Hello, friends! I’m so glad you’re here! Today we’ve turned another page on the calendar. It is now October! I’ve always heard the phrase that “time flies when you’re having fun”. While that is true, “time also flies as you get older.” Seems as though I have just gotten things back in order from this time last year. Thinking about time passing so quickly has also made me think about all the blessings in my life. I have many, but right now, I am primarily talking about BabyBoomerDolls.
When I was younger, I often had dreams of a small business of my own. I have been able to do that to a small degree as I have sewn for others in some capacity since I was sixteen. Still, that wasn’t quite the dream I had in mind. That was more like work, and I’ve heard it said if you like your job, you will never work a day in your life. THAT sounded like the place I wanted to be. I was blessed with the sewing of wedding/prom dresses, special occasion dresses, and the like for others. That was advantageous as it brought extra income into my home. I met some wonderful people and made some life-long friends while sewing. To this day, some of those people are among my closest friends.
Still, I had a home, a young family, a job, church activities, and just life in general. There wasn’t time left over for fulfilling dreams just yet. However, I knew that someday there would be time to revisit those dreams. This would require patience, which has never been one of my greater virtues. During all this time passing, I added and subtracted and revised the dream many times over as it rolled around like a pinball inside my head. It was always in the back of my mind. The seed was sown and I had been unknowingly nurturing it.
Years past and long story short, kids grew up, married, and have families of their own. My husband and I retired. No longer was there a nine to five job to think about. Retirement has it’s own schedule! We enjoy so many things together and enjoy that time we are now able to spend with our family. Life became different, but it was a good different.
The dream was slowly seeping back into the foreground of my conscious thoughts. I began to buy and sell dolls in my newfound “extra” time. I have always loved dolls, so this was a natural progression for me. I was amazed at the information I was acquiring. I was able to make repairs and restorations to many types of dolls now. I was able to combine the dolls with my sewing abilities. This was fantastic! This chapter of the dream continued for several years, again allowing me to come in contact with those of like mind. Doll collectors are wonderful people and are always willing to share information.
Anything I did with the dolls at this point was done under just my name. I was pretty pleased with being able to do something I enjoyed so much and still realize an income. (Even though most times I reinvested in supplies). One evening while at the dinner table, I announced to my husband that I was going to develop an Instagram account and call it BabyBoomerDolls. I am a baby boomer and this seemed like just the right fit for my love for dolls of the 50s and 60s. I wanted/needed to have someone to really share my passion about the dolls with. I had to seek out my “tribe” so to speak and find those who also knew the joy of dolls.
Late in the summer of 2020, during the midst of the pandemic, I began posting my dolls on Instagram. What fun! Personally, in my humble opinion, Instagram is a wonderful platform. To have daily exchanges with those who enjoyed dolls as much as myself was a lifesaver during this time of what seemed like isolation from life as we knew it. All the while, I was continuing to restore, sew for, and sell my dolls. I can feel the dream unfolding….suddenly BabyBoomerDolls was a reality in my life! I was beyond thrilled! My tiny little hopes/dreams from so long ago were seeing the light of day.
For well over a year, I was faithfully posting daily to my account and gaining both followers and friends. These wonderful people became such a large part of my daily life. You begin to know their families, their pets, what part of the world they live in, what types of dolls they collect, etc. You begin to know them as friends. These were solid relationships developing that I’m confident brought all of us through some dark times during the pandemic. I have made friends all over the world. I have met people I’m confident I wouldn’t have otherwise encountered. I have been able to sell my dolls all over the world. I will forever be grateful for this time in my life.
This small IG account was placing me on the path of my dream. People asking for a special doll to be restored, for a special outfit to be sewn were becoming more and more frequent. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep dolls to sell. I began to find myself feeling overwhelmed, plus I don’t like the feeling of knowing someone is patiently waiting for me to finish their project. It was becoming very obvious that I was going to have to make some adjustments in my time. But where?
A lot of thought and even more prayer went into the brainstorming of solving this complicated situation in which I found myself. It seemed like this was the only thought on my mind for weeks. Finally, I was clear on what was the best solution to free up some time and still be able to enjoy my passion for my dolls.
I discussed it with Mr. BabyBoomerDolls and felt good about the conclusions we had arrived at. I posted on my IG account page that I was not leaving IG. I would be daily checking my account and posting on my stories. However, I would be cutting down my daily posts/reels to twice weekly. This would give me the time needed to fill the private orders for both dolls and sewing. It felt like the best of both worlds.
To date, things are running smoothly which I am very relieved to be able to say. I have the time to do the private orders as well as to work on other facets of “my dream”. I feel truly blessed to have made so many good friends over the years, to be able to hone my skills at both my sewing as well as my dolls, to have the love and support of my family and friends, to have the peace and acceptance I have with the changes/decisions made, and the opportunity to continue to nurture and grow my dream into what my heart knows it can be. Yes, I am counting my blessings! I have been blessed in ways I am sure I am yet unaware of.
Usually when we get together here, it is a brief moment to share some information on a special doll or manufacturer. This is our time to “Let’s Talk Dolls.” This time, I wanted to say thank you to each of you, whether you knew it or not, for helping me along this journey, for your continued support of my IG account, for your support as I make changes, and for the encouragement many of you have offered. You have blessed my life in so many ways and I count each of you as a blessing.
Next edition of BBD Blog will be more like you are used to. Thank you for your time and your loyalty. Please share the blog with a friend. Stay well! Be kind to others.
Big Hugs to each of you,
Lynn
@babyboomerdolls