I am very blessed to have 3 Dianna Effner, 13″ Little Darling dolls. I have Isabelle, Lian and Janie. Isabelle was painted by Dianna several years ago and given to me for Christmas one year, by one of my doll customers!
(I know…nice gift huh?)
Then I won Janie on Ebay and Lian a little later on Ebay. Both Janie and Lian were pianted by Joyce Mathews.
The dolls start out as just blanks… (this is Elin, with actual glass eyes in, but the Effner Little Darlings faces look pretty much the same.)
The eyes on the dolls look like glass but it’s the way they are painted that give their eyes that special glow and make them look so real.
To be a certified painter of the Little Darling dolls you have to complete the Dianna Effner Eye Painting course and then you may begin painting dolls if you like. There are currently 6 painters I think who do it on a regular basis, but the dolls are in such high demand the artists are usually booked for at least a year or two in advance. They do the best they can but they can only do so much in the time they are given each day.
I ordered a Little Darling back in April 2014 and 26 months later… I am still waiting on my girl. *sigh* I think she’ll be done soon, but I thought that several months ago too, and she never arrived. It was only supposed to have been an 11 month wait, so I’m not sure what happened but all I know is I’m almost there… she’ll be here soon, I hope!
There are 3 sculpts by Dianna Effner that can be chosen… Isabelle and Janie are the #1 sculpt with the wider open eyes and Lian is my #2 sculpt..with the more narrowed eyes. the #3 sculpt is of a little smiling face. There are hundreds of different ways of painting the dolls eyes and lips making each dolls face look completely like she’s a one of a kind. It’s really hard to imagine so many different looks can be achieved with only 3 different sculpts! If you google Effner Little Darlings and then hit “Images” at the top, you’ll see what I mean. I just googled it and saw the picture of Lian in the 3rd row with the little sprig of flowers in her hair. It was THAT picture that made my heart do a flip and I knew I had to have her.
Well, thrill of all thrills, there is another doll artist who has begun painting the Dianna Effner Little Darling dolls! You may have seen her things before.. Magalie Dawson… the doll dress designer and pattern designer who makes the extraordinary doll outfits with beading and french knots and laces and thread embroidery and much more. If you have seen her things before, you know exactly what I mean…If not, you’re in for a real treat.
In the comments yesterday, Susette mentioned she had gotten an email from Magalie saying she was going to begin taking orders for painting the dolls. It will be a new adventure for Magalie but if anyone can do it, she can. She’s already sold three on Ebay and they were the most adorable things ever. They came in beautiful outfits made by Magalie. The dolls that she’ll be painting will come with a set of under garments chosen by Magalie along with shoes and socks. They will have wigs too.
I didn’t want to assume that Magalie wanted more business so I emailed her and asked her if it would be okay to give out her information here on my blog and she was thrilled. So… I’ll give you that information and you can look over her terms and see what you think. She told me she just started taking orders day before yesterday and she’s already booked up till next July! I’m telling you these dolls are popular!
I’ll give you a few links to some of Magalie’s things…
This is a link to the first doll she painted dressed in a pretty coral colored dress…
Here is a link to her second doll she painted, dressed in a pair of summery pajamas….
Her third doll that was painted was Dianna’s newest #3 sculpt…a smiling doll, dressed in a long romper of blue and white fabrics.
You can choose a doll like one of the three she’s shown or pick from her list of eye colors, let her know what color hair you’d like, how you’d like it styled, plus a few other choices.
I have tried 6 times to get the link to Magalie’s website listed here. For some reason it absolutely will not take. I’m sorry but I guess you’ll just have to just google Magalie Dawson painted Little Darlings. I just tried that and it worked.
UPDATE: I just got an email from Magalie this morning thanking me for the post, but also adding why I couldn’t get the link to order dolls from her to go through. She said she was overwhelmed with orders and was booked for a solid year as of 11:00 yesterday morning. Instead of just having a list that went on and on for a couple of years, she stopped taking orders and will now just be taking names on a “waiting list.” I have tried again to get her link to post on here, but it just won’t go through. You’ll have to do it the google way… sorry…
Well, I’m going to head to bed. I helped out at the yard sale from 2:00 this afternoon till 9:30 tonight, sorting everything from electronics to baby clothes and shoes to craft supplies. I’m beat! It looks to be another good yard sale!
I’ll see you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
She’s already stopped taking orders, but you can get on her waiting list, so that when she does, you can get a doll by her. I would love to get one, but alas, finances say no.
http://dolloutfits.com/
Thanks so much Christine,
I’ve tried to get her link added to my post, but for some reason it absolutely will not go through. So thanks for adding it to your comments…
She’s going to be ONE busy lady for some time now!
Thank you very much,
Blessings, Jeanne
I was able to add the link to her site in the above comment. Hope that helps. 🙂
Thanks so much!!! :o)
You’re welcome! 😀
The dolls you’ve posted are truly works of art and great to look at. Thanks for sharing such beauty with us.
Hope you got some good rest overnight.
Take care.
HI Becky,
Yes, Magalie’s things truly are works of art and so pretty to look at! I totally agree with you!
I did get some rest and will go back tonight at 6:00 when we’ll do some more work…
The next few days will be grueling…but necessary!
Blessings, Jeanne
Good morning, Jeanne. It’s so nice to see another artist painting the Little Darlings. I cannot begin to imagine how many preordered dolls it takes to book an artist up for an entire year! Wow! I hope Magalie still has time to create her beautiful patterns, but maybe she has allowed for that. I always think how rewarding it would be to create the Little Darling’s expression and look, and then to dress her up too. What fun!
We had a very dreary July 4th here, hope that down south it was sunny. The sun finally came out a little while ago, all is good.
Have a beautiful day, Jeanne!
Hi Cindy,
Yes, it is great to have another artist painting the Little Darlings… They are in such high demand and very needed! Magalie told me she was being conservative in her painting time so maybe she only booked one a week, so as not to get overwhelmed. She told me she’s hoping the average wait time will 8 months or less…. much sooner than anyone else can promise.
I’ve debated about taking the eye painting course from Dianna myself, but thought there would be too much stress involved, and I barely have time to do what I love to do, which is sew, so I passed on the idea. Maybe some day later on down the road…
We had a dreary 4th too. The weather cleared up just in time to have the fireworks, but just as they were getting started, it started pouring again, so I’m not sure what they did at the park… We didn’t go, and I was just getting home from helping with the yard sale.
Today is beautiful and you’d never know it had been so stormy yesterday…
Thanks Cindy,
Blessings, Jeanne
I saw that Joy ordered her doll right away and it is scheduled for October. I waited 24 hours to order mine and it is scheduled for next April, which is fine for me. I think I first saw the smiling doll on your site, Cindy, and it looked so happy and made me smile too. I’ll see which sculp Riya’s mother likes the best. Magalie is so talented and I consider myself very fortunate to have gotten my order in. Thanks, Jeanne and Cindy, for making me aware of the beautiful dolls and the clothes you make for them.
HI Susette,
I bet Magalie’s website just about crashed the last 2 days with all the messages coming in to her. She’s probably been tied to her computer day and night!
Oh, Susette, you’re going to love the doll so much! I must tell you, they are addicting… but you’ll find that out for yourself.
I’m glad you got your order in quickly and the wait isn’t so long! You might get yours before I get mine… :o(((
Thanks Susette,
Blessings, Jeanne
I’m pretty sure Magalie has allowed time for painting as well as dolly outfits. Or I hope so. I’ve already ordered a pair of dolly shoes for the expected LD come October. Silly me.
HI Joy,
Oh boy… new doll shoes for your upcoming girl… then there’ll be wigs and clothes to buy or make… you’re going to really enjoy your new girl. Which one did you buy?…or are you keeping it a secret?
October isn’t very far away…congratulations again!
Blessings, Jeanne
Well, I was in such a dither, I almost can’t remember. I knew the sooner I got my order going the sooner I would receive. Sculpt 1, blond wavy hair, blue/gray eyes, no freckles, I think. And no name yet. I have to decide by painting time. I’m thinking of Bessie at the moment. After my grandmother who made countless Ginny doll outfits for me as a child.
I love the idea of naming your doll after your grandmother, Joy! Especially since she made so many doll clothes for you!! Bessie is a name you just don’t hear much any more, either, so it sounds fresh and new again.
Jeannie:
Magalie has to take down the order list.. She’s booked up for a whole year now!
If you ordered a doll from Lana, she is painting April 2014 now.:)
HI Shara,
I just got an email from Magalie this morning explaining why she took down her ordering information… She must have gotten hundreds of emails… I can’t imagine. ..
Oh REALLY… my girl is going to be painted soon???? Oh Shara, you have MADE MY DAY!!!
Thanks so much for the heads up!
Blessings, Jeanne
I was going to suggest you contact your artist, to make sure your order hadn’t somehow got skipped over or lost (it’s very rare, but I remember hearing about one time….), but it looks like Lana is your artist, from what you said above. It’s possible she was ill for a time–seems like I remember hearing One of them was, anyway, and thus got behind.
You can always email or call your artist, too, if you feel like it’s been way too long. Some of them do have rather spotty internet connection, though, so if you email and don’t hear, email again!
In the meantime, we’ll all be waiting for the first pictures of your new girl, when she does get there!!
OH, this was so interesting to read, Jeanne! I just LOVE LD’s, and have just started to really notice them, not that I never noticed yours, but I never thougt that maybe the general public could ever get one! See, you’re “special”, not a part of the general public!! Anyway, I think it would be fun to also paint them, but of course, I’m not going to do that, but I think I could do a pretty good job, since I was an art teacher and spent a lot of my childhood drawing, drawing, drawing—-and playing with dolls!
Thank you for all this information, and I am signing up to join Magalie’s website. She makes amazing outfits!
It’s so nice to see the SUN shining today! The past weekend seems like a foggy memory—-and it pretty much was!
HI Linda,
I bet you could paint them… if it wasn’t for the stress of all the orders coming in… just think how many “Dolly Dollars” you could earn! :o)
I’m glad you enjoyed the post today and yes, the sun is shining today here too! Last week was pretty much a wash here too!
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne