The Doll Show Previously Known As Huge, and I Meet Barb the Evil Genius

  Well, Sunday I went to the 'big' doll show. It isn't big any more. Whereas it always took me hours to go over the whole room at the old show, and then I could still roam around and notice things I hadn't seen the first time, this time I gave the room a fairly good scan in around an hour.

Previous shows, like this one, were held in the huge Aladdin Shine Temple ballroom.

  This was the first show in a new location. There hasn't even been a show in about a year because the old location, the Shrine temple, was bought by developers, and it took a while to sort out a new location. This show was held at a Hilton hotel near the old Shrine temple. The room was several times smaller than the Shrine auditorium, so of course there weren't nearly as many dealers. There were always plenty of bargain priced treasures to be found, but not this time. The majority of the dolls were either expensive antiques or expensive Tonner dolls. Consequently,I didn't buy much.
  I bought a couple of Kiddles, a sailor suit I'm hoping will fit my Danbury Mint Shirley Temple Dress Up doll,a couple of other tiny things,and I ordered a doll I've been meaning to buy for years.
  For ages I've been seeing Cynthia DeHoff at shows and wanting to buy one of her exquisite little dolls.

Cynthia always has a smile on her face.

Cynthia also teaches doll making.

I could never decide which one though. I kind of hated to buy her tiny Raggedy Ann and Andy since I make miniatures of them myself. They're so beautiful though.

They're about 3 1/2" inches tall. She also makes Beloved Belindy from the Raggedy books.

This year I kind of felt that this might be the last show in Columbus, and I might never see Cynthia and her little dolls again, so I decided to buy one. She only had some of her designs available at the show, but others were available for order.

I was very tempted on her peddler doll, with it's tiny doll. I was trying not to spend too much though.

This one is my favourite.

  I was very tempted by her Alice, but I had an issue with her short arms.I'm really picky about my Alice's.

She also had some cute flip dolls.I also love the little lady top right, which was originally made for the United Federation of Doll Collector's Convention. Oh heck, I love them all.

  I was tempted on the St. Patrick guy too.

  I decided on Raggedy Andy,one of my childhood favourites.He should arrive in a couple of months, since Cynthia has a lot of orders to fill and is making over a hundred dolls for a convention!
  Cynthia also makes polymer clay dolls and teaches doll making classes.

She made everything on this girl, including her hair brush, which has real bristles.

  I have always loved the dollmaker she brings to shows as an example.

So what else did I do at the show? Well some of you may be familiar with Barb the Evil Genius from the blogs My Little Doll Corner,and Barb's Doll Designs. Like me,Barb lives in Ohio. I asked Barb if she was going to the doll show and if so, would she like to meet up? As it happens, Barb was attending the Tonner convention, which was held at the same Hilton for several days before the show. UPDATE: I forgot to mention that you can read Barb's accounts of the convention on her blog My  Little Doll Corner.(See link above.)
  So we arranged to meet at the show. I wasn't sure what time I was going to be able to get there, so I messed Barb around on the time a bit. In the end I was able to arrive at the show right after opening at 10,but I had changed times on her a couple of times already, so I left it at 11:00. (I still need to tell her this because I forgot to.Don't want her to think I was sneaking into the show and claiming I wasn't there yet.) Barb was nice, and a bit quiet. I'm not, so I hope I didn't overwhelm her. I can be a bit much, especially when sprung on the unsuspecting.

Well, she was still able to smile at our parting, so maybe that's a good sign. Or maybe that's just the reason she was smiling...

  Anyway, we met up, did a bit more shopping, and then left the show to have lunch. We ate at The Cheesecake Factory, which does actually serve meals, not just cheesecake.Afterward Barb had to head off for the long drive home and I had some shopping to do.(Hey, Trader Joe's was right there and I had a Mochi ice cream urge.)
  So that was the last day of a three day busy stretch for me. Friday was Emma's 25th birthday, so we ate out, (At The Cheesecake Factory! I can eat Parmesan Cheese Bread twice in one week! I have no problem with that!), and did a little shopping. Emma was tired because she works so much, so we actually got home much earlier than we usually do. Saturday I went to my friend Lori's to work on painting a concrete lighthouse she bought, load up some horse manure for my tomatoes, and help her with a couple of new horses she got recently. She hadn't tried to ride either of them yet, and the one was not interested in letting her try.("Hold her." she said. Well I could only hold the front end and the back end had a will of it's own.I was sure I was going to be trampled.) Then the doll show and shopping on Sunday. Normally I would be going strong, but my thyroid is off again and I have been so tired I can hardly move. And the thyroid is causing my weight to continue to go up, and hauling all this weight around is exhausting. Add to that trying to redo my bathroom and keep the yard mowed and I have been absolutely pooped most of the time.
  Next time I'll be reviewing a new doll I got last week, so watch for that!