Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

You are here: Home / Archives for Blythe dolls

From Our Walk and Clothes for Sophie

at by

From our walk yesterday:

These huge boulders were completely covered by water a week ago. It’s extraordinary how high the river was.

The mountains as seen from the side of the road.

I received some packages in the mail yesterday and it was truly an international event.

Some tights from Emma Florence Paris (yes! from Paris):

And these boots from Northfield Primitives, based in Yorkshire, England:

I can’t believe how adorable they are. The seller also sent along some purple socks.

And, from St. Petersburg in Russia:

This dress, pinafore/jumper, and yellow socks – from Lena Little Dresses. Two outfits in one. The dress can be worn alone or layered with the pinafore. Sophie is going to don a new outfit later today, whether she likes it or not. By the way, Sophie has her own IG account, mostly because I didn’t want to spam my regular account with doll photos as not everyone gets them. It’s @Sophieandherpals. That’s as creative as I could be yesterday. The implication is that Sophie might be living with a pal soon. Stay tuned. I think it will be fun to pose her and experiment with photographing her. As Don says, and I quote, “She’s very  photogenic!”

It was pretty neat getting a package from Russia. First time for that. This particular shop makes wonderful Blythe clothes and, considering the distance, the package got here very quickly. It came in a lovely box.

Sophie already has more clothes than I do. Cripes, I’m merely hoping to replace my worn out, baggy jeans this week. That’s all I ask.

Today: deductions. We took a very long walk yesterday and then I did some chores and by the time I was thinking of starting that process, I was too tired. I’ve been waking up way too early lately and it’s taking its toll.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Goldenrod

at by

A lot of the goldenrod has already bloomed but this particular patch in the former corral has newly opened and it’s gorgeous. When the golden sun of autumn hits it, there’s nothing lovelier.

Our maple leaves are turning earlier than usual and quite a few are on the ground. I wonder if it has anything to do with all the rain we’ve had? I suspect it might.

Today is gorgeous. The mornings have been cooler, which I like. There’s something very cozy about a cool morning. We’re going to take a walk later today and then I have to work on our deductions since we always file an extension on our taxes and it’s time to get that info to our accountant. Not my favorite thing to do, but as the Brits say, “Needs must!”

Something arrived in the mail yesterday for Miss Sophie:

Boots! Handmade by Crafty Cora who has an Etsy shop. I can’t believe she can make these. The detail is amazing. Everything is so tiny that I hesitated to tie the laces; frankly, I’m not quite sure how to do it. For now, she’ll be one of those kids who never tie their laces.

We share something in common, Sophie and I. I have a little/mole beauty mark right above my mouth – just like she does – in exactly the same place. I found an old wide toothed comb to comb out her hair and that’s been added to the shoebox that contains her clothes. Eventually, I’d like to get something nicer than a shoebox, but thank goodness I didn’t recycle the box my new Birkenstocks came in!

At least she’s meeting my eyes now. I think she’s starting to feel more at home here.

She may get her own Instagram account. Not everyone is into the doll thing.

Thank goodness for Don’s tolerance of my somewhat whimsical passions. He gets it, at least as much as a grown man can get his wife suddenly playing with dolls at the age of 68. He oohs and aahs over things like the new boots, and my demonstration of how her eyes work, and gets a kick out of watching me dress her in new outfits. He has grown used to Sophie sitting on top of the music cabinet in the den, and never blinks an eye when it looks like she’s watching us as we eat our dinner. Bless his heart.

Interestingly, I don’t like dolls in dollhouses, partly because they never look as real and accurate as the furniture and decoration does. Plus, for me, life in any dollhouse is in my imagination and that’s where it stays.

I have my dolls that I’ve rescued and, now, I have this thing for Blythes. But I draw the line at dolls in the dollhouses. Go figure. It makes sense to me, but it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else.

We’re not at all surprised it’s been twenty years since 9/11 since it happened a couple of months after we moved out to the Northeast and that was twenty years ago. We lived right by the Hudson River in Westchester County and, sadly, those planes flew right over us.

We’ll always remember.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Sophie

at by

I didn’t get to my oil painting yesterday because I cleaned a lot in the morning, then my sister called and we had a long conversation, and then, right at the end of the call, our mail, delivered by Lori, arrived with a quick honk of the horn. That’s always a sign that Lori has a package for us.

I knew what it was.

This girl:

Note: She was wearing her original outfit, which consists of a white blouse and blue overalls and a fun hat, when she arrived. I, of course, immediately had to dress her in another outfit that I had ordered. It was made by the woman who customized this doll and was included in the package. I ordered the tights from another seller, and I can’t stand it, they’re so cute.

Her name is Sophie. She’s just under 12 inches in length.

She looks a bit uncertain about her new home.

Blythes have an eye mechanism that is controlled by a cord in the back – one pull downward and the eyes shut, then you hear a click, and when the eyes open, they’re in another color and position. I had to google how to do this. It’s pretty neat. So, the eyes can look to the right, to the left, and look forward. Four different colored eyes.

The woman who customized this did a lovely job. If you’re at all interested, google Blythe dolls and see what a regular off-the-shelf Blythe doll looks like. A wee bit scary. Hats off to all those who do the amazing work of transforming these dolls.

Sitting on my right.

Surveying the room and wondering why there is so much pottery everywhere.

The seller included a set of hands – you can change out the hand positions. And two outfits, which she generously threw in for free.

This sweet dress.

And this.

I’ve ordered a few items of clothing for Sophie, all of which are shipping from other countries, so I’ll share them with you at another time. Suffice to say, the clothing that various creatives make for these dolls is charming and fun. (I can’t imagine making doll clothes, though my grandmother did – and beautifully.)

I think Sophie will eventually need a pal. I don’t want her to be lonely.

If you saw my post on IG Stories, this is what I said:

“I look at it this way: we all have our ways of retreating from this sometimes unbearable world. I don’t smoke. I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs. I don’t eat sugar. I’m on a diet.

So – dollhouses, miniatures, reading, oil painting, gardening, and dolls are my escape.”

And there you have it!

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives