Unite! Unite!
Put up a fight!

We’re tired of the jokes
The punches, the slaps and the nasty eye pokes

We simply just want the freedom you see
To live and to thrive, nerdy and free

But until we reach our new level of life
We will fight, we will scream, we will rage against strife

So take your footballs, your beer and your racing machines
We’ll settle for fortran, c-sharp, comics and zines

Because we are rising from the ashes like that bird-I think it’s a stork
To proclaim a new age, yes the time of the dork!

Not to use too many (or two many) quotes, but… “I love it when a plan comes together!”

This being our first ever Dolls for Friends giveaway (and something that we have wanted to do for quite awhile), we were not quite sure how to proceed, what piece to make and how best to reach our peeps with this special little giftie. But, about 3o seconds after signing up for Twitter, I think we knew the vehicle. Twitter is an amazing tool (as I’ve shouted from my soapbox in other posts), and we are so happy to do a giveaway for the people who find us important enough to include in their daily lives. So without further adieu, here is our new (or perhaps your new) friend, Lucias.

Lucias is our newest friend, and let’s just say he has a way of “seeing” past the issues and into the heart of a matter. This “eye”deal quality has made him a valuable assett to dozens of fortune 500 companies over the past two decades. He is a whiz of wall street and has been called by Young Entrepreneur magazine, “…a cash machine”. Although, never confirmed, it has been said that Lucias is so good at his job that he is number two on Alan Greenspan’s speed dial (again, this has never been confirmed). What we do know about our new friend Lucias is that he is a wealth of information and is quite a bit of fun to play Monopoly with (because money is at the center of the game, I imagine). There really is nothing bad to report on little Lucias, with the exception that he goes through quite a bit of disposable contact lenses, which he kind of leaves all over the place. At any rate, he is sure to be the “apple of your eye.”

Now, here is a quick rundown on how to get your hands on this little loverly:

1. Be an existing follower, or follow us on Twitter by Friday (@dollsforfriends)
2. Tweet about the doll or express your interest in participating this coming friday (June 19).
3. Make sure your tweet uses the special hash mark (#dffgive1). This will let us know that you are participating.

On Friday at 3 p.m. (PST), we will randomly draw one winner from the list and announce and DM the winner to get addy information for shipping the piece out. This will become a regular event for us, so if you don’t win, don’t worry, there will be plenty more chances to get in on this sweet, sweet candy (thank you Mr. Zap Brannigan). Thank you again for letting our weird little lives entertain you.

Three new friends: Opal, Gladys and Elliott. You can see the photos and read their stories on our Flickr page, and you can check them out on our Etsy shop.

Our new little friend Pico came to us from just south of the border. He made his way North after he was downsized from the entourage of the feared, mythic creature- El Chupacabra.

It seems that with all of the stress and strain on the global economy of late, people are not spending quite as much time in leisure activities and pursuits. This decline means that it’s become fairly lean, income wise, for creatures like El Chupacabra, Bigfoot, The Strawman and UFOs as more and more people are focused on dollar retention. And sadly, less vacations translates to less sightings-translates to less income-translates to Pico being on the streets.

So, what is a 6″ out of work monster to do? Well apparently, Pico caught one of our TV ads at 2:00am advertising our placement services and decided to see if we could help. After hiring a coyote to get him across the border, riding several box-car trains and hitchhiking his way through the West Coast, he ended up on our door step looking fairly disheveled.

It has been a couple weeks now, and we are happy to say he has his wonderful orange glow back. He has started working on his memoirs, “Mi Chupacabra es su Chupacabra”, and is looking for a safe, quite environment to add the last chapters to his seminal work.

All we can say is “Mitch Rocks!” And you know what? Ms. Keane thinks so too!

(uh, if you like powerpuff girls, you’ll know what we mean!)

Huddled outside in the pouring rain we waited. And waited. And waited. Our contact was late, as usual and we were getting impatient, but leaving was not an option. The legendary gang of three had finally been released and we had taken on the role of safe keeping the villainous trio.

Meet Lucretia, mistress of evil, with an ear piercing scream that has been known to shatter even bullet proof glass. Then there’s middle man Mike, the lookout. He’s perfect since his large blue antennae provide the necessary distraction to those who may stand in his way. And last, but certainly not least is Stevie. Although he looks harmless, he is in fact the most dangerous of the three. The brains behind every operation, and cunning in his calculations-he’s not to be underestimated.

At last, our contact arrived, with our three new house guests in tow. We were not disappointed-they were every bit as monstrous as we had been led to believe. As the driver pulled away, we were faced with the unnerving reality that we were responsible for them now. What had we gotten ourselves into?

As we headed for home, I could see Stevie planning-plotting something in that rotten head of his. Mike began giggling and Lucretia nodded in agreement.

Agreement of what? I fear for our safety. That is why we are reaching out for help. We cannot in good conscience keep these three stinkers together. Separation is the only alternative! Are you strong willed? Can you be diligent in training and learn to sleep with one eye open? If you feel you may be up to the task, please contact us immediately-I think I hear one coming now!!

You can see them on our Etsy shop.

Mr. President: “Mrs. Dolls for Friends please,”

Mrs. Dolls for Friends: “Speaking, how may I help you?”

Mr. President:”I’ve just read your email concerning the new safety laws and regulations, I’m very worried, and want to help, what can we do to rectify this potential economic disaster?”

Mrs. Dolls for Friends: “Yes, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, I am also very worried, not just for myself and my family, but for all of my super awesome friends that make all of the phenomenal products for kids that are keeping children unique, and supporting their communities at the same time.” “I have many ideas that I think you may be interested in, perhaps we should meet, do you have time next week?”

Mr. President: “Damn, next week is no good, are you and Mr. Dolls for Friends available, say, tomorrow, and uh, transportation shouldn’t be an issue. We’ll arrange that for you. What do you say?”

Mrs. Dolls for Friends: (yelling) “Erin, you free tomorrow?”

Mr. Dolls for Friends: (yelling back) “Yup”

Mrs. Dolls for Friends: “Yes, that would be lovely, what can we bring?”

Mr. President: “Salad, bread?”

Mrs. Dolls for Friends: “Perfect! See you tomorrow”

Ahhhhh….Shakespeare has nothing on this lady. Anyhoo, here is the actual message I sent him, not quite as dramatic as the previous little diddy, but maybe it’ll do some good.

Dear Mr. President, it is with great respect and concern that I am writing to you. February 10th, is a very important date for my family, and many of our friends. The new laws and regulations for the CPSIA become effective on that day. Many in the community have begun referring to it as national bankruptcy day. Please consider revising this law for the sake of the many hard working artisans who love creating, encouraging and supporting a handmade childhood. Thank-you, Dolls for Friends

I would love to say that we have busted into the new year like a couple of savants-barely able to keep our creative nature under control-but sadly, this is just not the case. We have been knee-deep in research about the future of our loverly little enterprise, while also trying to get ourselves and our work environment re-located to new digs.

Now that we are just about settled, we have begun to ramp up and dive into the immense workload that has been quietly piling up. Having your life turned upside down and then trying to get it right side up again is not the easiest task, but sometimes life just sees no other option but to drop a hot, steamy pile on your head and you have to navigate with a bit of hot crap in your eyes. But life is life and you either adapt or simply go the way of the do-do (or doo doo in this case).

Here is a quick shot of a pretty, new friend of ours. She will be joining the ranks of plushies that have been piling up around our space over the last few months, and hopefully she will make her way to Etsy in the coming weeks.