"I was dreaming about beautiful real model looking dolls since I was a kid, but the smallest doll I had back in 1988 was a 14 inches "Cinderella" doll and of course, it had nothing to do with modern fashion dolls. I remember making a "bra" with two pom-poms and a stretchy band to make her look like a Disney "Cinderella" and was hiding it that my parents wouldn't notice the "improvement" I created. I never could imagine that 20 years later, I will discover Fashion Royalty dolls.

The 2014 Gloss convention was my first Integrity Toys convention and I was entering the very first time for a doll design competition. Since I had some experience in creating doll clothes, I knew I had chances to win but I would never think it actually could happen. That was an amazing feeling to receive such honor by winning in both categories, it's like falling in love for the first time - doesn't matter what your future holds, but you will always remember the first one." - Julia Leroy

"I love vintage era fashions and I think many fashion designers are looking to be inspired by it. The competition theme was perfect for me, but I wanted to combine a classic vintage dress with modern edgy elements that even the future Fashion Royalty doll released 30 years from now could easily wear. I chose to reconstruct a vintage looking bodice for my dress and combine it with the today's most popular red carpet "mermaid style" skirt. To make it look effortless and modern, I covered parts of the dress with mesh inserts. I called it "As Dusk Falls" because I imagined my character as a "mysterious lady" - like that old time story about "Cinderella" - when she appears from almost twilight air and everybody looks at her mesmerized by her beauty."

Never formally trained in the art of sewing or fashion design, Lisa learned to use her basic skills to hand and machine sew her competition entries and its really draping fabrics on the doll, pinning and tacking things by hand that allows her to get her desired results. Born in the Caribbean, Lisa has been a doll fan since childhood and finally obtained her first doll when her family immigrated to Canada. One of Lisa's favourite past times growing up was stitching outfits for her dolls using bits and pieces of fabric she could find! Fast forward nearly 20 years later, married with a family of three boys and not sure if she would ever have a daughter, Lisa started collecting various vintage and modern fashion dolls in hopes that she could one day pass her gorgeous collection onto a daughter or granddaughter... Then, along came Integrity Toys' Fashion Royalty line and the rest is history!

Lisa has been actively painting portraits of people and thoroughbred racehorses for many years until she stumbled into the repaint world of dolls in 2004. She was fascinated and decided to try her art on such a small scale. She's been fine tuning her skills ever since. She mainly sells repainted dolls on eBay. Lisa has entered annually at each Integrity Toys design competition thus far because she loves doing it and feels it is important to participate even if you think you can't win. In Lisa's words: "The expression of pride on my Mom's face was priceless when I won; she's supported me through life's ups and downs and every convention thus far; it's a great feeling making your parents proud while doing what you love!" "Never say "I can't". The whole idea is to have fun doing it. It was a complete shock and thrill and a great honour to have been chosen as the 2013 Advanced Design winner and I am humbly grateful."

What Lisa Says About Her Creation "I simply named this creation "Edge" as I was trying for an edgier look, something modern in design. I decided on simplicity rather than pomp and pageantry, something that would stand out and be different than the other entries."