Tingle's Home!

Tingle is back from her trip to Ban's Boutique.



Ban did a wonderful job of painting Tingle's face and blushing both sets of Realfee hands.



Flame is very glad to have his good friend (and his hands!) back.



The weather has changed a lot since Tingle left and the area has sprung into bloom. Flame has been pointing out all the beautiful flowers.

Change of Eye Colour

When Tingle first arrived I tried every set of eyes that I had on hand. I liked these brown ones the best but they were the full round type and had huge stem like protrusions sticking out the back. Those stems were too crowded in her small head and prevented the head back from fully closing so I chose a different colour.

I was repositioning Flame's eyes today (also the stem type) and accidentally made a discovery. Those eyes are two piece and the stems can be removed leaving just a half round eye. With that option available I switched from the default eyes she was wearing to these brown ones which I liked better. I also added a set of eyelashes while I was at it.

I still went ahead and ordered her some new eyes today, catching the last day of a 40% off sale at Masterpiece Eyes. They will be a similar colour but the iris will be one size smaller allowing for more flexibility in eye position and expression. 

Tingle's top, leggings, and shoes were all a gift from Ban of Ban's Boutique. 

A Flight To Sweden

 The little Mari girl was a delight to have around for a couple of days. She even helped out by doing some fittings for a commissioned piece.

But after awhile I had to face facts. She's not my doll (at least not the faceplate part) and I have to give her up. Stalling was not helping anything.

So bright and early this morning I packaged her up and sent her on her way to her new owner in Sweden.

Bye bye you funny little fishy face. Hopefully we'll see you (an exact look-a-like at least) again in a few months. Maybe by then I'll have a wardrobe ready?

She Grows on You!

This little cutie was a surprise delivery yesterday! I ordered her on October 8th and didn't really expect to see her until the new year. She's a Fairyland Realfee Mari. Fairyland usually doesn't start making the dolls until after an order is placed, resulting in a wait of many months for delivery.

But this little one arrived in only 15 working days, and that includes the day I ordered and the day I received her. That's absolutely unheard of for Fairyland.

The PLAN was to not keep this particular little face. The body yes, the faceplate, no. I arranged to trade this "Mari" faceplate, (which I thought I wouldn't care for), for a Soso faceplate, but a curious thing happened. 

She grew on me. 

I mean really grew on me. I fell in love with her!

Here is how it happened:

It seems I am the VERY FIRST person to get a Realfee Mari doll! Perhaps not in the world, but certainly on the photo hosting site I use (Flickr) and on the ball jointed doll forum (Den of Angels), and on the knitting forum (Ravelry). No one else seems to have one yet! This means that there are rabid Mari fans just dying to see 'owner' photos of this doll. Having had the honor of being 'first' I felt it my duty to oblige.

The actual company photos never seem to stir the excitement and creative ideas that the incoming blank dolls photographed by individuals like myself do, so I set to work, intent on providing doll hobby friends with photos. But as I dressed, posed, and photographed this odd little doll I grew so attached to her that it became difficult to box her up and send her off to Sweden to the woman who is sending me the Soso faceplate in exchange. But I am a woman of my word and a deal is a deal. Off to Sweden she goes tomorrow.

So as you can see, there was nothing else I could do! Defenseless against the Mari's enchantment --

--- I ordered one for myself.