RUBBISH BIN = TRASH CAN

There is a very good reason why I am publishing this post today - I'll tell you why at the end of the post.

I have always been fascinated by languages - all languages not just English.  But just lately,  I've been noticing (and finding extremely interesting) the variations in the English language used by different English-speaking countries.  I always knew there were differences but  the more American blogs I read, the more things I'm noticing.  And I keep asking myself, "Why?"

Why do Americans say "trash can" and Australians call the same item a "rubbish bin" (this was probably the one thing that sparked my attention)?  And why is the food I call a "biscuit" the same thing Americans call cookies?  And even more interestingly, why is it that Americans use the word "candies",  English "sweets" and Australians "lollies"  and we are all talking about the same thing? (Sometimes I'm surprised we can even understand each other!)

And I've found out that sometimes when I think I know what you are talking about, I'm close but I'm not quite right.  For example, Americans use the word "bangs".  I only just found out what you are talking about!  In Australia, "bangs" are side pieces of hair that are not quite as long as the rest of your hair.  To an Australian, this:

is a 'fringe'. 

And did you know that when we read "Little House on the Priarie"  and books like that  which talk about little girls wearing calico dresses,  most Australians have a picture of little girls wearing dresses made  of this:

because this is what Australians call 'calico'.  (Americans call this "muslin".)   The fabric Americans call 'calico", Australians would probably call a 'liberty print'.

It works the other way too.  When an Australian says they are wearing thongs, they are NOT talking about their underwear.  A 'thong' is underwear, but these are' thongs':

Yes, I know, everyone else calls them 'flip-flops' (which is probably a more accurate name).

A while ago I was at our local Officeworks store and I found an (almost 1:6 scale) Australian-type rubbish bin.  It even has wheels that roll.  So, for your information,  here is an Australian rubbish bin.

Actually, it's three rubbish bins - the other two are people-sized.  Why do we have two?  The one with the yellow lid is for recyclables, the other for general rubbish. And as you can see,  Barbie puts her own bin out for rubbish collection just like everyone else.

 


And why did I think today was a good day to post about the fun language differences that I'm discovering?  Well, today is "Hug an Australian Day".  Isn't that amazing, there is actually a  special day for doing that (it's every day for me really)!

ETSY MADE ME DO IT!

I've been thinking about opening an Etsy shop for quite a while now (probably at least a year and maybe even longer).  But there was always something else to do (life's been very busy) and so it just didn't happen.

And then, a few weeks ago, Etsy sent me (and probably a million others) an email suggesting I open a store.  They even offered free listing for the first 20 items if the store was opened within two weeks.  Well, there's nothing like a deadline and a free offer to get me going.  So I have finally opened my Etsy store.

"Doll Heaven" sells doll clothes.  At the moment, I have mostly listed American Girl/Journey Girl doll clothes because that was what I had ready.   The pictures below are just a selection:

 

I have a few Monster High and Barbie outfits as well.

I haven't made it to 20 outfits yet but at least I've started and I will add more as I make them.  I also plan on adding clothes for other dolls like Ken and my Tonner girls.  So thank you Etsy, I hope others took advantage of your offer too.

THEY'RE OFF ... AND RACING

 Eek - what happened to September and October  - I blinked and they were gone! 
Actually I know what happened - here in Australia it is spring and so everyone wants dresses for spring weddings  - and for the racing.

November in Victoria (where I live) is all about the Spring Racing Carnival - the Melbourne Cup, Flemington (where the race is held), roses (because they have beautiful rose gardens there)

- and fashion.

Melbourne Cup Day is always the first Tuesday in November and is a public holiday for the state of Victoria (yes, we have a public holiday for a horse race!).  The actual race is held at 3.00pm and is called 'the race that stops a nation' because pretty much everyone in Australia stops and listens to see who wins this race.  This year, it was won by Green Moon.

But Melbourne Cup Day isn't the only special racing day.  The Saturday before Cup Day is Derby Day, the Saturday after is Emirates Stakes Day which is specially for families and today, the Thursday after Cup Day is Oaks Day or Ladies Day.

The other big thing about the Spring racing carnival is the Fashions on the Field competition which this year has been running for 50 years  There are competitions for women's fashion on each one of the special race days.  There are also special competitions - on Melbourne Cup Day there is one for designer's outfits, Oaks Day has the millinery competition and Stakes Day has special competitions for children's fashions.

And so, because today was Oaks day, my girls decided to get dressed for the races.

 

They were all very happy with  their choices:

Therese chose strapless and summer flowers:

   Audrey chose purple and a big, black hat:

  

 And Stephanie chose separates in blue and white:

She also carried a pink handbag but left it with her friends for the photoshoot.

They had a lovely time and the weather was perfect.   Maybe next year, I'll have enough time to make dresses for all my dolls and have my own Fashions of the Field competition.

THERE MAY BE SPRING

I know it has been a very hot summer in America but here we have had a long, cold winter.  In fact, the other day the weather reporter said we had had the dullest winter since 1996. I don't know how they work that out but we certainly haven't seen the sun very much at all for months.  Everyone has been feeling it - but at last we have had a few slightly warmer days and today the sun shone (for a little while).  And some of the spring flowers have blossomed so the Monster High girls decided to investigate.

Draculara discovered the Eerlicheer daffodils - one that really makes me think Spring is on the way.  I like to smell them just like she did.

And Torelei decided to investigate the spring blossom -

Good thing she has cat genes as this involved taking her shoes off and climbing the tree.

Good thing they did it earlier today - since then we've had more wind, rain and hail.  I guess winter isn't over yet.

MELBOURNE DOLL MARKET

On Saturday, Joy and I went to the Melbourne Doll Market which is held twice a year at the Banyule Council  Arts Space.

It's not a very big space but the market is fun and full of interesting sellers.

Not everyone was a business.  The lady who owned these  two beautiful dolls (which were not for sale) was selling off some of her excess dolly clothing and accessories.

Most people brought their dolls with them - which was a good idea as there were some interesting things for sale:

this was made by KaosDollAccessories

and of course you want to make sure your new purchases fit your doll.

We had fun talking to The Blythe Ghost (theblytheghost.blogspot.com) who makes Blythe doll clothes and hats and also customises Blythe dolls.

 

 She has customised the doll on the left and made the outfit and hat for the doll on the right.

We also talked to the lovely Fran Smiles of Sew Petite who sews clothes for small porcelain dolls and sewed these beautiful dresses for the small ball-jointed dolls.  They are made out of silk and cotton lace.  (Sorry, she doesn't have a website or an Etsy shop so I can't give her a link.)

She also told me that the Croydon Doll Show which I think I said no longer happened in the doll survey, will actually be held in the middle of next month.  Its venue has changed and it hasn't been very well advertised lately  but it is still going strong.  It used to be just for porcelain dolls but Fran told me that it is beginning to open up to other doll collectors.

And what did I buy.  Well, Jemgirl (jemgirl.com)  was there with her resin goodies and I couldn't resist her Monster High Shoes.  

 

I couldn't buy just one pair as there would have been war here so I went for the buy 3 pairs deal.  And I bought a microphone (also from Jemgirl).

We stayed for the draw for the door prizes - a small BJD from Indollgence, a customised Blythe from Natalie who organises the doll market and a parcel of doll clothes from Hegemony77 ( who sent them from Hungary - wow - etsy.com/shop/DollClothesStore ) but didn't win anything.  Never mind, we still had a lot of fun and are looking forward to the next market next year.

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.