Doll Show Reminder

The annual UFDC Doll Fancier's Show and Competition will be held this coming Sunday, January 11th, 2009 on our island in Patchogue.
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The show is sponsored in Suffolk County by the town of Patchoque. It will be held at Patchoque Manor on Railroad Avenue, just south of the main street. Hours are from ten a.m. until four p.m. for the one day only.
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Alabaster has out his fishing pole and will propose to Orchid, yet again, when she wears her silk beaded tail in the "Little Mermaid". Meet Doug as he appears in dark iridescent winged splendor for the first time as he woos the crowd with irresistible chocolate kisses as "Cupid". He'll be doing his angelic best to steal Orchid's heart.
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Will there be a marriage made in Heaven ?
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Join us if you can on Sunday and visit: http://www.ufdc.org/ for more information on the largest doll collecting society in America.

What's in the Box

That was the question uppermost in our postal attendant's mind as he carried this from the back storage room and presented it to us to sign for.
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"What is in this box? You'll tell me, right? It looks like it's the original box to something and that something is huge. And expensive; it's insured for a shitload of money. It's an unusual size. It's got customs stickers all over it. But, it was shipped from within the United States. And you can't even tell where it originally came from, the language is unintelligible. You guys will tell me right?? WHAT is in THIS BOX ????!!!"
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MyHusband and I laughed. We all laughed. He said to me, "Go ahead. Tell him what you people invested in now." I said, "It's a miniature mannequin. It came from originally South Korea and just now from Maryland."
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I said, "We make them. We've decided to use one that someone else has made. This one will be used in exhibition in 2009 and 2010. If you would like to see some of ours, they are on display now, up the road in Greenlawn, at http://www.harborfieldslibrary.org/ ."
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I'll have to remember to ask him, next time I see him when I mail something, if he did indeed get to visit Orchid and Alabaster on his lunch break.

To find out what's NOT in the box and, in the future, more about what IS, visit: http://catcara.livejournal.com Join the LiveJournal and befriend me. What's in the box is really more friendship...

Poof!

The Frog has turned into the Prince.
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The second part of the exhibition has begun today; see Alabaster in his several hundred dollar Dollheart charcoal grey silk tuxedo. He's wearing it 'New York style' with a black t-shirt.
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A quick reminder for those who are late comers to what we do: you are looking at completely hand sculpted figures. Orchid and Alabaster are both UFDC Doll Fanciers 'Triple' award winners. Nine, our witchy little ghost girl, who is making her debut in this exhibit and who will be available, was first hand sculpted and then hand cast. All of the large figures can be attributed to the skill of graphic illustrator A.D. Puchalski. You can find A.D. here: http://www.angeldevilland.com/.
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The Frog Prince exhibition will run until the end of October 2008 in Greenlawn on Long Island. For times and directions, visit: http://www.harborfieldslibrary.org/ .
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This swirling black ink print is by the illustrious late Harry Clarke whom I, of course, adore.

Twilight

My favorite time of day is twilight.
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This weekend, while at a party, a friend said, "Have you read Twilight yet?" I said, "You know, I don't think so. Why?"
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She said, "Ohmygod. You know how I read nothing?" I said, "Yes." She said, "Well, I found out that the whole world is reading this series of books. And they love them. Simply everyone just loves these books. So, I bought the first one, which is called Twilight. Ohmygod. It was so good. I couldn't put it down. I read it in three days." I laughed.
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She said, "But you know why you have to read it? Other than of course it's about vampires and you would love it?" I said, "Why?" She said, "Because the main character is Alabaster." I said, "What??!?" She said, "I know. It sounds crazy, right? But, it's Alabaster. I can't give away the book, but the main character is exactly like him. That's why I liked the book. You know how I like Alabaster." She said, "His eyes change color and everything. He's got Alabaster's eyes. He looks like Alabaster. I'm telling you: the book is about Alabaster. You simply must read it."
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I ordered Twilight from the library. Our library has five copies. All of them were checked out.

Masquerade

"Masquerade
Everything's a different shade
Turn around
There's another mask behind you"
- Andrew Lloyd Webber, Phantom of the Opera
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As the clock chimes midnight and the water gently laps against the gondola's moorings, where are you and what are you wearing?
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If you are Orchid, then the answer to that is easy: The borders of fairyland have extended to the time of late nineteenth century Venetian carnival and you are trailing swaths of silk over cobblestone streets and you are wearing some sort of elegantly elaborate and magically magnificent mask.
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I have been working feverishly to send some doll sized Venetian masks to Val Zeitler. My intention was to produce a number of unique masks by varying the degrees of elaborateness while ensuring that each was elegant and magnificent. Whether or not we can pull our intended 'Masquerade' theme together in time for the Texas BJD Convention this September remains to be seen. Should the masks make it to Texas, that will indeed be magic. However, rest assured that unusual masks are indeed well past the design stage and will be sent to Val's Rag Patch when Orchid and Alabaster both approve of them.
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Alabaster is very difficult to please. It seems that there shall be no silk mask for him for the wedding.

Cradle of Aviation Car Show

If you're on the island for the weekend of August 23rd, 24th, and 25th you might want to pass by the Nassau County's Cradle of Aviation at old Mitchell Field.
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Yes, the planes will be there. But that's not the point. This is all about cars. The museum is hosting what is supposedly the largest car show ever on the island. However, it seems to be woefully unpublicized, so we will see.
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In addition to some of Hollywood's most famous automobiles including the Batmobile, the brothers' car, Undercover Hemi, running in support of the Wounded Warrior Project and NETO will be on hand for the entire weekend. I'm considering attending with both Orchid and Alabaster; ask for them at the Wounded Warriors' tent.

To find out more about the brothers' and NETO, click the tab below or visit: http://www.neto-nostalgia.com/ . For directions and information on the Cradle of Aviation visit: http://www.cradleofaviation.org/ .
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I love the Batmobile in all its incarnations. To see a jiggly ' 1966 Batmobile at the Cradle of Aviation' video visit: http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=tDvhkBj8F88&feature=related

Death in Venice

A 1971 film starring Danish born Bjorn Andresen. If you'd like to see what Alabaster would look like if he was fifteen years old, watch this clip.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_px7PN3JH8

The Tuxedo

The tuxedo has arrived! Charcoal grey silk trimmed with black silk; luscious.

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Of course we're talking here about Orchid's wedding in 2010 and the tuxedo for the big day is hardly big and certainly not people sized. A.D. and I have been searching diligently for probably a year in order to find one of the right quality in the right size. Finally, we found one. People say, "Where did you get it?"

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I tell them the truth: Arkansas.

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This black and white ink is another illustration by the 'gone but not forgotten' Harry Clarke. It might have been one of the renderings which we used to create Alabaster.

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Just imagine: the tuxedo fits Alabaster perfectly....

Born To Be Wild

As the original, one of a kind, prototype for future resin males, Alabaster has proven to be a huge success. Constructed of German clay with glowing Japanese imported eyes and ultra-long platinum two-tone imported Chinese hair, sporting thirteen points of jointed articulation, Alabaster is so well constructed and so perfectly balanced, that he literally stands on his own.

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Orchid is also so perfectly balanced that she will stand by herself, although she is simply never allowed to do so. I don't have to say that were she to fall, we would be devastated. Typically male, Alabaster is a show-off and regularly stands for the ladies.

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Already he is proving to be a challenge. He is much more difficult than TheGirls to dress. My husband says that Alabaster has better clothes than him. In the photograph you can see Alabaster's lined bronze leather jacket which is a modern Korean import. I have been sewing double time to produce unusual 'show worthy' clothing for Alabaster.

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Orchid was named for her distinctive two-tone hair. Alabaster was named for his chalk white skin. A.D. hand sculpted and named them both. No molds were utilized in their creation and none were made of them when they were finished. For those who wish to catch up with A.D. visit: http://www.angeldevilland.com/ .