Cleo DeNile, Summer memories

It is in the middle of the winter over here at the moment and you really need the thick socks, scarfs and shoes that can make it through the snow. Even Bentley, our dog, has a jacket on during the later evening walks so that he does not freeze and can be seen in the darkness. 

In the coldest of winter days you really long for the warmth of the summer. Went through some photos I took of Cleo DeNile, my Monster High doll from the Generation 3. I had thoughts about a little story line for these photos - she was on her way to a party, got lost and ended up home, because “What's a forest party? After all, I suppose it would be frightfully dull, and boring, and completely ... completely wonderful.” Inspired from Cinderella. 

I never came to posting this during summer 2024. So why not post it now. Better late than never. 

Enjoy and Happy Valentines!

Ready for a summer party in the forest.

It will be so fun to dance!

I will dance like the wind is carrying me.

Is it this way? I feel lost!

Help, a bug!

Everything is up-side-down!

Better find my way back home.

Good to be home again. I can party another day!

Cleo DeNile

Hope that all is fine with you! 

It is already October and in some weeks we will leave the cottage and return to civilisation. We will change the forest, boars, deer, bats, moose and lake to the city, wolfs, snow and work/study.

The well known bridge.

At the live show.

Summer memories are nice to think about and during the summer me and my hubby took a trip to a castle where they had an exhibition about "Monet & Friends". At this moment the exhibition is in Bangkok and in Kalmar, nearby our cottage. It will arrive to Perth soon! It was a marvellous opportunity to experience the impressionism in art, in the same way that we experienced Van Gogh the last time, for a couple of years ago, at the Kalmar Castle. 

Swedish royalty dresses from ages ago.

We walked through the castle too, even if we have been there several times. There is always something new to look at.

Cleo DeNile in the box with her pet Tut.

Did a quick stop at the toy store in Kalmar just to see if there was something new. My youngest daughter had brought to my attention some new Monster High dolls (she loves these dolls ever since she was a kid) from the Generation 3. I fell for Cleo DeNile instantly and started to look for her. Could find her at Amazon and other stores online, but the postage was sometimes more expensive than the doll. 

So soft and beautiful.

All her accessories.

I looked around in the toy store, not hoping for much. Saw that they had some of the Rainbow High dolls from last generation and I was not so interested in those at this time. Lifted up my head, to look at the highest shelf - where the extra dolls are, if something is sold out. Among these dolls were three Monster High dolls from G3. 

And one was Cleo DeNile. As a happy adult I made a happy dance in the aisle and made myself as long as I could. Poked with my fingers so I could get a grip of the package, went by the aisle with balls and picked one for Bentley and then right to the cashier. He was happy to take my money and I had nothing against giving him it. He talked about the doll, as he did last time when I bought Rainbow High Georgia Bloom. 

Tut!

Cleo DeNile is one of the protagonists in Monster High and she is the daughter of the Mummy and the sister of Nefera DeNile. The Generation 3 doll is more chubbier than the first version of the doll. This version is one of the 'school is back in session' and the ghouls are fashionable when they come back to the hallways. 

Being cool.

She has a royal blue dress with long sleeves and a chain belt. The boots are knee-high (love them) and she has a fringe jacket (nah, not my style) and some cute accessories. And of course she has cute pet puppy maned Tut!

I am really happy that I found Cleo DeNile and could add her to my collection. 

Enjoy October!

PS: I am feeling a bit better even if I have pain in the joints and are tired...

Hoppy Easter!

Well, it has been a while and I hope that you are doing well. I am just fine, even if I have been a bit tired and have had pains in my joints. But Spring is here and the sun is shining, so I cannot be down!

At the moment we are at our cottage, enjoying our time and I thought I could blog from my phone. A year ago, during Easter, we had a lot of snow but this year there is no snow at all. At most we have had around +35 degrees celsius during the day and below zero during the nights. Blue skies, flowers, butterflies, birds, baby squirrels and other cute animals fill the forest and nearby places. I have been walking in the forest and even dipped into the lake the other day. This is not so normal for April, because it usually is colder and even snow at some places. Earth is getting hotter and that is no good thing.

During the evenings I have been listening to audio books and sewing, painting and making an new doll out of my monster high doll Howleen Wolf. She is now a blind rabbit. I tried to paint her with acrylics and it turned out rather ok for being my first try, but I still did not like the results. After watching some tutorials and repaints on YouTube, I went all in and made her new from scratch. Mask, clothes, shoes, details and ears. Put her wolf ears to the side on her head, covered her (messy) face with a mask made in clay (fimo) and decorated her shoes with fabrics and fluffy yarn. 

I sketched a outline for the mask and cut out a piece in the same shape from the clay. I put the dolls head in aluminium foil and shaped the clay around it. In the oven for about 8 minutes, then out and take the head from the foil and put the foil and mask back again for 2 minutes. Then, after all parts cooled, it was time to glue the mask on. I did this after making her hair and glueing some fluffy fabric on her head and the yarn wefths. 

And here she is. Her name is Asta and her dæmon is a bunny (a gift from Alasse, thank you) named Pavel. Enjoy the photos and Happy Easter.

Say hello to Aliisa

I am in a progress of giving my Monster High dolls a make over. Going through the bunch I have to see who needs a new repaint and who need a face up in general. I have had this Draculaura that Alasse sent me for a while ago. Had plans for her to look like a walking add for Harajuku Fashion, but it really did not suit her. Then I thought she would be a candy dream (details with candy made from clay and so on), but that sounded too sweet. Well, she is my sleepy head, all in pink. Meet Aliisa.

A very simple comparison

In June I wrote a bit about my Mokashura Duyou, telling you about the heavy head and the difficult joints. Musume commented that she was curious to see how this doll looks compared to other dolls. So I took some quick photos outdoors at the cottage and here you can see the differences. 

Some measurements. I have Noomi, Zipporah, a Monster High doll, a 11 cm (4.33 inch) Obitsu body and a ruler, that is exactly 17,7 cm. That is 6.968503937 inches. Just for fun. Zipporah is a Dollmore Narsha, 35 cm. The Monster High doll is approximately 10.5 inch (27cm) tall.

Noomi feels huge compared to the headless Obitsu body.

Noomi was hard to put in this pose, especially with the legs. A mobility type of thighs would have been great.

Noomi's arm do pose very well and she can touch her face, head and have her hands on her waist, but from time to time these arms do as they wish. Pop. I but her arm straight, but she just did not want to do that. Probably a question of stringing.

Zipporah's and Noomi's head-caps. The difference is huge.
Noomi has wigs that are 13 inch and my two Narsha's have 7 inch wigs. 

Headless Obitsu body sitting on a mountain....erhm, on Noomi's head-cap.

Zipporah and Noomi, and their happy faces.

Well, that was for today. A very simple comparison. Hope that it gave you a better picture of the sizes. Noomi really is a baby doll sized cutie.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Cold, life goes on and another cutie

February is soon to be March and it is unbelievable how fast this years two months has gone by. The first month of Spring is almost here, even if it does not feel like it. We still have a lot of snow here and it has been very cold the last couple of days. It has been around -16°C and it feels like -25°C, because it is blowing or the high humidity. In the mornings, when the sun is rising, it gets colder and colder for every minute. So, when the kids are of to school, they really have a lot of clothes on. They look like chubby little cuties running to the bus.

Last week we had winter vacation and took a trip to the cottage and mother-in-law’s old apartment. Visited some relatives and planned the coming move of her things and the estate inventory. We even celebrated our oldest daughters birthday, she is an adult now with her 18 years. Time goes by fast. On our way to the southern parts of Sweden, we stopped by at DollarStore. We needed balloons and other fun things for a birthday party. Walking around there, just for fun, while the girls searched for the right balloons I found a cutie. She was for sale for only 80SEK, about 9USD with todays currency. Yay. Otherwise the prices have been around 40USD for this doll, here in Sweden.

Took her to Wämöparken, in Karlskrona.

Used my hubby's new iPhone and the camera in that phone is amazing.

It is a Monster High doll, a Dream Monster Deer. she is a nature ghoul and likes to sit among the fauna and nature, blending right into it. She is a quiet and shy, but she sees herself as a gentle one.  She does not like big crowds at all and just enjoys her nearest and dearest friends. She really is a beautiful cutie and it is almost a way for me to try to feel how it could be with a doll with four legs. You know those fantasy art line dolls that Fairyland or Luts have, as an example. It is far away from quality, style and so - but it gives a hint, how it could be.

Well, her name is Fawntine Fallowheart and it really suits her. Often I do change the names, but this time I’m going to keep it. I may do a new face up on her, because I want some darker colors and a more to the fawn-like face. But that is a step I may take later on. At the moment I just want to introduce her to you. More photos will come later on.

Enjoy the new week that is going on!

PS: Want to read more about Wämöparken? I have a post here.
PS again: Made a thing, just for fun - see here. 

Gooliope

My first photo of her, in the box.

She came home with me on the 23rd September 2015. I had been in the big city shopping and at the same time I searched for this odd and big Monster High doll. The first time I saw her, I thought that she was too big with her 17 inches and too pink, but with time I started to like her more and more.

And yes, she is pink and tall. Her legs started to bother me and I felt that they were too long for the rest of her body. So I took the saw and fixed that. 

Don't ask. :) Here she is with the model filler on, the gray parts, first layer. 

Some projects!

It has been almost a month since our summer vacation started. So far, so good - it has been a lovely summer. Still have several weeks left to enjoy.

On the hottest day this summer, with +32°C and no breeze I decided to start a little project, that made me all sweaty and frustrated. Needed a little hand fan to keep me cool. And the projects are still going on. One is my Monster High doll Gooliope Jellington and the other one is my Ever After High doll Raven. They have their own stories and one day I will share these. 

Off with her legs!

World Doll Day

Honey Swamp and a curios little dog.

I sometimes think about a story that my mother told me, when I was young. She lived with her mother and her grandmother, both working hard. It was not far to the second world war and my mother was a little girl. She thought that she lived well and she was happy with the few toys she had. Now she had got a new toy. A simple doll, from the early 1930's. I do not remember seeing photos of the doll, but we all can imagine how one could look like. 

Oh my!

I wonder....

It is said that you should trust that somethings happens for a reason. The last two weeks have been more of "oh my" than "hurray". We had a lovely stay at my mother-in-law and came home rested. Oldest daughter went to school and youngest daughter started her internship at the local flower store. I had plans for having fun with photography, dolls and painting. Well, nothing of this happened.

First we thought it was mosquito bites. Then that it was allergies. But then it was chicken pox. On a teenager. Surprise, surprise! Youngest daughter got the spots first and some days later the fever and other symptoms came. I phoned the nurse at the local health care centre and she was totally sure that it was chicken pox and said that we should keep her home at least for 7-10 days. There was nothing to do about this. And now our oldest daughter has it and are home, with spots and fever. 

"Missne and Robin - a story about the woods"

This gave us some extra work to contact schools, theatre, church and let others know, so that they can be prepared. Chicken pox is highly a contagious disease, so it is best to inform about it. We were a bit nervous about our youngest daughter - she had rehearsals at the theatre and premiere on the weekend that week. But she recovered fine and could stand on stage doing her three roles together with the group she is in, in a fantasy story about this world and another world, how these meet. At school there has been two calm weeks with not so much to catch up on, so that is nice and both girls will be healthy for the trip to Poland in the beginning of May, with their confirmation group. So, we can breathe out. 

Ghoulia Yelps, not in the best of lights and focus.

It was rather tough on us all. I got so tired and started to wonder if I was going to get sick too. Have not had chicken pox as a kid. I had just some moments to socialize with my dolls and the outer world. Took some photos of Ghoulia Yelps. Hope to do better this week. But, that is life. And we had good weather! Always something!

Spring has sprung in the city of Örebro, nearest big city.

Bad hair day!

I think that I am not alone when it comes to the complications with wigs for your dolls. You think that you find a lovely one and after a while it really is not the one at all. I have been visiting sites to see what they offer, I have been making my own wigs for the dolls, I have re-rooted, I have gone mad and lost all hope and started all over again.

Noomi on the left with the wig she came with.
I have a short blond for her too, she looks cute in it.
To the right, the wig I am thinking about, from Dollmore.

When it comes to wig, I have never been so much into those long ones. Probably because of the maintaince those need. This makes it even harder to find a suitable wig, because of my own limitations. A long wig gives you as a doll owner a chance to make different kinds of hair styles and that way you can change the looks of the doll. But of course, duh, that is nothing I think of when I order wigs or start to make them. 

Gooliope with her high forehead. It looks higher in the photo,
than in real life. But anyway, bangs would do her good.
Thought of the wig from Dollmore.

At the moment I have my eyes on some wigs that I think would be nice on some of my dolls. One of these I thought would be great on Monster high doll Gooliope Jellington. That girl is so, so. so pink (at some point rather annoyingly pink) and she needs something to break that color. Someone who needs color is my Dollmore Mokashura Duyou doll Noomi. She is rather pale and a wig with two colors would be great. For my Dollmore Narsha dolls Esther and Zipporah - well…they have had their wigs for a long time and in one way I have got used to those. I know that the one doll, Ever After High Apple White, is the one with the best hair. Soft, curly, thick and in place.

Apple White, still without a top but with great hair.

Well, I think I will surf the wig net for some more and dream away. One day I may find the perfect ones.

When it comes to my ordinary life, even if my dolls are a part of that life, it has been mostly flu that have been visiting us. First the kids and then us adults. We are all fine now and feeling well, even if we are a bit tired after sore throats, fever, sneezing and ache. The bed was our best friend for several days and the kids stayed home from school. A new week is here and we look forward to that. The week after that, the oldest daughter will get her new glasses - her first ones. And I hope that those will work well for her. And she is turning sweet 16 too! Can not understand how fast time flies. 

They are my two cute babies, no matter how old they are!

Hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day!

Liebster Award

Sitting in the armchair I decided to check my e-mail and found out that Alejandra at Fantasy woods had tagged me in an award. So, I thought that this is a good way to start this years blogging. I'm glad for this award and hope that this will be a nice post for you to read. Thank you Alejandra!

Some rules:

1. Thank the person who presented you the award and link back to their blog.

2. Post the award image on your blog.

3. Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter.

4. Nominate 5-11 blogs with less than 200 followers.

5. Create 11 questions for the nominees to answer.

6. List these rules in your post.

7. Inform the people you chose of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog and link them your post.

The questions Alejandra sent me:

1. What’s the thing you love the most about blogging?

In some way it is a way to connect with others. You find people that are almost like you. And it is a way to express, write and share.

2. What’s the thing you love the most about your dolls/figures?

Ever since I was little I had a thing for anything and everything cute. Then it was Hello Kitty, Monchichi and other things kawaii, Barbie, Sindy and pens, paper and erasers. With some saved money I bought these things or wished for it for my birthday or for Christmas. There was always fabrics, scissors and thread available at my grandmother's cousin. I could create things for my dolls and figures, in this case my Barbie, Sindy and Monchichi. Oh, they were so hip. And this is the one thing I love with my dolls - bad and monster high, that I can make them mine. Design clothes for them, create a personality and let them live it for the fullest. Then I love to take pictures too!

3. Is there anything you always wanted to do with your dolls but never dared to?

I would like to buy a doll from scratch - one that I can restring, do a face-up, make a wig and make clothes. That is something I want to do and a way to practice is on the monster high dolls I have. So, one day!

4. Are you working on something for your dolls/figures at the moment?

No, not so much at the moment. The weather over here is cold, snowy and to much humid. So I can not spray, do custom make up and at -20 degrees it is hard to take photos outdoors. I have some plans to make new clothes though. At the moment my dolls are sitting nearby my working station and they keep me good company.

5. Have any of your friends/family joined the hobby because they got to know it through you?

No, but they all support me and show their interest when I start to talk about dolls - new or old ones. My oldest daughter had a time when she looked at dolls (bjd) and had plans to start, but she felt that she could not really connect in the way she wanted. She ordered some shoes and a wig, though, and gave them to me. The day she changes her mind, the shoes and the wig will be there for her doll. My youngest daughter have her monster high doll collection.

6. Is there something or someone in particular that inspires your aesthetics, background stories, etc?

Mostly my fantasy and things I see and feel. It can be another doll collector, a photographer, a story I read, a movie I saw. 

7. Do you share your doll or doll photos with people outside the hobby?

Yes, I do. I have a Flickr account where I share my photos of my dolls and when people visit us they can see all the dolls I have, because they all are openly displayed. Or when I visit some relatives I  have a doll with me that I put somewhere nice to be seen. I know that some people can feel that dolls are scary and awkward, so those places I try do avoid bringing a doll along. Don't want to spook them. 

8. Is any of your dolls based on yourself or a person you know?

No, not really. There is a bit of me in every doll because I have created the personalities. A little piece of my nationality, my taste in food, music or other genres.

9. Do you have a favorite doll/figure from another persons collection? Would you own the same doll/figure?

There is a other collector who owns a LUTS doll, a Delf MIYU with sparkling blue eyes, rainbow colored hair and pastel kawaii clothes. The doll is beautiful and I would be happy to own a doll like that. 

10. Three things you like about yourself?

I'm nice, I can cook...aa..and that sounds rather dull. The things I have heard others say about me is that I'm trustworthy, calm and have a crazy sense of humor. But the things I like about myself is that the older I get, the more self-esteem I get, the more self-confident I get (not in a bad way, being all stupid and "I-know-better-than-you-kind-a-way") and these two things makes me grow and be a better person. Not that I always succeed having a Finnish temper, but I am so much calmer now.

11. Anything you have learned in this hobby you wish you knew before joining?

That it is addictive! Hahaha!

And my questions for you are:

1. What is the last picture you took with your phone or camera?

2. Best compliment you have received?

3. What are your plans for your doll(s) this year? New wigs, clothes, new dolls?

4. What is your perfect pizza?

5. Which doll would you get if you could, not matter what? Why?

6. What kind of music do you listen to?

7. What cheers you up?

8. What is your favorite word and why?

9. Have you ever felt that your hobby is too much and that you do not connect well with your dolls?

10. You are going for a trip, a week long, and you can only take ONE doll with you. Which one and why?

11. What's your earliest childhood memory? 

And I would love to give this award to (and have you already received it from elsewhere, that is OK - just send me a smile and be happy!):

Crystal
Musume
Xaya

Helene
Elina

Gooliope!

It is Friday and weekend is here! I am sitting here after our dinner, pasta carbonara, and just surfing the net. The girls have survived the week at school and hubby is still at work - he will be home later this evening. 

On Wednesday I took the bus to the city with the girls. The younger one had her lesson at the theatre and the older one wanted to come with, because she had seen a t-shirt at H&M that she wanted. Luckily she found it. I was on a hunt too. Had not so much hope to getting lucky, but it is almost always fun to go looking in shops.

In her box

It was about 6 months ago I saw the Monster High Gooliope Jellington at Toys r us and my first thought was that she is huge! That day I just looked around and made some future plans when it comes to the collection I have with Monster and Ever After. But after that this Gooliope have grown in my mind and when we came home from the cottage I started to look after her in stores, mostly on the internet. 

She can not hide!

Sold out. Nothing in stock. Nothing at the supplier. So, I thought that she will not be in my collection. It felt rather sad, but I gave it a last try in the city knowing that I have two toy stores there. At the first one, they had almost nothing and surely no Gooliope. Tired after being in the city for some hours walking around and shopping other things (thread, limo and so on) I said to my oldest daughter that let's take a look at the odd toyshop and....

She is home

....lucky me! There she was! But just a few! And on sale! What a feeling. Contacted my hubby and said that I found her! Oh my, buy! was his answer! 

You will meet her, again, later on. 

Next project

It is sweaty and warm over here in our kitchen. I have the windows open in every room and just hope that some soft wind will breeze my way. I have heard that it will be like this for the rest of the week. Hooray for them who like this, I do not. Gladly a more suitable season is heading our way - Autumn. Just love Autumn.

We left the cottage and the summer vacation some days ago and it was with a heavy heart we did that. The season that is coming now, is the best one. Seeing the nature change from green to all kind of colors and feel the crisp in the air. Hope to be able to take a trip later, when the girls have a week off from school in late October. 

Three helpless, scary mummies.

Howdy! We are next!

During the summer I have mostly been taking care of my BJD's. My Monster High collection have grown with two dolls and I they will be my next project in repaint. Bought those two at a local store for just 99SEK (around 10-11 USD), so I was really happy. At the moment I have three dolls, two Ever After High and one Monster High that have been just lying in a bag, looking like scared mummies. Need to help them first. So that will be my next project, after ordering some Super Clear UV cut-thing. Look forward to that. 

Hope you had a good summer! What's your plans for the lovely Autumn?