Happy Festivus 2015

SuperCoolDollHouse wishes everyone a Joyful Holiday!  Whatever you celebrate, I hope you are enjoying it, or you have enjoyed it or even that you will enjoy it.  

The resident dollfie's at SCD prefer to celebrate FESTIVUS!  because Festivus is for.... you guessed it, the REST OF US!

Mani and Mimi invited their TRDN cousins over for a party.

As the party gets underway, the usual awkwardness abounds.  No one know what to talk about, at least the pets know how welcome guests.  Seems like a good time for the Airing of the Grievances!

 After awhile, everyone gets warmed up.  It might be time to challenge someone to arm wrestling for the Feats of Strength.  It really is all in good fun though.  The TRDN crew and the SCDs really just want to enjoy each other's company.

Mani get down on the floor with Idris, and asks her what she wants for Christmas

The TRDN family pose for a family pic.

At long last , the party is over and Mimi and Mani get to relax on the couch and watch a movie.

Weird-cember

Ahhhh.... Christmastime!  The crisp cool air, scarves, mittens, big coats and boots.... cue the record scratch.   Nope, nope and nope.  Much like the rest of the US's mid-Atlantic, SuperCoolDollHouse City has been experiencing record braking warm days.  70 degrees in December?  Possibly the same on Christmas day?   What the what??????

Somethin' ain't right is all I have to say.  It's hard getting into the spirit of the holidays when the dogwood trees think it's spring, and are blooming.  This is really happening.  I must say it was nice to put up my Christmas lights in mild temps, but enough already!  I want to feel the frosty grass under my boots, and I want to see my frozen breath hang in the air.  I may even be desperate enough to do a snow dance to the tune of Do You Want To Build A Snowman.  Oh wait, no, no one should ever be THAT desperate.

I guess it's time to lean in and make the magic happen!  That's exactly what sisters Ning and Ding are doing.  They ran into each other at the local IKEA.  Which by the way is running an AMAZING promotion with their soft toys.  For each soft toy you purchase, IKEA will donate one EURO to a charity that helps children!  Check out the details here.

 Here's Coe!  He's picked up some hours at the local IKEA, hanging signs.

 Sisters Ning and Ding bump into each other.  They wore their new Christmas sweaters despite the warm temperatures.

 On purse holding duty are the men in the sisters' lives.

Ty is Ding's eternal on again off again dude.  Lex is Ning's very steady beau.

Lex:  ... so are you guys going to that ugly sweater party too?  Your sweaters are too much... Hahaha.

Ty:  sigh... no... this is just how Ding rolls right now....

Lex:  Sorry man...

 Ding:  Ty and I are on our way to the Children's hospital, we're gonna bring some toys for                their Christmas party!
Ning:  Oh that's great sis, I love how you dressed extra silly for the kids...
Ding:  What do you mean?
Ning:  Oh, huh, what?  I mean, oh sis you look real pretty.

 Ding:  Go get a cart Ty, we're taking all of them.

Ning:  We'll go get one for you, we need a cart too.  I think we'll go with you and bring toys.

... and end scene.  

 Next, I want to spread the word about something very exciting!  I'll do bigger post later concerning this!  But please look now!  CLICK HERE!

and

Ty and Lex started their journey to SCD as Kenner Starting Lineup figures from the 90s, don't they look great with the girls?

-enjoy  SCD

Get Well Soon Dinah and Hooper!

Two years ago, SCD adopted two little super cool dolls from The City of Brotherly Love.  Meet Dinah and Hooper, (wink wink).  They were a prize/gift when SCD won a Halloween contest!

Recently Coe, SCD's 1/6 spokes-doll noticed the babes were a bit quiet, so he went looking around the dollhouse for them.  Lo and behold, they were fast asleep in their new bedroom, trying to get over a bug.

How lucky SCD bought them a new IKEA bedroom suite to recuperate in!  The new HUSET set from IKEA comes with one bed with linens, one plush dinosaur, one dresser, one rug, one play table and one kid's chair.  The bed is neat in that it starts as a Kelley bed and extends to fit Barbie!  All of the furniture is actually based on real pieces, how cool is that?  

Hooper is a big dinosaur-head and Dinah(saur) just loves color, so after the furniture was placed, it was easy to decorate for them.

Coe was just a little worried, so he called in reinforcements in the form of Doctor Julia!  She went to med school after Corey graduated from High School, and went off to college.

After the good Doctor did her thing, the kids seem to be on the mend and playing just like always :)  I think they have a bit to go so SCD hopes that Dinah and Hooper get well soon!

Liebster Award! Discover More Blogs!

CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP.... That's all the dolls giving applause to... ahem... me... and also to thank Dana of  A Philly Collector of Playscale Dolls and Action Figures! Thank you for the tag, it is greatly appreciated.  It has been YEARS now and you always have a nice a word for me, even though I post sporadically.

...now let's peak in to the awards ceremony.  

Annik just announced the tag, Chip is a most handsome stage guide, and Coe thanks everyone who got us here tonight, his fellow dolls, their deities (Me and the Real Doll Nerd), everyone who has inspired us along the way!  And last but not least Dana.

Now down to business,  11 random facts about me:

1.  My folks immigrated from the Philippines to Baltimore, Maryland in the 50s.

2.  Cooking comes easy to me.
3. I don't know how to NOT worry, lol.
4. I remember things from 30 years ago that still make me cringe.

6. I would trade a jillion perfect fall days for a few hot as hell days by the pool.
5. I can't believe I am old enough to have 30 year old memories ( and then some).
7. Twenty seven was my favorite "single life" age.
8. I'm a nerd about family history.
9. I'm a jack of all trades, master of, maybe one or two.
10. Mr. Roger's Neighborhood was and is my favorite TV show.
11. I wish I liked exercise.

Now the 11 questions Dana my tagger posed to me:

1. How did you become a blogger?  

When I started in the miniature hobby, I didn't know what it was to have a leisure activity.  I made blogging my goal, so I wouldn't be "wasting" time doing nothing.  I've since learned to enjoy miniatures "just because."

2. What was your favorite subject in school and why?

Art, because, even though there were basic guidelines, there was no wrong answer.  I think I gave many wrong answers in other classes.

3. You can be any doll you want, brought to life. Which doll are you and why?

Any doll that got to live in a dollhouse.  Have you ever read Doll's House by Rumer Godden?  I'd like to be Tottie I think.

4. What is the coolest story ever connected to your blog?

Once years ago, my blog was picked up by the website Apartment Therapy, I got like thousands of hits that day.

6. What do you do when you are not blogging?

Working, nesting, watching endless TV, parenting my dogs.

7. What are your Grail dolls/action figures?

There's a book called Midnight in the Dollhouse, I think when I have the room, I would recreate the dollhouse and get all the dolls!

8. What three countries or cities would you like to visit?

Paris, London, Tokyo 

9. Is there a project you dream of accomplishing?

A complete and permanent doll house for  1:6, 1:4 and 1:3 and one inch scale.

10. What are your favorite foods?

Filipino comfort foods:  Sinigang, Appritada, Tinola

11. Any tips you would give future bloggers?

Do as many posts as you can and save them up. Only release them once in awhile.  It's hard keeping up with a blog.  I think people can get to like your way of doing things, and you want to give them more, but life just keeps happening all around you and getting in the way :)

Now I'm supposed to nominate a five fellow bloggers with less than 200 followers.  I love every blog I follow and it's hard to get down to five.  So.... if you would like a tag (nomination) comment below, and I'll be happy to do so!

Samhain

Oh hello there!  It looks like it's time for my seasonal update lol.  Shame on SCD for not posting regularly, but then again, this is what having a hobby is all about :)  

In the last few years the term Samhain has found it's way into my bubble of knowledge.  Without doing the research, I figured it was some sort of pagan term about fall, or such, and I was right!  Despite the look of the word, it is not a harvest devil or anything sinister.  

Let me back up a bit and drop some facts.  Samhain, is correctly pronounced "SOW-en"  or a close version of that.  To you legit Wiccans, please don't bombard me with proper pronunciation, "SOW-en" just connected with me for whatever reason.  In broadstrokes, Samhain is a Gaelic festival, loosely between the autumnal equinox and the vernal solstice, or between the first day of fall and winter.  It takes note of the entrance into the darkest half of the year.  The entrance to the lightest half of year is then denoted by Beltane, right around May Day, or roughly between the first day of spring and summer.

Soooo.... Samhain, falls on November 1.  The day after Halloween.  Which is probably why I like "SOW-en" as I can now relate  "HALLOW-en" with "Sow-en."  The interwebs say and don't say the two are are related, so go a Googlin' if you are curious, but I'm pretty sure you are not :)

I quite like another day to mark the time, it seems as I get older, the days are on fast forward.  I work in retail and in that business one is always planning two seasons ahead, and implementing one season ahead.  It's rare I can enjoy the seasons as they come.

Anyway Mani and Mimi are decked out in their Halloween gear.  Here they are last night, getting ready to go Trick-or-Treating!  Mimi's a punk rock ballerina, and sour face Mani just claims to be "chaperone."  However, he did put some effort into his outfit....

In modern terms, Halloween (and now Samhain) kicks off the holidays for many, so here we go careening into the New Year.  I will do at least one more post this year, and hopefully sneak another one too, in any case, see you on the other side!

PS.  Dana, thank you for tagging me.  I haven't checked in to my blog for a minute and just saw your comment.  I will do my post right now, but I'll save it and post it later.  Just gonna give Samhain some time to breathe :)

Big Beautiful Deena

SuperCoolDollHouse hosted a charity fair last weekend!  Two new arrivals wanted to make sure they made a good impression so they volunteered their time.  They each bought a space at the park for their charity.  These gals started their journey to SCD as Dena(s) from Big Beautiful Doll.  I think they said that even though they checked the box on the immigration form as Latina, they are actually Filipinas.  They go by their nick names Ding and Ning.  

This is Ning, she has a passion for animal rescue.  She heads SCD ARC, SuperCoolDollHouse's Animal Rescue and Care

This is Ding, she has a passion for .... passion.  

Ning:  Sister?  I don't think that is what SCD had in mind for the Charity Fair.

Ding:  We all serve in our own way sister, besides, all the proceeds will go to a great cause.

Ning: ...

Ding:  Don't be like that, trust me when I say, it's for a good cause.

Nin:  ... (and a side eye)

 The two little cuties are new to SCD too!  They arrived on Christmas :)  They are Lotte and Finn.

Finn:  Adopt!  Don't shop!

Lotte:  Only eat meat that isn't cute!

Finn:  Lotte, you suck.

Ding:  Ning you better keep your animals on your side!

Ning:  You better do the same.

.... and everyone laughed.... (I rarely do dialogue, so..... don't judge to harshly)

and

... so no sooner had I thought I was done with my 1/6 cycle, I get sucked right back in.  In the last few months I've been seeing the Big Beautiful Doll dolls enjoy a resurgence.  Blame Vanessa and Ms. Leo lol!  I have always admired them, and thought it would be neat to have all three in my collection.  Alas, even  years ago when I  first noticed them they were already off the market, and finding them on the secondary market was tough. 

One day recently, as I was admiring the BBDs on a few blogs, I came across contact information for the creator!  I emailed her straight away hoping to get the girls.  I was delighted when Georgette, one half of the creative team, emailed me herself. (and she's so nice...)  I was hoping to get all three gals, but woe is me, she only had Deenas left... so I bought two.  When they arrived, they were nude, so like many BBD-philes I dug in the deep recesses of my home to unearth some lovely frocks for the gals.  I wanted to make sure my Denas were kitted out in fashionable, youthful and smokin' attire.  I've seen that BBDs out there are made into best friends, mothers and (yikes!) grammas and I wanted to honor the spirit of these dolls, and keep them young and vibrant.  I think I did pretty well.

also... The Real Doll Nerd did me another solid.  Did you notice Ning and Ding's shoes?  Well TRDN squirrel-ed them away many moons ago.  They are dollar store toys that were knock offs of these.  At the dollar store, they were called Fashion Express.

Big Time Fun!

... so six months and one day ago, I commented on a post by A Philly Collector of Playscale Dolls and Action Figures.  Dana, the very nice writer of said blog was asking if we her readers have any doll themed resolutions.  Above is a screen capture of mine.  Whoops.

... so let's see

1)  Nope, sowee.  
2) YES!
3) sort of...

I have no idea where the time goes.  I feel like it's always Monday or Friday, and then the weekends fly by so fast.  Anyway, I still am doing dolly stuff, and actually, I've enjoyed my (our shared) hobby more this past year, than I have in awhile.

I finally cycled out of wanting 1/6 scale stuff!  That took awhile.  I still like to look, but I just don't have the need to buy.  Maybe Integrity will release something soon that will resonate with me, and bring me back.  

What really ended my 1/6 cycle is I rediscovered my Volks MSD.  In 2007 I had the opportunity to buy a Full Choice System (FCS) doll when I was in California.  I wasn't really into them, but I knew it was kind of a once in a life time opportunity.  Turns out it was, because the only American showroom that Volks operated recently closed, taking the FCS experience with it.  I hear you can still do it online, but it was so much fun to do the face to face consultation.

This is boring huh?  Anyway, I started playing with my MSD, bought a brother to play with her and so here are some pictures....  If you want the long version, which you don't, I'll tack it on at the end.

... and before you look at the pictures, here's one doll storage thing I've started doing.  See I sorta started organizing :)  Oh, and I lost a little weight... but still weight shmeight...

 Morning a Magnus a Mimi's

 pretty kitty

 Mimi's and Magnus' bedrooms are just off the great room.

The long version.  It was getting close to Christmas, and I had no idea what to get my partner for Christmas.  I was trying to get him something from one of his favorite companies, so I poked around Ebay for Sybarites, Dollfies, ceramic horses etc.  I had no intention of getting him a Super Dollfie, but when I saw her face on Ebay, I knew that was the doll that would be bought for him.  I was able to get him a sister for his FCS SD13!  I too had a Volks, she's an MSD.  I never played with her because 1) Dollfie rooms would have to be huge, and so would there accessories, and I had no room for that stuff.  2)  She had no friend to play with, you know how I'm a sucker of having pairs of things.  After, looking at Dollfies in preparation for his Christmas present, it reawakened my interest in Dollfies too.  I went searching for a brother for my MSD.  I reached back to my first days of doll collecting and reconnected with my fascination with Dollshe boy dolls.  These guys are huge.  27 inches tall huge.  So.... after hunting and looking at Den of Angels for weeks, I finally brought one home.  So Mimi has a big brother now, and I in my craziness decided to make them a room setting.  The results are above :)

check my Flickr for more pictures of the room.

Could it be true?

Hi,
Just a quick post between stupid snow shoveling.

Has anyone vetted either of these sites?

http://thedollpages.com/

http://misterdollface.com/

The Real Doll Nerd stumbled across them?  Will these fill the gap since THE DOLLPAGE went dark?

I hope so....


SCD

Can. Day 12

Winter is cold and long.  It can be bleak and desolate.  It can be a time to turn inward and contemplate. It can be a time to with drawl and reset yourself.  It can be all of these things, these things are good for the soul but winter can be so much more.  

As we travel through the winter season, don't travel so inward that no one can find you.  Don't with drawl so completely that you miss the next big thing.

On to the next adventure!

PS!  I did it, 12 days of Christmas, woo-hooooo!