Doll & Teddy Fair ~ Motorcycle Museum ~ 23/9/2012

Enjoy a selection of photos from the event with our slideshow. The next show is in November 2012

Photo Competition ~ Issue 31

As this year is a very special year for the UK, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and hosting the Olympics games we chose a Red White and Blue theme to celebrate these auspicious events.

How our entrants chose to represent that theme was left open.  Below are the entries.  We have 6 wonderful compositions to choose from.  

To vote send an email entitled    "Competition Votes" to Lisa  with the numbers of your top 3 favourite pictures. 

Voting will run for 7 days from Wednesday 5th September with the winner being announced on Thursday 13th Sepbember. 

Good luck to all the entrants. 

How to Buy Dolls Safely

Whilst there is no foolproof method of making sure that you don't get ripped off during the purchase of a doll, there are some sensible precautions that you can take to protect yourself in a purchase. 

Like most things in life a lot of it is down to common sense. 

If a deal looks like it is too good to be true, then don't let greed or glee at getting a bargain put the blinders on you. If it seems dodgy, let the opportunity go!

 

Pay attention to the detail! Really look at the deal you are being offered, read the small print. 

Find out who you are dealing with! Sellers hiding behind strange names where they won't tell you what their real name is and are cagey about sharing information with you.... run... in the opposite direction... as fast as you can! The same goes for people who are operating under multiple names.

Find out your sellers return policies... what will they do for you if the doll you buy isn't what you were expecting or is damaged. 

Ask for a written agreement between you and your seller, I imagine this sounds intimidating but really, it's not!  An agreement between the two of you protects you both, you can agree what you both expect to happen.  How long your payment plan (if you need one) is. What happens if one or other of you can't fulfil the deal. What terms are for returns. All sorts of issues can be thrashed out in a formal agreement and once its in place, you BOTH know where you stand and what is expected of you.

Any good artist would be happy to prepare and sign an agreement and if they aren't... well what does that tell you?

Ask for close ups, artists like to take artistic photos but you can guarantee they also have close ups of all the essentials, hair, lips, eyelashes and eyebrows, fingernails.  So if you don't see all detail you need in the photos, ask!  

Ask other collectors for recommendations on artists,   buyers don't recommend artists they have had a bad experience with, so ask around, ask other buyers who they would recommend to purchase from.  

And pay attention if you see lots of bad feedback on an artist and they are offering bargain basement deals... ask yourself, WHY? Could it be because they have got such a bad reputation they are having to offer drop down prices?

Ask the artist you are interested in purchasing from for details of previous buyers that they can talk to and get feedback on your work.  Good Artists will not think twice about giving you the chance to talk to previous customers. 

And finally, be realistic in your expectations, whilst there are lots of artists out there offering good work at very reasonable prices if you are being offered a doll at a ridiculously low price when you know the sculpt and supplies used to make it are twice or three times the asking price.... does that sentence really need finishing?

Jubilee Photo Competition

There are only a couple of weeks to go to get your entries in for the next magazine competition. 

To celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, we've decided that the theme for the competition will be "Red, White and Blue".

How you interpret that theme is up to you but it must be in those colours.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with.  Email your entry to Lisa@gloriarty.co.uk

Issue 30

Coming soon we have Issue 30 of  Discovering Dolls and Crafts. The issue is currently at the printers whilst they work their magic and delivery is due on the 13th June 2012.  I am so excited to have this issue come out. With Issue 29 I wasn't entirely happy with the paper weight of the pages, so with Issue 30 I've gone a little heavier on paper and we will see how that turns out.  Do let me have some feedback with your thoughts once you've seen it.

So what do we have for you in Issue 30?

Well to start with we have the missing page from Issue 29... what can I say, apart from oops and sorry. 

But it's in this issue so you will all have the chance to win your Jody kit.

We have our next Photo Competition, so I look forward to lots of fabulous entries to the themed competition.  

We have a fantastic and I don't say that lightly hair rooting tutorial by the very talented and generous Melainne Kelly, so if you are struggling with rooting this is the issue for you.  

We also have feature articles on Gregg Ortiz who is celebrating 20 years in the industry as well as a feature of Laura Lee Eagles an incredibly talented sculptor whose work is just making people drool.   

We also have a wonderful tutorial on how to make a nappy cake by Julia of Lavender Babies. 

And my personal favourite from this issue, Lacey Michelle shares her work and thoughts.  

To subscribe to the magazine click here 

Open Days at Simply Reborn Ltd's Warehouse

Over the weekend of 21st and 22nd of April, the ladies at Simply Reborn opened up the warehouse for a two day visitor experience. 


During both days visitors were able to buy all the kits and supplies that they wanted with a lovely bonus discount specially for visitors. 

Ruth, Lisa and Karen were very welcoming and happy to answer any questions visitors had. 


I visited on the Sunday and was pleased to see how busy the warehouse was, lots of ladies wandering around finding little treats as well as necessary supplies and the atmosphere was very jovial with lots of tips and tricks being shared.

During the Day, Ruth demonstrated painting techniques using Genesis Heatset Paints and Karen demonstrated rooting and was showing how to hold and use a needle correctly to prevent snapping and bending of needles.

We took several video's of the painting demonstrations which will be uploaded shortly, so make sure you pop back and check those out.


For more information on Simply Reborn Limited and their open days please visit Reborn Shop or pop along to the Simply Reborn Facebook Page. 


And to kick off the Video's here is Part 1. 

Brighton Doll Festival

Brighton Doll Festival remains one of our favourites of the year, the combination of excellent organisation of the event, the lively atmosphere always make this show a yearly treat. 

This year was held at a new venue, moving away from the Brighton racecourse. The new venue was a large airy sports hall. which meant there was lots of space for showing dolls and other dolly related goodies. 

Below is a slideshow of the photographs taken on the day.  The date for next years show hasn't been announced yet.
 

Pudsey Doll and Teddy Fair April 2012

The Pudsey Doll and Teddy Fair received a whole new lease of life now that Debbie Woodhouse has taken over the management and running of the event.

The hall was entirely packed on the day, not a single space was left available as every table was taken.  The atmosphere was buzzing!

This is a slideshow of photos taken on the day.  We hope you enjoy it.

Photo Competition - Winner!

We are pleased to announce the winner of Issue 29's Photo Competition

Our winner is Elaine Colbert of Ellie's Babies with Chloe, Elaine wins a Feature Artist Article and photospread in Discovering Dolls & Crafts Magazine and also a Paige Kit by Sandra White supplied by Precious Little Baby Dust.

Congratulations to all the entrants to the competition, all the entries will be featured in a photo spread in the next issue of the magazine.

Photo Competition for Issue 30

We have had 12 lovely entries to the competition, you will find them displayed below.  The vote is an open one. To vote all you have to do is choose your favourite 3 entries and email the Entry Numbers to Competition@discoveringdolls.co.uk

The winner will be revealed in a weeks time!

 

 Such lovely work, in our view they are all winners but only one person can actually get the prize, which is Supplied by Precious Little Baby Dust

Great Spring Doll & Teddy Fair

Yesterday's Great Spring Doll and Teddy Fair benefitted hugely from glorious weather,  the sunshine seemed to bring people out and the show was busy for most of the day.

As usual there was a wonderful mix of Reborn Dolls, Antique Dolls and Teddy Bears galore both antique and handmade.

We do hope you enjoy our slideshow of photos taken from yesterday's show.

Finishing Touches!

Artists work so hard on producing realistic beautiful dolls that it has always seems a real shame that at the final moment, the delivery of this artwork ends up being, wrapping it in bubble wrap and shoving it in a non descript box for final delivery to the new Mum. It's always felt just a little bit of a let down for a thing of beauty to travel. 

No one can say that Doll Artists aren't imaginative and innovative.  We are! Our art is constantly evolving and changing, with clever people coming up with new ideas that keeps us all moving forward... and the girls at Precious Little Baby Dust are at the forefront of that constant movement forwards in the industry.

Once again Cassie and Rachel have come up with a new idea that will change things again with their new doll boxes.  Gone are the boring brown boxes, now a box is not just a box, a box is a frame! A box is an enhancement to our finished product! A box is as collectable as the contents!

Precious Little Baby Dust Doll Boxes consist of two boxes, a white inner box with a viewing window, perfect for decoration and personalisation. Jazz up your box and make it a thing of such beauty that your collector wants to keep it just because it looks so nice.  And the second box is a snugly fitting brown box that protects the inner box and its precious contents for travel.

You can purchase the boxes in singles, packs of 5 or packs of 10 direct from the Precious Little Baby Dust site. Precious Little Baby Dust Webstore

 

Photo Competition for Issue 30

Back in the days of Hello Dolly Magazine one of the things that was the most fun about the magazine was the photo competition. So I am resurrecting that competition for Discovering Dolls and Crafts.

This competition is sponsored by Precious Little Baby Dust

Click on HERE to be taken to the Precious Little Baby Dust website for all your reborning needs. 

The competition winner will receive a Paige kit from Precious Little Baby Dust as well as a Feature Artist article in the Issue 31 of Discovering Dolls & Crafts

For full competition details and the Rules please visit the Competition Page 

A Sojourn into a Heavenly Reborn Grotto

I popped up to the Simply Reborn Warehouse yesterday, mainly to collect a set of paints for the upcoming product testing article for the magazine, but I have to say visiting the warehouse is always a dangerous pursuit.... there are just so many goodies in there!  It's like temptation on a stick!

Anyway because I am nice I thought I would share some pictures of the warehouse so you could all be dead jealous that I got to go!

But don't feel completely robbed, Simply Reborn are having a cracking March sale at the moment so you can get your treats without the drive, you can do it from the comfort of your chair.  Just pop along to the Simply Reborn Shop and shop to your hearts content.

PLBD Prototype competition

Another fantastic opportunity to be a prototype artist.  This one from Precious Little Baby Dust. All the details are included on the Precious Little Baby Dust site but in essence you need to reborn a Paige by Sandra White kit and submit your photos in order to be in with a chance to be a Prototype Artist for one of Sandra's upcoming twin kits.  

Now that's a chance not to be missed. Look forward to seeing the entries! Good luck!

 

Discover Dolls Brentwood February 2012

I have to admit to feeling more than a little bit rough yesterday... death warmed over is actually a very accurate description but it was really important that  Discovering Dolls & Crafts Magazine as it was the first appearance of the magazine since the change of management. 

This year the Brentwood Show had expanded taking up another room and some extra floorspace besides and there was an even larger turn out of visitors showing that not only is Brentwood a popular venue but that interest in dolls and reborns is continuing to grow.

It was lovely to see a number of Discovering Dolls & Crafts advertisers represented at the Show, with The Cradle appearing for the first time at Brentwood, you can read all about The Cradle in this issue of the magazine! 

Simply Reborn had an entire room to themselves... they needed it, it was a little slice of reborn heaven stepping into that room and they had their new range of Simply Heatset on sale, watch out for a review of these paints coming soon in Discovering Dolls & Crafts. Precious Little Baby Dust had a bigger stand than the previous year and a very impressive display of stock and Daisykaties were displaying a wonderful range of clothing, visitors were spoiled for choice.

For those of you who didn't get the opportunity to come along, don't worry, we took enough photos to make you feel like you were there and to tempt you into coming along for the next show. Enjoy!

 . 

Issue 29 gets put to bed

After a mammoth... and I mean mammoth effort, the whole team has been fighting through flu, chest infections and several boxes of man sized tissues... what is that with "man sized" I mean are they trying to say women can't blow as hard?  We can... trust me!

Anyway I digress,  Issue 29 of the newly retitled Discover Dolls magazine has gone off to the printers. Having been involved in magazine publishing for a few years I can certify it isn't an easy job pulling together a magazine but taking one over and being ill at the same time really is no picnic.

But still it's ready and is due for delivery on Friday this week, so I will have the magazine available at the Brentwood Doll Show.

So what have we got for you in this issue?   Well we have TWO, yes I said TWO exciting competitions.  The cutest knitting pattern and a gorgeous cloth doll to make, as well as lots of news, reviews and feature articles.

Discovering Dolls & Crafts Says Hello

Here we go, new title to the magazine so a new blog to go along with it.