Dolls, Dolls and More Dolls! (Part 1)

I was so excited to see some new faces on the dolly market, that I went on sort of a buying frenzy (Amazon and eBay!) Since my back has been pretty bad lately, I haven't been able to venture up and down the stairs much, so I haven't done much working on my dolls habitats. But that did not keep me from sitting in front of the computer and looking at dolls. It will probably take me a couple of posts to show off everything, so here goes.

Even though I introduced these two before, I did not show them off as a couple. The chemistry between Ayumi and Tenzin was just so obvious, that I think they are currently my favorite couple to photograph. 

Tenzin has been in America for awhile. His girlfriend Ayumi, an International model, is coming and he has been very excited awaiting her arrival. Here they are together again after being separated by such a long distance!

Next up, I have been seeing so many photos of the new Barbie and friends dolls. I love the new face mold they have given to Barbie. It is a much softer, younger look for her. I also really like the changes they gave to Summer. Although I haven't renamed them yet, I did purchase the new Summer doll and the Barbie Director doll. Summer did not come with any articulation, so I immediately put her on a Summer Life in the Dreamhouse body. Director Barbie has ankle and knee articulation, but no elbow or wrist articulation. For now, however, I really like the knee and ankle articulation, so will live with that for a while.

Summer needs a little support to stand, but Director Barbie was able to stand on her own in her flats!

The girls chat away at the new table and chairs. 

Here they sit on the new daybed. I see the beginning of a cute little studio apartment for one of the girls.

The girls are happy to be getting settled in Hanaly Corners.

When I saw the new 5th Harmony dolls, I just couldn't resist getting all 5 of them. Good thing I had stocked up on articulated bodies when they were on sale!

Here are Lauren, Camila and Dinah. I rebodied Lauren on a Frank Sinatra Barbie Body (Pivitol). I think she has the old Theresa facemold with a very nice faceup -- isn't she lovely? Camila was rebodied on a Life in the Dreamhouse Raquel. She looks to me like the FAO Swartz Barbie facemold. Dinah was rebodied on a Dynamite Girls replacement body. Is that the Shani facemold?

Finally, here are Ally and Normani. Ally is rebodied on a Life in the Dreamhouse Barbie body. Her facemold looks new to me. I thing she is very pretty. Normani is rebodied on a Nikki Life in the Dreamhouse body. Her face up is very much like Nikki's, however, she has a slightly darker skin tone. I hope to find a better match later, but for now, this will have to do.

Here are some closer views of their beautiful faces:

Ally

Camila

Dinah

Lauren

Normani

When I saw a rebodied Flava Happy D on Flickr, I decided to also rebody my Flava girl dolls.

Here are my 2 Happy D dolls. They have joined the residents of Hanaly Corners as twins Dina and Desiree. Dina is on a Life in the Dreamhouse Barbie body and Desiree is on the Skier Barbie body.

And my final group for today is P Bo, Kiyoni Brown and Tika. P Bo renamed Pilar is on a 2013 Barbie Glam Luxe Style Barbie body. Kiyoni is keeping her name for now. She is on the dark skin toned Kenya body. Tika, who is now Tamara, is on a Nikki Fashionista body. 

I think the Flavas girls have really been transformed with their new bodies. What do you think?

That is it for this installment. See you all later and thanks for visiting!

Gloss Convention Purchases Part 2

The rest of my purchases for the Gloss convention were  from the Color Infusion line and one from the Style Lab. I won 4 hommes and 2 of the ladies. Because I got Ayumi, I wanted Tenzin to go with her. So here is a list of the additional dolls I purchased. 

• Kiki Yung (nude)
• Tilda Brisby (nude)
• Tenzin Dahkling (nude)
• Kieron Morel (nude)
• Sterling Riese (nude) from the Style Lab
• Time Served (partially dressed)

Here they are:

Kiki Yung & Tilda Brisby dressed in Life in the Dreamhouse Midge Dress and Ebay find. Shoes IT 2013 Color Infusion

Kiki and Tilda - Closer view of their pretty faces!

Tenzin Dahkling and Kieron Morel in Ebay finds and University Ken clothes

A closer look at Tenzin and Kieron

Sterling Riese in Ken shirt and Mini Barbie pants and Time Served in his jumper only.

A closer look at Sterling and Time Served

Needless to say, the ladies in the doll room have been buzzing about the arrival of the new men. They are trying not to notice that there are also 3 new ladies. Obviously, I need to work on getting some more clothing for all. I will have to try making some clothes because I have been banned from eBay until after Christmas!

Thanks for visiting!

Gloss Convention Purchases

No, I didn't get to go to the IT Gloss Convention, but I did enjoy it from afar watching the posting of other who were able to attend. I consoled myself the best I could by visiting eBay and drooling over the offerings. Most of what I saw were too far out of my budget, but I did bid on some items that had at least reasonable starting bids. I was getting discouraged as just as I thought I had made it to the last seconds of the auction, the object of my desire was snatched right before my eyes. I hung in as long as I could, but the prices became insane. However, I persevered! I finally won a few auctions and at prices that I thought were reasonable. The one doll I really wanted from the convention was Evening Siren Ayumi. As I searched and saw her go for prices above $175 nude and $200 dressed, I thought I would have to give up. But, late on Sunday evening, there was one fully dressed with a starting price below $100! I took a chance and bid on her. No, I did not get her for $100, but not too much over, but yeah, I won her! I also was lucky enough to win a few other Color Infusion dolls for some pretty reasonable price, so I broke the bank and got a few of them. 

I will post photos of all of my wins, but today I am excited to present Evening Siren Ayumi! She arrived today and I thought she deserved her own photo session.

New Prettie Girls Have Arrived

Like so many others, I too jumped at the chance to get the discounted Prettie Girls from Zulily. I already had Valencia and Lena, so I ordered Kimani and Dahlia. When I checked out, they offered me free shipping on the Cynthia Bailey doll, so of course, I ordered her too. Since her price was also significantly discounted from the doll available on the website, I felt it was a good opportunity.  Here are all of my Prettie Girls!

From L to R: Dahlia, Lena, Kimani, Cynthia Bailey doll, Valencia

Many have asked about what clothes are a good fit for these ladies, since their rather bodacious behinds (which are awesome, BTW) do not fit well into the standard Barbie line of clothes. If you also have Mixis dolls, whose bodies are also well proportioned, you will find that their clothing is a nice fit for the Prettie Girls. 

The Mixis line of clothing (you can buy clothing without the dolls) is very high quality as are their shoes and they both will work well with the Prettie Girls.

Dahlia and Lena look very nice in these Mixis outfits. The boots and shoes also fit on these dolls and are of very high quality.

These are nice, leather look - not plastic!

They have zippers in the back.

Look how cute the flats are!

Side view of the flats

Since Dahlia and Lena got to show off in Mixis clothes, Kimani and Valencia wanted to as well!

Valencia and Kimani in Mixis outfits

The Mixis dolls are a little thicker on top. I tried on the Prettie Girls clothes on the Mixis. Dahlia's outfit fit just fine, but her top has a little stretch to it. Kimani's dress did not close all the way in the back.

The Prettie Girls shoes are plastic, and not bad, but the Mixis girls want their very nice shoes back!

I have not figured out where everybody fits into my community yet. Since Valencia and Lena have both been here a while, they have assumed their roles already.  Valencia is amongst the college group.  Lena is married and has a daughter.  Below she is with her husband Wesley (I think he looks like Wesley Snipes) and 6 year old daughter Janessa. I don't know their last name yet though!

My Daughter's Cosplay

I think I mentioned earlier that I was busy helping my daughter and her friend with their cosplay costumes as they were attending the Youmacon convention in Detroit this past weekend. I have been making their costumes since they have been participating in anime conventions for the last 6 years now. This year they were characters from a Manga series of novels called Trinity Blood. I don't know much about the storyline, but I know the characters they dressed as were vampires. I have been teaching my daughter to sew, so she made the sashes, head bands and vests (with my help) and I made the white tunics and remade the pants.

Here are a couple of pictures of their costumes:

My daughter is the one in the blond wig (her natural hair color is black). The white jackets were lined and have a lot of detail. They turned out pretty good and I think they had a lot of fun. My daughter told me that they got a lot of compliment on their costumes, so I guess this was a success! 

Now that this is done, I can get back to making doll diorama items and back to taking pictures and telling doll stories! 

Stay tuned!

The Gordons Move In

I have pretty much finished the Gordon's home, so now it is time for them to move in. First, let's take a look at the house before they move their furniture into it.

Here are a few pictures of the kitchen:

Now let's take a look at the living room:

Here is the bathroom (I love the way it turned out!):

Next up are the bedrooms:

Master:

Ben's room:

Zoey's Room:

Now let's get them moved in. Grandma and Grandpa Fisher have arrived to help out and both brother-in-laws (Cade and William) have also arrived to give a hand.

Grandma Diane: I will take the kids for you so you can get done faster. Your Dad will stay and help. He wants to make sure Ben's bed gets set up properly.

Sharmaine: Thanks, Mom, that will be a big help! (to Zoey) You be a good girl for Grandma!

Ben: Dad, I can help! You always tell me I am a big boy now! Can I stay and help?

Michael: Ben, you are a big boy. The best way for you to help is to go with Grandma and help her with the dogs and with Zoey.

Ben: I guess that would be helpful. The dogs don't really know Grandma yet.

Ben: OK, Dad, I will go with Grandma. I will keep a good eye on the dogs. 

Michael: Thanks, son. I will see you later. Be good for Grandma and help her with Zoey too.

Sharmaine: Ben, I am so proud of you! Now go ahead with Grandma and I will see you before you know it. When you get back, your new bed that Grandpa made for you will be all set up.

Ben: That's right! I can't wait to see the bed! Bye, Mom, I love you!

Sharmaine: I love you too, Ben! Now give me a hug!

Sean shows up to "help" with his latest girlfriend LaShonda. 

Sean: Hey, everybody, I'm here! Let the fun begin! Oh, and meet LaShonda. She was excited when I told her Michael Gordon was my bro in law. She's is a fan and wanted to meet him.

LaShonda: Hello, nice to meet y'all. (whispering to Sean) Where's Michael???

Everybody else has already started moving the furniture in from the moving van. Here you see them moving in the furniture into the kitchen. What do you think of the dining chairs that I made?

Sean: Got anything in the frig?? I'm kinda thirsty. Want anything, LaShonda?

Lawrence (Sharmaine's father): Sean, you haven't done anything yet, you don't need anything to drink!

Michael: Is this the corner where you want the hutch?

Sharmaine arranges the dining furniture.

Cade and William start moving in the living room furniture.

Will and Michael move the sofa into the living room. 

Sean: Where do you want me to put this?

Things are moving along quite nicely.  The guys continue to bring in furniture.

Sean: Alright! I got the TV working. Hey, Michael, what time does the game start?

Sean: Hey, LaShonda, come sit with me. The game is about to start. 

LaShonda: Are you sure it is ok for us to watch the game? Everybody, else is still working.

Sean: Hmm, what? Of course. I've already worked a lot!

Grandpa Lawrence has set up the bed he made for Benjamin. He is putting on the finishing touches. He even made the bed for him. 

Lawrence: Well, I hope Ben likes this.  

Sharmaine: Dad, he is going to love it! He has always wanted a loft bed! 

The bed fits nicely in this room. It fits perfectly between the support poles.

In the meantime, they also got Zoey's room all set up.

Michael and William move the furniture into the master bedroom.

Everything has been moved in. Will and Cade are getting ready to go home to their families.

Michael: Thanks bros for all of your help. Having you guys here to help made things a breeze. Can't thank you enough.

Sharmaine: Yes, thank you both. When we are more settled, we will have you all over for an appreciation dinner. 

Cade: No problem, happy to help. But looking forward to dinner. Sharmaine, I have always loved your cooking!

Will: Ditto on that! Shayla and the kids can't wait to come over to see the new house. See ya later!

Diane has returned with the kids and the dogs. Zoey gives her Daddy a big hug.

Diane: The house looks great! you got a lot accomplished today. 

Micheal: Thanks so much for taking the kids. That made it so much easier to get things done.

Michael: Thanks, Dad, for all your help. Ben is gonna love his bed!

Lawrence: Happy to help, Michael. You have no idea how happy we are that you have moved your family back to Hanaly Corners. Anything else you need, just let me know.

Sharmaine: Thanks for everything, Daddy. 

Lawrence: Like I told Michael, I was happy to help. It means a lot having you kids back in town.

Sharmaine: Momma, thanks for taking the kids. I hope they behaved for you. 

Diane: It was not a problem and they were wonderful. I have missed those babies so much, I loved having them for the day. And anytime you want me to keep them overnight so you and Michael can spend some alone time together, well just let me know. 

Diane kisses her daughter on the cheek and they say their goodbyes.

Ben checks out his bed. He is liking this. He can't wait to climb up into the loft.

Zoey is checking out her room too. She loves that her dollies have a new doll house too!

Michael and Sharmaine relax on the sofa. It has been a long day, and they are tired.

Sharmaine: Wow, what a day! I am positively exhausted!

Michael: Me too. We accomplished a lot today. Things are looking good.

Sharmaine: (Yawning) We still have a lot to do though. We need to get window treatments up, hang artwork, get the lamps set up -- such a long list of things to do.

Michael: BTW, when did your brother leave?

Sharmaine: (With a sarcastic tone in her voice) Oh, that's right, he was here. That pillow he carried in was so heavy!

Michael: (laughing) Yeah, he was a big help -- at least in his imagination!

Sharmaine: Was it me, or was his girlfriend into you?

Michael: She said she was a fan of mine when I was playing basketball.

Sharmaine: (Snuggling a little closer into Michael) Yeah, I am a fan of yours too!

With that, our little story ends. Stay tuned for more of this family as well as meeting other as hearing their stories.