Sasha Shangri-La

Happy Father’s Day

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Happy Father’s Day to all of our “fathers” in our lives. Have a blessed day everyone. ❤ xxx

Note: The tall boy on the left is an early cloth doll made by Kathe Kruse and is known as a German grandchild. His name is Freddy. The curly redheaded boy is made of felt and was made by R. John Wright. His name is Scott. The tiny blonde boy is made of felt and was also made by R. John Wright. His name is Cole. Lastly, is the vinyl boy made in 1967 and he is an NP Sasha doll. His name is Finn. I love them all but Finn has my heart completely. ❤

Heaven in England – Part 5

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The Sasha Celebration Weekend (SCW) Findings or also known as “The Loot”

A perfect name tag and the tiny shoes were in our Sasha bags and their Sasha-colored ribbons memorialize the 2nd Sasha Celebration Weekend 2016.

A simply fantastic owl sweater, hat and trousers made by Emma Flood. The display of her hand-made clothing pieces is perfection. 🙂

Diane Duke brought these two amazing mini-Kafee sweaters to the SCW since I had placed a recent order with her. Wonderful in every way!

Colorful and varied tights from Petrana.

Amazing cardigan knitted by Linda Simpson.

Colorful toddler coat by Judith of Dollydoodles.

Pretty play set for Sasha by Dollydoodles.

Red t-shirt by Dollydoodles. The knitted socks were made by Jane Woodward and I bought another pair which I could not locate. I think they are on a Sasha though.

Two pairs of much needed handsome trousers and a lovely sweater made by Lorraine.

Gorgeous smocked dress and pinafore for a Studio or Course doll and made by Marilyn Hotchkiss. They fit perfectly!

Lovely smocked goose dress for Sasha also made by Marilyn Hotchkiss.

Upon my arrival at Janet’s house, she had ready made several wonderful outfits that I had requested. This outfit worn by Gertie was made by Janet to include her knitted stripy socks.

Close up view. I think this outfit is perfect for Gertie to wear most days. 🙂

Janet made this outfit and Gertie wore it to the SCW.

Janet made this lovely Maid Marian outfit for my course doll, Mary.

Janet made these lovely pieces to go with Mary’s original dress.

Gwennie is modeling her “new” Sasha original tagged dress and the wonderful knitted cardigan and hat made by Janet.

A close up photo of my Gwennie. Thank you dear Janet. ❤

Brigitte is modeling the new cardigan and matching beret for us today. Janet knitted them for us.

I could not resist adding Janet’s Studio Doll Project book to my cherished Sasha book collection. ❤

Well, you might be asking, did you buy a Sasha doll. Well, yes I did and I am so thrilled to add this precious girl to the Sasha Shangri-La family. I am happy to introduce…..drum roll please………………………………

Please meet Janet a very lovely side part brunette NP made in 1967 and with non-falling hair! She is wearing a new outfit and her Rosie Bloom shoes were selected by me at the SCW raffle. Fabulous shoes! Her dress was donated by Jackie Kraemer and was also selected at the SCW raffle. While visiting with Tricia afterwards, we noticed the sleeves were a bit big for these petite girl. So, Tricia created juliette-styled sleeves by sewing gathers in places. I love the look, thank you Tricia!

Close up shoe photo.

Close up photo of Janet. Who is that? Tucked under her arm???

It is Fergus and a simply wonderful bear. Fergus was a gift from a dear Sasha friend and given to me at the SCW. I love him!!! Janet immediately bonded with Fergus too and they are now inseparable. Fergus has helped her adjust to her new home. 🙂

I saw Janet on the first day of the SCW but the owner was unsure about whether to part with her. On the last day, Sunday, the owner brought the doll over to where Janet and I were sitting and we both were admiring the doll. I shyly asked if she had decided whether to part with her and she said yes! So Janet came home with me to join our Sasha family. I did rename this lovely girl because Janet just seemed like the perfect name for her. ❤

Janet’s outfit that she wore at the SCW.

Lovely steel blue corduroy dress by Irene and leather shoes.

Janet’s drawstring travel bag was gifted by the previous owner and it is the softest linen with hand embroidery to include a heart. Just so wonderful. ❤

A close up of Janet and Fergus. ❤

After returning home, we unwrapped Finn’s ostrich marionette and we were so happy it made it back in one piece. Well designed DollMum! 🙂

A close up of the ostrich. 🙂

A beautiful outfit by Frances Tricket I selected at the raffle.

A thoughtful gift from Kendal and I think I did see her passing these out to the group. Bronson has his eye on these toys! 😉

Gifts from Janet and she picked them up at the pound table during the SCW. Very nice vintage handbags!

As a note, I packed for this trip very lightly. I had one carry on bag and one brief case which served to hold the dolls and my handbag items. I did this because I had a very tight connection in the airport coming back which would not be possible if I had checked luggage. I proceeded by looking up on the internet how to pack for 10 days using carry on luggage and it really helped to downsize and pack properly. However, once I added the lovely new Janet, my Mary that had been staying with Janet since I adopted her from Shelly’s site, plus all of the items above, I no longer had room for everything. I left Mary with Tricia who will bring her next month to the Festival. Mary is happily visiting with Tricia’s doll family. Also, I left a couple of purchases and some clothing at Janet’s house and some items at Tricia’s house too. I was prepared to mail them back to me but Tricia and Janet have room for these things since they want to have room for their Festival purchases that must return in the luggage. At the end of the day, it all sorted out nicely and I was able to catch that plane out of Boston on the way home. 🙂

Janet waterlogue

A waterlogue image of Janet for you to see. Thank you for visiting Sasha Shangri-La today and the next post will cover the amazing trip with Tricia to Paris, France! 🙂 xxx

Heaven in England – Part 4

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The Sasha Celebration Weekend (SCW)

We arrived at Eastwood Hall on a beautiful day!

Janet looks very happy to be there! The trip from her house was an easy one. 🙂

A strange photo but I love that tree in the distance.

The lobby where we entered already shows signs of a special Sasha event. Theresa was already very engaged in wonderful decorating of Sherwood Forest and a few merry men. She was also providing friendly car services for travelers. 🙂

Lovely program for the SCW. I managed to get it home without folding it. 🙂

A wonderful time ahead for us all.

I was so very happy to meet Kendal after years of writing back and forth on blogs, it was a dream come true for me. I was thrilled to have a part in setting up Kendal’s Sasha brood display. ❤

Kendal and her lovely daughter Chon. Many thanks to Chon for her super assistance in bringing Kendal and her stunning Sasha dolls to the SCW and helping to unpack and display them. So beautifully done! 🙂

My photos were taken at different times during the set up of the Kendal’s Sasha Brood.

Little Miss Nobody, I think! 🙂

Clarise or Gertie 2. ❤

So many stunning, gorgeous Sasha dolls. I was in Sasha heaven’ ❤

Miss Lippy looking quite wonderful and I really liked the special pine cones Kendal placed here and there. Lovely neutral and yet natural display background for her Brood. ❤

Fabulous no navels 🙂

Clarise or Gertie 2. Wonderfully painted by Janet. ❤

It was wonderful to see Kendal’s studio dolls to include her studio bebe plus her lovely course doll. 🙂

Eastwood Hall tree

While walking around the premises with Janet, we came upon Dee and Paul taking photos by a fabulous tree that I had noticed through a window while walking inside of the Hall. I asked Dee if she would take a tree photo for me since I had left my phone/camera in the room and here it is! Thank you Dee! What a fabulous tree! ❤

Lovely antique paper dolls donated by Ann Chandler for a silent auction. So nice to see the cake pops again! 🙂

A beautifully wrapped present from Kendal to me. Thank you Kendal! ❤

Inside is a wonderful box of chocolates with Gertie’s photo on the box top. How thoughtful! 🙂

I love this box and will keep it with my special Sasha gifts. ❤

The chocolates were delicious and Rick enjoyed them too! 🙂

A photo of the instructions to assemble the marionette in DollMum’s workshop. The plastic lid was a work surface to use glue when needed. I loved having the detailed instructions which gave me confidence that I could do it however, I still needed some individual attention from DollMum and she graciously provided me assistance. Great fun and Finn loves the marionette! ❤

I was able to make a quick Sasha mask and to sew a button on Jane’s knitted bag but do not have photos of them. Sadly, I missed Emma’s shoe workshop and Judith’s play mat workshop. All of the workshops were wonderful and many thanks to all of the ladies for donated their time and talent to conduct them. 🙂

Not the best lighting but some random photos of the dolls in the back of our meeting room.

My Gertie dressed in a new outfit made by Janet. I think it is Dee’s wonderful Jamie next to her on her left and Ann Chandler’s Rachel on her right side. The beautiful brunette Gotz girls holding the marionette belongs to Janet. 🙂

The Sherwood Forest display early before everyone arrived.

Janet made these fabulous course doll outfits and you may recognize my Mary who is Maid Marion above. I love the costumes!

Peek-a-boo, I see you there among the leaves! 😉

Janet’s brood. ❤

I think most of these lovely children belong to Diane Duke. 🙂

Congratulations Jonny! He won the last raffle item which is a fantastic customized Sasha by Janet. A wonderful way to end the raffle time which was all very enjoyable.

I think everyone there won a prize or two and it was such fun to watch the happy faces of those while they were selecting their prizes. I loved that time together. ❤

I realize now looking at my photos and comparing them to other blog posts that have already been posted about the SCW, that I certainly have some major gaps in my coverage of the events. I think I was so very focused on meeting everyone and enjoying the time together, that I did not always think about the camera. I hope you have enjoyed seeing these photos too. 🙂

I had the very best of times at Eastwood Hall and experiencing the events of the SCW. I will always remember my special visit to Nottingham and meeting so many of my dear Sasha friends. ❤ xxx

note: I will post photos next on the blog of the sales room purchases. 🙂

Heaven in England – Part 3

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On Thursday, May 12th, Gertie and I were in Janet’s kitchen about to begin the making of the “cake pops” for the Sasha Celebration weekend. Gertie is wearing a newly made outfit that I had asked Janet to make for her arrival. I love it! 🙂

My camera for the trip was my cell phone camera. The lighting is not the best but you can see Janet diligently working on the cake pops. Janet had a mold formed to make many tiny ball-like shapes and she placed cake batter into the mold and baked it until done and then she put all of the cake balls into the freezer until time to frost them.

A much better photo of Janet and Gertie with the cake pops. We put sticks into each cake ball and placed them on the cardboard rings you see in the photo. The blue frosting was first, then the white and last, the red frosting. I thought it was brilliant idea for the SCW! 🙂

Gertie was a tremendous help that morning. 🙂

What a fun time we all had in Janet’s kitchen with tea breaks of course! 🙂

Next, we walked from Janet’s house to the seaside to enjoy the view of the North Sea and to go to lunch! 🙂

I took a few photos along the way. We walked above and along the beach that you can see in the distance. So beautiful.

North Sea with Janet

A lovely view of the King Edward’s Bay and you can see a ship in the distance. 🙂

North Sea

I never tire of views of the sea though that day was brisk and overcast, it did not rain. It was wonderful to walk and look and just take it all in. Only a 10 minute walk from Janet’s house. 🙂

We found our way and walked down to see the restaurant straight ahead neatly tucked in the hillside at King Edward’s Bay in Tynemouth. 🙂

The view overhead was very impressive. I think it is the Tynemouth Priory and Castle imposing upon the skyline.

But we pressed onward to our luncheon destination. 🙂

Here we are! It is Riley’s Fish Shack where we ordered mackerel that came with tasty side dishes. I did not photograph the meal this time. I think it was because we were actually sharing our table with others since it was crowded that day. Most of the people dining were eating indoors rather than in the outside area due to the cool winds. The view was fabulous and the meal was delicious! ❤

A map to show that we were in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne area that day. The previous day we visited Northumberland area and visited Alnwick Castle. You can see how very close we were to the Scottish borders.

We returned home after lunch and spent some dolly time with Janet’s lovely and varied doll collection. Later we began our packing and preparation to leave the next day to join many friends at the Sasha Celebration Weekend in Nottingham.

There was a small package for me waiting at Janet’s house. A dear friend who lives in Spain had made gifts for Gertie and for Finn and posted them. She knew that I was going to make a day trip to Paris during my England stay and voila, wonderful french outfits for my happy pair. How very thoughtful to send gifts. ❤

Gertie loves her new dress which has Eiffel Towers in many colors, ric rac, and wonderful buttons! It fits her perfectly. 🙂

I love her dress too! Her sandals were made by Janet. 🙂

Thank you dear friend for such a lovely gift. ❤

Finn loves his wonderful France shirt! 🙂

I love it too! A perfect fit and a perfect boy’s shirt. Thank you my friend for your thoughtfulness. ❤ xxx

I had the best time with Janet in her part of England. Her hospitality was warm and kind and wonderful. I love this part of England so very much and I was just captivated by every aspect during my stay. I will always be grateful to have had this time with Janet and her husband Billy in their home in England. ❤

Thank you for visiting Sasha Shangri-La today and the next post will finally be the Sasha Celebration Weekend. 🙂 xxx

Heaven in England – Part 2

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Picking up where I left off on my last post as I had met Janet to be her guest for a few days. Janet drove us to visit Alnwick Castle and Garden and it was just spectacular! We really enjoyed the day spent there and the weather was perfect. Visitor maps were provided and the gift bag was from the gift shop where I picked up a couple of souvenirs. 🙂

The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland do reside in part of the very large castle. I will be sharing photos taken outdoors and photos were not allowed to be taken inside of the castle. I can understand that decision and will say that it was all very wonderful inside of the Castle. ❤

The water garden was so impressive and this photo shows a cascading water display area that is constructed on a noticeable grade up the hillside but also, the water displays came forth in unexpected and delightful patterns. The next few photos try to capture some of this water wonder. 🙂

Finn came along with us on the tour and was very impressed with the water garden. 😉

It was a lovely, beautiful day. 🙂

There is something very calming about the sound of water flowing and it is so soothing to hear and to see. 🙂

You could feel the mist in the air and the air smelled fresh and clean. Walking through the water garden was a delight to the senses and I could easily see myself happily repeating my walk daily if it were possible. ❤

It was wonderful to take time and experience the water garden.

It is important to allow ourselves to be refreshed and renewed. ❤

I really enjoyed the varied art forms designed to be in the water garden. 🙂

Janet fits well within this water display without getting wet! We also made our way through a bamboo maze which was a lot of fun to do.

This garden area is devoted solely to the poisonous plants. It is located beyond the locked gate and you can see the skull and crossbones plainly attached to the gates and thus ensuring we all “beware”. If you look at the hillside beyond, you can see the cherry trees in bloom. What a contrast!

This is the door to the hut where the tour guide resided. She was very knowledgeable about the plants and she emphasized the dire and often fatal consequences of encountering the plants in an unadvisable manner…..

Janet and I walked among the cherry trees which was much more friendly to see than the very interesting but macabre poison plants.

On a brighter note, you can see in the distance the fantastic Treehouse Restaurant. Janet made reservations and we had the best time there having lunch. 🙂

Walking up to the restaurant, Finn stopped to enjoy the beautiful scenery. 🙂

Finn is wearing a wonderful outfit made by the talented Sarah Williams and his black leather boots were made by Jean Jensen. 🙂

Lunch was a generous plate of fish and chips with tarter sauce and mushy peas. It was delicious and the atmosphere inside was pleasingly rustic. You felt like you were inside a treehouse. Even the chairs were made of thick wood boards aligned in an unfinished and asymmetrical configuration and they were surprisingly comfortable. It felt like you were in another world entirely…..magical. It was truly a wonderful experience. 🙂

Janet and I made our way to the imposing Alnwick Castle. The aged trees seemed to guide us toward the amazing Castle which was so very massive and solid and so firmly planted on the landscape. The word that came to me immediately was “Grand”. ❤

Photo of the lovely surrounding grounds.

So beautiful and so grand. I remember my excitement as we approached the Castle. 🙂

A closer view of the Castle walls.

Just inside the walls, you can see a tent in the distance where archery activities are offered to children. 🙂

More views of the Castle.

Janet capturing the grandness of the Castle. We went inside and made our way through the interior touring areas. We visited a gift shop and we saw many displays of historical significance and it was fascinating though a lot of time would be needed to fully participate and absorb the richness of Alnwick Castle. 🙂

Finn found an aged, stone friend tucked away in a corner. 🙂

I think Finn was a bit overwhelmed at how “larger than life” everything was at the Castle. 😉

A view of the grounds taken from the top of the wall. Janet and I saw peacocks in the distance and it was a very peaceful and serene view.

castle grounds

As we left, we noticed these gray colored birds just beyond the edge of the daffodils. The man seen on the left side of the photo was watching and following these interesting birds.

I hope you enjoyed this post, Part 2 of “Heaven in England” and thank you for visiting. It was a very, very lovely and unforgettable day spent with Janet at Alynwick Castle and Garden. I was blessed to be able to visit and I would love to return one day. ❤ xxx

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