I’m looking for something in my doll studio and after several hours of moving things and searching, I stopped to allow the Roche girls to see the Roche gilrs having tea in the tea rooms.
There is plenty of cakes to chose from.
Claudine, Hannah and Mary were sharing a table while Suzannah was sharing with Emily but they were all speaking between the tables anyway.
We may have to extend the tea room to get more customers in!
Mary says it’s lucky little Hannah did not come or they would have had to add another table !
And Freddy says Suzannah, he’d need a table all of his own with the amount he orders ! Where is Freddy ?
It appears Freddy’s got himself a summer job selling Ice creams! He’d best find some customers before they start to melt !
Emily my Lynne and Micahel Roche girl , had stringing problems in that they broke , so she needed restringing. I finally got round to it the other week.
Today , while I had my Sasha dolls clothes box out, she decided she needed to have a rummage and find herself another dress to wear !
First up she tried this beautifully smocked dress by the extremely talented Karen W.
Next she decided to go a little more boho 70’s with this longer floral dress by Francis T.
She then decided that she would like a smocked dress and went back to look at those, trying on another Karen W dress featuring Alice in Wonderland and the mad hatter, very appropriate for a tea party.
She then found a dress by Kathy B which was in a lovely linen.
Finally she found another Karen W smocked dress that she really liked. She’s decided that with her grey eyes and blonde hair, the greens and blues seem to suit her best.
Well of course she’s wearing pink shoes ! So now we have to find some others that fit and suit her new dress !
A friend was selling off some of her older natterer dolls and although I am trying to be good, I could not resist getting one of them, as they are older dolls and no longer available.
So this doll is by Gotz and stands at 19 1/2 inches tall, so a lovely sized doll. She came in her original outfit and with her tags. Her name is Clarissa.
I decided to change her and put away her original clothes , so she had a search through the bigger dolls clothing box and found this hand me down outfit.
I think blue is definately her colour, so will search out another outfit in that colour for her at some stage.
I am so happy I did decide to buy her and that’s she’s come to joing my growing natterer family.
nothing comes along for months and then three turn up together !
Back last August/ September, I preordered two Bex dolls and one Nisha from A Girl For All Time, they were expected to arrive in January, February. Which was fine I thought a couple of dolls arriving after Christmas in those winter months when you are recovering from the expense of Christmas.
Yes the Pandemic had been going for a while but we had yet to start the second lockdown ! But of course it was to effect the arrival of the dolls and they were not even put on a boat until around may ?
Then what happens a container ship get stuck across the Suez Canel and everything stops while they try to turn the vessel leading to a massive backup of ships! Finally the ship the dolls were on docked and unloaded and finally in late July the dolls reached the warehouse !
Finally they have arrived here with me !
I was unsure if I even wanted them any more as it had been so long ! I considered keeping the Bex dolls and selling on Nisha.
But I looked a Nisha today in her box and realised I do just love this particular sculpt, so I set about releasing her.
Look at that face ! Whats not to love !
I do love her boots with the dress , very modern look.
So now it will be a few weeks to decide if she stays a modern girl or becomes on of the period girls !
And do I keep both Bex’s as I intended as twins or do I sell one ? and do they stay modern ? or go period ? I saw a Bex in a beautiful Georgian riding habit once and that what drew me to her… so will she/ they be period or modern….. only time will tell….
I gathered my Roche dolls together for a group shoot. But first I took a photo of the two Hannah’s .
The big Hannah is 20 inches and has a full lime wood body, the smaller Hannah is 15 inches and is mainly porcelain with wooden ball joints.
I was really pleased that their auburn hair is similar which helps give them a look of sisters together for a photo.
Next is a photo of all the bigger dolls, from the back left Suzannah, Hannah and Claudine , then in front
Freddie and Mary. All have full lime wood bodies ,
The larger dolls are 20 inches, with Mary at around 18 and Freddie 17 inch.
In this one Little Hannah at 16 inches as joined her family group.
A closer look . Unfortunately Mary a Porcelain with wooden ball joints and 15 inch like small Hannah is still waiting to be restrung so she’s missed the group photo this time.
Hopefully she’ll be restrung this weekend and can join in the next photo shoot.
I do not think I shared with you the middle sized Hannah by Lynne and Micahel Roche that I purchased along with a middle sized Claudine.
I wanted the Hannah but not really the Claudine, so sold her on once she’d arrived.
This is Hannah S when she arrived in her original clothes and shoes.
I was really pleased to see her wig was in the lovely auburn.
I changed her not long after she arrived , into this pretty Sasha dress, but it took me a while to find her a pair of shoes.
I found a pair of small gotz doll shoes among my dolls shoes and they fit her nicely.
So finally I was able to take a few photos of her by the doll’s china cabinet. She is a porcelain doll with wooden ball joints and stands at 15 inches, which is why the sasha clothes fit her so well.
I think I’ll need to take a group photo of the Roche dolls , now there are a few in the family.
And especailly one with her bigger Hannah sister!.
Well I now have two natterer babies ! One girl and one boy.
They are so cute that I could not resist getting one and bought the girl a while back , she’s been happily sitting on the shelf along with my Pongratz dolls and a couple of modern vinyl Kathe Kruse dolls.
But then I saw a photo of a lovely natterer baby that had been given a wig and a set of clothes that really added another dimention . I wish I could share the photo but I don’t know the owner so cannot get permission but it’s a beautifully staged photo.
So I added a boy, Rafael who is such a cutie too.
So now there are two babies sitting with the Pongratz dolls.
These two make me smile when I see them sitting with their bears .
The first boy I bought was Stephen on the right of the photo with the brown hair. Being a lover of history his clothing linking him to the medieval period instantly drew me to him , along with his handsome face.
It was a few years before they brought out another period dressed doll and thats when I bought my second lad James William with the lovely blue eyes and ponytailed hair. His clothing relates to the 1700’s , he also has a tricorn hat.
They wait around patiently for when they are needed, ignoring all the girl dolls that sigh and giggle when they pass by. Their Valentines cards need a post van to deliver every 14th Feb ! But they are such nice young lads that it never goes to their heads.
In mid July my doll sales were going quite well , so of course instead of being good, my eyes wandered over to ebay where I saw some lovely Gotz Sylvia Natterer dolls. I did resist for a while , a day or two at most but then I had to make an offer on one of them.
And so it was that Josiane arrived to join my natterer family arriving on 3rd August. She is from 1989 and is 21 inches in height.
I have loved these scuplts for years, so I am so happy to now have her in the family.
I just love everything about this girl, her outfit is wonderful, her tweed skirt in greens and a little purple . her cord waistcoat and black t shirt and long socks. Also a beige cardigan.
She has lovely thick long blonde hair.
She came in her box and with her tags. At present she is standing with some of the taller dolls but hopefully will join the taller Natterer dolls soon.
Dolly Dreaming 