A Grand Adventure

Once upon a time there were three little elves who lived deep in the Elvin Forest. They liked to think they were adventurous little elves, always up for a challenge. On this occasion, while Hershey and Lint were folding up their washing, Cadbury told them about a scroll she had found up in their chocolate box attic. (Yes, chocolate box homes in the forest actually do have attics!)

Cadbury: Look, see here, it says their is a haunted house nearby.

Hershey: I wonder if that is the big Manor House up on the hill?

Lindt: Oh don't be so silly, if it was the Manor House, we would have heard about it being haunted before now.

Cadbury: Well let's go to the Manor House and see for ourselves if it's haunted?

Hershey: Oh I'm not sure I want to. I love an adventure, but I don't know whether I would enjoy haunted things.

Lindt: Don't be such a scaredy cat. It will be fun to go on a grand adventure.

Cadbury: Well here we are, but this old house doesn't look very scarey at all. In fact I think it's quite a pretty house.

Lindt: Of course not, houses don't look scarey, they just are. I wonder how we can get inside, that door is very tall and heavy. Besides, we're so short I don't think we could even reach the handle to open it.

Hershey: Mmm I guess you're right. Let's look around the back, there maybe a way to get in there.

Lindt: Come here quick, I found an entrance! We just need to clamber through this ivy and we can get in through the vent.

Sometime later, after making their way through the ivy and squeezing through the tiny vent, they came upon an opening to a tunnel. It was very, very dark and there was quite a narrow pathway. They hesitated, just for a moment, all three were thinking to themselves, "should we really venture down this long, dark tunnel?"

They eventually did, but the tunnel was much longer than they had anticipated and the narrow pathway had turned into a tiny ledge. The ledge was so narrow now, they had to turn sideways and hold onto the wall to progress further.

This itself was scarey, but the fearless trio continued on. Until . . .  Lindt suddenly screamed!!

Hershey: What did you do that for, you made me just about jump out of my skin!

Lindt: There's something cold and boney here, it feels yucky. Ooo ah, it's slimey and not very nice at all.

Cadbury: What are you on about, let me see. Oh you are so silly Lindt, it's only an old skeleton.

Hershy and Lindt: An old skeleton? That's it, we're outta here!!

Cadbury: So much for being brave and having a grand adventure!

They never did find out if the Manor House on the hill was haunted, discovering the skeleton was adventourous enough for these three little elves.

Hope you are all having a grand weekend adventure of your own!

The Little Kidz

My models today are Elli and Grete both Gotz Little Kidz and the latest additions to the fold, although they have been with me for almost a month now. As we have been enduring lockdown #5 (which ended midnight Tuesday), I have been passing the time knitting for them both and this is their second set of clothes.

Once again, I have used patterns from Jacqueline Gibb (orange skirt) and Peggy Stuart (aqua turtle neck) combined with my own. If you are a member of Ravelry you will probably recognise their names and their patterns, if not and you knit, go join! If you don't knit and you'd like to, go join!

These photos were an experiment in composition. I still haven't decided whether I like them or not. What about you, do you like to offset your subject when taking photos?

The last two portraits show how beautiful the Gotz doll faces are. I know play dolls are not for everyone, but I am quite enamoured with these little dolls. But as always, I need a third and preferably a redhead with green eyes (Gotz, I hope you are reading this!)

I have a feeling these dolls will be with me for a very, very long time. If you had to select just one doll from your collection to keep forever, which doll would choose, and why?

A Touch of Fantasy

I've had Mae, my Key To My Heart "A Fairytale Wedding" by Linda Rick (The Doll Maker) since April. Initially I thought she was going to be a companion for my other Linda Rick doll which is fourteen inches tall, but was surprised by her shorter height when she arrived. Once I saw she was only twelve inches, I wasn't sure what to do with her, but I did remove her wedding dress. However, when I saw her naked I realised she had far too much hair, so the wig came off too.

During the days that followed (back in lockdown) I tried several wigs on Mae, finally settling on the J-Pop one she is wearing now. It's a very pretty combination of pale blue and lavender soft Japanese Kanekalon® fibre. Then, as she needed clothes to wear, I began knitting again. Using the same Jacknitss and PWT patterns as I had previously, making a few more mods and 4ply yarn with smaller needles (2.25mm), I managed to produce this dress and matching coat.

When she was dressed, Mae took a walk in the Elvin Forest and came across my little Pegasus (Luts Tiny Delf Centaur Jack Bubble Mint/White Ltd. Ed. default face-up).

Mae: Hello little one what are you doing here?

Pegasus: I'm looking for my friend Princess Hera.

Mae: I'm sorry I haven't seen a Princess today, but I am happy to be your friend.

Pegasus: Oh, I'd like that too. Let's shake on it.

Mae: It's a little warm here in the forest, so I'll take my coat off.

Pegasus: Okay, then we can get to know each other.

I also found some little white boots in my stash that fitted her perfectly. It seems boots are all the range, even in the Elvin Forest. 😊

A Website Worthy of Mention

I know some of my readers sew, knit and crochet quite well, while others would like to, but lack confidence. This led me to search the internet for some websites with clear, easy to follow free patterns which I could share links to.

Most are for 14" and 18" dolls, which by using your printer to reduce or enlarge the patterns, could be used for other sizes as well.

I found many websites which SELL patterns, but very few that provide FREE patterns. There were even less to actually provide tutorials in a way that anyone could follow them, even the most inexperienced. 

The following website has some wonderful patterns that are fully explained with photographs, as well as with videos, which makes them perfect patterns for beginners.

Happy Bankky Crafty Mom

This website also has other crafty ideas which would be fun to make. I hope, should you take advantage of these patterns and either sew, knit or crochet something, you will share photos of what you make and give credit to Bankky!

The Revlon Doll Who Almost Came Home

There was a revolution in the doll industry during the mid 1950's and a move from baby dolls to fashion dolls inevitably became the norm. There were so many dolls entering and competing in the marketplace, including Madam Alexander's Cissy with her sculpted bust line and her permanently arched feet to accommodate high-heeled shoes. Almost every toy company had a version of the adult fashion doll, with Ideal’s Revlon doll becoming the most successful.

The Ideal Toy Company (1907-97) acquired the Revlon license to make what was marketed at the time as “the most beautiful doll ever made”. It began production of the Miss Revlon dolls in 1956 and this continued until 1959. The Miss Revlon dolls were made in various sizes, including 15, 18, 20, 23 and 26 inch models. The dolls were marked "VT" followed by the doll's size, such as "VT18" or "VT20" (the "V" stood for vinyl, though I have no idea about the "T", unless it meant tall).

Miss Revlon dolls came with a variety of costumes, many of which had beautiful accessories, such as faux pearl necklaces and rabbit fur stoles.

There was also a Little Miss Revlon that was smaller, standing approximately 10.5 inches tall, which were made between 1958 and 1960. These were made from high-quality vinyl, with strung jointing, inset blinking sleep eyes, rooted saran hair and hand-painted facial detail. The smaller beauties were limited to 500 pieces, which makes them harder to find than the taller versions.

Then many years later, Robert Tonner, the prominent fashion designer, sculptor, doll artist and also collector of these tiny dolls, was inspired by the glamorous Little Miss Revlon from the Golden Age of Fashion to produce his own Vintage Revlon dolls. Robert modified the face sculpt, as the original Little Miss Revlon’s eyes were not perfectly symmetrical and a new version which embodied well proportioned, balanced facial features was born.

The first two of three dolls, Frosted Pink and Queen of Diamonds, arrived into stock in early May, 2011 and retailed for US$124.99. The third Vintage Revlon doll arrived at the end of May. This was followed by further dolls, including a bride.

-oOo-

This post came about because Linda's recent post reminded me of the  Robert Tonner Vintage Revlon Blushing Bride that I once considered adding to my collection. I have often wished I had, but never did.

She has the Vintage Revlon head sculpt with hand painted features, the 10.5 inch body made from fine quality vinyl in the Tyler skin tone, hard plastic blue eyes and brown rooted hair.

TONNER STOCK PHOTO

Revlon's bridal outfit is comprised of a gown, veil, floral headband, bouquet, pearl earrings and shoes. Her edition was limited to 500.

TONNER STOCK PHOTO

I also considered purchasing this Pink Parfait Outfit from the 2011 Collection, for her "going away" outfit.  The pink strapless lace dress has an attached full petticoat and her accessories include a white faux fur wrap, faux pearl earrings and necklace, with pink molded plastic shoes. This too was limited to an edition of 500.

NOTE: The Ideal Toy Company was made defunct by a merger with Mattel.

A New Dress for Avery

Ideas have been tossing about in my head as to what I could do with the 8ply wool that's been sitting in my basket for some time. There was a tiny bit of white, a slightly larger ball of lemon and almost a full ball of grey. So I began working with the white from the bottom up and completed this off the shoulder dress for Avery.

It was fun just knitting and changing things about as I went, though I wish now I had written down what I was doing so I could make another down the track, but it is what it is . . . and I told myself if I could do it once, I should be able to do it again.

I also crochet the little flowers and stuck them to some hair slides with PVA glue and added the little pearl centres. They are not perfect, but they'll do for now.

Hope you all had a productive week and are looking forward to a lovely weekend!
Hugs,
X

Curious About Colours

I've been sorting out my wool and trying to decide which colours to keep and which to ditch. This got me wondering, when it comes to your dolls, which colours you prefer to dress them in?

PASTELS

Pastels always make me think of macarons, you know those yummy, yummies you have with a latte!

LIGHT BRIGHTS

Light brights are wonderful summer colours, the type that make you think of sun, sea and sand.

STRONG BRIGHTS

Fairly basic and mostly primary colours, but they are very cheery and probably remind me most of Christmas.

SUBDUED

There's nothing more subdued than old Victorian decor! Some shades almost border on dusty, but I find the colours very calming.

DUSTY

For some reason the dusty colours always remind me of Mia, possibly because she uses many of these colours when she sews for her dolls. 

NEUTRALS

Of course neutrals are what were featured on Emma in my previous post.

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