Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Undoing Mistakes

In 2004, I bought 3 Tonner Mary Engelbreit dolls:  Queen Ann Estelle, Sunshine Sophie and Basic Sophie.  Four years later, when I was totally wrapped up in ABJD's, I sold them in order to be able to purchase an SD Souldoll Byeol (who ended up being Catherine).   As much as I love Catherine, and as much as Samantha enjoys having her big sis around, I eventually came to regret selling my AE's.  I love the early ones without the bending knees.  I likes how easily I could plunk them down and get them to stand up and not have to be posed carefully to do it.   I loved having a huge assortment of patterns from the web and in books that I could use to sew for her - without having to do a lot of adjustments.  My AE's had fantastic thick wigs, and I didn't have to worry about messing up fragile eyelashes.  Don't get me wrong, I love the beauty of BJD's, but for a perfect travel doll, Ann Estelle just can't be beat - not too big to carry, not too small to get lost in a photo, not to fragile.  Ann was my perfect doll.  I sold her.  I regretted it.  I missed Ann (and my Sohpies, too).  

This month, I finally decided to ignore the glitz of the latest "new and shiny" doll, and fix a mistake I made 4 years ago.  I found another Ann Estelle, and brought her home.  I found a 1999 Classic Sailor Ann Estelle on eBay.  After a few days of trying to decide, I hit the "BIN" button.  The seller was excellent - a 6:30 AM purchase on a Tuesday was here by 2 on Thursday!  All her accessories were unopened, in the box.  Of course, I never leave a doll in a box, so here's Ann Estelle.  I like the box, so I will probably keep it, something I rarely do.

Ann Estelle with all her accessories

Ann Estelle - Again

Life is good!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!


Merry Christmas!
from the AG Girls:  Josefina, Kirsten, Kaya, Marie-Grace, Felicity,
Julie, Ivy, Lanie, Kanani, Gwynith Linette,
Rebecca, Kit, Ruthie, Emily & Molly


May God Bless Your Celebration of Jesus' Birth this day!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Alley's Ready

Alley was looking for a plate to put Santa's cookies on, but found some snowmen and got a little distracted!


Sunday, December 23, 2012

Melissa's Christmas Dress


Melisssa wanted to share a photo of her new Christmas dress that she picked out from her favorite dress shop, Jo's Doll Shoppe.

Melissa's Christmas Dress

She wants to wear it to church tomorrow night!

As my DD says:  Today is Christmas Eve Eve!

Hannah's Wall Hanging

Hannah found a little snowman wall quilt to decorate for Christmas!  


It's getting exciting!  Christmas is almost here!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

There's Only One Patsy

Maybe some of you have seen the latest Tonner Patsy?  Yes, she's cute, but she'll never be a "real" Patsy. 


Don't you just love the sweet, nostalgic darling that Effanbee created?

Friday, December 21, 2012

The Shortest Day of the Year!

Fiela hopes you found a little sunshine today!


Thursday, December 20, 2012

Faith's Patiently Waiting

Well, she's trying to wait patiently, anyway!  She's hoping for a new doll for Christmas.  But a lot of our friends probably are, aren't they?


Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Mindy loves Snowmen

Mindy is dreaming of a white Christmas.  She would love to build a snowman - but until we get snow, she can play with these!


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

What to Wear for the Special Day?

Danielle, Louisa, Luke and Heather have been trying to figure out what to wear to the big Christmas party!  Well, the girls were busy trading clothes and trying new clothes on.  Luke was busy playing, but was willing to stop for a while for a photo.


Monday, December 17, 2012

Natterer Girls are Bundled Up

April, Alvina, Talia, Ellie and Lucy are dressed nice and warm.  They are hoping to go visit Santa Claus at the mall, so they can tell him what they'd like for Christmas...


Sunday, December 16, 2012

Christmas Polar Bear!

Gwynith Linette just loves her new polar bear sweater!  It reminds her of the Coca-Cola commercials that had a lots of polar bears - haven't seen those yet this year!  


Weren't they fun?

Saturday, December 15, 2012

More Old Fashioned Christmas Cheer!

Ailene, Betsy and Christine are looking forward to their first Christmas!


These Izannah Walker inspired inspirations were made by Jen in 2012, following instructions offered by Dixie Redmond!

Christmas tree made in Sunday School by M.  at age 4.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Mini Creches for Mini Dolls

Hey, this one is just our size!


Amy, Wendy and Becky found the miniature creche carved by Christians living in Bethlehem out of olive wood.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Jack and Jill are Waiting


Jill:  Are you sure there's enough room for Santa to put our presents down here?
Jack:  Yeah, if the people don't add too much more, we should be okay.
Jill:  Okay.  What kind of cookies does he like?

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Hanging Stockings

Bitty Baby would love to hang her stocking by the chimney with care,


Alas, we have no fireplace. 
We'll make do, somehow.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Old Fashioned Christmas

Emmaline, Meg, April, Johannah, Suzannah,
Kathryn and Louisa


Are dreaming of an old fashioned Christmas!

They love the snow globe's music box music.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Fa la la la la la la la la

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la la la laloopsy!


He he he - we couldn't resist this pun!  Hope you have a great day!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

The Last New Doll for 2012

Rebecca is so lovely!  


She isn't book Rebecca, though!
She is from 1914, but her family immigrated from Germany,
and she lives in Baltimore.
Her father is a baker.
She has a lot of brothers and sisters, but lives in a tiny house in the city.
She's looking forward to attending the candelight church service on Christmas Eve -
it will all be spoken and sung in German!
Frohe Weihnachten!

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Gabrielle's Glad it's Advent

Gabrielle is really glad that Advent's here!  


She loves the Christmas lights on the tree!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Nicole Patrice's Excitement

Nicole Patrice is so excited about Christmas coming, her eyes are glowing and sparkling -


Just like the lights on the tree!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Melissa Has a Name Now!

Melissa arrived this fall, but hadn't selected a name yet!


She finally settled on Melissa.  Her name means "honey bee."
We aren't seeing too many bees in December around here!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

More Candy Canes

Erica likes candy canes, too!


She just wanted to make sure everyone knows!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Maggie's Ready!

Maggie is all bundled up and ready to go!  She's excited about all the candy canes!  We found some that are "Jelly Belly" and "Starburst" flavors! They have some nice bright, happy colors...but I sure hope we can get some of the mint flavored candy canes, too!


Mmmmm....maybe some peppermint candy ice cream would be good, too!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Catherine's Christmas

Catherine loves Christmas!  Do you know why?




Because we celebrate the birth of the Savior!


But you already knew that, didn't you!?!!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Advent's Here!


Today's the first day of Advent!  We're going to try to post more dolly photos on the blog this month.   Sort of like an Advent calendar, but we can't promise a new post for every day - the month is just sooo busy, and daylight is scace at this time of year!

 Do you know what Advent is?

Advent is about HOPE.  Not just wishful thinking, like "Gee, I hope that my Powerball ticket is the winning ticket."  The kind of hope we're talking about is looking forward to something we know will come to pass.  Jesus came to Bethlehem, Jesus comes into our hearts, and Jesus will come again.

Advent is also about LOVE, JOY and PEACE.

Here's a 2 minute video that explains Advent.  We actually saw this at church today, at the end of our Pastor's sermon.  We hope you like it!


We don't usually "do" music (or videos for that matter) on our blog, but this is from The Nutcracker - so if you like that, turn up your volume a little, okay?

- Jen & Samantha, Chief Companion Doll


Sunday, October 28, 2012

Simply Mari

She's here!   This little darling has been on the wish list for more than a year, but finally made her way here this week.  She is a Dianna Effner sculpt available only through Jo's Doll Shoppe.  Simply Mari is offered in just her white panties, but she came to my house with an Autumn Leaves dress set.  Mari is 825" tall and has a synthetic mohair brown bob.  I love her beautiful face, little size and "pose-ability."
We are still trying to find the perfect name for her.  I am sure we'll find it soon!

Before the Storm

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Autumn Joy

Mums and Joy

Joy searched through the doll clothes to see if she could find something to wear.  She found a romper that I'd made for Susie (my Petite Ai Rapheal elf), and it fit really well - the only thing that wasn't perfect was that the sleeves are just a tad too short!  Then she found some red shoes in the bleuette box that were a nice muted red that matched her top.  She was all set for going outside on a pretty autumn day.  She found some beautiful mums to enjoy.  
My husband and I had purchased the mums at Walmart last year, on the way home from visiting my dad at a rehab hospital.  The flowers didn't last very long, but I decided to wait and see if they'd survive the winter before throwing them out - I'm glad I didn't give up on them!  They look so much better this year!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

We wanted to go out and play

But it's raining outside

But it was raining outside.  We just stood on the porch and hoped for some sunshine and lots more warm days!

Saturday, September 15, 2012

When you find yourself wanting cute little baby clothes...

When you find yourself falling in love with adorable little outfits for a baby-type doll, it is really hard to resist.  Especially when you discover your favorites on close-out sales!  These adorable outfits have been making their way into my orders, even when there was "no one" here to where them.  So, in July, I finally gave in and made arrangements to bring home an adorable, cuddly pair of twins.

Meet Jack:

Jack in the apple tree

And Jill:

Jill

Then, in August, my darling, almost 17 year old daughter, was cleaning out her closet (a huge undertaking - I rarely venture into her room), she brought her Bitty Baby to me and said that I could take care of her for her.  She brought me her suitcase, moses basket, feeding chair, and an assortment of clothes (I know there are more Bitty Baby clothes mixed in with her other AG doll clothes)!  I managed to remove a couple white marks from the bck of Bitty's head, fade an ink mark on her leg, and get her nice and cleaned up.  While DD named her Corolle baby (her first, which she is keeping in her room), Bitty Baby has always been Bitty.  So, here she is in a new outfit:

Bitty Baby in the tree

Bitty is about 15 years old, but still a wonderful, darling baby.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

New Hearts for Hearts Girls

More Hearts for Hearts girls have arrived at our house!  Tipi arrived via the Postal Bus on August 27th.  She is from Laos.

Tip from Laos

Then Tilly followed us home from Target on September 2nd. She is from Brazil. Originally, her name was Zelia, but she insists on being called Tilly.

Now known as Tilly

Here's the entire Hearts for Hearts group at our house.  Tilly, Tipi, Lila, Anita, Lisa and Dory.

All My Hearts for Hearts Girls

Lila acts sweet and innocent, but she could barely stand still for the photo - she wanted to kick off her shoes and run barefoot through the grass.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

New Clothes - Denim Day!!!

Some new clothes came in the mail today for some of the girls!  Lila and Lisa were quick to open the boxes, and decided right away to play mix and match with the 2 new outfits.  Lila loves blue - she thinks it shows off her eyes.  I think it looks pretty nice, too.  Since she's a bit of a girly-girl, she wanted to wear the sparkly skirt from the other outfit.

Lila modeling new clothes

Fun loving Lisa grabbed the green tee-shirt and shorts!

Lisa modeling new cloths

Not to be left out on "denim day,"  Dory dug out a Friends2BMade outfit from the clothes box.  She's feeling very patriotic!

Dory in Friends2BMade

Anita borrowed Dory's capris outfit, so she could be wearing denim, too!  It still feels like summer here, and we're loving it!

Anita borrowing clothes

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Joy Goes Outside

The weather here has been really hot and humid, so we've been staying indoors - a lot!  Joy noticed that a lot of the dolls here have photos on the blog that were taken outdoors, and she wanted to do that, too!

She wanted her photo taken with Maryland's State Flower, the Black Eyed Susan's.  She is glad to be home, after traveling from Germany, to California and then to Maryland!  She is still a little jet-lagged.

Joy and MD's State Flower

Then she discovered that there are sedum in the yard with her name, Autumn Joy - well, at least part of their name is hers.  So she wanted to take her photo there, too.

Joy in front of the Autumn Joy

But Joy was getting a bit bored with looking at flowers and asked if she could climb a tree in the yard.  She isn't tall enough to reach the  lowest branches of the tree, so Jen told her she would help her SIT in the tree, if she promised to hold on and sit VERY STILL.

Are you sure this is safe?

It did seem a little high to Joy, so she was glad to get down when the picture was taken.  The humidity was starting to make us sticky, and the bugs were beginning to bite (they like to come out in the evening, too, I guess), so we decided to come back indoors.


Friday, July 27, 2012

Welcome Home, Joy!


Welcome Home, Joy!, originally uploaded by JLP2000.

This cute little girl arrived on the postal bus today! She is trying on the name Joy. Jen suggested it to her, because she felt so joyful when Joy arrived. She is the 2012 Plusczokdolls Yahoo! group doll. This year, Heidi allowed members to select a sculpt and a wig from a list of dolls. Joy is the Heidi sculpt in the Lilli wig. She is borrowing one of Nicole Patrice's dresses. Nicole is a Bleuette, and this dress was one of the first that Jen made for her. Nicole also leant Joy a pair of sandals to wear. We have a couple Boneka dresses that Joy can wear, too, but this is the coolest thing we could find for Joy to wear on a day with a heat index exceeding 100F!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Seeing Some History on Vacation

While we were on vacation, we decided to visit some of the local historic sites.  We visited Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson.   We saw the shell of a church called St. Philips.  Brunswick Town was burned by the British during the Revolutionary War.

Fort Anderson/Brunswick Town

Not much remains of the town.

Fort Anderson/Brunswick Town

We could see what the archeologists had uncovered.

Gwynith at Brunswick Town

It is hard to imagine people living here, but they did!

Visiting Brunswick Town

The walk lead through the ruins of the town and around the earthen mounds that made up Fort Anderson.

Fort Anderson/Brunswick Town

We were glad we visited Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson in the morning, because it was getting very hot when we decided it was time to go!  Then we drove to Southport and had lunch at a pizza and sub restaurant before heading to the NC Martime Museum.  We got a tour by a museum guide, then took a few photos.

NC Maritime Museum - Southport

This was our favorite exhibit, but we are a bit sad that these girls are left to live out their days, behind glass without the benefit of body, dress and human companionship!

Doll parts at the Maritime Museaum

We had a fun day and learned a lot!

Gwynith Linette and Lisa