Some of you may remember that quite some time ago i purchased a blonde waif in need of some TLC.However, when she arrived it soon became clear that she would need an abundance of TLC as she had a lot more problems than the seller had let on. I took one look at her little face and started making plans to fix her up so to speak.
It has taken quite a while as home and family life has put a few obstacles in my way. Now, i can start to share Hope’s story with you. I decided to call her Hope so that she can be a beacon of hope to all those little waifs out there just waiting to be found.
The first photo’s of Hope are the ones i took when she arrived. Hope had quite a few problems then and there are some i will never be able to fix. When Hope arrived her stringing was shot so she could not hold a pose.
She was very dirty and had ink on both sides of her face. She has a dink out of her nose and a scratch right across one of her eyes which i can do nothing about. Her hair was like straw, but maybe the worst thing of all was that she had no knuckles, it was as if someone had filed them away.

Where to start i asked myself, i decided to try to remove the ink from her face first and there are a couple of ways of doing this. I decided to use acne cream on her face to remove the ink. I had quite a job explaining to the chemist what i wanted it for and i had to promise him that it was not for use on an animal!
First of all i gave Hope a nice body wash making sure that i did not ge t any soapy water inside her. I removed Hope’s arms and put pencils along side the sockets to keep the stringing there. Once Hope was dry i wrapped her in tissue paper and only left the parts of her face with the ink on exposed.
Next i applied acne cream to the ink and then i place Hope in front of a lamp and checked her every now and then, once the acne cream had hardened i removed it and re-applied a fresh batch. The lamp was not proving as successful as i had hoped, so i decided to leave Hope on the window sill and let the natural sun work on the acne cream.

After a couple of weeks on the window sill the ink on Hope’s face had gone.

So the first part of repairing Hope was to remove the ink from her face which has been done.
The next part was not so easy. I decided to try and repair Hopes badly damaged hands. her poor hands had no knuckle area at all as some one had filed them away.
The first step was to remove hopes arms.

Once i had removed hopes arms i could get a better look at the damage which extended to the under part of her hands also. Poor Girl!
I tried the hot water technique first, so i filled a small bowl with nearly boiling water and plunged her hands into the water for a couple of minutes.

Now if there had been a dent or ding to her hands, i would have been able to fix it using the hot water method, unfortunately this was not the case and the damage was to great so i had to re-think what i was going to do.
I consulted various Sasha people for any help they could give me and after much deliberation i decided that milliput was the way to go.
Now milliput is not available in many colours and the terracotta colour is more suitable to the colouring of the early Gotz dolls, so that would be something else to deal with later.
For now i had my terracotta milliput, i mixed up the milliput as per the instructions on the packet and applied it to Hopes hands, after making sure they were clean and dry first.

As you can see from the photo’s i applied enough milliput to the hands so that it sat proud, allowing me to sand the milliput down with very fine sand paper. I sanded down the milliput by hand very gently a bit at a time comparing her hands to the unaffected hands of another Sasha doll as i went and this is what the sanded down version looked like.

As i said before the colour of the milliput di d not match the skin tone so once again after consulting some fellow Sasha lovers, i decided to use acrylic paint. I went to quite a few craft shops and although i found a colour that was quite similar to the dolls completion it was not an exact match. then i remembered that someone once told me that Sasha M always used a touch of black in her paints, which gave me an idea. i added black paint drop by drop to the complexion paint until i reach a colour that i was happy with.
I then painted the milliput with the paint and carried the paint over the milliput and a little way up Hopes hands.This was the result.

As you can see once the paint had dried the colour was not a complete match and at some point i will redo them until i get it right. Then i will seal the paint with matt acrylic varnish so that it does not shine to much but for now Hope has new hands!!

Hi everyone well here i am again with the next instalment of repairing my darling little Hope.
Now Hope had new hands it was time to try and re-string her, before i could do that i had to gather the equipment together that i would need.
Once again i took guidance from a number of Sasha friends and with the knowledge i had gained i decided to give it a go so to speak. now i am no professional at any of the repairs that i have carried out on Hope and everything i have done has been trial and error and done with love, so if you have a doll that needs repairing and you don’t want to take any chances on further damage then consult the professionals.
Brenda Walton is a professional person to go to if you need your doll re-strung in the UK.
i am adding a link to the Sasha Doll Musings blog as this gives you great detail on how to re-string a doll
http://sashadollblog.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/on-re-stringing-sasha-dolls.html
The first thing i had to do with Hope was to re-set her bar in her neck as it had come loose and was rattling around in her head, so i stood her head in a shallow dish of hot water for a couple of minutes and then with a pair of medical forceps i re-positioned her neck bar and once cool it remained in place.
The restringing process on the Sasha Doll Musings blog shows slightly different equipment than i have used, for instance i could not find the the metal clamps they have used to i used cable ties. I don’t have any photo’s of the actual re-stringing that i carried out on Hope as i was too busy trying to do it.
A couple of tips i do have are with the head to leg re-string is to tie this off at the leg using a pencil as an anchor and then remove the pencil once the leg has been attached. I used plastic ties on the arm re-stringing as it is easier when using a smaller piece of stringing and also remember to put your arm stringing behind the leg to head stringing.
The equipment i used can be easily sourced, the medical forceps i got from ebay for about £8 in a job lot and these are excellent as they are self gripping. The boot hook was also on ebay for about £10 and is great for puling the stringing through, which was a tip from Ted. Ted also gave me a tip about how to use pipe cleaners to stop hook and bar attachments from falling into the doll.The plastic ties are easy to get hold of too.

The string that i used i purchased from ebay and i used the same thickness as the original.
I did it Hope has been restrung, so on to her hair, which resembles dry candy floss. The first thing i tried with Hopes hair was to first clean it gently with baby shampoo and then soak it in fabric conditioner. It felt ok so i styled it in rollers and left it to dry.

Unfortunatley once Hope’s hair was dry it still looked very dry and dull.I wet her hair again and this time i soaked it in woolite, which improved the texture, but her hair was still very dry on the ends. I decided to try a rich human conditioner that comes with hair-dye to the ends of Hopes hair and although her hair is by no means perfect, it does look better and smells beautiful.
Would you like to see her, She’s a bit shy!!

Turn round Hope we want to see you.

Here are some more photo’s of Hope i think she turned out ok!!

And now there is an up date to this story, as hope’s hair was still straw like I decided to re-rot it and here she is now.

 

 

 

by twizeltheresa ^Pro @ 2014-04-29 – 15:49:07

Twizels Needs a Little Help!!

 

Picking up from where i left off yesterday, i was very surprised to find this wonderful place full of toys from days gone past at Bletchley park. Helen was overjoyed to find some play mates.

There were al sorts of trinkets as well as toys from the 1930’s to the 1950’s

There was one bear in particular that both i and Helen fell in love with, he has the most charismatic face and if i could have taken him home i would have.

The dolls house below was used to help plan army manoeuvres.

More toys.




The flying ducks on the wall always remind me of Hilda Ogdens living room in Coronation Street.


Before we left this wonderful building Helen and i signed the visitors register.

Just outside were the cottages which housed Alan Turing and other members of staff.but as they ar still not open to the public, Helen had a rest in the garden, before we moved on to the chauffeurs hut to look at the vehicles.



Now you may or may not know that pigeons played a big part in the war effort too, so much so that some of them were awarded a medal called the
Dickin medal.


Before we left Blechley Park we popped into the souvenir shop to pick up some souvenirs to send back to Wendy for Helen’s Auction next year.The shop had some lovely old games like Ludo and even a monopoly game by Alan Turing.

So after a great time at Bletchley Park, Helen and i headed home.
“Helen what are you doing?”

“I am pretending to be an evacuee”

Helen is actually modelling the souvenirs from Bletchley Park that will be going into her auction next year.
They are a copy of an evacuee tag, a ration book, a war time cookery book, a Sasha sized war time puzzle, a wartime paper doll with outfits,a leaflet on Bletchley Park and a key ring with a sixpence piece dated 1947.

There is also a special Bletchley Park penny (the shiny piece of flat metal next to the keyring). There is a machine that you put a £1 coin and 1p into with four different coin fonts to choose from. This one has the Mansion House on it. You then turn the handle of the machine and it prints you out a Bletchley con made from your 1p.
Well, that is the end of Helen’s trip to Bletchley Park and i hope you have all enjoyed it. Thank you for taking the time to read it.

The sign said Toys, Domestic Artefacts and Costumes from 1930s-1950’s.The final part of Bletchley Park will be posted tomorrow so if you would like to see what else we discovered tune in tomorrow!!

Once Helen had had a little rest we continued our tour of Bletchley Park. There is a lovely lake at Bletchley park and Helen insisted on having a photo taken by the lake as it looked so relaxing.

For the staff at Bletchley Park the Lake gave some rest bite from the conundrums of code breaking. In the Summer the lake provided opportunities for boating and in the winter when it froze over people would go skating on it.
In the background of the 2n photo you can just make out the mansion house.
The grounds of Bletchley Park also provide some much needed rest bite from the noise of the code breaking machines and also romantic liaisons.Helen found the grounds enchanting.

I visited Bletchley park a few years ago to take part in the Antique Road show and i queued for ages, but whilst i was in the queu i noticed that there was a herb garden dedicated to America. On this visit i tried t find it again.
I was told that what ever flower’s that were planted overtook the herb garden, but i was assured that all of the plants in this area were American. Unfortunately the only two litle markers left in what would have been the herb garden were very faded and don’t show up in the photo, but i can tell you that one says Alabama and the other New Jersey.

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As we made our way up to the Mansion House, it was quite exciting when you think that the likes of Winston Churchill, The Royal Family and the Actors from the Bletchley Circle had all been into the Mansion House. Here is the Mansion House.

At the entrance to the Mansion House there are two gargoyals guarding the entrance. Helen found them quite amusing but by the look on their faces i don’t think they found her quite so amusing.

“oi, get off my head”

“be quiet and make like Harry Potter, lets fly”

“Will you let go of my ears young lady”
At this point i thought i has best separate Helen from the grumpy gargoyle and continue looking around the Mansion House.

The Mansion house if a very impressive building with lots of beautiful architecture. The first room we visited was the drawing/music room.

There was an impressive fireplace and mantel with a bust of Winston Churchill that Helen got quite friendly with and from the look on Winston’s face he was thoroughly enjoying their conversation.The drawing room was used in 1940 for security lectures and later it became the music room where gramophone concerts were held.

The Dining room was used as the Mess room throughout the war, another lovely room with an oak fireplace and mantel and a wonderful ceiling.


Below is a photo of a watercolour painting of the Mansion house and some photo’s of the interior of the entertainment/dance room.

 

 

Hi Everyone Helen is back again to continue her outing to Bletchley Park.
After looking at the War Time Homes, Helen wandered into a War time classroom and made herself comfortable. Helen was quite intrigued by the book on the table as the title said “Common-Sense English”

As Helen looked around the classroom she notices Posters about Gas Masks.

Below is a photo of a babies Gas mask. not a very nice looking contraption at all. I remember my mother telling me that she refused to use the baby gas mask with my older brothers because it was operated by the mother pumping air into it for the baby to breath. My mother feared that if she was killed then the baby would suffocate.

There were some fantastic war time posters that i just had to photo graph below.

Below is a photo of some war time grocery’s and war time requirements like the ration book.

Helen was quite amused with the Spy accessories counter that she came accross.

Next we moved onto the Alan Turing section. Alan was a major player in the code breaking at Bletchley Park.


Not only was Alan Turing building the Bombe in England. but the American’s were building theirs in America too.


Helen thought the sculpture of Alan Turing was quite impressive.

There is a personal section dedicated to Alan Turing, showing his teddy bear and other personal items.
Alan Turing study mathematics at Cambridge and took part in the Oxford and Cambridge boat race. Below are photo’s of his Teddy Bear and the commemorative oars from the boat race.


As we left the huts and ventured outside we cam across a memorial that was opened by the queen in 2011.

Helen decided that we needed a rest before undertaking any further adventures, so she found herself a lovely seat cut out of a tree trunk and made herself comfy.

Today Helen visited Bletchley Park, home to the code breakers in World War 2 and also the film setting for the Drama The Bletchley Circle.

It was quite a windy day today so Helen had come prepared with a hat coat and umbrella, but luckily she only needed to wear the hat as although it was windy the sun was still shining.

As Helen started her journey through Bletchley Park there were numbered huts with different pieces of machinery that was used to help decipher the codes during WW2.
Lets show you a few.


Above Helen is looking at the hand written cards used to help decipher Japanese codes.
As most of the men were away fighting in the war, women were drafted in to Bletchley Park to do their bit.

Above is aphoto of the Enigma machine the most famous of the code machine’s that the workers at Bletchley Park managed to crack and which had a profound effect on the War. In one day the women who punched holes in the cards to try to crack the code could punch up to 100,000 a day!

On arrival at Bletchley Park the workers were made to sign the official secrets act straight away.
As the war progressed Bletchley Park became a hub of activity and with limited space for the workers to sleep, people in Bletchley were asked to give up a room in their house so that some of the workers at Bletchley Park could stay there. Here are some photo’s of what a war time home would have looked like.



I think that’s enough for today so i will post the next part tomorrow!!

That’s a very good Question.
Yesterday Jocelyn kindly dropped Helen around to my home, so that she could continue her travels.
A few of my Sasha’s decided it would be a nice idea to have a get together with a few of their friends and throw a garden party in honour of Helens arrival.
So without further ado, we drove off to pick up Karin of Sashamania and a few more Sasha’s.
We all met up at Gillian Nash’s house so that Helen could meet some more Sasha’s. During the day we had a visit from Dee Owen and some more Sasha’s.

Helen was very honoured that her friends had thrown a garden party for her.
Gracie had decided that she was going to be master-chef. Gracie told everyone to form a queue. Helen looked a bit bemused and said to Gracie, “what is a queue?”
Oh, said Gracie “don’t worry a queue is an English tradition, whenever there is more than two people waiting for something they just stand behind each other and wait and it is called a queue”
So Helen formed her first queue while she waited with the other’s to taste the delicious food that Gracie was cooking up on the barbecue.

While she was waiting in the queue Helen noticed two girls on the other side of the garden playing some sort of game with wooden mallets so he asked the girls what they were doing.
The girls replied that they were about to start a game of Croquet an old English game.

Elsewhere in the garden there was another old English game being played that is called quoits.Karin’s little lad decided that he would have a go at skipping.

The babies were having fun sitting on their blanket playing with their teddies and Woof loyally sat with the babies hoping someone would drop a burger.

In another part of the garden some of the group were hanging out on their bikes.

Here are a couple of close up photo’s of the queue.

Outside Knitty Nora’s there was a creche with lots of wonderful prams.

And of course there were the adults who thoroughly enjoyed watching the kids play!!

All in all a great day for everyone and a nice way for Helen to start her stay with me.
Where will Helen go next?, well you will just have to wait and see!!