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Dear lovely doll friends...

I painted on new dolls only once in the past two years because I have not been feeling very well. I have made a few doll's costumes and if I offered them for sale my long-time repeat buyers scooped them up.

I am going to be 75 years old this year... I don't know how many more dolls or doll heads I will be able to make in future, but my passion is still strong when I am feeling okay to work.

Depression and lack of energy as well as a great deal of pain from Arthritis has been a huge factor in my not producing very much.

I have had dreams of making "Masterpieces" for so many years I have kept the very finest Antique laces aside, always thinking "one day I will use these"... but the years have gone by and I have them still in boxes... I have very beautiful silk velvets, silk taffetas, embroidered silk taffetas, silk brocades, and jacquard-woven silks to work with... More than I can ever use...

I do have a lot of Duppioni pure silks that I may offer for sale if ever I can make up doll dressmaking Kits again as I used to with a variety of lovely rayon laces... I have literally hundreds of yards of silks and rayon laces that are very beautiful but I will never live long enough to use them up.

NOW... I am finally using the rarest and best Antique laces and have recently made some very complex and beautiful costumes and the first one I posted on eBay and she sold within 48 hours... Bebe Bru Brevete that you can see photos of with red Antique mohair wig on.

The Bebe Bru known as Crescent and also Circle Dot Bru is still for sale at the time of my writing this. The costume is fabulous and the doll is really my best painting.

I have some of my ultimate best dolls for sale now as I am letting go of my own personal collection little by little as I have no heirs that are interested in dolls... ( my only remaining son has zero interest and only laments that he will be burdened with my dolls upon my demise )  So... I guess it is time to start selling some of them.

Today I set eyes in five new heads that I did a final painting on yesterday... These heads sat on a tray in my Studio since February of 2019... just waiting for one last final touch-up painting... Yes, I did not pick up a paintbrush for 14 months!  I had a mental block and depression...

I have five incredible Musical and Mechanical dolls ready to dress and add the accessories to. I am making five very tiny but jointed dolls for them to hold. I have searched endlessly for very tiny hand-woven baskets for them, but can not find any. I wanted to add a second tiny doll into a basket so that each Mechanical doll would have two more tiny dolls with it. I will make each costume in different colours of fabulous silks and I will use my very finest hand made Antique laces for them. One will be red silk and black Antique lace... One will have neutral silk colour with fancy Antique trims and on and on... These will be costly as I am no longer able to get the mechanical bodies that I had ordered at great cost and waited half a year to get them.

The doll heads I can make the mechanicals with are Long Face Jumeau, Phenix Bebe, & Halopeau Bebes.

My next doll heads to be made will be Bru dolls as that is what everyone seems to want. I have about 20 different Bru doll head molds from a very tiny 7 inch Bru Brevete to the larges Byron 400 mold Bru jne 13 that fits a 22 inch body.

As I am only making one of each please be sure to contact me if you wish to reserve and make a deposit on any one size.

You may reserve one of the heads by writing to me dolls@emilyhart.com

I am open to working with you for a payment plan that works for us both. I send all items with a tracking number at no extra cost to you upon completion of your payments.

Most all of my items are also available through my eBay and Etsy Stores where I am able to post many more photos of each item.

Of the five new heads, two are already spoken for. I will have a beautiful very rare EJA head with blue eyes, a PAN with light brown eyes, and a Schmitt & fils with blue/grey eyes to sell.

Thank you to everyone who has been my lovely doll friends for all these 30 years I have been earning my living making dolls.

These are strange times when people have been restricted in their freedoms... I have been in lockdown in my home for the past 56 lonely days... No one to talk to or get a hug from... Yet I am determined to keep going here and keep the sunshine in my heart...

Love to everyone.... Emily

Hello everyone who has asked to be on my News letter list....

Over the past couple of years I have not been physically very well, but I am trying very hard to present new doll Heads and dolls for you.

I have just completed some new heads and finally got them listed here today. Some of them were pre-ordered and several have already sold, but there are some beauties still to choose from.

Beckie Decker is trying hard to fill the body orders for all of you who have purchased recently. You may call The Bell Collection toll free if you are within the United States at 1-888-833-8725.

She can supply you with almost any body for the French and German styles.

I was able to order some mechanical, musical doll bodies from New York Doll Products before they closed down in New York and am working on making some of them into finished dolls this year. So far I have the Long Face Jumeau, the Phenix Bebe, and the Halopeau Bebes mostly made for the mechanical bodies. That is, I have the heads painted with eyes set in, but still have to finish painting the tiny jointed dolls that they are going to hold. Each one will be dressed in different beautiful silks and the most exquisite Antique HAND MADE laces... I am keeping the best laces for these mechanical dolls. I will be covering the wood bases with silk velvets. I am very excited about creating each one to be very special. If you are interested in reserving one, and having input into the costume colors and design, you are welcome to write to me at dolls@emilyhart.com  or call me at 250-850-2032 in Canada.

This is last call to have something poured for you this year... I plan to pour by next week around February 14th 2018. After that, my plan is to spend the rest of this year sewing costumes and finishing up projects that are partly done.

Today I have been taking an inventory of all the projects I have partly made, and am finding a lot of dolls I had completely forgotten I had started... many are modern dolls... Oh, those darling little Poppets!!!  The bisque is all ready for paint! The costumes are already made! I must get on with those... and then all those lovely Half dolls..... and so very many Modern dolls all ready to put together, I think I will be listing those as READY TO DRESS for those of you who are still interested in Modern dolls.

Thank you everyone who has supported me through all the hard times...

Many Blessings, Emily Hart

Hello everyone... Today, May 16th I am pouring smaller heads to be listed later this year... I have a few orders at the moment, but this is the time to let me know if there is any particular doll head you want poured ... I usually pour only twice or three times per year, so maybe their will be one more pouring this year... The larger heads have been received very well as I have been listing them over the past couple of weeks... This is just a note as I take a short break in my pouring day...

Blessings to all... Emily

Hello everyone...

Fabulous news!

Today I have received the new 2016 Bell Collection Composition doll bodies catalogue with prices from Beckie Decker who is manufacturing these bodies in Texas.

I don't know how to get the catalogue (Pdf file) on my own site here, but if you write I can forward a copy to you by email.

The Byron Body Catalogue, also from Beckie, will be available also soon.

The Bell French Bebe bodies are available with the lower arms of Bru, Jumeau, Andre Thuillier, or hands with turned wrists that were often found on the Steiner dolls.

I am still working on painting the 24 new heads that will mostly be for the medium to larger size French Bebe dolls.

If you want any of these new heads or dolls reserved for you or made with custom color eyes and wigs please let me know as soon as possible.

Happiness to all... Emily

Hello my lovely doll friends! I am remiss in not sending out a newsletter for so long. I do wonder where the time goes... So much has been happening.

As many of you know, New York Doll Products has closed their body making plant in the U.S. and is no longer offering doll bodies for sale. The good news is the Beckie Decker has bought out Bell, Byron, & Collectible Doll Company and is now making doll bodies in Texas... You can write to her for any size of French or German doll bodies to info@thebellcollection.com I am anxiously awaiting a full list of bodies and prices from her.

I have been working hard on my own health and feeling better and now, working more.

Yesterday I was able to put overall wash on many new heads that I am working on... so you can expect this year some heads or dolls you have not seen for a few years, like the two largest Brus I can make... Bru jne 15 and Bru jne 13 in the largest size to make up to be 27 inch dolls...

Most of the heads I am working on now are the larger sizes I can make as many of them have not been made for more than a year.

Here are the heads I am painting now... A15T, A14T, A12T, A11T, A9T, Bru jne 15, Bru jne 14, Largest Bru jne 13, Bru jne 13, the Virginia LaVorgna Bru jne 11, Bru jne R 13, Small Bru jne 10, Paris Bebe Jumeau, Large Figure A Steiner, Bebe Francaise, Rare Rabery & Delphieu Bebe, Large and small Halopeau 5 H Bebe, L’Intrepide Bebe, Large Rare Pintel & Godchaux P13G, Bru Brevete

There are also many new Milette heads in the works that are only needing two more paintings and firings before I can select eyes for them. There are other dolls in the works also, so keep looking both on my site and my ebay store, where many more photos are available.

If you have any particular heads you want reserved for you, please let me know.

I have been digging around in my drawers of previously painted heads and body parts and have finished a few Modern porcelain dolls that I had started as long as 14 years ago... They are not very sought after these days, but they are truly gorgeous dolls and it is hard to find Modern dolls with Hand Glass Craft French Paperweight eyes in them and mohair wigs... silk dresses etc... I am open to reasonable offers and payment plans for these modern dolls.

I have a plan to do a huge pouring again very soon as I did pour all the larger heads, but now I will pour the mid size heads that fit the 13.5 to 16.5 inch bodies that have proved to be very popular...

There are molds here for literally hundreds of dolls and some I have never poured even one time! I rarely pour any of the Antique babies... but I have lots of them if you are interested... I am always interested in any input from you all...

Please let me hear from you... Emily Hart

Greetings to all my lovely doll friends...

August news is that everything is changing... a year ago the Mary Lambeth costumes came to a sudden end when her dressmaker, Shelby decided to quit....the costumes I had been using on my dolls for seven years... This year I was intending to make more costumes, however, so far I have only got the Halopeau finished and ended up selling most of the new pieces as “heads only”. It seems most people are wanting to finish and dress their own dolls.

As of a few days ago, suddenly, Joyce’s Compo Bodies is no more. For the past six years I have used, exclusively, the lovely Antique Reproduction doll bodies, meticulously made by Jim & Joyce Vickerman, however, a devastating fire has burnt their workshop to the ground, with all molds and doll body making equipment lost, and they will not be starting up again. I am grateful for the lovely friendship and great business relationship I have had with Jim and Joyce over these past years and wish them well in their retirement.

I have decided to take some time to rethink how my doll business will go in future.

The bodies I presently have on hand I will keep for finished dolls, therefore, I have taken off all the listings I had for undressed dolls.

More “heads only” will be offered with the suggestion that you order the bodies from New York Doll Products, http://www.nydpshopping.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=57&pg=1 or from Dick Grube http://www.bisqueandbodies.com/index.php?cPath=25_24

I will be doing a new pouring of heads in the next few days, so if there is something you want made please let me know right away. I am only doing one or two pourings per year now.

I have a new order of mohair wigs being made for me at this time.

If you have any input into what you would like to see me make let me know. I do have a lot of molds I have not been making up for many years, such as Lady dolls in the 18 to 20 inch range that I can make the cloth bodies for myself. Also, I have molds for some sweet babies that take cloth bodies.

I have many modern child dolls partly made such as Jane Zidjunas’, Kallie, Elise, Georgia, Noelle, and May, as well as many of the Paul C. Jackson dolls with porcelain bodies.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Summer. As always, I appreciate all your beautiful emails and love it especially when you tell me what you would like to see me make in future.

Emily

Hello Everyone

Finally we are having some lovely sunny days here on Vancouver Island, and it feels as if Spring is just around the corner...

As many of you know for the past three years I have suffered from a very debilitating condition in my right hand and was assured that it would never recover without Basal Joint Reconstruction Surgery that would take a year to recover from with no guarantee at all that at the end I would have any use of my hand... so I looked for alternative ways to heal. It has been a long and painful road to recovery, but it is near... I had to eliminate all processed foods, all animal products, all grains, and all dairy products. It was very hard to do this and it took me a long time to let go of the way I have eaten all my life. I thought I had a healthy diet, but now I am eating only raw fresh fruit and raw fresh vegetables and finally my hand is healing. I am following the protocol of Dr. Robert Morse ND, who has many teaching videos on YouTube, It is not 100% yet, but I am finally able to work again. Surgery is not the only option if one is willing to make a change in lifestyle and eating habits.

In January and February I have been working very hard to get new heads and new dolls made. I have posted photos of the dolls I am working on in the 2015 Gallery, and so if you see any that you want set aside for you, please write to let me know.

The Halopeau Mechanical doll is presently on hold, however, I am also making one more Mechanical that is a long Face Jumeau. These dolls play music and the heads move side to side and arms move up and down.

VERY IMPORTANT... IF YOU DO WRITE TO ME, PLEASE PUT IN YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS OTHERWISE I RECEIVE THE MESSAGE AND CANNOT REPLY TO IT. This has recently happened again, with a person with the name Doreen F., so if you read this you will understand why I have been unable to reply to your questions.

At this time, I am planning out costumes, drafting up patterns and will be sewing my own costumes this year. My focus will be mainly on silk dresses dripping with lace, some will be high quality French Reproduction laces and others will be fabulous Antique laces. I adore lace dresses and if you want any Antique lace dress reproduced on any doll, please send me photos of what you like and I will make something as close as possible to the Antique dress with the laces I have.

The first one will be a 21 inch Halopeau 5H in an authentic reproduction Halopeau costume from a photo in Stuart Holbrook's book "The doll as Art".

I could possibly sell some of the new heads on their own also... I have already sold the large Virginia LaVorgna Bru 11 head.

I always love hearing from you, even if you are not buying from me, and please sign my guestbook if you wish... I love seeing your comments.

Warmest Regards and dollie hugs, Emily

Hello to all my wonderful friends and fans....

I am now nearing the end of 24 years in making porcelain dolls... For the first 16 or 17 years I made all the costumes myself for the dolls I offered for sale.

When I opened my ebay store in 2005, I realized that I needed to be more than one person to make all the porcelain pieces and the clothing.

One day Mary Lambeth bought a doll head from me through ebay. She said she wanted to display her doll clothing on my dolls... She continued to buy many doll heads from me, adding her own bodies and modeling her clothing on them for her ebay store, but, at first, I never asked to see her doll clothing, and she never offered to show me any of it. About a year later, I finally asked to see what she made... I was blown away! I bought the first dress I saw from her and I still have it!

I just loved her flamboyant style and beautiful hand made ribbon flowers! So, it began... I started to dress most all my dolls in her clothing... and they sold like hotcakes!

Mary continued to sell also on ebay, her beautiful costumes... One day she told me that she, in fact, only trimmed the outfits and that they were sewn by her "silent partner" Shelby...

Shelby, has, for thirty years, been the unsung Great Master seamstress behind Mary Lambeth clothing.

Yesterday I got my very first email from the elusive Shelby... She wanted to write to me directly to say that after careful thought, she has decided to close her business in sewing doll clothing for Mary Lambeth...

It's the "End of an Era".... no more Mary/Shelby clothing will be made.....

So... I immediately closed all my listings of dolls in these costumes as I want to think about keeping them all for myself for now... You will still be able to view many of these wonderful costumes on my site here and those that are in my own personal collection may be for sale in the future. If you see any you really want, please write and I will consider selling.

After talking to Mary yesterday, she feels she will find a new dressmaker and continue on with offering Mary Lambeth clothing... Time will tell how that turns out, but in the meantime, I have to put my own Dollie Dressmaker hat on...

In the past couple of weeks I have been working very hard again... I poured no less than 53 new doll heads! All are trimmed, engraved and soft fired... The greenware shelves are well stocked for future new dolls and heads.

Jim Vickerman has been experimenting with new paints for the bodies to eliminate a problem with crazing of the lacquer paint. If anyone got a doll from me with a body that later developed crazing, Jim will gladly repaint the body for you. All you have to do is contact Jim at joycescompbodies@centurylink.net and send the body back to him.

With thousands of dollars invested in lovely silks, laces, trims etc. it is perhaps a blessing now that I will be forced to start using them up by sewing clothing for the dolls I sell in future.

In spite of my physical problems, I am determined to continue on and find a way to create even more Masterfully, wonderful dolls to offer for sale.

I hope you are all having a very wonderful Summer... I know I am!

Love, Emily

Hello to all my doll friends. I must appologize for having so few dolls to offer for sale at this time.

It’s been exactly 800 days now that I have been in agonizing pain, in my right hand, with not a moment of relief. The pain is mostly in my Carpo-metacarpal joint, but also goes up my arm to the shoulder. My whole arm is in pain. It started at the end of January 2012, with an injury from overworking on cleaning and polishing the porcelain.

I have tried every imaginable topical treatment including Castor oil packs, and many natural treatments such as Arnica Gel, fresh turmeric compresses and freshly made Comfrey salve, and of course putting ice on it nearly every day to get some of the swelling down.

I rested my hand for six-months before even attempting to work again, and have been going day to day working on any days I am able to for an hour or two at a time, but most days I am unable to work.

After the first six months, I saw a Specialist Doctor who told me nothing could be done other than a surgery that would remove a bone from my hand and take a full year to recover, yet no guarantee that I would be able to use my hand effectively afterwards.

I have worn a splint on my hand most of the time, day and night, for over a year and a half.

I have had Chiropractic treatments, Laser therapy, Acupuncture treatments, and Interferential Currency Therapy with no noticeable results whatsoever.

So now, I am desperate…

I have recently done the Dr. Hulda Clark Liver cleanse twice, two weeks apart with absolutely huge stones being expelled, some as large as 7/8ths inch in size.

Today, I start the Jason Vale Juice Program. Perhaps this will allow my body to heal itself. I absolutely know that the human body can heal itself given the right conditions.

I do not want to live the rest of my life in this unbearable pain and I will never take those prescription pain killers that end up leaving one addicted to them and do nothing to cure the problem.

Just picking up a paintbrush is so painful that I don’t know how I will continue on with my work that is really my life… and I cannot imagine living if I cannot work.

Prayers are much appreciated.

Emily

Greetings to all my lovely doll friends!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas or other celebration you may have had over this Festive Season... for some, I am sure the celebrations continue to the New Year....

I am one of those people who puts the Christmas tree away on Boxing Day... it's all over now and I am busy preparing for new projects...

Santa brought me a big surprise on the 23rd this year! My doll studio flooded, and I was up nearly throughout the night mopping up what I could do before rushing out to buy a "Shop-Vac" the next day!

My working area is about 650 square feet of space and about 250 sqare feet were under water... It has been a challenging job, continuously working every day to get the water out of the carpet and underlay, but it is nearly dry now, and I am both mentally and physically exhausted.

This turn of events has forced me to completely re-organize my Studio and it is going to take me some time to get it done. I am in the process now of working through all that has to be thrown out, collapsing soggy boxes and making arrangements for everything that is ruined to be taken away.

The good news is that it could have been much worse and I am very grateful for that.

So far, the two gorgeous Fantasy dolls I have for sale have had no comments and no response at all, so I am not sure if that is what I am best to focus on.

I surely would appreciate some feedback on what my next step should be.

Over the past years, I have tried so hard to support others who are struggling to make a living in the doll realm... My bodymaker, Jim, who lives in Oregon, my wigmaker, Mila, who lives in the Phillipines, my dressmakers, Mary & Shelby, who live in North Carolina, Sue, who lives in Australia, and my eyemakers, James & Brett, who live in England. Each of them takes a share in the price of my dolls.

In the coming year, I MUST reduce my costs for dollmaking supplies to survive in this business.

I know that many people write and tell me they would love to be able to afford one of my dolls, so I must work at reducing the prices to accomodate the demand.

This is my objective coming into the New Year, so I will be making more painted eye dolls and some without the Mary Lambeth costumes, to reduce costs, though some will still have them.

When I get the Studio back in order I will take some photos to share with you, so that you will be able to see all the dolls that are partly made and that I will be working on finishing up. I plan to try making some of the costumes myself again as I used to, if my hand condition will allow it... that is what could prevent me from sewing... I do love to sew and have so many wonderful silks and laces and trims here to work with as well as hundreds of patterns and 200 dolls partly made.

My wishes for everyone is to have a fabulous and prosperous New Year.

Emily