It's All In the Eye of the Beholder

You would have no doubt heard the saying "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" before now.  We all know it also applies to how we see our dolls, some see BJD's as being beautiful, whereas other see Barbie or Paola Reina dolls as such.

However, just recently this was brought to my attention in a completely different way when I sold a couple of sets of clothes which were designed for the 16" Disney Animator dolls. 

The lady (Julie) who purchased theses sets, sent me photos of the dolls she dressed with them and I was amazed by what I saw. I would never have thought to use these clothes on BJD's myself, but it just goes to show how versatile knitted clothes can be, and what one can achieve with a little imagination. 

On 1/3 Fairyland Feeple 65 Chloe.

Julie said: "Some might not agree with me, but I think the outfit fits well, it was the look I was after anyhow. As she is over 60cm tall, the top & cardigan are cropped (especially as she is very well endowed) but I like how the skirt sits on her hips & shows off her belly. Not a big fan of high waisted skirts & pants. It looks a little short, but only because she has such long legs (it does cover her behind completely)."

On her Smart Doll Harmony.

Julie sent the original photos via eBay, and I asked if she would mind if I shared them on a blog post. She very kindly agreed, but I couldn't down load them, so I asked her to email them to me and here they are for you all to see!

Julie said: "Attached are the photos of your outfits on my dolls as requested. Hopefully you and your readers will find  them useful.  I’m very happy with them and think they fit both girls well, but I think the they fit my Smart Doll Harmony better. What do you think?"

I always enjoy photos like this, when I can view things through someone else's eyes. However, I shall let you answer Julie's question now, because I would also be interested in knowing your thoughts.

This is Rachael's Miriam, her Baby So Beautiful doll, wearing the same size outfit. Her measurements are ~ height 34cm, chest 23cm and tummy 23.5cm, so although she's a little shorter, she's about as chubby as a 40cm Animator doll. 

Little Eva

The Berjuan doll has lovely eyes, but the face paint is quite ordinary and really needs to be redone to give her more character. Her hair is lovely and soft to touch (no Gel), but extremely long. So unless one intends to braid it, it could be problematic. I shall restyle it by giving her a haircut and perhaps add a wave or curl.

Eva has a long neck and her articulated body is a combination of vinyl with what appears to me to be plastic joints. The joints aren't perfect, but most hold a position reasonably well . . . except for the ankles, these were sloppy, which makes standing her quite difficult, though I did finally manage to do it.

She can easily move her hands up and they will hold their position very well.

She can sit in a variety of positions, but her legs won't sit straight out in front. I do like how her arms and hands will allow her to hold things and can imagine her clutching a pet or doll.

Ava is able to kneel and lean backwards, she can even smell her own feet! (They don't stink, they have the smell of vanilla.) Or maybe she about to chew her toes! 🤣

Unfortunately, I could not get her to stand on one foot, I just don't have the patience. Would I purchase another of these dolls? Most probably not, but I will keep her and see if I can do something with her ankles.

Long Time No Post

I am still here though! Sales on eBay have been keeping me busy, which I never expected . . . especially seeing as I had things in my stash that I didn't know I had. Does that sound a little intriguing?

Let me tell you about it . . . as you already know I am having a clean out of stuff which I really don't need (and probably never did). It was while sorting, that I came across a little suitcase I painted for my mum a long time ago (2002), which I inherited when she passed.

I'd never opened it before and had no idea what was inside, so it came as a real surprise when I found it was full of Kellogg's Cereal Toys!! Yep, those tiny plastic things that kids found in their breakfast cereal back in the 60's and 70's. My first thought was to ditch them, but my instincts told me to check eBay before doing so.

So glad I did, these have become quite collectable and I had a heap of them. This photo shows what's left after the first listing . . . one chap bought so many, I was able to pay for Manica and Cleo, the two articulated Paola Reina dolls which I had my eyes on from Spain!

The first three dolls which I ordered from Dolls and Dolls at the end of last month, arrived today and I just love the two boys. (In case anyone here in Oz is considering placing an order with them, shipments travel from Spain to the Netherlands by road, before shipping to Oz by air. Tracking is via PostNL and Australia Post. I thought exactly three weeks from order to delivery, amidst this pandemic, was a pretty good delivery time.)

The the third one, a Berjuan Luxury Doll is also articulated. Her name is Eva, she is 35cm tall and comes without clothes. Being slightly different, I'll probably need to adjust my patterns to dress her, but I think she will be fun to sew for. I will tell you more about her later.

All these photos were taken with my Canon 600D with the Ring Light attached. I haven't had a lot of experience with it yet and haven't used the flash, just the light, but I love the light as it shows very little shadow. So if I never use the flash, it's been worth it (certainly was a blessing for taking close ups of the cereal toys).

Well I guess it's time now to catch up with what's been happening with you!