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!

Comic Con in Stockholm

The last days of December. 2024 is soon to be just a memory and sometimes I feel that the most parts have been just nothing to cherish. But there is some moments that have made my year a better one. Last year I and my youngest daughter won some tickets to the Comic Con and this year we bought our own tickets for the same event. We booked a long weekend at a family house outside the big city. We stayed at them last year too and felt safe and slept well. It is a family father that has made his two floor house to a living place for his family on the upper floor and the first floor he rents out to travelers. This year we had luck to get the master bed room. There is a bath room and a kitchen that is for every one. It worked very well. All the rooms were taken, but it did not feel crowded. 

Stockholm and Comic Con. The Q&A, some cosplayers and artists at work.

We had three days at the Comic Con fair hall. So many people in cosplay, selling stuff and so much food in every corner. We did a lot of walking during these three days. This time we focused on the Questions and Answers with three well known actors. It was nice to relax and listen to the interviews and get to know them a bit better. It was Paul Wesley, well known from The Vampire Diaries. I watched that serie with my kids when it was aired here in Sweden. And then he was in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for a couple of years ago. Husband and I saw that movie. Sadly the Q&A's focused more on his time in The Vampire Diaries, and some young girls in the audience still dream about him as their future husband. 

Mark Williams, from the Harry Potter movies, visited Comic Con too. He is even a comedian, so it was a up lifting and fun time to listen to him. He told a lot of the pros and cons with filming the Harry Potter movies and shared some anecdotes from behind the scenes. He is even well known from the series Father Brown. 

From my 'younger' days, Tom Welling from Smallville had a Q&A too. I watched the whole serie while nursing two kids, in the beginning. It was nice to hear that he is still active. While listening to him, my daughter had an awakening and showed me a picture of Tom Welling in a serie she had seen recently, asking "Is this him?". Said 'Yes, but much older than in Smallville'. We had a good giggle.

Cosplayers.

He looks so sad. Poor thing. 

Some cosplays were really amazing. We went to a short lecture, last year, on how people build up these cosplays and it can take many years to the finished product. This year we listened to other lecture about acting and how you can build your own Falcon (the ship) from Star Wars in real size - if even just a part of it.

Kasia Nie's amazing work on the the magazine.

We had some lovely days. Bought some stuff, especially a Fantomen-magazine to my husband and talked to the artist who had made the front of the magazine. She was really nice and gave us a poster for free and autographed both the poster and the magazine. 

Cute bags from Loungefly. Almost bought one.

Amazing collectibles from Warhammer. Look at the books!

Handmade cute dolls, Amigurumis. Totoro, Zelda and Link as some of the characters.

Keychains!

Lechonk! A Pokémon, a hog, a hungry one! He came home with me!

Optimus Prime, a cosplay. Saw Transformers as a young kid and have seen all the movies. 

Steampunk! Wanted to buy the black watch, so badly. 

Huge LEGO Stormtrooper from Star Wars. And other figurines and more Steampunk...

We both were rather tired after this long weekend, but we felt happy and we had a blast. And probably we will visit Comic Con next Fall/Winter too!

Happy New Year to you and hope the holidays have been lovely! See you in 2025!

Winter time

Surroundings nearby our cottage.

Hello, hello! Hope that you are doing well and are embracing the season you are in. Over here the clocks have been turned back to Winter time and it gets darker and darker earlier in the afternoon. But according to the weather forecasters it is still summer here where we have our cottage. It has been rather warm lately and this morning I had my coffee in the garden.

I have been having some difficulties with my knee. The doctors suspect knee osteoarthritis, so I have some physiotherapy I do and have been twice at the doctor to get an anesthesia for the knee and then a long term injection with cortisone. I was so much in pain but after these injections I got my life back and could walk well and sleep through the night. Such a relief. 

One very sad and heavy happening was getting some mail from The National Board of Forensic Medicine with the results for the autopsy for my dad. I will not go into anything at the moment, maybe later is a post or if you want to ask about it you can in the comments. I will answer. It is good to know what happened, but at the same time not.

And now over to some more fun stuff. 

The lovely forest and Bentley enjoying life.

My daughter at the castle.
Here she is playing a role as the King's alchemist.

The summer time has been lovely, but different. Our youngest daughter worked the whole summer at the castle in Kalmar. She even moved to the town and just visited us at the cottage when she had free days. My husband worked a lot too, so it was mostly my oldest daughter, our dog and I. Did not study this summer, but tried to make some time to work in the garden and the forest nearby, cleansing up and making it nicer. We had Bentley's friend Dante and his owner over a couple of times and they could play. And now our neighbor has a dog too - for hunting. He is still a puppy, Elton, and very cute. Playful too. He finds his way to Bentley every time and they go so well together.

So happy to have Sindy 60th anniversary doll.

She came in an outfit in silver the glitters. 
And some accessories.

Here she is in some clothes that are made for Barbie.

I have ordered some dolls too. Two to be honest. Have been thinking about this a lot and ended up ordering a Sindy and a Betsy. The Sindy doll is a 60th anniversary doll numbered to a limited edition of 1963. Some weeks ago they had some dolls left, but I do not know how it is now. She is really pretty but does not have the old body as I am used to from my childhood. She has even a smaller body, which makes it easy to use Barbie's clothes. Her head is not the soft one, it is harder - but I am pleased with her. 

Betsy on the way out of her box. 
Looking like she has been at the dentist.

Betsy in the sun.
And the little red heart, so adorable.

Betsy on a sunny day in the middle of October.

Took some photos playing with leaves. 
Down left corner - taken some days after she arrived.

Betsy is a BJD made by Gu M.J at Mydolling. Betsy was a one-off doll. She is a beauty. Love her! She and even Sindy arrived safe and sound to our cottage - and got stuck in the customs. Betsy arrived to the door but not Sindy, even if I ordered her like that. Had a discussion with the post office and they said that it was a small letter/parcel that I had to pick up by myself. Told them that I know what it says on the box - deliver to the door. Well, anyway. Betsy is a Janmang : Betsy. There is even Janmang : Sue and even a Janmang : Classic. She is very delicate and has the cutest nose. Sometimes she needs to cheer up! Had some plans to change her name, but my husband told that she is a Betsy, so I kept her name. 

De De in two handmade outfits. The pink one in the down right
corner is made by an older lady and she sold it for almost nothing.
A simple dress, but it works on De De and Betsy.
The other dress is made by Tess Creations.

De De in the sunset with a lantern.
Cleo De Nile doing some dance moves.

Bought some new clothes to De De, my Robert Tonner doll. Could not resist. Then I took my Monster High doll Cleo De Nile and cleansed the glitter parts from her hair. Took her out one windy and sunny summer day and took some photos. The one above is one of my favorites. The dress she has on is made by Kamelia Dolls. it is a skirt for a Barbie sized doll, but I took a blue ribbon and carefully tied it around Cleo's waist. It became like a dress for her. Worked well for the photos I took. 

Everything was in such a pretty yellow color.

In the beginning of October we had such lovely weather. Took my Rainbow High doll for a photoshoot. Some days later we had 2 degrees below zero and that week the leaves started to drop. Most of the trees are naked at the moment and it is time to travel home. We have packed our stuff and hope for a safe trip soon. In the beginning of November it is time for Comic Con, for a whole weekend. 

Hope you are doing well. Stay safe! Will visit you later this week, when I am back home!

Tweedle De De, and no Dumb

Read about the chubby twins here. 

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are two chubby characters in Alice in Wonderland, specially in the original book's sequel. These two are identical twins and appear in both movies about Alice. They are dressed in schoolboy uniforms and wear caps. They are jolly, but at the same time a bit annoying. Because I do fancy Alice in Wonderland, it felt specially fun to find a doll inspired by the movie and not Alice in particular. 

Out of the box, looking a bit grumpy.

"Aah, fresh air!"

The box.

This doll has a long name: Tonner Tweedle De De Re-imagination 16" doll Jon Alice in Wonderland NIB LE-500. You can stumble on shorter names.

I was looking at Tradera, that amazingly enough was a Swedish version of eBay. It was bought by eBay in 2006. Mostly people have been selling clothes, shoes and the dolls did come to this place later on. I have the app and sometimes I go in there and make a search. 

She is stunning and I love the sculpt.

This time a bunch of Tonner dolls appeared and one of them was Tweedle De De, a 16" doll with the Jon head sculpt. With her chic body, mink (thought it was black) with red rooted saran hair and brown painted eyes I just had to have her. So I clicked the "buy now" button and paid her. Some days later she arrived and it was a happy day. 

"Where am I?"

She is in a very good condition, almost as new. She has honey skin tone and her outfit reminds of the newer chubby twins from Alice in Wonderland, which is rather funny. She is limited to 500 and has her own storyline, that I found on the internet. It goes like this: 

The day seemed like any other...

Charlie Dodgson is disillusioned, jaded by the daily grind. He happens upon a trendy new pub called The Looking Glass. Dipping in to erase the day, Charlie cozies up to the bar, and orders a drink. As he takes in his surroundings, Charlie notices a woman to his left. Her beauty assaults his senses - she is swathed in white from head to toe. She notices him staring, and asks, “Excuse me, but do you have the time?”

Bianca Lapin is in a hurry. Her platinum white hair cascades down her back, as she sits inside The Looking Glass, tapping her fingers anxiously against the bar. Noticing a sharply dressed gentleman taking a seat beside her, she quickly averts her eyes and glances, again, at the clock. Asking the man for the time, she begins to panic at his response. “I’m late!” With that, she hops off her stool and darts toward the back of the pub.

“But wait!” she hears as she races off.

Taking a last sip, Charlie’s curiosity gets the better of him. Leaving his stool to keep his scotch company, he follows the mysterious pale beauty. Suddenly, the crowd seems to thicken, and he can’t quite keep her in his line of vision. Finally, the crowd parts, but it’s too late. She has vanished.

Creeping down the long, dim hallway, Charlie notices a door at the end that appears slightly ajar. Racing toward it, his shoe catches on something, catapulting him through the doorway and downward he goes. Laying on the ground for a moment giving his eyes time to adjust to the dark, Charlie hears maniacal laughing.

“How d’ya do?”

"I'm Tweedle De De."

Looking up, he sees a tall, slim, honey-skinned girl with pigtails and stripes reaching a graceful hand down to him. Grateful for the help, he grasps her hand… and she shakes it.

“I’m Tweedle De De - How d’ya do? State your name and business.”

As Charlie brushes off his knees, he begins to explain that he was just following a curious woman in white.

“There she is!” he points as a flash of white rounds the corner.

With that, Charlie and Tweedle De De are off, hot on the tail of the woman in white.

They walk toward a hazy and dimly lit space. Charlie hears more laughter and the sound of clinking glasses. Heading toward the action, he finds himself suddenly at a long table but can’t quite make out who is at the other end.

“May I pour?” a voice asks Charlie.

A slender woman with a large feathered chapeaux looks eagerly at Charlie as he nods.

“Haddy Madigan,” she says as she reaches for his glass...

Tweedle De De and Bentley.

She is really tall with her 16", as seen below compared to a curvy Made to Move Barbie and one of my Sonny Angels. My Barbie Rose got some new clothes from a woman who makes them herself. She has a Flickr account here and an Instagram account here. Bought the outfit as I wanted to spoil Rose with some new stuff.  

Hope the the May 4th was with you!

Rose in her new outfit.

So, this was some dolly news from me. Have an exam to attend and some preparing to do for our travel to the cottage. Enjoy May and the coming weekend. 

It is 2023!

So, time goes by fast, especially when you have fun. I must have had a blast. I can not even comprehend that it is a new year and we are soon entering February. It was not long ago I was sitting in the garden at our cottage enjoying summer. Birds singing, soft breeze, deer walking across the gravel road and Bentley barking. Now I am at home, freezing, seeing snowflakes and wondering if I need and extra shirt for the late evening walk with Bentley. 

Summer was lovely at the cottage. It was nice and warm during the most of the days, all the way to late October. We even took a dip in the lake the last day of October. That has not happened for a long time. Well, yes, it was cold and I almost lost my breath diving in. If someone would ask me today, if I would swim like that, I would say "No, are you crazy?" I would need to sweep away the Autumn leaves first. 

Pictures: Bentley after his swim at the lake. My new doll, ordered from abroad, with a
skirt from Kamelia Doll Fashion and her Etsy shop. The two last photos as sand sculptures
made by different artists during the Kalmar International Sand Sculpture Festival in Sweden.
First one is called "Broken Dreams" by Bogdan Kutevych & Oleksiy Poda
and the second one, with the sunflowers, is called "Close, yet so far apart"
by Ludo Roders & Joris Kivits.

One of the dolls I bought during Summer. She is a Bellatrix Lestrange, a character from Harry
Potter movies. Love her face sculpt and her wild hair. 

And this is the peach one from the Rainbow High Collection. Her name is Georgia Bloom
and she is from series 3. In that toy store I met a young man and he really new stuff about
these dolls, new ones on the way and even about other toy stuff. Heard him talk with other
customers. He was the right one in the right place, was my thought.

There has been dolly times during Summer and Autumn. On one of our trips I bought a new Rainbow High. Did not find the grey-ones, but found a peach one. And the minty one. Took just the peach one and a big orange ball for Bentley, that he could have outdoors, indoors and even in the lake. He was so happy. Hubby and I took that trip together while the girls stayed home with Bentley. We did some sightseeing, eating and just enjoyed our time. 

Our joy. And sometimes pain. Especially when playing and hitting heads. He looked bamboozled 
and so did I. We are okay. The two first one are from the cottage, during Autumn and the other
two are from the other week, when we got a lot of snow. Bentley loves snow. He would sleep
outdoors in the snow, if he was allowed. 

When our neighbors asked us when we had plans to leave the cottage for home, I usually joked saying "before the snow" or "last day in November". They know that we often stay until a couple of days before schools start in late August, but with the new 'rules' with you-know-what, the schools have distance classes and education. So, the girls could have their classes through video communications, I so did I - all my commitments. So easy and felt so relaxing to be able to do so. My hubby took some of his extra vacation, but otherwise he was commuting between the cottage and home when he was free from work. We are glad that we could make it work, because not being at the cottage for almost two years, makes stuff grow. Fast. More work needs to be done and I hope that we can do it this summer.

I hope that 2023 has started well for you and you are enjoying your time with dollies. I have not visited you for a while, so I will do it now. 

Stay safe!