Hope everyone is doing ok with quarentine

Hello everyone....
I know it's been about 6 months since I've been on here and first I want to apologize for that. It's been quite the year for me. As many of you know, my husband John and I were pretty much raising the kids as business partners, but could not afford to get divorced. Well, in July, we finished fixing our home, and sold it, split the profit and finally got that divorce. I now live in an apartment. There's no storage, so all my doll stuff is in storage in my moms basement. I found a 9-5 job, so I wasn't doing crazy nights and weekends with retail anymore, which was better for the kids, but not nearly as much pay. The house money was quickly spent, and living on my own and having to pay for utilities and car insurance and health insurance for the first time in my life was a real eye opener to me. Of course, most of my money is till going towards the girl's dance because I'm just crazy like that. haha... They love it so much, and something needs to stay stable in their lives.
In any case, I lost my job with this Covid-19, as did many, so I'm just waiting to see what happens next.The kids are bored..the girls are still doing dance through zoom classes online, which is kinda cool, but they can't really do everything...they miss the studio.
I figured with all this time on my hands, even though I might not have space to be able to paint and get all my doll stuff set up here, I could at least get the forum up and going again. We all need more social contact and things to do..whether it be more contests, or just another venue to laugh and chat with friends.
I've talked to a couple people, and I know the ads here are a bit annoying, and trying to find someone to contact about how to get them off is nearly impossible, but I'm working on it.
If anyone has any ideas on what you'd like to see on here to maybe get this up and going, let me know. We could do a baby exchange for each other...those were always fun. Or we could do a contest on what babies you've made during quarantine.
Since I've been so out of touch lately, tell me, how has business been going? Obviously, so many have lost jobs... the economy is hurting. Are people buying the babies right now? Have you noticed an impact in your business? Do you find your painting more in your free time? How are you holding up?
I used to be really into fitness, so you'd think that I'd be using this free time to work out and get into great shape again, but when I think about doing that I feel depleted...just ugh...I don;t want to.All of this news and sickness and isolation just gets to me and I don't feel like doing anything positive sometimes. Does anyone feel like that when it comes to your babies? Have you slowed down because you don't feel inspired? Or is it something great that is keeping you going throughout the day?
Maybe I should take up cooking and just get really fat. haha. One thing is, sometimes you just have to turn off the tv.

I'd love to hear from any of you. I hope some of you are still out there. I miss you all. Stay safe.

Wow, you have been going through so much! My heart goes out to you and your girls, I will be praying for you.  I was a single Mother for 20 years and I know some of the challenges that you face.   I hung onto this scripture so many times, I had no family for support:

Isaiah 54:5 New International Version (NIV)

5 For your Maker is your husband—
   the Lord Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
   he is called the God of all the earth.

Jesus never failed me, even in the darkest hours.

Right now I am trying to work on dolls but my heart just isn't into it yet.  My husband & I have retired and we just bought a house in a very small Amish Town and I love it! We are buying our food from the Amish which is so healthy, hand made breads, farm fresh eggs, butter, milk, meats without hormones, hand canned veggies, jelly, etc. We don't get out unless we have to but we are staying busy around the house. Here is a picture of our new town on a busy day LOL!!  Then the farms we buy from.







So once I'm over the excitment of retirement and slowing down, then maybe I will be more motivated to work on dolls again.

My heart goes out to my children, grandchildren & great grandbaby, they are in the heart of this virus! My DIL is a Medical Assistant at St Lukes in Kansas City, she gets tested often and has not contacted it yet.

I will think about ideas to keep this forum up and running and let you know.  Love ya Laura, you are always on my heart.  It was you who kept me going in Reborning when I wanted to quit, you always encouraged me, thank you  

Lara- I am really sorry to hear about all of the trials you have been going through!  Why does life have to be so hard sometimes?!  I am so happy to see you back on the board though, I've missed seeing you here!

You know I would love to see the board get going again!  I would LOVE to do competitions again, they really motivate me to learn and grow as an artist, and they are so much FUN!  I am up for any and all competitions that are held here!  I would definitely love to chat and get to know everyone here more too! 

I don't know much about the business side of reborning or how sales are.  My health has been poor, I have Post Viral Illness for the past 6 years and this last year it has been bad.  I'm not reborning at the pace I used to, but I haven't stopped!  I don't think I ever could stop, even though I have been reborning for 2 years I feel like it is my blood.  If I am having a very bad day I won't paint, because it shows in my work!  I have never stopped reborning for more than a couple of weeks due to illness, but again, I'm still a newbie at only 2 years of doing this. 

Jo-What an amazing town you live in!  I hope you keep painting, I love your babies!

I hope everyone is staying safe during this time!  My husband is working from home and my kids are doing cyber learning for the rest of this school year.  I'm happy we are home and safe, but strange times...

Attached is a picture of 3 of my latest babies, they are bald, cuddle triplets:)  I painted them on my own entirely, without a tutorial!  This is a new thing for me, I like tutorials:)  Still more I want to learn and improve on! 

Jo, thank you for the pictures! That's really cool to see that. Our streets here in Pittsburgh seem just as empty when they used to be filled with cars. I do rely on scripture as well, and I'm glad that my kids can do their youth groups through zoom and the church services are online and facebook live as well as daily devotionals are online now as well.

Despite all the negative things going on, there are so many good things going on and you can see God's hand in it all.

Lisa, I know we spoke in PM, but I will continue to pray for you and your health as well.

If anyone knows of anyone that used to be on the forum that you are in contact with on facebook that you think might want to jump back into community again, let them know I'm open to suggestions on what to do to jump start things.

I really miss everyone and the great community we had here.

Lisa, I'm so sorry to hear about your health! Your babies are beautiful and you truly have a talent! I will be praying for you.

Laura, I will try to notify some people from FB.

Hi! I stop in every so often just to see if anyone is here talking. I do miss taking the classes. I had given up painting for probably 4 or 5 years now and wanted to restart again. I came back and everyone was gone :( Not just here though, on doll-fan too. Most forums seem pretty dead because facebook and youtube has taken over, but it just doesnt seem the same to me. I really enjoyed this forum and hope to see more people come back. It was nice to learn together and just be around like minded people. Facebook is full of people you can't really trust :( And most posts on there are just sales.

Lara and Jo-Thank you so much!

I am still here!

Hi Lara! I was just wondering a week or so ago about you and how you were doing. It's been SO long :( I'm sorry also to hear of your divorce - never easy even when you see it coming and plan for it.

Hugs from Florida (yes I moved out of Ohio last August but we haven't talked in such a long time. Lots has happened with me too).

Exciting to see the forum coming back to life.  I miss the friendships from the forums - FB just isn't the same - seems so impersonal to me.  I haven't reborn any babies since last May.  I have been sewing masks for my family and close friends, and doing a lot of knitting.  Once I get done with the masks, I do want to paint all my Marita Winter kits - have 5 mini kits sitting here waiting for paint. And now that the weather is getting nice, I can put my Nuwave oven out on the deck to use it.  Praying you all stay safe and healthy.

Get ready for a short novel! LOL!!!!

Seems like I'm not the only one whose life runs in chaos mode. lol

Lara, it's so good to have you back! Your situation brings to mind one of my favorite quotes because sometimes it is so very true ... "One of the hardest lessons in life to learn ... is which bridge to cross ... and which bridge to burn." Bravo on crossing that bridge to a new life that will be healthier and happier for all of you!

Jo, what an exciting move for you! It must be fascinating to be able to learn about the Amish way of life! And don’t worry about finding the desire to work on dolls again … we all need breaks from time to time. That’s what helps us regain our passion and joy in something! You’ll get your groove back when you’re ready!

Lisa the most important thing is to take care of yourself and allow your body the time it needs to heal. I know firsthand because I’ve spent a year dealing with health stuff too.  Sometimes pressing on and fighting through things is a good thing … but sometimes you have to slow down and just “be” so your body and spirit catch up again.

Stephanie it’s great to see you here again too!  Sometimes I think we just need time away to regain perspective and enthusiasm for something we really do love!  Maybe we can get Lara to do a simple tune up class that can get us all painting up a storm again!

/wave to Pia! I do see you on FB but I agree, it’s not really like it was here for keeping a community close knit!
Cherie your babies are always so amazing! I want someone to wave a magic paintbrush wand over my head to grant me the patience to slow down and paint hair like you do! I’m always in awe!

Teri I love swapping music video’s with you! We both seem to really enjoy them! So sad that ROSE had to be cancelled this year, but I’ll be there next year with even more things to sell since I have a whole extra year to get ready! (I also paid for a 2nd booth so I’d have room for everything! Hubby doesn’t know yet so shhhh … it’s our secret for now! Hahaha)

My life, in a nutshell, has been insane! Last year I took an easy option for a bone density program and found out if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Had the choice of a pill once a week for 5 yrs or one infusion (iv treatment) a year for 3 yrs. I said sign me up for once a year! Come to find out I’m one of the 3% that get this drug … that has a rare and severe reaction to it.

Started off with the flu like symptoms which I expected … and moved on to extreme edema in my legs which forced me to bed for about 5 weeks, along with intermittent fevers and general joint pain. As that started to ease up I had an episode of wonky chest pain. Told the advice nurse I was about 85% SURE it was not my heart but  when you’re elderly and put the words chest and pain in the same sentence you win a trip to the ER.

After an EKG, cat scan, MRI, and a stress test  the DR asked me if the Afib was intermittent or did I live in Afib. I’m like … ummm … what’s Afib? Apparently it’s another added bonus to the Reclast infusion I had. I said since that’s news to me I don’t know what to tell you! Lol  Anway, about  15 hours later the doctor came in and said “Good news Sharon! It’s not your heart! We don’t know exactly what it was but your heart is fine.”  Well as fine as can be with new drugs for the afib!

Head home and the next day I notice red splotches where their lovely sticky patch things had been applied. Not to worry because I know my skin is sensitive to some adhesives and it will go away fairly quickly.  Unless … it’s the last straw your poor body can take and it decides that with all the dyes pumped in for those tests and the adhesive allergy … that it’s time to PAR TAY !!!! Welcome to the world of SIRS … Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome. Those few red spots on my chest soon included solid red from head (literally in my hair) to toe that itched like 50 million bug bites.  lol Dr gave me a tube of itch cream and it lasted about 4 hours so he had the pharmacy make up a large jar of the stuff.

I had the Reclast infusion the first week of Feb and mid April I was finally (I hoped!) dealing with the last remnants of the drug.  But now my body is still so screwed up that 10 days ago I got stung by a wasp and it caused a flare up of the rash and the leg edema.

The other big news is we’re moving.  Eventually. We hope soon … but we’re not holding our breath because of this current health/virus thing. We started the remodel project of our new house in Jan. and now the new house is done but we still have 2-3 major things that need to get done before we can start the migration. We’re going from 1800 sq ft down to about 960 sq ft which is insane to me! But I will have my own doll studio next to the house. Howard just finished the dry wall on it and now we just have to finish the tape/mud process and then paint the walls and put the floor in … and I’ll be ready to move in!

We’re getting a lot of help from the neighbors … they happen to be our younger daughter, son in-law, and granddaughters! They bought 10 acres so they could “upsize” and get the horses and chickens and goats home with them … and Howard and I are “downsizing” without losing the joy of country living!!  There’s just a ton of emotions about leaving this house. We’ve lived here 29 yrs, but Howard and I both know that in another 5 or so years the 4+ acres we have will be more than we want to take care of ourselves … so this is a wonderful move for us.

So right now I joke that my life revolves around the 3 p’s … painting (dolls),  purging (29 yrs of pack rat clutter) and packing for the move! I did find out that Howard and I are probably the LEAST trendy people in America! The little house we’re moving to was a complete gut job inside so we’ve had the fun of picking out all new everything. However … if you don’t want grey, white, brown, or black kitchen cupboards and or appliances … good luck finding options! I can’t even tell you how hard it was to plan and find things for the kitchen and bathroom. Trying to find tile of any kind that’s not white or grey is almost impossible … but I did it! I’ll add some pictures to show how gorgeous it is!

And I think we should do a Naked Baby contest! Anyone remember those?  If it can wait until mid May I’ll even try to organize and get it going!


Before picture of our sad little house

Here is it now ... dashing grey with white trim and classy dark green front door

Old kitchen. Had to totally gut that wall and start from scratch to be able to put in a bigger stove!

New kitchen with it's beautiful aqua cupboards and back splash.Added the island for more storage space!

Bathroom before .. notice how the shower door barely opens?  lol

My pretty, ultra feminine bathroom! (Remind me to tell you about the fancy mirror!)

New shower with walk in design! No curb to step over or trip on!


This is the flooring for my studio! A brilliant splash of colors!

Your new place looks so great! Hopefully you will be able to move on soon.

Wow, everyone has been so busy! Sharon, your remodel looks amazing.Hope you're feeling better!! Steph, so good to hear from you, and yes, I know you had been through a lot as well, but I wasn't aware of the move!
I agree about facebook...it's so negative and political. I hate going on there. Sometimes I go on there just to post a funny video or picture of a puppy. That's all I did during the election was post pictures of puppies because everything was so disgusting with political crap. Same with the news right now...it's like, is there anything else going on in the world? I'm trying to give my kids some normalcy. They still have dance (although it's on zoom), we go for walks, play board games, order pizza...just try to keep things upbeat.

I'm getting a bit tired of netflix (it's everybody?) and now there won't be any new shows for awhile, which is pretty sad. I'm trying soooooo hard not to turn into one of those people that watches tv and takes naps during the day, but when the kids aren't here, it's very tempting.

Has anyone started a new craft or doing something that they didn't do before? I told Jenny in another thread that a friend of mine started making door wreaths and is selling them. They are so beautiful! Anyone else try something new to keep busy?

[/quote]

Your babies are beautiful! Great job!!! Hope to see more of your work. Please share.

SharonR wrote:

Get ready for a short novel! LOL!!!!

Seems like I'm not the only one whose life runs in chaos mode. lol

Lara, it's so good to have you back! Your situation brings to mind one of my favorite quotes because sometimes it is so very true ... "One of the hardest lessons in life to learn ... is which bridge to cross ... and which bridge to burn." Bravo on crossing that bridge to a new life that will be healthier and happier for all of you!

Jo, what an exciting move for you! It must be fascinating to be able to learn about the Amish way of life! And don’t worry about finding the desire to work on dolls again … we all need breaks from time to time. That’s what helps us regain our passion and joy in something! You’ll get your groove back when you’re ready!

Lisa the most important thing is to take care of yourself and allow your body the time it needs to heal. I know firsthand because I’ve spent a year dealing with health stuff too.  Sometimes pressing on and fighting through things is a good thing … but sometimes you have to slow down and just “be” so your body and spirit catch up again.

Stephanie it’s great to see you here again too!  Sometimes I think we just need time away to regain perspective and enthusiasm for something we really do love!  Maybe we can get Lara to do a simple tune up class that can get us all painting up a storm again!

/wave to Pia! I do see you on FB but I agree, it’s not really like it was here for keeping a community close knit!
Cherie your babies are always so amazing! I want someone to wave a magic paintbrush wand over my head to grant me the patience to slow down and paint hair like you do! I’m always in awe!

Teri I love swapping music video’s with you! We both seem to really enjoy them! So sad that ROSE had to be cancelled this year, but I’ll be there next year with even more things to sell since I have a whole extra year to get ready! (I also paid for a 2nd booth so I’d have room for everything! Hubby doesn’t know yet so shhhh … it’s our secret for now! Hahaha)

My life, in a nutshell, has been insane! Last year I took an easy option for a bone density program and found out if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Had the choice of a pill once a week for 5 yrs or one infusion (iv treatment) a year for 3 yrs. I said sign me up for once a year! Come to find out I’m one of the 3% that get this drug … that has a rare and severe reaction to it.

Started off with the flu like symptoms which I expected … and moved on to extreme edema in my legs which forced me to bed for about 5 weeks, along with intermittent fevers and general joint pain. As that started to ease up I had an episode of wonky chest pain. Told the advice nurse I was about 85% SURE it was not my heart but  when you’re elderly and put the words chest and pain in the same sentence you win a trip to the ER.

After an EKG, cat scan, MRI, and a stress test  the DR asked me if the Afib was intermittent or did I live in Afib. I’m like … ummm … what’s Afib? Apparently it’s another added bonus to the Reclast infusion I had. I said since that’s news to me I don’t know what to tell you! Lol  Anway, about  15 hours later the doctor came in and said “Good news Sharon! It’s not your heart! We don’t know exactly what it was but your heart is fine.”  Well as fine as can be with new drugs for the afib!

Head home and the next day I notice red splotches where their lovely sticky patch things had been applied. Not to worry because I know my skin is sensitive to some adhesives and it will go away fairly quickly.  Unless … it’s the last straw your poor body can take and it decides that with all the dyes pumped in for those tests and the adhesive allergy … that it’s time to PAR TAY !!!! Welcome to the world of SIRS … Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome. Those few red spots on my chest soon included solid red from head (literally in my hair) to toe that itched like 50 million bug bites.  lol Dr gave me a tube of itch cream and it lasted about 4 hours so he had the pharmacy make up a large jar of the stuff.

I had the Reclast infusion the first week of Feb and mid April I was finally (I hoped!) dealing with the last remnants of the drug.  But now my body is still so screwed up that 10 days ago I got stung by a wasp and it caused a flare up of the rash and the leg edema.

The other big news is we’re moving.  Eventually. We hope soon … but we’re not holding our breath because of this current health/virus thing. We started the remodel project of our new house in Jan. and now the new house is done but we still have 2-3 major things that need to get done before we can start the migration. We’re going from 1800 sq ft down to about 960 sq ft which is insane to me! But I will have my own doll studio next to the house. Howard just finished the dry wall on it and now we just have to finish the tape/mud process and then paint the walls and put the floor in … and I’ll be ready to move in!

We’re getting a lot of help from the neighbors … they happen to be our younger daughter, son in-law, and granddaughters! They bought 10 acres so they could “upsize” and get the horses and chickens and goats home with them … and Howard and I are “downsizing” without losing the joy of country living!!  There’s just a ton of emotions about leaving this house. We’ve lived here 29 yrs, but Howard and I both know that in another 5 or so years the 4+ acres we have will be more than we want to take care of ourselves … so this is a wonderful move for us.

So right now I joke that my life revolves around the 3 p’s … painting (dolls),  purging (29 yrs of pack rat clutter) and packing for the move! I did find out that Howard and I are probably the LEAST trendy people in America! The little house we’re moving to was a complete gut job inside so we’ve had the fun of picking out all new everything. However … if you don’t want grey, white, brown, or black kitchen cupboards and or appliances … good luck finding options! I can’t even tell you how hard it was to plan and find things for the kitchen and bathroom. Trying to find tile of any kind that’s not white or grey is almost impossible … but I did it! I’ll add some pictures to show how gorgeous it is!

And I think we should do a Naked Baby contest! Anyone remember those?  If it can wait until mid May I’ll even try to organize and get it going!


Before picture of our sad little house

Here is it now ... dashing grey with white trim and classy dark green front door

Old kitchen. Had to totally gut that wall and start from scratch to be able to put in a bigger stove!

New kitchen with it's beautiful aqua cupboards and back splash.Added the island for more storage space!

Bathroom before .. notice how the shower door barely opens?  lol

My pretty, ultra feminine bathroom! (Remind me to tell you about the fancy mirror!)

New shower with walk in design! No curb to step over or trip on!


This is the flooring for my studio! A brilliant splash of colors!

Jeez i missed a whole section of posts!!

You have been through a lot Sharon!! I am glad things are settling down and your new place looks GREAT!! wow wow!!
Everything so shiny and new!! (my house is almost 50 years old).
Im jealous (in a nice waw - lol) of your STUDIO!!! What a dream come true that must be!!!

@cherielynn09, Thank you so much!!!

@SharonR, That is excellent advice! Last year was a lot of slowing down and taking care of my health, still is now really. I am seeing improvement as I've been seeing a functional medicine doctor and I changed my diet. I'm hoping for more improvement, but there is no cure for what I have so I keep on reborning on the days I can, it brings me so much joy! I hope you are doing okay too, and that your health is improving! I love the house, and I totally agree with you, I am not feeling the whole grey decor thing at all!

@With Love Nursery, Thank you so very much! I will definitely post more of my work soon!

It's nice to see everyone on this thread. Times sure have been tough for so many. Hoping the world is starting recover from the past two years.

Lara, so sorry to hear about your divorce. How are you and your kids doing now? I hope things are much improved for you all

Such beautiful babies on this thread.

I have sold a few babies since C 19 started. Not as many as I'd like. Spring of 2021 my husband and I got COVID via his job. People were getting it a lot in our area. My husband got over it quickly, but I had lingering issues for about five months. Now I'm almost back to normal except my sense of smell is still a little off and may be that way for the rest of my life, but it's better than what could have happened. We moved August of 2020, because my husband got a job transfer (much needed) after waiting for three years for it (COVID delayed it a bit, too, at first). We ended up in an old farmhouse rental that was full of mold and rodents. We endured that for ten months while we built a manufactured home on a piece of country property we found. Things are a lot more stable now. Working on my first babies since getting COVID last year. It's slow going, getting back into my methods. Lost my ability to paint hair and am practicing getting that back. I've changed my nursery name to Infant Inspirations - Artborn Baby Dolls.


Hoping the future is bright for everyone and that dolly sales will pick up for all again soon.

This topic was from 2 years ago.. 13 people have been on the forum since the beginning of the year. Probably safe to say that it is no longer active…