Rainy Day, Dolly Play...

This morning we woke to rain and as the day went on, so the rain got heavier, to the point that we needed our lights on in the middle of the day!  It doesn't rain that often here in southern Spain but when it does, my goodness does it rain!

I'd planned on taking some outside photos but with the awful weather that wasn't to be, so I decided to set up my indoor 'studio' lights and the second backdrop that I received a couple of months ago from Ebay.  You may remember I posted about the first of the two backdrops here:  

If-you-go-down-to-woods-today   

So the second backdrop arrived and was more similar to the first one than I remembered but that wasn't a problem as they are very cheap.  It needed ironing as, like the first one to arrive, it had been folded down to fit into a smallish envelope.  I used my iron on a cooler setting as the backdrops are sort of plasticised fabric, and I didn't want to burn it.  This one is not as good as the first one though as it has paint/printing missing on the creases, but I guess for the cheap price, what could I really expect! 

I have been changing some of my ball jointed dolls into warmer clothing, so thought I'd use the backdrop to take some photos of the girls in their winter wear.  I attached the backdrop to the wall with poster tack and then, as suggested by Sandi of Xanadu Dolls blog I used the ironing board as the 'table' for the dolls to stand on, and I set up the two photographic lights on their tripod stands.

First to have her photo taken was my Fairyland Mini Fee tanned Chloe, with her German Shepherd dog.....I think there is too much light in this photo but when I turned off the lights, so there were shadows created which made the backdrop look very artificial.  The backdrop has sunrays coming from the top left hand corner as you can see.  This is supposed to represent sunshine coming through the trees.  I believe it looks too artificial and unnatural....(any suggestions gratefully received!!!)

Next up we have Dylan, my Little Cosmos Dolls Robin, wearing a different wig.  I'm not sure it's 'her' but will keep it on for a while.  I think I'll probably go back to the red plaited wig in the end!

Riley Mai, (Ppinkydolls Malisa) hasn't had any camera time in ages, so I took a few photos of her too.  I changed her eyes from brown to these two toned, blue/green eyes.   I'm actually thinking of changing her body from her original resin one to a hard plastic Pure Neemo one....so watch this space! 

 

This poor girl hasn't had a change of clothes in probably a couple of years!!!  So I think that'll be my job for the next few days, find her another outfit that suits (and fits!) her!

Next up we have tiny little Marley, (Tanned Meng version 4 by Secretdoll) who I had been thinking of selling as I couldn't 'bond' with her.  I decided to change her wig and eyes and as soon as I saw her in this wig so I realised just how cute she is, she just hadn't found her 'style'!!!.....she will be staying!!!

Finally we have Gala (Adori in Milky tan by Harucasting).  Gala has had several changes of clothing over the summer but I kept forgetting to photograph her.  But now she is in her winter outfit looking all cosy and warm!

I think what I've learned this photo session is that the studio lights are great for eliminating the shadows behind the dolls but I've come across other challenges.  The dolls look a little bit pale and washed out and the colours do not 'pop' like outside photos do for me.  Also, the tripods on the lights are not really tall enough for the dolls when they are standing on the ironing board, I need to take it all a little lower.  So here we have two studio lights, one on either side of the dolls, and an overhead spotlight bulb in the ceiling.  I didn't use the flash in any of these photos, so it really is purely the studio lights. I think I need to find a way of defusing them!  

Well I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of my little girls today.  I will change some more soon and take more photos....hopefully the weather will be dry and I can go back to taking them outside.

Have a great week ahead!

Big hugs Sharon xx

A new arrival.....

I've not done any sewing, dolly or otherwise, or had any dolly play time in about a month or more, and I have no real interest in my dolls at the moment.  However, that doesn't stop me from buying!!  In fact I have been really wanting to buy.....nothing I need, but who said 'need' comes into it eh? 

So a few weeks ago my friend in the US and I were chatting about a particular doll and both decided to order one.  We both bought on the same day and both dolls were shipped at the beginning of September.  Both dolls were coming from Greece and would you believe it, both dolls arrived on the same day too, even though my friend's doll was going all the way to the west coast of the US!

The doll is not a doll I'd normally go for, she's incredibly quirky looking and definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but she made me laugh.  I only have to look at her to make myself smile!  She is a Malisa by the Greek artist Chrishanthi of Ppinkydolls, who sells on Etsy.

When I saw the doll in her box I thought I'd made a dreadful mistake.  She was so pale and I really don't like pale dolls, also 'pale' doesn't really photograph well for me in the sunshine.  Also she had long spidery eyelashes, one of which had been crushed and was all out of shape because she'd been sent without any face protector.  BJDs are generally packed with face protectors because it prevents just such problems happening with the eyelashes as well as protects the faceup whilst in transit.

Here are some  before photos.  She is not wearing her wig in these photos but you can see her crushed eyelashes on her right eye (on the left of the photos).....and you can also see the messy thick glue that they were attached with.

My mum was here when the doll arrived and she couldn't stop laughing and said the doll was so ugly and like an 'alien'.....well that is like a challenge to me.  I was determined to make this little ugly bug into a cutie! 

First of all I removed the eyelashes that seemed like they were stuck on with super glue!  Then I removed the shine on her pink lips (I really am not into pink lips) and then I set to work giving her more colour. 

As you can see above,  I filled in her eyebrows as they were pale and nondescript, I wanted them to be darker so I used a couple of shades of ground down chalk pastels in brown, I then added more individual hairs to the eyebrows, using various shades of brown and grey watercolour pencils.  I used some black pencil around the eyes to fill in where the original eyelashes had been removed (the glue had taken some of the eyepaint with it when removed).  I added some more dark eyeshadow and then I worked on the lips.  I used various shades of red and brown chalk pastels which I applied with a small flat paint brush, building up the layers of colour and using Mr Super Clear Flat sealant between layers.  I filled in her mouth cavity with the same shades of chalk pastels and then I re-whitened her teeth using white watercolour pencil.  I also added some colour to her nostrils, her philtrum and the very sides of her nose, to define the shape of her nose more.  After that I added blush to her cheeks, forehead, chin and across the bridge of her nose.  I then sealed her again and once the sealant was dry I gave her new eyelashes.  I used one human size false upper eyelash and cut it in half then trimmed that down to size.  Her eye holes are not big compared to the size of her face, she wears 12mm eyes. 

When everything was dry, I put brown glass eyes in.  She actually came with a sort of two tone grey eyes but I preferred the warmth of the brown eyes.

The wig in the above two photos was the one she came with but I felt it wasn't quite 'zany' enough for her so today I looked through my wig box and found this bright auburn/ginger Tibetan lambswool one that I've had for ages.  I tried it on her and felt it was just perfect for this unusual and quirky girl!!  I've trimmed it about a bit to suit her better.

As you can see below, even with the extra blushing she now has, she still looks quite pale in the sunlight, but I'm happy with her new look.

She's a funny little thing, with a tilt of her head she can look so different from one photo to another!  I think in this photo (below) she looks quite happy.....

But in this one she looks really sad....poor girl, I wonder why?

And in this one, she looks almost annoyed over something!

She's wearing clothes borrowed from my Blythe dolls and shoes from Riley Kish....one day I will get around to making her something of her own, I mean who wears a strappy summer dress with woollen leg warmers and boots!!   And her name, by the way, is now Riley Mai!

Well thank you for stopping by, I hope you all have a good weekend ahead, so until next time....