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.