All About Cadence

Let's talk about my newest doll, Cadence! First of all, she is a rewigged Ivy doll. I got her used for a great deal, and she is in excellent condition. She only has a few marks on her. I didn't even need to tighten her limbs when she arrived.

I'm glad that I waited to find the right doll for this custom. I was thinking about getting a 64 or Z to customize (I prefer the painted eye notches), but when I went to the American Girl store on January 2nd, 64 was out of stock and Z had permapanties. I'm happy that I customized Ivy instead, because I've wanted a doll with decal brown eyes.

Her full name is Cadence Aimi (Aimi means beautiful/love in Japanese). I just decided on her second name the day I customized her, but the name Cadence has been on my list. And, no, the name Cadence is not found in any Louisa May Alcott book that I know of, but that's why I used Aimi as her middle name. It's not pronounced exactly the same as Amy, rather it's pronounced 'I-me'. Her nickname is Cady. 

Cadence was born in Japan. Her family moved to America when she was two. At the age of three, her family realized she was Deaf. Her parents began teaching her ASL, but they died when she was 4.  She then lived with her grandparents, and they put her in signing classes and speech therapy. She participated in her local Deaf community, but she was mainstreamed in a hearing school, and didn't have many friends. The main reason she does not have cochlear implants is because her parents and grandparents were never able to afford them. As a result, she's never considered getting them.

She was originally going to be 12, but when I put her with my other dolls I realized something quite unusual. She's so much taller than my dolls! As a result, I changed my mind and she is 14. I measured her and she is about 18 inches tall. I thought this was interesting, so I measured Phoebe. She measured up to be only about 16.5 inches tall!

I got her wig for Christmas, and it is from Exquisite Doll Designs. It's seems to be of excellent quality and is very soft. Unlike Phoebe's wig, which has some dark brown hair mixed in, this wig is all black. She's my first doll with short hair. Her hair can't really be styled because it is so short, but headbands and bows will look cute in it.

Once I realized that I could make hearing aids for Cadence, I decided against getting hearing aids from American Girl. I don't think they look very realistic, and I didn't really want holes drilled behind her ears. So, I used the tutorial from MyAGDollCraft. I mixed skin-tone polymer clay and used a paperclip to fit the hearing aid to her ear. I pulled the wig right up next to it, and both of the hearing aids stay on great. Should Cadence do a post about her hearing aids?

She is also my first doll with pierced ears. I didn't necessarily want Cadence to have pierced ears, but I couldn't really find any Ivy dolls that didn't have pierced ears. Do you know if all Ivy dolls came that way? Still, it's no big deal, and she came with a pair of studs so I'm excited to make earrings for her. (Not that they will be seen, since her hair covers it up..... anyway)

I'm considering trimming her hair in the front so that it shows both her eyes when not pulled back. If she doesn't have a pin pulling it back, it's very long and uncooperative over her face.

She's so adorable! I love her pink cheeks, which I notice a lot more on her than any of my other dolls.

I've added her to the "My Dolls" page. Now I need to work on adding her to the header!
I hope you liked learning more about my new custom doll! Do you have any questions about her?

PS There's only three more days to vote in the Paisley Awards! Have you voted yet?