Doll-A-Day 2023 #112: Paola Reina Ruby

  Today's doll is one that was a wonderful gift from Sharon in Spain. 

  Sharon had mentioned on her blog at some point, some doll she liked from the U.S., but that the shipping would be too much for her to bother with it. When we were going to Europe, I asked Sharon what the doll she wanted was, and would she like us to try to bring one over with us to save her the shipping. Sharon couldn't remember the doll, but said she had just been about to ask her American friends on Facebook if any were coming over and could bring her some Icy Hot pain cream, as she had found it was the only thing that had helped her arthritic knees. So I said I would bring some for her, as mailing it from America would have meant she would have paid very high duty charges for it. So we brought a couple of jars, and my friend Helga sorted out the mailing for us from Belgium after we left. I asked Helga to help, since we wouldn't have had any idea where to find a post office, and we ended up having very little time in Europe. We totally misjudged travel time to get from England to Germany, so we only got a day there, and Germany to Belgium, (We did have a couple of days there.), and Belgium to Paris. We only got one full day there too. So to have spent half our time looking for a post office would have taken up most of what time we had. So Helga worked hard to sort out an appropriate box, because the one I had used was too small to mail, and  getting the parcel out to Sharon Thanks Helga!

  After we were back Sharon got her Icy Hot, and while we were here at Emma's, Sharon sent me this wonderful gift. I love it! She really shouldn't have because the whole point of us bringing the Icy Hot was to save her the massive shipping and duty costs. I'm sure the doll and the shipping was at least as much as, if not more than the Icy Hot, which she paid for, and the Icy Hot shipping, which she also paid for! I told her that if she was going to spend that much money she could have just bought the Icy Hot and had it sent! But I really appreciate it. It kills my belief in the motto, "no good deed goes unpunished"! Sharon wrote me a nice note, saying she hoped the doll would make me feel better after the fire, and explaining that she had customized the doll. She even remembered I like red haired dolls. She apologized for not making the doll any shoes, (My dolls take not having shoes as a given most of the time! And after the gift of a whole doll, who is going to complain about the lack of shoes?), but I think Sharon made the dress and hat, and maybe the socks too. She sews a lot of clothes for her dolls, and she does a beautiful job. I appreciate all the work she did.

  So let's look at the doll Sharon sent me!

  She's a Paola Reina doll. Her name is Ruby. She's about 12 1/2 inches tall.

Sharon lives in Spain, so, fittingly, this doll is made in Spain.

  I have actually looked at these dolls online. I had seen other people's, probably Sharon's! 

  First of all, she's scented. I mention that first, because I tend to remember what I wanted to say from looking at my photographs, and there's nothing in the photos to remind me of that! She has a powdery scent I would say. It's somewhere between baby powder and candy. Powdery, but sweet. It's nice, and not overpowering.

  She has big blue eyes, with 'real' lashes. 

Sorry Sharon, but she has a little paper towel dust in her lashes in some of the pictures, because it was a super windy day, and she blew over with her face in the dirt! I was very upset! I had to wipe her face off with a damp paper towel because of the dust, and it left a lot of lint, which I didn't notice until halfway through the photos. She's better now, honestly.

  As I said, Sharon customized her face. She did a great job, giving her blushy cheeks and realistic lips.

Good job on the eyebrows too.

 

   Look at those chubby cheeks.

And Sharon picked a red head for me. Look at her thick red hair.

In the sunlight.

And in the shade.

And halfway in between.

  It's very silky too. And I don't think I can mess in up, irretrievably!

Are you sure about that?

I think she'd even look good with short hair, or with it up.

I got a bit offended and old feeling recently. My sister and I were at a doll show, and my sister came up to me and said, "I saw that girl down there, and I thought it was you!" So I looked. The girl was much younger, but her back was turned, so okay. But she was much thinner than I am, and she had brown hair. I said, "My hair isn't that colour!" "Yes it is!", she said. I asked Ken and he swears my hair is not brown! The top is a lot darker than it used to be, (More like an old dirty penny these days.), but most of it is still orange. I guess, at 61, I shouldn't complain. At least most of it is still orange.

   I am pretty sure Sharon made the dress and hat. The dress is made of a cute fabric.

  The hat is stretchy, and keeps her hair in place. (Especially after the plastic ring that was around her head blew away in the crazy strong wind. I couldn't find it. Now she has to wear the hat all the time!)

 It has a metal charm that says, 'Made With Love'. 

Sharon may have made the socks too. They have lace trim.

  She has the standard five point of articulation: neck, shoulders, and hips. She can sit down, or pose in a walking position.

And of course her head turns.

Her legs and arms don't move out to the sides, only back and forth.

  She's expressive, and I attribute some of that to Sharon's customization. She was fun to photograph.

  These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago, on April 13th, on a nice warm day, right before it turned super cold. It's still cold. It's just not as cold as it was right after I took these.

  That's today's doll, sponsored by Sharon in Spain! Sharon hasn't written on her blog for a while, but maybe she'll get back to it.