2022 UFDC Convention in St. Louis - Timeless Treasures: Day 5

 Day 5 - Saturday

I was up nice and early to help set up and work the Helper Drawings. It is always nice to hear people cheering when they or a friend win a coveted item. I won two items from the drawings: a Robin Woods Alice in Wonderland doll and accessories in trunk, 

and a Zwergnase doll.

After putting away my items, I worked the Mini-Offices last shift - 10AM-12PM.

I again ate a quiet lunch in my room, this time leftover Chinese food from the night before, packed as much as I could in my suitcases, and rested.

Kelsey and I dressed up for the final event.

And then we headed down to the cash bar cocktail hour and the final banquet.

The centerpiece was a simple tri-fold that mentioned this year's theme and led us into next year's theme.

My roommates Little Fox doll joined Kelsey at the table.

Table mates were generous with table gifts.

During the dinner, we were entertained first by a barbershop quartet, and then a video of convention goings on set to music.

At the end of the evening, souvenir dolls were passed out to those who had pre-ordered them, and we opened them all together.

The doll is Lena Sutherland by Jennie Sykes.

After oohing and aahing, it was time to say our final farewells to friends and head to bed, especially since our ride to take us to the airport was scheduled to pick us up at 5AM.

2022 UFDC Convention in St. Louis - Timeless Treasures: The Rest of Day 2

 After checking out the special exhibits I took a peek at the UFDC boutique, bought some helper tickets, and looked at the helpers. There were lots of wonderful helper items this year. And then I went to Samy Odin's program: The Art of Dina Velluti. This was wonderful after just seeing the exhibit, as it put the dolls in context.

For the first time in my convention-going life, I signed up for the Competitive Highlight Tour for the next day.

I had a quiet lunch in my room and went to the next program: KPM-Betlin China Dolls by Christiane Graefnitz. This was a really interesting program about dolls I knew nothing about.

And then it was time for the What's Cooking Beccasine? Afternoon Tea that I had signed up for.

On the table were adorable Beccasine candy container centerpieces.

The tea consisted of various small sandwiches, quiches, scones, danishes, and tartlets, as well as tea.

A friend brought one of her Beccasines as her travel doll.

After eating, Samy gave an informative presentation about Beccassine, her history, and some of the Beccasine dolls that have been made over the years.

Afterward, we received our souvenir dolls made by Connie Tognolli.

My loot: table favors and the doll.

Kelsey tried on the outfits that were given out as table favors.

Kelsey poses with her new friends.

Exhausted, I decided to nap that afternoon and skipped dinner since the tea had been very filling, so I had an early night.

2022 UFDC Convention in St. Louis, MO - Timeless Treasures: Day 1

 Tuesday was the first official day of the convention. Kelsey, my travel doll, and I went to the mini-office for our 9AM-12PM shift. Being the first real day, there were lots of questions on where the rooms were for the seminars, workshops, and meal events; as well as the competition room, helper room, and sales room, and when they would open.

I had a lunch event that afternoon: Merrythought - A Boy and His Bear - Forever Friends. 

The table centerpiece. It was surrounded by little bottles of honey for each attendee.

Kelsey brought her teddy bear - Shellie May to the luncheon.

I was impressed with the healthy lunch that was served. It included a baby kale and blackberry salad,

salmon with green bean over grains, 

and a carrot cake with more berries. It all tasted soooo good.

John Port gave a sweet program about himself and his stuffed bears, Christopher Robin and his bear - Edward Bear, and various stuffed bears through the years based on Edward Bear/Winnie the Pooh.

Our souvenir is Little Edward Bear by Merrythought. I like that he just came in a bag, much easier to pack than a cardboard box.

Table favors included a red vest for the bear and a Merrythought passport.

After lunch, I walked through the ODACA sales room, bought Helper tickets, and checked out the Helper room. There were so many lovely items in there.

We had dinner, again, in the bar, and due to the looooooooong wait, missed the opening ceremonies. I was sad about that. It was my first time ever to miss them. And then we waited for the grand opening of the Sales room with 700+ other doll people.

It was a long and busy day, but a great start to the convention.

Daisy Kingdom "Daisy" Doll

 After quite a few years of only having winter shows, the Eastern National Doll Show - Gaithersburg, MD, had a summer show in June.

It was great to see so many doll people in one place, talk to friends, and ooh and aah over the dolls in the dealers' booths. I even bought myself two dolls. The one I am showing in this post is a last minute find that I found while getting ready to leave.

A Daisy Kingdom "Daisy" doll from circa 1991. In the 1990s, I would see the Daisy Kingdom dolls at the fabric store and thought it was so neat that there were fabric panels to make matching child and doll outfits, as well as patterns.

In 1999 or 2000, I bought a Daisy Kingdom "Pansy" doll for my brother's girlfriend's daughter, and made matching Raggedy Ann dresses for them. I wish I had a photo of them wearing the outfits. 

When I gave the "Pansy" doll to the girl, I also gave a boy doll around the same height to her older brother. The story on that doll could be a whole other post. (So I will save that for another day.)

This Daisy doll was marked at an amazing price, and in a Daisy Kingdom outfit, so she practically jumped into my arms.

I decided to pose her for July with two other dolls in blue sailor suits - Little Darling Merry, and My Child. Each has their own style, while being variations on the same theme.

Lady Baltimore's 2021 Halloween Luncheon

 Yesterday, Saturday, was the Lady Baltimore Doll Study Club's Halloween luncheon. Just what I needed to get me into the Halloween spirit.

The club members decorated multiple display tables with horror and Halloween themed dolls that they own.

There was also a competition table. The category was - Dolls dressed as witches - costumes made by owners. 

As you can see, I participated this year. My Friend Jenny feels a bit out of place with all of these glamorous modern dolls in their pretty witch outfits.

So many people participated in the competition this year. All the outfits were very well done.

After looking at the competition dolls,  I had to go back and look at more display dolls.

The tables were festively decorated with painted pumpkins and Halloween themed items.

Some attendees even brought their travel dolls with them.

During lunch, a guest speaker spoke about the history of witches and dolls. It was really interesting and entertaining.

Then it was time to see what the judges thought of the competition dolls. 

Ta da!!!! I got a 2nd place ribbon! Hooray!

Running short on time, next up was Helper Drawings and passing out the souvenir doll.

A Maru Mini Pal - Fire Witch! She is adorable.

The 3 helpers I won are: a Christmas themed Raikes Bear,

A beautiful Zapf doll,

And VIB - Libearace. LOL. He is too fabulous.

It was a great event!