I have been back to playing with dolls. I am a doll collector. I really like teddy bears, but I love dolls, always have. A couple of years ago I discovered Blythe dolls. I love how they can be taken all apart and customized. But since they cost hundreds of dollars and I was inexperienced I found Basaak dolls. Which are basically Blythe knockoffs. They cost $25.00 and if you find a good seller the quality of them is surprisingly good. (My daughter has a real Blythe so I compared.) I now have four of them. I have redone one and have taken another apart.
Here is the girl I have apart. She now looks like this.
I have sanded down the shine on her face, and carved into her lips, nose, and chin, (giving her a chin) I have given her a little makeup, not too much, and have sprayed her with a matt sealer.
These pictures are of her eye mechanism. The left picture is her regular eye chips. I ordered her two pair of custom chips. Getting the old chips out was difficult. They are super-glued in a Basaak doll.
And one last thing to show. When I ordered the last batch of Navajo-Churro wool it was coarser than what I usually get. Navajo-churro wool has a long hairy outer coat and a soft downy inner coat. It was much more pronounced in this particular fleece, so I separated it. It just pulls apart. I dyed the long courser stuff and really nice shade of brown. It looks and feels just like human hair. So I am going to re-root her scalp. I will show more when I get into that, but here is the hair.
So if you get the urge to play, there are so many good tutorials online. I learned to do most everything on Youtube. Here is the link to the ebay seller I have gotten my last two dolls from, her dolls are great and she is so nice. http://myworld.ebay.com/siriporn.robertson&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSX:AVATAR
I splurged on a Blythe doll a couple of years ago. Then had someone give her a "face-up". I made most of her clothes. Haven't played with her in almost a year and even tried to sell her on a Blythe site. Do you know Lisa of qtpatooties? She has several Blythe dolls and takes wonderful photos with little stories. She is on flickr. I have photos of mine on flickr too.
ReplyDeleteWow, I have never seen a dismantled blythe before! Maybe one day I should get one myself to give it an extreme make over! It must be fun!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing =)
You have SO many skills, Joanne! Do you find that working on other projects helps to maintain your enthusiasm for bear making? Viva la difference!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments.
ReplyDeleteNancy, I am going to go see your girl today. I follow Lisa's blog, and she does the cutest thing with her Blythe. Someday I will splurge maybe and get a real one, but I will have to find one that is perfect the way she is, because I will be too afraid "play" with her.
Wayne, I know you like Blythes too. You should splurge and try your hand, it is fun.
Thank you Sue, I have always been involved with many types of crafts. I would get burned out I think if the bears were the only creative thing I did. I never sit without something in my hand.
Wow, amazing! I'm curious as to how you root the hair in hard plastic?!! Are there holes to follow that were made for the original hair? I can't wait to see your finished girl! Hugs, Janice
ReplyDeleteOoooo playtime! It's what keeps us young. :D
ReplyDeleteNever to old to play, that is what is so nice about what we do.
ReplyDeleteHi Janice, I am going to pull the old hair out and follow the holes. There are two ways I found to re-root this way, I am going to knot the ends of the hair and use a needle. I will post pics as I go.
O wow! I didn't know you could do that with theose dolls. That is different. I do different cfats too and have for years. My mind is always going with something. This is some thing I have not tried.
ReplyDeleteOh you have been having fun! Looking forward to seeing how she turns out.
ReplyDelete