7000 FB Follower Giveaway!

We have reached 7000 followers on Face Book and to celebrate we have decided to have a special giveaway!

We are going to hold a Rafflecopter giveaway that will go from Saturday 10/27/2012 thru Saturday 11/3/2012

 Winners will be chosen randomly

We are giving away 6 prizes

1ST Prize

will be our gorgeous doll set modeled after our new logo girl and her doll designed by 

Stephanie Corfee  

And here is our translation

This sweetie is 14 inches tall with a petite dolly of her own that is 6.5 inches tall.

Both are completely handcrafted by the gang here at Dragonfly's Hollow using all natural materials.

One lucky family will have these two come live with them...completely free :)

2ND Prize

Two (2) lucky folks will be awarded FB VIP codes.  These codes allow the holder to call Dibs on any item we sell in our shop as well as receive 20% off of the listed price of that item.  

3RD Prize  

Three (3) Lucky folks will receive a Dibs! Code.  This code till allow the holder to call Dibs on any one item from an upload.  Item will be purchased at the list price.  

The FB VIP and Dibs folks will receive their codes via email with full instructions on how to redeem them.

These codes will be one time use and will be valid for 12 months from the date of issue.

So, how do you enter to win?  Simple...just scroll down and click the Rafflecopter FB log in below and get started from there.

If you have any questions,  feel free to send us a message.

So, How do I enter?

We have set up Rafflecopter to allow you to earn points for doing multiple steps....that's right,  the more you do,  the better your chances.

First, you MUST LIKE our page on Facebook.
This is mandatory and is worth 1 point.

Second,  start following us on Twitter...this is not mandatory but its worth 1 point

Third, send out a tweet about us...this is not mandatory but its worth 1 point

The third option...to Tweet about our giveaway,  can be done once a day each day of the giveaway...yes,  you will receive 1 point each time you send the tweet :)

Each point you earn is an entry.

Liking us on Facebook is one entry.  Following us on Twitter is one entry and Tweeting is one entry...each time.

It only takes one entry to win.  You can do one or all it is up to you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions

Winners will be chosen randomly on Saturday 11/03/2012

One winner per household per item.

Dolls will be shipped via USPS priority mail with full insurance.  

Winner will be responsible for any customs or duty charges.

FB VIP and Dibs codes will be sent via email.  Codes will be a one time use and good for one year from the date of issue.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

So Many Different Ways to Buy a DFH

"Your dolls are gorgeous!  How can I buy one of them?"

I get this question at least once a day...sometimes more.  In fact it happens so often, I figured I would put together this post describing the many ways we have come up with.

Let's start with the first method...

RTG 

(Ready to Go)

These dolls are all made and ready to ship out asap.  These dolls are created every week based on our own design preferences.  There are between 10 and 12 of them.  

On Wednesday afternoons,  we upload their preview pics on FB and in our Flickr album.  This is where folks get to take a good look at them and decide whether or not one of them has to come to live with them :)  

Thursday (at fluctuating times) the dolls are all uploaded into our shop and they sell on a first come first served basis.  We post the exact times on Wednesday when the previews go up.

MTO

(Made to Order)

These are dolls that are made to order exactly how you want.  Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday we release new slots randomly.  We allow up to 15 of the larger doll sizes (14/16) and 5 of the smaller sizes (10/12) each week.  

We announce the release via Twitter feed.  

Here is a link to our shop page with listings.  

MTO Listing

and here is a link to a blog post about how to create a Wish List

Wish List

Mama Made

These are dolls that you order as blank, unfinished bodies that you finish yourself...with the help of our private online blog and full length how to videos.  

The bodies come preassembled...you can add the option to have us sew the face on for you and then you only have to design and attach your own hair.  

They are always available for purchase and there is no limit to them at all.

Here is a link to the blog post describing them

Mama Mades

and here is a link to the listing in the shop

Mama Mades in stock

We also have an online FB community to share pics of your progress and to ask for input

Mama Made FB Group

Critters

These are our newest addition.  They are all natural stuffed animals made from super soft and snuggly cotton velour and stuffed with pure clean wool.

The preview pics are up on Monday evenings and the Critters are put up for sale on a first come, first served basis on Tuesdays...times will vary but we will announce the exact times when we post the preview pics.

Right now we are averaging about 6 a week...but we have plans to increase these as we can with more critters.

Well, there you have it...these are our current offerings.  

We have plans to add to this as we go along, so stick around :)

Made To Order Wish List

You can save your MTO details in a wish list.  This can be done even if there are none in stock...

Here is how...

Step 1

Go to the MTO listing on the page.  

Taking your time,  go thru and add your options to the order.

Once you have chosen your options, click on the "Add To Wish List" button.

If there are none available (not in stock) this is the message you will see.

Do not worry,  your details are saved in your wish list.

It will be there waiting for when some are stocked.

To view your wish list,  you go into "Your Account"

At the bottom in the right corner, is a link:

"View My Wish List"

Now when we release new slots and you get your tweet,  go back into "Your Account" and then "View My Wish List"

This is how your item will appear in your Wish List.

At this point, you will click "Add To Cart"

This is how it will appear in your cart.

NOTE - this image will only appear if there are items in stock.  If none are available, the yellow "Out of Stock" image will appear.

At this point, if you wish to confirm your options,  click on the "View List of Options I Selected" link and as is shown in the image, A window will come up with the options you chose.

At this point, you add to cart and proceed with checkout as you would a regular purchase.

MTO - "Made To Order"

Made To Order DFH

I want to introduce you to a new way we have come up with for you to get the doll you want when you want it instead of fighting thru super fast uploads.  

We are calling it Made to Order or MTO :)

It is a way for you to design your own DFH.

Here is a screen shot of the actual listing as it appears in our shop.

As you can see, your first choice will be the size of your doll.  Right now we are only offering these in the 14 and 16 inch size.  

All options are drop down and if you click on one of the thumbnails a larger image will appear on the screen where the picture is right now.

You choose Gender, then eye shape and color and mouth color. 

Notice the floss colors are listed with their corresponding DMC Floss number.  This way if you are wondering exactly what that color looks like in person, you can run down to your local craft shop and see for yourself 

Next up is your hair yarn.  You can choose up to four (4) different yarn colors and textures for your doll.  You can also go with just one if you prefer that.

You can choose up to two (2) colors of any one type of yarn.

We are offering Boucle, Bulky, Mohair and Dreads.  These are all the same yarns we use all the time for our RTG and Custom dolls.

Yarn selections are limited to the options you see listed int this listing...We will not allow any substitutions or add ins.

Note - On the Dreads,  we have a limited supply of them for the next couple weeks.  Once we get our new shipment in we will expand our Dread selection with more colors.

I went ahead and put up an image of the actual listing details for you all to read.  

Please be sure to read these over carefully

Those of you familiar with our Mama Mades, are familiar with this approach.  It is modeled after that.

There will be NO progress or final pictures sent.  There will be no conversing back and forth about possible option alternatives...we are only offering what you see in the listing.  

We choose the clothing fabric based on what we have available at the time and what compliments your doll.  The style of clothing will be what is shown in the image.

From the moment your order is placed, you can expect an email confirmation from the shop acknowledging your order.  After that when your doll is complete and shipping out, you will receive another email with your shipping tracking number.  

Order delivery times are as follows:

3 - 4 weeks inside the US

5 - 6 weeks to Canada

5 - 8 weeks anywhere else in the world

Now...these are NOT intended to be ran thru super fast.  Take your time and choose carefully.  

There will be no time out set on these releases...

however, if one of us come thru the shop and see that one has been held up for the past 30 minutes we will manually go in and dump the cart.

  There are no limits on these...for now.  

We will address this again and impose limits if we see an actual need as we go along.

We will release a limited number of them daily at random times.  When the slots are sold, the listing will remain visible in the shop.  This is so you can practice going thru the options to get familiar with the process in advance.

I will NOT be publishing the releases on FB.  

Instead they will be Tweeted thru out Twitter account.  So if you want to be alerted when new listings are released, you MUST start following us on Twitter.

Snabba lån

Otherwise you can randomly pop into the shop and check to see if something is available.

I think I covered everything...feel free to ask any questions you might like.  

We will add more dread options as we get more in stock.  

This is something we hope will work out well for all of us.  For me, so I do not have to actually guess what dolls you all want to see in an upload and for you, because you will not have to wait around thru uploads hoping to get the one doll you have been waiting for.  

These will NOT replace RTG's.  

We will still hold our regularly scheduled RTG uploads for this of you who prefer that method.  

This is merely another option for the many many folks...new and old, who send me messages daily about getting a particular style doll.

I hope you all are as excited about this as we are.  I am hoping it will fill yet another need we see every day.  

Now, go to the shop and look over the listing.  

You can do this by simply clicking on the image below or the link under that :)

Play around with it and see how it works. 

 First release will launch tomorrow, Tuesday August 28.

If you have any questions, we are here to answer them.

DFH MTO

Tweet

Congratulations Sonja...

Bunny is coming to live with you!

Tweet

Bunny

Bunny

This little sweet gal is waiting patiently for a new home.

She is 14 inches tall

She has a small damaged area on her forehead just by her hair line.

She was set to go into our upload this week but when we saw this spot we realized it was not going to happen.  She is super sweet and absolutely adorable...even with her little spot she is perfect.

Bunny still deserves a true home with a loving best friend so we are going to give her away.

If you wish to enter for her, comment under this post.

We will leave the comments open until Sunday morning, this way lots of folks can enter.

Sunday 7/22 at 10 am 

we will use a random number generator to choose her new mama.

Please...one entry per household

Alright that's it,  good luck to everyone!  

CONGRATULATIONS

VICTORIA!

You are the new mama for Star

She and all her wonderful accessories will be heading on their way home to you.

STAR

A Giveaway Collaboration by Dragonfly's Hollow and From the Pear Tree

This is Star...

She is a 16 inch gorgeous girl by Dragonfly's Hollow.  Her skin is interlock knit from the Netherlands and she is stuffed with 100% pure clean, carded wool.  Her hair is hand dyed from 100% wool yarn.  

Her face hand embroidered using cotton floss.

She is wearing an absolutely stunning dress and headband made by the amazingly talented Katherine of From The Pear Tree

She also comes with an adorable backpack so she can going your little one on outings wherever their hearts desire.

She fits so snuggly in her pack :) 

Star will go home to a lucky mama entirely for free.  Yes you hear right she will indeed be given away, free to one lucky mama or papa.

We will pay shipping to anywhere in the world...
Unfortunately we will not be able to cover customs or duty fees....those would be the responsibility of the winner.

Here's how to enter...

 First...

Post a comment under this blog post.  

Include your email address so we have a way to contact you if you are the winner

Second...

If you haven't already, go to our business FB pages and "LIKE" them 

Dragonfly's Hollow

From The Pear Tree

It's that simple :)  just two (2) easy steps

Feel free to "Share" our giveaway post on FB and post there to let us know if you do, we'd love to know who is helping to get the word out about Dragonfly's Hollow and From The Pear Tree :)

1 entry per household please

This contest is open to all people around the world

Please comment only one time on this post

feel free to chat away as much as you desire on our FB pages

The winner will be chosen using a random number generator on Sunday evening 7/8 at 7:00 pm central US time. 

 I will notify you via email...the email address you posted when you entered here.  

So be sure to post an email address.

That's all...pretty easy.
Good luck everyone!  We'll see you all on Sunday!

A Little Announcement

Over the past few days, Robert and I have talked extensively about what we can do to make things a little better for everyone.  Last Thursday's upload was a mess.  Lots of confusion and hurt feelings.  We received a ton of messages from folks...some sad,  some sweet and understanding and even one that was actually kinda mean.
Let me just say I do not want a repeat.

We decided we simply do not want this to happen again....ever.  So, we came up with a few basic changes that we hope will help alleviate some of the issues.

First:  Angels...

Until further notice, Angel-ing is not allowed.

Sorry guys, but it really has gotten out of hand lately and this is one thing Robert has specifically requested.
The past few uploads, the majority of dolls have been carted by angels...while I understand the desire to help others out who are slower,  it seems to have turned into something where folks without an angel have no chance at all.  This is not fair to the huge amount of new folks.  So in the interest of creating as level a playing field as possible, we have decided to not allow angels.
Everyone must operate on their own now.

If you still wish to help others,  please share tips on our page to help coach others thru the upload on their own.  I am sure your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Second:  Shipping Adresses...

Your PP ship to address must match your order ship to address.
We really need you guys to do this ...we had 8 folks email us with address changes this past week...8 out of 11 orders.
Paypal does not provide seller or buyer protection if the item is not shipped to the address they have on file for that account.  Please understand that when one person does it that usually not an issue...but when we have 8 people doing it...we now have a shipping nightmare.
So, going forward everyone must abide by the same rules.  We will of course make an exception for legitimate type-o's..we know those can happen from time to time.

Third:  Limits...

We eliminated our limits at the beginning of the year and said we would readdress it if we saw the need.  We see the need.
Going forward, these are the limits...

RTG's:  One (1) doll per household per upload will be allowed.  

You can still come back the following week and get another if you like...the limit is per week.  If you were to cart 1 doll per week you would still be able to get 52 dolls a year...we feel this is plenty for anyone.

Customs:  Two (2) customs per household per year.

  We only allow 8 custom slots every month and we have no intention of increasing them so given the limited supply and the overwhelming demand for them (I cannot tell you have many emails and messages I have answered in the past few weeks regarding them)  we feel it is best to limit the amount folks can get.

They must be purchased in separate uploads...one per custom upload please.
If you have purchased  2 customs between January and now,  you have met your limit.
Let's give someone else a chance.

Now onto other news...

We have hired a new sewing mama to take on the task of sewing our smaller dolls  (12's and Littles)  she is still training but as soon as she is ready to go we will have a bunch go 12's and Littles to upload weekly.

We also have a new mama training to sew our clothes...once she is ready,  we will finally be able to have some clothing for sale for you guys.

It's pretty busy around here.
The past few weeks with me sewing all the clothes as well as the other things I regularly do, have been a bit overwhelming...to put it lightly.  
I have been working around the clock.
My poor family has suffered greatly due to this.  I have always said that my family is the most important thing in my life so I have decided that it is time for me to take back my weekends.  I will be available online Monday thru Friday every week...on Saturday and Sunday I will not be online.  We might see if we can have someone pop on the page from time to time to answer  the odd question here and there...we will see.

If you have a question, feel free to send a message or email, I will get to it Monday thru Friday.
  My family needs me and I need them...we only have a small amount of time together before they are grown and on their own...I want their memories to be of time we spent together...not so much of mom stressed out and always working.

OK, that's all we have...understand we took many things into consideration when we made these decisions,  we feel going forward this will create the most fair playing field for everyone all around.

DIY Funky Rainbow Dreads

Rainbow Dreads...

We all love them :o)

So I thought I would put together a little tutorial of you to show how easy it is to dye up your own funky rainbow yarn.  

I am using Tsunami dread style yarn...the same we sell in our online shop here.  

You can do this with any weight or style of yarn, just be sure it is either ecru, cream or white colored and be sure to rewrap the yarn so that it is in a loose hank.

OK so first up you will need some materials:

Yarn

Dye pot (do not use one you will use to make food out of later)

glass measuring cup

teaspoon measure

tablespoon measure

citric acid (this is what I use but you can also use vinegar)

Red acide dye

Blue acid dye

Yellow acid dye

pair of tongs

large bowl

The dye and citric acid I use can be purchased here

First of all you will need to soak your yarn good and long on the stove in a simmering pot.  

Put your yarn into your pot and add enough water to just cover the yarn. You might have to add more water to the pot as you go.  

Tsunami is extremely dense and thick so it takes a good while for water to soak throughout the yarn.  

You want this yarn to be completely soaked.  I cannot stress this enough...it cannot be dry anywhere.  I usually end up "cooking"  my dreads for a good 40 or so minutes in plain water.  

Little note here...your house WILL smell like a wet dog.  It just is what it is :o)  don't worry...I have proven that your family will indeed get used to it and the complaining will subside :o) 

OK, so after you have thoroughly soaked and saturated your yarn and the water is boiling, take your yarn out of the water,  careful it is scalding hot.  Place it in a large bowl...just to set it aside for a few seconds.

Add 2 tablespoons of citric acid to the water.  The general rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon for 1 pound of yarn...Tsunami is pretty heavy so I add 2 but feel free to adjust the amount according to your own yarn being used.

Stir this around until the acid id dissolved completely. Put your yarn back into the water.

Move it around so that is lays flat and uniform.

It is now time to add the dye.

Using your glass measuring cup, teaspoon and hot water,  mix up about 1/2 teaspoon of dye to 1 cup of hot water.  Make sure the powder is completely dissolved into the water...no clumps.

**These are approximate measures cause I don't really measure anything out...I go by sight and feel :o)  so this is a guesstimate. **

**So use your judgement. ** 

Remember:  it is always best to start light...you can always add more dye but if you go too dark right away, you cannot lighten.  So start out lighter and redo until you get the color you want.

First color:  Yellow

Once the dye is all mixed and ready, pick an area of your yarn and gently and slowly pour the dye over the yarn on the section you wish to be yellow.  Use your tongs to wriggle the yarn around in the dye to make sure you get it thru all of the strands in that section.  Be extremely careful...this water is boiling hot.

**Do not stir and do not lift the yarn out of the water**

You will see that the dye is just about gone from the water..it might even be completely gone. 

This is good.  

Poke around a bit and make sure you have covered everywhere you want.  If you need to, repeat this step again.

Once you feel your yarn is covered good with yellow,  it's time to add the red

The same way you mixed and prepped the yellow,  mix and prep the red.

Pour your red dye onto your yarn next to your yellow.  Use your tongs to poke around and work the dye all thru that section.  I usually end up adding more red dye at this time just for coverage.  

Gently poke around in the yellow section right next to the red section, to get some red to flow into there...this will make your orange. 

It's kinda neat how that happens :o)

Don't move it around too much, you want to keep most of that yellow.  In this pic,  you cannot really see it but the orange is primarily on the top layer of yarn...underneath is still very yellow.

Let that simmer for a few minutes to get most of the red absorbed.  Not all, just most.

Finally, add the blue

Notice how it bled over onto a portion of the red...creating purple and the yellow...creating green :o)  

I love this

Same as before poke around a bit and make sure you have good coverage. Add more dye if necessary.  

Make sure you have no white, undyed areas of yarn.

Let this simmer for another 20 or so minutes then take the pot over to the sink, drain it and using cold water, rinse your yarn until the water is clear.  Take a mild soap and gently wash the yarn to get any residual dye out of the yarn...rinse well and hang up to dry.

This is what your finished hank will look like :o)

This technique can also be used with other colors to create other awesome variations

That's it,  not too hard :o)  

I would love to see some pics of your rainbow yarns when you do this on your own.

Happy rainbow dying everyone!

Cinderella

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

...They took her beautiful clothes away from her, dressed her in an old gray smock, and gave her wooden shoes. "Just look at the proud princess! How decked out she is!" they shouted and laughed as they led her into the kitchen.

There she had to do hard work from morning until evening, get up before daybreak, carry water, make the fires, cook, and wash. Besides this, the sisters did everything imaginable to hurt her. They made fun of her, scattered peas and lentils into the ashes for her, so that she had to sit and pick them out again. In the evening when she had worked herself weary, there was no bed for her. Instead she had to sleep by the hearth in the ashes. 

And because she always looked dusty and dirty, they called her Cinderella.

One day it happened that the father was going to the fair, and he asked his two stepdaughters what he should bring back for them.
"Beautiful dresses," said the one.
"Pearls and jewels," said the other.
"And you, Cinderella," he said, "what do you want?"
"Father, break off for me the first twig that brushes against your hat on your way home."

So he bought beautiful dresses, pearls, and jewels for his two stepdaughters. On his way home, as he was riding through a green thicket, a hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his hat. Then he broke off the twig and took it with him. Arriving home, he gave his stepdaughters the things that they had asked for, and he gave Cinderella the twig from the hazel bush.

Cinderella thanked him, went to her mother's grave, and planted the branch on it, and she wept so much that her tears fell upon it and watered it. It grew and became a beautiful tree.

Cinderella went to this tree three times every day, and beneath it she wept and prayed. A white bird came to the tree every time, and whenever she expressed a wish, the bird would throw down to her what she had wished for.

Now it happened that the king proclaimed a festival that was to last three days. All the beautiful young girls in the land were invited, so that his son could select a bride for himself. When the two stepsisters heard that they too had been invited, they were in high spirits.

They called Cinderella, saying, "Comb our hair for us. Brush our shoes and fasten our buckles. We are going to the festival at the king's castle."

Cinderella obeyed, but wept, because she too would have liked to go to the dance with them. She begged her stepmother to allow her to go.

"You, Cinderella?" she said. "You, all covered with dust and dirt, and you want to go to the festival?. You have neither clothes nor shoes, and yet you want to dance!"

However, because Cinderella kept asking, the stepmother finally said, "I have scattered a bowl of lentils into the ashes for you. If you can pick them out again in two hours, then you may go with us."

The girl went through the back door into the garden, and called out, "You tame pigeons, you turtledoves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to gather:

The good ones go into the pot, 

The bad ones go into your crop."

Two white pigeons came in through the kitchen window, and then the turtledoves, and finally all the birds beneath the sky came whirring and swarming in, and lit around the ashes. The pigeons nodded their heads and began to pick, pick, pick, pick. And the others also began to pick, pick, pick, pick. They gathered all the good grains into the bowl. Hardly one hour had passed before they were finished, and they all flew out again.

The girl took the bowl to her stepmother, and was happy, thinking that now she would be allowed to go to the festival with them.

But the stepmother said, "No, Cinderella, you have no clothes, and you don't know how to dance. Everyone would only laugh at you."

Cinderella went to her mother's grave beneath the hazel tree, and cried out:

Shake and quiver, little tree,

Throw gold and silver down to me.

Then the bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her, and slippers embroidered with silk and silver. She quickly put on the dress and went to the festival.

...We all know how the rest of the story goes, so I will leave it at that.  

This lady was pure joy to work on.  It took me two weeks...she is truly a one of a kind creation. I put so much heart and soul into her, I have found it impossible for me to put a price on her.  For this reason, I have decided to put her up auction style in our Hyena Cart shop.  We will let you decide her price.

She comes with her full peasant ensemble consisting of chemise, brown lace up overdress, brown felt shoes, a white apron and knit head scarf...that also doubles as a shawl.  She also has a tin bucket and a small hand knit cotton was rag to do her chores with.

She has two friends, white birds with glass beads for eyes.  They are made from wool felt and stuffed with pure wool.

Her gorgeous ball gown is made from satin fabric with pure silk freestyle stitched around the bodice.  It is embellished with silk flowers and glass beads.  The ensemble also has hand crocheted shoes as well as a super luxurious hand knit cape that ties at the neck both are embellished with glass beads. She also has a head band made from braided wool and embellished with silk flowers and yes, glass beads.

Her auction will go live on Friday at 12:00 noon (central US time)  and carry thru to Monday at 12:00 noon (central US time)  I will post a direct link to it all on Friday.

FB VIP

Introducing 

FB VIP

What is it?  

This is our way of saying THANK YOU! to those of you who have been around supporting us for a long time, to reward those of you who are here publicly cheering us on. It's also a way to get those silent folks...an incentive to jump in and join the conversation.

How will it work?

At random intervals, I will pop onto our FB page and just choose a person who I see, one who has posted or "liked" recent and past posts on our page. 

One who I have seen around often. 

I will then send a private FB message to that person with a thank you note and a special one time use VIP Code that will allow the person to call dibbs on any doll as well as give them a code that will take 20% off of the doll at checkout...

yep 20% off.  

How's that for a thank you?

You get to pick your dream doll out of any upload and get 20% off!  Full instructions on how to redeem it will be included with the note.

So, how do you get chosen?

It's pretty simple, really.  All you have to do is be active on our FB page.  

Post on our FB page, even if it is a simple "like" of a post, that will do.  But you have to do it often and regularly, not just once in a while, or once a week...often.  

Post, post, post.  

The more often I see you on the page, the more likely you will be chosen.

Also, since the code is sent to you thru FB, you have to allow messaging so be sure to do that.  If I cannot contact you privately, you will not be chosen.

When is it gonna start?

Today.

 The first person will be chosen and messaged later today after the preview pics have been posted.  

**Please note**

The FB VIP privilege is not transferrable.  It can only be redeemed by the person it was issued to.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Wow!
 I can hardly believe 2011 is over and we are heading into 2012.  Anyone else feel as thought this snuck up on them?

This dolly world we travel in is a very intense world.  It has made this past year to be a real exciting one.  I can honestly say I have run the full gamut of emotions from truly, deeply enjoying what I do to seriously considering closing it all down and going back to just being a homeschooling mom to six awesome kiddos.

  I know many of you have been right there with me and have been thru many of the same things...and we are still here :o)  I think we can be grateful for that...I know I am.  We have witnessed amazing feats of charity, compassion, strength and love from others, the kind that bring sweet tears of joy to your eyes...and then on the darker side, some of the most breathtaking cruelty any of us have ever seen.  

Its amazing how something so simple and so sweet could generate such powerful and opposite emotions. But that is indeed the nature of art...to be able to touch people so deeply both in a positive and  negative way. When looked at in this light,  I am truly blessed to have been able to create something that can touch the hearts of people in such profound ways.

Now, all of the ups and downs aside, I have to tell you I LOVE what I do...ups and downs and everything in between.  I love to create new little beings.  I love to see pictures of these sweet creatures being loved on by the little mamas and papas.  I love working with my sewing mamas.  And I love that this tiny little business is able to generate an income for these special, sweet ladies to be able to work from home while raising their precious little families.  I look forward to what is still to come and seeing what this little business becomes when it grows up.

Looking back, we introduced several new creatures this year.  Amberwings, Mystical Mamas, Familiars and our Storybook Characters but my absolute favorite of all has been our Mama Mades.  Working with and chatting with you awesome ladies has been pure joy...seeing many of you go from being a wee bit hesitant to a confident mama jumping into her second or third dolly...has truly been wonderful.  Seeing the pictures of and hearing the stories of the little folks loving on their blank, faceless dollies has been so so sweet.  Your sweetness and joy has given me so much this year.  

Thank you.

Looking forward, I am excited about what this new year will bring.  I have lots of new ideas for you that I think you will like.  The first of which we already kicked off...

Customs

We will offer custom slots every month on the first Tuesday of that month (this is posted on our calendar page)  These slots will be for the month following.  So for example, on Tuesday Jan 3, 2012, we will offer up several custom slots to be completed during the month of February 2012.  We will not go two months in advance or more, because we just do not want to be booked that far in advance.  These Custom slots will be uploaded regularly each month.  The majority of them will be buy now listings at a set price...occasionally we will put them up for auction...depending.  Not sure on that one yet, we will have to see.

Mama Made

Looking further into our calendar,  Mama Made items will be uploaded each week on Monday.  I will announce the time as we go, but it will always be on Monday. This includes all extra clothing as well.  RTG dolls will be uploaded every Thursday. For now we have set the time to fluctuate between 4pm central and 8 pm central.  If it appears we need to change that we will.  Preview pics will be up on Wednesdays.  I will try to get a more regular time on that one...for now, let's just say sometime Wednesday afternoon.

Stuffed Animals

I plan to bring those in more regularly.  I am working on new patterns for new types. I am also trying out different things in an attempt to bring their pricing down to a reasonable level.  As for how many each week? This is a tricky one, I need to find the right mama to work on them...so until I find her,  they will be sporadic. Basically put in uploads as I myself can get them made.  I know this mama is out there somewhere :o)  and I am pretty confident I will trip over her one day soon.

Blog


One of my goals this year is to put a little more work into this blog.  I think its wonderful to share things that happen around here each week with you.   FB is very immediate but it doesn't allow for a good long chat :o)

Online Helper

Another addition, my old friend and helper Mel is coming back on to help out on FB.  She is gonna be our resident FB cheerleader and helper thru uploads.  There really is not enough time in the day for me to get all I need to get done AND be on FB as much as is needed.  So she has jumped in to help out.  She will also take on the job of maintaining a list of dollies up for rehome and helping to facilitate them.  She will set that all up when she is ready...glad you are back with us mama.

FB VIP's

This is a new thing that we thought of as a neat way to thank those folks who are there and have been there all along.  This is specifically for you :o)  That is all I am gonna say about it for now,  in another week I will make a new post all about it to let you know exactly what it is and how it will work...I think you will be happy about it :o)

Finally,
I want to tell you all THANK YOU!  

From the bottom of my heart and soul.  Thank you for all of your support, enthusiasm and encouragement.  Thank you for being with us all and for helping us create this little business that has grown so much and has been able to make precious friends for big and little folks.  Thank you for helping me to create a little business that is able to pay some absolutely precious mamas to work at home while snuggling their nurslings.  

We would not be here if it weren't for all of you and all of your wonderful support...THANK YOU!

Have yourselves a wonderful, safe and happy New year!  May your new year be filled with peace, happiness, love and light.

Peace,
Nancy and all of us in the Mclaughlin home and at DFH

.