La Tora's make over

Years and years ago (translation: 3 or 4 years ago) I purchased a Blythe clone doll, Basaak, for my daughter.  She was young, too young for a Blythe.  She ended up with 3 customized Basaak dolls.  La Tora is the youngest of the group which I purchased through Blythe Kingdom.

After many years of play La Tora was in bad need of a re-make over and hair treatment.

Left, "quitting while I'm ahead" philtrum, Right, "okay, let's try it" philtrum

I was not overly adventurous with carving.  I am still not overly confident in it.  I took a chance in carving her a more defined nose, philtrum, and lips.  As bizarre as it sounds, I observe the philtrum in actresses and "real life" people to demystify a feature I never thought about prior to Blythe.

Before photos:

After photos:

I kept the make up design basically the same.  The heart was upon request this time.  I couldn't get eye lashes back in to the slot this time.  La Tora got a new body also- an Icy body.

How to make Sleepy Eyes for Blythe

Just a little quick how to bit for Sleepy Eyes.  This morning a friend on Ravelry asked some questions about how to make sleepy Eyes for Blythe or Icy.  As far as I know this is the same for all face molds:  BL, EBL, SBL, RBL, FBL; as well as, Icy dolls and clones.

First, what are sleepy eyes? Sleepy eyes is when the doll has 2 pull cords: one for opening the eyes and one for closing and changing the eyes.  **I did recently read that if you leave your doll asleep too long it can warp the eye mech.**  Nothing extra has to be purchased or anything.

This is the method that requires your doll's head to be open.  There are other tutorials out there that does not require opening.

Photo 1-

Pay attention where the pull cord is located once you open your doll's head.  That is where one of the cord will need to go again.  The second one goes in place of the spring.  I, personally, remove the spring.

Photo 2-

Once the new cords are attached on the inside, one cord comes out of the original hole and one comes out where the spring used to hang.  

I think some people have both chords come out the original hole.  This is your preference. 

I use 1/8th inch ribbon as my pull cords.  I have never had one break.  A tip to get it through the eye mech hole- Cut the ribbon at a sharp angle and then melt it, at an angle, with a cigarette lighter.  Then used a pin to poke it on through the hole.  Doing this also helps when thread beads onto the ribbon.

Also, be sure to use long ribbon and trim it later!

** I assume no responsibility in the outcome of this tutorial.  If you use this as a guide, you do it at your own risk, or your dolls risk.** 

Nicki Manaj

I feel finished with my custom Nicki Manaj.  Right now she is my favorite lady rapper, pop singer, what ever she is considered.

I purchase the most perfect wig for her! Pink.

My little brother (who is not so little) saw the wig and said, "Nicki Manaj!" The best part is he had no idea about my current undertaking.

I have new clothing for Nicki (thanks, Barbie) but the lighting was terrible.  She is hard to photograph.

The Barbie clothing were really strange.  It is like toy clubbing clothing- all that was missing was a bottle of booze. I haven't been into Barbie for years and fortunately my daughter prefers Blythe.  I guess I was oblivious to the slut-wear.

I am looking for pink giraffe print to make a body suit like the one seen in "Super Bass" video.  No such luck yet.  I have been checking baby clothing for a tee or pants.

I made this hot pink dress this past weekend.

Photos of my daughter's new Basaak doll coming after Christmas morning! I have her ready with a box full of clothing.  She looks completely different from when I used her for the comparison photos.

Basaak vs Blybe comparision

For my new project, Sally the Ragdoll, I order something called a CCE doll.  Which, I call a Blybe. I maybe compleletly incorrect, but I am just going off of the information I got with previous doll. 

So, for the sake of this comparison, I call this little lady a Blybe.

I just happen to have a new Basaak too.  I found one one Blythe Kingdom for a good price and I bought her with the thoughts that it would be awhile before my Blybe comes in the the mail.  She was my back up plan. 

Turns out I did not need a back up plan! The Blybe and Basaak came on the same day!

This was the first time I could do a side by side comparison. So here goes:

Eye chips, Basaak left, Blybe Right:

Eye chip clarity goes to Blybe.  

The Basaak eye chips remind me of ADGs.  They are very difficult to remove.

Left Basaak, Right Blybe: 

The eye mech of the Basaak is slightly smaller than the Blybe.  

Left Basaak, Right Blybe 

For this photo, I could not get the eye mech out of the Basaak head.  I need a second person and my husband is not home. 

The noses are different shapes as are the lips.

The eye holes may have slightly different shapes too, it's hard to tell with the mech still in the Basaak.

This is the Blybe scalp system.  Between the two, it was significantly harder to separate the pieces.

There is a dome and the scalp fits inside it.  That is what this pic is showing.

The two pieces to the Blybe scalp system.

This is the Basaak scalp system.  It is easy to remove, the trick is getting it to stay together. 

It is three pieces- dome, ring, and scalp.  This photo is showing it assembled.  

The three piece to the Basaak scalp system.

Body comparison:

Left- Blybe, Middle- Basaak, Right- Takara 

The Blybe is smaller than the other two with a fixed waist and slanted feet like Barbie.  The other two are very similar except the Basaak quality is poor.

What fate does the Basaak face? 

I plan to fix her up for my daughter.  R has Pinkie and Margo already, but I don't really need another doll for myself.  I thought about practicing some carving on her and maybe bobbing her hair.  Decisions, decisions....

Coming up tomorrow is my Petite Blythe experiment.

Margo

I finally took photos of my daughter's new Blythe clone.  It has been so long she can barely be considered new anymore.

This is a Basaak clone named Margo.

Margo under went a complete facial make over:

sand matted skin
pink eye lid
red heart on left lid
pink eye liner
red lip paint
beauty mark
blonde streaks in hair
purple/blue eye chips
new eyelashes

Margo has been well loved.  Her hair was a disaster before this impromptu photo shoot.

Boy?

I am now doubting my choice of making a boy doll.  He is cute, but I found that I don't want to make clothing for him.  I thought it would be fun.

I will ponder about it for a couple of weeks before I do anything drastic.  I think he can be easily converted back to a girl with a body, lip paint, and eye lashes.

What do you think?

My New Girl

My second Black Beauty Blythe project is finished! In Arkansas we got the third snow of the year this past week; fortunately, my doll (head rather) arrived just in time to beat the it!  I took a bit of time off on Tuesday afternoon to get her painted before the storm.  I am so glad I did, she has turned out lovely!

Sad part is she has no name yet.  I like real human names for most part.  The nature-ish names are for my petites (Applesauce, Moon Flower, etc.).  I have broken the rules with Stone and I may name my RBL from Australia, Rabbit.  I am just stumped on this little lady.


All the same here are some photos:

So far all that has been altered is spray tan for the face plates and scalp, body transplant, and strawberry blonde hair wefting. One of the first things I change is the eye chips, except this time.  They are such a chore to change in Basaak dolls I just didn't bother.  Plus, the ones I ordered are still on their way.  

New girl is wearing a coat from the Etsy shop Cheekiepea, and the boots are Vintage World of Love doll accessory. What you can't see on the coat is the Chihuahua chefs!

A new project is coming up, my girl from down under! But, more on her later!

Stone's hair

Stone's hair started looking right today.  My mom, who is a trained beautician, helped me give him a stylish boy cut.  I am going to purchase a curling iron to shape the ends a little more before the hair cut is finalized.

He is wearing his hat to encourage the hair to lay down on the top.  For his sister, Snowden, I thatched her hair. This time I tried the SK-Coolcat Tutorial using the hole cut in the top to having a circular finished scalp.  I don't know how successful I really was at this.

I am really happy to see these two doll projects coming to an end. I got to a point where I thought they would be never ending or always bald. Hair is a intimidating project.

After Snowden and Stone are finished I have to complete Angelina's revamp.  Painting the body, once again, has been the trouble. I maybe repainting her completely (face included) using SEM automotive paint that has seem to be a success for others.

After Angelina, I am still waiting for the doll bank that I order 2 or 3 days before Christmas.  I should be getting it in a week or two.  This head is going on my Soul body.  I have spray paint that matches ready to go.

After my second black beauty, I am in the process of purchasing a Blythe from Australia without a scalp. I am pretty excited! I think she is a RBL.  She has a few flaws which is fine by me since I plan to customize her.

I am hoping to hear back from another person selling a Prima Dolly Ashlette soon too. Her dolly was customized but there are issues with glue and such.

Shew...that is a lot of projects ahead of me!  Right now I am just waiting on the mail.

Meet Pinkie

This is my daughter's Basaak named, Pinkie. Her makeover is complete!

Here is the update on her customizations:

Sleepy eyes
Purple eye chips
Gold eye chips
Eyelashes
Purple eyelid paint
Purple upper lid color
Light peach blush
Pink lip paint
Sandmatting
Silver heart locket pull cord
Antique gold doves pull cord

Pinkie is wearing a sweater that I designed and pants that I purchased from an Etsy shop called MyOwnLittleWorld.

Want to know more about Pinkie? Check my original post, My Daughter's Doll.

The Twins' Faces

There is enough similarities that my ADG (left) and Basaak (right) could pass as twins.  The boy features are larger than the girl features which seems to work to my advantage.

As of now, I have carved the lips and the nose. The eye sockets have been sanded out a little too. I removed the eye lashes. Next to come-

Eyebrows
New eye chips
Lip painting


My 5 year old has heard to talking about the twins and it must of peaked her curiosity.  She asked me as we were working on the Christmas tree how are twins made. I gave her the simple version of how there are sometimes two babies and other times one baby splits into two before they even look like babies. Then she wanted to know just how they fit inside the momma's belly.

Before Shot

This is the before shot of my little boy Blythe. I am terrible about jumping in before any photos.  I caught myself just in time, I was about to start sanding.

Once again I have an eye chip dilemma. I am using eyes to emphasize the twin part.  These chips are original and they are definitely staying.  I am trying to decided which to switch out. Having these that I like so much makes it hard.

The Twins

I purchased an Ashton Drake Roaring Red doll several months ago. I was disappointed with her. Her hair was unmanageable; although, she was brand new out of the box.

One day I noticed her spring was about to slip off the notch. It slipped on into the head and I couldn't fish it out.  I scalped her and cracked her open from there she has received a complete make over.

I did some reading before scalping and EVERYTHING about her was wrong. The glue was NOT water based. There was NOT a trench to pop the scalp off. I got my info from Puchi Collective tutorials and a Flickr group that was specifically about customizing ADGs.

Now, I am trying to decide my best method of hair. Should I use wefting or try rooting? Mohair or synthetic?

Wondering about the twin?

I noticed several boy Blythes on Flickr. I decided I needed to make one. I ordered a weird little doll bank Basaak and an Obitsu 1/6 boy body. The twin part started by the fact I prefer him to be considered a brother rather than boyfriend. I want him to resemble a little boy over a man. A bit silly really.

I am excited! I think all of the supplies will be here in time for Christmas break.

My Daughter's Doll

My 5 year old wants a Blythe. Well, spending the money on a real Blythe just wasn't going to happen.  Although she is really good to her toys, she is still a little girl. I know I wouldn't allow her to play with it.  Solution, a Basaak doll.

Basaak is a really nice way to purchase a doll for a child or first time customizing.  On Angelina, I just knew that I would be highly pissed at myself if I ruined a Blythe and my next project, I was looking for low budget.

The Basaak is a cute doll but adding personal touches really amp-ed the cute level up.

Here is the customization list:

new eye lashes
purple eye chips
sandmatting
pink lip repaint
purple eye lid paint

If you didn't catch it, my daughter's favorite color is purple.

Customizations yet to be done:

blush
eye shadow
sleepy eyes
freckles, maybe


I think Santa did a good job this year.