Blog Introduction- My Outlander Doll obsession

My love of Outlander began in 2013 I believe after I first heard they were going to make a television series out of Diana Gabaldon's books. Several friends had recommended Outlander to me over the years, as I'm an avid reader, always have been, but I had never gotten around to actually sitting down and reading it. When I heard they were going to do a TV series, I thought I'd like to read the books before I watched the show. When I finally did read them, I was hooked! I read the first book and immediately ordered the next 2, which led to me devouring the whole series.
 I have also been an avid doll lover, I was collecting Asian ball jointed dolls specifically during the time span when Outlander first came into my life. I had collaborated with my friend Lyn Raftis on a series of dolls done after JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood, and I knew after reading Outlander that I wanted to recreate the Outlander characters in doll form. Photography is the way I enjoy my dolls the most, and I thought Outlander dolls would be wonderful subjects.
I chose Iplehouse EID Leonard for my "Jamie" as he had "cat like" eyes, as Jamie was described in the books and he also had a sloping nose, which reminded me much of Sam Heughan's (who plays Jamie on the TV series).  I ordered my "Jamie" and during my wait time tried to go about finding the "perfect" look for him with eyes/wig/clothing etc. Attached is one of my first pics of my "Jamie" after he arrived in Sept. 2014. I was totally smitten.

I put Claire on order through Iplehouse in late 2014, when Iple introduced the Harace sculpt. I thought she would make my perfect "Claire". She arrived in November 2014. Below is one of my first photos of her. I chose a Monique Rebecca wig for her as I thought it best represented her curly, wild hair as described in the books and I decided to base her eye color on book Claire instead of Catriona Balfe, who plays Claire in the TV series and has blue eyes.

Now that I had my versions of Claire and Jamie home, I set about trying to find someone that could recreate appropriate attire for them.  I first came across a link for Period Threads and contacted Robyn about doing some pieces for me in early 2015 I believe. We have collaborated ever since, and Robyn has done some spectacular pieces for me based on items worn in the TV series as well as items born out of our own imaginations. One of my favorites is Claire's red dress, she wears in Dragonfly in Amber.

Since 2015 I have added several other characters to my Outlander dolly world and have acquired quite a few gorgeous costumes from Robyn and a few other talented folks as well. I've had albums on my FLickr page dedicated to the Outlander dolls since 2014 when they first arrived. I recently started blogging and created  "In the Glade" a blog where I tell an original story about some of my MSD sized fantasty dolls. I liked the format so much I thought it would be fun to do the same format for my Outlander dolls. Flickr is great for sharing photos, but doesn't really give much room to share thoughts/ideas etc behind the inspiration for the photos. My hope with this blog is that I can do a bit more sharing regarding inspiration for the various dolls/costumes/props/etc that make up my Outlander dolly world.