My Doll Haven

Everyone Needs Playtime

In our hectic, modern lives, many of us focus so heavily on work and family commitments that we never seem to have time for pure fun. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we stopped playing.

When we carve out some leisure time, we’re more likely to zone out in front of the TV or computer than engage in fun, rejuvenating play like we did as children. But play is not just essential for kids; it can be an important source of relaxation and stimulation for adults as well.

There doesn’t need to be any point to the activity beyond having fun and enjoying yourself. By giving yourself permission to play with the joyful abandon of childhood, you can reap oodles of health benefits throughout life.

Wednesday

Project Mc² Knitted Clothes 4 Sale

NOTE: A few people who follow/read my blog have mentioned they cannot post comments, this is probably because Blogger no longer supports Open ID and I only allow Google Account users to avoid any spam. If you would like to be more interactive with me, please open a Google Account and this should solve the problem. Thank you!

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Well here's a few photos of the new knitted dresses.

WINE

If you are interested, they are $15 plus Economy Air (no tracking) postage = $3.
If you want tracking, it would have to be sent as a parcel = $21.20.

United Kingdom, United States approx. 7 days

Rest of the World it takes up to 14 days

BLUE

Please the contact form at the bottom of this page to send me your email and address, so I can send you a PayPal invoice. Let me know the colour/s and I will ship the first working day after receiving payment.

LILAC ~ GREEN ~ YELLOW SOLD

The dresses were all looking lovely and straight on all the dolls when I began the shoot, but these girls are a real pain in the butt to stand, so hair got in their faces and the dresses twisted around when I handled them. oh BTW they close with two buttons at the back.

Thanks for looking!

Hugs,

Friday

Project: The Nutcracker

"The Nutcracker" is well loved by many and is perhaps best known as the inspiration for the a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. You may or may not have seen the ballet which is now produced by many ballet companies worldwide, but you would without doubt have heard of the "Nutcracker Suite" composed in 1892 by Pyotr Ilyich (Peter) Tchaikovsky (1840-1893).

Before your time? Well you surely have heard of "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms", a fantasy adventure film recently released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

"The Story of a Nutcracker" by Alexandre Dumas in 1844, was an adaption from "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" written in 1816 by Prussian born author E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822).

The unabridged version I own, is simply called "The Nutcracker" and was published by Templar Publishing in 2016. It is beautifully illustrated by Australian graphic designer, illustrator and writer, Robert Ingpen.

Robert's astonishing creative vision has breathed life into more than one hundred books and delighted countless children around the world throughout his remarkable career as an illustrator.

For his "lasting contribution" as a children's illustrator, he received the biennial international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1986.

His alluring illustrations have also been the inspiration for a number of my creative endeavours over the years, and in particular, for the five character dolls which I'm currently working on.

Marie: the eldest child of Dr and Mrs Stahlbaum. She is delighted with the shiny wooden Nutcracker doll that her Godfather Drosselmeyer has given her on Christmas Eve. However, once night time falls she finds herself in the middle of an adventure! Saving her doll from the evil Mouse King, Clara then travels to magical new lands.

Mamzell Clara: Marie's new doll which she received for Christmas.

Nutcracker Prince: the nephew of Drosselmeyer who was turned into the Nutcracker by …

Mistress Mousie: mother of the seven headed Mouse King who leads an army of mice who secretly live in the Stahlbaum’s house.

A Princess: from the Marzipan Palace in the town of Candyburg.

Of course, as I am dressing dolls, I will use a touch of "artistic license" to achieve my own versions of the characters.

Both the story and music has become a wonderful part of our Christmas tradition and I would love to know if or how "The Nutcracker" is part of yours.
Big hugs,
X

Tuesday

Critters!

Last Friday hubby and I took Coco (our fur child) to have him professionally clipped. We were a little anxious, as he can be quite aggressive when he doesn't want to do something. The groomer, Abby, never showed the slightest concern when we told her about his recent antics when we tried to groom him. So we left him in her capable hands while we shopped, waiting all the while for a call to ask us to pick the little ~~biter~~ blighter up.

While shopping we came across these little animals in a gift shop window . . . I couldn't resist bringing them home. They will be just the shot to create a few Christmassy scenes with my dolls.

My PukiFees thought they were simply divine and would make perfect pets for them to play with. :)

We did get a call, much sooner than we expected, but not to say there was a problem, Abby had managed to get him done without a hitch . . . even his feet and bum, which is where I had always had the most problem and had scars to prove it!

Needless to say this little pooch will be visiting Abby on a more frequent basis in the future and we'll put the clippers away until we rescue another dog . . . hopefully one that doesn't bite!!

I know, looking at him in this photo, you would think butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, but this face can change as quickly as his mood. :)

Have a lovely week, big hugs,
X