DollsArtCats

 I'm not usually smitten with DollZone Dolls, but this one is so lovely. She is msd sized and nearly 900.00 dollars, BUT it looks like she is in stock at Denver Dolls, so you can get her without much of a wait. Here is the link if you would like to check her out: https://www.denverdoll.com/product/twilight-full-set-white-skin/ The only warning I have for her is I got Akutenshi the much for affordable Lillian, who has similar slender, long legs, and I'm pretty sure you will either need a custom stand or do some wiring to make her stand reliably (especially with those gorgeous wings)

 It's black in overhead inside light, and a deep, deep purple in sunlight: So very fancy! I regret that I had to cut it from it's parent plant, but the rest of my iris are still sprawled from the storm, though blooming still: These are the ones my friend Andy brought up in a suitcase from Kansas, and I am so pleased and delighted they manage to survive here! Some of the are just so elaborate: I love all the colors! The black iris name is supposed to be "All Night Long" and is from (I think) a breeder in Oregon. It came in a small box as basically a small root, and I was worried for it, but I planted it in a sheltered spot last fall and it made it ok under a pile of peat moss. Now it's looking quite healthy and, fingers crossed, will put out more blooms next Spring.

 Last week the weather was perfect, and we planted quite a few things, including a new echinacea plant. It looks like we will get some of the old ones to come up again from seeds, and they are the greatest color--so fingers crossed. They will hopefully be like the ones in the photo above. The Blythe is one I got from Ebay--she came in that outfit and was both cute and inexpensive since she had some odd product on her hair I have not been able to completely banish. (Something like argan oil). This week it has been wet and rainy, good for the plants, less fun for humans gardening, so I have been doing housework instead. I ordered a couple of travel hampers from Amazon-- they are light and vertical, so you can carry them in one hand and hold a stair railing, which I decided was important since I am finding it less safe to carry a laundry basket down stairs with both hands while not being able to see my feet. They came in a small envelope and I was sure they had sent me the wrong thing...

  This is such a tease--it was outside, but then we got a tornado watch, a severe thunderstorm warning, and a chance of hail, and I said the heck with it and snipped the entire bud stem and brought it in. It's a good thing I did, most of the other iris were blown over since we had gusts up to 45 mph (but no tornado). Because it's in a vase, it will bloom, but so much slower than it would outside, and it does look like it will be a very very dark purple. I'm excited to see it fully open! I love iris and they are so expensive to buy at the nursery, especially if you want the more unusual ones. My friend Eden in New York develops her own varieties for fun, and they are so exotic and gorgeous! This is one of hers: And this is one my friend Andy brought from Kansas in a suitcase (she brought me SO MANY) Andy's are super hardy and the white ones actually bloom twice, once in spring and once in fall, which makes me so happy :)   So once Cat's is fully open I will take anot...

 It's gardening season and I am outside in flip flops, weeding. If I am mowing or using the weed wacker, I'll be in leather clogs to protect my toes, but it's sweaty. Unfortunately I am allergic to a lot of green plants, poison ivy for one--my cat used to walk through it in New Jersey and then rub his tail on me, and I would welt up.  So my habit of flip flop shoe wearing means that often I will blunder through something I am wildly allergic to, like Virginia Creeper. (Parthenocissus quinquefola). They actually sell Virginia Creeper in some garden stores, which is bananas. If your climate supports it, you will have it, for free. It loves total shade, terrible dirt, direct sun, strangling it's fellow plants, exploring your siding, and probably assassinating small animals when no one is looking. It grows really, really fast. That is about six feet up, which the Creeper managed in about three days.  If I brush against it, about a half an hour later I get this little tingli...

 When we moved here from New Jersey, the only thing that got broken in the 11,000 pounds of household goods that we shipped-- were the toes on this plaster caterpillar. Just the front toes, even. This was in 2012, and I said that I would fix the caterpillar in a month or so, once the other stuff was unpacked. Thirteen years later, I finally got around to fixing his toes with Apoxie Sculpt and touching up the paint to match his back toes. It was Caterpillar Spa Day. Cat's iris is still teasing me--it's added more buds, but not opening yet! (It's also slightly out of focus, to add to the mystery.) You can see I need to touch up the paint on my siding. Maybe in a month or so... The rest of the yard is looking a little more put together--the dish is water for chipmunks and bees, the upturned stock pot is over an outdoor outlet that powers the bubbler for the water trough for the birds. There is a still a lot to do. (I love the chipmunks, but they do complicate gardening).

 So this doesn't look too exciting yet (the tulip in the back is past it's prime) but the iris in the center of the screen was a gift from my friend Cat, and it looked very small and weedy in it's shipping box when it came--but it survived the winter-- and it even has leaves on either side of the root that look very healthy. It is supposed to be a very dark color when it blooms...MAYBE TOMORROW. But "soon" in any case, and I will put up another picture when it does. In other news, I was very stupid and ordered a medium-sized doll from Luts (Kai, an msd elf). This was when tariffs were supposed to be (I thought) something like a whopping 80% for China and 10% for everyone else BUT NO. South Korea is 25% and that is going to be Very Sad when it comes time for me to pay the duties for this little cutie. On the other hand, I have no other doll plans aside from spiffing up the clothing of the ones I have, so I guess it's just pennies per day (laughing crying emoji)...

 I did this year's inventory (and I took photos too, but I need to resize them) and of course Sophie Cushion, Original Soom Beryl, is still the ruler of all the dolls. I do have 4 Beryls of various lineages, but Sophie is Queen. From left to right, Jeline, a Love Me or Die Beryl formerly owned by Lelahel (I keep thinking I should buy at least one Lelahel outfit that I see go by on Den of Angels, because I am sure Jeline misses her former owner's sewing skills); next is Lorina, a Beryl Haze of Phantasm (she was offered in purple as well, but I am happy with Lorina's pinky white), then Free Choice Beryl Zenobia, who needs her lashes curled and her eyebrows darkened; and of course Sophie Herself, the Original Beryl. (That was a dress I made for Jeline, and guess who stole it :D )

  Yes, there IS a PURPLE (!!) version and it is a beautiful color!! And since I knew she was coming, I was able to use some saved credit card points to order my own Haze of Phantasm Beryl...in Peony White. I know you are saying, but isn't ..purple..the reason you wanted a Purple Beryl? Well, the truth is a) I really really like the Peony White..and I know I can paint a face on it, while I was very uncertain of my ability to paint on a darker surface. Since I have had Covid I do better working on things with a lot of contrast. I did have to ponder it overnight, though :D Anyway, I did order the hoofed version. You can order her with the legs and hooves, and with both the Romantic and open eyed heads (this is the Romantic eye head), and with either the Extra legs or the simple legs (I always say get the Extra legs, it makes posing so much easier) and either a small bust or the regular bust. (both are nice, Beryl's head is a medium sized head for the slim body, so the bigger bust ...

 I had forgotten that Iplehouse issued a Medusa baby doll, but I happened to be procrastinating and I went to look at Iplehouse, to see what was new, and while the snakes are no longer available you can still get Becky with the cutie hands, and as a promotion, an extra head. (Extra heads are not really the plus it sounds like :D) If a company routinely sells bodies, then it's ok, but Iplehouse does not. Anyway, I regret my lack of snakes with bow ties. They look so pleased with themselves :D

 The is the Flickr of someone who just followed me, and what a treat! The dolls are beautiful but oh the clothes! Such fun to look at them-- lots of beautiful detail.  Take a minute and check it out: https://www.flickr.com/photos/54841237@N00/with/51792434676/ Meanwhile Andy and I finished another set of bathing suits with sort of an Italian theme--this one is "Murano Glass" and it was done at the end of the set when we were ...uhh something blue? Shiny? Peacocks? For no reason except peacocks are blue and shiny and I had some licensed peacock designs from Digital Curio on Etsy , which if you do digital scrapbooking, is a treasure trove. Or texturing too :D That mermaid floatie is by Lilflame and I love it :D

  So here is Mr. Wenzel, looking soulful and sporting a pandemic haircut--the listing says he is a new head, not a reissue, but he's definitely a Soom guy. I like his nose :D Even more, I like his horns, and of all the fantasy parts I have owned, horns have not moved along for the simple reason they Keep The Wigs On. Especially mohair wigs, which I love-- but they are notoriously shifty, sliding off at a moment's notice. So I used some points that I had piled up at Soom and ordered the horns. I figured if they end up being too large for anyone here, Cat might have a Sard in need of horns at her place--but I think these horns are the same mold as the ones that Sophie the Beryl always wears, so they should fit any 8-9 head that you can stick magnets into. By the way, I often buy the bigger neodymium magnets from K and J magnetics in the US, they ship pretty fast, though I don't know what the pandemic has done for their supply chain. https://id.dollsoom.com/en/shop/persona-wen...

 In order to clear some room for things like...shoes...I have been downsizing my doll collection, and I have been doing pretty well (though I seem stuck at the current number). Akutenshi even offered me a very  lovely Dollshe Diana (she waited two years at least for it), and then was disappointed when it came; it was on the Pose body, which has a movable neck that looks odd to me--and unpainted she looks a little bland. So I said no, a little regretfully (they are beautiful dolls). But then Cat, out of the blue, shipped me a box with a gorgeous Diana head painted by LuckyL, and the little resin minx immediately moved in, stole some clothes, took a brand new wig and settled herself into the one empty spot on the shelf, and there she is. She will be Gwen here, and I am happy to have her!! Thank you Cat! (and Bob, who packed her so well) <3

Way back in 2016, I put up a (surprisingly popular) blog post about how I had my AmEx card hacked,and some of the background to the Great Chocolate heist of 2015:   https://dollsartcats.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-six-million-dollar-box-of-chocolates.html So years have passed, we had a pandemic and an attempted coup and then, on Friday, I got an envelope in the mail from the Muransky v.Godiva Chocolatier Claims Administration, and inside-- there was a check for $32.52 ! My portion of the settlement! I can't eat chocolate now (or regular coffee; thanks Covid) but I will take my $32.52 to Ted's Montana Grill, order a salad, and thank Dr.Muransky and American Express for the meal :D (If you have poser, the petit four in the illustration is a free download at Renderosity.com: https://www.renderosity.com/freestuff/items/78798/poser-petit-four

  Soom is releasing a number of classic molds this year--today it's Breccia, with the fox legs and the new body. She's so cute :D Even better, you can choose a Bronze Romantic version! You can as usual mix and match heads, or get both. Order period lasts until March 2nd, Korea time. Here is the link to check it out: https://gem.dollsoom.com/en/shop/breccia-sweet-shine/ Rumor has it that Beryl will be released in June, so I am waiting to buy anything :D

 This is K with her two rescue cats, that came home to her last Valentine's day! It's taken them a while, but now they are happy and healthy little boyos <3

 It's been a bumpy few months, Stripey passed away on November 23rd 2021; and I miss her a lot. She required a lot of nursing at the end, so I stopped blogging, and then kind of fell out of the habit--Covid has also given me some eye and other problems that are ongoing, but hopefully will resolve over time. Meanwhile I have downsized the enormous crowd of dolls--I was sort of aiming for 20 dolls total, but we seem stuck at 35 ..or so :D I'm hoping this year, maybe in the fall, things will have stabilized enough for covid that doll meets will happen again, I miss them! Meanwhile I plan this year to sort through the boxes of doll things and match up clothes and accessories with the correct doll, because stuff has gotten scattered all around over time, as dolls have come and gone. I also need to do my picture inventory for 2022! Work has also been very busy, I work with a wonderful work partner who keeps me more or less focused and on deadline, and we have been turning in store it...

 I ordered her in May and she is here already!! Unpainted, because at the time Covid was making it hard to get faceups. Wish me luck in painting her up today :D Soom has made a few really good changes in how they make dolls--I wish they had done these years ago because some of the simplest changes will help the most. The new certificates have the actual name of the doll on them! I can't tell you how many times I have mixed up Soom certificates here and had to flail around to match the correct card with the correct doll. The other new thing is that there is now a second original certificate for the *body* as well so when you split a doll, there is no sad little photocopied "certificate" that goes with the body, or worse, when you let go of the original certificate with the body and then realize that you want to sell the head later. (sad face). The Owners manual is the pink thing you see in the back, all updated with the current stringing and parts. There is now a rfid chip...

  Soom now has a calendar of releases on their website (they have had it for a few months now and it's pretty useful to see what is coming in the current month. This month it lists Super Gem Jet as the release (Korean time) on September 9th. I must have slept through the first release but you can look at his pretty face here: https://gem.dollsoom.com/en/shop/jet-desert-mercenary/ I'm think he looks more like Cute Shepherd Guy, possibly a Nativity extra, rather than a hardened desert mercenary :D His original release clothes were quite fabulous, so I am curious to see what he'll be wearing this time. I would be tempted to do a "Genie that Resembles a KPop idol" myself, but that is just me :D He kind of reminds me a little of Puss In Boots, with a sweet and thoughtful expression. And my Amber came!!!! I have photos tomorrow, I just need to load them onto the computer and clean them up a little.

  HerrZog (Anna) is selling some of her Soom dolls, one of them being this glorious gray HOOVED Beryl. The later releases of Beryl sometimes did not have hooves, when I got Petra, she didn't come with her full set because she was an abandoned order.  HerrZog's came directly from Soom, with *both* heads, feet, hooves and horns, on the new body. Here is what she has: (I forgot to list the fancy feet/shoe combo--this was a Vesuvia thing ages ago, now several releases have had it). The Romantic head is so pretty. HerrZog doesn't want to split her, understandibly, and is offering EMS as the shipping option (around 120-150 USD to the US at the moment). Base price is now 1300 USD, way past my own budget, especially considering my recent doll purchases :o (I have been selling dolls and parts to cover my purchase of an Asa from Iplehouse, and then ended up buying a very inexpensive Stella from the MP and some other heads and parts ... lol.) Anyway, if you are on Den of Angels this i...