Real talk, y’all ~ I’m about at the end of my rope being Mom, owning a business, remodeling our kitchen. Today I realized my unfinished website has been live for a month because I somehow took it off “Draft”. Someday these will be the good ol’ days, right? 😂 But since my website is inadvertently live, please check it out and let me know what you think. Some links don’t work yet. Combining all my various businesses into one coherent spot is a job! I haven’t figured out how to edit the blog or add products yet but eventually this site, all my shops, and my blog will be in one spot. It’s mandaline.com. How do you like it so far? #ateliermandaline #momlife #kitchenremodel

Change of plans! I decided to start my cabin weekend early. Orders will resume shipping on Monday (you may purchase items but shipping will be delayed). As always, digital products and print on demand items are available with no delays from the Shop page. #ateliermandalinetravels

A few years ago I decided to send all my fashion inventory to ThredUP for consignment. Fashion is time consuming to sell due to all the measuring and returns and the amount of money I make selling it isn’t usually worth the effort. ThredUP was perfect for a long time but they have been struggling ever since the pandemic. I started liquidating my fashion inventory a couple years ago and I’m finally getting everything I reclaimed from ThredUP listed in my eBay, Poshmark, and Mercari shops. This is all women’s fashion, new or like new, listed at least 50% below retail. I have all styles and sizes and will be adding many more pieces. If you need clothing I hope you’ll check out my shops (link from the Home page).

Atelier Mandaline Spring Break Hours, Open 4/11-4/14. Link on the Home page! #ateliermandaline #storeopen

Today I am replacing a few of Kissy's lashes. Part of her eyelid got chipped and the lashes fell out from just that one spot. In the case of a partial replacement I just use little lash flares available from drug stores. If you need to replace all the lashes you can find doll-sized lashes in my eBay and Etsy shops (link on the Home page).

Kissy was sent to me at great cost by her owner. I tried to talk her mom into doing this herself to save the postage but she wasn't confident. I am going to show you how to do it so you won't have to spend so much to ship your doll. It is a tedious process but not really a difficult one. Most people just send the head for eyelash replacement but Kissy has complicated internal mechanisms allowing her to give kisses so the owner isn't want to risk removing the head. Normally I would remove the doll's clothing so as not to risk getting glue on it but in this case Kissy's dress is so tight I was worried I would damage it trying to get it off, so I covered it with a thick napkin. Please ignore my gnarly hand; first I bruised it during our kitchen demo and then I burned it turning a pan in the hot oven.

When replacing lashes first take the point of a straight pin and scrape out the channel where the lashes will go. You want to clear out old glue so the lashes can be inserted into the channel. If you're doing a partial replacement be careful not to dislodge any remaining lashes. Clean off the pin with a napkin. Then insert the sticky top of the lashes or lash flares into the channel and push them in with the point of the straight pin. Clean off the pin and use it to brush the new lashes into place so they are going in the same direction. If your doll has thick layers of lashes like Kissy just do one layer first. Draw a bead of glue along the eyelid using the straight pin. Clean the pin off. When the glue is dry add another layer of lashes if necessary to match the originals. Repeat the process until the new lashes are as thick as the originals. When all the glue is dry trim the lashes to the correct length. I use Aleene's Tacky Glue, which dries clear. If there is any white glue residue I just tint it with a Sharpie marker to match the lash color. If you get ink on the eye or eyelid remove it with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol.

I do have a photo tutorial rather than a video if you prefer. You can see that here.

Bad news: my son broke both wrists last week. The past several days have been a blur of doctor appointments but at least he was finally able to see a sports medicine specialist to get the bones set and casts applied. It has put me behind schedule, so please be aware of that if you have dolls in or en route to my hospital or custom orders in progress. It doesn’t help this happened after we started remodeling our kitchen. The cabinets are dismantled and we are in the process of painting them and the contents of all the shelves are scattered around the house, so it’s hard to find things. I’m having to adjust to basically having a “baby” again since my son can’t do many things for himself. We will get through it. I just want you to understand if you experience any delays in service from my shops.

New 16 second heartbeat boxes for dolls & plushies from the Home page links! #ateliermandaline #dollsupplies #dollheartbeat

Several years ago I had a client ask me to create a replica of Barbie's pet cat from the 1972 Kitty Kapers fashion set. This was part of the Put-Ons & Pets line and today it's extremely rare. Any piece from one of these sets is worth a fortune now and the pets are especially desirable. I made a cute cat with needle felted fur (definitely cuter than the original, which in my opinion looks like road kill). Then I offered them made to order for other people and they were quite popular. I ran out of the original yarn and beads I used so I recently re-designed these cats. I used a new technique, making an armature from wired pipe cleaners and needle felting over it. I think these look more like the original cat. They're also easier to make smaller for Barbie sized and the wire inside makes them more poseable. I made a larger version as well for bigger dolls like Cissy. I have one of each ready-made and they can be ordered from my Etsy shop on the Home page.

These typically take only a few hours but I have a 2-3 week turnaround on them just in case. Today, for example, I was called to pick up my son from school after he tried some kind of Olympic-level jump from one playground structure to another and fell. He sprained his wrists pretty badly and lost consciousness for a while so we are having to monitor him for concussion. Anyway, since I never know when stuff like that will happen I added some extra time. We are also remodeling our kitchen ourselves and that's sucking up a lot of my time. If I can get them made faster I will. I hope you enjoy my replicas. I try to make them smile more than the originals, which are pretty angry looking!

My cats, as compared to the originals above.

The larger version.

When we bought our house more than a DECADE ago we agreed it needed a kitchen renovation. It’s finally happening! We’re doing everything except the counter installation ourselves so it’s going to be a lengthy process but we’re excited!