Brenda Mize launched her Eyes of Texas Dolls line at the beginning of 2015. The doll and teddy bear artist, who also runs Beacon’s Glow Collectibles retail site, identifies with collectors of all kinds, since she’s a collecter herself. “I believe that doll collectors, young and old alike, never tire of adding new pieces to their collections. And this is especially true with the charming Dianna Effner face sculpts,” she said. “Their popularity never wanes.”
This year, Mize said she plans to offer more limited editions, inspired by some of her more popular custom creations. “I was very pleased with the response to my limited-edition Chrysalis doll from 2019,” Mize said. “This year’s set is my Les Fleurs du Printemps (Flowers of Spring) doll set — a 10.5-inch full porcelain Dianna Effner Little Darling doll in an ornate dress with matching satchel and a pink vintage bicycle.
“Also, I have gotten several requests for my Halloween witch doll and would like to give collectors the opportunity to own one of these dolls inspired by the original. I have decided that I will offer holiday-specific dolls that will also be completed as OOAK dolls. The difficult part is deciding on which holidays to concentrate on. Suggestions are always welcome!
“I continue to gain inspiration through doll magazines (vintage and current editions) as well as the plethora of ideas that can be found online (Pinterest in particular). As a result, I plan on getting more elaborate with additional embellishments on the outfits that I create. This past year I have finally mastered creating matching fabric details for my hand-embellished Victorian poke bonnets.
“I am also always searching for vintage-looking dress fabric in the appropriate scale for my 10-inch dolls. And as is usually the case, I include a miniature teddy bear or porcelain doll with my creations. I believe that including these little finishing touches achieves the look that I am striving towards — a classic old-fashioned guise that hopefully evokes wonderful childhood memories for their owners.”
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Les Fleurs du Printemps (The Flowers of Spring), 10.5 inches, is a full porcelain doll made from a Dianna Effner mold. Sawyer is a 10.5-inch full porcelain doll hand-crafted from a Dianna Effner April doll mold. Her floral-print dress has heirloom lace on the skirt and Swarovski pearls sewn on the bodice. Blake, from Dianna Effner’s Emily face sculpt, wears a dress adorned with with lace and Swarovski pearl accents. She holds a miniature cashmere teddy bear. Violet’s hand-painted blue eyes nicely accent her strawberry blond hair. This Dianna Effner Little Darling sculpt holds a miniature cashmere teddy bear. Iris, a Little Darling #1 face sculpt, is dressed in her Easter finest in a colorful jelly bean print dress adorned with lace and an embellished Easter bonnet. Melissa wears a hand-crocheted hat made from French Angora yarn and holds her favorite teddy bear. She was created from a Dianna Effner Wednesday’s Child doll mold. Bailey is a 10.5-inch full porcelain doll made from a Dianna Effner mold. Her polka-dot dress is adorned with lace and colorful tiny buttons. She holds a miniature porcelain doll dressed in matching material. Dayna wears a hand-embellished Victorian poke bonnet and holds her favorite mohair teddy bear. She was created from a Dianna Effner Little Darling doll mold and has hand-painted blue eyes.