Dolltown November 2016

It's very late...it may even be November 1st now! THAT's a good party!

Xennia stayed for a while getting photos taken, then she was taken to bed...

That Halloween Party was something else...

As we stripped the Halloween things away, Dolltowners wandered in.

What were they doing? Where were they?

I know we saw some of them on the path, hanging out. They just hung out too long!

Spiderman is STILL on the path!

He's distracted by all the little Dolltowners plodding home with their candy.

He strikes a pose for them!

Faith stops for a look and a comment...

Kasma Clown is a little down...

He has heard from his colleagues around the world what a tough year it has been for them.

Once revered, now vilified.  Clown impostors scaring children! For fun! How perverse!

How long will it be, Kasma Clown wonders, before the world rights itself. And clowns are loved again.

Vikka, here to help clean up all the props, keeps him company for a while.

She is comfortable with the depressed, the melancholy.

After a while she takes him for a beer. I mean, some Halloween fruit punch. Vikka is still underage...

More! The Skinny Ones! Well, they were here earlier, hiding out.

Maybe they have been standing behind the wire mannequin, and we didn't notice. Sneaky things!

Oona (she won't give us her real name) and Catrine chat about how cute the Iple Junior boys are.

And Jade J'Adore joins them.

They are talking about finding a nightclub, where they can have some post midnight fun.

Uuuuh, good luck girls!

The Dolltown Manifestors haven't even got that one at the bottom of a list.

You better go to a community meeting and put your two cents in... Not now!

What is Aira still doing here?

Her angel costume is gone.

She must be exhausted! Putting on a party for the little Dolltowners? She'll have to sleep for days!

Priscilla brings her some chocolate to fatten her up.

She's too skinny, Priscilla thinks,  like the last batch of stick dolls just here!

And here's a scarf, because, well, Priscilla thinks Aira should be wearing a scarf.

Something! A scarf, a sweater, a cape, a coat. Get covered up, girl!

I live here, Aira thinks to herself... But out loud she says, "Thanks Priscilla. Now, go home! Please, dear..."

Guard One just got off his shift and came to the party in case Darlene was here.

Nobody! He goes off to find her...

Dolltown's Ballet Doll, Floora, heard the Moon Arch Room was a beautiful dancing space!

She does her floor exercises, while planning a ballet to put on here.

Maybe The Nutcracker Suite!

Everyone would love that!

And finally, hearing the hum of music, Woody and his one true love come for a last dance in the Moon Arch Room...

Uh, great costumes you two!

In October, checking for fall fashions, I noticed a couple of beautiful knit dresses by Nataliya.

Much as I loved them I passed them... several times!

Then, one day, Nataliya offered several of her knit dresses for a price I couldn't resist.

Including the two I had been eyeing.

I pushed the buy button and happily opened a doll fashion package not long before Halloween...

I did a photo shoot for fun, getting the girls changed from their school clothes, before they dressed in their costumes.

Even though they are knit, they are not all suitable for fall. Some of the colors are joyfully spring like!

So several of these have been put away until...at least January!

Aren't they something! Can't believe it! Thank's Nataliya!

The two below were the ones that caught my eye to begin with!

Okay, the middle outfit below is Nataliy's...and so are the amazing three net skirts!

Love them!

I matched the burgundy and green skirts with cute cardigans from Linda on eBay, amgirliam... 

A few of the girls got out for some fresh air on a day when most were inside watching current events on TV.

The Dolltowners know that, no matter what, we need to get along, use our manners,

help each other, and reach across our comfort zones...

Always do our best!

While the rest of the Dolltowners headed up to Dolltown Abbey, Spider-Man lingered by the Dark Tree.

The Little Darlings, Undeen, and Phoebe kept him company as they came and went, getting ready for November action...

Xennia spends a little time with Spider-Man...

I didn't hear them talking at all, but Xennia took some lessons in throwing cobwebs.

Go for it, Xennia.

Do you know that cobwebs come from spiders? Spiders?

What? she says...

Okay, Xennia, go join your friends. 

It's time for Spider-Man to get back to his useful work.

Okay, we are straggling here.

There is a follow up Halloween story.

All the Dolltowners were surprised when the boys didn't show up at the Iple's Halloween party.

But it wasn't long before the girls discovered where they had gone.... 

The Little Darlings were on an outing in the forest, looking for art ideas for school projects.

As the girls explored for their class project, Badger and Owen came by.

They stopped briefly, but seemed in a hurry. 

Scout and Rosa followed them long enough to see which way they went...

And Scout reported back to the girls. 

Now they will find out what happened to the boys at Halloween!

Stay tuned!

Aww. Badger has given Scout a pretty golden maple leaf from the trunk.

Hey, isn't that one of Aira's wings?

Scout and Lula are satisfied with their visit.

They leave with treats.

And can't wait to tell the rest of the girls about the clubhouse.

Badger is buried in sweet. 

Giving a gift to Scout was almost too much for him. Happy.

Okay, wrap it up, boys!

I wonder what else is in that trunk?

Another time...

Faith and Zoey  accompanied me to Vancouver Island, traveling by bus and ferry.

We visited family, gathered items to upcycle for a Christmas Bazaar, and found a very cute teddy...

Here we are at the Vancouver Greyhound Bus depot, taking a break outside.

The girls recognize a doll when they see one, and asked to bring him home to Dolltown.

Maybe on the way back, I said.

We spent lots of time at the Harbour Quay in Port Alberni, while visiting.

The girls find friends wherever they go!

These shots below are for our dolly Lula and daughter Lani.

Lani sent a photo from their travels around Australia, one with Lula looking face down through a very scary grate.

It's hard to tell here, but the girls are looking through this walking grate to the ocean below.

Okay girls! That's enough! I'm afraid my iPhone camera will fall right through.

What a disaster that would be!

We found a lovely scruffy teddy at a Salvation Army. 

He gets a bath, in the washing machine, when we get home.

And then we decide if he stays, or carries on to a new home.

The girls have already named him. Uh oh.

Scruffy joined us for our ferry trip, allowed out of the suitcase.

After watching the waves behind the ferry for awhile,  they asked for a book to read.

Well, the Christmas characters get to come of, course!

Christmas Doll in red and green. Santa, one Xmas teddy, Tree Angel (almost as big as our little tree!)...

Who else? Platinum haired Gabby couldn't wait. Fancy Nancy and her friend Neela.

Our boys Bobby, sitting on the floor, and Douglas, who may want to go home and see Chantal.

A pretty little golden haired Paola Reina, to keep Douglas company, so he doesn't feel too shy with an audience.

Guard Two, (Kanan) for the Star Wars fans. And Magic Barbie. Because, you know...BARBIE!

And Shasta is here, very excited to be on display! So excited I put her at the front, in the middle.

I didn't know Shasta had star longings!

In two of these photos she's even pretending to want out of the glass cabinet. For dramatic effect.

I told her she couldn't do that when other humans were around. They might feel sorry for her...instead of happy! 

We want the humans to be happy when they see the Dolltowners. Especially the little humans.

And I had the perfect response from our human adult moving guy...excited to see our Star Wars doll! Score!

In the photo above, on the left, the long hall filling with Christmas trees is reflected in our cabinet glass... Nice.

We will add a photo or two when the diorama cabinet is decorated too...

Three more days until the local Christmas parade...then the hoards of people will pour in.

And the act begins! Well, the act of stillness. Dolls, after all!

More photos coming!

Each of the girls have photos, like Faith and Zoey below...

Our Evie! Our first Little Darling, a factory paint.

She is Ana, a UFDC 2014 Shared Passions Convention doll by Dianna Effner.

After ordering four LD's from Geri Uribe, I brought this girl home so I could experience a Little Darling right away!

After her prototype arrived (Anna Zoey, below), we switched Ana to Evie in this cute red Roxie wig.

This girl is still available in the UFDC Shop.

Here's Tink!  After three months I was ready for Dolltown stories to begin!

But no Little Darlings coming for a year! We jus had Ana Evie...

She needed friends, so I resorted to the secondary market, and looked for a sculpt three.

I wanted a smiler! For some happy stories! And this Helen Skinner cutie showed up...score!

(She's wondering here why she has no ribbons, hair ties, or jewelry. Sorry Tink! We had to get the photo shoot done!)

Chantal is an original Dianna Effner girl! She is a sculpt three beauty... Another smiler!

She was purchased from the official Diana Effner seller on the secondary market, while they were still "reasonable".

(It is even more reasonable when the Little Darlings are ordered directly from the artists, but the wait times are long).

My third Little Darling and here for our early stories!

Lula is a Geri Uribe Tiffany, but was in this Rose wig when I first saw her.

I tell her purchase story in an earlier blog post, eBay Rescues...

Of course I wanted her! She looks like Lani, my youngest daughter.

And Lani was persuaded to take Lula when she moved to Australia last November.

After lots of travel adventures and fun photos, Lula rejoined us again this summer, when Lani returned for a visit.

Pearl is also from the secondary market, a Geri Uribe Dakota, one of my Geri favorites!

Her high eyebrows make her look much different from Lula, above, although these photos don't show it.

I chose this platinum Bubbles wig for her and popped it on when she arrived.

Scout  is a Helen Skinner sculpt two, with teal eyes, beautiful silky red hair, and a face that was impossible to resist!

She has a determined look and really helped me to develop the stories with the rest of the girls...

Xennia is our sweet Helen Skinner sculpt one.

Loved her! She arrived in the fluffy blond wig that Faith is now wearing, below. 

She spent her first months as Xenny, and then I put this Ellowyne Lizette wig on her, and fell in love again.

Anna Zoey, named after Dianna's Zoe, is the prototype for the UFDC 2014 Shared Passions Dianna Effner doll.

She traveled to China and back, at least once, for the factory Ana to be made for the conference.

So Evie, above, is Zoey's clone...

And the two of them are Dolltown's First Nations Little Darlings.

Faith is my Christmas Present doll.

She is a Joyce Matthews sculpt one, bought from the secondary market.

I had bid several times, over months, for one of Joyce's treasures, but the bids always went too high.

This girl, in brown pigtails, had a great, surprising starting price.

I bid almost out of wishful habit, and won, as they say. There were no other bids. It was odd. Lucky me!

So we ended up with a blue eyed Joyce girl! For Christmas!

I was as happy as a child would be...and popped her in a pretty mohair blond wig. And Tink got the pigtails!

Birdy was first! The first Little Darling I committed to. The moment I saw her.

She had the sense of innocence and look of love that I was looking for.

A child whose life has not offered up, yet, the pain and suffering that comes with life itself.

She is Geri Uribe's sculpt one Arial.

Rosa, Geri Uribe's Gina, was the second Little Darling I picked.

After two other blue eyed girls arrived, Lula and Pearl, I requested true green eyes when the order time came close.

I took her cute little braid out after our active lives in Dolltown made it unmanageable.

And with the green eyes, dark red hair, and direct look, I think Rosa looks older than the Gina I chose to begin with!

Coco started out as Conner, with a black bob....perfect! At first.

But her sweet expression suggested this change to a soft brown Jojo wig.

That gives her the possibility to be two characters, if we need a stunning black haired, blue eyed girl.

Maggie is a Geri Uribe Abigail,  and she looks like my oldest daughter Tasya.

I had chosen a  redhaired sculpt two first, from Geri Uribe,

but after we got Scout, I changed to this intense and sweet paint, a sculpt one.

Maggie is now living with her doppelganger, in London, for a few months...

And since she isn't here for Christmas photos, we have included her last photos before she changed and left.

Jiyoon is my special order from Joyce Matthews, a year long wait.

When it was time to choose which Joyce girl I wanted I settled on this beauty, requested with dark eyes...

She is adorable. All the Little Darlings are!

Every time I think, "A dozen is too many, certainly!",

I do my best to choose which girls are not as necessary. And I fail.

All are equally essential. Now that they are here.

Each has developed a distinct character.

And each, as I handle her, is my favorite, the one that I could live with...if she was my only Little Darling.

Christmas Doll who came to live with us before Dolltown existed.

Christmas Angel Teddy headed down to the Pop Up Diorama too, along with the golden sled (for now)

Silent Sam is here with us, though. He's important, keeps an eye on everyone. Sends me thought messages...

It's Guard One! Or in the real world, Kanan Jarrus...

Vikka is fond of Guard One. He teaches her stunts!

He picks her up so they can chat because her head doesn't tilt back that far.

Vikka didn't go down to the Pop Up diorama. I thought she might make the children sad.

She looks like someone stole all her presents. Buck up, Vikka! You know you're happy! Happy enough!

Anyway, she's too active. She would have been pounding at the glass to get out!

But Shasta went! She is front and centre, even gets a chair to sit in. Loves it!

When no human is looking she gets up and rearranges things to her liking.

Or hides for fun until the other dolls call her frantically because someone is coming to look! Shasta!

Fancy Nancy got to go, with her Madame Alexander friend Neela.

But our Betsy McCall, Pamela, is here with us for our stories...

Hey! Clear out, all you Dolls!

I can hear the boys coming back to play with the Christmas toys.

They were here earlier, but I shooed them away til later....