GiveAway

Don't miss out on this great Giveaway on the NaturalKids Team blog. It is comment style and only through this weekend! Participants must be US residents to make sure the items can still arrive on time for Easter.

What can you win? A lovely Easter themed book plus 3 of my cute felted eggs. So hurry on over and leave a comment and your contact/email address!

And pst, I have a secret: There will be another Giveaway on NaturalKids team. Don't miss next week's Giveaway. I'll tell you about the price next week.

Where cute things live...

doll dresser with little babies, originally uploaded by germandolls.

This gorgeous photo of my dolls peeking out of an antique dolldresser was sent to me by a customer. I love it so much I had to share it on my blog, too.
If you have similar photos please feel free to share them with me.

Thanks so much, Janet! You are awesome!

Affenliebe

Affenliebe.

Vor der Hochzeit kriegst Du Rosen, nach der Hochzeit stopfst Du Hosen.

Schatzi, ich liebe Dich so sehr. Schau, ich habe Dir 25 Rosen gekauft. Eine Rose fuer jedes Jahr unserer Ehe.

Du bloede Kuh. Wo warst Du so lange? Warum kommst Du so spaet von der Arbeit nach hause? Wie heisst er denn, Dein Freund?

Rita, wo bist Du, mein Liebchen? Musst doch noch Sueppchen kochen fuer Deinen lieben Mann.

Wochend' und Sonnenschein, und ich mit Dir im Wald allein...

Es tut mir wirklich leid. Verzeih mir noch ein einziges mal. Ich verspreche Dir, ich werde Dich nie wieder schlagen. War doch nur ein wenig von der Rolle. Die Eifersucht ist ein schlimmes Ding.

Monkeylove.

The word monkeylove was coined by my mother. That's what she called love that was fake or not real. Upon the 8th anniversary of her death I wanted to dedicate today's blog post to her. Sorry about the German. It's personal and I didn't want to translate it.

All  I can say is, I miss her dearly and hope that she has found real love where she is at now.

First Blossoms

It's been way too hot in Colorado. I managed to get my first sunburn of the season attending my son's baseball tournament last weekend. Did I tell you? I love Baseball. We don't have that sport in Germany and I had no clue about the rules. It took me a whole year of traveling baseball with my son's team to learn the ins and outs. I am not sure why Germans don't play it. Being people that are very obsessed with numbers and preciseness I am certain they would love it.

Last year we froze our hands and feet off during the first March tournament. Not so this year. In the excitement I forgot to reapply the sunscreen and ended up looking like a lobster. I won't make that mistake again - I hope.

I guess the good thing about this weather is that some color is returning to the yard. I took my little Leafbuddies outdoors this morning and got a couple of nice shots of the first blossoms springing up around the house.

Oh, and by the way, I posted a nice little tutorial on how to make infant dolls on the NaturalKids team blog yesterday. Hope you visit and check it out!

Great EasterSale in my Etsyshop!

Okay, Folks. Due to the slowness of sales during the month of March I have decided to do a sale in my Etsyshop. I am not kidding you here. This is the best sale ever. You will get 10% off your goodies - ANY ITEM BIG OR SMALL IN MY SHOP  - just punch in the coupon code when checking out.

This sale will last for 3 days only - from today through Sunday night. Discount is on items not shipping. So don't wait around and get the stuff you have always wanted but couldn't afford. LOL

A Doll and A Prayer

Some Babies are Born into this World with a Silver Spoon in their mouth.

I certainly was not that kind of baby.

At least I had my mother's total love and devotion.

Some Babies don't even get that...

It makes me so sad to think that every day there are precious babies born into this world whose mothers cannot raise them because they are too young, too poor, or too consumed by a lifestyle of partying and drugs, or whatever keeps them from loving their babies the way nature intended.

I devoted my day yesterday to making a doll baby for a sweet little gal. I am praying that she will grow up to be a strong woman surrounded by her grandma's love...

I sewed up this doll trying to put lots of love in it. Each stitch is a prayer that little Arabella will be Okay.

This is a First Doll For Baby. But more than that it is and a Prayer for all the Little ones who need Somebody - other than their parents - to care for them!

Leafbuddies are Back!

Recently somebody contacted me on Etsy and asked me why I had not any of my babies in the leafbeds listed any more. It's been a while since I made one. I guess one loses track when making a wide selection of items. Making the little bed is quite time consuming but what item in my shop is not?

Since it's been awfully slow in my Etsyshop - have not had a sale since the 12th of March, boy am I getting depressed - I followed that request and made some leafbuddies.

I listed only the cute red baby. Some members of the NaturalKids team told me I had too many items in my shop that an overabundance of items makes people weary and stop looking at one's shop. Is that true? How could one get tired of looking at cute things. I never do? LOL

                                     Which one do you like better? Red or Yellow baby?

I am still trying to get that perfect closeup of my wagon full of babies. It's not working. I have not been able to get a hold of a tripod. The children are on springbreak and going to the store is not an option. I will just keep shooting away trying to hold my hands as still as I can or resting the camera on an object. So far it hasn't worked out much...My photos are still kind of blurry.

Looks like they are going to a drive-in movie

Any suggestion for what tripod to get? I need one that works with an ancient digital camera.

Props for Photos

I really like the little wagon I found for taking doll photos. I think using cute props makes a big difference too. I took a couple of indoor & outdoor shots this morning around 9AM.

Here are my two favorite shots.

The first one is an indoor shot with the woodfloor as background. It's probably a tad too dark but I still like the feel of it. I like how the handle sticks out at the viewer. So inviting. I can just see a little kids picking it up and pulling it down the road...

The second photo was taken outside. I am still working on finding a way to make it look like the big doll is pulling the little radioflyer wagon. I used an overturned flower pot to prop up the hand for now. I think I need something less inconspicious or maybe take the shot from a different angle that makes it appear as if the bigger doll was coming down the hill or something like that.

Easter Eggs

The other day a customer asked for some Easter eggs to come with their bunny. Hmm. I had not made any in while. Easter being only 3 weeks away I thought I better get started. I really like how the one I made matches the little blue bunny.

How about a dark blue egg with light blue polka dots?

How about a mint green rabbit with pink ears?

I am thinking he needs a different colored egg. He did not seem enthusiastic about the blue one...

How Sweet it is to be Loved by You...

Wow. Check it out! I got the sweetest letter in the mail this week. It was a real morale booster. These are the moments when I most love my job. I got a  real letter! How many people still write real letters and send them through snail mail? In this fast-paced world everyone goes to the internet. Posts a picture on Facebook or shares what they feel and think online.

I got a REAL LETTER & PHOTOS by a customer. I can take it out and read it over if I need to. I can keep it in a box for posterity to read after I'm long gone. Maybe it could end up in a museum.
How much information or power of the human touch is lost over the internet? I am in awe that somebody took the time and sat down to write to me.

I feel so honored, and special, and appreciated, and loved.

It made me cry.

Doll in my Hand

I took a couple of photos of my minis while holding them in my hand. They are a bit dark but I kind of like them anyways. I had never tried that before. It was quite the challenge holding the camera still with one hand and taking the photo.

I still have not had the time to go out and look for a tripod. Any suggestions on what to get?

How could I improve these types of closeups?

The Cutest Pink Rabbit

Doll sales are still going very slowly. Or rather - not at all. Poor babies. I have 6 sad dolls hanging around my house. I may have to put them up for sale on Feebay. It's been so long since I sold anything there, I simply forgot how to do it. Seriously, once I found Etsy I was happy. It was so much easier and a lot more fun to sell there.

I am finding that needle felting is bringing me a lot of joy these days. Recently a good customer of mine said: Why don't you make some bunnies in different colors? Candy colors. What a great idea! It had never occurred to me. Thanks so much, Janet! You are awesome. I so much appreciate the advice and support. I love it when customers bring their ideas and enthusiasm about my craft to me and make suggestions like that.

Isn't he the cutest thing?

The Pink Baby Who got Away

pink blossom 2, originally uploaded by germandolls.

Not sure what's going on. Seemingly I cannot log onto my blog and post normally. So I am posting via Flickr backdoor.

All is well. My stitches came out and I got good news. My bump was nothing but a fluke - a traumatic fibroma. I am glad for it.

Hope you like the photo I took this morning. I still don't have a tripod but I like it anyways...

On the Way to Recovery

I got four stitches on the inside of my left cheek. They are driving me crazy. Wish I could go in there and snip the ends off like I do on my dolls. Looks like I am on my way to recovery. I definitely don't recommend having such a procedure done while awake. It ranked somewhere between a nine and ten on the scale of weird things I have experienced in my life...Just hoping this is the end of it.

I couldn't work on my photos outside because we got more snow in Colorado. It figures, while everyone is complaining about global warming, it's freezing and wet here.

So I took some new photos of my colorful bunny creations indoors. I think they turned out pretty nice. The little pink fellow sold already in my shop. Maybe the photos could be a little brighter?

What do you think? I took them during an overcast day in the early morning hours. Maybe I should have waited until a little later in the day. Or should I have added some artificial lighting? Must look up how-tos of taking good indoor photos.