Ebbie has a ways to go but he's coming along, oh yes he is!

I must admit, I planned on having this little boy finished well before now but life sometimes sends unexpected adventures our way, so dear Ebbie has been on the back burner.

Although he is still in the early stages I do believe his features are starting to pop out slowly but surely creating such a fun and adorable personality.

I am thinking this lil guy is going to be a super fun hand full! What ya think?

We had a beautiful Thanksgiving here full of love, laughter, and smiles! I so pray all of you did as well. Isn't life a wondrous miracle???

Here's a few quick pics of the tree going up.

Oh yes yes, we love a messy country old fashioned tree here!

Sending a ton of love and holiday wishes your way!

Little touches truly make a wonderful difference...

I am happy as a crab to put a tremendous amount of time and work into my dolls and I do so with much happiness and smiles but It does not end there though, nope it does not. What am I talking about? Why, I am talking about the little things of course! Little yes, but they can make oh such a large difference, don't you agree?

Let me explain, I have been a doll collector for just about most of my life. I have always appreciated the amazing talent and skills that go into each and every creation that I excitedly purchased. After "blissing" through the initial excitement of the doll itself I would then move onto the little things. The COA for example, it was always such a huge treat when it was a well thought out and crafted one. Ones with art, color, or best of all a picture of the doll. The material it was printed on, the quality of the print. All those things were such an extra treat and smile. I hope that I am making sense lol.

Okay let me explain a little further. I purchased a doll in the past that was a very nice doll indeed but with it came a sadly thrown together COA. Now like I said, I have collected dolls most of my life so I am happy to say this doll was not purchased from anyone here in blog land and I will not say how long ago it was purchased but I was so sad to see that the "little things" were very much neglected. The COA was printed on standard computer paper which wrinkles and tears easily so when I got it, it was very much rumpled. Worse then that. majority of it was faded, had lines al through it, and missing ink spots all over. The printer it was printed on was extremely low on ink and it was printed and sent out that way anyhow. How super sad to put work into a doll and then just let the rest slide. If this doll lasts for years to come and can be passed on to the next generation of doll collectors it will do so without any documentation as the paper will no doubt not make it through. This is heart breaking to me. This was not a cheap doll and was purchased for over 200.00. It just baffles me.

Please believe I am not saying this to nit pick but to rather stress to all the doll artists out there that your work is so worth adding the little things to. Think of the love and time you put into your art. Think of all the smiles your creations will create as they pass hand to hand. Don't you want those people to always know who is sending those smiles their way? I so encourage everyone to always keep this in mind. You are worth it, yes you are!

So, what do I do? What I do is pretty simple to tell you true, but I make sure I do it with time, thought, and quality put into it. First off I use card stock or better. This makes sure that it has strength to hold up. Next I ALWAYS make sure my printer has plenty of ink and I always print on the highest quality level allowed, last after my COA is printed it is then slid into a heavy duty plastic sleeve that fits it perfectly. Yanno, kind of like the kind that rare baseball cards are slid into. Now I have a COA that will last as long as my creation will last (with popper care ofcourse lol).

Now for what goes on my COAs...First I make sure to have my logo printed in color up top, next is stating that its a COA, after that a full color photo of my creation, below that the name and edition number, and in finishing I list myself as the artist and hand sign each and every COA. It is then slid into it's plastic sleeve. Easy as 123 but will hopefully be a special touch that collectors will appreciate for years to come.

I do not end my "little things" there though. Nope, there needs to be more fun! I also do a hang tag that is tied onto my dolls wrist with ribbon. On the front you will see my logo printed in color and under that will be the dolls name. Open up the inside and you will see the logo of the doll line the creation comes frome and under that will be a short story of what the doll line is about as well as my signature. Turn the hang tag over and on the back you will see a picture of the dolls face with the dolls edition number underneath. It's close to being another COA all in itself.

I love adding these little touches!!!

So all in all, just something to think about and thinking is oh so good right??? LOL