My dolls and their adventures

I meant to draw this back when I did this other doll comic as another side, to show a doll that had been cared for instead of abused, but somehow I wasn't able to finish it till like 10 minutes ago, anyway I did it *confetti*

Maírín was out in my mum's garden and I feel like she's a bit of a farm girl...

kaya in her every child matters shirt for orange shirt day

Kewanee and I spent the past few days exploring Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, in western Colorado. As you can see, we had a great time! The canyon itself is breathtaking--in some places it's 2000 feet/600 meters deep! The ancient, exposed rock tells the life story of Earth over many millions of years. The Gunnison river flowing through the canyon down below seemed so far away, even though we could hear its roaring in the distance.

Kewanee is such a fun little buddy to bring along on outdoor adventures. She's always down for anything, and never gets tired or bored.

The best views were from the south rim, although the solitude of the north rim was nice. Our campsite was lovely as well, so much so that it was especially sad to leave it when our trip was over.

"Jilly Bǐng started with a disappointing search for a doll that looked like my daughter, Jillian.

​"I set out to create my own Asian American doll company named after Jillian and bǐng, the Mandarin word for cookie (and one of my daughter’s first words). With a talented team of designers, storytellers, and parents by my side, we researched and spent months designing dolls that resemble real Asian American children.

"We are thrilled to introduce The Jilly Doll – Jilly is feisty and fun. Like so many little girls we know, she has a huge sweet tooth and loves to tinker in the kitchen with her Grandma. 

"We hope your family enjoys playing with The Jilly Doll as much as we do!

As 'Barbie' becomes the only billion-dollar blockbuster solely directed by a woman, one doll maker in the Bay Area is hoping to break barriers of her own.

When 3-year-old Jillian Mak asked for her first doll last year, her mom, Elenor Mak, couldn't wait to get her one.

But her excitement turned to disappointment the moment she set foot in the store. 

"There were rows and rows of Caucasian dolls [with] blond hair and blue eyes," she said. "And then, on the very side, there were these ethnic characters that looked ambiguously Asian, Latina. You just weren't sure."

She ended up buying the closest thing she could find, a doll with big green eyes and dark brown hair. But the idea that in 2022 she couldn't find a single accurate Asian American doll, in San Francisco of all places, was hard to wrap her mind around. 

"Dolls are not just a toy that's in passing," she explained. It's the child's first imaginary friend. It's the child trying to make sense of the world."

That's when Elenor Mak decided to do something about it. She started by doing an online search for "How to make a doll?"  

Then, she searched for an Asian toy maker. For the next few months, they researched everything from eye shape to skin tones to hair color.  

"We would go out in the sun and look at our black hair and compare it to these samples," she said. 

While there were a few Asian American dolls by big-name companies like American Girl, she thought they were "too stereotypical."

"We talk about how she loves sports," she said. "It's not a traditional association."

She named her doll Jilly Bing — Jilly for her daughter's nickname, and Bing is the Chinese word for cookie. One of Jilly's accessories is a hat that flips into an egg tart.

"We wanted kids to have fun and delight in learning about different Asian foods," she said.

Maria Teresa Hart, the author of the book 'Doll,' said being able to see yourself in them is critical. 

"We have all of our feelings and assumptions about society are all contained in these toys and children are smart they do pick up on that" she said. "They may not be able to articulate it as well as we can, but they do understand what is being shown to them."

Elenor Mak is now planning a whole cast of "lovable characters" she said will reflect the entire Asian American experience, including bi-racial dolls. 

Jilly Bing, which sells for $68 online, seems to have struck a chord, the dolls began shipping on Aug. 1, with hundreds of pre-orders. 

But the only customer that really matters is the one living in her house. 

When asked what she loved most about Jilly Bing, 3-year-old Jillian exclaimed: "Everything!"

can you tell that this is supposed to be luz’s hair? the color isn’t right im ordering a better colored wig but this was my practice for cutting and curling it and i can’t tell if i just like the style or if it’s actually like. Luz.

^ what i’m aiming for but like actual hair not cartoon hair

I think the style definitely works! With the way she’s drawn you could make an argument for messy straight hair or short curly hair. Great job on the cutting and styling!