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Friday, August 19, 2011

ARTICLE = MARILYN MANSFIELD SHOWS OFF HER 500 DOLLS ON 'MY COLLECTION OBSESSION'

Marilyn Mansfield Shows Off Her 500 Dolls on My Collection Obsession

"I'm not crazy at all, really! I just like dolls!" Marilyn Mansfield tells TVGuide.com. Her interest in dolls comprises one of four stories on TLC's special My Collection Obsession (Sunday, 10/9c). And while she may not be certifiable, she's certainly crazy for dolls. The show reports that the part-time model and actress has over 500 dolls (she says this number includes action figures and other approximations) she's collected over the past 10 years. Mansfield, who got her stage name by combining those of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, has a particular love of "reborn" dolls — those which closely resemble real babies and cost hundreds of dollars (Mansfield tells us that her most expensive doll cost $1,200). In typical TLC quirk-adoring fashion, the highlight of Mansfield's segment occurs when she carts a doll that's the size of a 5-year-old child into a shoe store to have it fitted, much to the astonishment of the store's employees.
We talked to Mansfield, 33, by phone and she explained to us that she's not actually obsessed or a hoarder, and that she has a good sense of humor about this whole thing, thank you very much.




You signed on to appear on a show called My Collection Obsession. Does that mean you agree that you're obsessed with dolls?
Marilyn Mansfield: I don't think so. To me, an obsession is something that interferes with your daily life and the dolls do not interfere with my daily life and what I need to do. I do other things and I think about other things. They are just a big part of my life. I see it more as a hobby that I'm extremely passionate about.

Your participation on this show, though, does imply that you're living a life outside of the norm.
Mansfield: Oh yeah, I don't think it's an average thing, but then again, I'm not your average person. I'm kind of unique in my own way. It's just something that makes me happy, and I don' t expect everyone to understand it. I feel like, "To each their own," and I hope people feel that way for me as well.

Are you ready for the Internet criticism that comes from appearing on unscripted TV?
Mansfield: Yeah, that kind of already started with the Post article. People were saying "crazy doll lady" and whatever. Anything that is out of the norm, people tend to judge, and people also judge things they don't understand. I'm not worried about it. I have a thick skin and I considered it going into the show. But most of the reactions are positive, and the positives of everything in my life outweigh the negative.
There's nothing strange about an addiction to TLC's My Strange Addiction

Do you have a day job?
Mansfield: No. I'm just with an agency and I submit for modeling and acting stuff, which is kind of sparse because obviously I don't look like your average model or actor. I've done a lot of work with independent companies, although I did model for Elizabeth and James a few years ago.

Does the money you get from those gigs go to dolls?
Mansfield: No, because I do a lot of trading. My husband has given me dolls as gifts and I put them on layaway sometimes. Stuff like that. My husband helps me out. If I get money, it's gone to dolls, sure, but the first priority is the real kids though.

How much did your interest in the spotlight motivate you to appear on this show?
Mansfield: It wasn't really about being in the spotlight at all. It was really just about: I have a really awesome doll collection and I thought  it was a good forum to show it off. It was about the dolls.

Your husband says on the show that he thinks you "genuinely love" your dolls. Is that true?
Mansfield: Yeah. I generally love them like a man would love his Rolls Royce. Anything you're super-passionate about and take pride in, you're going to love. Sure, I love them. I wouldn't have them if I didn't.

Is it a different kind of love from the one that you have for people?
Mansfield: Yeah. Obviously, people that I care for come first. It's a different kind of admiration, I would say. But they're weighted like babies and they're very lifelike. I always had a very strong maternal instinct, so it's hard when you hold a doll that appears to be a sleeping baby not to kind of fall in love with them. I've always loved children. When my kids were babies, I loved taking care of them and this is like that part forever.

From an armchair psychologist perspective, I'd look at you doting over dolls and think, "Oh, something tragic must have happened to her," or, "She can't have kids and is filling that void." But no, you have kids and void-filling doesn't seem to be going on in that respect.
Mansfield: Oh, no. My kids are the best thing in my life. I just love kids and babies. It's not filling a void, although I would recommend a reborn doll to someone who couldn't have kids. I think maybe it would be beneficial.

This hobby being as unusual as it is, do you ever take a step back and laugh at how into dolls you are as a grown woman?
Mansfield: Yeah! I joke about it constantly. I don't care. Sometimes, I'm like, "Whoa!" When we filmed the show, I said, "I didn't realize I had this many!"

Is there anything to be said for using dolls as a way of tapping your inner child?
Mansfield: There's a part of me that will always be a big kid. One of my big influences is Pee-Wee Herman. I have a blast with my kids. I'll play games with them and stuff. I have a fun side of me that's a big kid in a way.

This season, both Hoarders and Hoarding: Buried Alive featured women who were doll enthusiasts. What separates you from a hoarder?
Mansfield: I do not consider myself a hoarder at all. Each one of my dolls has its own place. I'm not stepping over mountains and mountains and mountains of dolls and they're not dolls out of the garbage. There's clear room. My apartment is extremely clean, whereas a hoarder is tripping over everything if you can even make your way through. It's not collecting when you have garbage. I did see that one woman, the doll surgeon. I thought she was cute.

Phyllis hoards dolls, performs surgery on them in Hoarders season premiere
On the show, you say your doll collection is something that adds to your life. Can you sum it up exactly what it adds?
Mansfield: It brings personal joy to my life. There's not anything negative that I can say about it. If I don't have money for a doll, I don't have money for a doll and that's it. It's just something that makes me very happy that I do by myself. My family is very supportive. I'm very lucky. If I'm out all day and I come home and watch TV while holding one of the baby dolls, that's very rewarding.
Watch Marilyn visit the shoe store with her doll in the clip below:

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

MICRO & PREEMIE BABY CLOTHES - MONKEY INSPIRED

was just looking online today and found these in select PREEMIE BABY CLOTHES sites.

i was looking for specific to MICRO PREEMIE monkey clothes so id have something to dress EMMA/EMMET in when i finish Her/Him

i was surprised what came up on this search. there was allot! :)
heres some pics.

ENJOY!
MICHELLE



Monkeys are YELLOW.





I think this is so cute, ill prolly get this!







top and hat, with a close up shot of the print, that has the money in it.

i like THIS outfit as well. i might get this one too.

monkeys are PINK.


Friday, August 12, 2011

ME & REBORN MONKEY & EMMA KITS

these are some image si mad eof me and the EMMA kit...shows how small she is against an average kit head (allbeit a monkey)

and then the BINDI & BINKI Money Kits
and CHAZ & CICI Kits
MICHELLE

EMMA KIT HAS ARRIVED!


man! im gonna say one thing about BountifulBaby.com THEY ARE FAST!

when did we put that order in? 3 days ago? and today i got her! amazing!

came in a tiny box, not like my monkey kits.
but a box, youd expect to get a hard back book in, seriously. i looked at that thing, thinking, theres no way shes stuffed in that.
and yet, when i opened it, there she was, perfectly fine, no damage what so ever.

and shes small.
i wanted to see how small.
man! 10 inches is like..tiny..lol

heres a side by side of her head and  one of my monkey kits.
im so excited! cant wait to start working on her.
making babies, selling them for some money. i just hope i do well enough at this that it pays off in the long run.

i was on another reborners  facebook page and someone was asking how much her dolls were because the individual wanted to get one for her daughter/grand daughter. and the reborner said they start at 150.00 just for the materials, and thats not including the cost of time invested in working on these babies.

she went on to say it takes several days to  paint the layers.
and it can take as much as 20 hours to do the hair alone.

then, you have to factor in the cost for clothes and accessories to go with the baby when purchased as well...

her quote to the person asking? 300-500.00
and people pay this for these babies.

its a market.
and i want to try to get into it.

theres another doll/train show coming up in about a year, im hoping to have a few dolls in it for sale.
ill even try to have one or two dolls in train outfits on the train side, just for the fun of it, and too see if people would be willing to buy them. im thinking 2. one boy, one girl.
and the doll side (which i never got to go look at last time, for any reborn dolls) ill have (hopefully completed) 5-10 by then, of course, a monkey or two. just to be different.

so, i have to be thinking of the investment going into the 1st baby with a set of overalls, and a tain hat on, with a train toy, as well, because it was my thought at the last show to have a couple of dolls at the show on the train side that were "train" oriented. as display, and for sale.

so i have to find a kit, thats not too expensive , and be working on that at the same time im working on emma.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

ARTICLE- FACEBOOK GAME AIMS TO SAVE GORILLAS, TIGERS, AND MORE THROUGH PLAY

ill be adding this flash/game/link (somehow) as an additional page for people to play to help save endangered animals

MICHELLE
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Facebook game aims to save gorillas, tigers and more through play

by Joe Osborne, Posted Aug 8th 2011

If Zynga's past donations to Haiti, Japan and other ailing nations have taught us anything, it's the enormous capacity for Facebook games to help others in need. But Good World Games has decided to extend that good will towards others in social gaming to animals, namely gorillas.

Its newest game is called My Conservation Park, and the developer has joined in partnerships with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, WildAid and three more organizations to donate 15 percent of the profits from all in-game purchases to helping those organizations save a wide variety of endangered wildlife.

Players connect to the game through Facebook, and must preserve and protect a series of parks for five different animal species: gorillas, tigers, whales, monkeys and sharks. Each park has its own native animals that players must care for in both its Protect and Erich modes.

In Protection Mode, players have to track down poachers and click them to rid the park of them. Once the nasty poachers are gone, you must clean up and preserve your parks by decorating them with items found in the shop in Enrich mode.

The game doesn't play much differently from standard social games other than the ability to turn the action on and off through Enrich mode and Protect modes. There are also a few mini games to play like Wildlife Tagging, which tasks you with tagging the animals you save, but not twice or you'll lose points. As you progress and successfully protect and preserve more animal habitats, you'll gain access to new parks, items and animals to save.

However, it's up to you to make donations through the game's primary currency, simply known as Gold. But we bet after one look at those adorable cartoon animals--or the extra information (and video courtesy of Sigourney Weaver) Good World Games provides--you'll start reaching for the old wallet. The only thing this game needs is a cameo from Alanis Morissette.

Click here to play My Conservation Park through Facebook Connect Now

SOME CUTE BABY GIRL 'MONKEY' CLOTHES

so, because ive committed to making sure that i represent with every baby that i sell, either by having the baby BE a monkey (my primary interest) or having clothing thats inspired by monkeys, or having an accessory thats a monkey..ive been looking for GIRL clothes with monkeys on them.

my reasons for representing the primate population is so i can donate proceeds from every sale to primate preservation.
so, i want to make sure im representing primates (monkeys and apes) in some form or fashion with every baby that i sell.

im finding, the market is less inspired for baby girls, although there IS clothes, theres not as much as looking through boys , which seem to have tons.

im thinking, ill probably be making more boys, lol. NOT! ill go as i feel the baby inspires me to do so.
heck, EMMAS not committed to HAVING to be a female...shes not got anything in her head or limbs that require me to make her a girl, she COULD be a boy...if i went that direction. i havnt seen anyone make emma into a boy yet, though.

anyway, back to my subject.

i was online looking for baby clothes, primarily Preemie baby girl clothes that have monkeys on them.

seems CARTERS (the same comapny that i have the blog about the preemie baby boy outfit i bought) has the market on baby girl preemie 'monkey' clothes.

heres a few examples:


 this set has 3-4 different outfits in it, so for the money its an excellent deal.

if you look close you can see a monkey is in the mix of animals on the chest.


a fleece sleeper, with monkeys (in close up image of fabric) print.

emma COULD be made into a boy.

emma as a blank.
i guess if i made emma into a boy id have to name her EMMET? whats the male name for emma anyway? i wonder if there is one.

looked online found this:
Emmett  Male Variant of Emma; a Premedieval Girl's Given Name  male  English 

so, EMMET is the Male version of the name EMMA

so, i guess i could name him (if i make emma into a boy) Adam-Emmet. except thats not the nae of the kit, id better stick with my original idea. and make Emma a girl, so i can keep that idea.

MICHELLE

Monday, August 8, 2011

BOUGHT THE DENISE PRATT - EMMA REBORN KIT From www.BOUNTIFULBABY.com

The EMMA KIT, reborn by Chelles babies. NOT MY WORK.

DENISE PRATT KIT: EMMA artfully done by: Chelles Babies.

EMMA KIT-HEAD

so, i went to go see if emma and byron were still listed on Bountifulbaby.com, and saw that the sellout for EMMA was at a HIGH...means there are very few kits available.
Byron, has never had that note as long as i have been watching him.

so, i told craig. i NEVER see emma listed, it was  a coincidence (if you believe in that kinda thing) that she happened to be listed at the time of craigs paycheck.

so i said. shell sell out and i dont have any idea when shell be back in stock.
i reminded him, my original plan was to get 2 byrons, and discussed with him the option to swap one out and just have one byron and an emma..so i could get both of them...
and he asked if i would be ok in just getting emma, and waiting on byron.

IS HE KIDDING?!?!?!
SURE! shes gonna be gone sooner than the next paycheck...if hell let me get her, then i say..GO FOR IT!
so, he did.
he let me buy her.

hes a good husband. hes a REALLY good hubby. lets me endulge, often in my artistic endevours (as long as the pay stub will allow) and puts his own things on the back burner to allow me to be happy...cant really ask for more than a good husband who wants too see his wife happy.

and maybe ill be good enough at this to get some cash flow in the home, and do something i like doing. well see.
my mainc-depression, bi-polarism often has me start projects, but rarely ever completing them, because i get bored so easily with the routine. im hoping this isnt the same thing. i could really make some good cash flow from this if i do really well at it.

im trying to break into this industry, and its gonna take some cash upfront (what doesnt , right? lol) to get started in this.
but if i have the kits, i can at least have them sitting, staring at me, yo try to make some cash flow off of.
emma, might be the 1st baby i actually sell.

i really dont have that much attachment to her. i mean, im not endered to her. she hasnt "touched" me in any way to make me want too keep her, so for the most part, ill take pics AS i work on her and  have her be my 1st baby ill sell and use her as a part of my PORTFOLIO of reborn babies i have done.

so, within a week, EMMA will be here at my house.

i guess id better figure out a name for her...lol

seems other reborn artists take a kit and make it into a reborn baby and then name it something else...

i should find a name that means 1st, or number one, or  something along those lines.

i just went to a baby naming site and punched in the meaning One, and FIRST and it lead me to ADAM, which made me think of EVE...

so, i think ill name EMMA, EVE
maybe even something like EVE-EMMA, or a derivitaive of them both that sounds good together.

looking online ive fund this:

EVE
Meaning- LIFE
Origin- HEBREW
From the Hebrew name Chava, which was derived from the Hebrew word Chai "life". In the Genesis, Eve was the first woman, wife of Adam and "the mother of all that lives". It is her role as a mother that is put forward in this name.
ALTERNATE NAMES MEANING THE SAME THING:
EVA
EVELYN
EVIE


EMMA (the kits name)
Meaning- ALL CONTAINING, UNIVERSAL
ORIGIN- GERMAN
Emma might be a form of Erma, a short form of various names which begin with the Germanic element Erm(en), Irm(en) which can mean 'strong' but is more literally translated as "whole" or "universal".
For some, it is a diminutive of Emmanuelle

im thinking EVELYN-EMMA sounds good.

and if i do that, all dolls would have the original kit name in them to represent the kit.
or i could do it as EMMA-EVIE..using the kit name as the first part of the name, to designate its original name.

would be easier to do it as a second name, less likelihood of confusion, because i can pick any other name as the 1st name, then designate the later name as the original kit name to make the distinguishing reference to it, (in the even anyone ever asks. "what kit was that?")

So, EVELYN-EMMA it will most likely be, then.

and my web page idea, will begin with her when she has been done.
shell also be a part of my personal bio on the page as the 1st kit i ever did.
if i sell her, id ask the patron take a picture of themselves with her to show how she will be taken care of  in her new home.

as part of my bio, as well.

i mean, she IS the 1st of many (i hope to come)

so i guess wre in the NEW PREGNANCY stage of this whole reborning thing right now.
we just got "pregnant" waiting for the time to go by enough to see  an "ultrasound" of her (the arrival of her kit)
and then as i work on her, he phases of gestation, until the moment she is completed and "REBORN". sure hope it doesnt take 9 months, lol

unless i keep her, because shes my 1st, im just a "surrogate mother" lol.
creating babies for others to adopt and love on.
EMMA Kit: done by Chelles Babies. not my work.

EMMA kit, Done artfully by: Chelles Babies. Not MY work.
MICHELLE

Thursday, August 4, 2011

GETTING BYRON THIS WEEKEND? MAYBE EMMA TOO? OR POSSIBLY ANOTHER MONKEY PAINTING?

WOOO HOO! it felt like..FOREVER..since we had any cash...it was 2 weeks, but a very lean 2 weeks...

one of the hopes for this check for me was going to be (given there was enough money to do so) the BYRON kit from bountifulbaby.com

i went too see what was on the site, just because i had an update email pop in telling me of a new kit that was available, and i decided to look at byron..again. and dream.
i was surprised to see, sitting right beside him for the same price ANOTHER kit, for a baby named EMMA.



same price.

so, i asked the hubby of it were possible to get her AND byron, swapping out an extra byron for her instead. he said hed see if we could do that.

this weekend is our anniversary. 5 years married.
and he promised me wed ALSO go and see the animal art exibit (2nd year) so i can see the monkey art.
last year we bought me a GORILLA painting. done by a gorilla here at the Oklahoma zoo.
its so cool. i cherish it. seriously.


so, im kinda hoping i can get another painting this year, to add to my original monkey artwork.
(crossing fingers). i was hoping to get a chimp painting this year...next year id get an orangutan painting...
the paintings are about 100.00 for a painting about the size of a sheet of paper...mines a frame done by the gorilla that surrounds HIS picture.  very vibrant and colorful.

i may have to hold off on byron AND emma...to get this painting. i can only get it once a year. at this particular art show and exhibit.

so, im torn.
because id REALLY like to start with this reborning.
even tho i know that getting just the kits doesnt really get me very far in this industry. i still have allot to purchase to even create these babies.

so my quandry is to go ahead and get the kits, and still be waiting for the rest of the items needed to make them, or getting the painting (if we can afford it) and having another art piece thats original...one of a kind real monkey painting.

kits together are gonna be cheaper than the painting.

MICHELLE

PURCHASED A PREEMIE BABY BOY OUTFIT (With a Monkey on it, of course, lol)

we finally got paid...felt like friggin FOREVER too! 2 weeks went on like a years worth...not sure why, maybe because of the intense heat here in oklahoma this summer...

but FINALLY, craig got some money back in his bank account, so we went shopping for school supplies for my 17 year old son..(WOAH! i just registered that phrase! HES 17! MAN! *shed a small tear*) and some groceries.

we had to walk right beside the infant section to make it to the other side of the store for some other things, and i stopped, looked for the preemie section, hoping id see something in MICRO PREEMIE...becasue im trying to find my BYRON kit soemthing cute to wear that has a monkey on it...
well, i never saw anything in MICRO PREEMIE, but i did find preemie...
and a cute little outfit to try and see if BYRON would, or wouldnt fit in it when im done crafting and painting him.

its a sleeper/ play outfit.


it has a monkey on the chest:


and the CUTEST little footies that are monkeys as well!


its a CARTERS outfit, that when i go to the web site, isnt even listed on there...



so, the idea is too see if when i complete BYRON he fits in it, if not, i have an outfit for a slightly larger baby in a preemie size then.

MICHELLE

Monday, August 1, 2011

NEWS - DOLLY WALLIES-COPS SMASH CAR TO SAVE BABY, FIND ITS A DOLL

 I wonder how many times this kinda thing happens...MICHELLE

===============================================================

Dolly wallies

Cops smash car to save baby...& find it's a toy 

Realistic ... doll in car cops broke into


COPS smashed a car window to save a "baby" left in the motor on a sweltering day - only to find it was a realistic DOLL.

Chanel Cristofis, five, left the doll called Sam in her dad Anastasi's Vauxhall Zafira when he dropped her off at school.
He then went to work at the fish and chip shop he owns.
But a passer-by in the chippie car park spotted the eerily lifelike £100 Reborn doll and called the police in Worksop, Notts.
Amid fears the "child" could die in the heat, officers broke into the car before realising their mistake.
Reborn doll Sam

Anastasi, 37, said: "I couldn't believe it when the police turned up holding the doll and told me what had happened. The officer told me not to leave it in the car again."
The detail-packed dolls are a hit with little girls. Artists work painstakingly to make them look like real babies - even giving them birthmarks and tiny veins.

Chanel's mum Victoria, 25, said: "She is inseparable from this doll but it has caused all sorts of problems.
"A woman in a supermarket saw Chanel shaking it and was horrified. She asked what sort of mother I thought I was to allow my baby to be treated like that. I can see why the police did it. If it had been real, everyone would be thanking them."
Police are to pay for more than £200 damage done to the car. Sgt Robert Holmes said: "The call was made in good faith. Drivers need to think about what they leave on view in their cars."