Congratulations 2012 winners! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

And the winners are.....



Drum roll please....



As I wait for the strike of midnight.....


And it's finally 2012!





The 2012 CUSTOMER winner is

DONNA DUFF from Oregon!
Congratulations Donna!!
You get $600 OFF a custom Master Artist Series reborn doll!


The 2012 BLOG winner is:

SHARON ROBINSON ULLRICH!
Congratulations Sharon!
You get 50% off any custom order reborn doll!

Both winners will have the option of passing her win onto the next drawees.
I will keep you all posted.

May 2012 be an amazing year for all of my customers, friends, family and blog followers!
You are all SO appreciated!

Let's all hope that this year goes by a LOT slower! :)

Happy New Year Hugs!
XXOO

Bye Bye 2011, hello 2012!

We all say it...

"I can't believe it's the New Year."

So I don't need to repeat it! LOL

Wow.

2011 was a very busy year for me and it went very fast.

My goals, as I remember them, were to get all the babies done on my custom order list to allow more time to reborn some sculpts I had purchased that I was anxious to get to; to spend more time with family, friends and on social events; to write more picture stories; to have several Simple Treasures and Kids Corner! babies available at Christmas; to make small tutorial videos to post on my blog; and to produce my DVD.

Let's see how I did:

There is just one more custom baby on the list to begin next week. It is a portrait baby. This delay is my fault as I agreed to take on the Lotte Prototype so I bumped this custom to January. Almost made that goal! :) I think I reborned 6 sculpts outside of the prototype and custom order list.

I think that time spent with family was slightly better this year than last year so that is progress. I am looking forward to even more time in 2012 and I really want to ride my horses more this year.

I miss being able to go for coffee or lunch with girlfriends. I remember one morning out with a girlfriend for coffee in 2011. Really failed on the time with friends and social events!

Hmmm, I didn't do too well on the picture stories. I did write the one for Discover Dolls and am currently working on another one for them. I have fully enjoyed the time spent on these.

I made two Simple Treasures dolls this year, but it was early on in the year. I just didn't have the time to make any more or any kids dolls for Christmas.

I DID make small tutorials, but I didn't have time to edit them or figure out how to post them.

And I DID record a reborning video! It is still in the editing process and I am thrilled to have filmed it!

So, all the goals remain the same for 2012 and I feel confident that they will be reached this year.

At this moment there are no new prototypes in the nursery (except for Lotte who will be going on eBay either tomorrow or Monday) so for January, my focus will be on doing the custom portrait, processing mohair and going to IDEX 2012. IF I have relaxed time to do it (meaning I don't want to be stressed out in order to get it done), I will make myself a new baby to enter into the Tiny Treasures contest at IDEX. I try to make myself one new doll each year and I didn't get it done in 2011.

Sincere thanks go out to my wonderful customers who continue love my babies and mohair, to my family for their patience and love and to my friends for always being there to support me and help me.

I love you all!

Happy New Year!

Sharing my collection Friday~Itty Bitty Babies!

There are mini babies and there are itty-bitty babies! These are my itty-bittiy babies:

To show you how small they are~and this in one of the bigger ones, this tiny OOAK baby is wearing my size 7 wedding ring on her legs!

The rest of these itty characters are porcelain reproduction dolls:

This one is really tiny!

This one is the largest:

I failed to get a picture of my itty anatomically correct little AA boy. I'll have to do that someday.

On Christmas day I began changing the babies back into their regular clothes. All the boys are changed and some of the girls. Ohhh! I get to share pictures again when I am finished!

Hugs!

Can I get a custom reborn baby for peanuts?

Awe, people are funny and dogs bite...and sometimes vice versa!

Sometimes my reborn buddies come along at JUST the right time with something that releases stress that reborn artists deal with every day.

Recently, I had a person contact me through my website. She wanted a custom baby. I kindly explained that I am no long taking custom baby orders and directed her to the 5 babies that are available on my site.

She responded with, "Yes, I saw those but I thought a custom might cost less".
?????

It is hard to understand this type of thinking~but no matter.

One of our reborn buddies created this

XTRANORMAL

video to simulate a scenario that most of us have had.

Grab a cup, sit back and be amazed! LOL

It's good to have this form of relief.

I've been looking at new cars. I want another Subaru Outback. There is the basic model and the Limited Edition model. Hmmm...wonder if I can get that Limited Edition model with the heated leather seats and all the bells and whistles for less than the basic model? Hehehehe

Have a good day! We are getting so close to the New Years Day drawings!!!

I'm so excited that I need a blog shout of of those who have not checked in yet!

Hugs!

Baby Bess going home to Mommy!

This is the third "Dimples" by Melissa Palesse kit I've done and I just don't think I can tire of it!

Please welcome Bess!

Two of the Dimples kits together: Sammie, one of the prototypes of Dimples that I made and kept and Bess:

Peek-A-Boo Mommy! I'm on my way home to you!

These girls make such wonderful winter babies!

Bess is my last reborn for 2011 and she is my 260th reborn. She is joining 17 other TNGUN siblings! What a lucky girl is she (and I!)!

Have a happy Wednesday!

Traditional Jingle Bell horse ride

I sure hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
I made sure to take my annual, traditional bare back Jingle Bell ride on my best boy, Toby.

It sounds so pretty as we trot around with the bells draped over his shoulders. Snow makes is all the more magical but we just have not had the snow this year.

I'm back to work as of last night. I got the custom order Dimples (Bess) rooted! I'll trim her hair this morning and let her sealers air out before I put her together. I am so delighted!

The next few days will find me rooting the prototype of Lotte.

Hugs to all! (More later~running behind already!)

Sharing my collection Friday~Christmas Babies!

Oh dear! Where to start on this blog! Well first, before I could change the babies, it was time to bring the cherry crib back into the nursery after having it out of there for most of 2011 while I did the Gallery window display and used the crib for the fall shows. I simply had not had the time to bring it back in.

Looking at this mess one wonders just WHERE that crib is going to go!?!?!?

Right there! Where there is a will, there is a way!
This last summer, we had also purchased a matching changing table for the crib. I thought it would replace my old one which is right inside the door, to the right of this picture (I am standing in the door way to take the picture) but, the new table it too long and won't fit in the space. But I really wanted to use it! So...

I took out and have decided to sell a "co-sleeper" baby bed that I had in the corner where now the new changing table resides. as you can see, I am using it to display babies:

Once I got all the furniture arranged, it was time to put babies in their places. The boys are VERY delighted to have their crib all to themselves once again.

And the girls were just as delighted to not have to cram in with the boys!

Let me share some close ups of these beautiful dolls.

These are some of them that are not in the nursery but in other areas of the house:

Joylynne (manufactured prototype from Ashton Drake and Huti Babies) keeps us delighted in the high chair in the dining room:
The "cowkids" Matthew (reborn made by me) and Tamara (Manufactured doll by Masterpiece Galleries and Dawn Donofrio) will be in their pj's waiting up by the tree for Santa to arrive:
Precious Sammie (reborn prototype made by me) is resting peacefully in the buggy in the living room:
A close up of her since I love her oh-so-much!

Audra, my mini OOAK by Sharon Robinson is on the dresser in the nursery:
Brennan, Mini OOAK by Sharon Robinson is content in the Strombecker cradle that one of my dear friends gave me for Christmas this year.

Chance, Mini OOAK by Sharon Robinson, loves his rocking horse!

And spoiled Mindy, a Mini OOAK by Sharon Robinson, loves her little walker:

Gianna (Reborn by Heaven's Garden of Angels) is on the dresser:

And so is my JD Kestner antique Baby:

Kenji (OOAK Huti Baby) rests on the new changing table:

As does Olivia Grace (OOAK Angela Harris baby):

While Annie (Reborn made by Ally Marie) keeps watch over the sleeping OOAK's:

Megan (reborn by Bella Mia Babies) sleeps with two other babies on the second shelf of the changing table:

Becca (Manufactured Ashton Drake "Farrah Beth" by Bonnie Chyle) stands near the basket of mini reborns:

Molly (reborn by Little Barn Babies/Kate Leach) sits in the nanny's chair:

On the bench are Sarah (Manufactured Masterpiece Galleries doll...I can't think of her artists name right now!)

Darling Debbie (Manufactured Berenguer doll called "Little Ballerina")

Jasmine (Jasmine at 1 1/2 yrs by Ashton Drake and Waltrud Hanal~manufactured) and Janae (Manufactured doll by Masterpiece Galleries and Laura Tuzio Ross):

Tika (reborn prototype by Valencia Lacy):

Lisa (Gotz manufactured doll)

Girls in the vintage mini crib:

Louisa (reborn prototype by Selena Saxton)

Sweet Pickles! (reborn by a gal named Rene from years ago):

Khami

Those in the girls cherry crib:

Abi (reborn by me)

Another shot of of Abi while she waited in the "holding area" as I re-arranged. I just love this shot of her widdle bum! She is snuggling Rory (reborn prototype by Dawn Donofrio...Dawn reborned him!)

Marquelle (reborn by Antie Dawn~one the last reborns she ever made. Antie Dawn is now Delta Dawn mohair)

Lauren in Silicone (Jorja Pigott/Pigott's Playpen):

Carrie Lynn (Laura Tuzio Ross silicone):

In the boys crib:
Giovanni (Laura Tuzio Ross silicone):

Michael (customized Ashton Drake/Bonnie Chyle by me) , Daniel (reborn by Yolanda Gomez) and Rory (reborn prototype by Dawn Donofrio):

Tommy~in the center with the red antlers on! I can't believe I forgot to take his picture!

Tommy is a hollow-cast silicone by Melissa McCrory. Here is another shot from distance. Also in this picture are Jacob (L corner~mini reborn by one of my reborn students), Giovanni in the rear L corner, Tommy, next to him Buddy Cassidy (manufactured Lee Middleton), Michael, Daniel, Rory then Josh in the front (reborn by me) and Erik (reborn by me)

Whew! That was a LOT of work...more work than doing the whole nursery I think! LOL There are a lot of babies that I didn't take individual pictures of...or any pictures of.
I am so very blessed to have all these dolls to enrich my life!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!