Blog Archives

Introducing Bella

1/31/2026

A new girl arrived this past week. She's Bella by SartoriaJ. She's another 45APH in Peach Cream, with Dew Bust, Mobility joint, and their beautiful makeup.

I was smitten with her the moment I saw her, as she reminded me so much of my beautiful SD Hazy, but in a smaller, more manageable size. I dressed her in the pink sari gown all the ladies wear when they first arrive, and found her the most suitable wig - until I make her one....

I ordered her just because I loved her, with no definite plans as to where or how she might fit in.

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Tiny Characters in the Snow

1/30/2026

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Taking doll photos in the snow is always a challenge, although the photos in the previous post were taken back in early January when we only had a bit of snow, well before two big storms buried everything. I always plan the set-ups inside, put everything on a tray, and head out with my camera. One of the biggest inconveniences in winter is that there's no place to put stuff. The patio furniture is in the garage for the winter, so there's nowhere to put anything other than on the snowy ground. I can't put trays on the garden itself, since it slopes and a tray would just slide off.

There's also no interesting plants in winter to help create a background, so I borrowed several little fake trees from Jan's Christmas village, stuck them into the snow to cover their bases, and sprinkled them with snow. There's not a lot of options for taking photos from different directions, other than a few close-ups...

Once I'd taken some photos, everything was shaken off, and it all went back inside, where everything ended up on heat registers around the main floor to dry off.

A week later we got hit with the first blizzard....

And then another....

So, now there's way too much snow for doll photos. Plus with a Polar vortex stalled over us the past while, it's also way too cold out there.

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Grocery Delivery

1/29/2026

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It was proving to be a rough winter, and Smuzhka Raccoon made it his business to make sure none of his fellow Forest Dwellers ran out of food.

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Creating a Conservatory

1/28/2026

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I love plants, and especially flowers, and every year in Late November, early December the local garden centre gets a few tiny miniature violets and cyclamen. I like to buy several, and keep them in mini tea cups on my plant stand in the kitchen...

I like to use the tiny plants in doll photos throughout the winter. I wanted to take photos of them with Monica this time, as she loves flowers, but didn't think either of her regal red gowns were suitable to be wearing while working with plants, so I made her something more casual

Unfortunately I wasn't feeling very well most of November and December, and the tiny violets were almost finished blooming. Then for Christmas our daughter-in law gifted me with a small ceramic pot that she'd made, complete with a miniature orchid.

So I finally decided to take the photos I'd wanted to of Monica and her plants, before all my tiny plants were no longer in bloom. Since she was a Queen, and deserved a more elaborate setting than I'd put together in the past, I decided to set up a 'conservatory' on my kitchen table.

I used the wooden 'cathedral railings', and the styrofoam pillars and arch for architectural elements, and gathered all kinds of furniture and props that one would find, or use, in a greenhouse, complete with empty pots, a wheelbarrow, and a tub of potting soil. Then I filled in the scene with all my mini plants and ivies....

Then I had to rearrange the plants in the background, so none of the big pots from the hanging plants actually showed. I also needed to hang lots of ivies in the north window to hide the neighbour's flag, so it wouldn't show up in the background...

I had originally thought to have Lawrence get Winston to fetch a poinsettia for Monica, but decided after receiving the orchid that I would stay with real flowers only. No fake ones at all. After setting up the main scene, I noticed the mini roses in the flower arrangement one of our sons had sent us for Christmas. It had sprays of miniature roses. They were beautiful when the arrangement first arrived....

But the arrangement was already over ten days old, and the mini roses had shrivelled and dried up....perfect for my little story...

It was tricky taking photos in such tight quarters, as I needed to use my tripod in order to get the sharpest photos, but there wasn't any room to back up from any distance at all. Then there was the huge hanging light to deal with too. It provided warm lighting from above, but I still needed the photography spot-light from the side to prevent harsh shadows from the light above.

... and I had to shoot with the table on an angle, so I'd get the kitchen windows and door in the background, and not the bright yellow wall to the right. Which meant it wasn't wide enough to take horizontal format photos....

...unless I took close-ups....

But the entire settup was so nice, that I wanted photos of the entire scene....

...which meant some major cropping....

The set was on the end of the kitchen table for three days, so Jan and I had to eat all our meals at the end of Monica's conservatory the entire time. This was the very last photo I took....

and cropped into a square, it ended up being my favourite of the entire photo shoot...

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the Orchid

1/27/2026

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Naomi came over to take a closer look at the orchid....

and Lawrence went over to visit with his little goddaughter....

"It's a gorgeous orchid." commented Naomi. "I'm familiar with orchids back where I come from, but I've never seen one with such big flowers before."

"It's even bigger than me!"

"And the scent is heavenly."

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A Big Thank You

1/26/2026

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Everyone looked in amazement at the orchid...

"It's beautiful!"

"I've never seen anything like it."

"Wherever did you get it?"

"I asked Winston to get one for you."

"It should bloom for the rest of the winter. Maybe even longer."

Monica gave him a hug... "Thank you!"

"You are always so thoughtful."

"I love you so much!"

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A Surprise

1/25/2026

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Monica and Naomi were wondering about the struggling violet....

..when Lawrence returned.

He had with him a huge, exotic looking plant, with the most interesting looking flowers....

"This is called an orchid."

"They only grow deep in a tropical rain forest."

"And I understand that it will bloom for months at a time,"

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Visitors

1/24/2026

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No sooner had Lawrence left, that Naomi and her twins arrived. She and Monica had become good friends, and with it being the dead of winter, it was nice to go visit her in her conservatory ... surrounded by all her plants and flowers.

Nami always enjoyed spending time with Fiona and Daniel....

"I was just about to get rid of these roses. Maybe you'd like to help?"

"They were so beautiful when Lawrence first gave them to me ... but roses never last very long."

"No, unfortunately they don't."

"But it's the thought behind them that counts."

As her Mom cut up the roses, Nami was trying to load them into the wheelbarrow so they could go out to the compost pile....

Daniel was eager to help....

Fiona not so much....

After cleaning up the roses, Monica's attention turned to a pot of violets.

"These don't seem to be doing so well. I don't think they are getting enough sun."

Meanwhile, having had to give up her rose, Fiona had found another flower she liked even better...

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Spent Roses

1/23/2026

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Monica had always loved flowers and plants, so Lawrence had a conservatory built for her on the west wing of their castle. It was filled with all manner of plants and beautiful flowers, many of which he had Winston fly in from foreign lands...