Winners earn CDDC Stamp of Approval

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 
WINNERS OF CHALLENGE SIX!!!

 

 From left to right are;

 Beginner: Kevin Roberts, 

Intermediate:  Cholo Ayuyao, and 

Professional: Suyanee Wongchotwiriyakit

WELL DONE!!!

    Photography Winner:

        Mark Tinkey

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR

      CHALLENGE 6 WINNERS!

and I'd also like to tell you about the last 2 CDDC sponsors, The Tonner Doll Company and Couture Doll Shop.

Robert Tonner has been our dedicated sponsor through the years, and we appreciate it.  I don't think we could ask for a better sponsor for our design challenge project than this talented designer who is reported to have learned to sew when he was only 4.  Although we almost lost him for our world of dolls and doll fashion when he preliminarily began his studies in pre-med, but thank goodness he had a change of heart, attended Parsons School of Design, and went on to become a design-director for Bill Blass.  Today doll collectors all over the world get to experience his expertise in the garments he produces to sell individually as well as designs on the dressed dolls he makes available.  He truly breaths life into each and every one of his creations, and that is well appreciated by his fans that are growing in numbers daily.

Because Tonner has such a big following, and to fill the requests of many collectors who wanted a more efficient place to buy his dolls, the website was completely remodeled this year.  If you haven't been over there, it is well worth the visit.  Not only is it a safe, secure place to browse and buy his latest; it also has a host of intriguing "places" you can explore.  Allow a little time when you go over there, as you might well get lost in dolldom as I sometimes do.  For sure you'll want to bookmark his official site (http://www.tonnerdoll.com/), and you'll also want to create a new account or update your current one to make sure you get all his special notices.

The homepage is inviting and appealing, and has concise, clear categories to explore along with specific listings of the dolls that are currently available.  You can get to each collection from this page and all the categories by clicking on Shop Collections in the menu. Don't forget, Robert Tonner  acquired The Effanbee Doll Company, so his beautiful reproductions of some of these  dolls including Patsy, Miss Revlon, and Betsy McCall will also be seen here as they become available.  This is the place to come not only for the latest releases, but to catch up with the latest events coming up including his Tonner Air convention.  Sign up to get the latest releases announced in your email,  join the Tonner community, and look up past catalogs.  It also includes a gateway to the social communities Tonner is involved with.  The following items are also available on this site.

 About Tonner  provide information about the creative director, Robert Tonner and also gives a little insight into his design process.  Several FAQs as well as a Collector's Guide are housed here as wells as shipping information and information on where to go to visit the brick and mortar entity. 

Community includes Tonner's latest video as well as a place to join their Facebook community.  But the most charming aspect of this page, for me, was the ability for us to upload pictures of our collection.      When you click to view what others are doing  you will see the latest entry as well as a section for the Staff picks where you can see if their taste is the same as yours.

Archive  This is an ever evolving work that has and will continue to be a labor or love dedicated to bringing you the majority of Tonner's history.  It's a page you'll want to check back on if you are interested in learning about all the history available on dolls that may be in your collection.  It's also a place to explore information about the latest convention news as well as informaton about new releases.

News and Blog  is a definite must read!  It offers informative posts about dolls, a link to Miss Nancy's fun and informative column, and a separate place for DC Comic fans.  Get involved with this page by making a guest post  - either domestic or international - or add your doll to a Doll Duel category and invite your friends to come over and help push your doll up the leader board!  And there is a place for Doll Photography articles that  has a place to ask questions - a place I hope to explore more soon.  Warning:  Visiting this page could definitely become addictive, but it's very easy to navigate and also has it's own specific search so you should be able to find info you are seeking fairly easy.

Doll Hospital   If your doll is in need of repair or just a little restorative work, you've come to the right place.  One of the industry's best doll hospitals is maintained by The Tonner Company.  Services include cleaning, re-stringing, re-wigging, joint and limb replacement, eye setting, composition repair, painting, hair styling and you can also acquire wigs and clothing to complete that cherished doll.  Their doll Doc, Noreen Morris, has over 20 years of experience and consistently performs the type of work consistent with Tonner's quality control.  There are Tips and Doll Care 101 which are must reads for the serious doll collector.  It's nice to know there is a place to go in case your dolly has a problem.

Contact  This area gives consise information about visiting or contacting their store along with a form to fill out if you have questions.That concludes my little tour of the Tonner Company website, but I don't want to leave you without telling you a bit about the 2012 convention.  The theme for the 2012 Tonner Doll Convention is Flights of Fancy, and is being held Thursday, May 17, 2012 - Sunday, May 20, in Lombard, Illinois. With events themed around Marilyn Monroe and Wonder Woman, informative workshops, and a killer sales room - not to mention all the other fun Tonner and his team are planning - it has to rank high up there on your list of conventions you must visit this year.  Just click on the link on the homepage to get all the infomation and to register. 


In parting, I'd also like to tell you about the doll provided by the Tonner Doll Company.  Freedom for Fashion Sori Aiko will be among the prizes for the First Place Professional Division winner. Sori Aiko is a vision of beauty in a striped satin wrap top with matching belt and wrap, paired with slim fit satin pants. Strappy faux leather shoes with molded "bamboo" soles and pantyhose also included.  She is the new Japanese Female Head Sculpt with a 16" Antoinette Body that has brown Eyes, black Hair, and Cameo Skintone.  Limited Edition of 500.  Perserverance and hard work will take this win - we're extremely luck to have a sponsor like Robert Tonner.
 

 And the last sponsor I'll tell you about is our sister site, Couture Doll Shops.   This is our unique doll mall, developed specifically to mentor and to promote the talented shop owners who grace our neighborhood.   We have been in business for two years, and we have a lot of fun with our events. 

Our events are used to do advertisements webwide as well as on our blog.  We have been very honored to have our mall shops advertised in most issues of the popular doll magazines like Doll Reader, DOLLS, and Fashion Doll Quarterly consistently since we began.

We recently  celebrated our 2nd birthday with a Mad Hatter's Birthday Party. To be included in this event, our shop owners needed to design a character or animal from Alice in Wonderland - but not just any version of this character would do - they had to be reimagined all shiney and new.  

We never imagined what we would see as we opened picture after picture featuring these new reimagined characters.  But I think the included picture of Sylvia Christianson's Mad Hattress will give you an idea of how cleverly this talented group attacked their latest challenge.

If you are looking for a low cost way to promotore your site, you've come to the right place.  Or if you want to get started, we will walk you step by step through everything from developing your website (even if you have zero experience) to proper picture taking - it's all included in our nominal fee to be a part of one of the most fun experiences in your lifetime!!

A dull moment doesn't exist for our shop owners, and we are all looking forward to welcoming CDDC's Professional winner into our fold.  We are sure, however, that there are designers from all divisions of this wonderful competition who could also become members of CDS and have fun - they have already demonstrated they love to be challenged! Or perhaps there are some followers who might also qualify.  Right now we are working on Tres Chic Gothic - join us if you dare!!  Just click on the email button to the left to ask for details.  

It has been our privilege to follow all the CDDC competitions and to be one of your sponsors,  We applaud each and every contestant who stayed the course and finished all the challenges.  Your Blogmeister will be back with one more post this week - to celebrate the winners - so stay tuned!