JUST A REMINDER: My American Girl Doll dress set, “Summer Lace” ends this evening on Ebay… You can see it by clicking the picture at the right side bar, or you can click HERE.
We are blessed today to have some pictures from Sissy, who just returned from the Modern Doll Collectors Convention (MDCC) in New Orleans. I’ll let her do the narrating of her pictures… (I’m sorry, Sissy, but your pictures didn’t come through like they normally do, so I had to copy the image and this is the only size that would work. Even if you try to enlarge them, they stay the same size… I think we can still see them okay though.)
Dear Jeanne,
I didn’t get many dolls this time, I am downsizing instead of buying much. Here are some photos.
I saw this rainbow in the clouds from our plane on the way to MDCC.
This lovely “tree” of roses was at the hotel entry every day.
The hotel had the best food ever, especially the desserts! Here is my order of “Belgium Waffles”…3 of them filled with yummy stuff. Also the best chocolate cake I ever ate, these are just a few of the too much food I ate!
My friend Kaye and I and a friend went to the National WWII Museum. I was beautifully done, easy to follow and very worthwhile to attend if you are ever in New Orleans.
Here are some photos of a few dolls.
I went to the dinner for the Dianna Effner dolls. I always purchase one of those. There is always and special doll on the center of each table. These are done by the ladies that paint the dolls by hand and are beautifully dressed. They are more expensive so I don’t get one, but here is the photo for this year.
There is always some kind of Charity for St Jude hospital that is done with and Effner doll. This year we donated outfits for the doll, she was another hand painted one for this. Here is a photo of the doll wearing the outfit I offered and also many other outfits. They didn’t announce the final amount but the last one I saw was $1,700.
(VERY CUTE outfit you made Sissy! It’s fabulous that your outfit was the one chosen to be seen on the doll!)
Here is the Dianna Effner doll I got. The convention theme was “All That Jazzy” so this doll is dressed as a dancer. She was inspired by an early piece made with dough by Dianna.
The other doll I received was made by Meadow dolls. She is the 11 inch dumpling size. Her name is Lilli, and when I saw her I knew she could be the little sister of my Tia, who is the same as Mae, with a different face. My Tia is dressed as an Asian and I made a matching outfit for my new doll, Lilli, and gave her a black wig. The photos show the pair in special scenes that the staff set up for us to take photos of our dolls. Here are Tia and Lilli, sweet sisters.
Thank you so much Sissy! It looks like a fun place to be…at a doll convention! Maybe one of these days I’ll make it to one. :o)
Okay, now it’s time to show you what I was working on for Mae… I wanted to show you in case I happened to get it finished over the weekend and had the opportunity to list it on Ebay.
First new thing was the beret hat… I made one for Isabelle in her black and white dress and Mae said she wanted one too.
I thought she’d look cute in braids, so I did my best to braid her hair… even though it was bit tricky… it was so fine and a bit on the short side.
The next thing I decided on was a pair of red leather shoes to go with her dress. I scrounged in my red/burgundy leather scraps and found one small piece that I thought would work pretty well. It’s not quite a bright red as her buttons, but I think they’ll do. I had no room for error because these scraps were all I had left…
So… I made my shoes like I always do… I had both shoes made and was wetting them on the inside to shape them on my shoe lasts… I sat them in the sunshine to dry and one dried like this and one dried like this…
Clearly something went wrong… the shoe on the right still looks like it is wet and sort of splotchy… but it’s dry as can be… So I thought maybe I got it unevenly wet on the inside and rewet it with my paint brush dipped in water. I let it dry again and still it had all those dark spots on it…
So…. I was like a mad woman trying to find one small piece of red leather to match the one I just made. I searched in my “reds” leather box and on the very bottom I found what looked like the same piece… I looked at the backside to compare them… I called my hubby in my sewing room and asked if he thought they matched… He said he thought so…
So… I cut out another shoe and made another red shoe… It’s been painted with water on the inside and has already dried and it’s OKAY!!!
The straps haven’t been added yet and the edges haven’t been touched, but I’ll get to that this weekend.
The shoe on the left was the one that was okay…the middle one is the NEW one I cut out and the one on the right is the DUD!!!
Anyway, I am so thankful I found a piece of leather to make a second shoe. It is on the shoe last and will stay over night to conform to Mae’s feet.
I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures of the red shoes on her feet… the pictures are of the good shoe and the bad shoe, but it was just to get an idea to see if the red shoes would look okay. I was going to make black shoes… but black seemed too boring to me… so I went with red.
I didn’t get my third thing finished…because of my shoe blunder… but I’ll keep working…
Have a wonderful weekend… I’ll see you Monday!
Blessings, Jeanne
Just a quick note before I head to bed. It’s been a Very long day, and I’m beat!
Sissy, thank you for sharing some pictures from the doll convention. Looks like you had a good time. Your new Lilli is as sweet as can be.
Jeanne, I actually love Mae’s hair braided–it’s so typical of little girls’ hairstyles with the braids and all, and of course most little girls don’t have braids any thicker than those on her. And, yes, I was one of them! After seeing another little girl with thick, luxurious braids, I begged my mother to braid my hair, too, and my braids weren’t one bit thicker than Mae’s are now! I was so disappointed.
How fortuitous, that you had that extra piece of leather!! So glad those shoes turned out so well. I do have to add, when I was a little girl, I remember how thrilled I was to get my first pair of red shoes! I wore them with everything!
Well, Ron’s funeral is finally planned, and it will be the morning of next Tuesday. Then at 2, there will be a short graveside service with military honors. He would be really pleased about that, I think. Afterwards I went to IHOP, and Daniel was with me (and had been at the funeral home, along with my pastor and his wife). Our friends were so kind–everyone standing up and coming over to give me a hug and express condolences. They also payed for our meal.
Lovely to know, Charlotte, than you have so many friends. I know they will continue to show their love to you. I wish we could meet again as we did years ago, but that isn’t in the cards any more. Peyton and airports don’t get along. He has trouble with all the walking. Otherwise he gets along fine, here at the house and the Y, just lots of walking with suitcases is not his thing anymore.
I remember fondly that time we met, Sissy. I believe you introduced me to the Little Darlings!! And I got to meet some of your lovely family. That restaurant is still right where it was, but the American Girl store closed a couple of years ago. That was a sad day!
When I fly, I always get wheelchair service, as I have a hard time walking any distance, too. I’ve been doing that for a number of years now, ever since I had to practically RUN from my incoming gate to my outgoing one–three LONG corridors away–at the Detroit airport one year. With TWO carry-ons AND my purse!! 😂 Never again!
Oh how cute Mae looks with her little braids! That’s the kind of hair you see on most little blonde haired children, fine, thin and wispy! So cute and realistic, not the long, lush, thick hair you see on most blonde haired dolls at all, which makes her more endearing.
The little muffin hat is perfect for this outfit, and boy were you lucky having that extra piece of leather. I would put a pair of white socks on her to hide that joint right above her shoes.
Although I love kitties, black and white check just say “Scotty dog” to me!
Sissy, it looks like you had a wonderful time at the doll show, such beautiful scenes, and those dolls were just gorgeous! The clothes, including the one you made, were exquisitely done! How I would have loved to go to see that! Thank you for sending those pictures to Jeanne!
Charlotte, I will be thinking of you Tuesday!
It is so fun to see pictures of your trip to the doll convention, Sissy! The hotel looks fun to explore, and the food looks delicious. The roses are beautiful. That is neat that the Dianna Effner doll got to wear the outfit you made. Sounds like a lot of money was made for St. Jude! (One time I got to see the top of a rainbow arch from an airplane. It might have been from coming back from Guatemala.) Tia and Lilli look so sweet together! I am glad you had such a great time there!
Jeanne, I am sorry you had some trouble with the red leather, but glad the next piece is working out. Red shoes go well with the dress. I like the little Scottie a lot 🙂
You’re in my prayers, Charlotte. That is so nice they will give him military honors. Soldiers did that for Marion’s Godfather, too, and they were quite impressive.
I am so glad you enjoyed the photos, Linda. I really was a great time.
Dear Charlotte, it is so wonderful that you are sharing your every new day with all of us.
You and your family remain in our prayers
Thank you for sharing these doll convention photos, Sissy. wow, Just super extravagant and special, very memorable adventure indeed
Gosh, Mae looks so adorable. You are very talented Jeanne, sewing and extraordinary photography, superb styling and poses.
I adore the dress, and the hat, and the shoes, Red is my fave color.
Happy Friday everyone. Yesterday was sort of cool-ish, low 80s no humidity, so I ventured out into the yard with the hedge trimmers, – with shorts on, very risky for me bc the mosquitoes love me like cake. anyway, I buzzed around the front gardens and hacked everything, now it is all laying there like ….. well, it needs to be cleaned up. I also nursed my transplanted into pots, Mr Lincoln Roses. I did not get any bites. I am kind of shocked, but grateful.
Sounds like Charlotte, has everything planned well for Ron’s funeral. We live near the cemetery here, and occasionally hear the gun salutes and know that someone is being honored for their military service.
Sissy’s pics were delightful. Thanks Jeanne and Sissy for sharing. Those Belgian Waffles look yummy, and so much more delicious than my typical oatmeal. 🙂 I hadn’t seen the Effner doll, and wow, she is quite the one. Love the outfit and the nautical one that Sissy donated as well.
I really like Mae’s sweet braids. Such a cutie. The muffin hat is not my favorite style, but does look cute on her. I think I’d like more of a French beret type hat. So sorry about the shoe leather problem. I presume that the leather pieces must have been handled differently or something by the tanner, but so glad Jeanne was able to find another piece. Hope there isn’t a problem with the straps doing the same thing. I think the red will be pretty spiffy with maybe white socks with dainty lace turn down cuffs?
Supposed to be a bit on the cool side today which I will enjoy. Hope it doesn’t effect our cucumbers or tomatoes which are still madly producing. 🙂
Have a nice weekend everyone.
Dear Jeanne, thanks for sharing Sissy’s photos. They are lovely. I am delighted to see so many Little Darling dolls!
Mae’s ensemble is adorable. She is the perfect little model for you!
It will make the whole post enlarged, but you can always hit the magnifying glass up in the search bar to enlarge photos up to 500% or anything smaller if you don’t want to go the whole “open image in new tab” and then hitting the + sign route.
What fun photos of the convention, Sissy. I love the nautical outfit you made. Your new doll is very sweet as well. The hotel looks wonderful.
Mae looks so cute. Love the red shoes!!
I’m glad you have everything planned for Ron, Charlotte. It’s wonderful that he will have military honors.
So glad y’all enjoyed the photos. MDCC really is a wonderful convention! My workshop was enough to pay for my half of our room. Next year I won’t have to fly, it will be held in Savannah!!
Really strange weather here. I can not remember an August with 61 degrees in the morning!! I has warmed up not but still not the hot we were having. Glad some of you are finding a little cooler as well.
The outfit is adorable. And I LOVE the red shoes!! I’ve been a fan of red, white and black for many years! Hope this brings you a BIG price!