Blog Giveaway: Easter Outfit for BFC Ink Dolls by EBay Seller Suzyb-creations

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

I'm thrilled to be able to offer you another giveaway thanks to the generosity of another eBay seller. :)  Suzyb-creations offers a variety of great handmade outfits for several doll lines, including BFC Ink, Hearts For Hearts, Baby Face dolls, and more.  You can see all of her current listings HERE.   She doesn't have any BFC Ink listings at this time, but I would definitely recommend saving her as a seller so you can see her future items. :)  She also has an Etsy shop that does have some BFC Ink listings, so be sure to stop by and check those out HERE.

Today's giveaway is another BFC Ink ensemble, made especially for my readers.  Here's what the winner will receive:

An Easter dress, a matching hat, and a doll-sized chocolate bunny. :)  Middle Gal's Britt doll is just modeling the outfit and is not included. ;) (And my camera randomly decided to make her face blurry...sorry about that!) :{

Here's a closer look.   I love the pretty spring colors of the dress and hat. :)

The dress and hat from the front...

...and the back.

A closer look at the dress.

The cute hat.

The dress has snap closure in the back and is very well-made.

The chocolate bunny. :)

Suzy does excellent work which I would highly recommend.  This would be the perfect Easter gift for any little girl or BFC Ink doll collector. 

On to the giveaway rules:

1.  To enter, please comment on this post with your name or username and email address.  Comment moderation is on, so no one will see your information but me.

2.  If you are under age 18, please get a parent or guardian's permission to enter.  I will have to get your mailing address to send the shirt to you, and I need to make sure your parent or guardian is okay with that.

3.  The giveaway will be open to entries until THURSDAY, MARCH 21ST.  On Friday, March 22nd, I will put all of the entrants' names in a hat and select one winner (without peeking, of course!). ;)

4.  I will notify the winner via email on that same day.  The winner will have 1 week to respond to the email with their mailing address.  If I have not heard from the winner by Friday, March 29th, a new winner will be selected.  NOTE:  If you win, you'll want to get back to me as soon as possible to ensure that the outfit will get there by Easter!

5.  I'm sorry, but I cannot do International shipping at this time, so this contest is only open to those in the United States.

Have fun entering, everyone!  As always, if you have any questions, you can leave them in the comments or email me at nevergrowup.beastsbelle@gmail.com. :)

A Quick Hello

Hi guys!  I was hoping to get my next post up by today, but some other things came up.  I've got a few review posts in the works that you should be seeing soon.  Also keep your eyes peeled for a special Easter giveaway sponsored by another eBay seller! :)

Tomorrow I'll be joining one of my very dearest friends for lunch.  She and her family will be moving even farther away in just a week or so. :(  I'm really going to miss her, but I'm looking forward to spending some kid-free time with her tomorrow. :)

I'm hoping to get some more eBay listings up this weekend.  And just to let everyone know, I changed my eBay username to "beastsbelle81" from "kaynesrose".  I wanted to keep things consistent across the board with all my accounts.  I've corrected the link to my eBay on the blog, and I'll give you guys a direct link in a post when I have my newest batch of items up. :)

I guess that's about it.  Just wanted you to know that I'm still alive and all. ;)  Talk to you again soon!

Of Voting, Hailstorms, Nancy Ann, and Lalaloopsy (aka My Week) ;)

Howdy, all! :)  Hope you're having a great weekend.  I thought I'd finish this week off by sharing some of its highlights with you. :)

First, voting officially begins today on the Doll Wardrobe's Grand Photo contest.  There are a lot of great entries this time around, so be sure to stop by and check them out. :)  You can see details about the voting process HERE, and you can see all of the entries HERE.

The weather has had a difficult time making up its mind this week in my neck of the woods.  We've gone from beautiful sunshine and gorgeous blossoms to crazy hailstorms in the blink of an eye, and then back to perfect weather again.

This pic was taken in the middle of the hailstorm...

The hailstones were really coming down!

And just a day later, here are some of the pretty blossoms on the tree in our neighbor's yard.

On one of the sunnier days, I took some Lalaloopsy photos.  This was my first time doing outdoor photos of my Lalas, so I had fun playing around and experimenting with different looks and locations. :)

Lucky Lil' Bug enjoys the beautiful blossoms and spring weather.

Snowy Fairest and Scarlet Riding Hood sit and chat.

Snowy 

And Snowy again ;)

Playing "hide and seek" among the violets.

Snowy rests in the clover. 

Alice joins Snowy and Scarlet for a visit in the sunshine.

Alice takes a walk. :)

In other news, on Wednesday, I got to meet with the local doll club for the third time.  I'm happy to announce that I'm now an official member of the club!  I'm so excited to join these sweet ladies every month.  Not only are they enjoyable to be around, but there is such a wealth of knowledge and history in the group.  I'm looking forward to knowing all of them better. :)  

Several months ago, a woman from my church very graciously gave me a box of Nancy Ann Storybook dolls from the 1940s.  They were all in TLC condition, but still adorable and sweet.  I decided to share them with the ladies from the group.  Some of the gals remember receiving Nancy Ann dolls when they were girls, and they all enjoy the line, so it was great to be able to pass some of the dolls along.  I was given a total of 28 dolls, so there's no way I would have been able to have room for all of them anyway. ;)

Here are 3 of the 7 that I kept.

I think this one is my very favorite.  Her name is "Quaker Maid".

Because this batch of dolls was given to me, I ended up working together with another of the ladies to talk about Nancy Ann dolls at the monthly meeting this past week.  It was a little unnerving to talk about a line of dolls I was not very familiar with (especially in a room of ladies who are all very knowledgeable about dolls), but they were all very sweet about it. Through my research for the meeting, I learned a lot about the Nancy Ann line that I didn't know before (I hope to share some of that info with all of you at a later date), and it was good for me to stretch myself and step out of my comfort zone a bit. ;)

Next month I'll be speaking again, this time on American Girl face molds. :D  I'm super excited to share with the ladies about that.  They were very surprised to find that there were 8 different molds and seem to be looking forward to it. :)

And to finish off a great week, I got to have a date night with Hubby last night. :D  I can't even remember the last time we were both able to get away. :)  We had a great time (thanks, Mom, for watching the kiddos). ;)

I think I've just about covered everything.  I know this post was a bit random and jumbled, but hopefully you'll be able to enjoy it anyway. ;)  Have a lovely weekend, and I'll be back next week with more blogging fun. :)

Giveaway Results

All right, the entries are in and a name has been chosen. :)  Before I get to that, though, I wanted to share some exciting news for our winner.

When cottoncandy1288 heard that the blouse sleeve had snagged, she felt really bad about it (even though it wasn't her fault!) and sent me another clothing item for the giveaway.  I didn't mention it before because I wasn't sure if it would get here in time.  Thankfully, it arrived yesterday. :)  So, in addition to the blouse, today's winner will also receive this:

An adorable spring dress, modeled by Calista (sorry, she's not part of the giveaway). ;)

The dress is made from a beautiful lavender floral print.

It has real pockets in the front.

It also features beautiful purple buttons.  Just like the blouse, though... 

...it is made with Velcro closure.

So, on to the results! :)

I wrote all of the names down on a piece of paper, cut them out, and put them in a bowl:

I selected one name from the bowl (without looking, of course!).  And the winner is:

ABIGAIL!!!  

Congratulations, Abigail!  I'll be sending you an email shortly, confirming your win.  Abigail will have one week to contact me with her mailing address.  If I haven't heard from her by Saturday, March 16th, I will draw another name.

Thank you to everyone who participated.  If you didn't win this time around, don't worry.  I have other giveaways coming soon! :)

UPDATE:  Abigail, I just tried emailing you and it said the email address was invalid.  Could you please either put your email address in the comments again or email me at nevergrowup.beastsbelle@gmail.com?  Thanks!!

Last Day to Enter the Giveaway and Free Shipping at Disneystore.com

Wow, even though I did a post on Monday, it feels like I've been gone for a while.  I suppose having such a full week has something to do with it. ;)  I have some posts I'm working on that I hope to have up by next week for you.

Just wanted to remind everyone that today is the last day to enter the giveaway for the BFC Ink blouse made by cottoncandy1288.  You can read all of the giveaway details HERE.  There are not very many entries so far, so chances of winning are pretty high. :)

Also, starting today, Disneystore.com is offering free shipping on your entire order when you purchase any "Oz the Great and Powerful" merchandise, using the promo code OZSHIP.  You can view all of the Oz merchandise HERE.  (For those of you who are curious, I can't say whether or not I recommend "Oz the Great and Powerful" at this time.  If I see it, I'll definitely share my thoughts.) :)

That's about all for now, but I'll be back with more later. :)

Doll Photo Shoot :)

Hi everyone!  Thanks for all of the entries for the BFC Ink blouse giveaway so far.  Remember, you only have until this Friday to enter!

This Wednesday, March 6th, is the deadline for the latest photo contest from The Doll Wardrobe blog.  I always enjoy taking part in their photo contests.  It's great taking the time to capture my dolls on film.  I'm always reminded of why I enjoy my vinyl gals so much, and I find that it keeps me satisfied with the dolls I have. ;)

I thought I'd have to sit the contest out this time around.  Between the girls getting sick, previous commitments, and other obligations, I was having issues finding the time to get the pictures I needed (although I've had several ideas since the contest was announced in December).  But today, the beautiful spring weather beckoned and I couldn't resist grabbing my camera and a few dolls. :)

These are not my most spectacular pictures ever, but I'm still happy with them.  It was so great to do a photo shoot again after such a long time.  I enjoyed playing around on ribbet.com (my go-to photo editing site since picnik.com shut down), editing the pictures and making them look just right.  I thought you might enjoy seeing them as well.

So first off, these are the three entries that made the cut. ;)  For this particular photo contest, you had to choose from a list of themes, pick three, and take pictures to illustrate those themes.  (If you want to read all the rules or even enter yourself, you can get more info HERE.  Better hurry, though.  The contest ends on Wednesday!)

Jenna represents "Portrait".  This is an outdoor portrait of her.  (Yeah, I'm not all that great with thinking outside of the box when it comes to this sort of thing.  I'm way too literal. :}  I suppose there are worse faults, though.) ;)

Tess represents "Romantic".  I kind of thought of Snow White waiting for Prince Charming's kiss when I saw how this one turned out.  What do you think? ;)

Maggie represents "Allegory".  Every time I hear that word I instantly think of "The Chronicles of Narnia", which contains many allegorical references to Christianity.  I was kind of experimenting with this photo, and I'm still not sure I'm 100% pleased with the results.  I was trying to capture Maggie reading while surrounding by her Narnian toys and collectibles.

Here are some of the photos I thought about using:

Hayden represents "Sketch" in this picture.  I took several photos of her sketching in her sketchpad, but was not completely satisfied with the way any of them turned out.

Another take on "Sketch".

I'm not really sure what Jenna was representing here (which is one of the reasons I decided not to use this photo).  It could have worked for "Portrait", "Close Up", "Romantic", or "Mood", I suppose.  

Same with this one.  :)

Here are two other "Allegory" shots I tried: 

It might have been better for me to use this one since the lion is not quite as out of focus.  Oh well. :}

This one focused on the lion and had the other things in the background.  I didn't use this one because I felt that since the book was my focus, it needed to be clear in the photo.

Another angle of "Romantic" (I liked the one I used better).

This was yet another take on "Romantic".  I really liked this picture, but decided to use the other one because it felt more "artsy", if you know what I mean. ;)

This one could have been "Romantic" or "Color", I suppose.  I liked this one too, but in the end I wanted something a little more unique.

There were several other attempts, but these were the main ones.  I really enjoyed myself, although my neighbors might think I'm a little nuts. ;)  That's the downside to having all the best photo spots in the front yard, I suppose. ;)  Of course, who am I kidding?  It's not like they haven't seen me trudging out there with a box full of dolls before. :}

Hope you're all having a wonderful week.  Talk to you soon! :)

Blog Giveaway: BFC Ink Blouse from cottoncandy1288

Okay, the kiddos are finally starting to feel better, and after a few nights of sleep, I'm feeling like my brain is back. ;)

Today I'm pleased to announce my giveaway for this adorable blouse for BFC Ink dolls made and very graciously donated by eBay seller cottoncandy1288.  (To see my earlier review of cottoncandy1288's work, click HERE.)

Here's a closer look at the blouse when it's not on the doll.

It has Velcro closure in the front and ties at the top. 

There are buttons on top of the Velcro, so it looks like a button-up-the-front blouse.  The material is very sheer.   

It looks great with pants and would work with a skirt, too. 

Noelle loves the pretty lavender color. :) 

I did want to point out that there is a very small pull on the left sleeve.  I'm only drawing your attention to this because it isn't the seller/maker's fault.  When I was putting the blouse on, the Velcro caught on the sleeve and pulled the material. :(  You'll want to use this shirt carefully.  The material is very delicate.  The lovely fitted sleeves can also be a bit tricky to get around the hands, especially for little ones.  Because of this, I would recommend this shirt for adult collectors or older, careful children.  Still, you're welcome to enter for your child if you are interested.

Okay, here are the rules of the giveaway:   

1.  To enter, please comment on this post with your name or username and email address.  Comment moderation is on, so no one will see your information but me.

2.  If you are under age 18, please get a parent or guardian's permission to enter.  I will have to get your mailing address to send the shirt to you, and I need to make sure your parent or guardian is okay with that.

3.  The giveaway will be open to entries until FRIDAY, MARCH 8TH.  On Saturday, March 9th, I will put all of the entrants' names in a hat and select one winner (without peeking, of course!). ;)

4.  I will notify the winner via email on that same day.  The winner will have 1 week to respond to the email with their mailing address.  If I have not heard from the winner by Saturday, March 16th, a new winner will be selected.

5.  I'm sorry, but I cannot do International shipping at this time, so this contest is only open to those in the United States.

Can't wait to see who wins! :)  Cottoncandy1288 doesn't have any current listings right now, but I would definitely recommend saving her as a seller.  Her items are good quality and affordable. :)

I have some other giveaways planned for the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more fun! :)