Search This Blog

Thursday 21 May 2015

Sasha Celebration - part 1

The overwhelming response to my previous post about collecting treasure has been lovely - thank you to those who have read and reflected on what I said about why we collect things.

To celebrate our small Sasha collection we took all 8 of our Sasha and Gregor dolls to the Sasha Celebration weekend organised by Janet and Lorraine (with help from Tricia and Theresa) from 15th-17th May, at a hotel near Nottingham.  As soon as we heard about this event last October my daughter and I knew we had to attend, and reserved our places.  Subsequently I offered a craft workshop to the organisers as the theme of the weekend was to focus on crafts for our dolls then had lots of fun designing and creating a prototype for approval before going ahead with plans, but more about that in another post.

Although many of the other 28 attendees arrived earlier in the afternoon on Friday, my daughter didn't finish school until 3:00 pm, so it wasn't until 3:30 pm that we set off up the M1 to Nottingham.  The traffic was slow, so the journey took longer than hoped, however by 6:00 pm we were checking into the hotel and meeting the other collectors who were beginning to gather for dinner.

Reuben gave Henry a much longer rope ladder for his tree house, however I didn't take a photo of the handover.  Conversation time at dinner was a good opportunity to get to know other Sasha collectors and enjoy the food.  We brought Laura and Reuben to dinner.  Laura was wearing my first attempt at smocking outfit which I made before I made the smocked dress for the 2013 Sasha Festival doll.

enjoying pudding
Lorraine had brought her Makie doll 'Wren' to the dinner table, as well as the famous Henry.  My girl had great fun posing Wren, whom Lorraine had dressed as Velma from Scooby Doo.  The Makie dolls are 3D printed, you can design their faces online and then they are printed.

playing with Wren, the Makie doll pretending to be Velma from Scooby Doo
Wren strikes a pose
Wren sits on a wine glass
Laura and Wren
Wren became more bold and sat on Laura's head!  I'm not sure what Laura thought of this.
Wren sits on Laura
This turned into high jinks when Laura sat on my daughter's head with Wren on top, much to everyone's amusement.
A tower of dolls and girl!
Henry remembered his horse riding friend Laura from the adventures in our back garden last year.
Henry and Laura get reacquainted, I think they forgot to pour the wine
Someone is getting interested in the wine
Two beautiful Sasha's at dinner
After dinner, some of us went to the hall where the raffle and the Studio Doll project had been set up (some of the others had seen them before dinner).  Those dolls who came to dinner played some games while we admired Janet's Studio Doll project and the raffle.
Playing together after dinner
Reuben wearing a water lily made from a table napkin
Playing party games
Doll photography
Dancing the conga
Admiring Janet's Studio Doll project
some of the Studio Doll project dolls
the twins from the Studio doll project
Amazing beaded dress and her eyes... dreamy
The beaded dress in full
I took more photos of the Studio Doll project the following day, which will be in a future post.
A glimpse of the raffle, before all the prizes were added
The raffle doll
The raffle items on the Friday evening
Then it was off to bed for my daughter while I sat quietly in our room and knitted to finish an outfit for the sales the next day.  I managed to finish the cardigan but still had the headbands to make, so I knew the next day was going to be very busy.  More about that in part 2.

8 comments:

Serenata said...

Brilliant write up DM! You got some great pictures of Wren as well - she got up to far more than I realised! ;-) Some wonderful photos that show just what a great event it was.

Will look forward to the next instalment.

Ginger said...

Hi Anna. Thank you for posting the photos from the Sasha Celebration weekend. It looks like such a wonderful time together with friends and Sashas. So very nice that you and your daughter were able to attend. I look forward to seeing your other posts. Ginger :) xxx

Dee said...

Looks like everyone had a great time, love seeing everyone's Sasha's the girl in the short black wig looked lovely , her dress was pretty too.

Elisabeth said...

Hello again,

I am so sorry about that double post for your last entry. I am very new to blog commenting and I thought that my first comment had not gotten through, so I wrote it again (slightly different words, but same sentiments). I meant every word of my double posts though, and thank you again for sharing.

This post is wonderful. Such beautiful photos of the studio doll challenge and wow what an incredible array of talents that project showcased, absolutely incredible, especially that gorgeous Asian doll! I am sorry that you did not get as much chance to wander around due to your project table. I hope that your crafting was well received and a big success.

Your Sasha family is lovely and I am so thrilled that your beautiful daughter shares your enthusiasm. I really think more girls should be playing with Sasha dolls, and I agree with your opinion that it is such a shame that girls are forced to "act grownup" so early these days, and give up dolls. I played with mine until I was at least 15; no stigma attached, as my friends all did too.

I also wish that more boys felt free to play with dolls past the age of 4. My brother played with dolls, and it did not make him strange or effeminate. He is now the father of two beautiful girls, and one of the best fathers I know (though admittedly, I may be bias).

Thank you again for all your marvelous posts. This blog has been such a joy to read.

Kendal said...

So pleased that you and your daughter made it in time for the evening meal as Friday's traffic is always so slow and heavy.

Although I had arrived slightly earlier I was giving my brother and his wife and one year old niece, who all very kindly drove me there, afternoon tea before they had to drive back so I too didn't get to get a quick glimpse of the Studio Doll replicas and the raffle until after dinner.
Plenty to dream on that night!

Anonymous said...

The Beaded dress is stunning. Great to be able to view these pictures and your daughter looks like she had lots of fun. Vivienne

Sharon said...

Looks like you had a great time and so did your dolls! It was lovely that you were able to take the whole family of Sasha and Gregors with you, so nobody got left at home!

twizel said...

Hi Dollmum i am just catching up with the comments on my blog. Lovely photos of a memorable time thanks for sharing Theresa x