Monday, July 25, 2011

Introducing Shantavia, The Artist/Photographer

Most of you have already met Shantavia.  She was the photographer at the mall at Christmas time and she just recently photographed the families at the Daddy/Daughter dance.  She was an art major in college and her dream is to one day own an art gallery.

She just recently moved into a larger apartment that has room for an art studio.  She still has lots of work to do as far as decorating, and she is anxious to get it done.  She knows she will be spending a lot of time in this room.  First thing on her to do list is add more lighting.  The lighting is poor and makes it difficult for her to paint and photograph her paintings. (It also made it difficult for me to take my pictures).

She is a single mom of 5 year old Jada.

Her best friend, Naisha, is also a single mom of 3 year old, Kimaya.

Naisha has stopped by and they are chit chatting a little about everything, including the Daddy/Daughter dance.

Although she didn't stay the entire time, Shantavia gives as much detail as possible about the dance.

 Jada has a stepsister that she is totally in love with.

Meet Jada's dad, Jason, his wife, Lynn, and their baby girl.


Jada loves when it's her time to come visit her dad.  She just loves being a "big sister".  Initially she wasn't keen on the idea, but once Lynn started letting her help with the baby, Jada started looking forward to her visits.


Special Thanks to Frannie of Thrift Store Dolls for finding and sending me the Lil Ty Sydney doll, that I named Kimaya!
Special Thanks to Ms. Lydia Thompson for my Jada doll! You can check out her Flickr photos here.

12 comments:

  1. Nice families. And how many AA Krissy dolls do you have? Are they all of the same skin color? I have one AA Krissy from the AA version of the set with a stroller and I always think that she is a rather dark version of Krissy and other AA versions should be lighter. But I'm never sure. Photos on eBay usually don't show the real skin color and I never saw other Krissy dolls in real life to make sure. But the one showed at KattisDolls (Baby Layette Krissy AA) is definitely lighter. Her hair is lighter too. Hmm.

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  2. Dukasha - I have 2 AA Krissy dolls. The one her is the dark skinned one, and the Redmonds daughter, Sophia is the light skinned one. I also have 2 different Caucasian ones. I wish they had made a boy version.

    P.S. I will get that video to you within the next couple of days. So much to do!

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  3. Great studio! I love that easel! I've been working on one too but other projects keep jumping in front of me!

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  4. Dani - I meant to include in the post that most of the art props came from the Dora Playset I got from Tuesday Morning for $5 a few months ago. I saw it in Walmart just recently for $30. The other art props came from the SIS playset with Trichelle. I can't wait to really make it an art studio. I just needed to get something started on my other storylines. Those Barbie Families have been monopolizing all of my time. I look forward to seeing your studio one day.

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  5. Yes, I looked at Sophia and saw that she resembled the AA Krissy doll from KattisDolls. Is Sophia one of those Krissy dolls, which are sold in big sets with baby accessories, but without Barbie dolls?
    I also have two caucasian Krissy dolls - with blond and brown hair - and one AA Krissy, but I want to buy the second one. Just don't know, what Krissy to choose. I don't want them to look identically... It would be also nice to have an asian Krissy, but she is too rare. As for the boys, it would be wonderful to have them also, though I have many AA Mattel babies from different babysitter sets. Some of them are surely boys. Their arms and legs don't move, nevertheless I like them. I also have two caucasian non-Mattel babies, they are more movable.

    Thanks for your work with the video. Do it only when you have time for it, please. I don't want to make you any problems.

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  6. Dukasha - I think I bought Sophia as a singular doll in her own little set. I can't be 100% sure. That was so long ago. I don't think there were any Barbie dolls with her. I can almost picture me in the ToysRUs picking up the set. I see me in the aisle. They are on the right hand side, 3rd shelf down. I think she came with the swing set. I don't know why I remember that. I just remember being so happy to have her. I tried to get the Asian one and almost had her. I am happy with my Asian toddler that came with the Birthday set. One day soon, I will sculpt my own babies. I just haven't had the time.

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  7. That's my favorite Trichelle! How do you like the Swappin' Style bodies? My Trichelle is still on the older body but I've been thinking about putting her on one of the Swappin' Style bodies.

    Love her place too!

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  8. Tracy - Of course that is your favorite Trichelle. She has your hair! Did you see my post about Swapping Styles? Here is a link. http://vansdolltreasures.blogspot.com/2011/06/swapping-styles-i-finally-get-it.html I just put her on her new body just before the shooting the pictures. As a photographer and artist, she needed bendable wrists. Now that I have decided to just pop heads on and off, I don't need so many bodies. So far I like the body, but I haven't played with it much. The other Artsy bodies I have do not have the swappable head.

    I can't wait to fix up her little studio. It is a permanent structure, so I don't have to worry about taking it down. I am trying to have a few permanent rooms/house that I leave up to make my stories easier to do.

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  9. Thanks for introducing us to Shantavia and the other new characters. Nice studio.

    Are you going to include them under the character tab?

    How nice of Frannie and Ms. Lydia Thompson to send Kimaya and Jada to you.

    dbg

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  10. Nice diorama Vanessa. I always look so forward to your post because I know they are going to be inspiring. Your little ones are too cute.

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  11. DBG - Make sure you check out the latest post. There were some changes made to the studio. All characters will eventually make the list. It may not be right away, as I know how I operate and I don't want to have to do things twice. For instance, today I decided to add to Naisha's family tree. I took pictures and it will be posted tomorrow. I will add this new photo to the character list. Jason and Lynn will be added once I give them a last name and their baby girl a first name. Shantavia also needs a last name and I just may add to her family tree. I still have a few older characters that I need to add to the list.

    Georgia Girl - Thanks! Will you be sharing the items you bought on clearance? I saw that on someone else's blog today. LOL! You know I get my shopping fix through you guys.

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  12. Okay, Vanessa. I haven't checked out the latest post just yet, but you know I will.

    dbg

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