Kaya in the ferns

Howdy fellas! It's been a fat minute since I've posted, but worry not, I'm still interested in dolls. I've just been mostly working on maintaining my instagram since it doesn't ruin the quality of my photos.

This picture of Kaya, for example, I worked hard on focusing and making clear and crisp for your viewing pleasure, but dumb ol blogger had to go and make it grainy. I mean, It could just be my computer, but these were clean when I uploaded them but got grainy as soon as I added them to the post.

Now I know a lot of you aren't on here anymore, but if any of you doll bloggers are still out there, I'd love for you to tell me how to fix this stupid ass problem. I want the work I put into my photos to be reflected on the screen.

Also, aren't these boots cute?! They're from Kit's gardening outfit. Not too fond of the rest of the outfit but these boots? Damn I love em.

These pictures were taken out by a lovely mossy boulder in my yard. Most things are still too dead from winter for acceptable photos, but lucky for us, moss and ferns stay green year round.

I may have posted about this previously, but Kaya belongs to my cousin Barrett, who's house is being remodeled. I get to use her dolls while she gets her room put together. Kaya is easily my favorite in her collection. I've photographed her before by some different ferns further back on the property, wearing pieces from Isabelle's collection. Pastels look nicer on brown skin, I think.

That being said, I'm not too fond of this outfit. The light blue turtleneck might have been a mistake. But the boots and yellow Our Generation jacket really make me happy.

Welp, Kaya had a fun time out fiddling around in the ferns, and I had a good time taking pictures.

Hope anyone reading this has a good day!

Signing off,

Gwen

Doll care adventures- limb tightening

My younger cousin Barrett just turned 13 and does not play with her dolls much anymore, and her family is going to remodel some parts of the house, which means a lot of stuff must be stored or purged. I, being the weirdo 17 year old who still enjoys dolls, offered (or really, requested) to let Barrett's dolls stay with me for a few months until she wants them back.
There are 4 dolls from her-

From left to right:
Maddie, a Just Like You with blue pinwheel eyes, lined brows, and platinum blond hair.
Saige, Girl Of The Year 2013
Mckenna, Girl Of The Year 2012
Kaya, a BeForever bought in 2014.
Saige and Kaya are in the best condition since they are the newest. Bear has always treated her dolls well, even when she was little, but things happen with little children and over time.
My orders of buisness were: tighten Maddie and McKenna's legs, fix Saige and Mckenna's hair. Kaya got to chill on the floor with my dolls while her crew got intensive hospital and spa treatment.

Loose string makes for loose legs!

 My Simple Limb Tightening Process:

1. Untie neck string and remove head

2. Use two clawed fingers to scoop out stuffing

3. Find the socket joint for one of the legs, pull it out the neck hole or as close to the neck hole as you can so you can see what you're doing while you work on it.

4. Pull on the elastic string sticking out of the socket joint. This pulls the limb further in and doesn't let it flop around anymore.
5. Use a hair tie to keep the elastic string tight, which just means keeping the knot pulled up from the white thing.
6. Now do it to the other leg!
7. Begin putting stuffing back in. Use a pencil to pack it down, especially in the butt and hip area, where a lack of stuffing will either look weird or cause the joint casing to wiggle around or fabric to fold.
8. Make sure the knotted ends of the string aren't poking at the body fabric, that'll look weird too.
9. As you get close to the top, pack the stuffing tightly around the arm joints.
10. Slide the head lip back under the neck hole, and tie the string tightly. Admire your handiwork.

Ta Da! 

A few photos from Easter

Yesterday Andie and Lilly met their new cousin Kaya. We all gathered at grandma's house for easter and Kaya came with Barrett.

She is just so stinkin pretty!

And her hair is like a princesse's! (not that I know any princess who let me pet their hair- or princesses in general, for that matter.) But is is seriously so soft and so long I want to sit there and play with it all day.

Lilly's bow is from the Boho Beauty outfit from Our Generation.

I think Andie looks rather nice with the green highlight, though I can't find a good way to make it stay in.

BFFs. It would have been great if all the dolls (Barrett's McKenna, Maddie, Saige, Kaya, and my Lilly and Andie) had been there, but that would have been like 6 dolls- way too many! And I sorta forgot to take any pictures until it was time to leave, so that would have been an awful lot of dolls to haul around in 5 minutes.

Again I must admire Kaya's hair. Look how glossy and black that is! Like wearing a starlit night on your head.

And Barrett wore her converse. I love converse. I have a pair of black hi-tops that I adore.

Gwen