August Already.....how did that happen!!!

I cannot believe that we're already in August, how on earth did that happen so quickly?  I can only think that because our summer seemed to take ages to come this year, so it seems to be passing quickly too.  Hopefully we'll see good weather well into October though, which is an added bonus.

Well the temperatures here have been very high, it's not dropped lower than the mid 30s centigrade for weeks and last week we saw temperatures into the mid 40s.  I always say that I love the heat, and it's true, I really do, and I'd be more than happy to have summer all  year round, but even I had to admit that it was hot!  Perfect weather for the beach though, especially later in the day when the sun isn't quite as intense.  Having said that, apparently the weather this year has been perfect also for jelly fish, so we've had to be careful when swimming in the sea!

I haven't done much with my dolls for a while although I have sold a few and taken some photos of a few others.  I am selling some vinyl dolls so will add photos here in case anyone is interested.

My BJDs are still getting most of my 'play time' and attention and today I took a couple of photos of the Fairyland crew.  I would love to take the second photo in a beach setting, perhaps with a camp fire in front of them but we all know that that isn't going to happen with me!  So here they are on our deck.

This first photo is of the Minifee girls, (all tan resin, all 42cm tall) it would have looked better if I'd had them standing further away from the 'backdrop' but they kept wanting to fall down so I thought it was too risky....I did NOT want to damage their faces!!

L to R: Chloe, Mirwen and Ris:

Now joined by the two Little Fee Antes: Fiona and Tyrone.  Ris is strumming a nice chill-out tune for them:

Another girl who got a change of clothes, twice in fact, was Jo (Zwergnase 55cm Junior Miriam), in the first two photos she's wearing a summer dress I made from an American Girl sized pattern....

I really like this girls unusual face:
 

And here she is wearing a dress I made for her in anticipation of her arrival last year.  I made the pattern from looking at a photo of a child's dress so it isn't perfect on her...but she's happy enough! ;)

Another thing that I've been doing this summer, apart from relaxing and reading, is making dolls eyes!  I watched several videos on You Tube on how to make resin eyes and decided that I would give it a go.  I love to change my BJDs eyes but I hate that I can only get the eyes I want from outside of Spain, from either Greece, Hong Kong or South Korea, and I sooo  hate the long wait.  By the time the eyes arrive I've often forgotten who it was that I ordered them for!  So I ordered the supplies and also some silicone molds on line and thankfully they all arrived quite quickly.  And I was off!  I've only made 8 pairs so far and some of them have been...erm...pretty disasterous, but I have also had some small successes so I'm happy.  And I will hopefully improve as I continue making them.

Here are the first ones, these came out a complete mess!!!  I'm not sure what happened but the domes all went flat!  And there were a lot of air bubbles......the little balls you see in the blue ones are not air bubbles though, they are tiny little balls that I found in a shop selling finger nail decorations!

The second batch came out a lot better, there were minimal air bubbles and the green pair are actually better than they appear in this photo....LOL....but not a lot!!!!!

And finally I was able to make a pair that were good enough to use!  I wanted a pair of brown eyes for my little Secretdoll Meng as she came with a sort of lavender eyes that I thought I'd change.  I know you can't see the details here but they are definitely wearable!

 And here she is before her eye change, I had to add these photos as she looks so cute!

Now on to girls for sale.  I am selling only vinyl dolls at the moment. I have a Gotz Happy Kidz Sophie looking for a new home.  Sophie is quite a 'hard to find' girl these days as she is from 2012.  She is a beautiful redhead in lovely condition and includes her full outfit with shoes and shoulder bag.  The only fault she has is her knees are quite loose, although the hips are fine.  She can stand on her own, but she really could do with those knees being tightened, I just don't know how it's done so I've not touched her.

I'm asking £125 for her plus postage from Spain.  I do not have her large original box but she does have her wrist tags.  

I am also selling this 18 inch girl by Robert Tonner, she is a Tonner My Imagination Deluxe Basic girl with jointed knees.  She is all vinyl and comes with two wigs, the brunette in the photos and a blond one that has never been used.  You may remember that I opened the pate on the top of her head under her wig and repositioned her eyes as they were very 'deer caught in headlights' looking.  Her eyes are her original ones and are now held in place with eye putty.  She will also come wearing her original underwear as shown in the photos.  I don't have her box either but she will travel safely packaged to her new home.

I'm asking £75 plus postage.

If you're interested in either of these two, please email me:

dambuster0662@gmail.com

I will also be listing some other vinyl dolls in the next few weeks or so, so please stop by and see if there is anything that takes your fancy ;) 

Finally I just wanted to add a couple of photos of my handsome son Brendan and his beautiful wife Virginia.  These were taken last weekend at a wedding near Pisa, Italy.  I thought they looked too lovely to just keep on my laptop, so thought I'd share here:  

For a young woman who, as an archeologist, spends her working week thigh deep in mud, Virginia certainly 'certainly scrubs up well' as us Brits say!! :) 

 

Thank you very much for stopping by, I hope you are all enjoying your summer and hope you also have a great 'rest of the week' !!

Big hugs Sharon xx

Dolly makeovers!

This week I've been busy with my Blythe dolls.  I think the renewed interest in them is because I'm going to the Blythe Con Europe in May as it is being held here in Malaga, at a venue just 25 minutes drive from here.  I'm really looking forward to it and as I'll be taking one or two Blythes with me, I decided that a couple of them could do with a bit of freshening up.

I decided to give Heather, my Heather Sky, a full makeover, so she has had a bit of extra carving and new face makeup as well as new eyelashes and eyelids.

Heather's eyelids were originally painted but after rubbing the paint off I decided to cover them with thin self adhesive fabric.  I had to sand the eyelids down quite well so that the fabric didn't catch on the eyelids when opening and closing her eyes.

She also got some pretty new blue grey eye chips.  I'd intended to always have her with different shades of brown chips but thought these blues would make a nice change.

Next up was my Vainilladolly custom Blythe, she got a different scalp to wear.  I rooted this scalp several years ago and finally someone can make use of it.  I think this style and colour suits her quite well.  (Apologies for the loose and flyaway hairs, it was quite a windy evening!)

After working on the Blythes, I decided it was time to work on my Tonner My Imagination doll as I've been saying for a while now that she needed different eyes.  I cut a hole in the top of her head under her wig and then cut into the vinyl at the back of her eyes.  I removed the vinyl and then, pushing from the front, removed her default acrylic eyes.  However, having tried her with several other pairs of eyes, I decided to go back to her original eyes again as they suited her, it was just the placement of them that was all wrong.  I also attached more natural upper eyelashes.

Here you can see that just the tiniest adjustment to the placement of the eyes can take a doll from having that weird "deer caught in headlights" look, to a more natural non staring gaze.  I hope you'll agree that it looks much better this way.

This is the 'before' photo, you can see that her eyes look very 'round' and staring, as if she is in shock:

 And now you can see that she looks far more natural, the eyes have just been lifted up slightly to show a tiny area of white underneath the irises, this softens her whole look:

Finally today I made a new dress for my Fairyland Mini Fee tanned Chloe.  I used a pattern I'd not used before and found the bodice was rather big on her so I took it in down the front then created this 'frill' using a strip of the fine knit fabric of the dress to cover the seam.  All I need to do now is remember to make adjustments to my pattern before I forget!!!

Well I hope you've liked seeing what I've been up to over the last week!  Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week :)

Big hugs, Sharon xx

A 'crafty' weekend!

Last weekend I did a bit more sewing, this time making a dress for my Robert Tonner My Imagination doll who I'd read was a good fit for American Girl sewing patterns.  Well I have a ton of those so decided to make her a dress and I read correctly because the dress is a perfect fit on her. 

The pattern has short or long sleeves and a curved yoke at the front.  I guess I should have taken a photo without her jacket but it was a bit chilly ;)  The leggings are made from stretch fine corduroy and are my own pattern.  The jacket is a very cheap 'made in China' jacket that I've had for years, but I soaked it in diluted bleach and it looks much nicer now!

I do like this doll, she's lovely quality and it's great that she can wear so many of the patterns that I have but her eyes are a bit staring, so I might change them at some point.

I also made a wig for my Fairyland Minifee tanned Chloe.  I had ordered some alpaca from a seller on Etsy and had to wait for it to arrive from Estonia.  I made a hard wig cap and then I made the hair into wefts which I then attached to the head cap using PVA glue because it dries flexible and clear.  Using alpaca is a nightmare and it got everywhere!!!!  It's beautifully fine and soft but it got up my nose, in my eyelashes and all over my clothes and the floor!!! 

Anyway, the wig came out quite well for a first attempt until I decided she needed a fringe!  Oooops epic fail!  But I'm still happy with it and if I keep it 'messed up' like this, I think it suits her.  I love the colour and think the colour is really nice for her.  Would I make another?  I don't think I would in a hurry, no.  Apart from the alpaca being expensive, it's a very time consuming job and I realise now why sellers charge anything from £50 upwards for a custom made wig!

Tee shirt and jeans by me, canvas shoes by Dale Ray. 

Finally, although I didn't make this hat and coat set, I thought I'd share some photos of my little Gotz Happy Kid Emily (2016) wearing it.  I think it's made from real wool and has a faux fur collar and hat and is from the doll company Bonnie & Pearl.  It's great quality and the perfect fit on Emily.  (Leggings and boots made by me)

Thanks for visiting, I hope you all have a lovely week ahead and that you stay safe and warm.  It's been a bit nippy here in southern Spain recently but hopefully the temperature will be on the turn soon :)

Big hugs Sharon xx

My only Fashion Doll.....

Because today I was too busy to take any photos of a new outfit I've made for one of my Sashas, I decided that I'd share some older photos of my only 'fashion doll'.  I have been chatting with a couple of my friends in the US about fashion dolls, which have never really appealed to me...I have always preferred 'child' dolls.  In the past I've bought and sold several Ellowyne Wildes and a couple of other dolls of the same size from Robert Tonner, but one doll that I've had for several years now and have no intention of selling, is Dorothy from the Return to Oz series also by Robert Tonner.  She is the same size and has the same body, as Ellowyne, but for some reason she just appeals to me so much more.

I took her hair down from its original style and then glossed her eyes and lips.  I think she's such a pretty girl.  She wasn't available in Europe for some reason, I think it was something to do with copyright, but I managed to buy her on Ebay back in December 2010.  I don't sew for her much, because I have some lovely Ellowyne outfits that she looks great in, but I am planning on making some simple shift dresses for her very soon.

Wearing an Ellowyne outfit by Robert Tonner....love this outfit!

 

 A portrait taken inside with flash

Wearing a cotton summer shift that was made for a friends doll

Playing with frames

Enjoying the sunshine

Another frame, she looks great in sepia!

Sepia portrait

Lazy Sunday....

Apart from tidying up and putting away some clothes and cutting out a velvet coat in Little Fee size, I've not done much else today, although I did take some cute photos of my Elfdoll Lovely Dami, Anya, taking her little dog for a walk.  Here she is wearing an Ellowyne Wilde outfit by Robert Tonner.  The jacket is quite bulky on her but it is nice and cosy and warm, and just the perfect outfit for a chilly and damp Sunday afternoon walking the dog!!