My Birthday Doll - A box Opening

Don't you just love doll sized boxes that come in the post?!

Opening the top, and then removing the tissue paper to reveal....

Squeal! 

In the bubble wrap

Removing the bubble wrap... so excited to receive one of these fabulous dolls as I never thought I would ever have one as to buy one new direct from the shop is just way too prohibitive for my pocket especially with the extra customs fees on top so to find one being sold by a friend in the UK was just perfect.

Cheeky photo in her underwear.  Sorry about the 'leaning' table.

I knitted a top for her anticipating her arrival, but wasn't sure what size she would be for skirts/trousers so....

She borrowed a Sasha skirt initially which was way too big around the waist!  I also tried her with a short wig as she came with  a long dark brunette wig (unfortunately not her original red which would have been lovely).

Here she is with the wig she arrived with, wearing a skirt I quickly made her that fits better than the Sasha skirt (Alice is pleased about that as she was wearing it and had it whipped off her, so is happy to have it back).

The pixie look with a matching beret.

A close up of her sweet face.

The beret with the long haired wig.

Another close up.

This doll will take me a while to get used to, as she is unlike anything I have ever had before, but I am really pleased with her and feel quite excited about making quite different clothes to what I normally make.  

She is Smart Doll Resilient in Tea Colour.

 

How hard can it be?

  Easy peasy, surely, everyone else does it!

Having tried unsuccessfully to sell my Jecci Five doll, I decided as she was a memory of my last trip to NZ, (Op shop finds!) I would keep her and get her one of those jointed bodies I had seen.  (The thought of having a new body really appeals to me at the moment, as I continue my battle with ever increasing pain!) I found one on Aliexpress, and decided to take the chance and make an order which arrived surprisingly quick.

I was surprised by the weight of the body.  It definitely wasn't light and flimsy.

I just unscrew these three screws right?

and then exchange the bodies?

Wrong!  Definitely not as easy as it looks.  The head was very difficult to get apart and I only managed 'just' to get it open enough to take the old body off and insert the new body.  My goal to also repair her eyelashes, by giving her new ones that also arrived with the package from Aliexpress was thwarted!)  I didn't want to force the head apart as I was afraid I might break it, and had already unfortunately made a couple of dents in the back plate on one side as I tried to lever the head open.  As for taking photos of these stages that was completely forgotten about!  So we only have the final 'ta da' moment.

Here she is showing off her new body in her pretty little dress I had bought from Bella's Doll Clothes a while back.  The boots were also in my stash from a some I had bought Sindy a couple of years ago, and they fit well.

Sassy Jecci

Change of colour of her eyes.

Shame about the eyelashes....

 

Sunday Afternoon Tea for Two

The twins thought it would be lovely to have Sunday afternoon tea.

I think it was mainly the cakes that appealed to them!

Do you like your cake?

I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but it looks delicious!

 

Tuesday Afternoon Adventure with Leaf

Leaf enjoyed his walk this afternoon, taking time out to sit and savour his surroundings as and when he could.

The perfect 'shelf' to sit and watch.

Another ledge that worked out a good place to sit and enjoy the wooded area.

He certainly looks like he enjoyed himself.

 

Bring in the Coal.

 A girl's work is never done...

Peggy Sue helps bring in the coal for the fire

It has really cooled down again, so time to crank up the coal fire.  It was running non-stop for two whole months, but I let it go out last week, but as it is pretty much my only form of heating, time to get it going again!

Bright Orange Hair!

A second Paola Reina doll has joined the Rose Cottage Friends.

She came in plastic package with little shorts and t shirt.

Here she is just let free.

Plastic hair band removed - she has really lovely soft hair.

I knitted a little dress last night with some of the left over sock yarn from the last pair of socks I made.  I was pretty sure the greens would go well with her bright orange hair and I am pleased with the look, although I have in mind to make her a steam-punk type outfit.  Not that I really have any idea how to go about this, but that is my thoughts at the moment, so we will see.

I think she has the same face mold as Oona Faith, I will have to take  a photo of them together at some stage, but I was so excited that she arrived this morning, I wanted to write a short blog post welcoming her straight away.  I've called her Orla Hope

Edited to add photo with Oona Faith.

 

Oops, and then there were three...

I blame my husband!  I was only going to have the one, Leaf, I was (and still am) more than happy with him...but when my husband saw the photos I had sent of Leaf, he looked them up and bought two more for me!  They arrived this last week, one on Thursday, and one on Friday.  They are smaller than Leaf, and are probably even more suited to carry around in a large pocket, although I think Leaf is still my favourite :)  They are something different, and just a bit of fun.

Unfortunately both arrived in damaged boxes, which is really disappointing as the artwork on the boxes is really lovely, and they make good display boxes, if I wished to display them that way.  But due to being just posted in a plastic bag without any support they have been crushed and ripped.  

The first box wasn't as bad as the second, but still ripped in a couple of places.

This one was much worse, and pretty battered. 

There was no way they can be used as display boxes should I have wished to use them that way.  It is a shame more care wasn't taken, as they are really lovely boxes.  One seller offered a refund of postage costs, or a replacement...I decided to go for the refund as I don't tend to use boxes for display and always worried that the replacement won't be the 'same' as the one that arrived.  I

I haven't heard from the other seller... 

I suggested that they are better packaged in future, as the boxes were just put in a plastic bag.  Hopefully they will take this on board so that others aren't disappointed in the future.

The first to arrive was 'Servan' (I may well rename him as I did Leaf). He came with some incense and a Certificate of Authenticity.  It reads:

Servan (Messenger of good news)

Descendants of Sulevos.

They can carry anything you want if you give them a glass of milk.  They hate knives, because on several occasions, they have been attacked.  The love to bring joy.  When they step on the grass, it grows immediately.  They are the hope of the day, and the messenger of life.  When they get angry, they do not find their destination.  

Of course this is all just fantasy and a little bit of fun.  I think he does have a cheeky little face.  

He has already been out exploring in the garden:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The second to arrive was Uxmal, who is rather unusual looking!

He too came with incense and a Certificate of Authenticity which reads:

With his bright bold colourful clothes, he should photograph well in the garden.

He is certainly unusual!

The three together.  

I think they will probably live with my Troll dolls, hopefully they will get on! Ha ha.