A Couple of Fun Flea Market Finds

On the way home from the beach today, we stopped at a flea market. I found the two coolest prints for my doll room!

Girl with Flowers by Eden

Guys and Dolls by Maio

The prints are vintage, I'm guessing sometime in the 70's, but they were really well taken care of and the colors are still vibrant. I think their sweet faces and big eyes look very doll-like, don't you? I just need to do something with those frames. I don't know if I should paint them, or completely trash them and start fresh. If you have any fun ideas for the frames, let me know in the comments!

Read More

World Doll Day -- Giveaway!

The second Saturday of June each year is designated as World Doll Day. The day was established in 1986 by Mil and Vernon Seely. 

In the spirit of the day, I am hosting my first ever giveaway on my blog. The giveaway is open to anyone in any country. To enter, simply comment on this post with the name of your favorite doll. The prize for the winner is a mini Caroline doll from American Girl:

The contest ends next Saturday, June 20th, so be sure to enter before then! At that time I will use a random number generator to choose the winner. Good luck!

Read More

Hammocks Beach State Park, NC

Today, we visited Hammocks Beach State Park in North Carolina. In order to get to the park, you pay $5 for a 15 minute ferry ride out to Bear Island. Once you reach Bear Island, it's about another 15 minutes walk out to the beach. 

The path to the beach is paved, with interesting stops along the way.

Here is a particularly nice and shady stop.

Once you reach the beach area, there are restroom facilities and also a concession bar (cash only) which sells things like chips, ice cream, and sodas.

The beach itself is very nice, not crowded, and with beautiful sand dunes.

Rallie posing in front of the dunes

Empty beach

My hair!!!

The island has a lot of history, including a bit that involves local legend and pirate, Blackbeard. A local government official owned the island at one point and allowed Blackbeard to use the island as a getaway in exchange for a share of the booty. You can read more about the history in the photo below:

This is a beautiful, unspoiled beach but requires a bit of work to get there. There are also primitive camping sites available on the island if you really feel like roughing it. 

Read More

An eBay Act of Kindness

You may or may not know (or infer from my blog), I do quite a bit of selling on eBay as a means of paying for my hobby of doll collecting. Not too long ago, I sold a Tiny Betsy McCall doll.

The Betsy I recently sold

As is the case with any sale, I ship the item and don't think too much about it unless there is a problem later. Today when I got home, there was a small package in my mailbox. I was perplexed, as I am expecting a package, but it should be much larger than this. On the outside of the box it said "I love my Betsy, a gift for you". I opened the box, and this is what I found inside:

A box with a note

The reverse of the note

There was an extremely touching note taped to a Marie Osmond box. The note says:

"(Enjoy) I'm soooo happy with my Betsy McCall! I waited 3 weeks just looking at the box. I opened an email at the library. When she arrived I went and deleted it. I don't own an I-phone, android, or computer. But might get an android soon. I held  her to my chest and cried. She looks like my Betsy from 1957 when I was 9. This is my last doll...I think. PS. I also got one with a checkered hat and coat with red hair. Love both dolls. PSS. Now I have everything. So happy."

Well reading this note made ME cry! I was ecstatic to read how happy this doll made her. I think that's why we all collect dolls - we connect with them on some emotional level and they bring us so much joy and happiness. And as if the note weren't enough, she had included a gift for me, a beautiful Christmas ornament!

An ornament!

The ornament, unwrapped

Close up of this sweet face on my new ornament

This kind gesture has touched me in such a way I will never forget it. I will hang this ornament on my tree each year and be reminded that kindness and generosity, even in small doses, can mean the world to folks.

Read More

Venezuelan Rotoplast Barbies from the 80's and 90's

Recently, I found a few bags of 80's and 90's Barbies at my local thrift store. When I see Barbies from this era with their complete gowns, I just can't pass them up! I was a little concerned because the Barbies had weird marks on their necks, but I bought them anyway. When I got them home and started undressing them, I realized I had something very special.

Wait a second...Barbies are made in Venezuela??

They were all Venezuelan Barbies. Well now, what about all those weird markings on their necks?

Detail of mold markings, shown on Mama Corazon

I won't lie. I actually said to my husband, "Well, some sadist kid probably heated up a knife and melted the necks on all the Barbies." Ha! After a quick search of Venezuelan Barbies on the webz, I discovered the story of Rotoplast. Rotoplast had a license to create Barbies in Venezuela from the early 70's up until 1993, when Mattel officially expanded its operations in Venezuela. One of the hallmarks of Rotoplast is the messy mold marks on the Barbies. This is especially prevalent on their necks, but I also saw marks on the torsos and chests of the Barbies I found.

     Cristal Barbie, notice the circular                      Some, uh, mold "seepage" 

     mark on her shoulder

Rotoplast made most of their Barbies based upon Barbies released in the States, with minor changes in makeup or costuming. All together I ended up with: Barbie Melocotón (Peaches and Cream), Mama and Papa Corazón (Heart Family), Cristal Barbie (Crystal Barbie), Disfraces Barbie (Costume Ball Barbie), Barbie  and Ken Sueños de Estrellas (Dream Glow Barbie), Feliz Cumpleaños Barbie (Happy Birthday Barbie), and last but not least, Barbie Magia Azul, which was a Venezuelan only Barbie who was not based on a counterpart from the States. Because of her uniqueness, she is the only one I kept for my personal collection. As you know from my other posts, I love my dolls from other countries. 

Oh, and just for fun, here's what the shoes and clothing tags look like:

I was very glad I found these Barbies and could pass them along to collectors who appreciate them. I was definitely in the right place at the right time!

Read More

The 2nd Annual International Doll (and now Teddy) Show

So I realize it's been almost a year since I've updated this blog. My husband set me up with this slick new layout, and I've challenged myself to do a blog post a day for the next 30 days. My ideas may dry up, so bear with me til the end and hopefully you'll enjoy at least 20% of what I have to say.

Last year I went to IDS and learned about a whole new world of dolls in which I had never before had interest (namely, BJDs). While my heart still lies with vintage vinyl, I have been having fun collecting a few BJDs here and there. This year, I saved some money and went to IDS determined to add something fun to my collection. Last year the show started on a Saturday, but this year, it started on a Friday. I did not take off the day to go Friday, and my friend Diana and I went on Saturday. I was excited to see that all of the tables were over half empty! Now why would I be excited you might wonder? Well, it's simple: it means the attending artists have had great success, and that hopefully this show will just get bigger and better every year. And oh, next year, I will be taking Friday off. So what did I buy with my hoard of cash? I bought four dolls, the first of which I introduce to you here:

Frump, by Gayla Lowe

This is Frump, sculpted by Connie Lowe's daughter, Gayla. What is amazing is that she was 14 years old when she sculpted this doll. She has such a sweet face and I absolutely love her! The lamb was a gift that The Toy Shoppe was giving out to everyone who visited their booth at the show. I thought this was such a generous and sweet gift, and it makes such a great prop for all of my girls. In fact, I can't decide who likes the lamb the most. I think the lamb needs a name...any suggestions?

Read More