Beeeeep....... we are currently off the air.

Things in the Kingdom are weird.

Again.

Still, I guess.

I think we're going to be offline until the end of January at least. While things settle. Until things settle.

We're all okay. I think we're okay. Things are just weird.

We got weird news, which set off a whole pile of weird, falling everywhere, like an avalanche of weird.

A weird-alanche.

And now we're trying to dig ourselves out of the sudden weird we're buried in.

I'll let you know when we're back. As soon as we're back.

Have a good rest of your January.

- Miri

One of the Smartest Girls in the Wylde Kingdom

We are so lucky to have Lenore.


Seriously. So. Lucky.

There are two American Girl dolls coming to live in the Kingdom. (You can see more about them here if you like - The Dolls in the Attic: Bon Voyage!)

Everyone here has gotten really into preparing for them. We've not had dolls this large with us in a very, very long time and it gave us the opportunity to get out stuff that's too big for us, but that we liked and kept anyway.

These girls were raised with pixies, and everyone is excited to have them coming, including Taelyn who apparently thinks their slipper is a hat.

We've got seamstresses working on stuff for them.  And crochet circles making them things.

Or we did. Until everyone realized that making things for dolls who aren't here, and who are of a size you're not used to (and also more than three times your OWN size) is HARD. They're so different from us, and we don't know anything about them: what they like what they don't like, that kind of thing. We've just got no clue.

[No grumpy pixies were willing to be photographed for this entry,

they're THAT grumpy. 

So just imagine a picture of grumpy pixies here. - M]

The not knowing made tempers start to rise. Folks got snippy with each other. We wanted to have all these things for the girls when they got here, and it just wasn't working out and it was upsetting to everyone.

And in our haste to make them clothes and fun THINGS we all forgot one really, really important question:

Once they arrived, where on Earth were they going to SLEEP?!

Enter the very brilliant Lenore.

Lenore doesn't like it when everyone is upset and fighting, and she has a tendency to just slip away on her own when it happens, preferring the company of books and herself.

But this time, she took off to the back bedroom with more than just a book or two. She took all the camping gear we have left. Not to camp out just by herself, though.

To make a space for the girls!

She said she knows it's kind of rough, but I think it's brilliant. They've got their own tent for the two of them (she said she thought they wouldn't want to be separated to start, while they were settling in. Brilliant!).

There's a little meeting area in the middle for if they want to chat and for people to meet them.

And HER tent, off to one side, so she'd be there to help them, just in case they needed something in the middle of the night.

It really is a pretty nifty setup. She did an amazing job.

But... well, I don't mean to be a cynic here. But, this is a little uncharacteristically helpful for Lenore. She's not normally a huge fan of new dolls, especially not ones that are anywhere close to her height/size. It's just weird.

I guess we'll see. But one thing is for sure...

.. she's one of the smartest girls in the whole Wylde Kingdom. And I don't know where these guys would've slept without her. Brilliant!

And timely. They're due here today! One day earlier than their flight was originally scheduled! I'll let you know all about their arrival! Now off to finish preparing! There's still so much to do (but not as much as there would've been if Lenore wasn't brilliant.)

- Miri

Presents from Science and Lily!!

While I was sick in bed, a package came to the Wylde Kingdom.Wendy opened it, and found gifts for me and Aspen. So she invited Aspen over to my house so we could open our presents this morning! It's like second Christmas!

Two big, beautifully wrapped packages! And a giant envelope! All addressed from my buddy Science and her companion Lily.  This was such a surprise and super sweet. Thank you guys. :)

 Sort of reading the card first.

 

It's a poster! A poster for the Business District! How cool is that?!? Did I mention Lily is a brilliant graphic artist? She designed the logo for the Business District, the Humble Bee AND C&M! She's awesome (and the only reason we have signs. Without her, it'd just be crayon on poster board, knowing us). I have got to get this framed. Awesome!

 

Then it was time for packages. Aspen got started on opening hers!

There was a beautiful envelope with a note.

And inside, two gorgeous, golden bee clasps. Aspen LOVES bees, and I'm sure she'll put these to good use in her store.

And me... I got another glass animal. But not just any glass animal. It's a glass hammerhead shark!!!

 Isn't it just gorgeous? Another one for the collection! It'll go right next to the bunny that the awesome Zorropirate gave me! Hopefully they'll get along.

And Meowzart got a box. He's a very, very happy kitty.

Lily, thank you so much. And be sure to tell Science when she returns that we love everything you guys sent us. This was a great way to start the day, and to celebrate being mostly over my cold. You guys rock.

- Miri

Salome Takes a Trip to Norm's

Hi Everyone! Wendy here! Miranda is sick in bed with a nasty cold, so I'm taking over the blog for an entry. I hope you don't mind (I hope Miranda doesn't mind either). :)

Today, Mrs. Salome Wormwood-Blackpaw wandered with me to Norm's Dollhouse, where she did a little wandering of her own and even took a class!

Salome is a very sweet, happily married, gnome lady. She has a wonderful husband named Gus, and an adorable son named Hugh. She's very busy with the baby, so she doesn't get a lot of time to herself. Today was a special treat.

With Gus watching the baby, Salome wandered straight to Norm's and then straight to the craft section.

I caught her eyeing one of the fancy sewing machines. 

"Maybe someday," sighed Salome with a smile.

She wandered to the yarn and picked out a few skeins for a project. She's quite the yarn-worker.

Then it was to the book section to take a look at the children's books, for Hugh.

While wandering, she came upon a strange little house. She felt it was painted in very homey, gnomey colors.

She noted that it was for sale, and wandered on in to take a look.

She felt it was quite a spacious place. There would be plenty of room for the three of them in this house.

Not that Salome doesn't love the house she an Gus have now, and its very open floor plan.

"But this one would have room for a nice sewing machine in a crafting room," said, Salome. "Maybe someday."

While wandering, Salome discovered that there was a class going on today. You would learn to make this cute snowman egg, the sign said. It's a real goose egg!

Salome found herself very intrigued by the idea of this class, and signed right up!

It's a lesser known fact that gnomes, like Salome, are very, VERY attracted to sparkly things. So, the jewels for the top and bottom of the egg immediately caught her eye. 

She liked putting the braid around the opening of the egg as well. 

Gently and slowly, Salome followed the directions of amazing instructor, Debbie Botts, and put together a snowman egg all her very own. 

A few finishing touches, and it was all done. Not half as hard as she'd thought the class would be, and a million times nicer than the result she'd expected.

Not a bad day of wandering, for Mrs. Salome. But I'll bet Gus and Hugh were happy to see her when she got home. :)

- Wendy

Music Video Starring Stuffies? Yes! Yes it is!

So, I don't do this a lot. I don't suggest music videos, but Wendy turned me on to this band, and then I found this video and I love it. It's "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons and it's really cool.

I'll tell you, if you're a stuffed animal there's some pretty graphic violence, you might want to cover the eyes of the littler stuffed critters around you, but it's worth it and it's AWESOME.

All of the stuffies here LOVE it and it kind of has special meaning for the Wylde Kingdom.



Anyway, I hope you like it. I love the song. I love the video. And I kind of want to hug that bear.

- Miri

P.S. Also, if you liked that (and seriously, how could you not like that? Lou Diamond Phillips is in it! Come on!) you should check out the "making of" too. It's a great cast, and the actors (human and stuffie/puppet) seem really awesome and nice. Check it out here - Imagine Dragons: The Making of Radioactive

365 Days of the Wylde Kingdom Dolls

We're going to try something new. Sort of. Well, we've tried it before and it didn't work so well. But we're trying it again with hopes we'll succeed this time!

There's this Flickr Group called A Doll a Day 2013 and we're in it. We're going to try taking a picture of a Wylde Kingdom doll every day for 365 days. We'll post it to that group, but we'll post it on our brand new, secondary blog too:

365 Days in the Wylde Kingdom

It's going to be a really great opportunity for you guys to meet some of the dolls who live in the Kingdom, but don't get a lot of limelight on this blog. I'll try to put some information (likes, dislikes, that kind of thing) with each picture and then when you see them on THIS blog you can be like "Hey, I know that doll! Her favorite color is purple!" Or something like that.

Hope you are already having a very Happy New Year!! Things in the Wylde Kingdom are already good and 2013 is going to be AWESOME.

Off to take a picture of our first "Doll a Day" subject. Let's see who's wandering around the Business District, shall we? :)

- Miri