PLASTIC DRAMA!!!!

Let me introduce you to the latest addition to my collection: Oomph! Ayumi.
I wasn't impressed with her when she was released at first (probably due to the dull dress). Then I saw some pictures of her, and I realized that, well, she is mini-me: blonde hair , tanned complexion, green eyes, high cheekbones and pointy chin (Sasha agrees, even if he noted that  she would a perfect mini me  if she had thin lips) Anyway we're talking about a general resemblance: it's just "mini-me" after all!
Still I didn't buy her, as I thought that, being an ITBE doll, she had to be on a tall body. And, besides my vowing not to add any more Tall bodies to my collection, I don't have that kind of figure.
Then checking the net I realized she comes on a Poppy body!!!!

I found her at a bargain price, so finally I bought her. Here she is, right out of the box (but with a new dress). She's going to be called Billina.

As I wasn't happy with her hair I took her with me to the hairdresser. My friend Anna made her my same hairdo!

Now I LOVE her!

I was just one girl short to match all the guys, but now that she arrived home DRAMA sets in!!!

I didn't have any official mini-me and Odette acted as a stand in, but as Carlo is Sasha's "mini-him" you can see that something is going to happen.

I think that Carlo never really forgave Odette for the "wedding dress joke", or maybe it is just  that mini-him has to be matched with mini-me?

They look perfect together, and they have also the right height difference!

From now on they are going to be the new "travelling dolly" couple.

Now someone has to tell Odette. Ermanno is going to undertake this task, after all he's been able to convince Margherita that he and the twins are her long lost family!!!!

Odette is really distressed, but Ermanno is convinced she'll be fine if I'm going to  find her a new fiancee.

Luckily we have some choice of single guys, and she's going to make her pick between Attilio, Cesare and Omero.

I don't believe Omero really suits her, too rugged.

And Cesare is too much of a gigolo, I already know him, even if he doesn't  have a proper dress yet.

I think Attilio is perfect, he's got a 60's  Brit look, as she does, and they're are going to be a very nice Mod couple!

More about Billina and Carlo soon!

Travelling dolly: Odette in Kos (a well deserved vacation)

This time I'm not going to tell you about a trip I've made. And I'm not going to tell you about Sasha's fabolous adventures in some faraway place.
Each year Sasha (at the end of summer) accompanies a group to some seaside resort on the Mediterranean (in Greece, Turkey, Crete or Rodhes), I usually don't go with him as the end of september is not a good moment on my job. (This trae for instanc e my agenda was already hall filled by the e e of June!) So each year he comes home with some backgrounds for the girls.

I haven't used any of them until now (except for the Marsa Alam pictures in the Odette in Egypt posts), but Odette and Carlo had a very stressful summer (with those neighbors who wouldn't be a bit stressed?) and they were due for a vacation.

I know, I had to start their Mexican explorations, but that will be a full fledged, multi-instalment trip, this is just a summer distraction!

Furthermore, even vacations in resorts have their charms, so I've picked Kos as their destination.

There's not a lot to be said about the vacation, apart from the fact that people is very ospitable, food is great and that if you like swimming there's no sea like the Mediterranean (IMHO).

Odette and Carlo begin exploring the resort, nice walking paths surrounted by bougainvilleas

And look at the  beach over there!

Quite an elegant pool!

They decide to have some lunch before going to the beach

Grilled fish! 

Odette changed in a more comfortable outfit and they are off to the beach!

Fishermen preparing their boat? no, just tourists.....

The sea is simply amazing!

And one last shot in the pool

But who's that girl looming in the background????

You'll find out soon enough!

Kisses Billa

End of summer

Summer is nearly over, I haven't been able to get the cover for september ready on time, as you see in spite of rainy dais we are still spending all our spare time at the beach.

But come september I'll be able to get my editorial line back on track, so you'll see some travelling dollies, fashions and tutorials.

Meanwhile I'll try to keep up with the schedule of dioramas and new outfits!

This month I'll be seldom at home, as september is a very busy month for my work, but at worst this means that dioramas will have to wait just a little while.

See you soon

Kisses Billa

Express post: my first (and only) American Doll mini!

Today at the beach some kids were holding a yard sale, a good way for parents to get rid of tons of old toys during the summer season, and look what I found for 50 cents?

She's going to be called Adelaide

I've been thinking for a while about adding a kid to the crew, for diorama purposes, and there she was, waiting for me. She was all alone in the middle of monsters and mini cars.

The thing that impressed me most, is that I've been reading Farrah and Barb posts about American Dolls and I never saw any of them in shops here in Italy, so I had to double check to be sure.

I can understand people talking about "rescuing unloved dolls". In fact she's in perfect order, her hair are a bit bushy but I believe she can be easily fixed with a gentle brushing.

Now she needs a good washing, some love and new clothes and shoes....she's goint to fit perfectly as the younger daugher of Luchino and Costanza
And she's going to be as spoiled as her big brothers!

Honey, I promise you, next time you're going to make a new movie!

A kid upstairs?!?!?!? Are you JOKING?!?!??!!

dioramas in progress 2

I've not been lazy, it's just too hot to think a lot about new stories and things, so here's another random post about the diorama's progresses.

This is going to be Sebastiano's room, I prepared a daybed and a this strange but useful chair out of cardboard and sponges.

As you can see Pietrina is already enchanted with her boyfriend and they spend a lot of time making music.

Winston believes the guitar case is his bed, he will be disillusioned soon

Odette and Carlo are not too happy with their new neighbors, everybody likes some music now and then, but too much is too much!

Let's take a peek at Margherita's and Ermanno, it looks like they are now on talking terms.

He looks amused and she's now intrigued. One wonders how they had those twins. This is the one misterious mistery around here, and I don't know if I will ever come up with some sort of an explaination!

The twins aren't going along too well, Giacomo is simply bored to tears by Samuele's endless bowling tales!

Let's talk about Costanza's family, a bit of insight about them is needed because (if I'll be able to write down my ideas) they are someway pivotal to many of the diffrent stories that have happened on this blog so far.

Luchino: No Armando, I'm not going to buy you a Ferrari

Costanza as you know is a movie star, she's still active and pretty famous. She married Luchino at the beginning of her career, so he're the explaination for her grown up boys. Of course Tecla hates her as Costanza is not a "has-been".

Luchino is a movie producer and agent, so I expect Tecla to bother him for her "comeback" , Orso Maria to hang around him in order to get his movies produced and Nicola trying to get some of his brainchild books and novels accepted as scripts.

the boys are  going to get a post all on their own.

Last but not least here's the Persian room! just a sneak peek Pietro is enjoing a nargile while I'm sewing him an outfit.

I'm completely revamping the other rooms of this cabinet. Here are the pictures from a distance, you can see that there's going to be more furniture making (and many pieces are on their way from Russia)!

dioramas in progress

I finally managed to make some room for diorama displays. Nothing fancy, but I really like to put together some little rooms.
So far I revamped the earth room and nearly finished the kitchen
As it is going to be a very long work (I'm making bits and pieces while I keep sewing clothes) I've decided to share some pictures of the rooms in progress....
This way I also have the chance to introduce you the two "families".
As soon as I got  the new "guys" I finally found a "place" in the collection for the tall body FR: Margherita and Costanza. I already had decided to keep Costanza, then I had this idea Margherita was the perfect Mom for Samuele and Giacomo (the twins).
Of course they also needed a father so Ermanno entered the picture, and here they are, enjoing the nearly finished kitchen (I only need to make a couple of pillows for the chairs and a matching apron for Margherita):

Ermanno in his Armani style outfit

Margherita is a bit startled by Ermanno, but  I think they are a nice couple!

Maybe I'll grow accostumed to his face.....

Let's see  Costanza. As she's a true movie star, I matched her with Luchino, they also happen to have two boys: Taddeo and Armando, while Attilio is their cousin, he lives with them and that's all I know about it. There must be a reason but I can't really tell what it was.
I placed them in the renewed earth room, it's a bit crowded as the display shelf is not very roomy, but soon I'm going to take better pictures of the whole thing and also introduce you to their maid (I'm waiting for some piceces to arrive in the mail, perhaps in august this room will be finished)

Luchino needs matching shoes, he's going to have a full "Tobacco Road" suit soon, as for now he must be happy that his dress went so far!

Luchino, dear, you look awesome and you have this intellectual charm, but I really think you need some socks!

Let me introduce you to the whole family:

I liked it better when I was a single movie star.....besides, this picture is crappy!

Now the Tall Girls have found their place in my dolly word and I'm very happy with them!

Let's have a peek at Odette and Carlo (with Black/Sparklez). They finally have the exclusive use of the sunny living room, and they are lazying around in they new pijamas. They also have a new retro TV so they shall watch their favourite tv shows: Velvet and Downton Abbey! And maybe invite friends to watch some soccer match. I  have to make some more arrangements here,  but the living is mostly finished!

Do you think she's going to finish our bathing suits in time to go to Creete?

Let's wait and see......

Hi Muff, here's the picture of the cabinet (bookshelf), so you can have a sneack peek of Sebastiano's room in progress, the cabinet has two more shelves but I think this gives the general idea, I think the dolls looks quite fine among my dvd's travel guides, travel memorabilia and art books!

Travelling Dolly 10: Odette in Oman part 3

For the third and last part of Odette's adventures in Oman I remembered a promise I made about the quality of the pictures. For as interesting travel pictures might be, I believe they can also be really boring. So, before starting posing Odette and Carlo I made a full immersion in Avedon's fashion pictures.
This is what I came out with. I think the whole thing  looks a lot better!

In this last istalment Odette and Carlo are going to show you the diffrent environments and landscapes of Oman. Let's talk about diversity: here you can find the emptiest desert, the lushest wadis  and amazingly vibrant beaches!!!

Odette is modeling a comfortable jumpsuit (you can find the jumpsuit tutorial at April's here). At first I was planning to follow a Michael Kors's model, then something went terribly wrong with the collar. So I changed a bit the overall line and now it is an original Billa's, I'll try again the Michael Kors's with another kind of fabric. Odette will need some new urban safari outfits pretty soon!
Carlo is cozy in his bermuda shorts and a IT T-shirt.

Wahiba Sands
the Wahiba Sands are in the south-eastern part of Oman, they are the gate to the "empty quarter" the most desolate desert of the arabic peninsula. They are named after the Bedu tribe that still inhabits them, with their herds of camels.

In the natural light the sands are pink, so this is the third coloured desert visited by Odette, after the white and black desert of Egypt. Too bad that the camera renders an orange nuance!

You can tell you're in the desert when you find a road sign like this!

The 1000 Nights Camp is great place to stay: Odette and Carlo slept in a real beduin style tent with attached brick toilet and shower: one can have a hot shower under the open sky!

Whadi Bani Khalidsands
This is one huge Wadi! A Wadi is a Oasis around a river, this one is spectatular, actually there is a trek that leads from the Wadi to Muscat. People comes here during the festivities to have  picnics, while tourists prefer to take a plunge in the fresh waters.

Bibi Mariam's Tomb is the only standing  remnant of the ancient city of Qalhat. In fact the origins of this structure are obscure, as it stands alone among the dilapidated ruins of the rest of the city. It looks like there are some archeological dig in the area, but we couldn't spot any activity going on. Anyway is a great place to see!

Wadi Tiwi is a fascinating Tiwi, is a very long valley, punctuated with water polls, vegetable gardens and small villages.

A first sighting of the ocean from Wadi Shab, I can't resist these mushroom shaped rocks, have to photograph them anywhere I see one!

Odette and Carlo didn't have the chance to take a swim in the ocean, but just look at this beach! This beautiful spot is located halfway on the coastal road between Sur and Muscat.

Bimma Sinkhole is an incredible place. A local legend says it was formed by a meteor, but in fact this sinkhole occurred naturally by limestone erosion and collapse of the rocks.

They are back from Oman now, and Odette is posing with a chosen selection of souvenirs: a coffee pot, a clay turtle, a box carved in camel bone and and the thing for which Oman has been famous for ages: incense!  It smells wonderfully!

Next time Odette and Carlo will take us to Mexico!
Previous instalment: Odette in Oman part 2 - fortresses and doors

See you soon
Billa