A Big Mail Day for Dollies

Yesterday was a very big mail day ....
First some Takara stock clothes arrived - I've been buying some of the older stock outfits for my girls as the quality was really good back then!   (and I must apologise for the low quality of these photos, my digital camera died and I'm using the phone camera now.)

My girls got a very nearly complete set of the stock for "I Love You It's True" (yep, Takara does do some odd names!)  Lots of pretty items in shades of blue plus sandals, funny pink socks and pretty undies (we like pretty undies!).  Also, most of the red evening outfit from "Love Mission" - evening dress, bustier, shawl and red shoes.

While Audrey and Imogen were trying on the new outfits another parcel arrived!

Audrey: "Can you do my dress up Imi?  I can't reach."

Audrey adores red shoes!!

Audrey: "Uh, now I can't bend, quick Imi, do up my shoe then we'll help Meerkat with the new parcel."

Meerkat: "I don't think this is yet more clothes ... it looks like a box here."

Imogen: "What, another sister!  Nah, that's quite small."





Imogen: "Ooooo nice cheese."
Audrey: "Hmmm, a shopping trolley, I guess that'll be useful for grocery shopping!  Nice red apple though."
Meerkat: "Bread - and it smells so good."

From inside the box, very muffled: "Hello there - can anyone hear me ... Hello ..."

 Some time later ...

Zucchini Flower: "Hi there, we can hear you, we'll get you out of there.  (quieter) She's another proper petite - I won't be the only Takara little one now."
Julia: "I guess this is why our Mummy Giant bought the extra crochet dress, wondered why she bought 4 sets when there were 3 of us."
Hilda: "Yes - there are matching bloomers too ..."
Meerkat - very quietly: "Lah dee dah - this baguette is going to be yummy with my new tapenade ..."




Zucchini Flower: "She has a nice dress already - but I think she likes pink things."






Julia (in the middle): "Looks like she's been in that box for Ages and Ages."
Annabella, still in the box: "A whole 9 years girls - I'm a 2005 release. And I really want to be released ... please hurry!"

Zucchini: "Annabella, you are like me - you've 2tone hair too and pretty coloured eyes like me."

Meanwhile, Julia and Hilda have found Annabella's pet / backpack ...
Julia: "Is it a rabbit or a kangaroo?"
Hilda: "hmmm, very confusing, the ears could be either and she has a pouch ... but no tail at all!!   We'll have to ask Auntie Bunny, she'll know."
(ed: Bunny is a Neo Blythe "Welcome Winter" and very knowledgeable about all the different breeds of rabbits)

 And we'll leave this post with a portrait of Annabella.  She is a Takara Petite "Tatianna Black" released in November 2005, so she has been exactly 9yrs in her packaging.

Her stock dress and bonnet are really pretty, as is her pet / backpack BunnyRoo.

She has lovely violet coloured eyes and 2tone blond hair that curls.

 

Why Orchids are both Fascinating and Confusing

Spring is Sprung and the garden smells delightfully of a mix of the jasmine (now finishing) the wisteria (just starting to bloom) and the citrus & burnt honey scent of the Dendrobium speciosum.

A native Australian orchid - common names are King Orchid and Rock Lily - and those common names are confusing because the Dendrobium kingianum (now Thelchiton kingianum) gets called Pink Rock Lily but the speciosum is the King!!!    We also have some kingianums - pretty things.

There is confusion not only with the common names - the botanists have been renaming many of our orchids and I'm not sure if I should call our "King orchids"  Dendrobium speciosum or Thelychiton speciosus.

While we are on names - the Royal Botanical Gardens site gives the Eora peoples names for the D or T speciosum/sus and says that:

"The starchy stems of the rock Lily (Dendrobium speciosum) are edible. The stems from a variety of other species of Dendrobium are crushed and applied to sores, wounds and burns..."

Also confusing is the variability inherent to orchids - we've two plants currently flowering - the one in the top photo and this one -
with flowers that are quite cream / lemon in colour, more sparse on the stem and much larger.

The cream King Orchid flowers are about 1.5" almost 4cm tall

The almost white King Orchid flowers are 3/4" or 2cm tall

The whiter varient is quite spectacular this year.

Naturally the Blythe dolls love all the spring flowers too :-)

And here I am introducing my latest darling - Ruby Beatrice Rose.  Ruby is a Rosie Red BL

Hmmm smelly!

Such a cutie - she often looks like she is about to burst into giggles.  Ruby is in really good shape for a 12yr old dolly - the RR BL was the 4th Neo Blythe to be released by Takara.  The only thing is that a previous owner gave her a wonky hair-cut and fringe (bangs).  However, I think I can restore her original hair style with a partial re-root ... more later.

Meanwhile - another Blythe & orchid photo and thanks to Beatrix Potter for the quote I'm about to mangle. 

Imogen found the effect of so many orchid flowers is soporific

More Blythe Costumes

Been a while but I did promise to show you the other costumes I made for my Blythe dolls for the Sydney BlytheFest.


Imogen was very excited when all the feathers for her costume arrived in the mail ...




I made her fan first - from the little ostrich feathers (proper name, Blondines) and Imogen spent hours practicing how to dance with it.








Yes - it is a ShowGirl costume. 

Imogen was dressing up as Lucille Ball in this still from the 1942 movie "The Big Street"

Lucille Ball

Imogen LaMarr

We were very pleased that we already had some shoes that looked very like Lucille's! 

 
Imogen's leotard is knitted, white wool held together with silver thread then lots of beads including for those rather fancy shoulder straps. 

The 'tail' is marabou on a ribbon belt, here is a back view.







Without the fan ...

















And the Whole SheBang!!

Violetta's costume was a little more restrained!  

She was a "Character" from a movie ... one of the Flappers in "The Great Gatsby".

The dress is based on 1920s fashions; it is longer than the classic Flapper Frock of 1926 and this would be worn by an older, more conservative party-goer - black was favoured by the older ladies.

Vertical beading and godets of light weight fabric in the side seams so that you can dance ... 


Being a perfectionist - the shoulders are too wide, for a real 1920s look those armholes should look more like a singlet's.

Ballet Russe inspired headdresses were part of 1920s party-wear.  I constructed this one like a ballet headdress with some lace and lots of black beads.