You can help me acquire a Gocco by simply donating $1. This helps me to create beautiful things for you. ;D 
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If you are looking for a little retail therapy on this beautiful Friday, make sure to stop over at Leaves of Glass. They have some of the most beautiful jewelry around. With Spring quickly making its approach the are sure to have the perfect accessory for that perfect outfit. The Geometrie earrings are my favorite (the ones on the left)... Make sure to check out all of the goodies created by Leaves of Glass here.
Beautiful centerpieces from Flickr.
1. contemporary-centerpieces-table-settings-wedding-reception, 2. Table settings, 3. White Dessert Table Setting, 4. Another Wedding!, 5. Star Anise, 6. antipov centerpiece, 7. terrarium centerpiece, 8. Sample Centerpiece, 9. tall orchid centerpiece, 10. What a beautiful centrepiece, 11. hydrangea centerpiece, 12. E4's baby shower homemade food
One day as I am doing my daily browse through Flickr I came across her, Tasha (the doll that you see below)
I am intrigued, fascinated and any other word that you can think of to say that I am interested. I must admit that I played with dolls until I was 14 years old, really I did. I had to find out who created and styled this beautiful doll... And I did and her name is Erica and she happens to style and collect some of the most beautiful dolls that I have seen ever. Here is the interview that I had with Erica about her collection of beautiful dolls.
When did you become fascinated with doll culture?
I have always been into dolls since I was a little girl. I plyed with dolls until I was about 13 years old and eventually put them up because I didn't think that it was normal to be a teenager and still dressing and styling dolls. I became in love with dolls in 2000 when I went to a Toys R Us and noticed that there were collector dolls and the ones I played with when I was younger, you can't take out of the box or they will loose value. I don't care though; I still take them out of the box and style and comb their hair.
What do you consider your specialty in the doll community?
I think that my specialty within the doll community is my ability to cut and style doll hair. I tried to do therepainting and sewing for the dolls, but never really found my groove doing them. I've always been into doing hair, especially my doll's hair. So, now that I am collecting dolls and playing with them, I also style and cut hair.
Can you eleborate on how the entire look of the dolls come together? I have noticed that all of the dolls have such life like appearances.
There are two brands of dolls that I collect: Barbie dolls created by Mattel and Fashion Royalty dolls created by Jason Wu. I think the creator of the dolls are the ones that are responsible for making the dolls so lifelike esp. in the features and the body sculpt. I try to take what the companies have done and add a little "flava" to the doll. I have always been the type of person to stray away from the norm so my dolls can't look like they did when they arrived in the box.
Who makes the clothing, who does the makeup and the hair, etc? I was amazed that there was a doll Barcelona chair in one of your pictures. The tiny accessories fascinate me.
A lot of the clothing are from Barbie and Fashion Royalty dolls. I usually go to Ebay and surf for small little dolly items that I can use down the line. There are a few talented people in the doll community that designs and make furniture and purses and I agree, they are fascinating! It's abig world in the doll collecting community and I try to network with other collectors to trade and buy dolly items.
I have noticed that in some of your photographs that the dolls have Louis Vuitton bags and have wondered, do you create those yourself?
No, I wish I could create the little purses though. Some of the Fashion Royalty dolls came with little purses and luggage that resemble the Louis Vuitton brand so I had to buy them. There are also many talented folks in the doll community that create the bags from scratch and sew them and draw on the LV logos. I think it's really cool. My girls deserve the best!
How many dolls do you have in your collection?
Oh my goodness... you know I stop counting two years ago. But I'd estimate that I have about 150 dolls. I have a few doll shelves that have many of the collectable dolls, but I also have a large tub where sadly many of them are until I find time to cut their hair and style them. I am trying to cut back on collecting so many dolls; it may start to become hoarding vs. collecting soon.
In your opinion what doll or brand of doll do you think is the best?
For me I'd say Fashion Royaltydolls are the best brand of dolls. I feel this way because quite frankly they are the only ones who offer a wide variety of races and skin complexions fro collectors to have. I am so tired of the painted black Barbies that Mattel have put out over the years. I do howevcer see many new black Barbies that are simply gorgeous and look like real African American women. Not Barbies with chocolate covered paint, lol. But Fashion Royalty to me is the best brand, the clothing is current, the attitude of the dolls is very mature, and they are shaped like real women. They are not skinny by any means. That's my type of doll.
If someone were interested in the high fashion dolls that you have where would you suggest that they start to get more information?
I would suggest a variety of places. If one is interested in the old fashion type of dolls that is safe and not so sexual, I suggest the idividual check out Barbie. You can find more about Barbie here. If you are like me and a little on the wild side, I'd suggest checking out fashion Royalty dolls and you can find them here.
There are so many fashion dolls out there that are not just Barbie and Fashion Royalty. Here are some links to a few other doll companies that are popular in the doll collecting community: Momoko Dolls (dolls from Japan), Annz Dolls, Jenny dolls, Tonner dolls and Big Beautiful dolls (thick dolls)
We are celebrating a new look here at Tha Hotness. Hope that you all like it. Leave a comment so that I know if I got it right or not. To celebrate our new look we are taking free banner ads for the next month. If you're interested, send an email to info@springcartdesigns.com .
I know that I have seriously been slacking with posting my designs for the Design a Day series but here are A few that I am going to be adding to SpringCart as well as my Etsy store. Enjoy....
More art love. Kadir Nelson, stunning, simple, modern, beautiful...Originals - The Art of Kadir Nelson
I am loving exotic skins right now. I am really lovin these snake exotic skin bags by Michael Kors.Michael Kors
This beautiful Three Plus One necklace could be yours. All you need to do is get on over to the SpringCart Blog and find out how. Or you can purchase it here or here....
