New year, new starts

Since I really hated how I always kept postponing even starting most of my custom ideas last year, I made a New Year's resolution to change this approach of mine in 2015. A part of this vow was to stop mass-buying dolls and dolls for stock, and rather spend more time with my existing collection. Another aim was to start, and slowly but surely also finish my custom ideas. I had a few thoughts, but no exact plans on where and how to start.

Yesterday, on a whim (actually I was pretty happy I didnt have to force myself, forced creativity never really worked out well for me), I dug out a Monster High doll (the black and white Skull Shores Frankie) I had plans on customising. This release was one of the very first Monster High dolls that caught my eye. Back then I wasn't even interested in Monster High dolls yet, but I'm a sucker for anything monochrome, so she looked appealing. When I finally decided to buy some Monster High dolls, she was the second one I got. My first B&W SS Frankie was later followed by 2 more dolls of this release, both of which I found at really good prices. They were mostly impulse buys due to their price, and when I sat down to think about them I never actually understood why I needed 3 of her. Still, I never managed to convince myself to sell them either.

One day at least half a year ago I had a custom idea for which I wanted to use one of the two extra Frankies I had. This finally made me take my triplets out, decide on which two to keep (my first one was bought new and was deboxed by me, the other two were nude, in played with and used condition, so the first one was sure to stay), and put up the third one for sale.

This could have been a great start of a custom, but Frankie no.2 has been sitting in my drawer untouched until yesterday. I had all the supplies to start rehairing and repainting her, but... somehow it never happened. Because I am the freaking queen of procrastination, that is. I wasn't born this way, I seem to have developed it in the past 3-5 years, and this is currently the number one thing I dislike about myself.

Fast forward to yesterday. Even though I had the supplies for a rehair and repaint, there still was one thing I didn't know how to go about: I wasn't able to figure out how to wipe Fran's stitches off and make her bolts disappear just like they have never ever been there, since I didn't need them for the custom. Yesterday morning I woke up with a realisation that never occurred to me before: while Frankie is the only Monster High doll who was produced in a greyscale version, she definitely isn't the only (sort of) humanoid doll with a grey body. I had a Ghoulia in my box of dolls for sale, took her out to check if their bodies match - and they (more or less, but enough to my liking) did! :happy dance: This realisation seems to have been the spark that was needed to get Frankie set off on a journey to hew new life as someone else: in about five minutes I found myself with either a hairdryer or a screwdriver in one of my hands, and either of the dolls in the other, trying to get the heads off both of the girls.

Dang, was it creepy >_< The soft plastic of the head held up fine, but I could see the harder plastic neck peg giving up, turning white as it stretches, and I was afraid it will break. Luckily, in the end I managed to get both heads off without breaking anything, the doll newly assembled from Frankie's body and Ghoulia's head went back to my sales box (I wonder if a little girl might be interested in a "Freaky Fusion Franlia" XD ), and I moved on to cut stitchless, boltless Frankie's hair.

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She looked kind of cute with a mohawk =)

Upon cutting her hair I noticed that she has a bubble defect in one of her ears, and one of her ear holes is also kind of off (the dot where the hole should have been is visible next to the actual earring hole, and the actual hole is more on her head than in her ear). Well, her new hair will be covering her ear the same way as her original hair did, so that's OK, still, they were interesting discoveries.

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After I cut all of her hair off I went to search for a plier-like tool I use for my bead crafting. I quickly managed to find 2 of my 3 main tools, but my plier-like tool was missing. Why it always has to be the one that you actually need that goes missing in action? T____T I tried to substitute it with a flatter nipper, but it was too thick to fit into Fran's neck hole. In the end I managed to find the plier, and was delighted to see it is thin enough for this purpose ^^

First everything went easy: dear Frankie only had her part and front hairline glued in place inside her head, so pulling out the plugs from other areas was like child's play. Once I finished with the non-gluey areas though, things got harder, I had to pull harder, but at the same time be careful not to tear the head. Tacky, yucky, huge caterpillars came out of her head:

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I was almost done, happily searching for the last blob of glue which I managed to pull out of her scalp already but was still somewhere inside the head, when I realised the handle of the tool has peeled the skin off my left thumb in an 1x1cm area O___O

It was that strange cartoony moment when only when you realise what happened do you also realise it didn't only happen, but it also hurts. A lot T____T I held on until I managed to get that last gunk out, but decided to call it an end after that. There's no reason in making one of my two most important fingers go out of service if I plan to use it again soon, which I definitely do. There went my plans of starting to reroot her immediately*, but that's OK, I guess. I also have to learn taking one step at a time.

*as well as my plans of cleaning the kitchen, the bathroom, the living room, sewing, whatever else I had in mind. I never was good at taking care of myself...

While I was washing my tool and the head I quickly took some paint off, but this is as far as I was able to go before I gave in to the throbbing signs my thumb sent me to stop X___X

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Not bad for a start, I guess ^^

 

Today I painted a layer of primary on the scalp, and I might also paint some black on as well to give Fran's future black hair a good base, but I don't think I'll be able to start the rerooting process anytime soon.

My next task for now should be to find out how to protect my hands during a similar process in the future. There are at least 4 more dolls waiting to be beheaded and dehaired, and judging from their hard heads, Frankie compared to them was only a level for beginners.

...and as for who will Frankie become after customising - that will remain a secret for now ^^

Pencilled up

Today, after long weeks (months?) of hesitating, I finally brought something home I have recently been longing after.


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I don't know when I'll be able to use them, or whether I'm even capable to use them properly, but if you never try, then you'll never know. I was hesitant because of the price, but since I was able to get it slightly sed and for a price that is less than half of what it goes for new, I figured if I find that I can't or won't use them, I can just resell them without losing much.

Fae was very excited to see what I arrived home with.

"Ah, will these things give my vines?"
"Yup. But it'll take some time for me to learn how to use them. Please be patient."
"Ok, but please try to be quick. I'd love to be able to look like I want to as soon as possible."
"I'll do my best."

Fairies... pushy, aren't they? But you just can't resist the cuteness...

Daring

The story all started sometime last week when I bought a new hair straightener.

No, I guess it all started way before that. It's only that things only had a chance to "click" last week.

Last week I found a cool-looking hair straightener in a second hand shop. Me and my own straightener have never really been friends for several reasons. It takes a lifetime to heaten up, there is no controller, not even an on/off switch. And it pulls my hair - though until last week I thought it's kind of normal. All these, and the curoisity of wanting to try pony/dolly hair straightening made me come home with the straightener. I had it tried out, it worked (more like [i]made two of my fingers melt upon my dumb way of checking whether it works or not[/i]. That was the usual way I tested mine. It still not burned after about 5 minutes. This one took less than a minute to heat up fully), and for less than about 6 dollars I felt happy with my purchase.
That evening I did a quick search, and the reviews were promising, and the next day I tried it out on my hair (rainy weather makes my hair poof up and form annoying waves, so I even had a good reason), and it worked like magic :O Not only did it do a good job without having to wait 20 minutes, but it didn't pull my hair. Until now I never thought hair-pulling is not something you just have to bear with. I was in love.
Now to try it out on synthetic hair.
By this time I have only tried boil straightening, I never dared to try out my old hair straightener on any ponies or dolls I have. I was scared of runing the hair, especially because of the lack of controllers, and I was lazy to wait 20 minutes to be able to work for two minutes, then having to unplug in fear, wait... it was just too much fuss. However, now that I have a controller this might just work out.
During the day I also realised who might be the perfect guinea pig for my first try: I have an old Igel Sailor Mars doll who came to me in a bag with other toys, and whose hair was basically one single dreadlock. I have already tried taming and combing it out, but always gave up after a few hanks of hair. By this time I was already ready to chop the hair off during the weekend with a "oh, I have to learn how to rehair properly", so there was nothing left to lose.
I wish I had taken "before" pics! I wouldn't believe it it the same doll, hadn't I done what had. The happy outcome is that I have given the doll's hair a new life. The sad outcome is that I won't have the chance to try and exercise rehairing now.

"Rei-chan is evil fighting-approved"

Now on to something more serious. Together with the hair straightener I have also found and purchased a Liv Hayden. I was so happy to have found her, because I wanted to have a Liv doll for so long!
Or, well, I wanted to have their bodies (oops). I love the articulation of Liv bodies, but I was never able to get to like their heads. The inset eyes are beautiful, but the proportions, or maybe the shape of the head is just not my taste. Also, so me Livs look not like teenz or young adults, but more like women in their 30s, which, for some reason, also doesn't appeal to me as a doll. Hubby says it must be because I'll also be in my 30s very soon -.-; :P

Let me add in another storyline. My first doll whom I bought as an adult, for myself, was Moxie Teenz Tristen. Back when I found her I did not know Moxie Girlz also exist. Later when I learned of their existence their cute faces also stole my heart, and I wanted one desperately to use as "little sisters" to Moxie Teenz.
When I found my first Moxie Girl, though, I realised this will not really work out, as they are simply too small for that. However, sometime later I have seen some pics of Moxie Girlz heads on Liv bodies, and it seemed to be the perfect solution. However, neither of these lines were available for sale in local shops*, so this still remained a challenge.
Last year I found a MG Avery during an abroad trip in a flea market, who had the most adorable little face, but her hair was awful. I already had two Averys, and I never intended to have even two, let alone three. Still, I was never able to let any of them go: the first had two braids and thus a back part, and an overall cute appearance. The second one's face didn't really get to me, but she had the most gorgeous long and straight hair. And the third one... awful hair, lovely face... and huge sentimental advantages (I just can't attach to store-bought dolls as much as to lucky finds). So they all stayed with me, and I was constantly angry/disappointed with myself for not being able to let at least one of them go.

*Moxie Girlz made a short appearance in local Tescos last year, but it seems they didn't sell well, as after awhile they just got on sale, and when sold out, never returned.

Fast forward to last week and my lucky finds. When I finished Mars and started to think of who to fix next, poofy-haired flea market Avery came to mind - and also the forgotten solution of a body-swap. I dug Avery up and measured: on a Liv body she'd be just the perfect-sized little sister to Melrose! Now I only have to cure her hair. I made a proposal: if I am able to make her hair nice and straight like the other one's, th eother one will go. Braided Avery will stay with the other Moxie Girlz, and flea market Avery will get a new body and a new big sister in the Moxie Teenz family.

So I started to straighten Avery's hair - and soon realised this will be an even harder fight than it was with Mars. The hair of Mars was in definitely worse condition, but her hair seemed to have been easier to straighten. If this wouldn't be enough, her head is about 1/4 the size of that of Avery. And Avery has much thicker-rooted hair.

Now I am somewhere halfway done, and it's only the first round. There ends are still frizzy, just much less, and there's already a light at the end of the tunnel. She'll need some haircut, but we'll see how much will be needed. I'll post some pics of her once she's finished.

Killer Winter Queen Abbey - my first dolly photoshoot

These pics were taken exactly a month ago, on a snowy weekend in early February
- actually, the only snowy weekend we've had this winter. I hate this, as I love snow... but at least we did have some.

Most of the pics didn't really turn out the wasy I wanted them to be, but I guess for a first actual photoshoot I'm fine with them. This is also the reason why it took me a month to put them up. Well, they are finally here, I hope they bring back lovely memories to fellow snow lovers whose weather, like ours, is also headed towards spring already :)

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Dolly gingerbreads – ways to annoy myself

Dolly gingerbreads – ways to annoy myself

I love being creative, but creativity and me have some serious issues in our relationship recently. It is an everyday thing recently that I start making things, stop in the middle for whatever reason (the most usual being that I have so little time, and the ihlet comes usually in the worst times of the day, the second most usual being that I am so easily distracted it hurts), and... never finish them.
However much I hate to say it, this is just the way I am nowadays. And it wasn't any different with the gingerbreads.

I found them in a fabric shop back in November.

The tiny buttons are fab, but I’m not sure I would have bought the pack for them alone (they weren’t cheap to my wallet). The reason why I snagged the pack was these tiny … things… which I don’t exactly know the use of, but to me they looked like dolly-sized gingerbread cutters. I found them really cute, and also, how rare it is to come across really size-accurate dolly stuff. I imagined how lovely addition to a christmas photoshoot it will be if to make actual gingerbreads for my dollies too, in the same size.

Dude wait, WHAT?

The first moment of realisation of these things’ actual size kind of pulled the ground out of my great expectations. To demonstrate what I mean here, here’s a pic of Goona holding one of the cutters.

Yes, the size is THIS accurate.

And yes, this was sometime in November. I never made any gingerbreads ever since. Everytime i set off to, i realised how teeny-tiny they actually are, and if making them from fimo will not be challenging enough, how tiny decorations I have to paint on them, and int he end I just gave up before trying. However, the whole thing also started to annoy me more and more, so sometime on Saturday I got fed up with the situation, and put my bum off, now to make those dang minuscule cookies, or never.

Needless to say, as per Sunday evening, the Fimo lies there untouched, and there are no polymer clay gingerbread cookies (or any other type, actually)  int he house. I hate this, but this is just the way I am recently. Told you so.

However, int he end I’m neither unhappy nor annoyed this time, because I did not simply delay makiing them. I did sit down to my desk to get creative, but there were other unfinished stuff laying around, and the little muse came to me, speaking „oh, this/that would be lovely to make” or „see, here’s the solution to how to mke this/that”, andmanaged to make some other stuff I’m actually pleased with.
Maybe this weekend just wasn’t meant for dolly gingerbread making.

Here is what I came up with instead:

A necklace with a horse medal – I made it for my Moxie Teenz, I think it will either belong to Mia or Dot* - now modeled by Arizona, as Mia has another necklace on, and it looks too cool on her so I was lazy to get it off :P

*Dot is a Leigh doll. She’s not yet with me. I’ll

I always wanted to make a wigged redhead, green-eyed MT called Dot, and first I wanted to customise Tristen, but then I realised the line already has a green-eyed redhead, just not wigged. I never caved int o buy her and chop her hair off, so I was happy to bump into someone on MLP Arena who was actually thinking of chopping the har of hers off to do a reroot with it – it seemed the perfect deal. The hair did get chopped off, and Leigh is now ont he way to me, and will get a wig and some freckles. I am not yet sure the name Dot will suit her, I’ll see once she’ll be here.

I finally finished Abbey’s snowflake necklace. It has bee non her for almost a month now – you’ll see it in a photoshoot in a future post, the pics were made ont he very first week of February – but by now I never came up with an idea on how to make a clasp small enough or it, so it was literally tied on her with thread :P

Dolly pendants made of tiny metal leaves and (also tiny metal) roses, painted with metallic acrylics (the red one also has glitter sprinkled on it)), sealed, then tied together with wire. I did not yet make actual (láncok) for them, as I don’t know yet which type’d suit them the best.

I totally enjoyed making these, as they weren’t too difficult to make but look awesome ^^ I’m even planning to make some of these for sale.

And finally: two rot iron-style pendants for my gargoyle twins*. Originally the pendants were a pair of earrings which I bought, loved, but never wore – I’m not really into bigger stud earrings as there isn’t much space for them in my ears. I have recently found a similar pair, just in shiny silver, which I like more when it comes to accessories, so I decided to keep the new pair as earrings (we’ll see if I ever get to wear these :P ), and re-do the older ones.

It was kind of a pain int he bum to cut and bend their studs, I stabbed myself twice just int he process of bending the first one T___T Thankfully the Sleeping Beauty-effect didn’t re-occur during making the second one – after the struggles with the first the secon was pretty easy to do actually.

This is how it’ll look like with a (lánc). I still have to finish that. Also, I’m planning to replace the stones with matching ones (a pink and a purple), but I have to say it’s more difficult to get them off tghen I thought. I thought they are just glued on with some lame glue which would wear off with time anway, so, seeing for how long I had them already, I was pretty surprised they not only did nothing when I applied a little force, they are also still there, several rounds of removal trial. One of them partially broke out O_o, but didn’t come out. Little chips break off them.

I had the idea of trying to get them out with some chemical, but I fear the antique finish might come off, so I’ll have to continue with just trying to get them out using force. Or break them off enough to be able to put new ones on top of them. I’ll update with photos once they are finished.

Rochelle and her purple-hairedtwin who isn’t yet finished, nor she has a to-be-name. I’ve been planning to make her for quite awhile now, but never started. I hate it, but this is just the way I am recenytly. Told you so… :S

For now, this blog is only in beta mode. I don't even know where to start writing (and, it seems I have yet to figure out the settings, as this seems to be quite a pain to read), but eventually I will come up with some order, and start sharing all that I would love to tell someone - anyone who comes across this little hideout. For now, please enjoy my Flow/Kurhn girl, Nora in the background ;) She is such a radiant girl, who brings colours and fun to these gloomy autumn days :)