, I had so much fun yesterday re-arranging the nursery and tuning in on some conversations.
I have the privilege of displaying my babies in the front window of the Gallery on Main Street for July and August, so I have removed my cherry sleigh crib and new matching changing table (did I share that purchase with you all?) to use in the new display so I did some changing and re-arranging.

The small crib is a new purchase too. It is a little antique crib that "matches" the full size crib seen here. I have another one of the full size cribs very similar to this onne in storage in the garage. I just love old baby furniture.

I love my nursery and my babies :)

Makin' Babies!

And 5 year olds!

I was unable to work on Angelica's hair last night but here is how she is looking so far.
I am so loving her!

And the Dimples Simple Treasures baby is painted!

Oh once again, she just melts my heart. I really do love this sculpt!

Happy Thursday!

How NOT to weight a reborn doll!

I thought I had seen it all until I saw this post on Doll Fan:

~New Weighting Idea~

It is things like this that hurt the reborn doll industry.

How do we know what reborners are using inside our dolls?

Once again I stress the importance of making sure that the reborns that we create MUST be as lovely on the inside as the outside.

For those still wondering really how to weight a doll please review my FREE weighting tutorial as a guide and remember that I am always here for assistance if needed.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!
XXOO

Am I busy or what?!?!?

Hey those of you that checked in with a shout out~thank you! I've got you down. I'll be asking for another shout out at the end of the year :)

~click here~ if you missed the Blog Drawing mid-year shout out.

Me oh my...am I ever busy this week!

I've got new Mohair Listed for your shopping pleasure~you really MUST go see! I've fixed all the listings...I found a LOT of errors AND I've changed all shipping, US and Worldwide to first class shipping with delivery confirmation to save my valuable customers money in this pressed economy. Happy shopping!

In the evenings, I have begun rooting the custom Angelica and she's going to be so lovely!

Bonnie Brown's "Sophia Madelina" prototype arrived yesterday! Wow you should see the fat limbs and wrinkles on this baby! I am going to love working on her/him (still have not decided which mine will be). The other prototype artists are Cassie Peek and Stacey Haskins. We are going to have too much fun with Sophia! Sophia is a limited edition of 350 kits.

~Pre-Order Sophia Madelina Here~

Sophia is prepped and ready for paint but I'm going to set her aside a few days while I allow my mind to envision her/him. In the meantime, I'll be painting a custom Simple Treasures baby. SOMEDAY I will get his custom order list done.

I've worked on my website some this week, adding show information and adding more slide shows to the reborn gallery. I still have so much work there to do!

The other night and early yesterday morning I walked but this morning I did early morning house cleaning aerobics! I need to hire a new house cleaner but I was too sick upon returning home from California and now I am just too distracted to go through the process. The early morning "aerobics" were good for me though!

~Zasha is still looking for his forever mommy on eBay~

As you can tell, I am feeling back to normal and ready to tackle the world!

MID year BLOG FOLLOWERS check in!!

Are all you followers still following?!?!?!?

Do you remember why you should be following?

~BLOG FOLLOWERS CONTEST~

It is officially more than half way through 2011 (How DID that HAPPEN?!?!)
and I need to hear a shout out from my followers to know that you are still eligible for the drawing!

Through the next two weeks, shout out to me by leaving a comment so I can tally up the followers. I won't post your comments on the blog.

Now, here is the catch. You cannot comment as "Anonymous", you MUST use your ID name so that I can make sure you are on the drawing list.

Alright 80 followers...I need to hear from you!

Any questions??

XXOO

OH HAPPY DAY! Congratulations Romie Strydom!

I know that not everyone gets as excited as I do when a doll, whether reborn, silicone, OOAK, porcelain or any other medium goes for a high price but I love to give a happy shout out when it happens!

It happened to the very talented Romie Strydom this weekend for the gorgeous

Bianca that she had on eBay

As you see by clicking the link above, this silicone baby sold for

$10,100!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS ROMIE!

I love it when an artist is paid well for her creations and Bianca is beautiful and very limited in edition.

Collection Friday~Sharing an interesting article

I came across and interesting article on Monarch Collectibles blog post.
It is called "why doesn't mine look like that?" and speaks of why sometimes we order manufactured dolls that arrive not looking like the promo pictures do.

It did not take me long to realize that many manufacturer's photograph the OOAK sculpt when advertising an upcoming doll. I never understood why my Ashton Drake Emily didn't look exactly like the pictures did. (She is still a wonderful manufactured doll~if you can get beyond her icky glued on hair!).

It was not until I purchased Janae, sculpted by Laura Tuzio Ross and manufactured by Masterpiece doll that I learned, from Laura herself that the company used pictures of the OOAK to promote the doll.
Here is a promo picture of Janae:

Do you notice the wispy little hairs in her bangs? I was so looking forward to that hair style but when Janae arrived, she did not have those wisps at all. In this picture I tried to pull some of her wig down to create them but it still was not the same effect. Her sculpt is delightful though and I am very happy with her.

I took Janae to IDEX in 2007 to have Laura Tuzio Ross sign her. It was there that Laura told me what had happened in the promo of Janae, and she even offered to paint little bangs on Janae if we could round up some paints as she had none. Well, I had already decided that someday I will root hair on Janae anyway so I didn't even look for paint but it was such a nice gesture on Laura's part.

I've not had time to do that rooting yet however, I have selected and colored hair for her...about 3 years ago!

I am sure I have some pictures of Janae in her original outfit but I sure can't find them. I'll note that her outfit and presentation were awesome~just like the promo photo's show.

Read the article above and take the advice they offer there. If you can, watch the forums and wait until other collectors have purchased the doll you are interested in. Many who belong to forums will post pictures of the actual doll.

Going to live shows where the manufactures will have the dolls on display are beneficial as well. And of course, visiting wonderful doll shops like Monarch Collectibles is a real asset to the doll collector. I had the opportunity to visit this shop in May of 2009, but my show schedule would not allow me to go. NEXT time I am in San Antonio I'll be sure to visit.

Dolly hugs~

Zasha prototype is finally on eBay!

I am so excited to have finally listed this little man on eBay as I know he will make some lucky mommy very happy.

Please take a peek if you have the time :)

~Zasha's Auction~

Have a great Thursday!

XXOO

IRDA Reborn Contest Placings/Awards

First place in the Novice Division was Carmen McNair. I did not get a picture of Carmen with her baby because I was handed her camera to take the shot!

Second place in the Novice Division: Nancy Breese:

Third Place in the Novice Division: Mitzy Franz

And now for the Professional Division:

First place in the Professional Division: Laurie Sanchez:

Second place in the Professional Division: Sandy McGee:

Third place in the Professional Division: Gia Heath:

~Click here for close up pictures of the dolls and sculpt names~

Congratulations Ladies!!!

Hold those contest results.....

I can't wait to show you what Bonnie Brown got in the mail today!

~Bonnie's Shipment of Sophia Madelina~

This is one prototype I am SO excited about! Did you see her chubby legs?

You can pre-order her from the link that is on the page you just viewed.

Okay, I'll share the reborn contest results with you tomorrow :)

~IN OTHER NEWS~

I am currently almost finished painting a custom Angelica sculpt. THAT excites me! Poor girl has been waiting for over 6 months.

Zasha's new body is here so I will be putting him together later today and getting him up on eBay Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Until tomorrow.....
XXOO

IRDA baby shower~lots of pics

A great time was had by all at the IRDA baby shower held on June 5th 2011 in Walnut Creek, California.

And look...a real baby even made his appearance!

Of course we had to play around...which is the real baby and which is not?? LOL

My sweet little Annie (Phyllis) Marx had a lovely time all dressed up and ready to "party":

And Matthew finally got to meet his adoring Auntie Teri! Auntie Teri is Matthew's biggest fan.

Zasha got lots of cuddles (I think this picture is precious!)

It was a thrill to meet Lara Antonucci:

And as usual, I had a lap full of babies!

Stephanie Sullivan is president of IRDA:

And these four ladies made it all happen:
Diana Mosquero, Steph ?, Cher ? and Stephanie Sullivan.
Thanks ladies!!

The room was fully decorated and prizes were won by all:

Sarah Chunn with my baby Dimples/Sammie who Sarah loves to bits:

Cher brought these poorly babies and we all had a great laugh over them:

Rhonda made it and we were all so happy that she did! She's been a Doll fan Friend for years who has become ill so our meetings with her has been limited. It was our great joy to have her here!

Yah, he's all that:

I brought plenty of dolls to share for those who did not bring a baby. Abi was being loved on my Auntie Carmen:

The babies were supposed to look at the camera but they seems smitten by each other. Hmmm...wonder what Tamara back home will think about THIS picture???

Lara and Ms. Cholong from Ruby Red Galleria:

I finally got to meet the administrator/owner of one of my guilds (WMRBG)~Gia!

Auntie Sandy McGee soothing Dimples:

Teri is just so photogenic I could not stop taking pictures of her! Miss Myeko is pretty photogenic too. (I hope I spelled that right!)

Auntie Sally Sangder fell in love with Annie!

Sarah and I. We are members of the same forums.

Stephanie Sullivan and Rebecca Martinez who was our on site photographer for the whole weekend. She did an awesome job taking portrait pictures of all of us with our babies the whole weekend. Thanks for all you do for us Rebecca!

Tomorrow I will share about the IRDA Reborn Baby Contest.

Hugs for the day!