Eye Candy

Sheila Foery took amazing close-ups of the faces of some of the studio dolls that were exhibited at the Sasha Festival for the debut of the new book Sasha Dolls: A History. She has graciously allowed me to post them here on my blog.

A big thank you to Sheila for sharing her photos!

And a huge thank you to the owners of these studio dolls for allowing them to be displayed and photographed.

Sasha Festival 2011 - post 5

NOTE: captioning is still in progress, but should be complete by this weekend. A million thanks to Meg Richardson for helping me put names with faces!

I uploaded almost 475(!) Sasha Festival pictures to an album on Picasa. There are pictures of Sasha dolls and Sasha doll enthusiasts, group meals and gatherings, Dress-A-Sasha contest entries, and Children's Fund Auction items. There are also pictures of two special displays: dolls and clothing in conjunction with the release of Sasha Doll: A History, and a Doll Quilt Display. The lighting wasn't always great, and my hand wasn't always steady, so please excuse any blurry photos. Here is a slideshow of the entire album:



Clicking on the picture below will take you directly to my Picasa album. There you can see all the photos from this slideshow, along with descriptive captions. Feel free to email me or add a comment if you know of corrections or additional information for any of my captions.

Sasha Festival 2011

Sasha Festival 2011 - more posts coming

Boo and I are safely home (and very tired).

It will take a few days to get my pictures organized, uploaded, and labeled. Once I do, I will post a Picasa slideshow as in past years. Until that is ready, you can look at my photo albums and relive the past two festivals: 2009 in Rochester and 2010 in San Francisco.  Clicking on the link will take you to the pictures, which you can peruse individually. If you'd like to view them as a slideshow, there is a "slideshow" button on the upper left of the album page.

Sasha Festival 2011 - post 4

Boo slept until after 7:00 this morning, while I dressed myself and the dolls then attempted to finalize our packing. Not an easy task without knowing what our brunch table favors would be, and whether we'd win any helper raffle items. Here's Boo with the girls once she was awake and dressed. We headed down to brunch shortly afterwards.

Fortunately the festival table favors were relatively small in size: gingham bags with the Sasha logo, containing socks & mini Lincoln logs, plus boxes with black shoes to go with our festival dresses from last night. As usual, there were lots of dolls at the tables, many wearing newly purchased or won attire. This blonde trio is wearing the festival dresses we received last night.

After brunch, Charla thanked people who helped with the festival, Jackie announced the Dress-A-Sasha winners, and Dawn Law spoke a bit about next years festival in the UK. Lastly, Heidi supervised the helper item raffle, with Elliot drawing the tickets and announcing the winners. Boo and I didn't win anything (though Dorisanne gave Boo an knit outfit, and Charla gave her some Sasha-sized toys for helping with the raffle). I was able to get everything from brunch into our suitcases easily, so we had a bit of free time for saying goodbyes before taking the shuttle to the airport.

We've had a long layover in Chicago where I've been composing this post around trying to keep Boo entertained. Our final leg home starts boarding in a few minutes. It will be nice to be home with my husband and son and back to our usual routine, but I'm sure I'll be suffering withdrawal from all my Sasha friends for a few weeks. I'm already looking forward to attending my next festival, hopefully in 2012.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 

Sasha Festival 2011 - post 3

Boo slept in until about 6:45 this morning. I think she would have slept even later if I hadn't been rattling around, but we needed to get breakfast and have my sales table set up by 9:00. I brought 10 dolls from my collection to sell, plus lots of clothes, shoes, and accessories. Only one of my dolls found a new home, but I managed to sell a lot of the smaller items that make less sense to sell online. The sales room was open until 11:30, so that filled most of our morning. Here's a picture of Heidi's table; I was so busy checking out everyone else's tables that I neglected to take a picture of my own.

Boo found herself a baby, which made up for yesterday's auction disappointment. She is a 70's sexed girl, temporarily named Kitty. I also let Boo buy her several outfits, so baby Kitty's layette is well underway.

We were on our own for lunch, with free time for sightseeing built into the afternoon schedule. Boo and I toured the Old State Capitol and also visited the Lincoln home. Lots of walking in the heat with surprisingly little whining.

We had just enough time for ice cream, another trip to the hotel's pool, and some preliminary packing before the special Doll Quilt Display and dinner.

We received festival dresses and pinwheels as table favors, with a different fabric for the dresses at each table. Boo and mine are a pink print, one with a pink sash and one with a navy blue sash (this picture is from a table with a slightly different pink print).

The after dinner program was a slide presentation about the Dana Thomas House, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is currently being renovated. I tried to stick around and chat for a while afterward, but Boo was tired and impatient and I was losing my patience too. She has been asleep for over an hour now, while I've tried to do more packing in the near-dark. Hard to believe it will all be over tomorrow after brunch.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 

Sasha Festival 2011 - post 2

Today was a busy day! Boo woke up around her usual time, 6:42, which was unfortunately 5:42 here in Springfield. Fortunately being up early was beneficial; after enjoying breakfast here at the hotel, we helped Sheila set up the items for the Children's Fund Auction. It want relatively quickly, and I was able to take pictures before there were lots of people around. Here's a picture of the item I donated, smocked sister dresses made by Kath Barnett from Australia.

We then spent a couple of hours in workshops: patchwork pillows (fortunately the top was already pieced), and fishing poles. Boo and I still need to finish our pillows, hand sewing the edge where we stuffed and adding a button to the middle. I might have finished mine, but I got distracted by a display of Studio dolls and clothes that was set up in the same room. There will be more pictures eventually, but here is a sneak peek: the center of the display.

Next up was lunch, where everyone received a straw hat and denim overalls as table favors. Then Anne, Ann, and Susanna spoke a bit about their new book (and three! more planned books) and it was available for purchase. Finally! I've only had a chance to skim mine so far, but the pictures alone are worth the price.

We had some free time in the afternoon, so Boo and I voted in the Dress-A-Sasha contest, bought tickets for the helper raffle, and went swimming in the pool. We had a quick pizza dinner with Tina before the Children's Fund Auction, which raised $8470 for Oxfam and Save the Children (actually double that thanks to matching programs). Boo was a bit upset that I didn't win her this baby with layette, but the person I was bidding against outlasted me.

I'm sure there are people socializing in the hotel, but Boo and I are back in the room. Once again it's three hours past her usual bedtime, and she is just dozing off in front of the TV. Time for a quick shower then I'm off to bed too, since setup for the sales tables starts at 7:00 tomorrow morning.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sasha Festival 2011 - post 1

We made it safely to Springfield! We checked in to the hotel, spent some time in our room unpacking and unwinding, headed to registration, then mingled in the lobby for a while. Boo was hungry, so we found a couple of other people interested in an early dinner - a nice meal at Cafe Andiamo up the street with Dawn Law and Elizabeth Mizerek.

After we ate, we had more downtime in our room while I priced some of the items for my sales table, and we changed Calla and Rose into their pjs for the "Route 66 Drive In" themed Meet and Greet. Lots of people were there! I enjoyed chatting with old friends, meeting new people, and taking pictures of "girls" and their dolls. Like my dear friend Tina:

And our hostess-with-the-mostest, Charla:

While I socialized and wandered around taking pictures, Lea-Frances kept busy playing on my iPad ... and made a new friend in the process

Now she's falling asleep in front of the TV, which might not be good parenting but cured both the mania and whining that happen when she's overtired. After this quick blog post I'm off to bed too, as we're helping to set up the CFA items early tomorrow morning.

So far, so fun. :-)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Summer Frocks

Since Adeline and Desiree are for sale at the festival this weekend, this may be my last chance to take pictures of them - and of the dresses I made for them. I love how they look in their new summer frocks, like a couple of schoolgirls headed to a party.

They're both "late 60's blondes", but they are far from identical. Adeline has a wider face than Desiree, and her eyes are smaller and a darker blue. Almost all the paint has rubbed off Adeline's lips leaving them nude, while Desiree's lip paint has whitened. Sisters, cousins, or just friends?

Springfield Or Bust!

I was so pleased with how Desiree looks in her new dress, that I decided to make a new dress for Adeline too. I had some fabric in my stash with just the right shade of blue for her eyes (which are much darker than Desiree's). I also decided to remedy her encounter with a junior hairdresser many years ago, by arranging a visit with a senior hairdresser. Fortunately the woman who cuts my hair is a good sport.

Here's how Adeline looked before, with her hair shorter on her left side.

And here's how she looks after Miss Amira worked her magic, evening up the sides without sacrificing much length.

Now she's just as cute as can be in her new dress and a pair of red cat shoes.

Boo and I fly out tomorrow morning, and we're all packed and ready to go. I'm not bringing a computer, but I will have my iPad, so I may try to do a bit of blogging while we're on the road. Notice I said "may try" not "definitely will", as I have no idea what it will be like traveling with Boo.

Meet Juliette

I can't believe it's almost time for the 2011 Sasha Festival. My how time flies! Even more unbelievable is that I still haven't formally introduced the doll that I bought at last year's festival. I gave a couple of sneak peeks here and here, but haven't made the time since then to take photos and write up a blog post.

Nancy Miller of Let's Play Dolls wrote this description of her: "Early rare no-philtrum girl, 1966, beautifully hand painted and extremely rare dark navy eyes with dark liner and white eye shadow, pretty pink lips, near flawless complexion, beautiful blonde hair has just a hint of dryness, but this is not obvious, no missing hair plugs, complete original blue cord dress outfit, panty elastic has stretched, clothes are otherwise excellent, navy leather Mary Jane shoes are absolutely mint except for a bit of paint missing from one snap, I don’t remember if I added the vintage hair ribbon or if it is original, doll has been re-strung to the correct tension, original striped elastic is tucked inside, doll is in excellent to near mint condition. She was reluctantly taken from my personal collection; she is gorgeous!"

She is indeed gorgeous. And her eyes are absolutely amazing! She is the Jewel of my collection - often referred to as Jules as a nickname for Juliette. Not the best light for photography today, but it will suffice.

Meet Opal

I know I said I was going to introduce my Sasha Saris in alphabetical order, but I decided to save the one I'm keeping for last. The other three will be sold, but Opal is going to become one of my "Amigos" -- an assortment of late 80's girls who I dress and display.

It wasn't easy to choose, and there isn't a solid reason why she is my choice. I like the rose pattern on her red, white, and blue sari, yet I think the color is the least flattering of the four. I like the shape of her bangs, yet they all have nice hair now that it's been washed. Perhaps it's that she appears to be more petite than the others, though appears is the operative word here. I even hesitate to say she is my "favorite". They all call to me in different ways, yet she spoke to me the loudest.

While my Sasha Saris are all quite photogenic, Opal seems the most reserved.

Meet Ruby

Since I'm introducing my Sasha Saris in alphabetical order, third up is Ruby.

Ruby wears a red sari with a black, white, and blue pattern that looks somewhat Oriental (both the color and the pattern). I think she has the straightest bangs/fringe of the four, though she also has a piece in the center that wants to stick up.

While my Sasha Saris are all quite photogenic, Ruby seems the most serene.

Meet Iris

Since I'm introducing my Sasha Saris in alphabetical order, second up is Iris.

Iris wears a purple sari with a black and grey floral pattern. I love this vivid shade of purple, and think it looks lovely with her black hair. Speaking of her hair, it looks slightly longer than the others, though that may be because it has slightly less curl.

While my Sasha Saris are all quite photogenic, Iris seems the most aloof.