Posted by valmaxi on September 16, 2009, 10:57 am Board Administrator
Good Morning Divas and Divos!
You know me as Emjay, which is actually my initials spelled out, for MaryJane. I live in western Montana, with my husband, Jim, and our beautiful daughter, Sarah. Our son, Chris, is married to Amy and they've given us a lovely granddaughter, Micah. The family pet is a cat, named Tabby. He was left on our doorstep and we adopted him.
Growing up, my sister and I spent many hours playing with our Barbie's. When we were teenagers, Mom took all our dolls, fashions and furniture to the auction, as she thought we had outgrown them and we needed the space. Somehow, my FQ survived the purge.I found her in the storage shed, 11 years later. She was naked, except for a pair of yellow rain boots and the bubble cut wig she wore. Unfortunately a mouse had nibbled on her nose, other than that and being dirty she was in good shape. I feel fortunate to have her.
When our daughter, Sarah was 5 she received her first Barbie, and she would enlist me to play dolls with her. Well.I'm a 'neat freak', dolls with severe cases of bedhead and wrinkled clothing drive me crazy! So I bought my own Barbie, Ken and clothing. Turns out it was a good way to encourage Sarah to take better care of her own dolls by watching how I cared for mine.
It wasn't until the summer of 2004 that I began to actively collect dolls. We were going on a trip to Snohomish, WA. We were at the bookstore getting magazines for the trip and my daughter found a copy of the Barbie Bazaar magazine.when I read it, I discovered a doll called a Silkstone and fell in love! Then, while touring the charming town of Snohomish we found a doll shop. I bought my first Silkstone, A Model Life, and an extra fashion called Black Enchantment.that was the beginning of the journey.
In June of 2006, we took a trip to Klamath Falls, Oregon, to visit Claudia of the Pink Ponytail. She was my first 'internet dolly friend'. It was such a joy to visit with her and it was only the 2nd time I had been in a shop exclusive to fashion dolls. It was so exciting! Claudia also introduced me to Fashion Royalty dolls.I had never seen one before. The first thing I did when we came home was order Exotic Fire Veronique.a month later I bought Skin is In Kyori.and that was the beginning of my love affair with the exquisitely beautiful and wonderfully articulated FR dolls.
At Christmas time, my husband usually buys me jewelry or doll items from my wish list. Christmas 2006 my husband deviated from the routine. Christmas morning he gave me a digital camera..I was trying to act excited, but you have to know, never in our marriage have I ever taken a photo, heck I don't even like my own photo taken! He saw my confusion and told me that the camera was for taking doll photos...it instantly changed my confusion to joy!
This is the first photo I took with my camera.
Note: Taking photos is without doubt the hardest part of this hobby. I have no natural abilities, so it's always 100 photos for 10 decent ones! I use photo lights in my room for taking photos. I'm still struggling to figure out how best to position the lights for the desired effect. Let me just say I admire all of you who take such beautiful photos. You make it look easy.
It wasn't long before my dolls needed places to live, to work and play, so that started my next obsession - dioramas! I love creating fun spaces for my doll family. I do have a diorama room where there are 28 dioramas that stay set up. I have more ideas than I do room to implement them..so that means if I want more rooms, I have to take an existing room and give it a make-over. Which I have done numerous times. As many of you know, I write the Dolly Romance Novel, Utopia.so the rooms in these photos now represent a sampling of the town of Utopia.
Utopia didn't begin as a novel.the first 4 episodes are basically photos that have a story narrative. It wasn't until the middle of the camping episode that I realized what I wanted to do with the dolls and the dioramas. I am so thrilled that Dolldivas members were accepting of my story and that so many of you have continued to read and comment each week. I still find it hard to believe there are 85 episodes!
I write many episodes ahead of what is currently posted. Each new episode goes through many edits before I think it's fit for your viewing. There will be an ending to the story .but as of right now, I don't know when. The routine for new episodes is to debut them on Dolldivas on Monday afternoons. I don't post my story on any other boards.
December 2008, I put Utopia on a website. That came about through Dolldivas too. A member contacted me around Thanksgiving and told me he was depressed and going through a very difficult personal time with the loss of his brother. He said my story helped him forget his troubles and would I consider putting it out there so he could read it any time he wanted to? Apparently others have found some value in my stories too, as the viewers number in the thousands now.
I've visited a number of other doll sites, but Dolldivas is the only one that I call home. Each person who posts on this board plays a part in creating a warm, friendly, and inviting atmosphere. This board has so many talented members, as well as a stellar group of moderators and administrators, which makes for a wonderful 'dolly board' experience.
So, I'd like to thank each one of you who have welcomed me into the group, or posted kind comments under my amateur photos. Plus, a heartfelt thank you to those of you who have read, or are still reading my Utopia story. I always enjoy your comments, insights and thoughts!
