New 13" Maru and Friends Mini Pal Savannah

I ordered a 13" Maru and Friends Mini Pal Savannah on Dec. 30, 2016. It took until May 15, 2017 to get the doll. I was really built up thinking it must be special like the Effner dolls. I don't like the doll. The skin tone looks lifeless and dead to me. She seems to change color in the lighting when I move her around. She photographs well in the right light. But I don't like this doll at all. I will probably sell her.

 Her hair is silky and her eyes are beautiful and realistic, which made it even more painful to see that her skin color is lacking something. At first, I thought she was green, then I thought she was gray, then I thought "oh my she looks blue like she's dead". I will never again purchase a doll from this line. I was actually hoping to get the 20" Maru, but I am too disappointed to be put through this again. If only her skin was more natural, I would be smiling right now. I even considered dying her skin like a newborn doll kit or something. I even love her clothes. I love her cute head poses and soft body.

I took her out of her box and photographed her with my Paola Reina 12.5" doll and a 14" Corolla doll. They look sweet. They even share a few things but not shoes. Paola and Corolle Cheries doll have bigger feet. 

Guess this doll is just not for everyone. 

I took some more photos of my dolls with the amaryllis flower today. The weather was so nice. I wanted to show a 23" doll that is a Sonja Hartmann art doll. She is an older doll. I don't know a lot about her because she was limited edition. I found an old advertisement online with a picture of a similar doll and her name was Renata. So this is the name I gave my doll Renata. Renata was one of the few dolls that didn't already have purple or pink eyes from the aging acrylic. I personally don't care for the eyes when they change colors even though I love Blythe dolls with color changing eyes. These art dolls are supposed to look more like real people. That is what I love about Renata. She has human hair, a lovely skin tone and realistic looking eyes. When I got her she had on what may have been the original dress and shoes. They are so nice I put them away and gave her some play clothes. She fits nicely in American Girl handmade dress for a top. It is not really long enough to be a dress. She has on My Twinn handmade leggings and super realistic sandals made for My Twinn dolls.   

Someone tried to perform surgery on the doll and cut a hole in the top of her head under her wig. I think that it was to change out her eyes to glass. I looked inside the doll's head, thinking I might do the same. I love handmade glass eyes and they don't change color over time. It looks like her eyes were placed with super glue. I love her all the same. Maybe some time I will get in there with my Dremel and tiny burrs and grind out the super glue. That might work without messing up her beautiful artistic face up.

 I keep Renata with her friends American Girl Julie, and Karito Kid Zoe. All of these dolls were second-hand. I just love the diversity of collecting dolls from different doll makers. They look more like real people in that they are all so different. American Girl is 18", and Zoe is 20". They all can share a few things to wear. Zoe has on shoes for American Girl but they are jelly shoes, and stretch a little. All three can share tops.

I worked on doll Stacy's jewelry and made her a crown. I made another tutu with two colors, since I ran out of copper in the middle of making. I actually liked the two-tones better than the first one. I tried her crown on her head and realized it messes up her hair while I am constantly modelling and adjusting things. I put a cute short hair wig on her and it looked so sweet, I had to take her picture again. It's finally nice weather outside. We have had tons of rain. 

I couldn't resist taking a picture of doll chateau Elizabeth on a "human body". The first thing I noticed when I got her was she doesn't have the extra joints that doll Chateau's have. It isn't a Bella body, because she is taller. Elizabeth does have the jointed fingers, which is one of my favorite things about the dolls. She has a kid body so she doesn't have jointed toes.

I had to put 2 tutus on her for now to cover her nakedness. I noticed she can wear a Barbie sized bra that I had on my 12" neo Blythe with all jointed body. She stands okay but is really kicky. She seemed to be more poseable right out of the box. Today she just wants to dance around. I am not sure what changed. 

I have really practiced making tutus lately. It is just fun. I didn't like tutus on dolls at all, until I found they could be made in almost any color imaginable.

She's such a drama queen.

My amaryllis plant was sitting in the dark all winter. I noticed it was trying to bloom. I put it outside and it just popped up 3 huge flowers. Can you see the tiny elf? 

I zoomed in closer to see her new tutu I made her. She doesn't take much but the tiny strips of tulle are so fiddly to get tied. She's a fairyland tiny bjd at 9.7 cm tall. 

She has been climbing all over my flowers. She says she's going to fly right off the top of the big red flowers. I told her she better wait till I make her some wings. 

I finished beading my Doll Chateau string bikini bottoms this weekend. Making the bikini bottoms was a real task, because the doll doesn't have any fat to tighten the strings into it. I don't use patterns. I work by what I see like sculpting. So when I tied the bikini on her it fell off to her feet. So I had to go back and decrease around the top to cause it to fit her shape. It turned out puckered a little but I almost tossed the project as a learning experience. I have been reading that the doll's body shape is unique. I also read that bottoms are extra difficult to find.

 For the first tutu, I put it on a hammered copper wire instead of elastic. I made little circles on the ends to put jewelry. My original idea was to have her dressed like a fairy in some faraway fairy kingdom. I put the jewelry on the tutu with the bikini still on her.

 Then I tried the jewelry without the bottoms. I like the look more. I think I will need to learn to make her tights like a ballerina.

I have been working on clothes for my Doll Chateau Stacey ever since I got her. I finished her top with string bikini bottoms, barefoot sandals and tutu. I even hammered her a copper bracelet. I am working on jewelry for her now.

I would love to give her body blush sometime when I am finished making her work as a poor mannequin.