Meet Josephine

I haven't posted much recently so there are several dolls still waiting to be introduced. This girl is jumping the queue -- a birthday present to myself that is too special to wait.  She is a 1966 np with the developmental eye style whose brows have silvered. She makes my heart flutter. I have decided to call her Josephine, Jo for short.

Apologies for the lack of posts the past year or so, but work, kids, and pets are keeping me busy. I don't have much free time, let alone free time when there is good light for taking pictures. These are rushed photographs with overcast skies, but I was too excited to wait to share. More/better pictures will come eventually (please don't hold your breath waiting though), including hopefully some with Jessica.

Meet Kelly

Boo got Madden at the 2012 Sasha Festival and was hoping to get another baby at the 2013 festival. I had a baby that I'd bought for myself but not even named ... and so I gifted her to Boo before the festival (that way no worries about finding the perfect baby there). Thus Kelly was born, another sexed little girl to be a twin for Kitty. Its easy to tell them apart since Kitty has "poofy" hair. I think Kelly may have replaced Kitty as favorite baby. Here is how I found her today when I went to take pictures, apparently recovering from some sort of serious accident. Still a little princess though.

Meet Madden

Here is another of Boo's babies who has been shown on the blog but not formally introduced, a sexed boy from the 70's. Madden was won in the Childrens' Fund Auction at the 2012 Sasha festival. Boo was a bit miffed to discover that while he was all in pink, he was actually male. I offered to sell him and buy a genderless blonde baby, but she was too attached to part with him. His subtle genitals aren't visible when dressed, so she decided to view him as a girl. S/he was dubbed "Puppy" to go with Kitty. I suggested Madden, which is an Irish name meaning "little dog" - technically a male name, but sometimes used for females as well. Perfect! 

Meet Kitty

You met Kitty when she was purchased at Boo's first festival in 2011, but she hasn't had a proper introduction post. Here is Boo's beloved baby Kitty, a sexed girl from the 70's.  She is wearing her Sashapotamus onesie, a special request to match Boo's (and Calla's).

Meet Emma Katherine

Everyone who has read my blog since the early days knows that the first Sasha dolls I ever saw (and loved) belonged to my childhood friends - sisters who owned a blonde and a brunette. I found a 1971 brunette that matched my memories and named her Esme. I already had a 1970 blonde named Enid, and while they were great friends, not quite the pair I remembered from childhood. Petite Enid with her full center part was just a bit off the mark. She has since traveled off to a new home, and I now have a 1971 blonde I call Emma Katherine.

Emma is a much better match to my memories. Her bangs are a bit wonky, but I think they can be sorted out and made at least a bit more even. The end pieces on the far right here come from behind the first row of hair, and searching through the pieces on the other side I see some short strands mixed in. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to coax them back where they belong.

I love her dark blue eyes, and even the pale color of her lips that this era often fades too. I think that she and Esme Elizabeth are going to be fantastic sisters.

Adios Amigos

These pictures of "The Five Amigos" (formerly three, then four) were taken at the same time as the pictures in my previous post. 

I wanted to document these five as a group one last time. Unfortunately I needed to sell a few dolls, since I'd decided to fund all new Sasha purchases through the sale of other Sashas. Hard to say goodbye, but two of these five are gone now, along with two babies (Cleo and an unnamed nightdress boy). Adios my lovelies, and best of luck in your new homes.

80's Girls Original Outfits

A while back I was perusing Sasha group facebook posts and realized that the newer dolls are so often overlooked in the excitement surrounding the older dolls. Of course the newer English dolls aren't all that new, since they're 30ish years old themselves. And while they lack the hand painting of the earlier dolls, they are still gorgeous in their own right.

Here is a group shot of all the 80's dolls in the house at that time, my six and Boo's two. From left to right: Cathy, Rose, Cameo, Calla, Cybil, Chloe, Cindy, and Iris. This picture is currently on the main page of the sashafestival.com website. 

It was a long photo shoot, with lots of chatting between takes.

And here are just my six, the Five Amigos and Iris (who never really warmed to the idea of being an Amigo). The size differences are really apparent when they're all lined up.

Cathy: Blonde Sweater. She has the most serene face, and just might be my favorite of this group (but shhhh, don't tell the others). She wants to be a pilot someday.

Cameo: Honey Blonde Silk Dress. She is so petite compared to the others, and likely from the early 80's. She also likes to stand with her toes pointed out - ballet training in her past?

Cybil: Redhead White Dress. She came to me in mint condition, still strapped into her box. Not a great way to spend 25 years in my opinion, but she's made up for it since.

Chloe: Cora Flower Dress. She came to me in gingham, but given her age this is the correct outfit for her. She is the first Sasha doll that I ever bought. Hard to capture in photographs, but very pretty.

Cindy: Brunette Red Pinafore(?). She came to me nude, and could possibly have been a Dancing Dress, Marina, or Red Pinafore. She toyed with being Marina, but decided the pinafore suited her style.

Iris: Black Haired Sari. She was named for the color of her sari. At one point I had four of these girls, ~1% of all made! When I decided to sell all but one, she wasn't the one I originally planned to keep. But she was my mom's favorite, which prompted a second look - and a second decision.

Meet Jessica (before)

Mother Nature isn't cooperating with my picture taking efforts. These pictures were taken last weekend when the weather was cloudy due to Hurricane Sandy. I was hoping to retake them this weekend but there's still no sunshine. My biggest complaint is that the colors are off from having to turn on lights, so perhaps it's time to invest in some "natural light" lightbulbs.

This lovely lady is a 1966 np with the developmental eye style. Her brows have silvered, but I think that just adds to her striking appearance. She is in desperate need of a cleaning and restringing (she's leaning against the wall here so she doesn't topple over) which will hopefully happen soon. I figured I'd share a few pictures first, and showcase a new outfit at the same time. Marti Murphy made the dress and coordinating shoes (and undergarments too, which you can't see). It is similar to the ribbon dress that I won in the Childrens' Fund Auction, but the fabric has been dyed.

I probably should have ironed the dress or at least made sure it hung nicely in all the photos, but I was preoccupied with keeping Jessica upright and trying to avoid bad shadows. This was one of the better shots otherwise though, so I decided to include it.

Even with sketchy lighting she's a very pretty doll in a very pretty dress.

Early Baby Duo

Unlike squirmy live babies, Erik and Elin were easy to photograph. He did take a bit of coaxing to look at the camera though.

Her hair is a bit longer than his and her face appears wider - subtle differences that I think make than an even more appealing pair than if they were simply clones with different hair color.

They look sweet in white, but I think they're going to look even sweeter in some of the coordinating outfits I've found for them. I'm sure I'll be sharing more pictures of these two at some point in the future.

Meet Erik

As promised in my last post ...
Erik is my most-recent Sasha doll, arriving here from England two weeks ago. He is a (sexed) Baby Woolly, which were only made in 1970. He is wearing his full original outfit as well as his gold wrist tag. He'd been described as "in gently played with condition with plenty of sand falling from his joints", and I was surprised by just how much sand when I took these pictures. I don't think his clothes have ever been changed.

So much to love about this sweet little guy, and his hair has a similar shape to baby Elin. While her eyes are greening slightly and her lips have whitened, his face paint is nice and vibrant.

They make a nice pair, but I'll save showing them together for my next post. Gotta spread out the pictures from last weekend's photo session, since who knows when I'll find time (and cooperative weather - today is rainy and dark) to take more.

Meet Elin

I used some (rare) free time over the weekend to play with my Sasha dolls. I changed clothes on a few of the girls and photographed a couple of the babies. Since I now have pictures, I can make another introduction. This is the second of my Sasha babies, a sexed brunette from the early 1970's who I call Elin. She retains her original nightdress, diaper, and blanket, as well as her large silver wrist tag.

I know I'm biased, but I think she's one of the most adorable Sasha babies I've ever seen. I love her full head of nicely-shaped hair (which is a bit dry/delicate but doesn't seem to be falling) and her wide face.

Up next, her male counterpart ...

1968 Blonde Quartet

While I was taking pictures of my fringe girls for the last post, I decided to take a few pictures of ALL my 1968 blondes. Here is Audrey with Allegra and Alison. She also has a wide cord dress, but hers is quite faded.

Audrey's bangs are several rows deep, starting higher up on her head than those of the fringe girls.

And lastly, a picture with my waif Adeline. She seems to have a wider face than the other three. Another wide dress, but not corduroy; this one was made by me last summer from the Migros pattern.

1968 Fringe Girls

I have two 1968 blondes with a single fringe - one is wispy while the other is more even. Both have gorgeous blue eyes. I thought it would be fun to photograph them side by side for comparison.

They are wearing their wide corduroy dresses, Allegra in blue and Alison in brown.

Alison will be coming to the festival with me. This may be out last hurrah together, as I'm contemplating selling her. Never easy to part with a Sasha, but my collection is still a bit unwieldy.

Meet Allegra

The eBay situation with Annabel left me feeling unhappy, but I cheered up when I found a 1968 blonde fringe girl for sale on Shelly's site. Since her descriptions are always accurate, I knew I wouldn't be disappointed again. Allegra is just as described, and oh so much nicer than Annabel. And she's a blue cord, like most of my other early English blondes.

The weather wasn't great for picture taking today and I didn't have time to mess with lighting, but I managed to find a spot of light coming through a south-facing window. It was so bright that I was having problems with shadows, but I like how this picture turned out.

Luckily I also wound up with a decent shot of Allegra's spectacular pale blue eyes. If you're curious, she's standing in front of Boo's doll armoire.

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.