Another Friend is Coming Soon

Produced for the European market, this 36cm Ruby Red Fashion Friends doll called Eira is a special limited edition of 150. It once again uses a Dianna Effner sculpt. I pre-ordered her today and she should be despatched sometime in February, Eira will complete my FF trio.

PROMO PHOTO

I think a name change is definitely in order, along with a new wardrobe of clothes. The things I like most about her are her ice-blue eyes and her fair skin colour. I'm not sure if there will be further changes though, a lot depends on how she appears IRL, but I do wonder what she would look like with red curly hair and paler lips. :)

New Outfits for Little Darlings

It is a beautiful day here in Melbourne, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and we have had no local transmission of Covid for 15 days and I hope it continues this way. The only ones with the virus are those who have recently arrived from overseas and who are currently in hotel quarantine, which I hope is where they all stay until it's safe for them to be released (including the tennis players!).

I hope things are beginning to improve for those in the Northern Hemisphere now that the vaccinations are being done . . . until you get yours, take care & stay safe.

-oOo-

I took advantage of the good weather today to take a few photos of my Little Darlings in their new clothes. My #1 red haired little girl is Cassandra, and my #2 raven haired little girl has been renamed Anastasia.

It doesn't seem to make much difference how much I brush the hair out of their faces before a photo shoot, I always manage to find a stray in the wrong place when I crop my photos . . . it's so darn annoying!

And here are Sara and Maya with their new wigs. I love Sara in this short one especially. But I think both wigs make the dolls look younger, what do you think?

Well that's it for a now, I shall be taking a short break and I'll be back when I have some more dolly news to share, but in the meantime, I'll be keeping an eye on your blogs to see what you have to share. :)

Fashion Friends Have Arrived

The two little girls arrived together last week and I was impressed by how pretty they looked. However, I was a little disappointed with their jointing. Sara's legs are quite loose and seem to go everywhere except where you want them, Maya's are much better and stay in place.

Hair is very fine and flyaway on Sara and quite frizzy on Maya, so I have ordered new wigs for them both, not knowing exactly the right size, I have a two different sizes coming and several styles (luckily my local supplier was having a sale).

Their clothes had Velcro closures except for Maya's jacket, so the dolls were stripped naked and re-dressed in the clothes I'd made for them. The sneakers that came with them were not badly made, although Sara's pair were both for the right foot! It's so typical of the lack of care given by the Chinese doll manufacturers.

I had one pair of flats in my stash which fitted Sara quite well, and another pair that also was the correct size, but with a higher heel, so not quite right for Maya.

Not being completely satisfied with either pair, I went browsing and found these gorgeous leather boots in this Etsy store. The soft creamy yellow and dusty mauve-pink will go with the outfits I have already knitted and the pretty mint ones will be saved for another Fashion Friend to be purchased at a future date to complete a trio.

One can clearly see these boots are beautifully made, and really worth every penny I spent on them. However, they are shipping from Russia, which means I will be waiting for ages for them to arrive, even though the seller posted them the very next day. Maybe I'll have my third Fashion Friend by the time they arrive. :)

My little Patience received a new outfit (I made her several other coordinating pieces not shown here) . . . both her top and coat are reversible, the capris are unlined and are trimmed with matching buttons on the side at the knee.

I also received my #2 Little Darling yesterday and now both my Little Darlings have also been redressed, but more on those wee ones next time. I hope you are all staying safe indoors and enjoying some time with your dolls.

What a Shamozzle!!

This how she looked
when I opened the box

Remember this post, about my last purchase for 2020 which I finished by saying " She is a doll who will surely test my patience as she throws my dolly world into disarray!"?

Well she certainly did, or should I say The Doll Peddlar did!! I didn't get the Wilde Imagination Springtime Patience which I ordered, but received the Phyn & Aero Just Have Patience instead (the one I had decided against).

She wasn't tied in properly either, her shoes were just loose in the box and her dress was crushed.

I contacted them and they were keen to let me know although the doll was not what I ordered, it was worth another US$15 more than I paid, which I suppose was to make me feel grateful.

To be absolutely honest, I really don't mind the doll itself, but I don't like the outfit at all and her hair was so tacky. Now I'm not sure if it was added gunk or glue seepage and was surprised to find her hair was not rooted, nor a wig, but a glued on weft.

Anyway, after cutting off the flowers which were stitched to her head and removing her hair ribbon, I shampooed and conditioned her hair to see how it looked after drying naturally.

I also removed her dress and thought the slip and nickers were nice enough even though the silk of the slip was quite different in colour from the attached cotton lace. I didn't particularly like the stockings either, seeing as they had stretched so much that they extended a good inch and a half pass the tip of her toes.

Normally I love Tonner clothes, but the outfit she came in just looked cheap and nasty. Where before Tonner clothes had proper press-stud (snap) closures this had that horrible Velcro.

Had I known all this beforehand I would have made sure she had something special to wear when she arrived, but as it stands (see above left), I have made do with a dress I had on hand and funnily enough it's inspired me to give her a layered look, I just need to knit or sew her a long coatigan to go over the top and I think she'll pass. :)

Another Little Darling

Browsing eBay this afternoon, I found this Little Darling listing just about ready to expire without a bid, so I placed one and won. I have no idea what these UFDC Convention dolls sold for back in 2014, so I'm curious to find out if I have spent too much, or have been lucky enough to have found myself a nice little bargain.

Seller's photo

I doubt very much if this Ana (Little Darling #2) lookalike was hand painted by any reputable artist and assume most Convention dolls would be mass produced, but she's very pretty and will make a great friend for my Cassandra (Little Darling #1).

Seller's photo

Nevertheless she comes complete with all accessories and should be arriving very soon, as she only has to travel from Queensland. There's a bonus there, low shipping costs! I shall post more photos when she arrives.

P.S. I was correct in my thinking, the Convention dolls are factory painted and touched up by The Doll Dreamers' Guild Artists.

Behind the Times

Sometimes I think I'm always the last to know, but I guess with the world as it is today, this would have hardly made world wide headlines.

While researching the history of the 2020 release of the Ruby Red's Fashion Friends, I was saddened to discover that the wonderful and brilliantly talented artist Dianna Effner, who sculpted them and the ever popular Little Darling dolls, had passed away on October 14th last year due to cancer, at the age of 75. 

If you haven't read it already, you can read the Dolls Magazine article here.

I'm assuming the Fashion Friends Sara, is the same sculpt as the 19" American Kidz portrait #1 which was originally made in porcelain with the choice of a cloth body or the "All Porcelain Body", which later, also became the face of the 18" Keepsake Playmate doll shown below.

Photo: Studio Doll Pro (Keepsake Playmate)

Photo: Expressions (American Kidz portrait #1)

Photo: Expressions (American Kidz portrait #1)

Photo: Expressions (American Kidz portrait #1)

I'm really glad now that I have kept all my Dianna Effner sculpted dolls, I don't have many, but I'm grateful for those I have and will be happy to welcome the two currently on their way.

My 13" Little Darling with face by Joyce Mathews

My 8" porcelain Doll Show find

And Jamie my 20" Maru & Friends doll

Fashion Friends

Some time ago I thought about purchasing one of these dolls, but wasn't sure which. I thought about it for so long, I eventually took them off my wish list altogether and forgot about them. However, having nothing better to do after Christmas than browse other dolly blogs, I came across them again, this time I saw them in a completely different light.

I hadn't recalled their height and when I noticed they were just 14.5" tall, I thought to myself "these dolls are the right height for me", so I browsed some more, looking at what others had done with them . . . some of the customised ones were really stunning! Anyway to cut a long story short I ordered, not just one, but two.

Photo: Fashion Friends

Maya, who has light brown eyes, a curly brown wig with highlights of gold and a lovely dark complexion, sculpted by Ruby Ho and Sara, who has blue eyes, a long blonde wig with plaits and a pale complexion, sculpted by Dianna Effner.

Photo: Fashion Friends

The site from which I ordered them, was in the UK (My Doll Best Friend). Firstly, because I had purchased from this site before and it was the only store where I could find both the dolls I wanted in stock. Secondly, and crazy as it may seem, because it also worked out cheaper and quicker to order from them,

I think both dolls will be so much fun to dress, probably in clothes that are casual and more suitable for play time, but perhaps a few others which will be very pretty and feminine, for when there's a party to attend. In the meantime I have knitted each of  them a little day dress with a crochet hemline, and am currently working on a co-ordinating jacket.

Pattern: My Own

Have any of my readers purchased any of these dolls? I would love to hear what you think of them and perhaps you could share some recent photos . . . I would love to see them.