TonnerCon 2013 – Days 1&2

This past weekend, May 16-19, I attended my very first Tonner Convention, The Age of Innocence. I had been looking forward to this event for months, and it certainly did not disappoint!

We headed out for Lombard, IL, outside of Chicago, at 3:30 a.m. Tennessee time on Wednesday, May 15. I managed to stay awake the whole time, as did Amelia.

“On the road again…”

We arrived safely in Lombard exactly 12 hours later. We got checked into the hotel and explored the area a bit, as the convention didn’t start until Thursday. Had dinner at the mall food court before retiring for the night, ready for the fun to start.

We awoke bright and early the next morning, but of course, registration did not begin until 2 p.m. So Amelia and I dressed and went downstairs to hang out in the lobby for awhile, to people watch and see if we could find anyone we knew.

“Check out the hotel lobby waterfall!”

In short order, Sheliah (@Ianthe_Shelley) came up and introduced herself to me. Also met up with Thomas (@frozendragon01) and Lance (@lancexenos). Love seeing new friends!

Pretty soon it was time for registration and the TonnerCon bag o’ goodies!

Amelia claimed Dad’s bag as her own.

Inside were the usual paperwork, schedule, con badge, etc., along with a cute Age of Innocence pin and an Ellowyne jacket! Dad and I lucked out and got two different jackets each. I got the Seafoam Jacket and Dad got the Blustery Peacoat. I asked Dad if he’d like to keep his, but he declined. *grin*

The first event was later that evening… a dessert event called “I Want Candy.” I believe everyone walked away from the event with a few cavities that night! The centerpiece was deliciously lovely!

“I claim this Reese’s in the name of Ameila!”

Kandy Kane

Cotton Candy

Loli Pop

I got to meet Shannon (@ipaintdolls)! She was at our table, along with three other lovely ladies.

The program consisted of a Jeopardy-style contest about Tonner history. I’m glad I wasn’t up on stage. I knew exactly two of the questions!

So glad it wasn’t me up there!

After the program, we were all given a companion doll, Too Sweet. Silly me forgot to snap a picture of my doll, but I got one when I went into the sales room the next morning.

Too Sweet!

After the event, I quickly ran upstairs to grab my competition entries, two photos and a craft entry. The entry process was somewhat painful and slow, but I got them entered and headed over to the vendor sales room, where I purchased a lovely outfit for Ellowyne and a cute little dress for Amelia. Then it was off to bed to get ready for the next day’s events.

Wilde Workday

This past Wednesday, Feb. 6, was Take Your Dolly to Work Day. (Totally made-up holiday… any excuse, yeah?) So I went to the shelves and asked who would like to go with me. Not surprisingly most declined the offer. They cited the amount of complaining I do and the fear of getting their dresses dirty with newsprint. Valid reasons. I was about to lose hope when the little voice of Amelia Thimble piped up and volunteered to go with me. So it was off to work we went.

First order of business, checking email. Amelia took a ride on the mouse while I downloaded all the news submissions for the day.

Next, Amelia helped me type church news submissions… it was like watching a miniature game of twister.

After finishing up the church news, it was time for a “brain break.” We hopped on Facebook for a few minutes to find the 2013 Tonner Mainline release already up!

“Oooh! Oooh! Buy this one!”

“On second thought, buy them all!”

After we cleaned the drool off the computer screen (and a bit of the keyboard), Amelia decided to go exploring.

“Hey, what’s in here?”

“Ooops!”

After fishing Amelia out of the candy Tardis, she found my pencil holder.

No, Amelia! Don’t pull the pin!

Thankfully, I managed to keep Amelia from any more trouble until lunch time.

Mmmm, sammich!

Lunch passed without incident, and then it was back to work. Time for newspaper layout!

Amelia was very helpful in helping me place entertainment articles on the page.

Pagination can be a bit monotonous, so after a while, Amelia left me to it and made a new friend.

Itty-Bitty Buddha! “He’s smaller than me!”

After layout was done, it was time for a caffeine break.

Nectar of the gods!

As I had gotten done early, I decided to give Amelia a tour of the building. At the front desk, another friend was made.

Her name is Otter Readmore. She’s the paper’s mascot… sort of. Frankly, I find her kind of creepy.

Finally, our long workday came to an end.

Tell me about it, Amelia.

I’d like to thank Amelia for coming to work with me, and for not getting into too much trouble. (And for not getting newsprint on her outfit!) She returned home with me exhausted, but happy. And ecstatic over getting her own blog post. (I think the other dolls are a wee bit jealous now. Oh, well!)

Play time with Everlasting and Timeless

What’s a girl to do when she’s home alone on a cold, blustery day? Time to play dress-up, of course! Today, Timeless and Everlasting Evangeline wanted to try on some of the outfits we’d purchased over the past few months but hadn’t really gotten to play with yet.

Timeless channels a little bit of Belle in this beautiful yellow gown.

Everlasting goes a little Wild West steampunk in this get-up.

Timeless puts on a little sparkle.

The lady of the castle takes a moonlight stroll.

Hat Day!

This week’s theme over on the Ellowyne Ennui board is hats! I didn’t think I would be participating, as I didn’t think I had any hats worth photographing. My girls, on the other hand, decided to take matters into their own hands, threw on hats that I forgot I had, and demanded a photo shoot.

Eloise refuses to take off the Military Theory outfit. She thinks she’s a great adventurer.

Lizette is also feeling the steampunk vibe.

Amber had a bling-y hat she wanted to share.

But the girl who kicked up the most fuss was Eliza (as usual). She’s been wearing this outfit since we got it and reminded me, rather forcefully, of what a kick-ass hat she’s been wearing after I’d forgotten. Oops.

She also insisted on dragging out her violin, so after the photo shoot, the girls invited the Phins down from the shelf for a hootenanny. I left them to it.

A compelling discovery

One day, Eloise (Feeling Drained, Too), my adventurous girl, went exploring in the downstairs jungle (also known as my mother’s indoor garden).

Fortunately I got there in time to stop her from hacking away at my mother’s hibiscus tree.

She pushed her way through the leaves and branches until she came upon a magical cavern.

It’s so sparkly!

Eloise discovered the cavern was actually the base of a giant (fake) evergreen.

And the ‘boulders’ were made out of brightly wrapped boxes!

This is where Eloise made her compelling discovery. One that could affect life on the shelves as we know it!

A doll-shaped box!

She quickly left her discovery, pushing her way back through the downstairs jungle to let the other girls know what she had found. When all of a sudden…

Ahhh! Local wildlife!

But Eloise knew what to do. She had a piece of bacon in her pouch. Mollified, the giant beast let Eloise pass and she made it safely back to the shelf to spread the news.

So what’s in the doll-shaped box? Guess we’ll find out on Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

Collectors United 2012

I had no idea what to expect at me second-ever doll event. I knew it was a lot smaller than Wilde Weekend, but other than that, I didn’t know what was coming. Turns out, what came was a weekend of fun and meeting new friends.

I dragged my mother to the event again. She is becoming more and more interested in dolls, doll collecting and the events we go to. So much so she is getting her first doll for her birthday (shhh, don’t tell). I must give props to my mother for successfully driving in Atlanta-bound traffic and for correctly interpreting my frantic “No, the OTHER lane!” directions. Thanks for being patient with your navigator, Mom.

The hotel was MASSIVE. Thirteen floors and we were on floor #12. Thankfully there were five glass elevators to accommodate all the guests. The hotel was also attached to a huge convention center, which we wandered around aimlessly Friday night after check-in, trying to find where the doll show would be (it was in the hotel, not the convention center). We met two very lovely ladies who were just as lost as we were and were from Chattanooga. Yay! I finally met someone who loved dolls who lived close(ish) to me.

View of the atrium from outside our room on the 12th floor.

The Renaissance Waverly, the “outside-in” hotel.

Saturday was registration, after which, we were allowed to purchase souvenir dolls exclusively for the doll event. I bought the Ellowyne and the Cami, but not Evangeline, as she didn’t “speak” to me. She was lovely, but not my taste. Ellowyne on the other hand… oh! She was absolutely stunning in her gold dress and with her head of curly blonde hair. I’m not partial to blondes as a rule, but she looked truly etherial with her blonde curls and her aqua eyes. Mom helped come up with her name, as I insist on all my Ellowynes’ names start with “El.”

Say hello to Elfina!

The Tonner seminar was a lot of fun. We got to see the Tonner documentary that I hadn’t yet seen, as well as some funny videos and previews of the fall/winter lines. We were even shown a line we weren’t supposed to see and were asked not to talk about. So I won’t say anything other than the new line is an imaginatively beautiful take on a classic.

At dinnerwe were regaled of stories of CU events of years past. Even though this was my first event, it was still fun to hear the stories. We sat with one of the lovely ladies from the Ellowyne Ennui board, Nancy. Again, I was just so excited to meet someone else who had something in common with me! She was so nice and made me feel right at home, which is not easy with my anxiety of people I’ve never met before. Thank you, Nancy! We were entertained by a fun piano player/singer, then given the opportunity to buy more dolls. I picked up a couple more Ellowynes and an extra Cami for a friend, just in case she didn’t have a proxy. I knew she’d want the event Cami.

Sunday was the doll show. So many dolls! So few monies and shelves. Tonner, Madam Alexander, Barbie, antique dolls… you name it. I actually managed to not buy anything, but my mother did buy my Christmas present for me! (Can’t tell you what it is… it’s a secret.)

We left the doll show early in order to visit the Australian Bakery before heading home. Meat pies and vanilla slices… a little taste of home for my Aussie mother. It was a long drive back, but well worth it, as new friends and fun memories were made.

Before ending this, I’d like to say a special thank you to Michelle from the Tonner company. She is just the sweetest person and so easy to talk to. She introduced us to Mr. Tonner – in the elevator of all places, hee! – and gave me a hug when we left. I’ve never been more at ease with a company with such kind, caring people working there. Thank you for another great weekend!

Happy Halloween!

You’d think Halloween at my house would be dominated by Evangeline, but she scoffed at the notion. “Every day is Halloween in my world,” she said. I couldn’t disagree with her. Eleanor (Tell-Tale Heart), Amber and Pru, however, decided to get into the spirit of the holiday by posing for some photos.

“Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble!”

(Eleanor assured me she was only making soup and not a love spell to cast on Phin. I’m…. not sure I believe her.)

 

“OK. This is spooky and my candle’s gone out.”

Amber didn’t stay too long once she noticed Eleanor taking “soup” to Phin.

“This place is AWESOME!”

Pru ignored them both and declared the witchy backdrop hers.

Happy Halloween from all those on the Shelf!