DollsArtCats

Just a random photo of Thranduil and Ashley, with Ashley pointing out that there are a lot of  people in the room staring at them. I think Thranduil looks stylish, if not elf-appropriate, in his Iplehouse set (that is the King set, I think, and the shirt especially is glorious). As I was taking out the recycling I kicked a small golf ball-sized rock, and I thought at first it was a chunk of concrete--but it was so round and had an interesting surface, so I wondered if it was a geode: So I found a rag and a hammer, and thumped it on a larger rock in my yard, and this was the inside-- not quite a geode, but full of tiny quartz crystals! Other family member's  feet are in the photo; alas the party breaks up tomorrow-- and it will be very quiet in the house during the day without them. I will miss them!

I did a trade with vermont chick and I once again got the best part of a trade--she sent me several Iplehouse sets, all of which looked like they were never worn--which is faintly possible as vermont chick sews as well as Iplehouse does, though she has a more sleek modern style in the silhouettes she chooses to make for herself (I have never worked up the courage to ask her if she would sell any of the dresses she makes). Anyway, Ivy (Iplehouse Eva) needed something besides a batik bikini to wear, so I thought I would try out the Scandal set on her. I managed to get everything on without having to look at the sales photos, too ;) The only snag was that the ribbon around the sleeve is not stretchy--there is elastic in the sleeves themselves that is wide enough to pass her hands through, but the ribbon isn't big enough: But we managed: Look at the cool construction of that tiny bodice! All put together: Bow in back: Random feet (I think Ivy's are s...

Portrait of Ivy, done by my niece--it's family reunion time! Mom may actually go order something from Alice's Collections... I am just waiting until she notices the clothes from Stacy's Pink Ocean there .:D Also, My own peonies are blooming!

At last, all the rain has brought flowers! The iris are open! I would buy more, but they are so expensive per rhizome, I should try to swap plants with the lady who lives behind me, who has some really nice (huge) iris. The rose has survived long enough to bloom! (Rosa Rugosa) And the dreaded petunias. I might even buy more, much as I hate how they feel (ugh sticky) and smell (like wet paper). Also the red one. Why? Chives! I bought them for potato garnish, and then never got around to cooking with them. I love them as flowers but don't try them as cut flowers inside, unless you want to keep wondering who left out onions. Weigela..it's apparently a native shrub to the Midwest, I had never heard of it before I saw it in a local garden magazine. I would do the whole back fence of it if I could find more than one bush at a time (and had the energy to dig all the holes for the bushes in the heavy local clay). It's a beautiful bush even when it is not in blo...

Soom has re-released the Disappearing Eden , and she is just so cute--she's shown in Tawny (I think NS is the other option, I would have to check again). I also need to note that if you are using Waterfox/Firefox the Soom Idealian website won't display the navigation bar--you have to go to IE or Chrome to see it, you need to be logged in to the Idealian site, and she is under Special Doll on the Idealian pages. -.- But she is still gorgeous--you can get a open eye head, and/or a Romantic head, and special hands as well. I can't order her..I bought tree work and some other tiresome practical things, and I honestly don't have a good space to store her..but I wish I did!                            The little goofball dog looks like Watson, Julia Shin's (the photographer) little corgi . <3

It's not billed as a separate "line" of clothes, but Iplehouse has snuck out several stunning dresses-- this one for the NYID body (you need a large or glamor bust to fit the dress properly). (Isis looks amazingly different here--almost smiling!)  Also there is one for the SID woman that is equally glamorous . But wait there is a pink one too with Raffine (aww, so pretty): And yes, there is even a dress for Debbie Downer, Harace herself , still looking pissed off at the world in spite of having this glorious dress to wear. Maybe her legs are cold. (I also love the jewelry that comes with these dresses!) And finally there is one with Miss Vera, Fashion Designer --"I made this myself!" (Shoes not included, sadly) And Pamela say "Wait, wait, don't forget meee" (Which I did, until Monique reminded me in the comments). She has some gorgeous ornaments with her dress : (my Snip tool cropped her a bit so you should go loo...

     I have been spraying heads and hands in this little box, over a lining of parchment paper, and it made this thin layer of plastic over the  parchment paper. Apparently nothing sticks to parchment paper. :D     Also in the Department of Surprising things, I had read that bees have learned to bite through the sides of trumpet-style flowers, having grown tired of the floral bullshit of having to back down and up a narrow tube to get nectar. I hadn't seen this behavior before in my own bumblebees--until this year, when sure enough I found the Mandevilla flowers with big old bee bites in them: These holes let the bees get at the nectar without the climbing. So you have to wonder, how do the bees figure this out? Did they read it  in the bee paper? On the bee Internet? On the bee radio? Through the grapevine? :D

I am not even a real "dog person" but these guys are so cute! Whoever paints them is a genius--go look at the sales page and scroll down to see the different colors. I am not sure what eyes they are using--they look "right" for the dogs and a little unusual for people eyes. They are 273.00 with painting (and I think painting is really part of the charm here), not counting the EMS shipping. Here are some of the dogs with pet-lover Bliss: Bliss' pet food bill must be staggering :D Look how great the dog on her lap is posed! Like the cats, whoever designed these photoshoots understands how the dogs move and interact. Here's another photo for scale--the Puma is the size of a domestic housecat. I would get one, but I am still trying to get a lawnmower...I need the PayPal refund so I can go back out and get the lawnmower I want, instead of the 500.00 lawnmower from Costco. I refuse to pay most of a Soom doll for a mower, especially when I have a functi...

No, that is not Iris, that is the cute omake that Mirodoll sent along with the Iris! To see the full Iris (Not safe for work) go here: http://gypsyreggae.com/blogstuff2016/May2016/mirofull.jpg The head on the table shows the color better than the standing body--it's like the Withdoll Rosy brown, it's a cool brown rather than a warm brown.  http://gypsyreggae.com/blogstuff2016/May2016/mirofull2.jpg  I had bought the body thinking it would take Deesse's head, but the body is actually a little too slim and the neck too thin for my liking--Danu (Deesse) is also a much warmer brown, so I think I will use an Impldoll Idol for her and just modify the neck to fit her. Here is Danu on the Miro body: However, that cool grey brown was just about right for my other problem girl--my Soom Epidia (Consuelo) was a pretty fair match, and the body shape and style was what I have been looking for to put her head on: Consuelo is also now taller than Captain Aldwood, which proba...

They came today, along with the Mirodoll Iris, and they are splendid! Here is the box: And here are the eyes in the box! They are more gray than blue, and feel almost like glass--they aren't squishy. They are wider and flatter than a lot of doll eyes so they fit very well in Aldwood's head--I suspect they also would fit in my Iplehouse girls, but since they are expensive the girls are going to have to wait a while for theirs. I am going to save up for more, though!

Even though I was a bit muddy and tired from planting little plants today, I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather and blush the white Resinsoul (Male) Jointed Hands that I bought a while ago. Much as I love the Soom 2012 body, the magnet hands are a pain-- and I love how expressive the jointed hands are. I knew I wasn't going to be able to match the color of her hands to the rest of her exactly (I did briefly consider dyeing the hands) but I was able to get the ashy/gradient look I wanted pretty well. I used chalk and Jaquard sparkle paint for the fingertips and nails, the red/gold swirl.  Ashley now has her lashes installed as well! I still need to hot glue suede her shoulders and wire her arms, but overall she is quite posable. Who knew a gray Snow White would be so much fun?

 I did nothing newsworthy today; I mowed with my old reel mower, and filed a PayPal claim to get my money back for the vanishing Home Depot mower, put netting around a vegetable bed, watered and weeded. Up next, vacuuming and laundry. :o  I did click on Soom just to see if anything was new there, and they have redone the front page a bit, for the first time in years. I rather like these glasses , though no one here needs them. They are just cute and look well made.

If you go here  , you can find all kinds of miscellaneous option parts--hands, feet, Bianca's wings (you still need the chest piece, maybe from Doll Choice), the little horns from the Addiction series, tabi toes feet, boxing hands...pretty much any small resin item you may have a need for--even those annoying "C" covers for the wrists. I love option hands, so I have been saving up for some gun/sword hands for my Doria (though they will be staff/wand hands for my Senior Elf), some pointy hands for Bex to annoy people with, or push spaceship buttons, (whichever seems appropriate), and some Scary Hands for Perdita, which are handy (cough) because the NYID fingers seem a bit delicate, so some extras will be nice. Also the Pointer and Gun hands are much easier to stuff into sleeves, so I am looking forward to that. Oddly enough I have never broken an Iplehouse hand, either in transit or just around the house--something about the casting or the design seems to make them st...

I found a bjd shoe dealer on Ebay "Sweetiiger" and the prices seemed reasonable, so I ordered a pair of elaborate tall boots, and they came today. There is a lot of handwork in them, they fit well (they say they are "SD16" size, and they fit Ashley perfectly (she is on the Soom 2012 body). This color is "wine"--it's sort of a brownish purple--Ashley's gray skin makes it look more purple than it really is. She can stand in them, too! Along with the super boots came a box from Soom, with the long-awaited Garnet Romantic Holiday set. Ash is wearing the shorts and bra top that came with the set, the socks were adorable, but alas the sweater is designed to be pulled over her head, and I have decided that is No Good for faceups and eyelashes, so I need to alter it a bit so it opens down the back. It is very cute, though. Here is everything in it's original packing: I was impressed with the new eyes, they are brightly colored and very ...