Here’s a super fast unboxing video of some new arrivals to my inventory. Not shown, Dooney & Bourke, orYANY, and GILI bags, Børn shoes, and Susan Graver pieces. My next live show on Jamble will be 12/8 at 7:30PM, one week from today. Message me to request anything you want added to the show. Prices will start at $1!

I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving holiday! Ours started out wonderfully; we got to attend a Carolina Hurricanes hockey game in a suite with supper in the team family room. The next day our son got to play a practice game with Rod Brind’Amour (this was all for his birthday because he’s a rabid fan). By the end of the week, however, he had a fever of almost 105° and bad cough. When break was over swim team ramped up so I’ve been carpooling like crazy. Our daughter is waiting on a DMV appointment to get her license so I can stop driving her, but in the meantime, I didn’t even eat supper until after 10pm Tuesday because I was running around so much! I’m also taking two different marketing classes and learning new software. So please excuse my nails and hair in the video; I’m between manicures and hair coloring sessions! I hope to see you live next week!

Black Friday Deals available now from my eBay, Etsy, Shopify, & Redbubble stores! Link from the Home page to all my shops. Save up to 60% off, including giftable HOODIES!

My most recent doll hospital patient is a tourist doll from Spain or somewhere similar, probably made prior to the 1950s. She came to me for restringing, which seemed straightforward until I took her apart and found she was strung with straight pins. I have never seen anything like it before! So, in case you come across a doll strung this way, here is a tutorial.

Straight pins were used instead of hooks.

Cut a piece of wire the size of the original pins. It needs to be long enough when folded to fit into the limb and then turn to wedge inside. There are no hooks and bars in this type doll so the elastic is held in with the pins. Fold the wire in half and tie on a piece of elastic about twice as long as the distance from the limb to the center of the torso.

Move the elastic knot to the center of the wire and crimp the wire around the elastic so the knot won't slip off.

Poke the end of the wire into the limb.

When the wire is fully inserted into the limb rotate the wire sideways so it stays in place when you tug on the elastic. 

Repeat on all the limbs.

Place the limbs in their spots and draw the elastic through the pelvis and torso to the center of the body. Draw each piece of elastic through a bead that fits inside the body.

Test all the limbs and if they are tight enough cut some of the excess elastic so it all fits inside the body. Release the body to its regular position. 

Head over to the Shop page to see my new design! It has only taken me FOREVER but I finally managed to link my new fine art store to this website. My new website was necessary for me to make shoppable products on sites like Instagram and Pinterest but it doesn't get anywhere near the traffic of this one, my original website. Therefore, I used embedded code to link the two sites, Products I list on my new site will automatically upload to the Shop page here. I am very proud of myself, although it's an automated process on Shopify so it's really just copying and pasting once you link the products properly. It's taken me a month to figure it out with all the new stuff I'm working on however, so I am proud!

Over the past few months I've been learning a new software, taking a marketing class, and I opened my 14th and 15th new shops! I really didn't want to add another thing to my plate, but Jamble made me an offer I couldn't refuse, so I went ahead and committed to it. It is a great option for those of you who need clothing. I have a live sale with prices starting at $1 Friday, November 18th at 2 PM EST and another on December 10th. The first one is women's fall and winter clothes and the second will be men's clothing. Jamble will give you $10 to shop when you use this link to join the sale. Jamble only works as an app so you will need to scan the QR code with your phone to get the app if you are on a computer. You must attend the sale to get your credit, so mark your calendars! Since Jamble pays me to sell on the site I can start my auction prices during the sale very low. Most pieces start at $1! You can also make offers and use Buy It Now outside the sale for the regular price (I only get paid for the live sales).

Still, it's been really exhausting. We were supposed to go up to the cabin this weekend but we couldn't since my husband had to work due to Hurricane Nicole. No one woke me up this morning and I slept until almost 1PM! I feel great now! It shows me how really sleep deprived I was though.

My latest project is designing a line I am calling "Hurricane Camo". This was requested by my teenage son. I started with hoodies and swimwear and now there's a complete line with home goods like bedspreads available from my Redbubble boutique. I will be adding towels and maybe some drinkware soon. The great thing about having teens is how they help me keep up with the trends. Since I added the camo line my website traffic is up over 400%! It's a little disappointing my fine art isn't as attractive, however.

At any rate, now you can keep an eye on the Shop page instead of having to click back and forth between my websites to see my custom lines and artwork, As a reminder, all my custom goods are printed on demand, which means there is no manufacturing waste. They are not created until you order them, so it's the most sustainable way to shop new items and you should be really proud of yourself for being such a responsible consumer. In most cases the wait isn't any longer than any online order as well! I have noticed while walking around discount stores in our town my prices are the same or even less for many items too, which is really something considering you are supporting a local artist instead of a big corporation!

Join my first Jamble Live Sale on 11/18 at 2pm EST and Jamble will PAY YOU TO SHOP! Get $10 when you use the link in bio & join the sale. 50+ pieces of womenswear for fall & winter, about 1/2 NEW!!! Use this link 👉 https://jamblelink.com/show?show=e8mm4J50g3slsJW4PHBt&profile=s2ZUazMWIjgT8saZMbEunMjvUQp1 And ATTENTION RESELLERS ~ Jamble gives me an allowance to shop so I can price low! Make sure to hit this sale if you need inventory. #ateliermandaline #jamble

When you’re selling print-on-demand products like I am, you really need to make sure the finished item meets your expectations. So, I’ve been ordering various things from myself in the interest of quality control. I’ve been wondering how well my digital paintings would print at large sizes and I have an empty wall I’ve been wanting to fill for several years now, so I ordered my Sound, Sun, Storm painting as a 36 x 24” canvas print.

I placed my order on 10/28 and it arrived today, just 6 days later! That’s pretty good for print on demand. The reason print on demand is so much better for the environment is the items aren’t manufactured until
theyre ordered so there’s no waste of products that get thrown away if they don’t sell. But a lot of people are turned off by the idea of waiting for their product to be made. This really wasn’t any more wait than anything else I’ve ordered online!

I’m really impressed with the print, too. I was worried it would be fuzzy or blurry but it’s pretty sharp. I was not sure if digital art would print well at large sizes but this semi-abstract seascape blew up really well. The gallery wrap canvas is great for a high placement like this too because it looks nice from any angle. “Gallery Wrap” is so named because many artists paint the sides of their wrap around canvases so they can exhibit them without the expense of buying frames for every piece.

Sound Sun Storm depicts one of my very favorite places ~ South Beach on Hilton Head Island, looking across the Calibogue Sound at Daufuskie Island. We stay in South Beach once or twice a year if we’re lucky. Now I can see it any time right from my family room! You can order this print, along with many other products from my art website A. Mandaline Art.


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New! My Scandinavian Christmas Collection is available from atelier-mandaline.myshopify.com #ateliermandaline #amandaline #amandalineart

Hi! I recently started another website and as usual, when I change my logo or anything, people are unsubscribing saying they never signed up for my list because they don't recognize me and don't read the message. So, I thought I should re-introduce myself. I do have a number of new subscribers and some of you might not be very familiar with me. My name is Amanda Baer Boggs. I am an artist, designer, writer, and online seller. My grandfather nicknamed me "Mandaline" when I was a child. My brand is Atelier Mandaline and I write the Mandaline Artful Living blog. Most of you know me as a doll artist and doll shop and doll supply seller. My new website is called A. Mandaline Art and it's exclusively focused on my fine art, handmade goods, and fashion design.

First of all, you DID sign up for my newsletter if you are getting emails from me! I don't use that software that subscribes any customer who purchases something to a deluge of emails. I don't like it when that happens to me. Also I am a big rule-follower and Mailchimp requires permission from the email recipient. To get my newsletter you have fill out the newsletter or email form on one of my websites and I enter you manually into my list. I don't even manually add my followers to my email list! A lot of business coaches would say that's a terrible waste and I'm losing money but I believe in treating others the way I want to be treated and I hate being added to email lists without my permission. I do occasionally change things, like my logo. My business is more than 20 years old and things change.

I started my career as a graphic designer and illustrator in Italy in the mid-1990s. When I returned to the States I got a day job as a designer, illustrator, and writer for a publishing company. In my spare time I freelanced as a writer and illustrator and even exhibited my fine art at CAM, the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh, as well as in various other galleries. Then, my husband became disabled in a near-fatal work accident when we were expecting our oldest child and had just bought our first house. Our financial situation was dire, so I began selling on a brand-new website called eBay at night and on the weekends. As new selling platforms came online I added more stores. You can shop all my stores on the Home page. In 2011, wanting to keep up my writing skills and learn new technology, I started my Mandaline Artful Living blog. Nowadays I have a chain of 14 boutiques, I am an author, and my work has appeared in galleries, stores, and publications all over the world. My husband and I recently became millionaires, at least on paper. That's still hard for me to believe!

By most measures I would be considered a great success. However, I've really struggled with self-confidence for the past couple years. During the pandemic lockdown I wrote two books and started on two more. Then things got back to normal, which was great, but the return to driving my kids around and attending to all the activities of regular life left me with little time. I started my latest book in 2021 and still haven't finished it and I feel terribly guilty about it. A guy on Amazon reviewed my Tiny Budget Tiny Cabin book and said it's really well written and nicely printed in color but gave it a 2-Star review because he felt it should be "more". Then he said he hopes I will write another book! After that review, sales for all my books ground to a halt, including books I am just re-selling and didn't even write! Then my mother called me several times about to talk about my business. I am a huge disappointment to my mother for some reason. She keeps telling me I wouldn't be able to support myself with my business if it weren't for my husband's job (which, I mean that's true at our current lifestyle but don't MOST families need two incomes to get by?) We got by on one income while I built my business but fairly quickly my income allowed us to enhance our quality of life and I am very proud of that. Anyway, I became really depressed and felt like quitting for a while. Then I caught COVID in January of 2022 and it triggered a relapse of a mystery illness I've had since my pregnancy with my oldest son. I couldn't get a diagnosis and got it under control through experiments over several years with diets, supplements, essential oils, etc, but after COVID nothing was working. Luckily my son is a geneticist now and he ordered tests that led me to a diagnosis of Hashimoto's Disease and treatment. I'm feeling a lot better. I caught COVID again in July and recovered easily afterward now that I finally have medicine. My latest book is back underway and I started a whole new business.

My new business, A. Mandaline Art, is all about returning to my roots as a fine artist and designer. My eBay name is ab_art to this day (my eBay store is Atelier Mandaline) because when I started out I tried selling my artwork. Art wasn't selling for me, however, and we desperately needed money so I switched around until I landed on dolls and doll supplies as my niche. You can learn exactly how I did this and how you can too from my Doll University book. My doll shop was doing great but I really missed art. When I was a little girl in California we went to the beach every weekend and I spent most of my time outdoors. Then my dad died and we moved in with my grandparents in Ohio just in time for the Blizzard of '78. The long months trapped indoors during the blizzard and the long winters afterwards led me to develop a hobby painting and drawing and writing stories. When I tried to make it a business I couldn't make enough money and I gave up on it. Now I am back to painting as a way to relax and I learned about print-on-demand as a business model. I am really talking it up because it's such a sustainable business model. My customers can buy new products I design but they aren't manufactured until someone orders them. So there's no waste. No unsold products go to landfills, and no resources are used to make or ship them unless they are wanted. I don't have to pay for inventory that may or may not sell so there's no risk if I try something new. I can be wildly creative because I don't have to worry whether a product has a wide enough audience. My business has always been sustainable because I restore old dolls and clothing and toys and sell them, but sometimes as a customer you want something new. The print on demand business model allows customers to get a new product without the environmental and human impact of traditional products, fast fashion especially. So I am talking about it a lot because I am so passionate about it. I want to make sure I am providing content and products my readers want, so please, feel free to contact me on either website or email me at ateliermandaline@gmail.com to let me know what kinds of things you'd like to buy or read or learn about.

I am deeply grateful to you, my readers. Recently one of my eBay customers was extremely excited to find she was talking to the "real" Mandaline from Atelier Mandaline. It was incredibly confidence-boosting for me. It's a reminder that a lot of people see my business and think I have a team of people working for me or that this is a large corporation. It's not. This is just me. Right now I'm sitting at my kitchen table in my pajamas re-writing this because I wrote it previously and then at the very end my website glitched and erased it. I decided it was the Universe telling me the post was too long! So this one is shorter, believe it or not! I'm incredibly lucky to be a teacher, to help other people learn doll repair and other skills, for so many years. I'm an introvert and you readers provide much of my social life outside my family. Whether you have ever purchased anything or not, please know I value you as a reader. You help give me a purpose and that's priceless!

Here’s a new video showing how to use my eye swap tool ~ purchase eyes, kits, and the eye swap tool from the Shop page.

I’ve expanded my Swim Collection, just in time for your winter getaway! Now you can coordinate beach styles for the whole family & add matching shoes, towels, rash guards ~ even embroidered robes! Shop the collection: atelier-mandaline.myshopify.com. #amandalineart #amandaline #ateliermandaline