Long time no read, eh?

I am still trudging through my graduate work.  I can almost see the end of the tunnel.  Maybe life will go back to normal afterwards.

I guess my last new doll that I posted here was Disco Boogie-- Quinn.  I now have Pow Wow Poncho SBL version named Poe, and the new face mold RBL+ Hi Ho Marine, Lemon.

It seems that I already had Ralphie.  I just purchased the new middie Furry Bella Bo (or something like it).

Hopefully at Christmas time I will more to report and show off.

Happenings

I have not felt the mood to blog recently.  I have spent majority of my summer doing school work.  I will be doing school work until December.

Still around, still obsessed with doll, just no time to blog or create. :(

Hook

Hook arrived yesterday!  His stock Captain Hook outfit is hilariously cute, but I immediately put him in street clothing.  I found a Fashionista Ken (Ryan, who ever he is) set which everything fit except for the shoes.

Stock heeled pirate boots

Nadine and Hook

I happened to have some squishy boots that are from Ken or G.I. Joe that went on when I cut a slit down the backs.  A nice surprise is that my vintage Ken clothing fits! 

I put my Tinker Bell Dal (got her from Tuesday Morning as well as Hook, but not in my state) up against Hook and I can see the brother/sister resemblance.  I am learning a lot about the Pullip family tree- Pullip's boyfriend is Taeyang, her ex is Namu, Isul is Pullip's little brother, Dal is Taeyang's little sister, Byul is Dal friend, Yeolume is Pullip and Taeyang's future child....Yikes!  It sounds all complicated.  I think at some point Pullip and Taeyang are getting friends too.

I want to get Hook a new wig and eye chips.  But as of right now, he will stay in a Blythe wig and stock eyes.

I don't think Ken realizes another man is in the house yet. He is suspicious since I took off with his clothing.

Move over Ken

I'm just not that into boy dolls.  There are those select few custom Blythe boys that I drool over (the one that looks like a Burtonesque Johnny Depp love times a million), but over all they just aren't my thing.  Several years ago (before Blythe) I got a 1963 or 64 Mattel Ken from an estate sale.  He is a very nice looking blonde boy.

For the longest he was naked.  Now he has a nice little wardrobe thanks to my ebay misadventures.

Well, Ken has to move over and make room for a new boy.  Tuesday Morning has had Disney Pullips, Dals, Byuls, and Taeyangs hit the stores.  I have a Tinker Bell Dal and now a Hook Taeyang.

I have to go hunt some clothes down for him as well as a boyish wig.

New patterns

Since I have had a break from school the pattern making has come all at once.  I have new patterns in the works, newly published patterns, and an update on an old pattern.

New middie pattern is Felted Helmet for Middie:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/152135458/knitting-pattern-felted-helmet-for?ref=shop_home_active

Also, I have a package deal for the Middie and Neo Helmet patterns:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/152345926/knitting-pattern-package-deal-felted?ref=shop_home_active

Turban for Blythe:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/152424099/knitting-pattern-turban-for-blythe?ref=shop_home_feat

And, 2-3, or 4 more patterns to come.  One will be free!

I had some questions on the Romper for Blythe which led me to rework the pattern.  I added a few new details and features:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/86257077/knitting-pattern-romper-for-blythe?ref=shop_home_active

Keep an eye out for more to come.  I have exactly 5 more days until my summer school starts which I hope to have a lot more up and going before then.

Brown Petite!

In the second lot of Petite Blythe heads, one poor girl had issues.  Not sure what happened to her but she appeared to be a victim of a botched custom job.  Some of her issues were:  odd paint (did not want to come off even with sanding), no philtrum (it was sanded to a peak), and the left side of the nose was almost sanded flat.  The eye chips were scratched from where someone attempted to pry them out.  I sanded and buffed them to where they look tolerable.

I had sanded a little already to fix her.

I have never carved or sanded down a petite- a little goes a long way.  Her nose was tricky since it had been heavily sanded already.  I think I successfully shaped it to look normal though.

I thought I took a photo before the next step.  I guess I went to do so and got side tracked.

Before MSC.  The body was from a previous experiment. 

(See: From Busty to Flat Chesty)

Final:

MSC makes a huge difference!

Hair issues

Every since University of Love has arrived to me, her hair has been driving me insane.  I have tried several times unsuccessfully to tame her bangs.  I tried curler, tight hat, and just leaving them alone.  Finally, I decided to do something drastic.

You can almost see the weird V shape here.  It is truly right in the middle of her head.

I got to looking at the way the bangs was root and thatched and realized that I could potentially remove the unwanted hair that was causing the problem.  Unlike a lot of my other banged girls, UOL had a completely rooted and thatch part line THEN hair was rooted back over the top of it starting at mid-head.  The extra hair was pulled down and cut in to bangs.  It created this triangular shape that did not want to lay correctly.

I remove this much hair!

I went through the whole scalp removal process and my hunch was right.  I did pull some of the hair out from the inside, but was afraid I would over shoot my target area.  I stopped and applied glue.  Then I changed methods.  I cut about 1/8 of an inch at a time and scrapped the inside area to remove the cut hairs.  Finally, I just left some that I could not get out.

I plan to hide the short hairs under the part line.

Much better

You can't even tell!

Maybe I will name her now.  I had played with the idea of selling her. I gave her nice brown eye chips while she was opened up.

Almost finished!

Last weekend I finished up the re-painting of my new custom doll, a brown Blythe.

Unfortunately, the face plates and eye mechanism were not a perfect fit.  I took the mech out and tried to alter it. This did not fix the problem but it relieved some of the pressure on the arch. I decided to take the tbar completely out and hand roll the eyes.  The lids open and close with the pull chords.

I order a lovely piece of Tibetan mohair that in auburn that I plan to make my own wig rather than purchase it.  I think I saved at least half the cost and I get the experience of making my own wigs.  I bought seconds to make smaller wigs for Petite Blythe and R's Little Pullip.

I've decided to keep her eye chips the stock colors to make her   look more stock Blythe-like.

No name yet.  I will think of something soon.

New bodies for Petites

I recently have purchased two lots of Takara Petite Blythe heads, 6 in total.

Waiting for their bodies

New bodies, the yellow haired doll is the same as the red head below

The bodies are Littlest Pet Shop Blythe that I have matched the best I could to the skin tones of the Takara Petites.  One set of face plates are completely unusable for a nice doll.  They have become my model set try to get the bodies just right.  The red scalp is a spare and I thought it would be fun to make this doll (scalp came detached) be able to have 2 scalps and wigs.  Mixi Michi has photos on Flickr about making a clay scalp to fit wigs over it.

I will attempt to take photos on a least one of the next 3 dolls on how I altered the LPS body for the Takara head.  It was not a breeze as I hoped.

Ralphie is here!

Nelly Nibbles arrived just an hour ago.  Promptly, she took the name Ralphie

Here she is still strapped into the box:

Other than greasy hair and these WTF undies (see below) she is cute.

Progress-ish

The paper got caught by the wind.  Fortunately nothing was damaged.

Still pissed over how the paint is spraying.  In this next photo you can see how the paint is speckling. The back plate has been sprayed with MSC already (then I stuck my finger in it GAH), the face plate looks terrible!!

I am going to sand her down again and try respraying her.  Then try it again.  The MSC seemed to even out the back plate's paint and made it look prettier.

When I stuck my finger in the MSC (at right bottom screw hole), it caused a huge wrinkle.  I will be sand that area down again as well.

Every time when I start a painting project I think I've got if figured out.  Well, I don't.  The last time I bought this paint it sprayed nice and smooth.  This can seems to cough it out...

Ugh.  I will make this work.

The Licca is still tacky.  I may strip the paint and get plastic primer.  I should have did that first, but you know, I apparently like to do it the hard way.

I do hope to have this girl together by Monday.  She will be so lovely if everything else goes as planned!

Painting

I always say I'm going to take progress photos and then get into the moment.  I sprayed my head pieces and the Licca body yesterday.  I do not think the Licca is going to work.  The legs felt like they were drying but this morning they are sticky again.

I'm not overly thrilled how the paint is spraying from the bottle.  In fact, it pisses me off considering how much I paid for it.  I'm hoping another coat will even out the overall look.

I will spray the Neemo body today and give the Licca body probably a week dry time.  Since I have 3 body options, I don't feel as rushed to get things finished.

After I painted the face plate, I realized that I did not enlarge the eye sockets to compensate for the painted eye lids.  That will require repainting.  Since the paint is not as smooth as I wished for, I'm going to give her a light sanding before the next coat of paint.  If I'm correct, this is a proper way to paint anyways.

I will attempt to get a photo to insert into this post later.

Estate sales

I love estate sales.  I feel a little guilty for enjoying them so much because of the circumstances of the sale.  Lately, I have really scored!

Vintage Pinking Shears for 1 dollar along with other junk

Vintage typeface (Roman pt 8) shelf now full with my little things

Edward Mobley Co. 1960 sleepy eyed kitty. I wish I would have taken a before photo.

At the same sale as the kitty, I also purchase some vintage Barbies who will find new homes, a Topper Dawn Dale doll who is staying with me, a Skipper dress that I did not have and some other stuff.  The worst purchase was a 1960 Barbie Dream house.  I didn't really know what I was buying.  Now, I remember my childhood friend showing me her mom's house.  It isn't in the best of shape on the exterior, the interior is okay.  I hope to rehome it also.

The Skipper dress concerns me because it is red and it stained the Skooter doll it was on.  I'm trying to determine what's the best way to clean it.  I also purchase a repeat outfit with hopes to clean it up for resale.  Once again, not overly sure how this outfit will react to cleaning.  It is the velvet and plaid dress...can't remember the name.

I might need to invest into an identification book.  I know when a I see a Skipper dress, but I don't know the names.  I overall know the values of the current market or the ball park area at least.

I had a lot of fun and hope to catch a few more in the future.

All the pieces

Every thing is prepped for the Brown Blythe project.  All the pieces have been washed in Dawn (original without Olay- I've made that mistake before, see: Gah, Paint!) and ready for when the paint arrives.  I'm hoping it shows up before Friday, but it is being shipped Fedex so I have my doubts.  For how much I paid for shipping...grumble, grumble, grumble....

I'm starting to get excited!!

I hope to get progress photos.

Trying it again

Lately, I've been gathering supplies to give another African American Blythe a go. Since my last attempts, there has been a fair bit more experimentation and a good article written on these lovelies.

Here is the supply list:

Head plates
Eye mech- about to order
Cool Cat dome- about to order
Belton RAL paint- about to order
Non-tilt neck Licca body
Hasbro World of Love, Soul body
Pure Neemo Flection Medium body
Cool Cat Scalp
MSC
Mohair wig- will order eventually

I know that the paint will match Soul's body, but I wanted to experiment a bit on the other 2 bodies. The Licca body had to be taken back from R (she's not happy).  It was the Ebay one that was stained and discolored-- perfect painting candidate. (See the label "Licca" for the post)

I may eventually order the 2nd dome piece, but I have spare scalps.  I will glue it down to make the wig stay on better.

The prospective date for this project to start will be in about 3-4 weeks depending on how quickly the pieces will arrive.  The paint is in the US so that should be snappy. If the eye mech makes it before the dome I can go ahead and start the project.  The dome really doesn't have to be painted.

I plan to spray paint the head plates without any carving.  Essentially, I want her to look exactly like a stock Blythe with different skin tone.  I may attempt to paint on lips but I doubt it. I just want her to be simple and pretty.

Hopefully all will go well.

Green Eyes Comparison

I also had a friend that was searching for a spare set of Very Vicky special stock eye chips.  To help her out I took these photos:

L to R: Brain Worm Apple, Very Vicky special stock, Angelica Eve special stock, Brain Worm Lime

Brain Worm Apple, Very Vicky special stock

Very Vicky special stock, Angelica Eve special stock

Very Vicky special stock, Brain Worm Lime

I thought the Brain Worm Lime to be the closest.  Funny enough 2 out of these 4 girls have moved on to new homes.  I think I may be a serial Blythe owner. 

Coincidentally, Angelica Eve is without knicker in this photo group, also.

Skin Tone Comparisons

Cousin Olivia is the strangest colored Blythe that I have ever seen. I've tried to explain it to someone who owns Very Vicky and, more recently, Simply Vanilla. I had taken photos of CO with VV before but it still did not really reflect how white she really is. This time I paired her with Very Vicky, Simply Vanilla, and Angelica Eve.  Angelica Eve is very pale but with a pink tone.  I think I successfully captured CO's unique color in these photos:

L to R- Very Vicky, Simply Vanilla, Cousin Olivia, Angelica Eve

Simply Vanilla, Cousin Olivia

Angelica Eve, Cousin Olivia

I also photographed CO with Can Can Cat.  They were both released in 2008. I thought it would be interesting to show how different they are with being release in the same year.  Can Can Cat no longer has her stock lips.  She came to me damaged from her pull chord melting onto her lips and chin.

Can Can Cat, Cousin Olivia

Someone on Flickr as if CO's hand is melted- no, it is zit cream. 

Nelly Nibbles

Have you seen Nelly Nibbles?

From blythedoll.com

My first reaction to her illustration--  Eh.  But, then they release real photos.  Dammit.  I already named her in that pink bunny suit.

Takara has been cranking out the middies like they are crackers.  I wasn't tempted by the pink haired doll, Parson Grace almost got me, as well as the new one that translates to kitty shoes.  Jackie Ramone wasn't my thing so I was safe there.

But, Nelly Nibbles.  Blonde.  Blue eyes.  God awful pink bunny suit.  Dammit.

Awful pink bunny suit.  Not my pic, from Flickr.

Now, I have to bust out some stuff for my Etsy shop and hope it sells.   I'm thinking I will go through my yarn for a destash too.  And, I'm clearing out a lot of the Monster High dolls.

University of Love

University of Love arrived on Saturday.  I am her second owner; her original owner was rather disappointed in her quality.  I can see why.  I paid 75.00 less than her original cost and she has some pretty glaring factory flaws.

Please excuse my legs in the photo, but this was the only way to reach the angle to show off her lovely special stock chips and hold the camera.

The green circle represents the factory flaw in her cheek paint.  

What there is not a photo of is how wonky her bangs are, you only see how they are not even here.  It is weird how the bangs are taken from the thatching line and then cut.  I will update with a photo of this and the other inconsistencies.

The other issue with her hair was fixable. The ends of the curls seem dry. I put anit-frizz hair serum to soak and then gave it a nice conditioning and rinse. It is 100% better.  I have found that a lot my curly head girls have been like this:  Skate Date, Silver Snow, and Angelica Eve.  I wonder if it is how the curls are achieved in the factory?

Still fighting with the bangs though.  It maybe an agree to disagree situation. 

My mom pointed out that the faceplates don't exactly match in color.  I'm not sure if this is because of the cheek paint going all the way to the plate join or if they are in fact different tones.  

The stock clothing are really adorable design.  The lining to the bodice wasn't up to the typically Takara standard.  But to be honest, I don't think this would have been something noticeable except for the recent complaints of the quality control issues coming from the factory.

Overall, she is a lovely doll. I really hate the issue with her bangs but I will live.  

Blog Break

I need a break from real life right now so instead of a cheeto break, I'm taking a blog break.

My head is pounding from school/work/life stress.  Next week is spring break and I just have to trudge through until then.

I decided I needed to treat myself to a Blythe.  I purchased University of Love from an individual on Plastic Paradise.  I'm pretty thrilled with her and the price.  UOL is replacing my Skate Date. I keep looking at people's photos of a blonde curly haired cutie saying, "awe, she is cute!" And, then it turns out to be SD.  Kind of funny really. I guess I had good taste the first time.

I'm guessing she will remain stock, but I'm not sure...  I love her clothing.  I think she has been the most recent release that I've been excited about, all the others have been meh. I do wish I could get R Lavender Hug, but UOL cleared out the Paypal account.

Pullips-

I got a white body for Stica and if matches perfectly. I also got her a blue wig which makes her even cuter. The Obitsu body is a bit wobbly for the weight of the Pullip head but my friend sent me this tutorial:

http://pullip.pinky-street.com/index.php?topic=3550.0

It worked! I was concerned about sticking the body back together but the magic eraser stabilized the joint and it popped right back on.

Here is a blurry, naked shot and the body color shot:

Isn't it amazing how different she looks with a new wig and body?  Her name maybe Nadine. I don't know yet. I can't wait to change her eye chips.

Skipper-wear

I recently added to my Skipper collection:

Love this. Spent a pretty penny on it, but so worth it.

I feel like I got a steal on this dress.  It had a fair bit of damage that at the shoulders which I fixed to the best of my ability. The hem is curled because someone had made it shorter and I took it out.

Pullips, my thoughts

Should be doing classwork, but decided to blog instead.

I am now in possession of 2 Pullips.  Shan-ria (Little Priss) was produced in 2010 and Stica in 2007.  The difference between the 2 are pretty interesting.  Shan-ria has a face plate, back plate, wig, and sleepy eyes. Stica has face plate, back plate, scalp, wig, and no sleepy eyes. The heads are shaped differently.  It appears that Stica's head is larger; therefore, wigs fit her differently.  They do wear the same size of wigs 8-9 or SD size.

Stock wig, stock body

My plans were to customize Stica (French maid), but she is too damn cute.  I do plan to change her red eye chips and most likely give her sleepy eyes.  Actually, I'm changing Little Priss's eyes, too.  Same color but to eye chips that are more like Blythe's with the lines.

The bodies were different also. I don't know enough to explain the type one verses type 2 or 3.  I like Little Priss's body best.  Poor Stica arrived with a broken leg, and very kindly, the ebay seller refunded me half the money to replace the body. Then I stupidly bought the fleshtone Obitsu small bust 25 cm body rather than white. So, it doesn't match!  I re-ordered in white with medium bust just to have it to be a little different.  I think the medium bust will be more like the stock body.

Pullip body, left; Obitsu S 25 cm flesh, right

New body and no name

 

On Etsy and Ebay, seller's present Blythe and Pullip clothing and shoes to be somewhat interchangeable. I don't really think this is accurate.  In the bust, if the garment is super tight on Blythe is about right on Pullip.  The bust does not seem to an issue, but length of the garment can be; Pullip's legs are long and thin.  And hats, the heads are shaped very different and the Blythe head is much larger in circumference.  The feet on Pullip are tiny, but since the heel is articulated, she can wear heeled shoes.  Barbie shoes fit nicely even.

This weekend I will try to get photos of the 2 girls together.

And, I should have new items up in my Etsy shop photographed on Pullip and Blythe.

Little Priss

This is Little Priss.  Little Priss is a Pullip named Shan-ria.  Her stock dress is gorgeous!

Poor girl is baldy right now.  I was messing with her wig and found a weak spot in the glue and before I knew it, the entirely thing was off!  This is good because I wanted it off but I wish I had ordered a wig prior to its removal.  I wanted something more playable.

Baldy Little Priss

I ordered 2 wigs and a cafe table from the dolly shop near me:  www.dollpeddlar.com.  It is an online store as well as a brick and mortar store.  They carry Pullips and Blythes.  Unfortunately, the Blythe I want is really expensive.

The shipping was really pricey for 2 wigs so I added the cafe table.  Although shipping seemed like a lot, I figured up that it is cheaper than gas.

Little Priss has tried on some of the other girls clothing.  Right now she is wearing a Moshi Moshi (I think, I bought it 2nd hand) and a pair of toy box bloomers like in my Etsy shop.  Nearly every Blythe-made dress will have to have bloomers underneath since she is a lot taller.  Her feet are tiny by comparison of her body. Nearly all of the shoes I tried on her are loose.  Ixtee Mary Janes with socks work well. The socks are very baggy.

Here is some photos of her coming out of the box:

Not sure about the eyes.  I guess I am so used to Blythe eye chips.

I'm putting in a Cool Cat order today for eye chips, socks, and other things!

Andy's Toys

I did a lot of sewing this weekend instead of working on my Andy's room box. I've stalled out a little on what to do with it.  So, it still looks like this:

But, I did get these guys in:

I had to run out that night and get a storage container to prevent from loosing things.  RC is in the storage box.

There were a few characters that I wish came in the set...Bo Peep, Slinky Dog, and Mr. Potato Head.  The set seems to be really based on the first movie but a few Jessie (as a part of Woody's Round Up) related items were included.  I really wish there was a Jessie and Bulls Eye!!  Add on packs...I so wish.

Actually, there are so many cuties and some of them are so large (REX), that I think there will be a full sized Andy's Room eventually.  This does bring up the problem of storing/displaying it, but I will figure that out when I get there.

This room box is almost too small.  I wanted to put a little shelf on the wall but anchoring it will be an issue.  A book case maybe?  Problem is if I do too much there will be no room for a doll.  

Ah, creative issues.