What I mean by that is you can ask any questions today and maybe someone will answer you. It might be a doll question or a sewing question or a question abut a recipe…etc. I got home from the hospital last night, and being with Alba all day, I was spent. I just wasn’t up to writing a post.
I know there was some trouble with getting to the comments yesterday, but I talked to Sarah and she said it was fixed…it works on my end and hope it does on yours…
If you are new and didn’t know you can click on the blue title of my blog, when you get it in your email, it will bring you to my actual website where you can see the comments at the bottom of the post. I hope you’ll stop by and leave a comment now and then…
Hopefully, I’ll be back tomorrow…
Blessings and have fun today,
Jeanne
Dear Jeanne and Family, happy May!
Here is my question. It has two parts: Do you have a travel doll? If you do, where is the most fascinating place you have taken her (or him).
It’s still the first and I have your column for the 2nd. I’ll be checking in for news of Alba. Stay well.
First, I enjoyed reading everyone’s memories of May Day. I, too, made paper baskets (it seems we did the cone-shaped ones at least once), and put what flowers we could find (not a lot in Upper Michigan on May 1, but a few) in them. Then over to Mrs. Nadeau’s house, to hang them on her doorknob, ring the bell, and Run!
And today, when I got home my grocery shopping, *I* had flowers! It turned out to be from our neighbor girl, Mary–some pretty mums and Gerbera daisies in a glass jar with some water in it,and a ribbon tied around the neck of it! I called her mom (thinking it might be she), and she said it was Mary. What a lovely surprise!
I hope and pray that Alba is doing better, and will be able to go home from the hospital soon. I’m sure this would be considered a medical emergency and defending her doctrinal thesis can be postponed a bit; I would imagine the doctor would be happy to write to the powers that be about it.
Dorothy in PA, yes, I have a travel doll. Actually, I have several travel dolls!! It kind of depends where I’m going and how much room I have to pack her and her things (well, she can’t wear the same outfit Every day, and she needs some toys to play with!!). When I went to Sewing Expo this past Feb., I brought one of my LeeAnn dolls with me–she stayed in my motel room when I was at the Expo attending classes. In previous years, I’ve brought one or another of my Little Darlings. Sometimes I take my 14″ Betsy McCall (the Robert Tonner one), as she has lots of clothes and accessories to choose from. And a number of years ago (before LeeAnn and the LDs), I used to take one of my 8″ Madame Alexander dolls–I have three that I bought naked, and bought/made many outfits for all three; in addition, they have a number of toys, too. In fact, when I went to Africa in 1999, one of my MA’s went with me then–the blond with braids, Nora.
I also have a teddy bear…..Linsey McKinsey, a white Boyd’s Bear that I bought from QVC about 20-some years ago, goes with me a lot of places, even when I take a doll. When I had my gall bladder out in 1999, she was at the hospital with me. She also goes to Expo with me, and sits on the bed, waiting for me to come back to the motel. I don’t usually take her on long trips, though. She came with just a bow (I didn’t like bears with clothes) and then we discovered that she could wear Bitty-Baby-sized clothes, and now she has a seasonal wardrobe! She is wearing her Easter outfit right now–an Easter-y sweater (purchased) and an Easter-egg-print skirt that I made for her.
How about the rest of you? Anyone else have a travel doll? Do you keep a journal of your doll’s travels? I don’t, since I’ve always had a sort of rotating group of travel dolls. But I understand some do–it seems like years ago you could even buy a travel doll’s journal, with blank pages to fill in!
Your blog is just lovely.
I have always loved dolls. I do not have time to play with them or dress them but I would
I would love to get back into making dresses and pants and overalls, and pretty blouses for my dolls.
The closest I have to a travel doll was a trip I took with a Gotz doll. We went to visit my niece who got me into sewing for her 18 inch doll. I made a travel trunk from a wicker picnic hamper. It has satin ribbons to tie a doll in and a rod to hang clothes on. The lid has pockets for shoes and accessories. Soon after that visit I purchased an American girl doll. Alas, my niece is now a sophisticated 16 year old with no interest in dolls. I have continued to buy dolls and make clothes for them. The trunk is now a portable closet for doll clothes. I turned a microwave cart into a larger doll clothes closet to hold the over flow.
The wicker basket trunk is a great idea. My granddaughter has lost interest in the dolls at a much younger age but has left me collecting AG dolls and their furniture to a fault. It’s a lot of fun. I could never travel with a doll as every inch in a suitcase is filled with clothes or gifts for my grandchildren. Overseas travel leaves me handling my own suitcases, so no room there for dolls, although it sounds like fun to take pictures with them at different sites. Thanks for joining our group. I don’t think I’ve seen your name before; very pretty.
Am I the only one that had trouble getting to comments later in the day for Jeanne’s post yesterday? All the post was doing was downloading for me, and I was unable to open it. Anyway, I did tell Jeanne and later was able to get on, but then much later back to the same old. This morning, again, I can’t get to the comments from yesterday’s post, but it appears to be only for yesterday’s post as I have no trouble with the day prior or today’s post. So, whatever the problem may be, it is just with the May 1st post.
That said, Jeanne had a very long day at the hospital and hopefully, after some rest will be back with us.
I went back and searched my old computer, takes forever, and found my May Day photo of my 10ers dancing around the May pole. Maybe Jeanne will show it in the future.
Thanks to Dorothy for coming up with the dolly question. I have never traveled with dolls as an adult. However, I have taken one along for a quick day trip and photo shoot, but that is about it. Might be fun though in the future.
Here is my question. Where do you buy dolly wigs and eyes? I’m always looking for new sites to try. I look on ebay probably too much and just google to see how a particular wig might look. The wig maker, Monique is not far from here and I have actually received a wig from them the next day after purchase. I love their wigs. As to eyes, I’ve only bought from an east coast place, Schaeffer, I believe. Can anyone else add any sites where they have purchased wigs or eyes? and another dolly necessity, shoes? My dollies are constantly pushing that computer buy button when it comes to shoes. 🙂
Wishing Alba well and thinking of Sara and Edgar.
How funny about the shoes. It seems my girls feel they can never have enough shoes. I think they get it honestly. I’ve always loved shoes myself, but finding comfortable shoes these days is hard, so I subscribe to the idea that if the shoe fits, buy it in every color. My girls feel the same way. My dolly accessory shopping has actually got to be a joke around here. Whenever David finds a small package in the mail, he knows pretty much what it is. He gives it to me and tells me the girls have been online shopping again.
I buy most of my dolly shoes from Juju’s Dolly Mall or Deb’s Adorables. I used to buy from Antina’s Doll Supply, but they don’t exist any more. Deb’s shoes are a little more expensive but she has a lot of different styles. I buy most of my LD shoes from there. I also buy from Etsy when I find something one of my girls can’t live without. I got a darling pair of crocheted shoes for my H4H dolls just looking around on Etsy. If you have a Paola Reina doll, Etsy is the place to go. There are several shops that have them, all overseas I believe but they have amazing things. If you don’t mind spending a little money (I laid down the law that my Paola Reina Cleo cannot buy shoes without my consent) there is a site that has the cutest leather shoes for around $25.00. If I buy a pair of them, which I haven’t, that limits me to one pair per purchase.
As for the wigs and eyes, I’m awaiting the replies on that one myself. I’m new to the wig and eye thing.
The downloading issue is exactly what was happening for me also, Joy. I never did get to check back later , but I guess it is fixes now.
Ok…I missed something. What happened to Alba? It must be serious if she’s hospitalized:( 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Thanks again for all the May Day pictures…that was a trip down memory lane.
I took a travel doll to the first UFDC Convention I went to….then saw other ladies rooms and they each displayed their own travel dolls…most of which were Bleuettes. That made me a Bleuette lover . I have one and she remained my fav until I saw a Little Darling and then they became my travel dolls.
Hope she is better and you got some rest!
I never had a travel doll but I used to take my Build-A-Bear bunny, Felicity, with me everywhere. My hubby bought her for me after my youngest child left home. She filled my empty nest. She will be 15 years old on May 9. She flew with me to visit my mother in Delaware and took several trips to Colorado and Kansas. I’ve got tons of pictures of her playing in the snow, at the top of mountain passes, etc. I stopped taking her with us when we got our Cocker, Chelsy, and she went with us on our trips. Since Chelsy and Felicity would have had to spend some time in the car alone together, I thought it best that Felicity stay home with Wrinkles, our family mascot. Does anyone remember Wrinkles? I think he is a Shar Pei. You could put your hand inside his head from the back and he became a very large puppet. Our kids loved him. They grew up with him and we still have him. He’s become the “babysitter” when we leave Felicity and her little sister, Freeda, home alone. And he keeps an eye on my 24 dolls to make sure no one gets in trouble while we’re gone.
Travel doll? No, I do not travel with a doll, only my husband! My dolls are display dolls and it would just be one more thing to have along and keep an eye out for, so no dolls going anywhere with me! I managed to take a picture of Scarlett on skis in the snow this past winter, but had to make sure no one saw me!! I’m not one to carry a doll around in public, although I know many do!
Along with Susette, I see a few names today that I have never seen before. I hope you stay with us, since we have so much fun here and share our experiences together. Dolls have brought us together, and Jeanne is our expert doll sewer!
I am hoping and praying that Alba recovers from whatever happened, and pray that Edgar and Sara are holding up too. You are doing a wonderful job, Jeanne, of showing love, care and concern for their family, and they will forever be grateful to you. Keep us informed, and get some rest yourself!
Hi Jeanne,
Prayers for Alba hoping she’s feeling better soon. I believe a note from her doctor will be all thats needed, I hope it eases her mind so she can get well.
When I was 15 my Grandmother came to visit from the Netherlands she brought with her a very large doll it was cute but at 15 I wasn’t interested in dolls anymore. I thanked her and took it to my room. After Oma left for home I decided she could live in my closet. When I picked her up she smelled “funny” I’m not sure why but I remember twisting her head and it popping off easily. She smelled like fish but in a bad way… she was filled with damp sand. That explained why she was so heavy and that smell! Even though she didn’t travel with me she came a long way from the Netherlands to New York.
I don’t take my girls anywhere… they are rather a guilty pleasure I keep to myself for the most part. Hubby thinks I’m silly enough. I’m not sure what he’d say if I parked one of my dolls at the table in a restaurant or on the bed of a hotel we were staying at. Although we have traveled a few places where I found a toy store and bought a new teddy for my collection… does that count?
Did you have to throw the doll out or could you empty her, dry her out and fill her with something more pleasant.
My mom came to the rescue. Shes a hard plastic doll, we think maybe my cousin filled her with sand at the beach which was near Oma’s house. We both laughed about it. The doll looked brand new on the outside. Mom cleaned her up and made an old fashion dutch outfit for her… shes still at moms house wearing her wooden shoes and dutch outfit.
Wonderful!!
Guilty pleasure — that’s sort of the way I see my dolls too. I do think one would go along if I was taking a car trip, but probably not an overseas trip or a flight. I really would hate it if one disappeared.
The thing that took me to an ER several times before I found a doctor who figured out it was pancreatitis. What a relief to have that taken care of. It was the first week of school and someone had to take my classes for a week. Fortunately my supervisor was a wonderful friend and took over. I had had some of the same students in a different class and one came to see me — I gave him my lesson plans, written in pencil on a napkin. The day I got back I could hear my students whispering, “That’s her. She’s coming.” Students really like familiar situations and people.
I’ll be checking back for news.
I hope Alba is okay. What happened? I’ll be praying for her. I wasn’t able to access the post yesterday at all and now I can only see the post itself through the one that was sent to my email, but clicking on the blue title just makes it into a download that I can’t open so I can’t read yesterdays comments. I also can’t access Jeanne’s site by typing “idreamofjeannemarie.com” inot google as I normally do. Wonder what’s going on.
No, I don’t have a travel doll either. If I had had my own Felicity when we went to Williamsburg many years ago I probable would have taken her and I definitely would have taken Samantha to Prince Edward Island.
I would have loved to see photos of Prince Edward Island with your girls. So loved Anne of Green Gables. 🙂
And nope, still can’t get to yesterdays May pole post. Only allows a download that doesn’t work. Thanks Laura, glad to hear that I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t view it. I even tried from Jeanne’s post on Meadow Dolls and same thing.
Can’t wait until tomorrow to hear from Jeanne. Hoping Alba is much better and family was able to get some rest.
Hi everyone,
The day has gotten away from me, so I’ll just add my comments here in one place…
I have never had a travel doll…I’m like Linda, I guess…just traveling with my hubby is what I do…I DO HOWEVER look for things for my dolls…ALL the time…in fact, just today I found a cute puppy dog i might be using next…
I loved reading about your May Day stories… especially when friends left flower baskets on your doors… awwww! :o)
I buy doll wigs and shoes from everywhere… Juju’s Dolly Mall, Audrey’s wigs, Jpop for wigs and eyes, Ebay, yard sales, thrift shops,..
Sometimes those porcelain dolls have shoes on that are coveted with frilly lace…but you can remove it and have a decent pair of shoes.
As far as Alba goes…we left the hospital about 9:00 last night… she woke up yesterday morning in a pool of blood and was passing out every so often. Sara called me at 61:15 yesterday morning asking what to do….once she got to the dr, they said she had lost half of her blood…and was very sick…she was anemic, and low on iron. They gave her 2 blood transfusions and did an ultrasound… she has to go back on Tuesday to see the ob/gyn doctor again. There was some talk of fibroids and they want to do a biopsy…
She was much better after her transfusions.
She can’t change the day she defends her Thesis…it was the only day all 5 professors could meet. It has to be Wednesday, the 8th. They are leaving on the 24th…
Well, I probably said too much but I wanted you to know what happened. I’m sure she would still love your prayers…
I found some time in my sewing room this evening and hope I gave something done enough to show you…it’s yellow and red… :o)
Thanks everyone…
Blessings, Jeanne