USA 2017 - Sasha festival part 4

After viewing all the Dress a Sasha entries and voting on Friday afternoon, some of the children asked to be allowed to swim in the hotel pools - there was an indoor and outdoor pool.  So Fran and I went to watch and chat as they had fun in the outdoor pool. 

Having fun in the Marriott hotel swimming pool

Then after a quick shower and hairwash for my girl, we had an early dinner in the hotel restaurant, though I went to pack away our Dress a Sasha entries while we waited for our food as the voting had finished and the rosettes were being put out.  Each entrant was given a tiny Sasha necklace in a clear ziplock bag to thank us for entering.  I will blog about the other entries in another post.

The Children's Fund Auction is the event which most people at the festival look forward to keenly as it is fascinating to see how high the bids go for all the wonderful donations.  We came in to the ballroom where it took place just as they were finishing announcing the Dress a Sasha results - my girl won First prize for her entry (she had no competition, however people said many kind and complimentary things about her scene and creativity).

Pin the Tail on the Donkey with its first prize rosette

I had taken some photos of the first few CFA entries but didn't manage to complete the set (see Theresa's blog for the whole set).

Lots 1, 2 and 3 of the Children's Fund Auction

Lots 4, 5 and 6 of the Children's Fund Auction

Lots 7 and 8 of the Children's Fund Auction

The children love to help with the Children's Fund Auction which this year was conducted by Sheila as Marti was unwell so unable to attend.  The children take it in turns to bring up an item and hold it up for all to see while the bidding takes place.

Sheila welcomed us to the Children's Fund Auction

Expectant audience for the CFA

View of the first lots in the Children's Fund Auction from my table

My girl holds up lot 6 (doll not included)

I hoped to bid on a couple of items but the bidding went so high on the items I wanted (mainly anything smocked for my girl!) so my paddle went down.  I hadn't managed to look at or photograph all the items either, however Theresa did a great job of blogging every item after the festival.  I sat and recorded in my list what each item went for as I had brought over donations from Lorraine (Henry's Yearbook) and Gregorpolis (knitting by Lorraine) and my own donation of hand made toys for Sasha.  It was interesting to watch and sometimes when the bidding went very high, it became very exciting.

Holding lot 16 (doll not included)

Lot 41 (Henry's Year book for 2016)

The slides for Lot 41 (Henry's Year book for 2016)

Evening dress outfits - Lot 52 (dolls not included)

Lot 55 was Halloween themed

The toys I had donated to the auction (in lot 57) were the 3 kits from the Sasha Celebration weekend (2015 train engine and tender, 2016 marionette, 2017 push-along duck), a wooden sailing boat (Horizon) and an item I had made specially for the Festival, which is one of only two I have made.  It was described in the list as a wooden rocking horse, however it was not a rocking horse, it was a 'Little Wooden Horse' on wheels, along with a new hardcover copy of the Ursula Moray Williams book 'The Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse' which had inspired this creation.  I made one horse to donate and one to keep for my Sasha family.  It is entirely made from wood, with brass screws to hold the wheels on, stiff thread for its tail, and is painted in bright enamel paints.  Below are the photos I took of it to send to Marti for her slides.

The little wooden horse, right side

The little wooden horse, left side

The little wooden horse, right diagonal view

The little wooden horse, left diagonal view

The little sailing boat Horizon

The sailing boat with its box

The Little Wooden horse with its box and the book

The complete set of toys for Sasha by DollMum in Lot 57

At the festival my daughter took lot 57 up for the bids.

Lot 57 on display

My daughter holding Lot 57 (with a towel over her shoulders as her hair was still damp!)

Sheila auctions Lot 57

I was delighted to see the bids go up and up for lot 57 to $95 and was very pleased that Anne S (who had restrung Mabel for me earlier in the day) was the winner.

The Children's Fund Auction raised over $11,000 for children's charities, which was fantastic. 

After the auction, my girl could be found playing chess with her two Sasha festival friends in the hotel lobby with the giant set of chess. I could imagine the Sasha dolls using that set to play 'Wizard Chess' from Harry Potter but we didn't set this up as there wasn't any time during the festival.

The girls playing chess

It had been a long, fun and interesting Friday at the 2017 Sasha Festival.  The next post will be about Saturday at the Festival.

You can read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the 2017 Sasha Festival in separate posts.

Reader's Award

Oh Rebecca, what have you started!  Thank you for thinking of me in your Reader's award.  I really enjoyed reading about all the different books that you could associate with people whom you've met in blogland, especially as several of the books are already familiar to me.  I love The Shield Ring by Rosemary Sutcliff - the Lake District area where it is set is a place I love, and grew up with the Laura Ingalls Little House books and have them all.  However what you chose for me was a book I had not encountered:  The Adventures of Galldora.  I discovered when searching on Amazon that a second book was also available about Galldora the rag doll, so I managed to buy both from the same seller, and they arrived today.  This evening my 5 year old daughter and I enjoyed the first chapter - Galldora and the small reward - at her bedtime, so thank you for introducing these stories to us.

I'm supposed to obey the rules and think of books that I associate with the various blogs I follow, however, like Rebecca I'm going to cheat. Instead of dedicating books to any particular person, I'm going to talk about books I own and love that I associate with dolls and miniatures, and dedicate them to everyone who reads my blog.

One of the books Rebecca listed is Miss Happiness and Miss Flower.  I adored this book as a child, and the sequel Little Plum, in fact they inspired me so much I made my own versions of Miss Happiness and Miss Flower.

Their heads, hands and feet are Fimo, and their bodies, arms and legs are stuffed cloth.  Their wigs are black cotton thread stitched into a cloth pad which is glued to the head and their faces are very roughly moulded - I'm terrible at working with modelling clay - I carve and sew better than this.  Although I tried to model their features, they were not very distinct so today when photographing them I re-drew their eyes, brows and nostrils with a black felt tip pen.

Miss Flower on the left and Miss Happiness
on the right before I re-drew their eyes

After their faces were re-drawn

I also made their clothes, though they are not authentic, and their sashes are made of tissue paper, one is a bit decayed now.

In the photo with them is a small box with a roll top lid.  In the book their cupboard is a similar box, and when I found this one on a market as a teenager I thought it was perfect for my Miss Happiness and Miss Flower.

Ursula Moray William's Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse is similar in a way to the concept of Galldora, in that the horse leaves home and goes on many adventures before finally managing to get back to his beloved master with his treasure.  I loved this book as a child, and was delighted when we went to Miniatura a couple of years ago to find a miniature horse very similar to this one, which is perfect for my elder daughter's miniature toy and cake shop.

Another book I love by the same author is Malkin's Mountain - all about toy makers, carving wood, families, love and community.  What more inspiration could a budding wood carver want than a story such as this.  I've recently acquired the two other books in the set.

The Ship that Flew was one of those books I only discovered when I went to High School, because a copy was available in my school library, it was one of the few books that wasn't a teen, adult or reference book in the secondary school library.  It is a magical story about 4 ordinary children who get a ship in a bottle that takes them on wonderful adventures, including back in time.  I was taken with the fact that the eldest boy found the ship in a strange antique shop filled with curious things, but that the ship was what attracted him and he loved it and gave all he had in his pocket for it.  Who doesn't like browsing in antique shops, even if you can't afford most of what is on offer!

Another story series that is closely associated with miniatures is Mary Norton's The Borrowers.  I have collected all the books in the set over the years, and even have managed to buy Poor Stainless, an additional borrower story.  Not only were these stories a great introduction for a non UK child to various aspects of English culture, it was also a lovely way to get to know more about the English countryside, when Pod, Homily and Arriety venture out of the safety of the big old house in Buckinghamshire to find a new home, after their under floorboard sanctury is discovered by the humans.  One day I plan to explore that area of Buckinghamshire (Mary Norton lived near Leighton Buzzard) because it is not too far from where I live now.

Although the Family from One End Street stories by Eve Garnett don't mention dollshouses, the detailing of the the lives of the Ruggles Children is fascinating social history source material for anyone building dollshouses based in 1930s/1940s England.  Once again, these books were a good way for me to learn about a country I only visited once every 4 years during my childhood.  There are three books, and my all time favourite is the third when Kate Ruggles enjoys a glorious summer holiday at the Dew Drop Inn in her beloved countryside, a far cry from her urban home.

I have so many children's books - I spent many happy hours browsing various second hand book shops when I was a teenager, and discovered several delights, including the Eve Garnet books.  Our house probably contains at least 2,000 books (not all for children), but my children's book collection is very treasured, and I am especially pleased when my daughters discover kinship with books in the shelves, my library is meant to be used and enjoyed.