Spotlight: Antarctica - The Queen of the South Pole

 

I am very pleased to bring you the breathtaking Antarctica Doll, The Queen of the South Pole designed by The Black Swan Doll Company.

You may remember my news report on The Black Swan Company from a few months ago.  I've been eagerly watching the rise of The Black Swan Doll Company in the past couple of months and their creations never cease to amaze.  Please take a few minutes to view the video featuring Antarctica. 

Antarctica is a tribute to the acclaimed designer Bob Mackie and the beautiful Barbie Fantasy Goddess of the Arctic.  The designers at the Black Swan Doll Company's Antarctica is a "sister" doll.  She is the Queen of the South Pole.

I hope you enjoy Antarctica!  Here are some pics of this beautiful creation! Click to view!

Madrid Premiere Beauty and the Madrid Fashion Doll Show Charity Auction

I wanted to share the beautiful Madrid Premiere Beauty the Convention Doll for the Madrid Fashion Doll Show held in Madrid last month.  I was fortunate enough to be offered this doll.  As a Steffie fan I was thrilled of course!  I will share more detailed pictures of her and my review and impressions in a post later this week.

As with most Barbie and Fashion Doll Conventions, the Madrid Fashion Doll Show has selected a charity to donate the proceeds of their convention funds.  That charity is the Cruz Roja España, or the Spanish Red Cross.  The Spanish Red Cross helps the most vulnerable parts of society in many ways, all of them very important. With the current financial crisis and the difficulties that many Spanish families have to face, The Spanish Red Cross helps with many different programs; one of them is collecting toys and donations for the Christmas campaign "No child without a toy."

If you like the Steffie doll, one auction I want to bring to your attention.  This is the OOAK doll "Madrid Premier Beauty Winner." She is a variation of the convention doll created by designers "MonLew."  Also known as Luis Manuel Gómez (Lewis) and Mónica Núñez.  Their dolls are "Made with the finest materials and quality fabrics... and "love is included in each of their creations."

Please take a look at all the other amazing dolls on auction that will support the charity.  They are all currently on ebay and ending very soon.   There is a gorgeous Steffie, a GaGa doll by Ovaz, a beautiful creation from The Black Swan Doll Company, an amazing OOAK from Arists Creations, a Magia Showgirl from Magia 2000, and a sketch by Linda Kyaw.  There are all types of dolls in all price ranges, please consider supporting the Spanish Red Cross and the Madrid Fashion Doll Show.

Barbie Convention: Sunset Parade Barbie: Buy a Barbie and Help fight Cancer!

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 Barbie Conventions are a place to have fun with your friends and fellow collectors but did you know that Barbie Conventions are arranged around charitable purposes?  Typically, convention organizers seek donations of OOAK dolls and these Barbies are auctioned off during conventions or on ebay or similar sites.  All proceeds (after allowed expenses) are donated to a charity of the convention committee's choice.

This doll is the beautiful Sunset Parade Barbie, a one of a kind design by José Luis Montesdeoca, of El Blog de Ken with sewing skills provided by Yolanda Cañete.  Convención de Coleccionistas de Barbie en España is sponsoring the auction. For this auction, all of the proceeds will support Asociación Española contra el Cáncer, a Spanish cancer charity.

Sunset Parade, was inspired by the classical origins of Barbie and the sunsets on the beach where she first fell for Ken.  Barbie, shines in a wide neck sheer top buttoned in the back, which allows you to peek at a blue and gold bikini bra, a nod to the legendary zebra striped swimsuit she in her debut. The layered styled full skirt is turquoise silk, knotted at the waist by a golden bow tie!  A perfect touch reminiscent of a big hug from Ken. Sunset Parade Barbie's subtle makeup and  nude color eyeshadow channel the golden sun.  Isn't she a dream?

I hope you take a look and spread the word.  Let's use our hobby to contribute to great causes.  Well done Jose!  Hope this Barbie brings lots of bids for your charity!  Don't you just love her?!?

Dolly Tally 001: Tarina Tarantino by Designs by Robin Studio

Tarina by Designs by Robin Studio, a photo by The Doll Cafe on Flickr.

Many of you know that the Steffie mold is my favorite mold. When the Tarina Tarantino Barbie came out in 2008 I was just floored by her beauty. This doll is an OOAK Tarina Tarantino I purchased at the 2010 Barbie Convention at the sales table of Designs by Robin Studio. I was immediately drawn to this doll. Shockingly I did not buy her right away. I think I came back later or the next day and was so happy she was still there. It was so funny because earlier that year I had purchased another OOAK Steffie doll (Barbie Basics, Collection 1.5, Model No 3.) from Robin on Ebay. Since that time I have bought many dolls from Robin and recommend her work. She is also on Ebay, Pinterest and Facebook. Check out her work and enjoy dolly number 001 in my Dolly Tally Project.

News: The Black Swan Company Q&A Hosted by Coleccionistas de Fashion dolls en Madrid

Today Coleccionistas de Fashion Dolls en Madrid ("Coleccionistas") hosted a special online Q&A with Black Swan Company's Francesco Catalano.

Coleccionistas is an active doll community based in Madrid, Spain, who will be hosting the Madrid Doll Show this fall. 

The Black Swan Company is an emerging OOAK doll based in Italy.  You can also find their creations on their Ebay page.  Please see their latest offerings.

This is the first OOAK Silkstone produced by The Black Swan Company is "White Swan Prima Ballerina."  Isn't she amazing?

White Swan Prima Ballerina Silkstone OOAK Barbie

The Black Swan Company was named after their first OOAK doll "The Black Swan" which caused a sensation in the collector world.  The company features beautiful styling with a focus on ballet, dance and fantasy.

Principal designer Francesco Catalano's focus stemmed from his love of music:  "The inspiration about ballet and dance depends on my love for the music. I am a musician and I study piano and flute since I was 9 years old. I have been in the conservatory of music with flute and I got a degree. In the world I lived I had the chance to see opera and ballet and I fell in love with The Swan Lake, Cinderella, Emerald, Don Quixote and many others I had the chance to see. I [have] love[d] Barbie since [the age of ] 5 so I tried to mix my two biggest passion in my life. The Black Swan Company is the final result of who I am.

The doll making process is not easy!  Francesco notes that, "In one year we were able to produce more than 50 dolls. 5 artists work about a week 8 hours at day to create one of our dolls."  [This does not include those] who work for the boxes, printings and certificates. Sometimes a doll requires more time, like Evanora the Witch of East who required almost 20 days of work.  

Francesco's favorite Barbie is Wind Rider, a true beauty and one of my faves!  I encourage you to learn more about OOAK artists and support these artists.  They are the ones who bring our favorite dolls to life in new and exciting ways!  Don't forget to check out The Black Swan Company's Facebook page and follow this amazing OOAK doll company and their future creations.

News: The Doll Cafe Lives!

LOL, no, I wasn't dead but you'd think I was.  I'm shocked that my last post was April 28, 2012.  It seems like this time of year my doll collecting passion is re-awakened.  Well, maybe it's more of my my pre-Barbie Convention panic mode!

Convention this year will be held in New Orleans!  Wow, that's so exciting.  Being the homebody that I am, I have never traveled to that area of the country so I'm seeing the World with Barbie once again this year!!  I'm excited to report that my daughter Steff will be joining me for the second year in a row.  Her first Barbie Convention last year was a blast!  Here is an amazing picture of the beautiful dolls we both received as gifts from our generous table hostess last year Jen M.  Do you see some Steffies and Basics in there?  Boy aren't we lucky!!??!!

I hope that you have been following our Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr, or Instagram posts.  Did you know we also have a Tumbler?  Just choose your favorite online platform and join us for the dolly fun.  Also, be sure to check out our Facebook Group and the Model Muse and Steffie pages online.


For future blogging I will be tagging posts with useful titles with labels and will try to post daily (ok, you've heard that before).  Most of our news will be posted on Facebook and Twitter so I will use this blog to feature pictures from our collection, doll news, and in a continuing attempt to count our dolls we will also be featuring a post on each doll in our collection so we can keep a handle on it all.

Thanks for all your support, comments and suggestions.  Keep reading for more dolly centered fun.

-The Doll Cafe

Barbie Raises Money for Charity!

Heavenly Trio of Barbie Angels & Display Case , a photo by The Doll Cafe on Flickr.

Now available at Charity Buzz are many OOAK Barbies and unique Barbie gift items being auctioned off for charity. This year brings another beautiful holiday Steffie. She is in the set Heavenly Trio of Barbie Angels. Other amazing OOAK Barbies include a stunning Hollywood beauty by Bill Greening. A cute Francie gift set and the celebrity dolls of Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry. Check out the OOAK Barbie Dream House.  There are so many amazing details that it almost makes me want to customize my own Barbie house! Help out Project Angel Food and receive a beautiful one of a kind Barbie in return!

Barbie Friendships

Holiday Harmony Close-up
Originally uploaded by mo1160

Today I was reflecting on all the fantastic friendships I have made through my Barbie collecting hobby. I never cease to be amazed at the beautiful hearts that Barbie Collectors have. Not only that, so many of my Barbie friends are extremely talented! There is something about this little vinyl doll that brings a lot of warm feelings to my heart. Who knew the doll I played with as a child would continue to bring me such joy and such friendship! On that note, this is Holiday Harmony. A beautiful OOAK Birthstone Steffie I received from my friend Helen from Christmas in 2008. Helen, also known as @dollsaga is a talented doll artist, blogger and all around great lady. I encourage you to visit her blog and her ebay auctions. You never know what will pop up there. In the coming weeks I will feature more beautiful OOAK dolls I have received from Helen.

Happy May!

Yes, we are still here. We got so busy with our Barbie project that some things fell by the wayside, including updating here. I wish I could say that doll buying stopped. LOL. I will introduce you to some of the our recent purchases throughout this month.

I received an email from Claudia at Pink Ponytail with the following paragraph:

April and May are always transition times . . .Collections go through transitions as well. After keeping dolls NRFB (never removed from box), some folks begin deboxing to experience that hands-on enjoyment of their dolls. Some collectors prefer OOAK dolls (original one of a kind). As space for displaying a collection becomes an issue, some collectors switch from purchasing dolls-only to collecting fashions and accessories to compliment their doll collection. Or creative passion leads to creating dioramas and unique displays. Many collectors who had only one doll line they were devoted to, discover other dolls along the way that are must-haves as well. And currently, many collectors are experiencing a change in the way they collect due to finances. Whatever the reason, our collections and the way we collect are ever-evolving.

I hope that your collections are all proceeding along. We are still selling away some items but purchasing a lot more! We decided to go back and purchase some of the MM dolls that were missing from our collection and go back and buy some of the older Steffie dolls that we have admired over the years. That darn Barbie Collector article is now battered and read-over from checking the list and checking eBay to see which dolls are available! LOL. Here is one of our recent Steffies, Deluxe Quick Curl P.J. She looks so pristine in her box. There she will stay . . .