Dolltown February 2017

Little Darlings in Coats!

It's time we showed some photos of the Little Darlings out in the winter, before the crocuses poke through...

(Wishful thinking at this latitude!)

 

These girls have some winter gear, but once again we've borrowed from the Tonner Ellowynes...

 

The Ellowynes were in the Community Center meeting about their yearly plan. And the coats were all there...beside me.

 

So you'll see Birdy in a fluffy yellow coat that she thinks makes her look like...Sesame Street's Big Bird! And she thinks that's a good thing!

 

And Chantal is in a pretty pink coat with a wide collar. Scout picked a lime green tweed.

 

And Lula borrowed a tweed duffel just perfect for winter play. Now she doesn't want to give it back!

And look at Evie in a bomber jacket with its leopard trim!

This photo shoot was fun!

 

But the girls really wanted to continue on to an outing downtown for a nice lunch, or to our surrounding hills with all those cross country ski trails... We'll see.










































Birdy loves the yellow coat and wanted lots of photos!

Jiyoon here is wearing a gorgeous embroidered Ellowyne coat!

Pearl, Tink, and Xennia are wearing Wonderful World coats, from eBay last year.

Faith has on one of the warm cardigans from amgirliam, with Pachom's scarf and hat set.

Zoey is wearing a Betsy McCall coat. And the rest are in Ellowyne garb. 

 

Now you can see why these girls wanted to venture farther than our cedar bush diorama here. 

Looking good, girls! And all cozy enough to spend time in our still-snowy outdoors...

 

Okay Birdy! A couple more photos...



You good now, Birdy?

Can we go now?

We might see some real birds!

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Little Darlings and the Eiffel Tower coloring!

Today's the day!

 

This Eiffel Tower model (a gift from Fashion Doll Stylist from Paris) is covered with over a dozen types of flowers, several different butterflies, two types of birds, and lots of greenery. And paper lanterns...

 

After a winter outing, the girls gathered in the Library, in small groups, to get this Eiffel Towered colored.

They were told it had to be done before they even thought about Valentine's Day!

 

That sure got them motivated...

And they love coloring! The girls stuck to Pearl's coloring rules, picked their favorite crayon color and applied themselves to the task!

(We wish all our tasks were as fun as this one!)

 

Zoey started with red, and Pearl joined her with a blue crayon...

 












Chantal chose mauve and Birdy chose yellow.

These girls have been very patient!





Faith and Jiyoon switched to two shades of pink at the last minute and colored lots of flowers...





Rosa, Xennia,, and Tink added coral, fuchsia, and orange... 





We were impressed with Xennia because she stayed after her friends left to finish her coloring!







Evie, Lula, and Scout finished their flowers with light orange, turquoise, and dark purple.

Then Pearl showed up with several green shades of crayons to color all the greenery...





Rosa came back to help with all the leaves and stems.

And these girls did a great get-it-done job, with promises of cookies when they were finished.





Jiyoon, Birdy, and Pearl then returned to color birds, butterflies, and lanterns. Exciting!







Pearl, Zoey, and Birdy stood and admired the work they have all done!

Then Chantal showed up with good news. Look at her skirt! 

Several pairs of valentine socks and a pair of scissors showed up back in the Community Center!

From coloring to Sockwear...

Life is fun for Dolltown dolls!

 

Birdy left with Chantal while Pearl and Zoey packed away the Eiffel Tower model.

We'll get it out again, and build the Eiffel Tower after the snow is gone and we can see the grass again!



Thanks girls! Outstanding effort!

 

I must say this post was like commentating a hockey game...

Now, let's go see about these socks! Sockwear?

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Valentine's Flashback...the Children!

Last year the Pink Room hosted the Valentine's fun! The Little Darlings all got dressed in their pinks and reds...

 

And then the other girls arrived wearing their prettiest, or reddest dresses and outfits.

 

Here's a group photo of several of the girls, with little Vera and Gabby at the top...

 

Next row: Lilac Moon, Kish, tiny Phoebe, Fancy Nancy, and tall Shasta!

 

And Oiya showed up with her Valentine cone decoration. And our vintage porcelain Joy, in her red jumper and blond flip hair...

 

Whoopi wasn't here yet...














It's fun to look back at some of our stories and photos!

For a look at the Little Darlings, in the middle of makeovers last February, check this post

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Boys in muscle shirts! Sockwear!

It's the Miller Boys! The Chris Miller and Robin Wood Boys.

They are wearing sleeveless Tshirts made from new socks...

Before and after photos, then the girls arrive...














The girls approve!

They are about to go and create some sock outfits for themselves!

Valentine's! Stay tuned!

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Darling Lil' Bee Dressmaker...

Valentine and special day fashion for our favorite dolls!
It's February...and we have been seeing the prettiest dresses on our Facebook groups and favorite doll blogs!
 
Here is a beautiful dress by Erin Green, up for bid presently in Erin's shop on ebay: Darling Lil' Bee.
This dress can be used for any special day, but some of Erin's pretty dresses are made just for Valentine's Day!
 
Erin makes a variety of styles, using both lovely and cute patterns. She recently set up a web page to show off her work and make it available to those with dolls to dress. Darling Lil' Bee Diminutive Doll Designs 
~ a webstore with clothing, shoes and wigs for Dianna Effner's Little Darling dolls
 
We have several of Erin's dresses here in Dolltown! 
 
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Conner at April's Design School for Girls!

It's Conner!

She has been at April's Design School for a month now!

 

We get letters and photos from her every few days and we thought it was time again to share some!

 

Especially since we are copying lots of her ideas here in Dolltown!

April uses found material and pieces of beautiful and unusual materials to design couture for her dolls.

 

And Conner is learning a lot! And April has made Conner some fun and beautiful clothes!

 

Some of these photos show Conner in her clothes. And they also show April and Conner trying out different fabrics and furs!

 

How fun! 

 

And not only is Conner trying out different styles and materials, she gets to borrow clothes from April's dolls, play with lots of stuffies and small dolls, and she gets put to sleep every night with a cozy blanket and a stuffy. Or two! Or more!

 

And April is also teaching Conner some wonderful skills, like how to draw her design ideas!

 

Look! Ponchos, Tshirt dresses, shoes (shoes!), Tshirt with a sparkle FDS design, a feather coat, and Conner even gets draped like April's Divas!


Conner is wearing pearls!

And she is surrounded above by a bunch of cute friends!

(And we know there are lots more...Conner talks about a "room full of friends".

And she is not talking about the city of models that April keeps for her couture extravaganzas!

 

April has a wonderful post up (Feb 2/17) on her informative and stunning website, Fashion Doll Stylist.

It is a reflective of her blog work over the last years....

 

And we are about to post our Dolltown sockwear inspiration in a Valentine's post.

Wait for it!

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Sockwear on the Iplehouse girls!

The Iple girls need more clothes!

 

And since we have been following the creative process of Fashion Doll Stylist, April, we saw an opportunity recently while standing at the sock counter of a local store...

 

Never mind eBay bjd clothes...how about a pair of scissors and a sock just the color of Aira's eyes!

 

And I like the results! Aira now has two skirts and two tops! And the other girls have tube tops and skirts too. Now there are a few glitches to work out, and I see a need for a little finishing, but so far no needle and thread, just..

Socks and Scissors!




Besides their new sockwear, the girls are starting to try out the clothes of the other doll "families" in Dolltown...

On the left Aira has a nightie that belongs to one of our Vintage.

And our Violet, right, is wearing one of the Ellowyne's coats!

So the Little Darlings are not the only ones borrowing clothes...









These last photos show the difference in skin tones available for these bjd's, from Normal on our Violet (left), Peach Gold on our Tania (soon discontinued), to Special Real Skin on our Carved Heritage Cordelia.

These 17" girls are all JID's (Junior Iplehouse Dolls) from the South Korean company Iplehouse.

 

Now let's get to the Little Darlings' sockwear designs! Coming!

 

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Little Darlings Create Their Own Valentine's Wear!

Socks and Scissors!

Jiyoon's Playroom at Dolltown Abbey is where the girls gathered for their Valentine sock designing party! 

 

The Little Darlings have been looking at Conner's photos from April's Design School. In several photos, Conner is wearing socks. I mean, Conner is wearing nightwear and dresses made from socks! And that was very inspirational for the girls!

 

They all came to me asking for my socks. They wanted to see if they could make a nightie or a new dress.

 

Well, that sent me to the dollar store on a sock hunt!

And I found, not only socks to cut and try for the Iple girls and the boys, but the cutest Valentine socks!

The Little Darlings were thrilled!

 

A pink bucket full of fun socks! A little pair of scissors! How fun is that?

 

Chantal and Jiyoon got to make themselves the first sockwear, got the hang of it, and then invited the rest of the girls to come and design their own creations.

 

And they came two by two's and three's to Jiyoon's playroom.

 

Chantal is our February Little Darling, ready to greet the girls and help them with their Valentine sock designs...

 














































Wow! Way to go girls!

I like the way the different bff's coordinated their outfits!

Well, we'll take a break while the girls accessorize up!

Shoes and ribbons coming up!

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Time Out! Sockwear for Gabby and the boys!

Just a few photos of Gabby and the boys!

Gabby somehow managed to scoop a cute sock and convinced Chantal to make her a "dress"!

Pretty funny, Gabby!

And these boys saw the muscle shirts on the other boys,

and came to Jiyoon's playroom looking for a sock of their own!
















Looking good boys! Good enough for some Valentine outing! Hmmm...

Okay little Gabby! Chantal, Faith and the rest of the Little Darlings are ready for their Valentine's photos!

All dressed in socks! How exciting!

Stay tuned!

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Little Darlings Sockwear Fashion Show!

We did it!

 

We are ready to show the world our Dolltown Sockwear Fashions!

 

Our inspiration is Fashion Doll Stylist, couture fashion for dolls!

Okay fine... This is not couture. It's a pair of scissors and some dollar store socks.

But we have to start somewhere!

 

And the Little Darlings are over the moon at their accomplishment!

 

And now they can show off their designs! They are waiting in the wings. I can hear their giggles from here...

 

Chantal, our February Valentine girl, and bff Faith start us off!

 

 













































Okay Xennia and Tink!

Before you get too comfy, it's time for our group shot!

Nobody will see your "sock tails"! But it's okay, we got photos!

Come on now girls! All together now!

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Happy Valentine's Day from all the Little Darlings!

Just a note... I know in our neck of the woods it's still the-day-before Valentine's Day.

But I have people in Australia! And it's already the big day there...

So here we are. Cards tomorrow! 

 

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2017 Dolltown Valentine Greetings...

These greetings went out to friends, family, and to social media...








We hope you had a sweet Valentine's Day!

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The Ellowynes Are Off to the Movies!

After Oksana's Yoga Classes at the Community Center, the girls picked her up on their way to the movies!

 



The rest of the Dolltown Ellowynes gathered and waited in the Winter Park...










Hey! Where's Eesha?

One of our Dolltown Ellowynes is missing!

We'll head over to the movie theater and see if she is there already!

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All Come Tumbling Down!

I just have to post a photo of what happened when one of the boys wanted to join the group photo...

 

After our Valentine Sock Wear Fashion Show last week, I managed to get all the Little Darlings together for a group shot. This is never easy. I don't use stands. And in this shot I had all the front girls balanced and then propped two girls (two!) behind on  our metal chair, then popped in a small bench next to the chair, fully expecting everyone to fall and then I would give up and go have a coffee....

 

But one stood, them another, and finally Pearl. Now, these girls at the back are gently leaning on each other. But still! I was impressed and quickly took several shots.

 

Then I went for coffee. And then errands, then supper, evening TV, and a good sleep. And the girls stood like this for 24 hours!

 

Okay then! Let's introduce one of the boys to get a lead in to my Go-To-The-Movies story (coming up)!

I moved Geoff slowly in to stand beside Faith, there on the left... And what happened is the photo below.

Basically, dominoes...

 

I just had to take a photo. Of course!

Not one girl on the floor, thank goodness.

And there's Birdy, looking right at the camera!

On to the movie story!

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What's up with Conner at the Design School? Lots!

Let's stop for a few photos from Conner!

Conner has been in Detroit with April at her Design School for Girls for just a few weeks.

And she got to collaborate with April on some Valentine fun!

She wore her new red and white Tshirt dress with Valentine enhancements, a coat made from a bonnet, and a jaunty beret! And then a white Tshirt with a sock skirt. And look at those socks! And the shoes!

And even Teddy got a special outfit!

And Conner was immersed in red roses for a beautiful Valentine photo....





Conner shows us the dress form she gets to use to try out some designs.

And the Fashion Doll Stylist designed clothes hangers!

And Conner gets some made just for Little Darling sized clothes...



And we were all so impressed when April and Conner sent photos of Conner's new skill...photography!

How lucky is this girl! Just look at her getting the model ready in her gorgeous gown, and check out..the tripod!




Thanks Conner! Say hi to Fashion Doll Stylist!

We hear April is very busy getting ready for the Academy Awards.

And she says "Fashion month is on!". NY, UK, Milan, Paris...

Check out April's doll fashion site for her latest couture post! Amazing!

Wait! There's a new post on how to make a dress with a train! 

Shhh...don't tell my dolls. Sock wear was enough for now!

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Priscilla Gets Stuck!

Gabby got to create a sockwear dress! She stayed behind when the Little Darlings left to get ready for an outing to the Dolltown Cinema!

 

And one of Gabby's favorite friends, Priscilla, showed up in the Playroom, feeling very grumpy about been excluded from the sockwear fun.

(Excluded? So that's your story again, Priscilla?)

 

So Gabby decides to...help Priscilla. And get her into a sock. Small detail, Gabby? Scissors! And where did you get that sock?!






















So, you can see that Uley showed up, hearing Priscilla's muffled complaints. 

And after being somewhat successful at getting Priscilla INTO the sock, they realized that the lack of head and arm holes (a slight oversight) was causing a BIG problem.

 

And so they went to fetch Vikka.

Vikka, the Fixer.

Gabby and Uley wanted to get scissors and cut the holes while the sock was over Priscilla's head.

But thankfully Vikka can be trusted to have VERY good sense. Very safety minded (for others anyway)!

 

So the sock came off. But not before Gabby tried to persuade Priscilla to wear the sock on her head like a hat! She brought Priscilla a mirror though, and Priscilla was not impressed!

Gabby, Priscilla, and her little dolly left, to see if they could go to the movies. Good distraction! 

Vikka's idea? Some dolls are sooo useful!

 

And then these two cleaned up the Playroom....

Good job!  I can't tell you how much I appreciate it! (We are busy making popcorn.)

 

 

 

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Little Darlings and Friends Are Off to the Movies!

Faith, Chantal

Jiyoon, Zoey, Pearl

Evie, Scout, and Lula

Birdy, Rosa

Tink, Xennia



The Little Darlings get to go the Dolltown Movie Theatre!

They are excited to have an outing in their Valentine Sockwear!

 

The girls and friends arrive in groups...

 

The boys join the girls.

Ellowyne Eesha shows up with the popcorn boxes.

Gabby tags along with Tink and Xennia.

 

And Tink shows initiative when the popcorn boxes run out!

 

 











































Hey! These two boys, Geoff and Owen came out to get popcorn for everyone who missed out.

 

Thanks, boys!

 

I hear lots of laughter coming from the theatre!

I think it's the new Lego Batman Movie!

 

Now we are waiting for the Ellowynes to show up for the late show...

 

Do those girls even eat popcorn?

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Ellowynes at the Movie Theatre!

It's the Dolltown Ellowyne's out for an evening movie!

 

The children have come and gone...past their bedtime!

 

Eesha, meets up with Wiz, and they get cozy. Then the others arrive...

 

Hmmm...wonder what they saw? La la Land or Moonlight?

 

 













After the movie they hung out, deciding where to go next...








Romy suggested a little dancing...

Okay kids, don't stay out too late. (You work right? Right?)

 

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