Cult of Doll: taster to be published on New Year's Day!

Dear readers and doll fans--

It's what you need to start off 2015 with a bang: a chance to preview Cult of Doll with an exclusive taster of this wonderful almanac on New Year's Day!

Go subscribe to the blog today, so you won't miss out.

What is Cult of Doll? It's an eclectic collection of short stories featuring the dolls and characters that the Cult of Doll members have created over the past year. Read, for example, this preview, about Miss Araminta and her Curiosity Shop, a character created by Yve Hooson and Grace Garton:

Miss Araminta's Curiosity Shop sits quietly among the other shabby retailers on Goldfinch Lane in Whitechapel. This well trodden thoroughfare's once genteel aspirations are now just a mocking dream as poverty and vice creep ever closer, the tiny brass bells over the doorways tinkle less frequently and many despair. Not Miss Araminta. She revels in obscurity and finds comfort in the shadows at the back of her establishment. Customers disturb her infrequently and even the weak rays of sunshine that permeate the grimy window panes enter here cautiously, tentatively picking out the glint of a glass eyeball or twinkle on the matted fur of the Taxidermy tableaux which sits on the desk beside her armchair. Miss Araminta knows that this shop finds those who need it. As for the rest? She gives not a care.

Don't you want to know more? I do!

Additionally, you can preview Hally Levesque's story, "Nefarious Nelle," also titled, "A Cautionary Tale of Sweet Revenge or How Nelle Grey Arrived at the Notion that Sometimes Learning to Love Thy Neighbor Can Be Murder."

Don't wait--subscribe now, and be the first in line for a free preview!

New Pin To Win 2014 contest from Tonner Doll!

Check out the latest Pin To Win contest from Tonner! (And you can use Alison Rasmussen as your referral if you heard about it from me, LOL! We both will get an extra chance to win if you do!)

All you have to do is:

1. Visit the 2014 Tonner Pinterest board
2. Pin 3 or more dolls from the 2014 release to a board of yours (one board per person).
3. Email the URL of your board to tonnersocialmedia@gmail.com with the Subject “2014 Tonner Pin To Win" and my name (Alison Rasmussen) as your referral. (We both get an extra entry if you use me as a referral, it turns out!)

That's it. A random name will be drawn on July 15, 2014. The winner will receive the doll or outfit that is pinned the most! Five runners up will receive a 15% off coupons for use at TonnerDoll.com.

For the complete details and rules, check them out here.

Form Finale - from Barbie Collector

Today is the last day to get a free Silkstone Barbie dress form (when you spend $50 or more) at Barbie Collector. It will be automatically added to your shopping cart, once you've added enough items. (You can use your $20 shop reward towards this purchase, if you like.)

New contest from Tonner Doll Company!

A new contest is being offered by Tonner Doll Company. Check it out--from their latest email:

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In celebration of the 75th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz film, we are holding a creative contest sure to inspire!  You can enter the photo category or the story category.

Photography    
For the Photo Contest, the rules are simple:  photograph your favorite Wizard of Oz doll(s) from your personal collection, and send us your art!  JPEGS please.

Story
For the Story Contest, here's what we want you to do:  In 500 words or less, come up with an alternate ending to the Wizard of Oz!

We'll pick the top three photographs and the top three stories as finalists, and the winner will be chosen by....YOU!  The People.  There will be a People's Choice email survey sent out, where the public can vote for their favorite Photograph and their favorite alternate ending.

Prizes
Each of the 6 finalists (3 photos, 3 stories) will get their choice of Tonner's NEW 75th Anniversary Oz Collection Basic doll (Absolutely Glinda or Absolutely Wicked Witch).  There will be 2 Grand Prize Winners:  The People's Choice for Photography and The People's Choice for Storyline. Each will receive a 19" Wizard of Oz Artist's Proof and a signed and framed sketch by Robert Tonner.

Please send all entries to Contests@Tonnerdoll.com.  All entries must be received no later than Wednesday, February 19th, 2014.  For photography entries, JPEGS please.   Finalists will be announced shortly thereafter.

***By submitting an entry you grant Tonner Doll Company, Inc. (Tonner) all rights to use the work submitted in any manner Tonner wishes in perpetuity and allow Tonner to publish your name related to the artwork.  No remuneration for the artwork will be provided other than the prizes stipulated in the contest.

First Tonner Pinterest Contest!

Win a free Blonde Perfect Morning Cami and outfit just for Pinning! The first Tonner Pinterest Contest starts this week from Tonner Doll Company. Find out the rules and how to enter at this link.

All you have to do is pin your 8 favorite photos using the hashtag #Pin2Win on a new board (on your Pinterest account) called My Favorite 2013 Tonners. Then, email the link as instructed here and you're all set. You'll be entered to win on May 21 at noon EST (contest ends May 20 at 5 PM EST).

Tonner even shows you how to open up a Pinterest account--if you don't have one, you should. It's great fun. You'll love it!

The fine print:

No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Open to the legal residents of the 50 United States, D.C. and Puerto Rico who are 18 or older.  Ends 5/20/13 – 5 pm EST. The winner will be announced via Facebook and Twitter, and will be contacted directly through email. More official rules and details here.  Void outside of the United States.

Also--there is a lot more fine print here.

Merry Christmas to me!

So... I maybe did a little shopping the other day--looking for some Little Miss Matched items for a BJD girl I have (I hear their clothing fit that skinny little Doll Chateau body), and I entered to win Tonner's twelve days of Christmas drawing.

Keeping in mind that I never win anything... I actually won! And not only did I win, I won big! I won an autographed proof of the gorgeous 22" Madame Bovary American Model. This is a doll I missed out on when she was first released. She has blue inset eyes, rooted brown hair, and a fabulous period outfit.

Plus, her outfit fits my Peak's Woods Absolute Beauty BJD girls perfectly. I am absolutely thrilled!

Today is the last day to enter, and no purchase is necessary.

Photo above belongs to Tonner Doll Company, and was taken by the talented Ernesto Padró-Campos.

And the winner is...

The prize: One of my latest publications, Steffie: Out of the Box. This is an unauthorized soft cover visual reference book on Mattel's Steffie sculpt. I use all my own photography, and it could be considered to be a little, well, artsy.

The back of the book - actually, one of my favorite dolls. This is a Miss America, Quick Curl Brunette, who has been restyled by Roberta Marino.

We had nine participants in our drawing last week. Thanks so much for reading The Fashion Doll Review and participating!

According to the theme, I thought I use a Barbie cup for the container. I seem so organized, don't I? Just don't look at the rest of my house, or notice how closely cropped my photos are.

Oh--the anticipation. I have to include one of these photos, of course.

And our winner is... Ada in Romania! I believe one of our wonderful contributors had the pleasure of meeting Ada in person at the Italian Doll Festival this past year. Ada, if you would contact me at alison at fashiondollreview dot com (well, with the @ symbol and . of course) with your mailing address, that would be great! I'll get your book out ASAP!

To the rest of you, thanks ever so much for participating. I realized today that drawings are one of my favorite things about doing this blog and I don't do enough of them, so keep your eyes peeled.

Also, if you would like to purchase a copy of my book, you can contact me at the above address. The retail price is $20 plus shipping. It's also available on Amazon.com, and also on Amazon Europe, so that might be a cheaper option for some of you as well.

Incidentally... in the last week, we've had about 10,000 page views (and no, I don't count my own). That's fantastic!

Our most popular post is on Monster High dolls. Would you all like to see more posts about these dolls? Any other requests?

Also, are you aware of our sister blog, BJDs for Beginners? I've moved all the BJD-related posts over to that blog, since I was clogging up the fashion doll section a little heavily with BJD items.

Waaa! Our view counter! It's time a for a PRIZE!

Scroll down to the bottom to the page -- and check out our page count!

1,003,234 pageviews!

Woo hoo! (And no, I actually do not track my own pageviews.)

It's time for a prize!

This week, I'll be giving away a free copy of my new book, Steffie: Out of the Box, signed.

All you have to do is a leave a comment on this blog post, if you're interested in receiving one. Make sure you leave a piece of identifying information on there--like your first name, and maybe your location. Something like this:

I'd like to enter! Alison in San Diego.

You have till Sunday, September 9, at midnight PST to leave a comment. Monday, I will put all the names in a pot and announce the winner, and have you contact me with your shipping information, and I'll send you a book.

International readers are, of course, welcomed. (Authors of this blog, you don't qualify for this drawing, but I'd love for you to have a copy of this book. So if I've flaked and not sent you one yet--please email me.) And let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks so much for reading The Fashion Doll Review!

Page views since May 2010...

So, we've been publishing this blog since February 11, 2008. However, the stats and analytics have only been working since May 2010. And that page views link has been working pretty steadily. As of this morning, I've noticed an exciting number approaching. Here's what it reads  as of this morning:

976,984
(It's at the bottom of the page.)

We're approaching the one million page views mark! I think it's getting close for some more drawings. What would you all like to see? Books? Dolls? Outfits? What kind?

Also, now might be the time for some more housekeeping. Do you wish we'd cover different dolls? Show more real life photos? Which dolls?

Keep me posted--let me hear your thoughts!

We Have a Winner!

Things have been so busy at the Barbie convention that I'm just now able to post about yesterday's "Ask me about my exercise" contest. Congratulations to Alison R.! She won a Barbie Basics Accessory Pack, an IT Convention exclusive Dynamite Girls jewelry pack, and an IT Convention exclusive Dynamite Girls fashion. She found me in my room during room sales and I told her about my sprint intervals.

Notice our counter?

I think I see a prize coming up!

The Fashion Doll Review's total page views--well, since we started counting in May 2010--is 929,058 as of this morning's post. That is getting very close to one million! I think it's nearly time for another prize drawing...

I'll come up with something good, I promise!

Diorama photo contest: Get published and win a prize!

Check out Maryann Roy's blog, Welcome Home, for all the details of this upcoming contest.

Maryann has been working with Gems & Jewels jewelry store in Australia, and has received a contest challenge from the store owner, Suzy Allan: Create a diorama setting which includes a piece of human-sized jewelry.

Any doll scale and size may be used, only it must be included with human-scale jewelry in order to qualify.

For all the rules, and to see how to submit your entry, check out the latest edition of FDQ, or visit Maryann's website for details.

First prize: A beautiful doll-shaped charm (so adorable) chosen by the shop owner and created by Gems & Jewels, worth $675! (Check out the samples--ack!)

Second prize: A $75 gift certificate from Welcome Home!

Third prize: A copy of FDQ's fabulous IN FOCUS - Digital Photography for the Doll Collector.

The contest deadline is approaching soon--February 14, 2012, and it's open to collectors world-wide. Good luck!

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Elisa E. in California! You've won a free copy of my book, Ball-Jointed Dolls for Beginners, just for posting a comment on the blog.

If you could contact me--perhaps through Facebook or leaving a comment on this post, I will send your book out right away. Thanks so much for playing!

Drawing #2 - One more chance to win: Facebook followers

Get a second chance to win a copy of my book, Ball-Jointed Dolls for Beginners, for free!

For this drawing, I'm waiting till the number of Facebook fans on our webpage has reached 400. At the time of this post, our followers are 392.

To enter, leave a comment below this post, including your first name and last initial, and state or country you are located. International players are welcome, too.

Again, get a chance for more entries if you have links posted to either of our blogs on your website. Post a separate entry for each link. Use the graphics provided, or a text link to The Fashion Doll Review or the BJDs for Beginners blog. (Contact me if you need assistance.)

Only one link per drawing is needed, so if you're already linking to our websites, just post them here as a separate entry!

WIN at the Fashion Doll Review - through Google

It's time for another prize drawing.

I've noticed our Google followers have reached 296. When the total number of followers reach 300, I will raffle off a free copy of my book, Ball-Jointed Dolls for Beginners. This is a free drawing, no purchase necessary!

Receive an extra entry for the drawing for linking to The Fashion Doll Review from your blog or website.

Receive one more entry for posting a link to my BJD-related website, BJDs for Beginners, on your blog or website. Feel free to download the graphics provided, or use a text link. If you need help posting a link, let me know.

To enter, leave a comment below this post, including your first name and last initial, and state or country you are located. International players are welcome, too.

If you've posted link(s) on your blogs, post a separate entry for each link, including the website where my link is posted.

A day late, but we have a winner!

"Working" cover art for the upcoming book.

Congratulations to Deborah Goerz, who is the winner of our latest drawing! Congratulations, Deborah!

Your name was chosen at random this morning (I know, I know--I had "a day" yesterday) as the winner of my upcoming book. Let me know how to get in touch with you--you can drop me a line at alington at mac dot com, if you like.

I'm still aiming for the end of June for the official publication date. As another teaser, I'm posting a photo of the working cover art. Cute and corny, don't you think?

A drawing and a comment about drawings

Viyol, by Peak's Woods.

Dear readers, I hope you're enjoying your weekend. By this, I mean, specifically, that you're spending it with your families, relaxing, shopping for or photographing your doll collection, and not spending hours online searching for hard-to-find QR codes, that may very well be the mark of the beast. As you might have noticed, I am still blogging, which means the world didn't actually end this weekend as Mr. Camping predicted.

In honor of this lovely occasion, and my horrible realization that I, a college-educated 38 year-old mother of four, have just spent an embarrassingly quantity of time searching for little code squares online, I've decided to offer my own free drawing. 

The prize: 

A free copy of my upcoming book, Ball-Jointed Dolls for Beginners, to be released by the end of June. (Now I really do have to finish it!)

To enter, all you have to do is go back through each of the Fashion Doll Review's blog posts, and count how many times I've used the words "Tonner Doll" and email me your answer.

Just kidding!!

No, seriously. To play, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post, here on this post, with some piece of identifying info, like your first name, last initial (or a handle is fine) and your state. If you don't mind checking that no one else has already used your ID, I'd appreciate that.

I will be doing a drawing on Tuesday, May 24, 2011, and will post the winner by noon PST, and contact you (or ask you to contact me). Thanks for playing!

I'm really counting on you, dear readers, to enter this free contest. This way I will have a good reason to finish the damned book. 

And as usual, my contributors aren't permitted to enter. You'll have to suffer through reading the book's proof soon enough, so don't be too disappointed.

We have a winner!

Who will it be?, originally uploaded by alington.

Congratulations to Rosemary, who is the winner of our drawing on Facebook! You've just added a Model 10 Barbie Basic to your collection, along with the Gold Accessory Pack from the brand new 2.0 line as well.

I had lots of help in the neutral party department, and a total of 28 entries. You can see the full photo series on Flickr.

Thanks to all the fans who participated, and thanks for all your gracious comments. To those of you who aren't on Facebook--I promise our next contest will be coming soon, and it will include all our readers!

Yippee! It's time for the drawing today!

I'll keep you posted, and check back with you soon!

Two days left to enter our Facebook fan contest...

Don't forget--you have till 11:59 PM PST, February 2, 2011 to become a fan of the Fashion Doll Review on Facebook at this link leave any comment on this link to be eligible to win our prize, which is shown in the photo!

As of this evening, I have twenty entrants. You have a one in twenty chance in winning this gorgeous Model #10 and her Gold accessory pack!

For detailed rules, check out this original post.

If you're not on Facebook, please don't have your feelings hurt--I didn't realize the drawings were so popular. I'll be sure to have another one soon, which will include everyone again. We just wanted to celebrate out new Facebook followers out there for this one!