A Pyjama Party!

 On November 5th some of the Rose Cottage Friends had a pyjama party.  Here are a few photos as they gathered ready for the party to begin.

I talk a little about each doll on a video here:

Doll Pyjama Party

I call my Skipper a Vintage Sindy by mistake!

The Eclectic Company

A few of my dolls have been getting dressed for Easter & Spring.

The first four are my childhood dolls....although Tressy and Kiwi Sindy are replacements as my original Tressy got lost during one of our moves when I was a child and my Sindy was given away by my Mum.  Skipper and Barbie are my original dolls...slightly worse for wear, but very much loved.  Tressy and Barbie have on clothing that my Mum made, so they are very special and very much of the era they were made.  Skipper is wearing one of the original outfits she came with, although I am not sure it is an actual original Skipper outfit.  Definitely vintage though!  Kiwi Sindy (named as I found her in a charity shop in New Zealand in 2019.  I like to imagine she is my original, although I know she isn't as my original older than her.) is wearing a dress I made a couple of years ago.  

The jointed gals...all waving hello.

Roshni, my Madame Alexander Travel Friend Doll, Helen, my Blythe doll, Wren, my Makie and a Simone, Disney doll I found in a charity shop.  

The littlies... Sharlyn, named after my bestest friend, Little Gem, Madeline, and Little Dawn, a Tiny Betsy Doll and of course Nancy with her little bear.

All of them together.

 

The Dolls' Advent Calendar Challenge - Day One

On a group I belong to we are having a little photo challenge for Advent.  The idea is to simply post a photo of a doll a day from our collection from 1st December until 24th December and to include some special titbits about why the doll is special to us.  Could be a childhood doll, one we have made, or other special memories, such as waited a long time, or what we particularly like about the doll. 

Today's doll is Skipper who is a childhood doll of mine.

I remember when I got her in New Zealand although can't remember exactly what age I was. I was so excited.  She came in kind of bed basket with a small bundle of clothes of which most I believe I still have.  She has had a bit of a hard life as she got chewed by one of my Mum's dogs and lost a hand, but fortunately I was able to replace it a few years ago thanks to a lady in the USA on a Skipper/Barbie FB group who sent me the correct arm for her body.  I pierced her ears which seemed to be all the rage in those days so she has greening to her face and ears sadly, but I still love her and have fond memories of the enjoyment I got from her when young.  I noticed when dressing her that the back of her head is split which is a little worrying.  Not sure if I should leave it alone or try doing a repair.

I discovered she fits Hitty dresses today so she is borrowing one.  Now I know this size pattern fits I make make her one of her own.

Car Boot Loot.

I am supposed to be downsizing my dolls, but as many of my readers already know, I am completely hopeless at that task!  I just like them all too much, and although I have managed to get rid re-home  some of them, I've also gained some!  So a big failure!  I have still got to post about my doll finds while in NZ - hopefully that will be tomorrow.  I thought I'd taken photos of them, but it seems not so will have to do some.

Anyway, today I went to our local car boot sale.  I haven't been for a very long time, as it is always usually full of very pushy people, and full of tat.  Whether it is because it is mid-term break and some people are still away, or whether things are changing, I'm not sure, but it was much more pleasant today and some good stuff was on sale.  I even found some dolls that took my fancy.  I limited myself to a certain amount of cash, which amounted to ten dolls, which seems a lot, but in my defence, they are small, were VERY cheap, and I could have bought more, but stuck to my self imposed limit.

This is the bundle I found.  Plus a little container with some little plates, glasses and bits and pieces that I thought would be useful.  Amongst them is a vintage Skipper, Ideal Pepper doll, a little doll who I think is from the Strawberry Shortcake family, an eighties Brownie doll and a Disney doll who is the most modern. She looked like she needed rescuing as she was lying on the ground looking rather dishevelled.

Two little Native American Carlson dolls.

Another wooden Polish doll to add to my collection.  I love wooden dolls of all types.  She has rather a posh velvet frock on.

A monk, because I felt sorry for him.

He needs a bit of an eye job, but not sure I'm capable of such a task!

This goofy, who I think is probably vintage.  He is jointed, and looks to be quite a character.

These girls have had a spa - and perhaps a bit too much tipple, but the looks of them!

The girls have all found something to wear, I even found shoes to fit almost all of them!  The little pink girl is wearing her original dress.  

Yellow Challenge - Some more Tiny Ones.

This fun little group of tiny ones, also found some yellow to wear.

From left to right:

Eva, my little Babolily doll that my friend Sharlyn gave to me last year, behind her is my childhood Skipper, next to her is Tiny Dawn (who is a Tiny Betsy doll), Madeline, who featured a lot a couple of years ago.  Nancy at the front in the middle, who travels with me a lot and next to her in the front is Little Miss, another childhood doll of mine and behind them is Vera a Kruseling doll, a little Knc doll whom I haven't named and Toots, Tressy's little sister.

The Little Ones.

Part of my goal for this year as mentioned before is to go through my doll collection and possibly (hopefully?) reduce them.  So far I have found it rather difficult as they all have special meaning to me in one way or another.  Perhaps I am too sentimental, or simply just find it difficult to let go.  To try and stop any new dolls coming to join the Rose Cottage friends, I am also looking at my collection to see what can be made for them in order to get more enjoyment out of who I do have. This will also change my focus from looking for a 'new' doll  hopefully and lead to further story lines as certain dolls hopefully build up their own little wardrobes, and perhaps props.

The last few days I have been looking at the 'Little Ones'.  The small 'child' dolls under 9 inches that live here at Rose Cottage.

I did a comparison line up, but then realised I'd missed some out!  

From left to right: Xanthe Phylica, Little Miss Perfekta (Childhood doll) Kit (Soft bodied Mini American Girl), Melody (Plastic body Mini AG), Madeline, Pixie, Ginny, Penny, Poppy and Skipper (Childhood doll)

These are the four I missed out.

Left to right:  Lottie, Sindy, Riley, Lolly.

Quite a mix of vintage and modern.

Some of the dolls have received more focused attention than others.

Little Xanthe has taken part in a photo challenge I did last year (although I never quite finished the whole month!)  She has her own little box with her clothing so she is okay for now.

The other day a friend asked if anyone had seen the vintage Lundby cars in person and wondered if they were any good for these little AI dolls.  I have had one that I have tried to sell in the past and it was in my 'To Sell' box.  I mentioned I had one and would see.

Sure enough she does fit in!

Plus she can take a passenger.

Needless to say this has come out of the 'To Sell' box...as 'have car, will travel' apparently.

Last year I finally got round to making my Little Miss Perfekta a wardrobe of clothes after years of her languishing without any.  I wonder what happened to them?  Funny I can only really ever remember her nekkid.  Oh and I do remember my sister drawing all over her, fortunately the pen came out of her thanks to hard work from my Mum  although the other doll that she drew over wasn't so fortunate if I remember rightly.  Anyway due to all the washing I think that was what may have made her hair 'woolly'  

  

Plastic bodied Melody.

  

Soft bodied Kit.

The two little Mini American Girl dolls I use for KAL challenges on the various Ravelry groups I belong to.  

Madeline, hasn't really had much attention so I made her a dress last night.  Poor girl doesn't have any shoes though - what happens to shoes I wonder?  Not sure how easy it will be to find some for her.  I have done a few evilbay searches and not had any luck so far.  Perhaps I will make a few more clothes for her this year.

Pixie, was a waif that needed rescuing.  She is a vintage Perfekta doll.   She is a funny little thing wearing what I believe is her original outfit.  I plan to make her a few clothes.  She is an awkward shape so won't be the easiest I shouldn't think.  Her hair is quite dry and has had a soak in a fabric softener, but it didn't make a huge difference.

Ginny was my Christmas present as I had always wanted a Ginny doll.  I love her little outfit, so not sure if she will ever get to change out of it!

Penny Brite, another one of my vintage dolls, is just a sweet girl.  Again she could do with some clothes!

My Skipper is a childhood doll and was bought second hand for me.  She came in a basket with clothes and a bit of bedding I think.  I remember the basket and the clothes and still have some of them.  She has seen better days - she was one of my poor dolls that got chewed and lost a hand. Fortunately I finally managed to find a replacement arm for her a couple of years ago, thanks to a Skipper facebook group and a very kind Skipper collector.  Her dress she has on is one I bought from Farmers (a department store) in New Zealand with my pocket money.

  

Lottie is a doll designed by an English company and I got her simply because I liked her outfit.  I have also bought a couple of the others for their props, which I now use for the Hitty family and the two other dolls they belonged to were given away or sold, I think one of each.

I love the little message on the back of her coat.

  

Sindy was a curiosity, and I think she will become a 'doll's doll'.  She was also very cheap at Tesco. 

  

 I think I have made her a couple of outfits so far.  This was her Christmas dress. I wasn't especially happy with how it turned out.

Riley is another who hasn't changed outfit since she came here, I did have ideas to use her in various stories as I like the fact she is jointed, but haven't done so far.  

Lolly Walker is one of my vintage dolls made of hard plastic.  She well, walks! 

A few of these dolls are now wrapped back up in tissue paper and in a storage basket.  Some will return to their display shelf, others to their 'trunk' and a couple will remain out for me to work on their wardrobes. Out of the collection as a whole, two will never leave me and that is Little Miss and Skipper, my childhood dolls.  My Heartstrings doll is a definite keeper as well.  The others well time will tell at the moment they are staying.  Being small they don't take up a lot of room.