So random, March/April '26

We begin this round on the evening of February 28th.  It was warm, I'd spent some time redressing some of my dolls, and these two had spring fever.  Rebecca Madeleine is on the left, and her friend is the one and only Joyita Emilia. 

As fine as the weather was that day, we ALL had spring fever!  I'd just gotten both girls in their spring dresses (seen here and here), and they looked cute together.

March 4th, the first severe day of the season.  I took Lady to work with me, but ultimately nothing happened.

Early March was a time for baby dolls here at Casa Pizarro.  From left to right, these are Lady, a Belly Button Baby that I've chosen to name "Colin," and a Magic Nursery baby that I'm calling "Elias."

Belly Button Baby is one that I saw on Tam's blog.  There were several variants, with one being this little red-haired, brown-eyed boy.  Belly Button Baby is like those collapsing toys (my sister loved them), where you'd push a button and they'd go limp.  Same sort of gimmick with Colin, though I can't show it very well.

Colin is strung pretty tightly so he can't sit, but he can lounge.  He's a ham!

As for Elias, he's got an eye color that I've not seen on a Magic Nursery doll.  They're...hazel or green or a combination of the two.  They look green in the pictures.

I make a big deal about this because Afro-American Cabbage Patch Kids of the early nineties had ZERO variation in eye color.  Their eyes were brown and that was that.  Magic Nursery dolls of color DO have variations in eye color, as Elias and Miss Emily's Shyla show.  Oh, and remember how these dolls have plastic bellybuttons that can vary in shape?  Elias has an outie (remember that all Cabbies have outies too).  So far, Lina is my only Magic Nursery doll with an innie.

March 6th, 8:15 p.m. local time.  All was quiet in the Bootheel, but tornadoes were hitting far to the west and I was keeping a sharp eye on the radar.  March of '26 was moderately stormy, but not as bad as March of '25 was.  Anyway, one of my new dolls offered to keep an eye on two of my smallest dolls.

Like Olivia Hope before her, Audrina is proving to be a natural with babies.  Or she is with Hong Kong Honey and Libra Baby.  Audrina is a Juku Couture doll, by the way, and I do plan on reviewing her soon.  With her joints and inset eyes she's kinda like a tiny LIV doll without wigged hair.  I wonder if her shoes are bigger on the inside, LOL!

March 12.  It's been awhile since I talked about Magic Mixie Pixlings, and the scuttlebutt on Reddit is that Moose Toys has pulled the plug on these.  No time like the present to snap one up...or two.

By pure dumb luck I found both Amber (left) and Catlyn being sold together, unencumbered by those clunky bottles.  The consensus on Reddit is that these dolls could've been a hit without all the gimmicks (just like their cousins the Capsule Chix) and I think that indeed is true.  The bottle is a single-trick pony and takes up a lot of space, and there's a danger of it leaking chemicals everywhere (bleach-water, probably, but still).  The dolls themselves are great!  Oh, and as a bonus, the seller shipped my dolls in a Chewy box.  Mama and I are big Chewy fans.  If y'all have animals and don't want to run to Wal-Mart for everything, Chewy.com's shipping is very prompt and the prices are reasonable.

March 12th was also the night I put my last Monster High post together, and I got an outtake.

Budget dolls or no, Frankie and Draculaura know how to look adorable. 

March 13th.  We were facing another stormy weekend and I was nervous, so I grabbed two of my soft dolls to hug.  My Newborn Nancy and Lady are who I grabbed. 

Still no batteries for My Newborn Nancy yet.  I remember I'd said that I wanted to try her out.

March 17th.  Rockin' redheads.  From left, Joyita Emilia, Hannah Valerie, and Rosanna Claire. 

Hannie loves the camera, LOL!

March 22nd.  I was dying to see how Joyita Emilia looked in blue.

She ended up looking not too shabby!

March 27th.  It was chilly and windy again, not twenty-four hours after parts of the Midwest had tornadoes and hail.  I promptly bundled up my newest arrival. 

Her name is Baby Annabell, and she's by Zapf Creation.  She'll be getting a review in...<pauses to look>...late May, if all goes well.

March 29th.  By the end of the day it was warm enuff for a change of clothes. 

Annabell is a big girl, so finding clothes for her may not be the easiest.  But so far I've lucked out.  And yes, it seriously warmed up that fast.  That's life in the Missouri Bootheel.

April 2nd.  In preparation for Annabell's post I had out My Newborn Nancy and Baby All Gone, or as I call them, Nancy and Mary.

Nancy is a Tyco doll, Mary is a Kenner doll, and they don't look a lot alike, but I'd have happily called them sisters as a kid.  Sisters by different companies, one could say.

April 15th.  Taxes were safely in, my hip was semi-behaving, and a lovely breeze was coming through the storm door's window.  I belong to a Failbook group that goes pretty heavy on the reborn dolls, so I trotted out my iCradle doll, Sandra.

I'd just gotten a new pacifier clip for Sandra, since her magnet doesn't hold her pacifier tightly.  The cord is stiff, but it keeps the binky from falling in the floor, which it did at least twice when I'd move Sandra around.

The next evening I swapped Sandra out for Geneva, my Real Baby.  Mama has named Geneva as a favorite of hers, and I've been pretty open about my fondness for her too.

I really feel my physical limitations when handling Geneva.  She's a big baby and I have to hold onto Barbie Walker with both hands, so I have to drape Geneva awkwardly across Barbie Walker's crosspiece...or ask for help, which I loathe.  Mama is also on a walker and can't carry much more than I can, and I want Uncle Man-Child to keep his lousy mitts off my stuff (don't worry, I leave his crap alone too).  Anyway, springtime and that cute duck dress just beg for a picture of Geneva outside in the sunshine, and without a good carrier I just can't do it.  But then again, there was no sunshine that evening, just rain and some thunder.  The week of the twelfth was very violent in parts of the country, but this time the Bootheel made it out okay.

April 20th, bright, sunny, and breezy.  The Dolly Den (Failbook group) asked for curly hair, and I obliged. 

River Song (left) and Alana.  Alana desperately needs a hair bow.

That same day my Zapf Creation Little Princess doll arrived, after quite a journey from abroad. 

Cinderella's whole mouth is askew, not just her paint!  I can live with that though, since these dolls are out of production and aren't the easiest to find.

April 24th.  I'd received a steroid shot and was feeling good enuff to drag some of the kids outside. 

From left, Martina (Furga), Cassandra (Italocremona), and Ilaria (Furga).

Twice this past week I've been afraid that I'd go flying over the rainbow, but it all came out okay in the end.  Unfortunately I've got a feeling that this summer is going to be long, hot, and dry.  I hope all is well with y'all!

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987

Love is blue

At the beginning of the year an Etsy ad declared that the color of the year was going to be lime green.  I love lime green and all green in general, but my heart was pulled in a different direction.  Whovians and Moody Blues fans are kinda obligated to at least tolerate the color blue, and...well, I actually happen to love blue, and I loved blue before I knew John Lodge from John Pertwee.  So when I saw a series of deep blue Barbie dresses on Etsy I was all over those like ugly on an ape.  Interestingly, this first one is not handmade like I initially thought, but rather a Best Buy outfit, #2217 from 1978.  It's also not a dress, LOL.

I love Best Buy outfits!  Some of them are dated by today's sensibilities (pantsuits, though I happen to love pantsuits), but they're also colorful and relatively easy to find, and they cover Barbie's naked butt, dated or not.  I don't have a big collection of Best Buy clothes yet (#2217, #1359 and four copies of #1354), but when I want something that will fit the old twist 'n' turn body, Best Buy is usually what I look for.  Unfortunately, like a great many Barbie outfits of today, most Best Buy getups didn't come with shoes.

Mama told me that barefoot dancing was the best kind of dancing, and Midge apparently agrees.  Anyway, one of the things that I like about Best Buy clothes is that they can have variants.  I've counted at least four of #1354 (including one sized for Skipper) and three of #1359, and it appears that #2217 has three variants as well.  Mine is light blue on a dark blue field, but there is also white on the same dark blue field, and a different shade of blue with polka dots and roses.  The top elastic is unfortunately pretty loose, and Midge has thus had her fair share of Tara Reid moments.

Oops!  I'll have to see what I can do about that.  Shouldn't be too hard to fix.  Despite the fact that Midge's eyes are green, and her earrings are light blue and yellow, I like this getup on her.  I think the blue looks nice with her red hair.

Next outfit...shucks, I wish I'd had a redhead for this one too, since it was modelled by a redhead on Etsy, but Theta's blue lips match.  Etsy shop is Mall4Doll.

This fits Theta like it was specially tailored for her, and the fabric is both stretchy and drapey so it will fit quite a few of my dolls.  It needs a necklace though, something to make Theta sparkle.  Oh, and for the record, nip slips are not out of the question for this dress either, so I have to be careful about how I pose Theta.

These next two dresses are for curvy dolls, and they came from PrymaDonnaDolls.  This shop is based in Sri Lanka and has a long shipping time, so if you buy something from here, be prepared to wait.  So here's Chardonnay in a simple tube dress with detached sleeves.

I love a good tube dress for Barbie, because they're easy to put on and they can be worn by all the body types.  Usually.  This dress was specifically tailored for Curvy dolls so it would probably be too big for a petite doll.  At the same time it's pretty tight on Chardonnay, tight enuff that I can't pose her legs apart and help her stand better.  I love this shade of blue, though!

Andra's new threads aren't really a dress, but a jumpsuit like Midge's.

It looks good, but the seams are uneven in places.  This isn't such a big deal, but the fit is pretty tight in the chest, almost so that I couldn't pull the whole thing up.  I dread taking this off Andra.  She rocks it, though.  Andra rocks just about everything she wears.

One of the benefits of being a modern doll collector is the originality of the clothes.  Granted, at the beginning of Barbie's reign a crafty child or a crafty mama could whip up something that couldn't be bought in stores, but one couldn't find fabric sprinkled with avocados or with the Butterfinger logo.  Spoilers, I've got those too, LOL.  Tacky?  Maybe, but then I happen to like tacky, and my dolls give no effs whether they look tacky or not, because they're...well, they're dolls!  That said, Lovable Louise is...well, not as tacky.

I love finding new duds for old dollies!  Clothes for Lovable Louise are about as easy to find as hen's teeth, but BonDebproductions did have this dress, and by luck of the draw it's blue.  Next step is to find some shoes (I've already found a source that will provide undergarments) and unfog her eyes.  I owe a debt of gratitude to Beth in WV (and probably a few other folks) who told me that a warm hair dryer and an index card will do the trick.  Louise and Sunflower will be my guinea pigs, and I'll let y'all know the results.

For those of y'all that might fancy the more traditional look, here's Ashley and Lena, two of my Magic Nursery kids.  They wear hearts, and Lena ties the whole post together with touches of blue.  Worked out pretty well, actually!

Happy Valentine's Day,

RagingMoon1987 

So random, November '24

Thank you, sweet Jesus, the election is OVER!!!  We won't have to do this madness again for another four years!  Recap of the month starts on October 29th with a study in opposites. 

Sachi is a fashion doll (albeit an unusual one) and Geneva is a baby doll.  Hot Looks didn't have a lot of success, and Real Baby...I think she did.  There are plenty of 'em out there if one knows where to look.

October 30th.  The work day was winding down, the weather was getting rough in the Great Plains, and the day's dolly mail was peeved at Ryan Hall's listeners.

Okay, Chou Chou was peeved.  Raspberry Herbert was trying to console her.  For context, Ryan Hall's viewers were divided on how to pronounce El Dorado, Kansas.  Even the locals couldn't agree if it was "El Do-RAH-do" or "El Do-RAY-do," and much eye-rolling was done by Chou Chou...and admittedly, by me.  Usually the locals know how to pronounce a location!

Later on that evening Herbert and Chou Chou were joined by Mama's Barbie.

They're not as cantankerous as they look, I promise!  Indeed, Herbert has a smile underneath that paint.  Y'all may be able to see it.

November 2nd.  Mar is fascinated by my newest Fashionista, Laura. 

Laura is the visually impaired Fashionista, #228; notice that her eyes go in two different directions.  Her cane is red at the bottom, meaning that Laura does have some vision (just like Xenia).  I named her after Laura Bridgman, the first American deaf-blind to be successfully educated.  Nope, Helen Keller wasn't the first, though she was one of the first to learn to talk.  Anyway, that's my new Fashionista.  Mama wasn't a big fan; I think blindness may be one of Mama's bigger fears.

November 4th.  Bae Day Monday was for blue-eyed Cabbies, so I started with one I almost forgot, Skye Kitty. 

The full-sized Colecos, Hugo Jack and Idalia Gale.

The Preemies, Cara Raelean and Stella Rae.

My blondes, Iris Evangeline and Lucey Dena.

The redheads, Karen Sheila and Valencia Rose's little Playmate, Titania Rosalind. 

And my softie, Poppy Elizabeth.  They're dark, but they're blue.

Blue eyes are fairly common among Cabbies, but not as common as a certain other color.  More on that at eleven. 

Election Day.  It should be no surprise that I whiled away the evening with my dolls.  Here's Violet and Ernest John. 

The Brady Bunch did not get watched like I said I would do, but I did get a can of orange Fanta, which in my book is BETTER than peach Snapple.  And keep in mind, I love me some peach Snapple.  I have to say, Violet is an interesting little doll.  I may have to go back on my word and review her after all.  At the very least I straightened her braids.

She looks happy about the new old 'do.  I know I always felt better after redoing my ragged braids in high school, even though it was just a hairstyle.  To hell with the raggedy, LOL.

November 8th.  Unlike Violet, Clio Teresa gives no effs about how mad her hair gets.  On the eighth she took a minute to sit in my old Horus tree.

Clio had gained a new nickname by that point.  It was the day before that I'd fried my thumb trying to clean Clio's leg, and Mama subsequently named her "Poison Priscilla."  I myself had been calling her "Toxic Dolly," a play on my sister's favorite Living Dead Doll, Toxic Molly.  As such Clio is only the second member of my patch to have a nickname; Matt the Brat was the first.

November 10th.  A random picture of Isolde. 

Lolita clothes are out of reach for me, so I'm letting Isolde strut it.  If you've got it, flaunt it!

November 11th was another Bae Day Monday, for green-eyed Kids.  This was easy since I only have five.  There's Gavin Andrew and Kory Aryan...

...and Valencia Rose, Carol Kasey, and Candela Laura.

Don't have too many with green eyes!  

Same day.  Da hoodz, LOL.

Matt the Brat, Alice Helene, and Kory Aryan rock their hoods as the temperatures deepen.  Wouldn't y'all know, I forgot Ernest John!

I freaking love Ernest John, and I can't believe I left him out of the group pic.  He looks so cute in this set Mama got!  I wish the hoodie came in MY size, because it's soft.

Also November 11th.  Lulu, one of my Magic Nursery triplets, made friends with a new arrival. 

His name is Tuggles, and he's a Taco Bell Hugga Bunch doll.  The original Tuggles was smaller (called a "Huglet" by Kenner), and his coordinating large doll was...Hugsy???  <pauses to look>  Yeah, Hugsy was the one.  Hugga Bunch dolls are kinda popular among my Cabbage Patch cronies on Failbook, so y'all might see one here in the coming months. 

November 13th was Wednesday Wearables, and my two foreign Kids got the new stuff this time.

It was a coincidence that Kitrick Randolph Fergus and Candela Laura were two of my last Cabbies in Halloween clothes, but that doesn't matter much.  Of course Mama supplied both of these.

November 15th.  Bonnie and Cancer were agog over...over SOMETHING.  These two are always in awe over something I can't see.  I don't know if I should be concerned or not.

By the way, Cancer is named after the zodiac sign, not the disease.  It's still an unfortunate name, one that I may change in the future.

November 17th.  Elmyra/Baby See 'n' Say got cozy with Vincent. 

I think Vincent would prefer to be sitting by Morgan. 

November 18th.  Another Monday, this one for Cabbies with gray or violet eyes.  I don't have too many, but I have a few.  Elisabeth Clara, Andrea Doria, and Allie Kathleen all have violet eyes.  They look blue in the pictures, but trust me:  they're violet IRL.

Alexandra Claire is my only gray-eyed Kid.  Coleco did make gray-eyed Kids, but they're kinda hard to find.

There's also Alice Helene, who has...very unusual eyes.  They look blue in most pictures, but they're part lilac.

I dunno...overall they look blue, but IRL they're...well, not!  They also look butterflyish, kinda like Tsukuda eyes.  What do y'all think???

November 22nd, evening.  I got in the mood to bring out Velvet and play with her awhile, but she tuckered out quickly.  This is the Velvet that Tam sent me, by the way. 

Notice that her eyes remain clean, by the way.  So far, my attempts to keep the mold out of Casa Pizarro have succeeded. 

November 24th.  This popped up in my Failbook memories, and was originally supposed to be in Gabby's spotlight post.  My Gabby is a rhythmic gymnast (and a dancer, LOL).

The AG spotlights kinda went over like a lead balloon, and as such Gabby, Danica, River Song, and Tequila Rose never got theirs.  I was running out of ideas for original hobbies anyway.

Okay...November 25th was for brown-eyed Cabbies and Killecrankie, do I have a bunch of them!  I'll start with the boys of color, Matthew Tommie, Esmond Brant, and Nathan Hunter. 

The Asian girls, Margot Madeline and Leslie Emily.

Miscellaneous Cornsilks, Cleopatra Chantale and Julie Emmalee.

The dirty white boys, Ernest John and Shelley Fred.

Beryl June flies solo this time. 

The little ones, Taniyah Yasmin and Sammy Sloth. 

Lastly, Gillian Ida and Kitrick Randolph Fergus are a little different from the others.  Gilly's eyes are a lovely light shade, and Randolph's are...well, they're Tri-Ang Pedigree eyes.  His eyes are murky, but at one time they were brown.

By the way, I see what Treesa meant by this bathing suit being pert near indecent, and why isn't Gillian Ida wearing her cute little retro getup???  Because I wanted to see what it would look like on Karen Sheila after I took Karen out of her witch outfit.  I'll find something Christmassy for Gilly.  She's fourteen inches so finding her something will be easy.

Pant, pant, pant...I don't feel too well...<passes out>

Okay, what day is it?  Uhhhhh...November 26th.  This is a Failbook memory from 2019.

The Patsy trio and my Ichimatsu dolls, Satomi and Hitomi. 

November 28th/Thanksgiving.  My gut was full of good food, I'd had my afternoon nap, and I was ready to cuddle with a Cabbie.  I picked Gillian Ida, because I can't get over those eyes.

The promised Christmas outfit had been ordered by then, but it hadn't shipped.  With the mail service being as crazy as it is, goodness knows when I'll get it.  Hopefully before Christmas!  

Eleven down, one to go, and then it'll be a new year!

Love,
RagingMoon1987