Hope came into being on September 11th of this year, sculpted by Kaye Wiggs in order to raise money for Asian Aid, a very worthy charity that brings aid and hope to young women and children who are stolen or sold into prostitution, and to rescue young boys who are sold for body parts. All profits from Hope's sale will be donated to Asian Aid, and 100% of the donation will be used for this cause.

Hope is a modified Nyssa, poured in the new Sun-kissed resin and will come with random glass eyes and the strawberry blonde wig shown above. Everyone is very excited about this beautiful new doll, and when I decided to check my computer last night before going to bed, I saw her pre-order had just gone up - so I ordered her. It's always a good idea to order a doll right away if you know you want it, since when they finally completed many months later, they get sent out to customers in the order they were purchased. Usually the waiting period for Kaye Wiggs dolls is ten to twelve weeks after the pre-order closes, which in Hope's case will be November 23rd, but they are anticipating, and hoping for, a very large number of pre-orders, so the estimated time of arrival has been set at March or April of 2012.

It's been exactly one year since Antique Lilac went online on November 1st, 2010. At lot has happened in that year. My doll family grew from just two to fourteen. I started with just Ryung and Narae, with all the costumes I'd made for Ryung over the last few years offered up for sale. Cinnamon joined the group in November, followed by Asa and Rosy in December. Cuprit arrived in January, and her head has since moved on, being replaced by Hazy in August. Tedros joined the group in February, and he still doesn't have a complete outfit. Next came Miki and Layla, my two adorable Kaye Wiggs girls. In the summer Carina and Asa arrived, followed by Maya, who was a gift from Doll Leaves. The most recent two to join the group are Elin and another Narae. 

With all these models it's been a busy year making costumes. A total of fifty eight new outfits were made - some very elaborate - and I'm almost completely sold out. I have a lot of plans for the coming year: more fantasy Renaissance outfits for EID ladies and Tedros, fairies and fantasy costumes to fit Narae, angels and Christmas elves for the Kaye girls, "Christine" and Rococo gowns from fabrics I've had for over a year now, more butterfly fairies, and the list goes on and on......so many ideas, but not nearly enough time. And I'd like to tackle my collection of saris and scarves and make a series of special dresses for as many girls as possible.

One of the things I've enjoyed most is taking photos of the dolls. Each time new outfits are done, it's great fun to be able to take nice photos of my dolls in them before they move on to new homes. It's been a fun, rewarding year. Here's hoping the next one will be too!