My July 4th Sale is happening now on eBay and Etsy. Link to my shops from the Home page and have a great weekend!

For the first time in quite a while I completed a new custom doll. I love making and customizing dolls, but day to day business and household tasks get in the way and I don't get to do as many of them as I would like. They also, especially if you're talking about Blythe or Pullip dolls, cost a hefty amount just as blank dolls. This particular doll, Pullip Dal Kagamine Rin from the Vocaloid anime, cost more than $50 when I purchased her a few years ago, despite her terrible condition. Rin's face was faded, her clothes were in tatters, and she even had insects in her hair! I gave her a complete makeover, from cleaning to re-painting. I made a custom dress for her. Now she's all ready to come home with you! This is a rare doll in original condition and with my restoration she's completely unique! Get the best price on my Shop page (international buyers please message me for a shipping quote) or find her in any of my other shops (link from the Home page).

The Father’s Day Sale is happening now on eBay and Etsy! Link to all my shops from the Home page.

Atelier Mandaline is closed for summer vacation until 6/20/2022. You may make purchases from my website and eBay store but shipment and message response will be delayed. Happy summer!

Join me tomorrow 6/8 at 2PM for my Whatnot live show ~ Squishmallows, Tsum Tsum, and more new and vintage plush! https://whatnot.com/user/ateliermandaline #ateliermandaline #whatnot

RESCHEDULED for 2:30PM. Hopefully Whatnot will be back up by then. https://www.whatnot.com/invite/ateliermandaline

(I have some very exciting news! I have been accepted as a Live Seller on Whatnot. Whatnot is a new marketplace that's kind of a combination of YouTube and QVC. You join livestreams with sellers to bid or buy their items. My first Livestream will be this coming Monday, June 6th at 12:38 PM EST. Join me for lunch (or breakfast if you're on the west coast) and an offering of dolls and doll accessories from the 1960s and 70s. I'm calling this show "Mod Monday" and one lucky winner will receive a Miss Merry mini doll completely free as a door prize (doll shown at the end of the video and in the foreground of the photo). To win the Giveaway you must 1) Follow me, ateliermandaline, on Whatnot and 2) Attend the live show. Here's the link:
​https://whatnot.com/live/27163629-6f1c-4a88-afcd-b2dc80e91243. 

Sign up for Whatnot with my referral link and when you make your first purchase you will get $10!
https://www.whatnot.com/invite/ateliermandaline. You can preview my first show and you will see, on average, my offerings are half what they cost on other platforms! This is due to the lower fees on Whatnot, as well as me being a new seller and the necessity to grow my following. If you have been thinking of purchasing any of my vintage Barbie, Crissy, or Dawn dolls or clothes, look on Whatnot first for the best price! I can't wait to see and talk to you live on Monday!

Don't be at all worried about purchasing on Whatnot: the application process for sellers is intense. All sellers have to submit a video application and photo ID and undergo a check of previous experience on other sales platforms and a criminal background check. Once accepted sellers attained a live class to check against their government ID and have to pass a test before being activated. It's a comprehensive job interview to ensure every seller is legitimate.

Today in a little bit of a departure, I wanted to give you the results of a little contest I held. I was very excited to find the old school La Cross manicure pencils by Sally Hanson on eBay recently. I was introduced to these back in the early 1980s when we first moved to North Carolina. Unbeknownst to me or my family I was causing a lot of consternation among the well-bred southern ladies of the neighborhood running around with dirty fingernails and wild hair, very often to be found in the creek and woods behind our house. Not only as a girl but as a "grown" girl, my behavior was unacceptable in the refined south. I should point out I was only 10 years old at the time and had grown up in the freedom of coastal California and then rural Ohio. I was constantly catching frogs and snakes and other animals. I am famous in the family for having once shown up at my grandparents' house carrying a carp I pulled out of the lake with my bare hands when I was four years old (yes, you read that right; I was allowed to play alone at the lake when I was four!) and showing up at my other grandparents' house carrying  a bird I caught by hand when I was around seven. My grandfather did start taking me fishing after the carp incident. At any rate, I was just still as wild at the age of 10 and my parents didn't see any problem with it. But in the neighborhood I later found out it was a scandal. I was tall and already quite busty so I looked much older than my age. A kind neighbor named Ms. Becky took pity on me and sent her daughter to fetch me to her front room decorated all over with her fabulous 1950s Madame Alexander doll collection and there they taught me to use the La Cross white pencils and orange sticks to manicure my nails. To use them you first clean under your nails with the pointy end of the orange stick. Then you push back your cuticles with the flat end of the stick. Then you dip the white pencil in water, much like an artist's water color pencil, and you color under your nail tips to whiten them. Then you can buff the tops of your nails or apply clear polish,

The white nail pencil was my first introduction to southern feminine graces and I am grateful to this day. I still had a lot to learn, such as not speaking too loud and never ever saying anything directly, but skirting any direct statement with genteel language (which once caused my midwestern uncle to accuse me of "talking longer without saying anything" than any person he ever heard!). Eventually I became an acceptable southern woman. I used the La Cross nail pencils for years but then they just disappeared from all the local stores. I was afraid they were discontinued. I don't know why it took me so long to think of looking not he internet but I finally did and found they are still made, along with new ones. I ordered both to compare.

My nails are a constant source of frustration to me because as an online seller I am expected to have a very elaborate manicure. Every woman posting online, whether to sell goods or promote fitness or post recipes, has an amazing manicure, at least seemingly. My work as a doll doctor and my gardening hobby makes that hard to maintain. My nails are always stained by red clay and my fingers are often scratched and cut from difficult repairs. Until I was finally able to get diagnosis and treatment for my Hashimoto's disease my nails were usually broken to the quick as well. I have been using the press on nails when I need to show my hands but it's an elaborate measure and adds quite a bit of delay to the listing process. So I am thrilled to have the option to buy the La Cross nail pencils again.

So, which nail pencil did I prefer? Each has pros and cons. The La Cross nail pencil is made of clay and it diminishes very quickly. You need to sharpen it between each use but there is no sharpener. The orange sticks come loose so you have to find a way to store them together. The white clay really coats your nail, however. It goes on like paint and covers extremely well.

The generic nail pencil has a lid that is angled so you can use it as both a cleaner and cuticle pusher. It's really nice to be able to store the two together. It is longer so you get more product and comes with a sharpener. The tip is much harder, however, and it doesn't apply nearly as thick. You need several coats and it still doesn't whiten as well. There are no ingredients listed on the package so it's impossible to say if the pigment is as innocuous as white clay.

​My choice is the La Cross pencil. As long as I can get them I will buy them.

As you can see, my nails might not be really elaborate, but they are perfectly respectable for showing my hands in photos or videos. The manicure is long lasting too. Nail polish and press on nails and even gel nails come off my hands immediately because I am so hard on them. It can take me hours to apply those manicures or to have them applied and they start coming off within days or even hours. This takes about 5 minutes and lasts every bit as long. 

Other products I used to get these results: the Adesse Age-Defying nail treatment cuticle oil, growth enhancer, and age-defying top and base coat. My sister and mother gave them to me for Christmas and they really work! Dr. Westin Childs' Hashimoto's treatment bundle, including his protein powder and his Thyroid Hair and Nails supplement is another thing that really helped my nails grow. When I started his treatment my nails were broken to the quick, even though I was using the Adesse treatments. If you feel something is wrong with your thyroid but your doctor isn't listening I highly recommend his website, restart.com. He has a chart to compare your thyroid test results and diagnose yourself. Hashimoto's, for instance, can't be diagnosed with a regular thyroid panel but he tells you what your results mean so you can show your doctor and arrange treatment or order it from him. I do not get any kind of payment for recommending Dr. Childs; I am just so thrilled to find help after so many years I want to spread the word!

I hope you enjoy this different type of post from me! After so many years of doll posts I enjoyed writing about something new. Please let me know if you would like to see more product reviews. I am working to enhance my affiliate marketing career, which has been sadly neglected. As always, when you link to eBay from my store or any of these product links I may receive a small payment, depending on if you make a purchase in a certain amount of time (I can't remember if it's 24 or 48 hours). You do not have to buy the products I am showcasing. I have used the products shown but may have ordered them from a different seller. They are not my products and I can't comment on the seller's performance as to shipping time, etc. I and my family appreciate your reading and clicking on my links very much! It enables me to still bring in some money now that we are away from home so often. 

The Atelier Mandaline holiday weekend sale starts today on eBay and Etsy! Link to all my shops from the Home page. This is a store-wide sale going on until midnight Tuesday 5/31.

If you signed up for my newsletter and did not receive an email notification of my last two sales please check your spam folder and click “Report Not Spam” to make sure my newsletter is delivered to your inbox. Make sure you click report NOT spam of course!

I wish the most relaxing holiday weekend for you.
​Sincerely, Amanda

It's time to celebrate! This is my birthday weekend as well as Mother's Day, so I decided to give you a gift: a weekend Flash Sale on eBay and Etsy. Link to both of those shops from my Home page. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow moms out there!

I wanted to update you on my health as well. My new medication is working and I am feeling much better. My stores are all open and my doll hospital is accepting patients again. My new doctor recommends meditation to help with healing of autoimmune diseases so I have been learning that and practicing. I am using the books and website of Jose Silva to teach me. I have done some visualization for years but never much meditation and never using vision boards or things like that. I started making my first vision board and realized many of the things I hoped for over the years have already come to pass! So even my "light" version of visualization worked! I started working from home, which had been my goal when I became pregnant, when our oldest was about 18 months old. As many of you know, my husband was disabled in a near-fatal work accident when I was about four months pregnant, so my transition to working from home was delayed a bit. I did get there, however, and went on to start my own business. We purchased our fish camp in 2019, a long-held goal. My next goal is to build my business to the point it can replace my husband's salary so he can retire from his extremely high-stress job. I also want to become completely healthy again.

​I am currently taking a class on drop shipping and plan to expand my consignment sales beyond just fashion so I can scale up and match my husband's current income without being tied to the house or having to expand my inventory to a warehouse with employees. Now that my kids are older I am able to spend more time on my business. I do still have a few more years as chauffeur so I am trying to be realistic. I am using the free guided meditation exercise at silvacenteringexercise.com every day to help myself relax and focus on my goals and the Vision Board app from the Apple store (also free) to create my vision boards. I focus on those before and after meditation. I hope these are helpful resources for you! May we all achieve our goals and live our dream lives!