Yesterday this bunch attended a hair-painting session. The three made up dolls, with their clothes taken off, seem farther along because I had worked on them previously. Punkin and Cookie are shown with only the first layer applied. I should have taken a shot when all were outdoors on a blanket drying the overcoat. Then you could have seen the new hair-dos better. I think I took a photo too early fearing that later the hair-dos would be worse but actually they all got better as I went along. Today, if I have time and energy (we are finalizing our taxes) I want to finish these babies and get the three of the quads back into their sleepers.

This morning my first words of greeting were, "Who is ready to go to Sarah to represent my skills for cuddle therapy babies?" The oldest and deepest voices came from the porcelain dolls in great excitement. I almost said, "You are not cuddly enough.", but caught myself before I hurt their feelings with that remark. In time I change it to to "You could be broken and that would break my heart." Jenny Wren, who reads my mind, spoke up to say, "Angie and I are cuddly." "Ah, but you both have rooted hair and these babies have to be bald or with painted curls."

This got cries of approval from the quads, on whom I have been practicing my painted hair. True, their hair was right but when I made them I did not always have the best bodies or have my mind made up on how a proper body should be sewn. Their chorus of voices reminded me I could remake any of them and correct the bodies. "You guys, aside from the hair, were painted by someone else, maybe in a factory and you do not really look like the kind of babies I am now making. With grumbling and growling they subsided into an ominous silence. In embarrassment I turned to the table where the newest babies were coming into being.  

As I considered each of them I realized ALL of them needed hair painting. This did not seem the best day to attempt that as I had awakened late in the morning due to an extra dose of pain in the night. I need to feel better to trust my painting hand. Maybe tomorrow!
Both of my emails to Sarah bounced back. I am wondering what the Universe is trying to tell me by concealing her addie. I will send a postcard tomorrow in another attempt to establish contact. This is fortunate as it gives me extra time to get someone ready to make the trip for me. I had been worrying about finding an adequate box since Mary and Werner have been super good in cleaning out my messes. Amazon came through today with the perfect, and very clean, box.

My goal for the afternoon was to get Punkin and Cookie put together into being real dolls, so I worked pretty well on them in the morning. And I got this far but the glue was still damp by afternoon so I decided to be patient enough to let it dry completely. While eating lunch I got impatient because I had tried to contact Sarah Mellman, President of ROSE the association of reborn doll artist, about the cuddle therapy, and still there was no word from her. I was patient enough to let glue dry but not to wait longer since I had her phone number. . .
It took a couple of hours, and some chocolate chips, to get me to pick up the phone. What a joy she was. She was okay with me acting like a bulldozer, and shared  with me her stories of doing cuddle therapy that touched me so very much. I am now completely jazzed. She offered to let me email her photos and suddenly none are good enough! I came in to the computer room to put together some to send to her but have ended up here - in my familiar territory!

I took a photo of my Adam and he does look too much like Eeyore to convey my thoughts and wishes to Sarah. I wish his fingers were extended as mine are. I wish he was jumping up and down with excitement. How can he sit there just staring into space when I am so filled with good thoughts?

Yesterday I asked Werner if he wanted to do anything special for Easter and he said no. On one hand I was relieved that nothing was expected of me and yet. . .  So yesterday afternoon I got out the Easter things for the kids. Blaze gives me great pleasure so I gave her the best Easter outfit. She is still smiling her thanks.

In cleaning out boxes of saved dolls I found this troll from Heidi and asked Angie if she would take care of it for Easter. She is such a capable person. She willingly takes on any job and even forgets her pacifier in her involvement. I an feeling I can depend on her to do her best.

I got the regular Easter decorations, still from Germany, and hung them in the bead-covered branch that has ended up back in the studio. At first MyHeidi and Big Momma Baby (I have forgotten her name) tried to ignore me but in the end of the day they became fascinated with the hanging birds and eggs. All day today they were scooted down in their chairs staring up at the foreign decorations.

The quads stayed in their basket but did look up at the sun-catcher and duck  I found to entertain them.

Jenny Wren stayed put under her nanny's paw but she continued to smile. I cannot believe how I lucked out choosing her as my first reborn. Her smile and sweet expression guides me as I look at all the kits trying to find one that pleases me. I was told her designer was Linda Murray, but I have not yet found this doll in any of Linda's kits. She is quite tiny and while  I am leaning more toward larger dolls, still her face thrills me.

I thought I could wake up the sleepy baby with one of the new bottles and the invitation of food  but she just kept on sleeping. Even the bright colors of the butterflies on her new blanket could not wake her. She seems to sleep the best in Buddha, my departed cat's basket, so when I cuddle her I call her Kitty. She seems to accept that without a murmur.

I almost forgot the photo of the two new dolls Crystal and Candy with their Easter toys. Maybe you saw the picture yesterday when I introduced them to you. Here you see I am including them in the family.

Meet the two newest members of my family. On the left, with dark hair, is Candy. She is sweet just like her name. She is not bothered by having her photo taken so close to the car. That silver moon over her shoulder is a wheel! She just keeps smiling no matter what I say to her.
On the right is Crystal. I need someone to bring down my thinning scissors from upstairs and give both wigs a good thinning before attaching them permanently Still the girls matching sleepers are a good factor without overloads on the pinks. I was slightly disturbed by Crystal's determined jaw and straight lips. She seemed as if she was slightly grumpy about being my doll when I got her finished. Especially when I saw the grin and happy expression on Candy's face, I wondered what was up with Crystal. Maybe having CRYstal in her name bothers her. I got out the Easter rabbits hoping I could lighten her mood. Lifting her chin makes her slightly more animated but she cannot compete with Candy for smiles. Even before I showed Candy the animals she sat and smiled at me. I got such joy from her! I could not help smiling back at her and that made me feel happier.
I realized that the dolls that are "older" (not newborn) or bigger have more welcoming expressions. I looked over several lists of doll kits and noticed that it is the Americans who make the grumpy faced babies. What is with these people? It does seem that in every collection there is only one smiling baby. It is my job to find it and buy it and avoid the hoards of grumps.

Not much to say today because I am working on three babies at once. The photo is how it looked on the birthing table when I got too tired to go on last night. Real moms do not get to take such a break with a night's sleep! A good reason to stick with reborns.
You can see on the one head the new neck plugs that arrived right on time yesterday. I am hoping that the bit of a post extending down from it will solve the drooping neck syndrome that bothers me so much. The face is Candy's.
It seems to me that leg, neck and arm holes in these body sleeves are much too big but with this doll Chrystal  I cannot get the legs in the sleeves! Maybe with morning energy today it will work. The arms and neck did fit in perfectly. I see that even with the sewing changes I made in this body, it still has a tummy. I am hoping the diaper will cure the protruding belly.

I tore the sleeping baby's body completely apart. I cut out all my hand-sewing tucks and resewed  the whole body on the machine. I needed white thread (I had only pink on hand) but with tiny stitches the thread color did not show up too much on the final piece. I began tying on the legs and forgot to stuff the hip area and had to tear that out. When I got to tying in the head I remembered I had ordered some neck sockets on eBay and they had not yet come. I decided to wait for them with the hope that the longer post in one would help with keeping the head up. I am really on a campaign to solve posture problems in the dollies with the proper body size and posts. I put the head on without tying it on tightly and it fell off ! I felt terrible - as if I had injured a child. I sat in the recliner and rocked her a long time until I felt better.