December Musings

It has been a busy month here in 1/6 L.A., as well as 1/1 *location redacted*! I have been selling off a lot of my old, stored toys on eBay. It is sad to see them go, but also a good feeling to know that they will no longer be stuck in storage and will be going to homes that want them. I like thinking of the buyer being excited to get my toy in the mail. Plus, it gave me some extra money for Christmas shopping, shipping Christmas presents (wow, so costly!), and even a bit left over for some fun stuff for myself! Yay, new dolls!

I may have gone slightly overboard with the Barbie shopping, but I am not sure how much of it will be for me and how much of it will be additional gifts. There were a few that have been on my wishlist for quite a while, and I thought, well why not? They make me smile, and I can use all the smiles I can get! It's also funny collecting something where I can buy a pretty decent doll for $15. I am used to collecting things that cost three times that, at least! It's easy to go overboard! Especially with all of the new variety in dolls and clothing options!

The clothes I had for my barbies growing up were so strange, and not normal person clothes. They didn't fit very well, except the handmade clothes, and tended to be bright, neon colors! I've worked very hard recently to find basic items like T-shirts and regular pants for my dolls, but it is definitely a challenge. I guess Barbie lives most of her life in ball gowns and minidresses! I wish I was better at sewing!

I did sew this odd top for Stacie. The collar is stretchy and can be worn as pictured, or with the collar stretched down over both her shoulders. She is wearing a matching hair tie.

    Shopping is really fun, and I maybe spent too much this month, but I can't wait to open the packages and share them! I love how my doll collection is turning out so far!

Rearranging

Big things have been happening on the doll side of things. In the past 24 hours, I've completely unpacked and re-packed my entire doll collections of 1:6, 1:9, and 1:12 people. I've rearranged and mostly put away the 1:9 dolls in anticipation of the move (which is probably still months off) and also pulled out the 1:6 dolls to keep me company in the interim.

Life has been a bit stressful due to health issues and moving and political and family drama. I may have gone on a little bit of an ebay shopping binge, but being mostly broke, it was only a small one. I'm expecting a few cheap accessories to be trickling in, though I did finally buy the Lightwaves bar to renovate! I've been selling more than buying lately, so it felt good to pick up a few fun things.

I have to admit that current events did give me some pause about going ahead with Lightwaves. I wanted to write darker stories with it than I usually do, but I wondered if more darkness was really needed in the world. However, I think I need to tell this story. Maybe other people wouldn't consider it overly intense, or overthink it the way I am. I only know that I wanted to push my comfort zone, and this will do that. I am a person who sees my projects in stages of pre/pro/post production, and I am definitely in the pre stage right now! Trying to get to know my characters, trying to design the sets, trying to decide exactly what story I do want to tell. Ideas are swirling around in my head, and I want them to be more solid before I begin in earnest. This is mainly for myself, anyway. For me to create this world that I am starting to see so clearly, to share it, to get it out of my head and into reality. What happens beyond that, is not in my control.

Because I loathe blog posts without photos...behold Celeste's fantastic boots! I wish I could wear these...
       

The Doll Aisle

I did a very short video of some of the dolls for sale at the "local" store an hour away. It's my first video of this sort and my cellphone is not a fancy iphone or anything, so it is not the best. There is also no audio. But I think it turned out ok for my first time. Next time, I may get braver and try to get better details and captions.

An Old Photo

    Nothing much to share today except for this picture of the BFFs hanging out on the park bench. This was from July, back when they were the only "new" dolls in my collection. I'm sure Melody would be appalled that they are being shown in their "default" clothing! I also realize now, that black pair of shoes that Andrea is wearing has not been seen since. Hmm.

Surprise Arrival

This weekend, my latest toy purchase arrived from eBay, a fold-up Barbie Dream barn that I found for $8 (including shipping!). I may do a review on it later. The barn is nice enough, and will work well for the purpose I bought it for...but along with it came a doll.

    



She is not the original doll that came with the set. Her clothes, however, are. To be honest, I might have paid the $8 just for the adorable outfit!

But the doll is adorable, too. "Anya" has bright red lips, green eyes, and sparkles in her hair. I love her face sculpt! She has minor chew marks on her fingers, but it doesn't seem to affect her too badly.
   

The clothing didn't really fit her look, to me. She seems carefree, the kind of person who puts her troubles firmly behind her, a dreamer. Her new outfit seems to fit her better.

Melody has (somewhat creepily) staked her claim.

"Hi, we're going to be great friends!"