Hi there! It’s been so, so long! I am sorry about that. I really don’t know where the summer went, but went by it did. Thank you for the messages. I love hearing from my readers.

I got a new doll for Mother’s Day in May. She is my first Ruby Red Fashion Friend. My daughter picked out Bella for me. I love her! Her face is so close to Dianna Effner’s number 3 Little Darling sculpt, which is my favorite. (Dianna sculpted Bella too.) She is such a beauty–so smiley and happy.

It took me almost all summer, but I managed to make a couple of ensembles for Bella. I want to share them with you. The first couple for a new doll are always a bit of a test, but Bella says they are ‘perfect’.

First, I made Bella “Sun Kissed Beauty”. Surprisingly her cardigan turned out to match the coppery roses on her dress quite beautifully. I held two strands of lace weight yarn together–a rust tonal and a pink mohair/silk. Coppery shades look beautiful with her hair color don’t you think?

Her leather shoes are from Boneka. They have them sized for the Fashion Friends, but the straps were too long. I made a new slit with my Exacto knife and cut off the old slit–worked perfect. There is plenty of room in these shoes for seamstress made stockings too.

My second ensemble for Bella involved a little more time dedication since I knew it would be something that she’d like to wear. I made a few adjustments to the cardigan to make it fit better and took more time with the embroidery.

Since finishing these two for Bella I’ve completed a holiday set for her, one for Rose, and am finishing up one for Kaye Wiggs’ MSD sized girls. It’s still a little early to show you those, but I will soon.

The summer here in northern Illinois was very dry. So dry in fact that we were in a drought for quite a number of months. The beginning of autumn has been strange too. Since we are no longer in a drought, the grass is now green and growing long like it should have in the summer. There is hardly any autumn color, and it remains warm; the leaves are turning brown-ish and then falling. We’ve had no frost and the flowers are still blooming. In my mind it is early September, not mid October. I wonder what winter will bring for us. One never knows…

So, that’s my unremarkable summer in a nutshell. Oh, I turned 60 in July! That’s a big one!

I hope to chat more often with you here. Is that something you’d like to see–more blog posts from me? I cannot always promise my posts will be filled with dolly stuff, but there are other things to talk about too… if you’d enjoy reading about other things that is. Please let me know.

Take care. Sending you virtual hugs 🤗, and kisses from my dolls.