CRIKEY, IT'S AUSSIE BARBIE

Australian Barbie has made it to Australia - on her own it seems as I have not seen any other DOTW Barbies here yet.  She was on the shelves of our local Target the other week and when we saw her, we laughed so much we took photos and I just had to write about it.  (Sorry if the photo quality isn't good, they were taken on a mobile (cell) phone.
What made us laugh so much?
It was not:
- that she was blonde - that was to be expected,
- that she is wearing a safari outfit - well, we don't have a national costume and at least it's not pink.

Nor was it the written letter on the back of the box although that gave us quite a few giggles,

 

particularly the mention about koala bears.  The first thing every Australian learns is that a koala is NOT a koala bear. Everytime we are taught about koalas, we hear, "They are no relation at all to bears.  They are just koalas."  And the 'returning boomerang' - is there any other kind?

No, what really made us laugh was this:

Believe me, that is NOT the way you hold a koala, even a baby one.!

THIS is the way you hold a koala:

            (this photo courtesy of my husband, taken for our local newpaper)

 

And you can see why - those claws are designed for hanging on to trees in all kinds of weather and the koala on Barbie's arm is hanging on as though it was climbing a tree.  So, if  you buy Aussie Barbie, I recommend you have Doctor Barbie on hand when you take her out of her box - she is definitely going to need medical attention.

YAY, DOLLS CAN BE A BUSINESS EXPENSE

Our local council combines with two other nearby council's to run a Businesswomen's network.  They hold three events a year, each hosted by a different council.  The one held this month was hosted by our local council and I decided a would book an expo table for the very first time.
So, last Thursday we left home just after dawn (actually it was about 7.15am, dawn comes late now it's winter here) and headed off to the beautiful Chateau Yering at Yering Station near Yarra Glen.

Yering Station was one of the first farms and wineries in the Yarra Valley and the house that forms the basis of the current hotel/function centre was built in 1854.  The palm tree that looks like it's growing out of the chimney is a Chilean Wine Palm that was planted in 1867 by Baron Von Mueller (who also planted the original Melbourne Botanic Gardens) and is now listed on theNational Trust's Historic Tree Register.  The gardens are all registered as historic gardens as well  and every window has views of these or beautiful views away over the hills.  This was the view from the big window in the expo room:

And this picture is especially for Vanessa - it's a beautiful little side table in the Blue Drawing Room where you can book to go for High Tea.

And where do the dolls come in?
Well, as well as taking some sample garments for people to look at, I decided to take four very different size dolls dressed in clothes I had made  to show that I could fit different shapes and sizes.   So we were accompanied by Emme, Tyler (two of my Tonner dolls), Theresa (one of my fashionista Barbies) and Cleo De Nile. And as it was a businesswormen's event, they were dressed in work-approriate outfits (very interesting to do for a Monster High doll.)

Lots of women stopped to look and talk and fortunately, I had made a leaflet with my blog and Madeit addresses as I was asked about Ken, Blythe and Monster High clothes as well as regular people clothes.
The next event is in August, at the beginning of Spring and just as our spring racing season starts so I think I might do it again and dress the dolls in spring racing fashions.  And I think I should be able to charge my business for the purchase of a new Ken doll  to promote that I sew shirts and ties for men as well.