Monster High dolls review

In my last post I mentioned that I recently started collecting Monster High dolls, here is a little review of the ones I already own :)

Monster high dolls were released in 2010 and they are inspired by monster movies and horror fiction in general: in fact all the characters are the offsprings of famous monsters like Dracula (Draculaura), Frankenstein (Frankie Stein), the Mummy (Cleo and Nefera DeNIle), etc.

Since these dolls aren't "born" to be collected, but just as common toys (though I am not very sure about this, since they came with a stand included in the box, they have some very little parts and they are a bit fragile for children's playing) , they are easy to find even in supermarkets and they aren't very expensive. However I've notice that the price varies a lot from shop to shop and sometimes internet is the best option: for example in my city Operetta's price varies from 26 € to 30 €, while I found (and bought) her at 24€ shipping included on the net.

What I like the most about these dolls are the details of their outfits, the softness and shine of the hair (kanekalon fibers) and the fully articulated bodies (there are also some "create-your-monster" kits, with alternative body parts to assemble new characters, I want the skeleton and dragon girl sets!).

Right now my collection includes Operetta, Spectra Vondergeist and Cleo DeNile.

Operetta is the daughter of the Phantom of the Opera, she has a beautiful rockabilly inspired hairdo with victory rolls and a casual outfit with musical accents (accessories, arm tattoo and face "scar", covered by a music note-shaped mask). Her package also includes a coffin-shaped guitar, her spider pet Memphis (with Elvis Presley-styled hair), her diary, a plastic stand and a brush.

Spectra Vondergeist is the daughter of the Ghosts, so her arms and legs ends are made of transparent plastic, like they're disappearing, and she has a lot of chain accessories (maybe a recall to Jacob Marley's ghost from "A Christmas Carol). Her package also included a drawstrings pouch-shaped bag, her ghost ferret pet Rhuen, her diary, a plastic stand and a brush.

Cleo DeNile is the daughter of the Mummy, she has long hair with dark green and gold highlights, a tipycal egyptian makeup, clthes with bandage details and accessories (mostly golden) that recall egyptian art. In these pictures she wear her alternative outfit with some accessories from the basic one, because I thought it was more "mummy-like". Her package also included a plastic folder, her diary, a plastic stand and a brush (she doen't have a pet because mine is the second version).

Overall I can say that I'm really satisfied with the quality of the dolls and I will probably buy more (and maybe sew some custom clothes!), now I'm looking forward to buy Cupid (sadly she will not be released in Italy, so I'll have to search her online) and Rochelle Goyle.

Baby Angel strikes back!

Remember this post in which I reviewed two Metamorphose replicas made by italian brand Baby Angel?  I’ve recently discovered that Baby Angel’s 2012 spring/summer collection will feature some new “heavily lolita inspired” items! But the very best news about this is that this time they seem to be original prints, not replicas! This collection isn’t arrived in shops yet, except for some cutsews and accessories, but I found some pictures online, my favourite piece from the new collection is this skirt:

Considering the pretty good quality of last year skirts, I ‘m seriously considering of buying it (they also lowered the price a little, and I have a discount coupon to spend in their shops...), my only perplexity is about the colours: from the picture above they seem soft and pastel, but I looked at the matching cutsew in the shop and the colours seemed a lot more flashy, especially the pink details, they rembered me some Barbie clothes from the 80’s. Maybe it’s just the light in the shop that is strange, anyway I’m waiting to see the skirt in person (maybe in a different shop) before deciding.

Another lolita inspired piece from the collection is this jsk:

This looks like the “evolution” of last year Putumayo replica, because it features a very similar BxW flower pattern, but the shape is different and they replaced the butterflies with some random sweets. I don’t like it very much, because, other that not being a great fan of jsk and dresses (there is also a skirt version though), I think the sweets details looks a bit “unrelated” to the rest of the dress.

Instead, another item I’m very interested to, is this top:

I can’t tell from the stock picture if it’s made of cotton or cheap “lace-like” fabric, but if it’s cotton I think it would be a nice addition to my spring wardrobe J

The collection features also a couple of shirred cutsew in the same fabric of the skirts above, some cute sweets themed t-shirts, a misterious “punk” skirt (but it seems very short, more like a mini skirt than a loliable one), and some matching accessories, like a cupcake shaped locket necklace.

Right now I’m waiting for the skirt to appear in shops, I’ll write a review if I’ll decide to buy it, let’s hope it’s not too short and flashy!

Artist corner: Blackmago

Today I want to introduce a new section, Artist Corner: periodically I will dedicate this space to talk about artists I like very much.
Today's guest star is Blackmago, an extraordinary Peruvian artist that creates not only beautiful illustrations (and pixel art), but also amazing crafts with polymer clay and mixed media!
Here are some of my favourite works from his gallery, I love especially the books of secrets and the tiny bottles! You can find his works on DeviantArt, Etsy and Facebook

every image in this article belongs to Blackmago

Beware the terrible snow dog!

After months without a single snowflake, in these last days it snowed a lot! Right now we have about 40cm of snow lying on the ground, too late for having a white Christmas but I'm really happy the same!
Today me and Dani went out to play with Leila in the garden, she has grown a lot in these months but she was still sinking in the snow :D

I simply love her flying ears <3

Snowball retrivier dog

Right after this snow session, she almost destroyed one of my snowboots in record time, but how can I stay angry with her, she's soo cute!

Italian Christmas

Last Sunday I attended a local Christmas market with my friend Louana: it was very cold and we had little sales but we chatted a lot, so the day passed pleasantly the same.
Since we were surronded by Christmas decorations, songs and people shopping for gifts, we ended up talking about Christmas things and comparing traditions of our home countries (before moving to Italy, she lived in U.K. and South Africa).
I really enjoyed that conversation, so today I want to share with you some of the main Italian Christmas traditions :)

Immaculate Conception (December 8th) - Catholic feast, since in this day schools are closed and you don't go to work (if the 8th is near a weekend the holiday last a couple days more),  many people leave for a little vacation or just stay home and decorate the house for Christmas.

Christmas tree in Milan

Nativity scene (or manger) - another religious tradition widespread in Italy. In addition to the Christmas tree, we use to decorate our houses with Nativity scene dioramas, using small figurines made with various materials: plastic, painted plaster, wood... a particular kind of manger is Neapolitan one, because figurines are dressed with real clothes and they represents not only the typical manger characters, but also modern days famous people like politicians, actors, etc. Nativity scenes can also be found outdoors, often set up by parishes, with large mechanized statues or with real actors (when I was a child I once played one of the Magi in my parish's manger).

Nativity scene from Sorrento Cathedral

Epiphany (January 6th) - Epiphany commemorates the 12th day of Christmas when the three Wise Men arrived at the manger bearing gifts for Baby Jesus (it's also the last day of Christmas holidays).  In this day children receive colouful stockings full of sweets, little toys and even money (or coal for the bad ones, but nowadays it's usually candy coal), brought to them during the night by an old lady flying on a broomstick (very similar to a witch), known as "La Befana".

a doll representing "La Befana"

Christmas treats - almost every town in Italy has its typical Christmas recipe, here are some of the most famous:

Panettone (Milan) - my favourite! It's a kind of leavened soft bread cake with raisins and candied fruit inside (recipe).

Pandoro (Verona):  a rich, buttery cake that's generally sprinkled with an abundance of powdered sugar. Unlike panettone, it never contains candied fruit (recipe).

Panforte (Siena): a spiced bread with almonds (recipe).

Struffoli (Naples): little fried dough balls dipped in a honey syrup and sprinkled with "diavolilli", a type of candy (recipe).

And what about you? What are your hometown Christmas traditions (if you celebrate it)? I would be glad to know :)