Not alone

I've often lamented about how moch it sucks not to have anyone  around who shares my hobby, well guess what? Last Sunday I bagged two of my dollies and brought them to my first ever doll meet!

Story of a story

Oh, look at my "2 posts every month" schedule! Half a month went by and the things I'm working on right now are moving too slow to have any results worth showing. Bad me. To make up, I decided to write about old stuff I've had on my mind for a while. That long rocky road we stumble on before completing a project. I usually try to sound optimistic and upbeat when I put a tutorial together and that may give the impression that I have a magic ability to do everything right effortlessly. Well, that's not exactly how it works in real life...

Mood for Mods: Snap it!

Mood for Mods (as in "modifications") deals with ways of fixing or restyling factory doll outfits. Skirt too short or too tight? Shoes with floppy heels? No problem! Are you in the mood for mods? Let's see what can be done!

The folder with today's photos has been gathering dust for a long time. It's among the first things I wanted to write about, but somehow it got overlooked. I kept thinking that Tanya would be very mad at me for sitting on my butt without being productive. Yesterday I dared to wear mascara again after her death; today I finished this. It's a post about fixing one of the most common problems with factory doll clothes - the hook-and-loop tape (velcro) closure. It's a useful and fairly easy modification. Below you'll see two ways to replace the tape with snaps.

In Memoriam

Reginleif - OOAK by Tanya

This morning I woke up to find the most heartbreaking post on my Facebook - the one announcing the demise of an amazing friend and OOAK artist, Tanya Van Der Ploeg, also known as Valkyrie. She was a kind, positive and fearless lady who battled a crippling illness for years while never giving up on her passion and the community she brought together. She was much like the dolls she created - incarnations of legendary heroines and warrior goddesses. Words can't express the grief we all feel right now. I gathered a few pictures from her own website for a short eulogy. Let her art speak of her talent and dedication.
All the images are clickable to the source website, while it still exists.

Eggs galore!

You know what's funny?

I started this post almost a year ago and when I checked the calendar to schedule it I discovered that Orthodox and Catholic Easter fall on the same day! I think it's really neat because both sides can prepare at the same time :)

This being said, I don't endorse any religion. This holiday is simply an occasion for me to introduce you to the art of pysanky* - Easter eggs from Eastern Europe.

Resolutions

Yesterday was my first blogoversary. Yay, I guess? I don't have many accomplishments to be proud of. It's not bad, it's a great improvement over the B.B. (before Blogger) era, but I still have a lot of things to work on. I'm glad I decided to start this blog. It kept my scattered brain somehow under control. I can easily count everything I managed over the past year. This is exactly what I'll do in this post - celebrate my little victories and plan new conquests.

A royal trio

At the end of last year I won a mystery runner-up prize in Ashley's holiday giveaway. When it arrived on March 1st it turned out to be an "I love shoes" Cleo doll which is the third Cleo in my collection. On this occasion, I brought the other two for a little photoshoot.

Miniature violin

I know, I know, I was supposed to write about something else but I just received this tiny violin a couple of days ago and it's so neat! I was just going to squeeze a picture of it in the J-doll post then I decided to separate it and I'll explain why...

The J-doll quest

J-doll Lavalle

This is a special post. I'm not much of a reviewer - there are people who do a much better job than me (pretty much everyone in my followed blogs list). I like to buy dolls, swap their clothes and play with them. This time though, I'll make an exception and review a much expected doll that I got recently. I'll concentrate on aspects I found curious or interesting, rather than doing a review by the book. This is entirely new for me, so there are many words and pictures ahead. Oh, and the doll? It's J-601 "Lavalle".

Presents from far away

This will be short. I've been down lately with a nasty cold so I haven't done anything useful. Earlier this year, we bought a doll on ebay, which a kind friend offered to bring home to me. She had been back for a week, but I couldn't go anywhere because of my cold. Finally on Friday evening, hubby managed to get me the doll, and then I received a call from Mum, who said there's a package for me from the USA.