Dolls and Doll-related Items for Sale

Showing posts with label painting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label painting. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Breakfast at Tiffany's

This past Sunday, I attended a Ladies' Luncheon with a friend who I have known since college. It was given by an Irish-American club on the east side of Cleveland, and my friend has attended several events there. The theme was Breakfast at Tiffany's. There were several gift "baskets" given away in a raffle, and I won one! The theme of my basket was Paint and Sip. Does your country have anything like this? Where I live in Ohio, there are one-night art classes hosted by local organizations, as well as small local businesses that offer you the chance to paint a ceramic item, or paint on canvas, or similar creative things. For adult only evenings, you can craft and also partake of alcohol, and these evenings are called Paint and Sips. I just found out there's a local business where you can get refreshments from a charcuterie board to jello shots at your Paint and Sip evening. This gift basket was a bunch of items for you to have your own Paint and Sip time.

Here's a picture of the table centerpiece, and me dressed in my best Breakfast at Tiffany's outfit.


And here are the items that I won. The paint brushes are awful quality, but I can still use them for something, I'm sure. Everything else is pretty nice, even if all the art items are from the $1.25 store.

The Paint, part one

The Paint, part two

The Sip

You might notice in the last picture that there is a gift card to a store called Meijer. It's like a Walmart, a giant store that offers groceries, housewares, clothes, and lot of items in between. Our local Meijer is actually bigger than our Walmart, but the Meijer closest to me is lacking in one distinct feature: the toy department. Still, I wanted to buy something doll related with my gift card, and I picked out a Calico Critters house.

I already have a couple of Critters animals, and my Cu-Poche dolls and mini Pullip will also like this house. The card didn't entirely cover the price of the house, but it paid for most of it.

To really make this doll-related, I'm going to share a couple of pictures of a Breakfast at Tiffany's outfit that I made for a 16" Gene doll, around 15 years ago. 


I sewed the dress, gloves and wrap, and Mr. BTEG helped with the bakery items. I made this for someone online who was looking for someone to sew the costume for her. She saw these photos first, before she officially bought the outfit. I saw many years later that she had it up for sale. I hope she got a lot of enjoyment out of it while she owned it.

I was going to post about my luncheon experience on Instagram, when I realized that Instagram won't let you post vertical photos, and they get cropped to the point where a lot of the stuff you wanted to show is cropped out. Ugh. I'd rather be able to share these pictures with you guys, anyway.

Has anyone else won a raffle? Was it something you wanted? This raffle was the kind where you could put as many tickets as you wanted towards winning a specific basket, so you would only win something that you were interested in. Have you ever attended at themed event?

Saturday, November 5, 2022

Coffee or Tea ?

I'm trying to take part in a November photo challenge on Instagram. November 2nd's prompt was Tea or Coffee? I don't like either, but I pictured one of my dolls drinking green tea, and another drinking coffee.

I also ended up hanging my doll-sized painting on the wall. I had said I had some other pictures I wanted to take with the blue wall, but without the painting. The best laid plans and all that, those pictures haven't happened yet. I've been distracted by other things, one of them being that my nephew is getting married today, an hour and a half away. I wanted to make a dress, and I was almost finished, but discovered a tear in the fabric that kept me from cutting out the last piece. Replacement fabric is on the way, but won't be here on time. Oh well, I'll still have a nice dress to wear all winter. I managed to find a dress from a store, that I liked, and also got some new shoes for the occasion. I haven't had to wear dressy shoes for years. I miss formal family occasions.

I'm motivated to participate more in this photo challenge, so hopefully I can get back into doll stuff tomorrow.


Monday, January 11, 2021

A Paint Booth

I've been very frustrated with how few days there are where I live that are suitable for spray painting outdoors. Even when I paint things by hand, plastic items seem easier to paint if I've put on a simple coat of Mr. SuperClear or something similar first. I finally decided to buy a paint booth, and was pleased to find out that they are not as expensive as I had thought they would be. Here is mine, folded up, and open, with the LED lights that came with it on. The items on the turntable are parts of a 1/6 scale baby stroller for scale. I'm hoping that I can make some progress this month on all the things that I want to paint.


ETA:

I should have realized that not everyone would know what a paint booth was. :) Just to further clarify, there is a filter at the back of the booth, with an exhaust fan on the back side. I also bought a connecting tube set, that hooks up at the back of the unit. It is meant to be set up with one end in an open window, and sucks the fumes from the spray paint out the window, so you're not dealing with them indoors. The end of the tubing is narrow, so you only have to open your window a tiny bit. I am adding a picture of the back of the booth, and part of the tubing.

It is also used by airbrush artists, and a family friend uses his to paint miniature figures for his tabletop gaming adventures.

EATA:

Here is the link for the model that I bought. I purchased it on Amazon US. I hope anybody that is interested can find one! Also, let me know if this link doesn't work for you, since I'm looking at it through our Amazon account. It is the Master Airbrush Lighted Portable Hobby Airbrush Spraybooth with LED Lighting. Also, I'm pretty sure that I didn't pay as much for it as the price it is listed at now. I think must have bought it when it was on Prime.

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Painting

Finally, the weather is cool enough, and the humidity low enough, that outdoor spray painting can happen.

Mr. BTEG put a final clear coat on his owlbear figures.
I've started painting some plastic doll furniture.

Edit:
Here is the bottom part of the bathroom sink set. You can see the top just above.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Plans for 2017

I looked over my New Year's dollie resolutions from 2016, to see how I did, and what I wanted to change or continue this year. Last year, I managed to post four times a month for the first half of the year. The second half of the year got really crazy, and there is still some chaos and stress at Casa BTEG, so I don't feel too awfully about meeting my posting goal for the whole year. I'm going to shoot for four posts a month again anyway. I like to keep this blog active.

I was planning to photograph my 10" Georgia doll, but she needed a wig, which I never bought. I also have a Patsy that I need to re-wig. I've never bought a doll wig before, and I keep second guessing which wigs would look best. There are also a *lot* of choices out there! I ought to make the wig thing a higher priority this year, so these dolls can be complete.

Of course, I wasn't sure last January that I would be buying much, and then I went crazy about Ever After High, as you'll see when I blog about one of my Christmas presents. It didn't hurt that most of the EAH dolls I bought were marked down, being older releases. I was thinking seriously about getting another Makie, but that didn't happen, after the company suddenly disappeared.
At least Meg has a lot of doll friends to play with.
Other than Ever After High dolls, I bought one curvy Barbie, one petite Barbie, two Star Darling dolls, and a discontinued LIV set that I bought mostly for the display window. Unless I fall in love with another doll line this year, my doll purchases will probably be down. However, I've also purchased some furniture, and a LOT of accessories like Re-Ment. That will probably continue in 2017.
I've found making time to sew doll clothes difficult. This is probably partially because of my depression issues, and partially because of a schedule which changes every day. I keep trying for big blocks of time to get sewing (or knitting) done; what I need is to do a little at time when I have the opportunity. For some reason, I don't feel motivated to go to my sewing table unless I can get a huge amount done at once. That's just holding me back.

I have a couple of construction projects that I want to begin, but we don't have space for me to take on a big project right now. Likewise, I've been trying to paint doll accessories in my sewing area, which involves a lot of moving things around. I'd like to set up a dedicated space for painting (which I will probably share with my husband and daughter, who paint gaming miniatures.) That crafting space won't be free until later in the year.

Lastly, I've been thinking about starting a running storyline here featuring my dolls! I have an idea that I'm trying to develop into a working plot; hopefully I'll get it started within the next month.


Saturday, December 31, 2016

Doubt and Depression

As I like to do, I'm looking over my past year of doll collecting, and making plans and goals for the year ahead, which I'll post about. But while I have my own personal plans for sewing and painting, etc. for my dolls, my thoughts from a collector point of view are pretty gloomy. There are still Ever After High dolls out there that I would like to buy, but nothing good seems to be in the works for the line. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see it completely die out in 2017.

The announcement that Tonner is done with most of his lines was a huge surprise for most of the doll collecting community who follows his work. I was pretty certain there were going to be more Ann Estelle dolls coming out, and now there won't even be more Patsy dolls, or outfits that fit the 10" dolls. This will not help prices on the secondary market, which in my opinion are rather high already, considering how many dolls were produced, and how long ago the dolls were produced. All the 10" dolls, Ann Estelle, Petite Filles, and Patsy, seem to all be very popular among collectors still. There are currently 10" articulated bodies only for sale from Tonner, and I may try to pick up one or two on the chance that I might want to rebody one of my dolls, but I'm afraid they'll sell out rather quickly as people scramble to buy before everything is gone for good.

Makie is not in business anymore, either. In my plans for this year, was the possibility of getting another Makie doll, since I liked my first one. Unfortunately, this company too disappeared in 2016.

So in my doll collecting life, I really don't have any new releases to be excited about or look forward to. The only new dolls I might be interested in, for now, are Barbies, and Mattel is so hit or miss that I don't have a lot of confidence in what will be made this year. I will admit that at this time I am trying to power through clinical depression. Everything right now seems undo-able. But life continues.

ETA: I guess I can't absolutely say that there will never be any more Makie dolls. What I do know is that the company suddenly declared it was moving from the UK to the US. After that, there was no more news, and Makies are no longer for sale. It would be great if there was a chance that the dolls will be produced again, but it's been, I think, close to a year now with no news. Actually, I think orders for Christmas 2015 were cancelled at the last minute, but that's just a vague memory, and I can't find anything about it. I do know many people were upset because they had saved doll designs on the Makie website, which are now gone. 

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Ever After High Birthday Ball Blondie Lockes

My dolly time has been off and on lately. Not only that, but I'm working on projects which are taking me a while to complete. One of those projects is painting the accessories for one of the latest Ever After High dolls, Birthday Ball Blondie Lockes. I was going to put these pictures up after I finished changing up the accessories, but I've decided to make the doll her own post, and the painting one another. I need to blog more! Besides, there several things I wanted to mention just about the doll.

This doll was part of a release of three, Blondie: blue, Cupid: pink, and Duchess: purple. Target had two exclusive Birthday Ball dolls, Rosabella: yellow and Cedar: orange. Those dolls were scented, and were clearanced out at Target just before the three newer dolls came out. Blondie, Cupid and Duchess have simpler dresses, no scent, and no tinsel in their hair, unlike the two exclusive Target dolls. These three also seem to be sold only in TRU. If there's going to be an online story about these dolls, we haven't gotten it yet. We don't even know whose birthday is being celebrated.

Normally, Blondie Lockes has blond hair, but for this series, all the dolls have unusually colored hair, and Blondie's is blue. She is articulated, and comes with a headband, collar necklace, and "birthday present" purse. No earrings, no bracelet, no ring, and no stand. I used a spare stand to pose her nicely for pictures.
Her face is nice, and her bangs are not gelled overly scrunchy. When she wears the necklace, it hides the fact that the neckline of her dress is off.
Her hair is fairly thickly rooted. There's a baldish spot where her headband goes, but it's not too bad, and her scalp is painted blue to help cover that up.
She has holes marked where she would have earrings. This will make it easier for me to give her earrings, which I will probably do at some point. I've been collecting loose stock from various Ever After High dolls on eBay, but I don't have anything I want to give Blondie, yet.
She has the standard dots on her lower lip, intended to enhance her looks, I guess. Not all the more basic dolls have these dots. My Book Party Ginger Breadhouse, for example, does not.
It wasn't until I had Blondie near a window and direct sunlight, that I noticed that she has some kind of gold glitter across her forehead, above her eyebrows. I'm not sure if this was meant, or if it's some glue residue from gelling her bangs? I do plan to get Cupid, and possibly Duchess, from this series. If I do, I'll check out the foreheads.
This doll retails for $14.99, although she already is selling for less on Amazon. That's not bad, for a doll that is still workable; she has good face paint, an articulated body, and decent hair. The blue hair also makes for a unique doll to add to a collection, even if you have other Blondies.

So in case you're wondering what painting I'm doing: I'm painting the bows and ribbon down the front of Blondie's purse a light blue. I'm painting the feather in her hairband a pale yellow. There are "pearls" in front of the feather that are also going to be light blue. And in the marketing pictures for Blondie, the ribbon in the middle of her bows, on her headband, was gold. I tried it and it looks nice, so I'm going with that. I'm torn on whether or not to do anything to her necklace or shoes. I might paint the bows on her necklace a blue something like the color of her purse now. And I was thinking about yellow for the rosettes on the front of her shoes. Maybe!

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Ever After High Stuff

I finally decided to give Chinese website AliExpress a whirl, and my first purchase ended up being two pairs of Ever After High shoes. I picked them up from the post office today, and I'm happy with both pairs. Since they're not "official," they're not painted like many EAH shoes are, which I like, since they don't "go" with any particular doll's outfit or color scheme that way.

The first pair of shoes are from the outfit of Legacy Day Madeline Hatter. They look very pretty as Madeline wears them, with the teacups in different colors. I would also like these if they were all gold; Maddy's shoes are mostly bright gold, and I like the color. I'm not sure how well these shoes would take paint, however, since they are not solid plastic, but a bit more like rubber. In any case, they're beautifully detailed. Since I don't have a Maddy, Holly stepped in to model.

I could try just highlighting some of the details on these shoes with paint. That would be less of a worry than painting the whole shoe and wondering if the color will stain the doll's foot.

The next pair of shoes was designed for Cedar Wood. On Amazon, I saw a picture where the straps are a bright pink, and the leaves and the branches on the platforms made to stand out with some black shading behind them. Again, I might consider doing something with these shoes to bring out the patterns on the platforms. I also don't own a Cedar Wood, but since Ashlynn Ella not only loves nature, but can never turn down a new pair of shoes, she was glad to model for me.
Not only does Ashlynn have new shoes, but a very special furniture piece. I blogged about wanting to repaint this item about a year and a half ago, but I'm glad I never did. It belonged to a Cinderella doll set my youngest daughter had, appropriately enough, a shoe shop.
This bookcase reminds Ashlynn of her beloved mother, Cinderella. It even has a picture of her Dad, Prince Charming.
For now, I'm also going to display books from Legacy Day dolls on top. I only have one book right now, belonging to Briar. I'd like to get Legacy Day Ashlynn and Cerise Hood at some point, if their prices go down. Getting into Ever After High late, I missed getting some of the earliest dolls at good prices.
I have actually started painting some other furniture I have, now that the weather is warm enough (some days) to spray on an initial coat of Krylon before I start the actual painting. That will make up at least one other post, probably more. I'm documenting my work every now and then through the process.

Two more things:
1. I got both of my daughters watching the Ever After High webisodes. That actually made them interested in looking at my dolls! :) My youngest daughter even suggested she should get a Holly doll, and her sister a Poppy doll. My eldest daughter likes dying her hair, and just dyed one side purple, although it's more of a Raven Queen purple.
2. When I got my Legacy Day Briar in the mail, my husband brought the box in and opened it for me. At which point he said, "Briar? Don't you already have two of those?" (I do, First Chapter and Spring Unsprung.) I guess he does pay some attention to my dolls (although in this case I think a lot of that is because I've been buying dolls from our shared Amazon account.) He also watched a couple of EAH short videos with me, although he didn't get sucked in like my daughters' did. :)

Has anyone else gotten any doll items from AliExpress? I know SmallerPlaces has, and also BlackKitty.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

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!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

At Long Last, the Liebster Award

Presto tagged me for this award ages ago, and I feel guilty, because I've had blogger's block lately. I also have no idea who to tag for this. Eleven people is a lot to tag, and most of the bloggers I know have already been tagged for this. So I'm going to answer the questions, finally, and let it go. :)

1. What kinds of toys got you into collecting and customizing? 
Barbie got me into collecting, when I started buying them as an adult. I don't really do customizing, yet. I'm actually seriously considering passing off painting to my youngest daughter. She does a fantastic job painting miniatures for Pathfinder games, so I think she'd be a natural. I do have a Belle doll that has had part of her lip paint rub off; I keep meaning to make this my daughter's first doll project. :)

2. What's the coolest way you've repurposed something to work on/with one of your projects?
Oh dear. I haven't really done this, either. At least, not as an adult. As a kid, I had the Sunshine Family dolls, and they were all about making sofas out of milk cartons and dressers out of matchboxes. I've turned bookcases and shelves into diorama roomboxes as an adult, but lots of people do that.

3. Sonic or Mario?
Mario! Although my daughters regularly smoke me at MarioKart.

4. What do you do to find inspiration?
Since my doll projects involve sewing, I look at all kinds of clothes, from historic to modern, for real people and for dolls. My Pinterest account is mostly dedicated to clothes for inspiration.

5. What time period would you most like to live in, other than the modern one?
The turn of last century. There were still beautiful, elaborate clothes, but things I like having, like indoor plumbing, were also becoming more common.

6. When has a project just made you give up? Why?
As far as sewing projects, I've given things up when I try to create a pattern for something over and over, but can't get it to look the way I want. I've also tried knitting a blanket for a doll bed, and given up on that three times. One was when the pattern wasn't written correctly, and it took me several tries to realize the pattern was wrong, and not me. By that time, I was sick of the whole thing. One was a lacy blanket that was enjoyable to work on, but every time I made a mistake, I couldn't figure out which row was which when I unraveled. Lastly, I tried a pattern where I just couldn't get past the first few rows without making a mistake. I'm using the wrong yarn or something, at least for me, I think.

7. What's the most versatile tool in your arsenal?
Well, my sewing machine, definitely. But when I have to do hand sewing, my best go-to item is not a tool, but a book.
 Not only are there all kinds of stitches in there, but the directions are just right for me!

8. When has a project surpassed your wildest expectations? How?
I don't know that I will ever make anything that surpasses my wildest expectations. I'm a perfectionist, which means I can always look at something and say, "I could have done that better." I'll show you a picture I made for a contest, where I wanted 16" Gene to look like she came from 1907. I ended up happy with this one, because I thought the silhouette and general style were pretty much 1907. I drafted the pattern and made everything myself, including the hat.

9. What's your all-time favorite movie?
The Wizard of Oz. And somehow, doll manufacturers do seem to come up with some unique takes on the movie costumes, now and then.

10. What's a skill you want to learn someday?
Painting plastic furniture. Especially the extra touches that make an item really pop and look realistic.

11. If you could live in a fictional universe, which one would you pick?
Does Narnia count? I mean, Earth-as-we-know-it is part of that universe, but Narnia is its own place.

If for some reason I missed you being tagged, and you want to play, email me and I will give you eleven questions!

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

I Need Ideas!

Remember how I talked about some of the pieces I was keeping as my daughters give up most of their childhood Barbie doll collections? Well, I have two more pieces to show you today, and I'd like ideas from you on how best to spruce them up for adult doll display.



The first piece came with some Mattel Disney Cinderella set, as you can see by the cardboard backing still in place. I'm not even sure what this type of furniture would be called if you saw it in real life. A side table, maybe? It's not useful for much besides decoration. I would have put this in the pile to pass on except that I like the rose and silver details. Of course, I'd have to repaint those if I repaint the whole piece some more realistic furniture color than pale blue. Anyone seen any real furniture like this? If I do repaint it, should I paint the roses a single color or maybe go for more depth using shading (if I thought I could even accomplish this)?

I also wasn't sure I was going to keep this hutch, until I saw what Cheryl did with hers. Now I think I'd be crazy to give it up, especially since mine still has all the pieces.


The problem is, I've never been much of a paint artist, or necessarily creative making things "out of nothing," as it were. I suppose I could produce something to replace the oval piece at the top that has the "Princess" banner on it, using poster board or foam core and some beads. What I'm really debating is what to do about the doors. They're see-through, but shaded purple, which would probably not match any attempts to non-Disney Princess this hutch, and I don't know what kind of paint to use on this type of plastic.

To be honest, I'm a little scared of taking on either of these projects! Previous tries I have made to repaint Barbie furniture and give it non-Barbie colors has not ended well. I've looked up many tutorials online, but I'm still afraid to take the next step. I'm trying to convince myself that if I had any inspiration on how to decorate these, it might motivate me. Thoughts?

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Daisy Chain Award

jSarie of Revenge of the Toy Box gave me a Daisy Chain Award!


She asked me to answer the 8 questions that I wish someone would ask about my doll collection and my doll blog. I hadn't really considered the question much before, but here are the questions that I came up with.

1. Do you have a "grail" doll?
Basically, a grail doll is a doll that is difficult/expensive to obtain. Very often these are limited edition dolls from conventions/comic-cons, which then explode in price when they're offered on the secondary market. You would really love it for your collection, but you have to spend a long time waiting for it and searching for the best price.
Having said that? I'm not sure that I have a grail doll right now. I've longed on and off for a High Seas Daphne Dimples by Tonner, but she comes up on eBay several times a year, and I don't know what I'd do with her dated hairstyle if I did get her. I'd also like some version of Tonner's Cinderella face sculpt, but there are many of those to choose from.

2. Do you have a favorite doll line?  
I'll always have a soft spot for Barbie. I played with her all through my childhood, and still have several prized versions of her in my collection. But I'd have to say that my favorite line is Tonner's 16" dolls. Possibly not a big surprise after reading question number one, hmm?

3. What kind of articulation level do you like in your dolls?
As I said above, I played with straight-arm, three-click leg, Barbies all through my childhood, and my child's imagination rapidly filled in the gaps between what the doll could actually do and what I wanted her to look like she was doing. But as an adult I have really come to appreciate dolls that can actually bend their elbows, much less move their wrists, and bend their knees more than three clicks. Much beyond that (and the general arm/leg/neck rotation), and the joints stand out too much for me. I do have some not-Barbie dolls in my collection that can't bend their arms or knees at all.

4. Any doll lines that you've moved on from?
When I first got into 16" vinyl dolls, I did pick up some dolls from Mel Odom's Gene line, and Madame Alexander's Alex line. All of those eventually went on to new homes, except for one coat and hat.
  
5. Is there anything you would do differently with your collection, if you could go back in time?
I don't regret any of the dolls that I've bought. I've always enjoyed them while I've had them, and I've been able to send them on to new homes at a price that was acceptable to me. I probably would have tried harder to pick up more of 18" Samantha's collection when it was offered by AG. But I discovered Samantha when Mr. BTEG and I were first starting our family, and a lot of other things took priority over the years. I never dreamed that Samantha would be retired, and since she was the first one to go, it was a total surprise. I can tell that the new BeForever line won't be anywhere near the same, but there's always eBay. :)

6. Where do you see your collection going in the next few years?
I think I'm going to be focusing more on furniture and clothes than on dolls. There are some dolls I would like to pick up, but the list is getting shorter and shorter. After thinking I wanted a certain doll, only to lose interest in getting her after several years, I've learned that I can usually live without specific dolls. A good bit of the time what draws me to a doll is her clothes, anyway.

7. Do you have anything that you want to learn do that will enhance your collection?
I used to think about repainting faces and re-rooting hair, but I don't think I have steady enough hands for the first, nor enough patience for the second. I absolutely have to learn how to construct/wallpaper/paint a dollhouse. I've been wanting to do it for years and have been too afraid to tackle it. Mr. BTEG and I are very settled where we are right now, so there is no time like the present. On a similar note, I need more practice repainting plastic furniture.
I also want to keep improving my sewing skills. Again, I've had lots of dreams and have not acted on nearly enough of them.  

8. What did you hope to accomplish when you started this blog?
Sometimes a blog is referred to as the blogger's virtual house. Since I enjoyed visiting other people's "houses" and looking at their dolls, I decided to invite people to my "house" and let them see my dolls. I wanted to meet people with whom I share some doll interests, and to have all kinds of conversations about collecting. I like talking to all of my readers, and visiting the blogs of those who have their own!

I'd like to pass this award on to Ghoulia13 and Ghouliette at Dollsville, USA, sister collectors. Here are the 8 questions I'd like them to answer.

1. Do you currently have a grail doll?

2. What doll in your collection gave you the most satisfaction in acquiring (hard to find/you found a good price/wanted for a long time/just really wanted)?

3. Which doll manufacturer produces the best quality clothes and shoes, in your opinion?

4. How much life (or death, if you prefer) do you think the Monster High line has left?

5. If you could bring one retired doll line back, which one would it be?

6. Pick a doll line and describe what your dream doll from that line would look like/wear.

7. Is there something you'd like to see offered by a doll line, that isn't available now?

8. What first attracts you to a particular doll? Hair, face, clothes?

I hope you two ghouls will participate!