Doll Show - Strongsville, Ohio - August 15th 2021

I've once again gone through one of those phases where I'm either too busy or don't have the energy to create a new post. However, yesterday I finally got to attend a real, live, in-person doll show after a very long dry spell! I took all of you with me too, at least in spirit. I found reminders of many doll bloggers yesterday; I'll be sharing them with the pictures. Pictures will be in order by time taken. I was attracted to this Snow White doll, and the Lenci doll reminded me of Tam.

So did this Lenci. I think the doll in the blue dress behind her is darling, but my budget did not run to antique dolls that day.

I've seen this Kestner Gibson Girl doll before, but I don't think I've ever seen one in person. She's in a book I have about sewing Victorian doll clothes, which I am proud to own. 

 

I thought of Linda and Serenata when I saw this Sasha doll. There ended up being a lot more Sashas that I didn't get a photo of, as well as some Gregors. The Nancy Ann doll made me think of Tam. A lot of dolls made me think of her, perhaps because she has such a broad collection and doll interests. The little Betsy McCall is also cute.

I needn't have worried about getting that Nancy Ann doll into the picture. There were lots of them as I went on.

I took this picture because I liked the outfits that the two little dolls were wearing, but the Madame Alexander doll in a case is nice also. Madame Alexander dolls will now always bring to mind Dorothy in PA.

Many doll bloggers I know are into the vintage Barbies. You can see some Tammy dolls too. I thought of Teresa because of the many vintage Barbie clothes she has. There was quite an assortment of vintage Barbie, friends and family clothes, shoes, jewelry and accessories at the show. I bought one vintage piece, but that won't get shown until a later post.

While we're on the subject of Barbie dolls, there were some more modern Barbies, but nothing that thrilled me. I saw an unboxed Swan Queen doll that made me think of coffeeanddollspl. 

I have no interest in owning one, but I find the vintage Buffy and Mrs. Beasley doll set cute. I remember one of my sisters or I owned a cloth Mrs. Beasley doll. You can see some loose Mrs. Beasley dolls in the vintage Barbies picture, but here is one in box. I vaguely remember watching the show that this doll was based on.

This Shirley Temple doll complete with pin reminded me of Rachael's collection. There were many Shirley Temple dolls in different sizes and outfits.

I wonder if this little Japanese doll would have gone home with RagingMoon1987 if she had been there with me. The doll would surely receive lots of love from her!

Here's another Shirley Temple with clothes and a case.

 

Here's yet another Shirley Temple, a dark-skinned Patsy that brought to mind Dorothy in PA yet again, and an All-American version of the Schoenhut doll like Serenata's world-famous Peggy Sue (and friends.)

And last but not least, this Cissy bride who stood regally near the front entrance, welcoming us to this dolly wonderland. There were a few modern Cissy dolls too, but the vintage ones have their own quiet majesty. I'm sure Sandi would agree.

Although there weren't a lot of modern dolls, don't worry, MC, you are not being left out. I bought a stack of doll magazines and in one there was an article on Spanish cloth dolls produced in the 1920s-1930s, bringing Spain doll companies into competition with other European countries at the time. 

I think next time will be a review of my doll show haul, because boy, did I bring home a haul. Having all those dolls right in front of me and just being able to pick one up and hand over cash to make it your own was absolutely intoxicating. Well, my purchases were mostly clothes and accessories, because there were lots of those too. I hope you got some enjoyment out of virtually attending a doll show with me.

100th Post!

I'm terrible at remembering blogiversaries, but since Blogger shows you what number post you're about to write, it's easy to keep track of numbers. Since this is my 100th post, I decided to create collages of pictures from previous posts. I also have a small list of things I'd like to do as the blog moves forward.

1. Be creative! I want to sew doll clothes more often, but I also also want to try painting furniture, and even building a few kits that I have. (They're a secret!) Some disappointing results in the past, and fear of trying new things, have put me off painting and building. I'm ready to try again.

2. Get outside! Now that I have a travel doll, I'd like to get more outdoor shots, and also take her along to places that I visit.

3. Better pictures! I'm almost done clearing out my sewing area/doll display space (they're in the same room.) I still won't have a dedicated space to pose dolls for pictures, but I'm hoping I'll be able to set up backdrops without so much shuffling things around. I could also use some lights specifically for picture taking, but I don't see those in the budget anytime soon.

I'm thankful to all my readers/commenters for reading my posts! I hope that you will all stick around for the next 100!

Angelina Ballerina chairs

Here are two more Angelina Ballerina pieces that I received in my eBay purchase: the kitchen chairs. Considering that these were made for stuffed animals to sit on, I find they work quite well with dolls the appropriate height(s). I also don't think missing the table is a big issue. Tables are a lot easier to create than chairs, and Angelina's table doesn't seem to be as stand-out as the chairs.

First of all, however, I want to show a couple more pictures of the dresser and chest. jSarie suggested that the mirror might be throwing off how the Barbie size doll looked standing next to the dresser, so I got Snow back out and took a picture of her next to the pieces again.

Now I almost like her better next to the chest but am not so sure about the dresser! Ah well. These pieces seem to have a juvenile touch to them, with the painted on flowers, so I don't know that an adult Barbie size doll would get them anyway.

Since I had Tonner's 12" Alice in Wonderland doll out to take pictures seated on the chairs, I put her next to the dresser and chest as well. She's close to a Barbie in height, but Barbie is an adult in her world, while Alice is a tween in a world of 16" adults.

Alice is wearing a night dress from Tonner's Nutcracker Ballet line. Poor Alice is barefoot because while slippers did come with this nightdress (as well as a pretty robe), I need a dolly size shoehorn to get those shoes on her feet. Adams-Harris Patterns has a free pattern for a Marley (Alice) sized shoe that I really should try.

And now we return to the chairs. They are even more fancifully painted than the bedroom furniture, and almost have a shabby chic look since some of the paint has the appearance of wearing off.

Again, they're made of wood, and are nice and durable. They're a little broader than some other doll chairs of a similar height, but they ended up working pretty well with dolls the proportional sizes.

We'll start off with Alice and a Kripplebush Kid. (I really ought to give those poor Kids names.) Both look fine here. The Kid might have to scramble a bit to get up, but what little kid hasn't had to do that at some point?

The Kid also doesn't look badly standing next to the chair. Which makes me think that these chairs would also work for a similar doll like Kish's Riley. Some people have inserted Riley into Tonner's world to be the little girl, instead of the Kripplebush Kids.

I thought these chairs would be too broad for the Barbie sized dolls. Maybe for a Barbie in a bathing suit, they would be, but Snow with her wide skirt makes it look acceptable.

Lastly, I took a couple of pictures with Snow by herself with the chairs. I know many of you that read here have more Playscale sized dolls than Tonner sized ones.

Once again, these are two pieces which I am glad to have in my collection. I often prefer to have my dolls sit on chairs rather than be in stands, if I have the space, so the more chairs, the better!

Angelina Ballerina Dresser and Chest

My Angelina Ballerina furniture arrived today! Well, most of it did. I couldn't find the stove in the pile of newspaper that everything came wrapped up in. Still have to talk it over with the seller. But everything else is fantastic! I decided to stick to the wooden dresser and chest, because otherwise this post would be way too long. I'll highlight the other items in later posts.

The chest and dresser are very nice pieces, made of wood, with what I think is called fiberboard at the bottom of the drawers and the bottom of the chest. They also are marked on the bottom with HIT Entertainment (who owned the rights to Angelina Ballerina, at least the animated series) and American Girl, who distributed the stuffed dolls and furniture.

I forgot to take measurements! Let me know if you want a particular measurement. But you can get a pretty good feel for how big the pieces are by looking at the dolls I thought worked best with them. First up are some pictures of the dresser and chest by themselves.

A couple of the dresser drawers are very loose; the small drawer on the top right is very tight. You might be able to see how it fits a little crookedly into its slot.

There are some marks on the front of the chest. Nothing serious.

Because the chest used such thick pieces of wood, I feel like it looks a little funny on the inside, proportionally. But it's a very solid piece, which is the main thing.

First up to model is Disney's Snow White, by Mattel. As an aside, I realized while I was taking pictures that the dress Snow White is wearing is over ten years old! I got it in a dress swap, as a member of a doll board I don't even remember anymore. Actually, it might have even been an old-school bulletin board. Anyone else active on those back in the day?

She doesn't look too out of place here. The chest looks a little small proportional to her height, but the dresser isn't bad at all.

The mirror piece on top of the dresser is completely separate, giving it even more play value, as it can be moved around on top of the dresser or used by itself.

I wonder if this is a magic mirror?

 Next up is a J-Doll, Melanie.

Being more petite, I think she works better overall than Snow White. Possibly it might be a little too big for her, but I don't think so. She looks right sitting on the chest.

Lastly, we have my 8" Kripplebush Kid by Tonner. At the moment, I think she works with these pieces the best.

 

The mirror tilts (although it doesn't stay in a tilted position) so anyone could sneak a peek in it, but I like that this little girl can look right at the mirror.

I also had my Madeline and mini AG Samantha out, but the furniture completely overwhelmed them. So I think these are the ones in my collection who would work the best.

Obviously, with the flower decorations, these pieces are rather girly, so they're not for everyone's collection. Can you see GI Joe using these? :) But they're well made, real wood pieces that are going to look great in one of my doll's bedroom set. Which doll you think should get them?