How this whole thing got started ...

I have been trying my darnedest to take good doll photos.  It's not easy.  For Christmas last year, my fiance (now my husband) purchased me an extremely nice Nikon D5000 digital camera and a macro lens.  This year my Christmas present was this elaborate light tent.  (My husband is a gem among men.)

Today was a great day for me as a doll collector.  A photo I posted on a doll board was selected as the spotlight photo of the day.  That is a great honor.  At least in my eyes.   But there is a history to this photo.  It starts back in the spring of this year.

This spring Integrity Toys introduced their lineup of dolls during an online event.  As they unveiled each doll, they informed us of the edition size, which happened to be some of the smallest ever.  Most were 500 or less.  This caused a panic among collectors and dolls sold out quickly on pre-order. 

One of the dolls in this collection was Tricks of the Trade Eugenia.  Here is the stock photo from Integrity Toys:

She was really a hot mess.  I own several Eugenia dolls and have never seen a Eugenia I didn't like once I had her in hand.  I took the gamble.   She arrived and got her first "outside" photoshoot.  Here is my photo ...

She has really been the source of a lot of dolly controversey this year.  Some have called her an "old call girl".   Many do not like her "crimped" hair.  (Crimped hair was popular with Integrity Toys this year, to the chagrin of many a collector.)  At one point I thought about selling her for parts.  Then I decided to take matters into my own hands. 

I took her hair out of its severe ponytail and boil permed her hair straight.  While I was boiling her hair, one of her eyelashes came off.  I didn't realize it until I had thrown out the water.  Too late for the eyelash, so I took the other one off also.  (BTW, I don't think a $140 doll should be losing its eyelash so easily.  Maybe they are not put on with the intention of being near steam or boiling water?)  The removal of the eyelashes actually opened her eyes more.  I liked the results and photographed her in my light tent.

So on December 27, 2010, I had a spotlight photo on the Pink Parlor/Vinyl Lounge doll board.