October 2010, Issue 9
Featured Dollhouses
Page 59
Continue Magick Street dollhouses of Deb Roberts
"In fact, I had a doll custom-made in her likeness to be the proprietress of the shop. Sarah Ann was a very handsome woman, tall with high cheekbones, black hair and grey eyes. The doll is such a wonderful connection for me to my history that she's probably one of the most special things that I own. If you look in the shop, you can see a portrait on the wall behind the counter which is a reduced copy of a tin type of my Great Grandmother and the reproduction is amazing.
"Someone told me that they think the doll looks like me, which is cool because that means we got it just right! The doll maker is Gina Gagnon who also made my custom witch and wizard dolls. I'm lucky to also own her Eliza Dolittle doll which was featured in Nutshell News back in the 80s and I just love them all".
But none more than Sarah Ann. Even as a labor of love, however, this magical project didn't come off without a hitch.
"Wise Ways was always destined to be in a Brimbles Mercantile kit by Greenleaf, but they were unavailable when I started the project. I wanted a Brimbles so bad I could hardly stand it but they were out of production and scarce even on eBay. Great-Grandma Sarah Ann was quite put out about that because she insisted that no other store would do for the Emporium except a Brimbles.
"She finally settled for an RGT Shoppe, but she kept muttering about how she wouldn't rest til she had a Brimbles. Apparently she was working a little magick in her mumbles because Greenleaf re-released the Brimbles kit, and even better, as a laser cut kit! I was thrilled with the kit and the fact that it's laser cut. Sarah Ann was thrilled to finally get the shop she wanted in the first place," said Deb, a natural born storyteller.
Custom Dolls, Houses & Miniatures / CDHM