Nokia Animated Barbie Video

I am not promoting Nokia, but today I received an email alerting me to their new animated Barbie commercial.  I am not sure how I feel about the actual video, but I like the song.  The second video is "The Making of" the first video.  THIS is the video I want you to see.  Take note of how many people it took to make this 1 minute video.  I'm not sure that the one assistant I am waiting for is going to be enough!  

Poor Halle had to work on Memorial Day

She  was a little miffed at me because I could have had this done before Memorial Day, but since I procrastinated, I ruined her holiday plans. Oh well.  I at least remade her cute little sweater dress after trading her last one away.

Available for $37USD + shippiing. in my Etsy Store. I ship worldwide. Matching or coordinating pieces available upon request.

P.S.  I almost made it today without doing 2 posts.  I will try again tomorrow.

I Finally Met a Real Life Full Scale Man!

I couldn't believe it.  I haven't been out on a date in over 15 months.  I don't even think I've had a man even look at me in over 15 months.  For those that know my story, you know why.  So I ran to Walmart to get dog food.  Of course I wasn't looking my best, but my outfit was sort of cute.  My hair needs to be done, so it was neatly pulled back in a ponytail.  So imagine my surprise when this fine specimen in the bread section said hello. I said hello and kept walking.  He seemed to be following me, so I stepped aside to let him pass.  Well we said a few more words, and that led to a 30 minute conversation in between the chips and the crackers.

The sad part was the whole time he was talking I kept wondering what character he would play in my stories. He had some great lines.  They weren't cheesy, corny lines.  They were things that Rod would say.  I was trying to stash them in my mental rolodex for future use in my stories.  Get this, his name is Manwell.  Who in real life is named Manwell?  That is the perfect name for a character. 

If I had to describe him, I would say his looks are a cross between David and Roderick. His complexion is in between the two. He was really quite handsome. And the smile! OMGoodness.  He was smooth talking like Roderick.  The words were just flowing through his beautiful smile, and I was just cheesing, but trying not to.  And he had the charisma of Darius. 

David

Roderick

Darius

When you put all of that together, what do you get?



Boris

And now that I think about it, he did resemble Boris. I am still wondering, why he stopped and talked to me, because I was feeling a little like this

"I knew I should have combed my hair before running to the store."



An Unplanned Character, but a Welcome Addition

Meet Lydia Thompson.  She is an Interior Designer  She is the Nate Burkus/Candice Olsen to the Elite.  She wasn't a planned character, but some great things happened yesterday and Lydia was born.  More on that later.  Guess who just hired her!  Darius!  I swear that guy is going to drive me to drink.  I'm not saying he shouldn't have hired a designer.  He definitely could use one.  But did she have to be so beautiful!  I can't imagine that he ran this by Nikki.  Not that he should have to, but this might avoid some future conflict when she later finds out. Why he insists on putting himself (and me) in potentially difficult situations is beyond me.  I have already limited Halle's access, then he goes and does this.  What  a bonehead!  He also just added another video/photostory to my list, because Nikki feels he needs a few boundaries considering what she just went through with him and that whole Halle fiasco.

Don't get me wrong, Darius is a pretty faithful guy, but being such a handsome specimen, he is always a target for women's affections.  So I would just like him to be a little more conscious of his decisions now that he is trying to settle down with Nikki.  I know it's a lot to ask, because he is totally oblivious to the issue.

I have to admit, she's a pretty good interior designer.

I don't know if she's married.  I sure hope so! That will definitely help with the Darius thing.

Darius sealing the deal.

A Blog Exclusive Video!!! Melanie is Upset!

I was supposed to be taking the day off from blogging yesterday to spend the day sewing.  Couldn't do it.  I ended up with 2 blog posts. 

This short video will only be shown here.  While passing through the studio, I could see that somethiing had upset Melanie.  So I got out the camera and started shooting.  This is what came to light.

 

Darius' Sister is married

Originally, I had thought about naming her Natasha, but I already have a Natasha.  So her new name is Kendra.  She is married to Dr. Nathaniel Burke.  He goes by the nickname Nate. They have been married less than a year.  Still relatively newlyweds.  He keeps long hours at the hospital, but he is trying to make minor adjustments to his schedulee to please his new bride.

The New Video is ready. Danielle finally meets Nicole



Well that faithful meeting between Danielle and Nicole finally takes place. It didn't go at all like I planned it.  But I'm finding that the videos are taking on a life of their own.  For weeks now, I had imagined what this meeting would look like.  So much for my grand plan.  I also discovered as I was working with Nicole, that she is not 12, like I originally thought.  She is more like 10, so I am revising her age.  I am also revising Julian's age from 6 to 5. 



Are You Having Problems with Blogger, too?

I have been having problems with Blogger the past few days.  When trying to leave comments, I can't get gmail to accept my password.  I have figured out a way around this, by selecting Name/URL, instead of Google Account when leaving a comment.  This works, unless it is a blog that doesn't accept Name/URL or Anonymous comments.  Then I am SOL.  If you too, are having problems, try the Name/URL option and I think you will be fine.

Come on Google!  Get it together!!!

Another deboxing means another dolly is dressed for the Dance

This morning I ventured back to the Toy Store.....my basement.  I can't remember why I went down there.  Oh yes, I do.  I was going to check out my wig and hair supply.  I couldn't decide what I was going to do today, so I considered that AA Kelly reroot.  I grabbed some mohair that I totally forgot I had.  When I turned to leave, I spotted my Kitty Collier doll, boxed and behind the glass cabinet.  Wow!  She must have really been special to make it into the coveted 'all glass' cabinet.  I think it was just a case of her being small enough to fill that last spot.

I had considered selling her, but had been told that her clothes fit the Poppy dolls quite well.  I don't have a Poppy doll, but she is currently the only doll on the list.  Back to Kitty.  So I decided not to sell her.  But today, I decided to borrow her dress.

Here she is.  She is a 10" Tonner doll.

For some reason I thought her dress would work for Sylvia's daughter.  She was one of two girls left to be dressed for the Daddy/Daughter dance.

It's not a perfect fit.  I need to do something with the right side of the skirt.  I also need to remove those big flowers.

The other option is me making her a dress.  So we will go with this one.  I am trying to get this dance done before the year is over.  So work with me.  When I went to put her back in the "ballroom", I noticed something that I hadn't planned....

Her mom, who has been dressed in her gown since last week, had a dress that was made of similar material.  This actually made the Kitty dress look better.... at least to me.  They will both get something done to their hair, and hopefully some jewelry.  They are a work in progress.

Do you guys realize how much work this Daddy/Daughter dance is?  I shouldn't be yelling at you guys, I need to be yelling at my YouTube fans.  They are the ones that kept asking, "Where's the Daddy/Daughter dance?"  I really should have said that it already happened but I forgot to turn on the camera.  Lol.  I am starting to get gray hair.  Can someone tell me when that Assistant is arriving!!!

Another Box Bites the Dust!

The boxes are really flying off the dolls now!  I actually deboxed two dolls today.  That means it is a minimum two blog posts day.  This is the first.  If you recall my Dynasty Photo, my Lt. Uhura doll was deboxed and she made the Elite group.  She is the one in the hat.  Well, when I shot the picture, I immediately thought she would be the older sister to my Grace (S.I.S.) doll, who was part of the Single Ladies group.  Well last night, Lt. Uhura was named Jacquelyn, and instead of one younger sister, she ended up with  twin younger sisters. (This just means that I couldn't decide which Grace doll to use, so I made them twins).  This morning, before coffee, I decided I had the perfect mom for these sisters.  There was only one problem.  I had listed this potential mom for sale on my DollPage site.  No problem.  I quickly opened up my account and kindly removed her from the For Sale list.  I was on the fence about selling her anyway, because I didn't have a duplicate. But an unpaid bill, and panic, had me posting this doll for sale.  The bill is still unpaid, but my panic is over.  So I'm taking my doll back.

This is the 2006 AA Breast Cancer Doll

Meet the Langfords. They are a family of means. Mom and Dad married right out of college 30 years ago. They have three daughters, Jacquelyn (29) and the twins, Grace and Dominique (26). Grace has a 4 yr old daughter and Dominique has a 2 yr old daughter.

 

William and Camille are prominent members in the community.  William is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and Camille is a soror of Alpha Kappa Alpha.  Camille is a breast cancer survivor, and just celebrated 5 years of being cancer free! (Note: These two were not named after the Cosbys. I just noticed that they were the same. LOL.  I actually did name research before coming up with these names. So I am sticking with them)

Jacquelyn, is a hard working business woman. She is single, with no kids.

Dominique, on the left, is somewhat of a Tomboy.  You will usually see her a lot more casually dressed than her sisters.  Grace, on the right, is a little more fashion savy like her mom and sister Jacquelyn.  I am not sure of their relationship/marital status.  I have to do a little more research there.  

My New Inspiration - Son of Ellis

One of the greatest compliments that I can receive is that "You inspire me".  That makes me feel just as good as when someone buys a piece of furniture that I made.  Just hearing those words keeps me creating. One of my purposes in life is to inspire others to do something that brings them joy.  So, I am inspired to keep doing what I do, not only because it brings me joy, but it seems to make others happy, too.  This weekend I was truly inspired.

When I run across an artist/person that has something to offer the world, I feel obliged to encourage that person to move forward.  Sometimes we lack the confidence to put ourselves out there.  "What happens if they don't like my work."  "But it's not perfect."  "I'm not ready, yet."  All things we tell ourselves to keep us from moving forward.  So that is where I come in.  Lately I have run into a couple of unique artists that have something to offer the doll world, especially in the arena  of ethnic dolls.  That is still an area that is sorely lacking, in my opinion.  How many of us have complained about the lack of ethnic male figures available today?  I use the term ethnic, because it is not just African-American.  It is Asian, Hispanics, etc.  The current doll world is not reflective of the new changing world that we live in.  Another thing that some of us complain about is hair.  Don't get me wrong, I like some of my dolls to have long flowing hair, but not all of them.  Where is the variety?  That's why some of us 12" collectors were so happy to see Trichelle from the S.I.S. line.  And how many little AA 3 year old girls you know are walking around with hair down their butts.  (Note to self - start that AA Kelly reroot soon).  Bottom line is, we can't wait for Tonner, Wu, and Mattel to make these changes, it just may have to come from within the ethnic communities.  And what's wrong with that.  Can anyone see the incredible business opportunity that is there, besides me?

This brings me to SonofEllis.  Some of you may know him.  He is an incredible artist that works with 16" fashion dolls.  Here is a link to his Flickr photostream.   He does incredible transformations with the dolls, particularly the male dolls.  At least that is what I noticed the most.  His dolls look like people you see walking down the street.  I swear I have dated some of those men in his pictures. (Or at least wanted to.  I could never get the pretty boys.).  Not only does he transform the dolls, but he designs and makes clothes, shoes, and handbags.  I have not seen anyone else out there doing what he is doing.  His dream is to design his own doll and fashion line.  There is only one problem.  He doesn't think he is that good.  This brother has an incredible gift that the world needs to see.  It is my belief that he is "that good".  Now I just have to convince him of that.  (I know what some of you may be thinking. I also need to convince him to do some 12" men.  That may be a harder sell, but I will try)

Photo property of Two-Spirit

This photo belongs to the lady, Two-Spirit, who introduced me to SonofEllis.  Make sure you check out her Flickr photos, too.  She does incredible dioramas for 16" dolls.  The four guys in this photo were transformed by SonofEllis. This is the only photo that I have access to, so you will have to see his other male, and female transformations on his Flickr account.  I love that his men span the entire color spectrum. I believe that most, if not all, of his dolls are wearing his own creations.  I also believe that the artwork in the backgrounds on his Flickr stream also belong to him.

So what do you think?

Green Diamonds? Not exactly. Let's try Diamond Green.

That is what I named the latest sofa.  The fabric is so pretty.  I made and sold  a set of chairs in this fabric last year.  It is still one of my favorite fabrics.  Very classy.  Available in my Etsy Store for $47USD + Shipping. 

Halle is not thrilled with her latest modeling job, but it helps to pay that Neiman Marcus bill.  Until she finds a man, she is stuck paying her own bills.

Meet DJ Rohan

Are you guys still with me? I told you we would be going warp speed. This is the second post for the day. You can see the first post here.  I have another one ready, but I will wait for tomorrow. LOL! I didn't have any coffee today. I figured you guys needed me to slow down a bit.

If you recall, Vanessa was in charge of getting the DJ and selecting music for the DD dance.  Well she chose her friend Rohan to do the honors.  Rohan is originially from New Orleans.  One of the sweetest guys you would ever want to meet.

Rohan is sporting a Limbe Dolls handmade, removable wig. This is one of the very special gifts I received from her at the doll show a couple of weeks ago. Isn't it wonderful?  I had intended to put it on a lady, but once I tried it on Rohan, that was all she wrote.  Since it is removable, I will be able to use it on other dolls as well.  Visit Limbe Dolls Store to see the beautiful dolls she have available for sale. I think she will be selling wigs, like this one in the near future.  I will be sharing one of her dolls with you in a future post.

Do you see the muscles on this dude?

I don't know who this woman is.  She just showed up as I was taking pictures.  There is always a groupie or two, hanging around those music guys.

This is actually Pop Life Christie head on Halle Berry's old body.  I think I will let her stick around.

This is what Rohan looked like before his hair transformation.  I bought him at the last doll show for $7.  He is a grenade throwing GI Joe guy.

Remember the TV Show, Dynasty?

That's exactly what I thought of yesterday when this cast of characters emerged.  As I mentioned yesterday, I organized my dolls into groups.  These are the "Elites".  They are the high rolloers.  In this group you will find the lawyers, the doctors, hotel managers, business owners, etc.  If they don't own summer homes, they have friends that own summer homes.  They are not necessarily friends and they don't travel in the same circles, but they shop in the same types of stores and eat at same types of restaurants, so it's not unusual to run into one another.

There is one person missing from this group.  That would be Melanie, Roderick's ex-wife.  She fought hard to get into this group and lost her husband in the process.  Just as well, could you see Roderick fitting in with this group?  Me neither.  Currently Melanie is hanging out with the "Single Mothers" group.  As you will see, most dolls will fit in multiple groups, or they have family in the other groups.

Halle Berry is back with a Vengence!

It's 8:15pm and I am still going strong.  Did you read the post from earlier this afternoon?  If not, go take a look.  Since that post earlier, I finished the sofa and then went for a little run.  I can't believe that coffe is still with me.

You know I am taking a big risk by taking Halle out of hiding.  I made sure Darius was no where around.  Halle got a new body today.  And what a body it is!  I gave her the Christie Pop Life body.  Not a perfect match, but close enough.  Why didn't you guys tell me how awesome these bodies are?  It's a good thing I didn't know, I would have bought out BarbieCollector.com.  This is the perfect body for Halle.  It is model size and unbelievably poseable.

Occassionally I will swoon over one of my Action Figure guys as I'm taking pictures. I never swoon over the woman because that's just not me.  But Halle had me swooning.  Good Lawd!  What is it about Halle in person and in doll form.  Ought to be a law.   I have to find her a man real quick.  You know I was tempted to throw Darius in the picture with her, but when I reached for him, I saw Nikki cutting those eyes at me like daggers and I put him back.  I need to just leave those two alone and let them work on their relationship.  Halle will be just fine.

I still need to work on her hair. Soon, I promise.

Too Cute for Words!

This morning I woke with one thing on my "To Do" list.  Finish the sofa!  It is 90% done and I wanted to finish it before doing anything else.  I made the mistake of going to the studio.  I don't know what came over me, I started deboxing and rebodying and organizing and dressing dolls.  It was crazy!!!!  By 9:30am I had 3 dolls deboxed, a couple rebodied and just about every loose doll that I own, organized and categorized.  It must have been the coffee.  Then I started getting the dolls dressed for the Daddy/Daughter dance.  I said that I would just dress about 3 dolls.  Well, I ended up dressing at least 15 of them.  Then I started doing hair.  WHAT the Ham and Cheese sandwich is going on?  I am not going to complain.  The sofa is now 95% done and I am determined to get it finished today.  It's only 3:45pm so I am not worried.  By the way, when I took the dog outside, I mowed the lawn on the spur of the moment.  If I didn't know bettter, I would have thought there was something in the coffee I drank this morning, but I brewed it myself, so it wasn't spiked.

When I dressed little Kenaz I couldn't stop smiling. Then when I dressed Alicia and put her hair up, I nearly cried. They both are just "too cute for words".

Can you believe I got her hair in an updo? She has some of the most unruly hair, and I am not the best at doing hair.  Definitely the coffee. 

I wonder if he will ask her to dance.  Are you wondering why I have 3 of essentially the same picture?  Because I just couldn't get enough and I couldn't bring myself to delete any of them.

Jessica's Play Date

The Hart family has been adjusting to having dad home.  It's been quite an adjustment, especially for dad, Ethan.  Stephanie has had to reorganize her life to not only be mom, but to get back to being a wife.  Ethan is working through all the nightmares about the war.  Even with all the challenges, they are all happy to be reunited.

A typical family room when there are infants and toddlers in the house.

Stephanie has managed to get Jessica, baby Aiden and herself, dressed.

 Dad comes to say goodbye before leaving for work.

"Hmmm.  Daddy loves you so much."

"Have a great day, honey."

Kathleen is headed to school. Mom gives some last minute advice.

Moments. later, Jessica heads to her play area.

Mom has placed the baby in the playpen for his morning nap. 

Meanwhile, she does a little cleaning to get ready for the guests.

Hours have passed.  Mom fed the kids their lunch and then put them down for naps.

They're so adorable when they sleep. 

 

Naps never seem to last long.

Jessica awakes just in time for her play date with Mikayla.

"Sweetie, look who's here. Are you going to say hi to Mikayla." 

Doesn't take long before the girls are totally engrossed in playland.

Even baby Chloe is playing away.

Stephanie and Michelle get to enjoy some adult conversation. I think I hear them talking about the dance. Yes, they will both be there.

An hour later and the girls have had enough. All in all, a great play date for all.