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 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.

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.

Pale Blue Tutu

Sue at the Sasha_Mart Yahoo group posted a picture in November of "Sasha's ballet class", with a blonde Sasha and several other dolls all dressed in tutus. I contacted her through her Crissy doll website, and was pleased to discover that she made the tutus herself and would gladly make one for me. We settled on blue, as I thought it would look nice on Giselle (who already has several pink tutus). Sue even made matching blue ballet slippers and a floral headpiece to complete the outfit. Now Giselle is ready for another production of Sleeping Beauty, but this time as Princess Florine instead of Princess Aurora. I think she looks really sweet in this ballet outfit, and couldn't wait to share some pictures (click on any photo for a larger view).

Thank you Sue!

Meet Gemma

When I stumbled upon my first "no philtrum" on eBay, I figured she would be the only one I owned. But then a blonde np was listed for sale on Shelly's website. And lingered. And had her price reduced. And ... I decided she should come live in NC. I almost named her Caitlyn (for some reason she reminds me of my sister's childhood friend), but decided she should be called Gemma instead.

I grabbed a few minutes here and there this afternoon to take pictures, so my photo session spread over several hours. The light angle changed quite a bit over this time period, taking her from icy to glowing.

As you can see from this close-up, her lips are quite rubbed but her eyes are fabulous.

I'll try to remember to take comparison photos of Gemma with some of my other 1960's Blue Cords. It might not be for a while though, as I have a new job and even less free time for blogging right now.

Sasha Festival 2010 - post 1

I wasn't planning to buy a doll at the festival, but this lovely girl came home with me. I am still so excited about her that words fail me. Other than perhaps yipee, or woo hoo!

The Festival was fantastic! I have about 300 pictures, and lots to talk about ... but it will have to wait until I get some sleep (and deal with some of the more mundane aspects of life).

UPDATE:  After lots of contemplation, she and I have settled on the name Juliette.

Ballet Costumes

As a talented ballerina, Giselle has done a lot of dancing ... and acquired a couple of costumes along the way.

Instead of the traditional short white tutu, she wears plum when portraying the Sugarplum Fairy. This special outfit was made by Ruth at the Etsy shop from daisy daisy, and is simply stunning. Here's part of her description from the listing: "The ballet dress is made in a combination of lavender silk dupion and ivory tulle. The bodice is lavishly hand-embroidered with pure silk ivory ribbon rosebuds and hand-beaded with tiny faux pearls, and is underlined and lined with cotton lawn." It really is as luxurious as she makes it sound.



I'm particularly fond of Giselle's portrayal of Princess Aurora in the ballet Sleeping Beauty. Here she's wearing a pink sparkly Wee Wardrobe outfit that I found at Beverly's Doll & Bear Boutique, and a tiara crown purchased from ebay seller lovvbugg.



Doll, ballerina, princess ... I'm living my childhood dreams in middle age. :-)

Meet Giselle

Giselle is a very special Sasha doll. She is my first "no philtrum" (this groove between the nose and upper lip was added to the mold in 1968), and will probably be my only one since they are hard to find and quite expensive. As a redhead, she started life as either a "dungarees" or a "ballet". For a change of pace from my other early redheads (who all came to me with their original dungarees clothing), I've dressed her in a Repro Ballet Outfit from Ruths Dolls.




Giselle's neck/leg stringing is fairly loose, but she can stand by herself. And I'm still working on taming her hair, especially her bangs. She's beautiful now, and with a little work I'm sure she'll be even more spectacular.


Here's a final shot of her eyes. I just love her feathery lashes.