What's going on?

This weekend's sewing was rather disappointing at first.  One of my fabrics kept ripping at the stitches.  I believe it was because my stitches were set too large.  I plan to try again.

After 3 fails, I did successfully make a few thing for my girls and shop. I didn't get pics of my personal items, but here are a few of the items for Blythe Knits:

To see the bloomers go to the Etsy link:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/121210225/eyelet-dress-and-bloomers-for-blythe

Here is another listing for bloomers:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/121227555/toy-box-bloomers-for-blythe-white-and

I only uploaded a few pics to my Flickr to show my second Icy's face up!  Pretty, right?  Poor girl is still nameless.  Maybe Imp? 

Well, at first I inadvertently made her look like Mimi from The Drew Carey Show:

Not at all what I wanted!!

I thought I was going to reroot her in lemon yellow mohair.  After washing her scalp and the make up being more elegant, I have no plans doing it.  I will use the mohair for a shop scalp or something.

I hope my 3rd Icy gets here soon!

The little Licca arm donor showed up on Saturday.  Claudia now has perfectly matching Licca arms.  I was really surprised by the perfect match!

Sorry for her naked appearance.  I want full visibility on the color.

I plan to go shopping on Friday for room box stuffs and more shadow boxes!

Lil' Tico

I browsed through my past blog post and found that I never showed off my Hujoo Wawa's customized paint!

I knitted him a little hat and scarf.

Lil' Tico with Real Tico

Old Hollywood room box for Moon Flower

Moon Flower's Hollywood room box

Yesterday I went home with a migraine from work.  I caught it in time and after a few hours I felt okay enough to finish off my room box for Moon Flower.  I added the molding piece, movie poster (Marilyn Monroe's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"), and the chandelier.  I am quite pleased with the outcome!

Chandelier details.

Mirror, table, and flowers.

More level photo, although crooked.

Doesn't Moon Flower look pleased?

Moon Flower's shadow box

Yesterday the winter weather hit early in the day in Arkansas and my work closed down for the afternoon.  YAY! Since I had a few hours of free time I started Moon Flower's shadow box.

Breaking out the glass wasn't too bad.  I taped it up really good and started tapping it with a hammer into the trash....make sure to tell your family there is glass in the trash!!  Which I did and there was no injuries.

After ensuring all the glass was removed from the frame (check the trench where the glass was really well) I started painting the frame with sliver.  I'm using all purpose Folk Art brand acrylic.  It seems to be a bit old and the binder and color has separated  but it worked out.  It put on just enough silver to make the frame go from weathered to glam.

Next, I found my Yes! glue.  Let me tell you, this stuff is wonderful.  It has been at least 6 years since I opened the jar and it is still moist and good!!  Even if it is dry you can dampen your brush and hydrated it.  A few more reasons why I love Yes! glue:  it is non-toxic, acid-free, and, with extra care, absolutely wrinkle-free on thin paper.  I used this stuff in my Book Arts courses.

I brushed a thin layer of glue on the the back board, and lined it up on my pretty scrapbook paper. Then trimmed with an Xacto.

After letting the frame dry a bit (I was impatient), I inserted the covered back board piece.

Since I'm going for Old Hollywood Glam with a hint of theater (does that makes sense?), I decided to put wool felt in as carpet.  Holy pumpkins, it looks lush (see photo, oooooo....).  I choose a dark burgundy.

Now, I'm struggling with accessorizing.  I tried the bead and wire chandelier. Yuck. Then I tried shrinky dinks.  I hand drew it, cut it out and it curled in the oven.  Didn't shrink, just curled. Twice. Pissed.  So, I abandoned that all together.  I have better ideas on how to make one, but I have a back up plan if that fails too.

I made a little mirror with an clip on earring back.  Now to find the perfect printable mini movie poster.  At first I intended to use a great photo of a flapper and her chihuahua, but it is black and white.  A splash of color is need on the wall.

Here is what I have so far:

The "flowers" are beads on i-pins.

Once I am completely finished I will take detail photos with a real camera, not just my iPhone.

I can see many of these in my future.  In fact, I want all of my Petites in shadow boxes.

Here is my previous post about the Shadow Box:  http://pandorasdolls.blogspot.com/2013/01/room-box-it.html

Room box it

I want a room box for my Blythes.  I tried to buy supplies on Saturday, but realized that I didn't know what I was doing!

The wood planks I were exactly 12 inches high and I need my hubby's assistance (he was in ass-mode) to plan out how to make it taller.  I abandoned the project all together until next paycheck.

Look at my knitting/dolly friend's room box:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/knitnchoc/sets/72157632362270271/ .  Helen is an inspiration with her creations.  Check out her dolls too!!

I did get a shadow box to make a room for a Petite. I think it will be a nice once I can work on it.  The Petite that will call it home is my Moon Flower, Hollywood Hills Party. Sadly, I no longer can play with her because her plastic is cracking on her arms and legs.  I fear she will fall apart soon.  I can do a body transplant when it happens but I will loose her sweet painted on undergarment. :(  It was a very sad day when I discovered her injuries.

The plans for the shadow box includes: removing the glass, papering the back board, painting the frame (or just a sliver tarnished looking layer), and adding little pretties.  I guess she will just stand since I can't bend Moon Flower's legs.

The glass has to be broken out.  For some reason it is not removable any other way.  That is the hold up. Everything else should be fun and easy.  Since Moon Flower is a mini-Marilyn Monroe, the room box will be Hollywood Glam...although, I'm not sure how to pull that off.  I sure will try though!!

Moon Flower looking glamorous.

Maybe I can create a chandelier from beads.  OH, that would be awesome.  If the box was a bit bigger I could even add red theater-like curtains and have them pull back-- maybe next time....

In other dolly news, I did my second arm transplant.  I learned a lot from the first so this one went much better on Blythe arm removal and Blythe arm reinsertion.  I'm much happier now about my mini-me girl.

Oh, I was bad. I bought 2 more Icy dolls!!  Considering how much the first one did not really appeal to me, I'm really loving my new ones!  I haven't customized the second one yet.  I'm still debating on her hair.  I bought mohair yesterday to dye.  I guess I should wait until then before I decide on the faceup. Odds are I won't wait.

This time I got the Police woman who has dark blue hair and the Halloween/witch one with purple hair.  The witch is intended for R.  I showed her last night and she seems excited about the purple hair.

Fun stuff ahead...

Licca feet update

One of my new Liccas feet do not fit Blythe shoes as well.  Oh course, loose fitting boots will fit.  I'm seriously thinking about switching arms rather than keeping the Licca body on the doll in particular.  I liked using her for my Etsy photos and I rather show the clothing on stock bodies.  Plus, her hips are really loose and she will not keep a pose.

Since the Licca in question has a tilty neck I assume she is new and that all the new dolls have slightly larger and wider feet.  This means for Blythe shoes to fit, feet alteration will be required.

Licca

I know I have been making references to Licca dolls.  I'm not familiar with the doll except for people using them for the bodies. Yikes that sounds naughty but it isn't, I promise!  I've been comparing them to American's Barbie doll and apparently I'm right! They are the Japanese fashion doll.

I bought one on a whim off of Blythe Kingdom.  And, I actually like her.  Off course, she became a body donor for Gatsby.

They are great.  Their heads just pop off and the neck part fits just about perfect on a Blythe.  

Edited to add:  Something I forgot to mention, Licca and Blythe are both manufactured by Takara.  I'm thinking that maybe one reason for the compatibility.  (More down below about clothing and shoes.)

Then I was left with a charming little red-haired head.  R found the head and wanted it.  Here she is now with a Blythe body:

Quite cute.

I'm surprised by how cute they are in person.  I bought another one off of Ebay and she is much different that this one.  Well for one, the plastic has discolored and her bust is much smaller.  I don't know enough about Liccas to identify one type over another.

My 2 new ones seem to have the same bust as the first one.  Except they did not have the collar bone bumps which I sanded off of the first one.  

The 2 new ones both had tilty necks.  One was taller than the other so she became an arm donor as mentioned in my previous blog post.

Sorry about her nakedness...Here she is with Blythe arms.

My first NRFB Licca is winging her way to me. She is some sort of pet shop doll. The plans are for her to be an arm donor also.  She will find lots of happy play time with a 7 year year old once her arms are replaced.

Clothing and shoes:  I have read things by Blythe people saying that not all clothing and shoes are interchangeable between Licca and Blythe.  So far, all of my shoes have fit the Licca feel pretty well. In fact, Very Vicky stock shoes fit better on Gatsby's new body than they did on Victoria (VV). 

My friend, Lyndell, altered the feet on her Licca body.  Linky here: http://fashionedbylyndell.blogspot.com/2011/10/lillians-new-body-plastic-surgery-drama.html.  Lillian is an ADG so Lyndell had to do a bit more creative neck stuff.

This person on Flickr has paper dolls:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/peppermint_kiss_kiss/sets/72157594358393146/

Want more general information on Licca?  Here is a Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licca-chan. I just read the information....omg, this is good stuff.  Preggers Licca?

Ginny is recovering...

Ginny was my very first Blythe.  She hasn't had anything but freckles and a fringe trim.  Oh man, now she is recovering from an arm transplant!!

I bought a Licca off of Ebay that is pretty discolored.  (I couldn't tell from the pics.)  I thought the arms would match my Simply Mango but they didn't! I had already pulled out one arm and then I couldn't get it back into the socket.

Fortunately, I won another Ebay auction with 2 Liccas.  Both are tilty necks but one was taller.  So, she was a perfect arm donor.

Nearly ripped off the second Blythe arm and cracked the socket in the process. I also sustained an injury of a busted knuckle trying to get the damn thing into the Licca.  Finally, after many attempts the Licca is a whole person again.

I give the Licca heads on new bodies to my daughter. She loves them.

But, Ginny now has new arms.

Here is the tutorial on Blythe Arms Transplant made by Sai and hosted by Jaszmade:

Edit, 12-18-2014 The tutorial appears to be no longer available. I will keep my eye out for a new one.  http://www.jaszmade.com/customising-blythe/licca-arm-transplantation-by-sai/

My mini-me, a custom I Love Your It's True, has a new Licca body, also.  I want to do another arm transplant on my Claudia.  I'm going to buy a brand new Licca for her since she is so pale.

My mini-me I customized.  I will try to get a good photo of her soon.

Silver Snow is on the way to her new home!

New Year!

I'm going on my 4th year of Blythe!  It has flown by fast!!

I'm doing a bit of doll selling again.  It is time for a change in my house.  I recently sold my Prima Dolly Ginger. It was a hard decision. She has been with my for a long time but it was time for her to go to a new home.

I am currently selling my Silver Snow. She doesn't get any play time from me. I may sell a girl that I just got also...Merry Skier.  For some reason, we aren't bonding.  It is sad really.  I have a friend who got her also and she LOVES her.  I guess different strokes for different folks.

Before Christmas I depressed-bought 2 new dolls.  It's been a tough December.  It did brighten my holiday when the 2 Icy dolls arrived on my last day of work before Christmas! I ran to the post office to pick them up and opened with my boss.

I got the Leek girl, or *Coser* correction her name is Hatsune Miku, and the Empress.

Hatsune Miku *Coser*, which I named Leek (original, huh?), is by far my favorite of the two. I'm so glad I finally decided on her.  Her hair is luscious.  I tamed it out of the pigtails pretty well by wetting it and a head hugging hat.  I was very impressed with the thatching on the pigtails.  I mean, look at this:

   

WOW!

She has already had a make over:

This photo has a filter.  I stupidly did not save the other photo I took in daytime to my Camera Roll on my iPhone.

I really love her bright red eye make up.  I was keeping her eye closed to make sure the glitter paint was dry.  I rushed putting the eyemech back in....I just couldn't wait to see her together!!

The Empress's hair is inferior by comparison.  It feels a bit fried.  I may reroot her hair in mohair.  For a long time I've lusted for an Icy on Flickr with lemon yellow mohair. (Here's her link:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/ililziv/5925395907/)  Her dress is really lovely though.

I forgot to mention their eye chips!  OMG, absolutely the best part. They are much more diverse than Blythe.   Leek has light tan, yellow, light green, and light blue.  Empress has light blue with foils, toffee, pink (erlack), and emerald.  Only ones I would pull out is the pink. I'm not a fan.

Their arms seem to be a better quality of plastic than Champagne, my first Icy.  The clothing did not stain their arms and the plastic seems to be thicker.  I thought I was going to poked the wire though on Champagne.

The legs are a 3-click system like Blythe rather than the bendy Licca legs.

 And finally, my shop update.

With my first semester of grad school under my belt (I made all A's!) I am restocking my Etsy shop, BlytheKnits.

I've become pretty obsessed with find my Blythes vintage Skipper clothing.  I have some duplicates that I am preparing for my shop.  They are Skipper and Barbie clothes that circa 1963-66.  I've been doing "little laundry" as my family calls it.

Also, new this year is Skipper inspired Mod Dresses.

Etsy link:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/119314074/mod-blythe-dress

They are made from wool/wool-blend felt with snap closures.

I hope to get the vintage item ready for sale this weekend.

* I think Coser is a brand name or something.