tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26399962537091777412024-03-12T17:28:14.599-07:00Blythe CuriosityKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-34851716116288155852012-12-03T22:37:00.000-08:002012-12-03T22:37:13.285-08:00catch-up... again!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, I got married! This was a wonderful and bliss-filled event in my life... but it did result in me being quite busy and forgoing everything dolly-related for almost a couple of months... Here and there I knit a few stitches on a hat or redressed my girls and brushed their hair... but mostly, my sweet girls just languished while I attended to all things nuptial.<br />
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Since I arrived home from my honeymoon, though, I have been having a wonderful time reconnecting with my girls. Mostly, I have been knitting hats for them and just hanging out with them... re-organizing their clothes and gearing up for some winter sewing projects.<br />
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I have been pining for a new dolly lately. I really, really, really want a Nostalgic Pop or a Milky Way Sugar girl. I love long dark brown hair without bangs. I have been fantasizing about how some of my dress ideas would look on a brown haired girl. I almost even adopted a pre-loved Milky Way Sugar girl... but it didn't work out. How dreamy they are... especially the translucent face of Miss Nostalgic Pop!<br />
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But then something happened - after I gave up on adopting MWS... my name came up on the Button Arcade commission list for two dresses. Woot! And Ott Lites went on sale 50% off at JoAnn's and I got one. So I sort of gave up on getting a new girl. <br />
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Bu then just tonight I revisited my poor Callie the mystery clone. She was going to be turned into a skully girl... but spray-painting her faceplate white went badly wrong. I bought Montana Acrylic spray paint because I thought that Acrylic would be high quality, but I think it turned out to be too thick. It clumped and behaved badly in a way that I haven't seen other spray paint behave. I was so upset when it happened back in the summer. I started trying to scrap off some of the paint when it was still tacky and got some off of her face... then I started sanding with a fine sanding sponge, which sort of smoothed out some patches of paint, but didn't remove it.<br />
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Fast forward a few months until tonight. I took to her faceplate with regular fine sand paper, which is like infinitely coarse for Blythe, but it took the paint off straight away! Then I buffed her faceplate with a Hello Kitty emory board & back to the ultra-fine sanding sponge. Now she is okay. Still a bit scuffy - but I ordered three grades of Norton sanding sponges and I plan to get her back in shape & give her a regular face-up and search for a scalp for her... maybe even a dark brunette scalp. She had a good eye-mech and some pretty eye chips already. I need to get her a regular Blythe body - I don't like her Obitsu body because it is too big, though I love how those bodies are infinitely pose-able.<br />
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Callie will be my first and last ever attempt at customizing. I really prefer stock Takara girls (or a Kenner, if ever I met one at a thrift store or some other fantastical situation!) to factory, fake, or clones... or even customized. I just find the pure girls super-charming and appealing. Maybe an eye-chip change or a teensy bang trim... but basically I just like them purely how they arrive NRFB. <br />
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Still, I am happy and excited to be able to work on Callie right now because it quells my yearning for another girl & breathes new life in to a girl I thought was a goner.Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-64878621527695656812012-07-31T16:11:00.001-07:002012-07-31T16:22:16.237-07:00dissociation...All the painting and moving and cleaning and major work is done... and I finally had a chance to breathe and rest and finish my BK swap package & dismember dollies. <br />
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Well... one dolly, that is. Here is a clearer photo of my new mystery clone in her last few moments of being "stock". <br />
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She has a look on her face like she knows something is up... and it was, indeed!<br />
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Everything was going along okay until I got to the top screw of the three and it seemed like it had been glued in or something. I finally got it turning, but it didn't come out, so I realized, I'd just stripped the hole and it was going around and around w/o budging. Then it just kind of came out. Well that was too good to me true... a tiny piece of her scalp flange actually broke and let it loose... but the screw is still stuck. I think she will go back together okay w/o it, though.<br />
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Here's her scary face-up one last time before I sand matte her... the eyebrows are quite strange.<br />
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Pucci Collective saved me as I worked to get her eye mechanism out... I had to use my hands instead of a screwdriver with tape - I just had so much more control and knew exactly how much pressure I was applying, so I felt more comfortable... it took a long time and my fingers got really sore in the process. </div>
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Then I started sanding off the makeup to start fresh as a skully girl... almost done...<br />
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Comparison of different girls: ICY, Blythe RBL, and Basaak Clone... w/mystery clone faceplate...<br />
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All ready for a fresh start! <br />
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I also started taking out her eye chips because they were really dull - scratched on the outside and cloudy inside, with the black part of the pupil not very opaque. I think they just used a marker to black it and some weird white glue all over the back of the chips...<br />
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You can see from these pictures how dirty the are... but the good news about this funky glue - it's nothing like the funky Basaak glue! The eye chips popped right out with the gluestick method & left no shards behind. Whew! <br />
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This morning, I found an Obitsu body on BK and I think it will be perfect for her... (seller's photo)<br />
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It's taller than I would choose for Mesmer's replacement & I am loving having the clone's old body as a dress form... so I think this will be perfect... it's very boney and skeletony seeming to me & I have been wanting a posable body for one of my girls... so it will be fun to test it out!<br />
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<br /></div>Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-58238080422490744922012-07-27T17:41:00.001-07:002012-07-31T16:22:44.408-07:00Callie McSpookerson has arrived.Okay - that last name might not stick... and Callie is just short for Calavera. I am also tempted to name her Lola Daydream. I'm not going to name her until I have customized her a bit... so her personality can emerge.<br />
(pardon the bad photos - had to take them with my webcam or nuthin' - long story.)<br />
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Here's how she arrived - all wrapped in sheets of Chinese newpaper with a faux Hermes scarf as a free gift - or perhaps a wrap? She's perfect... since she will become a calavera girl... why not start life spooky?!<br />
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I've never been creeped out by my other dolls before - but I must cop to it. This girl kind of freaks me out. She needs a lot of love. She probably needs to be smudged with sage smoke, banished, exorcised or aura cleansed or <i>something</i>... she evokes a troubled spirit... like a wounded animal. I've never unwrapped a doll like this before. It was strange and surreal to get her out of her plastic costume.<br />
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She is covered in plastic having plastic nightmares from behind her strange lazy sleep eyes... poor girl. <br />
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She has pretty good quality hair, but it is thinly rooted and isn't really thatched, so it's kind of impossible to style. She may end up with a Sleeping Elf wig that I had imagined for Charlotte - I am still waiting on it, even though I found the Guava scalp for her and she became adopted sisters with James.<br />
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Her faceplate is really nice, despite the hideous eye makeup & having lots of strange scuff marks. Her lips are really nice - I almost hate to change them... but calaveras usually don't wear lipstick (or have lips!). The quality of the faceplate plastic feels nice and substantial and solid like Blythe, but it's not a Blythe as the back plate claims. And the shape of her eyes is a pit different than Blythe - closer to Icy, almost.<br />
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(I feel kind of gross that she is a real knock off. The Blybe/Basaak are obviously different - but she is claiming to be a Blythe - the mark on the back is trying to copy a real Blythe mark. Why or why?!)<br />
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Anyhow, her faceplate plastic is heavier than Char-Char's faceplate plastic... but her body is junk. First off, the knees don't bend at all. I read some people say it was better quality than a Basaak... but I disagree. Maybe it's better than CCE... but Charlotte's body is way nicer than this one.<br />
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I see where they are coming from maybe thinking it's better - it's heavier - I'll give it that much. But the plastic is badly molded & the joints where her legs attach to her torso are really floppy, so she doesn't stand very well - there is no definition to her hands & feet and she is even missing part of a thumb!<br />
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Poor thing! I think she will get in line before Mesmer for the first of my girls to get a body transplant... or I could get Mesmer a new body and give Mesmer's old Takara one to her. That is probably what I will end up doing so I don't have too many dolly parts around... but I am still steeling myself for the prospect of taking Mesmer apart in order to change her.<br />
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So I will start with taking apart Miss Spookerson. I think she has a lot of potential and I am motivated to get started because this girl *needs* some love. She's had a rough life. In fact, I feel like she has come to me as a bit of a corpse and so the calavera theme is perfect. I have been sketching today and daydreaming of colors and eyechips... I really want to paint some ideas on canvas first before I paint her... but she does have a sweet skully girl in there somewhere and I will let her out!<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-69742750494925532452012-07-26T10:20:00.001-07:002012-07-26T10:22:00.583-07:00Swap fever & Exciting Mail...I just finished up some projects for this month's swap and I am really excited about them. I have a bit more sewing to do before I send my package out for this month. I love the swaps!<br />
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One of the funny things about them, though, is that I have to keep the projects I'm working on under wraps until my swap partner gets them... and since life has been crazy busy lately... that's most of what I have been working on.<br />
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So I decided to share what I sent last month... I think it might become a little ritual to share the previous month, as I gear up to send the next month's package!<br />
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The theme was Cool Britainnia last month, here's what I sent to my partner...<br />
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My partner, moondoxy, had awesome "likes" that gave me some very fun ideas - this dress was inspired by the Crown Jewels and the Tudor Ravens. The necklace, I bought on etsy.<br />
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This one was inspired by Druids, Wuthering Heights, and my ongoing love of smocks. Mesmer wants one for herself when I get a chance! (in black, of course.) :)<br />
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To go with it, I also put together this little necklace with a miniature pendant I found on etsy & a bit of chain. I would love to experiment more with making Blythe necklaces! It was a lot of fun, but I need to perfect the chain a bit more.<br />
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And the last thing I made was this London-themed dress...<br />
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The fabric is "Makower Fabrics - UK" They had a whole bunch of fabulous prints just in time for the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics. The crown fabric is also Makower.<br />
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I made matching dresses for Mesmer and Lizzie Jane to practice what I wanted to do with the crown fabric. Lizzie Jane didn't really like hers... but it made for a cute photo.<br />
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And then I added a bunch of black tulle around the hem and collar and turned it into another dress for Mesmer... though the black crown dress is now one of her very favorites... she does like both.<br />
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And... my kooky mystery clone arrived in the mail yesterday. She was registered mail, so she must be signed for & the post office had already closed once I got home to get the package slip... so I haven't met her yet... but tonight I will! I am looking forward to seeing one of these mystery girls in person and planning a more ambitious customization project.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-83060442719425162682012-07-24T15:48:00.000-07:002012-07-24T15:49:19.873-07:00...on a jet plane.Mesmer got to be the first of my Blythes to travel. We had a terrible disaster with some reactive plastic from a vintage Sindy dining chair that stained the backs of her legs. It was heart-breaking... we discovered it when I got her down to see James' arrival and so the day was bittersweet with a perfect new dolly and an injury to one of my beloved girls. I took a picture, but can't bear to post it yet. Too sad. However - it frees me up to let Mesmer wear black stockings and tights now, as she has been craving for a while - I read how they could stain and I was afraid... but now they hide the red plastic chair stain and who cares if they stain more... and she is now rooting for an eventual change to a super-bendy Pure Neemo body.<br />
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Long story short - to make it up to her, she insisted on being picked to come with me on my trip to my family reunion in Kentucky. It rained most of the time we were there - which was a bit disappointing because I brought her Vintage Skipper swimsuit and we were planning to try to sneak off for a poolside photoshoot... but I did take this fun picture of her looking wistfully out the window at the rain.<br />
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On the way home, I had to fly back to work earlier than my parents, so I was traveling just with Mesmer and we had the most public Blythe photoshoot I've ever done - it was tons of fun and I didn't care a whit about being embarrassed because I wasn't ever going to see the folks in the airports again!<br />
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There was still rain once we got to Cincinatti - even severe thunderstorm warnings!<br />
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But we finally got cleared for takeoff, just as the sun was setting...<br />
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In Salt Lake... she helped me find my connection... and we took one last shot at the gate before heading home.<br />
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I really bonded with Mesmer on this trip. (oh and before I forget, I made her that black and grey hat as my activity while traveling!) It was so fun to have her along and there were a few times when she was a great comfort, as well as a fun companion. She is the bravest and most adventurous of my girls and she has the battle scars to prove it - but I find the more I let go of worrying about her staying perfectly stock, the more I feel comfortable about really playing with her and the more fun we have. Also - her personality comes out a lot... so it's a win-win situation. She will definitely be my traveling companion on future trips. She's a bit of a jetsetter, already!<br />
<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-169964490402948962012-07-24T15:32:00.000-07:002012-07-24T15:32:03.022-07:00always one step behind... belated welcome to James St. James<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When she arrived - all the girls came our to welcome her... she looked a little stunned at first! Lizzie Jane lent her a dress so she wouldn't have to be shy. :)<br />
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Still not so sure... but Char-Char and Mesmer are trying to make her feel at home - they recommend a little trip outside.<br />
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That's better! She starts to feel at home and what a pretty girl she is! The camera loves her custom details.<br />
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She is such a pretty girl and we are all happy to have her join the family... especially Charlotte! Once her new Simply Guava scalp showed up the day after James did... they were like long-lost sisters reunited! <3<br />
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I wasn't sure if the pink would suit her - but i think it's perfect - especially with James. It matches her lips exactly! <br /><br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-77318821675062650422012-07-11T18:57:00.002-07:002012-07-11T19:07:29.197-07:00"Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I just bought this mystery clone doll... within 5 minutes of discovering it's existence. I don't know why - it was a totally impulsive move. I want to make her into a calavera.<br />
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I've seen some gorgeous Blythe calaveras - but when it comes to proper Blythes, I can't bring myself to do much to them myself... I really like stock Blythes NRFB when they come to me. Out of curiosity, I bought myself a factory custom who is on her way and I am very excited to meet her... but unless I found one baity to begin with, I could never bring myself to change a real stock Blythe very much... I like them as they come! <br />
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Yet, I loved the calavera idea ever since I saw it... I was a calavera last year for one of my 4 nights of Halloween! It was my first time trying the makeup - I just had a black face-painting pencil left over from a kit of vampire facepaint I used a year before... and a liquid eyeliner for the finer lines... it was hurried - but tons of fun & I got a lot of compliments. I image searched calaveras and had a wonderful time looking at all the beautiful details.<br />
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I've seen a few truly lovely Blythe ones and some that were maybe not so well executed... but a lot of love went into them... I fell for all of them! I don't have an airbrush or anything as skilled & specular as these <a href="http://sirenitadolls.blogspot.com/2012/05/i-think-it-done.html">works of art</a>... but I love to paint and I've thought it would be fun for a long time.<br />
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My friend just posted this lovely pictures to my FB recently, wanting to learn more about Blythe, totally rekindling my curiosity for a dolly calavera.<br />
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I had been scoping out factory girls on the Taobao agent pages for a girl who might make a good calavera... the whole agent thing with factory Blythes kind of weirds me out & on ebay I'd rather get a stock Prairie Posey or Very Vicky new in the box for the same price than a factory or fakie girl I am just going to have my crafty way with... and I wanted a black haired girl most of all, but had not seen any factory girls with black hair.<br />
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So when I learned about the new clones and took a look & saw a black haired girl for $40 with free shipping who I could play with and not feel guilty... I just went nuts for a moment, threw caution to the wind and bought her!<br />
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I really must be stopped. In addition to the whole customizing diversion... I really do want to collect some more expensive stock Blythes like NosPop, Pheobe Maybe, and Gentle River. Really I do. I just keep getting sidetracked.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-15808349755580058892012-07-10T10:04:00.003-07:002012-07-11T02:15:31.071-07:00New Eyes for Charlotte.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I changed out a set of Charlotte's eye chips last night!<br />
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Yes, my non-existent readers... if you existed to read this, you may be stunned or confused. Charlotte is a Basaak after all. I bought her as a newbie mistake - "practice your customizing" that sounds great. Only the Basaak eyechips are glued in with apocalypse-proof grade superglue. Not so great for "practice".<br />
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I love her to bits, even if she wasn't exactly the best choice - she was my first dolly and I could never give up on her. So, slowly but surely, I am giving her a better life. Clones deserve love too - if they happen into your life.<br />
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The first time I tried to change out eyechips, I just hoped beyond hope that she would be an exception to the Basaak glue situation. I wanted to change out her front-facing green chips. I tried the hot glue sticks to no avail. Several times. I gave up. The whole ordeal left me a bit traumatized to be honest. I really thought I would never change out any eyechips ever again after that experience. One of the huge attractions for me with RaRi is that I liked all of her eyechip colors well enough to never worry about wanting to change them and not being able to!<br />
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But then I nicked the blush on Miss Mesmer's cheek and that feeling of not wanting to change any of her stock qualities faded a bit... she had a personality inside her that wanted to come out... if she had to sacrifice the perfection of her stock faceup to become who she was meant to be, in the end it was a small sacrifice. And it started with her orange and pink stock chips.<br />
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She was a dream to work with - I mastered the "twist and pull" method and discovered the sweet spot of how melty to let the glue get before sticking it to the chippie.<br />
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So Charlotte has a new scalp on the way (if we like the pink!) and I just got this wild hair that she should have new eyes too. With my new-found confidence - I decided to give it a go on her blue front-facing chips. I knew the green ones were tough... but I hadn't tried the blue yet. I gave a masterful "twist/pull" & much to my surprise - on the first try, one actually came out!!!!!!!! (...with the caveat of a small shard of blue plastic left behind - it didn't look like much; but was I ever wrong about that assessment!)<br />
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The second chip didn't come out until the 3rd try - I had to let the glue stick get really melty - any meltier and it would have been a huge mess - but I got enough of a firm grip with the glue the 3rd time to pop the other chip out - also with a little shard of plastic left behind.<br />
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I've read about this and about how people use a dremel tool to remove the shards left behind... I don't have a dremel tool - so I started poking at it with the edge of my tweezers that I use to place the eye chips in, then a sewing needle that was on my work bench - neither had any effect whatsoever... so I grabbed two sizes of exacto and sat down for a more serious attempt to remove the plastic. I got the crazy idea that maybe I could sand the edge of an existing eyechip instead of the plastic and destroyed a nice Olive colored B.W. chip in the process, before abandoning that tactic. Then I pulled out my big Olfa snap blade knife. This is a serious tool - I use it for book making to cut the book board that goes inside hardcovers. It scared the living daylights out of me to take this tool to my sweet Char-Char's eye sockets!<br />
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The reluctant oracle was even freaked out. He used to find all aspects of the dolly world anathema - but since my doll family has been around for a while he's relaxed his stance & now just feigns complete indifference. Occasionally he slips up and actually betrays that he's paying more attention than he lets on.<br />
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Mesmer's eye chip changing project weirdly intrigued him... but he remembered that I had said I would never do the same for Charlotte - so when he saw me with the Olfa blade he exclaimed in a very concerned tone: "what are you doing to her?!" He was truly worried. I promised him that Charlotte was in the best of care and I would never let her get baity - even if I had to buy her an entirely new eye mechanism that cost more than she did! He relaxed a bit.<br />
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When I finally got the blue plastic out, I was testing different colors of eye chips for her and then I remembered the Elficious hand-painted chips that I bought for her before I realized that her chippies were such a challenge. After my first failure - I'd set them aside & almost forgotten that I had them, thinking that someday I might try to sell them on B.K. sundries. So glad that I hadn't, since I'd picked them specially for Charlotte. They were perfect in look and practicality too - the post on Basaak is a little shallower than Blythe, so I was thinking I would have to sand down one of the sets of B.W. chips that I had leftover from esmer's project - but the Elficious ones come with a shorter post and they fit perfectly without any sanding (thank goodness - I had enough plastic shards for one evening with the eye socket debacle!)<br />
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So my sweet Char-Char has gorgeous eyes now - hand-painted front facers and my favorite side-facing ice blue chips. She still has her slightly scary side-facing pink chips that we switch the dolls to when we go out of town to protect the house. And the green front-facers... well I think they can stay too.<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-40060516886270112982012-07-04T20:09:00.001-07:002012-07-04T20:11:45.999-07:00James is in transit...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One more time... my James! (I am actually going to call her James St. James... in honor of her original name, but also to give her my own nickname.) She was mailed yesterday... she's on her way for my birthday! And my other b-day present to myself was totally spontaneous. Yesterday evening, I was poking around on ebay and I discovered a super-cheap Simply Guava scalp with no bids on it. I put in a bid, thinking that I would certainly be outbid... but no one else bid on it and I got it for the lowest possible price.<br />
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It was just listed as pink Blythe scalp - but it seems to me to be a Simply Guava - with the exact hair-style... so I don't think it's factory. Even if it is fake or factory... it will definitely be better quality that Charlotte's current current hair. Here is the e-bay listing picture. Do pardon the nudity... poor girl. :(<br />
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I have been on the look-out for a cheap scalp with bangs that would be an improvement over Charlotte's current Blybe/Basaak scalp. I did add some knotted-method highlights that I salvaged from a Cool Cat wig & then I gave her a bob... but her hair is still sort of a challenge - mostly because of scalp gap... & also that her original hair, though thickened up and restyled, was never very good quality.<br />
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I never thought of her as a pinky girl, but I have always kind of wanted a girl with pink hair & now that I have a psuedo-mango on the way... why not a pseudo-guava too!<br />
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I am really excited for Char-Char to get some quality hair that I didn't have to spend a fortune on... I know she is "just a clone" - but she is my first girl and she has a heart of gold! She has a special place in my heart and I want to spoil her a bit. We tried to change out her chips with no success.. but the hair, I feel confident with. I hope she doesn't find that going pink is too much of a shock! <br />
<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-53808392731496492972012-07-04T19:35:00.000-07:002012-07-04T19:53:21.183-07:00The Plunge! (I took it!)So the Brainworm package arrived this week! Mesmer's new eye chippies are here!<br />
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I picked four with foils that I really liked... the foils are very cool - quite subtle and really make the chips unique.<br />
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After much hemming and hawing, I actually decided to paint the pupil of the milky ones too. Those were the first ones that I have changed out & I really love them. Mesmer was such a brave trooper! I am really proud of her. Of course we took some picks of the process...<br />
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As promised, the orange chippies were the first to go. I used sticky notes instead of tape to hold her lashes out of the way - sliding the paper end under her lids and folding back the sticky part onto her forehead. It seemed more gentle than scotch tape. Then I bundled her up to make her as comfy as possible during the ordeal.<br />
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On the first try, only one chip came out and the other one stayed in... so we had to try that one again.<br />
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The second time, I let the glue get a little meltier - I was worried the first one was too melty, so I tried not to let the second one get too melty... but that was the one that didn't work first time around... so the second time, I let the glue stick get a wee bit meltier... and it worked!<br />
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Already looking better... then to put the eye chips in and rest. All the girls came to visit her to make sure she was okay.<br />
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She's doing very well, post-surgery... loving her new look & anticipating another go tomorrow.<br />
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And in black and white... my beautiful spooky girl's looking mesmerizing with her new milky eyes...<br />
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Coming soon... what have I been doing all month? The Blythe Swap! I will write about it and post pictures soon.Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-72851795642223200022012-06-15T16:38:00.003-07:002012-06-15T16:39:48.416-07:00bye bye creepy eyes - hello Mesmer-eyes...I took the plunge & ordered 5 pairs of eye chips and a set of foils today from <a href="http://www.freewebs.com/brainworm720/eyechipscounter.htm">brainworm</a>.<br />
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I picked 4 ridged ones and 1 plain.<br />
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Ridged Milk, Light Grey, Toffee, and Steel Blue.<br />
Plain Milky Grey<br />
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I wanted to order one extra set, just in case it turns out that I don't like one of them. I also have a couple of plain BW in apple and olive green that might look cool with foils, if it turns out that the milky ones aren't suited to Miss Mesmer.<br />
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Since she "told" me her name was Mesmer -- the namesake of famous hypnotist Franz Anton Mesmer -- it seems like the milky eyes in light and dark for her front facing chips will be quite fitting. Her current front-facers are a little frightening. I think this could be helped by gaze correction, but still they are a bit freaky & not exactly in a mesmerizing way.<br />
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Once again, BK proved a wealth of information. I found out that it is possible to change side-facing chips out without opening her head, if I am very careful. I think the placement and the twist to remove them are a little trickier... but not impossible.<br />
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So, I am going to see how it goes with the front-facers first. I don't mind her blue and green ones as much, but I think they clash with her hair and I just think she would be gorgeous with grey ridged side-glancing eyes... I like the idea that when she is looking side to side, she a regular girl, but when you stare directly into her eyes as they look straight back at you... you will be mesmerized!<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-50435871626730503952012-06-14T17:07:00.002-07:002012-07-04T19:55:17.922-07:00More Mesmer...I was looking at so many Peppermint pictures yesterday and I am getting really excited about changing Miss Mesmer's eye chips out... but also thinking that I am not that interested in much more customization until I totally botch her stock makeup... which hopefully won't happen for a good long time!<br />
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The little blush scratches don't show very much in photos... and I am okay with them when I am just playing with her. I saw a thread on BK about blush troubles - someone had accidentally removed 1/2 the blush on one cheek of her Friendly Freckles girl by a bad reaction with the face-up & sunscreen on her hands.<br />
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In her photos, you could just see the smear where the blush came off. She didn't want to totally sand her face or anything, so she used a Magic Eraser to remove all the blush on both cheeks - it changed the look a little, but it was also cute.<br />
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If the time comes that Annie Mesmer's blush is too scratched to live with... I will just do that, I think. I know she is super shiny... but I don't mind. I was looking at a bunch of Peppermints on Flicker yesterday and I actually was always drawn to the shiny ones a lot.<br />
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I love <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maidensuit/7338278518/in/faves-katikhu/">this girl</a>, with her pretty grey eyes but still shiny. (SP in glasses are <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ludmilac/7116678075/in/faves-katikhu/">adorkable</a>, btw!) And this <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/natura_naturata/7355552626/in/faves-katikhu/">stock minty girl</a> with her dark eyes just melts my heart!<br />
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I think am going to open her head and change out even the side-facing ones... it will be a big step. I haven't ever seen that you can change out the side-facing ones without opening a girl up. I will figure it out, I guess.<br />
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But we had fun hanging out together yesterday - she got a new (to us) Plastic Fashion dress in the mail from BK sundries & she modeled the black smock... Then, while helping with some photos edits, she decided to move out of the safe-house and take up residence on my desk!<br />
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She's got some extra editing juju from her skully friend!</div>
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-22272956499692742202012-06-13T15:39:00.002-07:002012-06-13T15:44:18.450-07:00busy bee.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here's my last dolly sewing picture. This was last Thursday. It's made entirely out of fabric and trims that I bought from Moofers on BK. The fabric is really cute birdie fabric and I was inspired to try making a headband from this plum colored ric-rac style elastic trim. I made a bow from the bird fabric and put a little of this woodsy embroidered ribbon around the center instead of another fabric piece. I really like the way that it turned out and look forward to making some more headbands... especially with Lizzie Jane's fringe, I think it looks really cute.<br />
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Lately, I've actually been spending most of my creative energy on the non-dolly project that I agreed to do as a trade for Lizzie Jane and Cherry Kim. I have to be sure to complete that before I go on another dolly sewing extravaganza. Also, once I complete that project, I have to finish up my BK Swap for June... I have some awesome fabrics and got a couple cute things from etsy too... my swap partner has very cool descriptions in her "likes/dislikes" that gave me some great ideas - next weekend I will try to execute some of them... but no pics until July! <br />
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I did make a little black smock for Annie Mesmer on Monday evening... mostly because I wanted to use up this black bobbin so I could put white thread on it. I really need to get more Janome bobbins for my hand-me-down machine. She didn't come with all her goodies!<br />
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As for the dress, I still need to sew a snap on and take some photos. I got the internet smock pattern that I couldn't get to print to scale pared down almost to fit... except the sleeves are weird. It gives kind of a 60's boxy look to the whole thing... Annie can rock it, but it's not quite what I was going for... back to the cutting board.<br />
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When I was trying the smock on, I did a bad, bad thing. I nicked Annie's blush with a pin. She had another nick on her other cheek and I couldn't figure out how I'd done it before, but now I am suspecting it was in a try on like this. she now has teensy nicks out of her blush on both cheeks. I was sick to my stomach when it happened - I had a pin in my hand and I was trying the dress on her, turned her around to lin it so I could figure out where to sew the snaps and in one moment gone wrong, I did it.<br />
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But I'm actually glad it happened now.<br />
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It's liberating. Like the time that I got my first B my freshman year of high school in my math class and realized that I wasn't going to have a 4 point so I could relax. I only got 2 more Bs the rest of high school and that was cool... but I knew other people who stressed to protect their 4 point and lost it junior of senior year... that was a lot more heart-breaking for them.<br />
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Weird analogy, but I just feel like the stress of trying to protect her is relaxed. I am not 100% happy with her as a stock doll the way I am with Lizzie Jane. She begs to be a little different than she was created as... but I was too scared before.<br />
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Now that she is "imperfect", I am starting to daydream about some light customizing that might bring her personality out. I think she would look beautiful with some really dark brown/black hand-painted chips and some spooky milky ones too. She is also really shiny. I sanded Char-Char to really great effect, but I was scared to sand her, even though I wasn't sure about her shine.<br />
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Right after it happened, I hugged her and gave her a kiss on her super-shiny stock forehead and I felt like she was saying... it's okay. I am free now to become who I am meant to be. Lizzie Jane is perfect out of the box. I wouldn't change a hair on her head... but Annie is waiting to become something more.<br />
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It's been so fun to start looking at Peppermint customs & day dream about what I want for Annie. There is one adorable Frankie Darling custom Peppermint on BK named <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68325036@N06/sets/72157628477719257/">Harlow</a> who I adore! She has a bob with fringe & I don't think that suits Annie at all... but she shows the potential of the Peppermint to be customized. There are some others that amaze me too...<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/renatasweettricot/sets/72157625681571177/">Trixie</a> - she's a dream. Not what Annie will be at all... but so shows the amazing potential for Peppermints to reveal their inner personality. I am amazed at the little things you learn in this hobby... <br />
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I love all the Peppermint girls with pale green and blue lids... it looks beautiful when they are the same color as their hair, but also when they are a bit different - either a bit more green, yellow, or blue... or darker. I wish I could post a bunch of flickr pics from other girls, but I am not sure if that is considered bad etiquette - that is why I just put links to Harlow and Trixie.<br />
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Then again, I really like the beautiful simplicity of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/crisixpence/6022267648/">this girl</a>'s face-up too.<br />
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And warmer, peachier blush too.<br />
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So many possibilities! <br />
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I am in no rush... I plan to play with her for a good long time and enjoy not having to feel so terrified of her getting scruffed or scratched. I will let her speak to me slowly to know exactly how she wants to be made over...<br />
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I think I will start with the eye chips that I've gotten the strong impression on and then wait for the next gut feeling to decide what's next after that. I think she will be dazzling with some moody and spooky eyes... she's such a sweet little spook.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-47883291173073453072012-06-05T21:20:00.001-07:002012-06-05T21:27:05.221-07:00Watching Venus transit the Sun & more dreaming of James...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Cherry Kim has a wonderful time checking out Venus transiting the Sun this afternoon at sunset. We got to see it too! She loves science, math, and gadgetry of all kinds... so this was right up her alley. She may cultivate her interest in astronomy.<br />
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After our eyes got tired of watching the sun, I checked out some NASA pics of the transit online and poked around. A couple of the threads on BK got me thinking again about my custom girl who is on the way... the first was from someone who had customized her first stock girl and felt sad that she wasn't stock anymore. Another thread about top favorite girls & one person mentioned how she realized that she loved stock girls after she had bought some customs. In both threads, the message was that you really never know until you try & it's not the end of the world if you figure out that you like something different than what you first thought you might like. The fun is in learning! <br />
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Me, I am definitely partial to stock girls... at first, I thought I would really want to sand matte and change out the chips on the girls I got - probably add sleep eyes and maybe decorate their lids... but once I got a real Blythe, I couldn't bear to change anything about her... and I knew that I really enjoyed that NFRB feeling... but I also thought that I would be happy to love an adopted girl who was customized before coming to live with me & in the interest of collecting and curiosit, I felt it would be an important addition to my dolly family some day.<br />
There are some things about customs that I really admire in photos and would love to see first hand. I like the expressiveness of their eyes with gaze correction - especially if they can look up and to the side at the same time. For some reason, that look always "gets" me in photos.<br />
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I also like the look of custom eye lashes and painted lids with sleep eyes.<br />
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And, while I don't really like thinking about NRFB dolls being bought to customize... I love the idea of a factory girl getting a newly glamorous customized life... so James is perfect for me!<br />
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I went back and looked up her description... here's what she's 'had done'... and some pictures of her, that her creator took.<br />
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base doll: factory girl<br />
scalp:simply <b class="coloradmin" style="color: black;">mango</b>, not a factory look-a-like. <br />
cool cat rbl dome<br />
hair highlights: Sarah Tutone Titian and Sarah Barbie Champagne Blond<br />
eye chips: Chips Brainworm R25 Lime and 3 special factory eye chips, Light blue, dark blue and hot pink.<br />
new eyelashes<br />
Spray-matting (MSC)<br />
sleepy eyes <br />
gazed correction<br />
new pull rings<br />
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Looking forward to her very much. There was another Gentle River on BK Princesses Needing Rescue today and I didn't even feel my heart tearing out this time, because I was happy with my family that I have now and anticipating the arrival of my newest addition.Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-27220123944917050942012-06-05T11:57:00.003-07:002012-06-05T20:50:28.445-07:00Dreaming of James & swaps...One more month and she sets sail from Portugal to America!<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kikiotto/sets/72157627582066269/with/6166246481/">James</a><br />
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I was just looking at her pictures again... remembering what I like about her and also trying to get a sense of what she will like to wear to make something for her. She's a little different than I remembered from the last time that I looked at her set... of course, I remembered her scalp and colors and everything... but it's like her expression has changed ever so slightly... I had made up things about her in my head that may not be exactly how her personality is... so I have to be patient and wait to meet her in real life!<br />
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Last night I finally got a chance to sew on my newly tuned up machine. It sews like a dream now... I made two cute matching dresses for Annie and Lizzie to wear in honor of the Diamond Jubilee and snapped some cute pics of them... but I am not sharing right now because I will probably use some of the same fabric in my BK swap.<br />
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Thankfully, the British theme prevailed in a tight race, till the end... so I get to use all the cute stuff I planned after all! Yay! I am dying for my swap partner assignment in order to find out what they like so I can make things to their taste & put together a great package for my very first BK swap.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-31426908729480919242012-05-29T21:47:00.000-07:002012-05-29T21:51:52.976-07:00dolly mail is the best mail...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I came home to a wonderful sight of not one or two packages, but three wonderful treats! I had to bring Charlotte and Lizzie Jane out to help me carry them in!<br />
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It was actually Lizzie's first time outside... and she had a fun time exploring the garden!<br />
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Mostly everything in these big boxes was furniture! Since I had only one chair and a growing family of girls, I turned to the 'bay to make my bookshelves more lounge-worthy for the girls...<br />
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We had one burgundy arm chair and the hutch from the top shelf already, but we added another matching arm chair and loveseat, two dining chairs, a coordinating hutch for the downstairs shelf... and a wardrobe that turned out to be a lot more ginormous than we imagined from ebay! Annie Mesmer claimed it for her own, but she isn't sure yet if she wants to use it as a closet or move in!<br />
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Charlotte claimed dibs on the couch because she is the only one with sleep eyes who could really enjoy it!<br />
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We're thinking the bed that matches that spacious wardrobe will go to the new girl, James, who is on her way for my birthday present this July! She has beautiful custom painted sunny yellow lids and will look very sweet tucked in for a good night's rest... now I have to make her a quilt!<br />
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The third package is a surprise, for the time being... I hope I can use it for the BK swap. If there is the slimmest chance that anyone from BK is reading my humble blog... I urge you to vote for "Cool Britainnia" as the theme for the June swap... because I bought three of the coolest print fabrics ever for this theme and would SO love to make someone delightful swap goodies with a British Theme!<br />
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(Was that shameless?! Oh well. Seriously, the fabrics are to die for. I promise!)<br />
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In other news, I am expecting my sewing machine back from the shop tomorrow or Thursday, all freshly tuned and sewing marvelously. I am so looking forward to its homecoming.<br />
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I have cut out 6 dresses and a blouse to sew when it is returned to me. Also have visions of two more cute dresses to cute soon.<br />
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That's about all for now in dolly world.Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-4311233740881422422012-05-29T17:15:00.002-07:002012-05-29T17:15:29.128-07:00Meet Lizzie Jane!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My lovely Rachel's Ribbon arrived last Thursday & I've been having too much fun with her this Memorial Day weekend to take the time to blog her arrival. She is lovely!</div>
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She met the girls...<br />
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And she tried on lots of clothes! We played with her hair and she moved into the same shelf as Charlotte.<br />
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Yesterday, I got all the girls together for a group shot to make a little signature in Blythe Kingdom Forum. It was color first... but then I switched it to black & white for fun... I like both versions...<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-55176913199229156672012-05-18T15:16:00.002-07:002012-05-18T15:17:34.520-07:00Cherry Kim: I love my ICY!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here she is as she arrived - very serious! But she wanted to try on some of the clothes that I've made her.</div>
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This one is her favorite & inspired her name "Cherry". </div>
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Also this vintage lace smock looks very cute, layered over her polka-dot pants.</div>
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She's really a cutie-pie!</div>
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But she is also no-nonsense. In the end she settled in with some Pistachio Libby black cigarette pants, her stock and Charlotte gave her a pair of glasses that she doesn't wear much these days. The gun's in the bag!</div>Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-27769437354636504372012-05-17T19:24:00.002-07:002012-05-17T19:24:18.011-07:00A New Neighbor: Icy Liberation arrives!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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She's here! Just lifting her box out of the mailer... you could tell she was very cool!</div>
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Her stock is amazingly detailed and really quirky! I carefully started to unpack all the bits and pieces...<br />
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This was the bit that I was most excited and curious about! She comes with a gun! It's in a holster that straps to her belt and you can even cock it! (I think it's an automatic!)<br />
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It was hard work getting out the box! We take her coat off to unwind her pull string. Nice to get some fresh air.<br />
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Charlotte and Annie Mesmer say hi & Charlotte brings her old pull ring over because this "Angela" one is just silly for Little Kim. <br />
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Annie Mesmer really likes Little Kim's hat & hopes she might get a chance to borrow it one of these days!<br />
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Little Kim moves in downstairs from Charlotte and Annie Mesmer, in the American History section to get acclimated with her new country. She is relieved to find out about "The Communistic Societies of the United States". <br />
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Little Miss Revlon (from 1958) also moves downstairs. She had been living in Charlotte and Annie's closet before... but even though it's more spacious downstairs, she isn't too sure about her new neighbor. Little Kim isn't sure about her either.<br />
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But then they get to talking and they both have a lot to teach the other...<br />
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Miss Wonder Mynte is just happy to have some new digs... she & Little Kim get along very well... and they noticed they both have a penchant for stars!<br />
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Here they are, settling in after all the excitement... Little Kim is going to be pretty happy in Eugene. Even happier once I make her a little red book!<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-62248756670570279072012-05-16T17:16:00.002-07:002012-05-16T17:16:48.469-07:00Rachel's Ribbon has also arrived Stateside!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ta da! She's made it to So Cal to my friend's house and soon she will be on her way to me... I am sewing a big project for a friend (a very big project - quite opposite of the small-scale dolly sewing I have been doing lately!) and in exchange she is trading me a RaRi and and Icy Liberation... I am so excited... my dolly family is totally perfect now... with three girls coming in the next months. WOW!Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-74125862061924715412012-05-15T22:24:00.002-07:002012-05-15T23:43:07.450-07:00Charlotte gets a bob!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been thinking of giving Charlotte a bob for a long time, but I didn't have the courage to do it until tonight. I am in love with her new look! It's still a bit wet so it is kind of choppy and I didn't want to even it out any more until I could see what it looked like dry... since I know hair with a little curl in it tends to get shorter as it dries... and she does have a touch of curl.</div>
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When I did her first coif makeover with the additional rooting to thicken her hair, I washed her original hair in hot water and combed it out, with took most of the curl out - it also revealed how the ends of her hair were really rough and frizzy. I treated her hair, added the new hair, did the Pucci collective ironing trick... overall it was a vast improvement, but the ends were still rough. The bob is not only an adorable style that I admire on numerous dollies, it's also a solution to the frizz - now there are no more frizzy end bits... all her hair is sleek and shiny. She just looks darling and I think the cut really suits her. I am so happy.</div>
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In other news... I bought a custom doll today on layaway at Blythe Kingdom. It was an impulse buy of sorts. Impulsive in the moment - but something I had been considering for a couple days.</div>
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I really don't need any more dollies... but I've often thought that I would like to have a custom someday and I have always adored Simply Mango's coloring. I think her coloring would lend itself really well to a kawaii style wardrobe - super bright colors, fun prints, and extravagant styles. For my first stock girl, I couldn't stop dreaming of Simply Peppermint and I decided that I would rather spend just a little more than Mango to get her. I'm quite happy I did - I love her as a stock girl and I realized that I would never be able to customize a girl I bought NRFB. </div>
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I do like the look of many customs, though - so I have daydreamed that one day I might get one on Blythe Kingdom... mostly the ones I like are way out of my price range, but I always love to look at the "Princesses Needing Rescue" just because I love the photographs of all the beautiful girls... </div>
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So I was on BK & I saw this really cool custom factory girl with a Mango scalp a little while ago. Her customizations really seemed to fit with my idea of a kawaii girl. Her price was really fair, but still too much for me. Then she was reduced & there was a layaway option and I started thinking about her... imagining adopting her. Still I thought it was maybe not a good idea. Yet, at the same time, I couldn't stop thinking about her & checking on her. The last time I checked her, she was reduced again! It was the kind of deal that I really hadn't seen & I wasn't put off by her little imperfections in the slightest. I love the color of her eye chips & the beautiful highlights/lowlights in her hair, her faceup is bold and fun - with shiny lemon yellow eyelids and blue eyelashes! She has fantastic details... I just love her. And she has a fun, spunky name - James. </div>
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Can you tell that I love her already?! So yes. Her creator agreed to the terms of the adoption & I started the layaway today. She will be ready for my birthday present in July! I am really happy. I think she will totally complete my collection because she has the Mango scalp I like and she is a more extreme custom. Unless I found a Goodwill Kenner or a Gentle River for a steal on BK, I pretty much have (or will soon have) all the girls I want... and I know that I want a family that is not too big, so I can really spend time with all my dolls and get to know each one of them. I am very happy about the new additions to my family and the way I'm bonding with Charlotte and Annie Mesmer as they each come into their own personalities!</div>Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-58065880675064819772012-05-13T17:29:00.002-07:002012-05-13T17:33:43.266-07:00vintage laceHere are my first experiments with the vintage lace trims that I have been collecting.<br />
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I hand-stitched these... I have really been enjoying hand sewing lately... it's very meditative and relaxing. The results are more unique. Some might say "imperfect" due to the nuances of handwork, but I think they have more character, which particularly suits the vintage lace.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-63316867886923589552012-05-11T23:32:00.003-07:002012-05-11T23:32:49.894-07:00i may have a little BK closet clean-out...I've been thinking of having a wee closet clean-out on BK. I have a few sundries that I bought that my girls haven't bonded with, 3 sets of eye chips - including one beautiful handpainted set, some fabric, some hair accessories, some petite-sized furniture, some clothes that I've made, and lastly... some oddly appealing vintage/retro Barbie stuff that fits Blythe. <br />
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The vintage/retro stuff is part of a big jumble of stuff that I bought as a grab-bag at this local vintage store. Some of the things in the grab-bag are great - especially a pair of vintage squishy white boots that Char-Char wears often. Some of it fits Blythe well & some of it would need some creative styling or alteration.<br />
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Annie Mesmer (who the reluctant oracle explained was most definitely NOT named after Annie Bessant, but rather a diminutive form of Anton) was a model for the strange & fun retro stuff. She's actually a fantastic model... so long as she doesn't actually have to wear any of the clothes after the shoot. I was wondering if my new girl (who the reluctant oracle has dubbed "Little Kim") might like the track clothes... but I think it would be good to start fresh for her.<br />
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Here are some highlights from the impromptu retro shoot.<br />
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Annie Mesmer really seemed to enjoy modelling - even in clothes that she would never wear herself... I think that she's quite a shy and introspective girl, but she has a talent for magic in front of a camera!<br /><br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-25242191819910431972012-05-10T16:44:00.003-07:002012-05-10T16:51:01.729-07:00Stateside!She's hit US soil... and she is now making the last leg of her journey from West Hollywood to the hills of Oregon... my new Icy Liberation dolly!<br />
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My friend is sending her my way & I should be introducing her to Charlotte and Annie Mesmer quite soon.<br />
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She is going to be fun to get to know. I think she is a tomboy and I have never made dolly-sized pants... so I decided to buy some Moshi Moshi linen shorts in black and grey that were for sale on BK and also some black cigarette pants from <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/PistachioLibby?ref=seller_info">PistachioLibby</a> on etsy. (Aren't those Moshi Moshi tops adorable too - they were sold so I didn't get a chance at them, but I think they would look adorable on a tom boyish dolly!)<br />
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I have been scoping out jeans too... but the ones I want are a little pricy, so I am going to wait to get to know her before I buy them. I think the shorts and black pants would work with Miss Mesmer, if this girl doesn't like them.<br />
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I'm so curious about names. Brainstorming... but I definitely have to consult the reluctant oracle on this one. He's actually a teensy bit curious about her because she comes with a gun! :DKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639996253709177741.post-21143773396641646062012-05-09T13:32:00.000-07:002012-05-09T13:32:12.155-07:00Charlotte's Day Out... a hat for spring...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The same weekend that Mesmer got her new look - Charlotte borrowed a dress that I'd originally made for the Simply Peppermint formerly known as Wondie... to take some picks with a new hat that I made for her.<br />
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This was my first Blythe-sized hat project & it turned out well. It's a free <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ecoliere-beret">beret pattern</a> from Ravelry.<br />
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I ordered a jumble of mini-skeins on Etsy and these were three different yarns included. Turns out that in Blythe world... a hat takes over twice as much yarn as a sweater... something that is logical when you consider the proportions... but not immediately intuitive to my instincts honed by years of human-sized knitting.<br />
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Here's a close-up... you can sort of see the way the colors are blended into each other... but there is also a subtle sparkle in the solid colored peach yarn that is lost-in-translation in the photos.<br />
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At any rate, Charlotte loves it and it suits her very well. We've struck on a thread in her personality that she really likes... a very outdoorsy sort of girl. It's actually also a touch of mori too.. but the more woodland side of it.<br />
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I've been on <a href="http://tokyofashion.com/">Tokyo Fashion</a> exploring the style trend of mori lately and I really like the different aspects of it, as suited to Blythe style. I ordered some cool trims from BK that I would like to use to make more woodland Eastern-European style dresses for Charlotte. Sort of like this inspiration...<br />
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I'm also inspired by the Gentle River and Vinter Arden stock styles... GR for the more woodland style and VA for the more neutral mori girl... I have a bunch of gorgeous vintage lace trims that I want to incorporate into dresses too. <br />
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Finally, I am also finding myself really inspired by Satomi Fujii's amazing work that I've been seeing on Google+ and at <a href="http://hanonroom.web.fc2.com/">http://hanonroom.web.fc2.com/</a><br />
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I just finished a huge event last weekend and now I will have time to enjoy making somethings for my girls... as well as doing a project that will result in some new girls joining our family! <br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00641891332347200129noreply@blogger.com0