Bunty Visits the Great Lakes Fiber Show

Saturday was a really fun day here! Bunty loves wool. She likes all natural fiber, but wool is her real passion. In fact, she's so keen on it that she's decided to support Prince Charles' "Campaign for Wool" movement by hosting a doll-sized wool show. The new Islandshire Community Center is now built and ready (aka Blaire's Restaurant), so with the venue reserved, it's time to start planning the show! Attending a fiber show seemed like the best way to get ideas, and this is always a fun show to visit.

We arrived shortly before lunch time, and it was quite hot. Thankfully, Bunty is not affected by the weather and was perfectly comfortable in her hand-knitted sweater. The first building had tables of fleeces displayed (having been judged earlier) and for sale. There were some really nice bags of wool there --- Bunty's favorite was a dark Border Leicester fleece.

The next sale booth we checked out was "Promised Land & Livestock Co." from Ohio. They had all kinds of raw fleeces from Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) and Lincoln sheep. There were a lot of nice things there, so Bunty had a good look . . .

. . . and we decided to bring home a partially felted skirting to wash up and use for some wool stuffing and other projects!

Walking along, we came to another great booth --- the "Bauer Family Farm" in Dauphin, PA. There were a lot of beautiful colored rovings made for spinning, but the really cool stuff were the exotic fibers in some special bins. We just had to buy some things there! Bunty picked out the Fox/Wool blend and a bag of "New Zealand" wool for her friend, Camilla. I picked out some of the Mink Top and a few other things!

At "The Ewenique Boutique" from Belle Vernon, PA, Bunty had a LOT of fun choosing a little lamb charm from bins of fun jewelry makings. As soon as we sit down one of these afternoons, she'll have a really fun necklace.

At one shop along the way, there was a really cute little ram --- just Bunty's size. She certainly loved him, but her own little lamb will be here very soon, so she is getting her small pasture ready for him!

Next along the line was "Briar Rose" --- a shop with some of the most beautiful yarns (dyed in natural and earthy colours) you'll ever see or feel. Bunty had a lot of fun looking around there!

At "Ewnique Fibers" from Alliance, OH, we found some really neat fleece from a Valais Blacknose/Scottish Blackface cross. This will be perfect for . . . something. Right?!

Bunty was able to see a bit of the judging of the hand-dyed and spun yarns. This gave her some great ideas for the upcoming Islandshire Wool Show, where she hopes to have a good turn out in the fleece judging contest!

After a few hours, before heading back to the car, we stopped to take a look at all the purchases. Bunty had brought her special Lamb bag with her and got to admire the new locks and roving for her collection. It was sure nice to sit down and take a short break!

On the trip home, Bunty had some more fun, because Grammy let her drive the car. This is a skill that Eliot has been quite proud of (ever since his trip to the APS Stamp Show last Summer), so Bunty is glad to be able to have done the same thing as her brother.

She drove the car . . .

. . . set the Cruise Control . . .

. . . turned on some music . . .

. . . and checked her hair in the mirror!

All in all, it was a great day, and Bunty looks forward to sharing more news about the Islandshire Wool Show. So, check back later this Summer for more news about that, and be sure to read up on the "Campaign for Wool".

Bunty Gets a New Dress

Bunty got a new dress --- Caroline's Travel Dress. This is one that I've liked for a long time, and it just never seemed to come up in any lot or auction that we won. Well, Bunty finally got it, and she tried it on for the first time. It matches her hair really well!

I seem to be way behind in my blogging! Plenty happening with the dolls, but I never seem to get a chance to post. There are some introductions to make, and I'm working on needle-felting a pet lamb for Bunty . . . so stay tuned!

Introducing the All-New Harriet (aka: Bunty)

Customizing dolls and creating personalities for each doll character is a lot of fun. Somtimes you hit it right on the head from the start! That's what happened with Benny. I bought a wigless Nanea doll, unpacked it, tried on about ten different wigs and knew the minute that dark brown "Johnny" wig went on that I had a perfect little boy sitting there. And it didn't take more than three minutes to come up with his name, because he looks just like my Dad's really cool cousin, Benny!

But sometimes it can be a very long journey with a lot of stops along the way. Such has been the case with one of my very favorite dolls, Harriet. Any of you who have been following this blog probably remember a previous entry about her and know that she's undergone quite a change since arriving last Summer. Well, here is a final change (yeah, I know . . . it's been final a couple of times, but I have now bonded with her and really enhanced her character) that took quite a while to come about.

This shows Harriet #4 with some of the paintings that inspired me to make this doll and character.

One of my very favorite American Girl dolls is Rebecca. The doll only, that is. I can't stand her clothes, but she's a really beautiful doll. For a year, I tried to buy one, but it was one failure after another. You never knew that so many bad things could happen in the mail to a doll! Finally, I gave up and decided that Rebecca was not for me. Months went by, and we ended up with a TLC Rebecca in a lot of dolls. Her wig was bad, but she cleaned up very nicely and has the dark hazel eyes that I love. I decided that I'd try to re-wig her and make some kind of addition to my collection.

Some time ago, we had been able to buy a variety of AG CYO wigs in a variety of styles and colours. They are great wigs, and the "red, short, curly" wig was particularly appealing. It is the same type of curly hair that you get on Rebecca (in red), but instead of being the longer length, the hair comes just to the shoulder. So cute! So, I put that on the Rebecca doll and decided that Harriet could have a cousin called "Bunty". The doll was adorable, and making a character for her fell into place almost immediately. She likes wool, knitting, felting and sheep. She particularly likes rare breeds of sheep that have been place on the Conservation lists and enjoys fund-raising to help with the protection of these rare breeds. Everything was falling into place, and I was bonding with Bunty way more than Harriet. In fact, she was heading right up to the level of Nanea, Benny and Eliot --- my three super-special dolls! But there was one hitch . . .

The red hair caused the vinyl tone on the Rebecca doll to look very green. This can happen when putting red wigs on AG dolls, and it was very obvious in this case. Her vinyl doesn't look green at all when wearing a brown wig, but the red really didn't suit her -- plus, she looked very similar to Harriet (one just being a Marie Grace face mold and the other a Josefina mold). The green tone hampered the doll, because she looked pretty bad in almost any coloured clothes I tried. We dug around through the wigs some more, and there was a beautiful "brown, medium, curly" wig in there. Basically, that's just a Rebecca replacement style (without the thin areas common on the character doll wig). She looked great and the green effect disappeared. 

You can see the original "green" Bunty at the far right.

By now, I was really bonding with Bunty, and Harriet was fading away a bit. But Harriet is a key character for some of the story and pieces that are my favorite parts of the doll collection, so dropping her character was out of consideration. Mom and Elizabeth came up with the great idea to combine the characters! One doll named Harriet but called Bunty. She could like the family history, dressing up and sheep, all together. She could organize little fund-raising bazaars and would make a great sister for Eliot. Bunty is very outgoing and energetic, which is the total opposite of Eliot! They make a good team. The idea of combining the characters was so great that it only took me a couple of hours to do just that. 

While we were talking about all of this (I think we were washing dishes, actually . . .), Elizabeth throws out a passing comment that she thought Harriet (being the Marie Grace with a "red, natural, curly" wig) was the most gorgeous doll in the house. It so shocked me that I didn't even say anything. Right then, though, I knew I would just give her the doll. While I liked it and thought it was beautiful, it certainly wasn't my favorite. And if something appeals that strongly to someone else, then it's my pleasure to gift them with it. 

That left me with the Rebecca-style Bunty, now wearing the Rebecca-style wig. She's an adorable doll, but I couldn't get away from the fact that Harriet/Bunty needs red hair. The girl she's named for had the brightest red hair you could imagine, and it was a family characteristic. To be truly Harriet, she needed red hair. Boy, it's hard to try and get a doll with the exact personality and colouring you want.

Everybody reading here knows that GOTY 2019 Blaire was a disappointment to me. I'd been hoping for a much more unique doll and theme. Luciana seemed like a really unique package, but Blaire is rather run-of-the-mill. That said, I really liked the doll and think it would have been a great addition to the regular Truly Me line-up than a Girl of the Year. But as far as a doll goes, she's lovely. Her wig is quality, her skin tone is the new shade of pale vinyl, and her eyes are a grey-green. The problem with her (in my mind) was that she looks like a red-headed Rebecca, which makes her too similar to another named doll in the AG stores and current collection. But it hit me, after giving my red-headed Marie Grace to Elizabeth, that what I needed was a red-headed Rebecca! And Blaire was made with a special vinyl tone that handles red hair without looking green.

The two photos above show Bunty when she arrived (left) and dressed but still wearing her original wig (right).

Mom and I went to the AG store in January and spent a while looking at Blaire. I didn't want to buy another doll that I just wouldn't bond with. Harriet/Bunty needed to be perfect, because I already knew she'd be one of my very favorite dolls. We held up all kinds of outfits to the various display Blaire dolls, and she never looked green. Perfect! I decided to wait and order her with my Rewards certificate this month (having since been through the miserable AG Customer Service experience outlined in the previous blog entries, I'm so glad I didn't wait --- because I would probably not have purchased her). Waiting seemed irritating, but it would make her a better price. Then, we found out that the Navy Exchange had a great coupon that applied to AG dolls! My Gramma was willing to order her for me on her NEX account, and the total price was $84.00 shipped! 

Bunty arrived on one of the coldest days of the year, but she looked beautiful! In fact, it was really thrilling to get a doll that looked so cute right out of the box. I really wanted her to wear the CYO "short, red, curly" wig, but the idea of taking a wig off of a brand-new doll seemed scary. I dressed her up and let her sit around for a week, but she really needed shorter hair for her personality. So, just this past Sunday afternoon, I decided to go for it. I got out a spoon, disposable gloves, non-acetone nail polish remover and some cotton balls. Quite amazingly, her wig was one of the easiest that I've ever removed! They did not use much glue at all, and there was already an area at the bottom back edge that was coming up. The wig came off in less than twenty minutes -- without a tear or stretch on it! Bunty put on her new hair-do, and she's just great!

So, Harriet has undergone a final change here, and she's very happy. She has a lot of personality and all kinds of accessories. She wants a pet lamb, so I am in the process of needle-felting a lamb for her. One of the conservation breeds that she loves is Leicester Longwool. With some serious looking and e-mailing, I was able to purchase Leicester Longwool locks, so her little pet lamb will be made of the authentic wool!

Check back in the coming weeks for more photos and fact about Bunty!

Georgiana's Visit: Indoor Fun on a Snowy Day

Trudy here. Everyone at Islandshire has really been enjoying their time with Harriet and Eliot's cousin, Georgiana. She's very friendly and lots of fun! So, it's time for the Gazette to report on the local happenings.

We couldn't leave the island while she was here, because the outside country spent the whole time in the midst of a crazy ice storm . . . not to forget the snow, too. As it happened, there was no need to venture out, since there were so many fun things to do!

First, Harriet took Georgiana to some of the best windows to view the snow and ice. Everything was very beautiful and sparkly.

 

After walking about the house and eating breakfast, the girls decided to sit down and read a chapter or two about one of their most illustrious and patriotic ancestors, Sir John Eliot. The story of his famous speech in Parliament was quite riveting!

Harriet (left) and Georgiana (right) reading about their famous ancestor.

The girls were so enthused after their reading that Eliot decided to take them on a tour of the family portraits in the hall. He told them some short stories along the way about the different people in the portraits (Eliot loves to chat about family history and give house tours.). Georgiana was quite taken with the story and portrait of one very shy ancestor who spent his career in Parliament working to abolish the Slave Trade.

Georgiana was having so much fun that Eliot decided to surprise her with something that afternoon! He went into the attic and pulled out an old family trunk . . .

The girls had to close their eyes while Eliot got the old hasps opened up. They had to gasp when they finally got to see the inside.

The trunk was full of family heirlooms! Old clothes and hats and shoes and fans --- all from their many ancestors --- even a beautiful velvet cloak.

Georgiana was at a complete loss to know what look at first. She was wondering if she was allowed to touch anything when Eliot said that they should play dress-up, suggesting that they each pick an outfit belonging to a certain relative.

Now the question was -- where to start? Harriet paged through the clothes and selected a beautiful light pink Regency dress, suggesting that Georgiana try it on, since it belonged to the original Georgiana Eliot.

How amazing ! Georgiana was in raptures and couldn't wait to try the dress! What an amazing experience to wear something belonging to a great-grandmother.

Once all three of them had changed, they almost felt like they had stepped back in time. They hung their own modern clothes in place of the antique ones and posed for some photos.

Here they are, each standing in their costume, and you can see a real portrait for the ancestor who originally wore these same clothes. Eliot is wearing the hunting clothes belonging to a grand ancestor who served with distinction in WWI --- but whose real passion was riding and hunting.

Just when Georgiana felt like the day couldn't get any better, Harriet surprised her again . . .

Time for an old fashioned picnic! Harriet had picked apples from the family orchard, and she had baked Cornish Pasties and Devonshire Cider Cakes from the cherished family recipes. What fun! And how delicious.  

By now the afternoon was pretty well spent, and it was time to get back into their own clothes. Harriet was picking up the cloth from the picnic when Georgiana told her there was a small problem. The girls had hung their outfits up so neatly -- but they looked exactly alike! How could they tell whose dress was whose?

After a closer examination the problem was sorted out, and the girls could change . . .

The fun wasn't quite over, though, because Nanea and Benny had made some snacks and set everything up to watch a movie together. It was starting to get late, but a cousin doesn't come visiting every day, right? So it's okay to stay up a little past bedtime. Everybody got in place on the sofa to let the "Robin Hood" movie begin!

Eliot, Harriet, Georgiana, Nanea and Benny enjoying some popcorn, cupcakes and peanut butter on celery.

The movie was really great, but the boys enjoyed the snacks the most!

The girls were getting pretty tired. In fact, Nanea fell asleep. Harriet and Georgiana weren't far behind her.

More snow was falling outside, but there was a nice fire in the wood stove. So ended one of Georgiana's most perfect days!