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Easter is a big family holiday, but for some reason when it coincides with April Fools, my family is less than insistent that I show up.  I kind of have a reputation.  For maybe the same reason, my husband has started taking up the habit of keeping me away from home and anywhere I might have been able to set up shenanigans ahead of time on 4/1.  I'm fine with that.  I like travel, and IMO it just makes shenanigans more challenging and rewarding if you have to make one work on the go!  This past weekend, we went to...

Lately there's been a lot of crossover between 'dolls' and 'action figures'.  Though it seems to me that the only real difference between action figures and dolls is whether or not boys are allowed to play with them without social disapproval, I have been told that it comes down to articulation and sculpting. ...ok, whatever.  Either way you look at it, action figures (like the all-sculpted 6" mini DC Super Hero Girls) have been showing up in the girl aisles while traditional dolls have been gaining more articulation and sculpted clothing while Action figures have been getting bigger and more...

My birthday is this week, so we did something I've been wanting to do for a while: raid the fabric shops of Manhattan's Garment District! Like many cities, NYC has a lot of neighborhoods with distinct specialties.  A little bit south of Times Square is the Garment District, where most of the fashion industry is located.  Not ALL of it, but quite a lot so the stores in the area cater to it.  TONS of massive fabric bazaar type stores where you basically have a room filled with rolls of fabric, like so: I've been really hankering for some interesting...

New doll review!  It's been a while.  These ladies were revealed at SDCC 2017, and I've been waiting not so patiently to get my hands on one.  They have a September release and will be exclusive to Toys R Us for the first few months.  My local TRU put their stock out about a week early, score! Heeeeere's Becky! I'll admit immediately I have no idea who she is.  I used to be a WWE fan, but it's been a long time since I had cable and the guys and gals of pro wrestling don't last very long--understandably, considering how...

I'm always interested to see the different customizing cultures that arise in fandoms. I read up on all kinds of tutorials for all kinds of things and often find ways to apply the techniques for something only vaguely related to art or dolls. I go off and spend some time painting gaming miniatures, and come back with a new skillset for making and painting dolly armor. I dabble in action figures too.  I'm a sucker for articulation in dolls, so this shouldn't be much of a surprise!  Customizing action figures is giving me a workout in sculpting, articulation, and how...