Friday Funnies! Spike, the Barefoot little Farmer Boy

Portland show babies are finished!

The two new babies being added to what I have left from Sauder Village are ready for the show...

Well, almost!

The micro-preemie full body silicone is still waiting for clothes, but who needs them when you are this cute???

She's a girl and her name is Linny  :)

Miss Chubby-Wubby Catherine is also ready!

And, she has clothes!  

Available in Portland will be:

 2 newborn sized silicone dolls

2 micro-preemie full body silicone dolls

2 newborn size vinyl reborn dolls

1 micro-preemie vinyl reborn doll

My full reborn course DVD sets

and mohair!

I am excited and ready.

Nearly ready!

I set the LuLu prototype aside yesterday to finish a micro-preemie full body silicone head.

Oh she is cute!  Her outfit should arrive today and then she will be ready for the Portland Doll Show.

The chubby Berenguer doll will be ready as well.  

I am almost ready!!!

Matte Sealer test

I decided to try a little experiment with the Plaid Folk Art Outdoor Matte Sealer.

Some have said that they like to just brush it on and allow it to dry.

I prefer to pounce it on and pounce it until it is just dry.

Plus, I decided to try adding a second layer as I noticed the instructions on the bottle state to use 2 coats.

Here is what I found.

I coated these two dolls once to start:

(click on the picture to see full size)

The doll on the left was pounced on while the doll on the right was brushed on and allowed to dry.

Here are the limbs of both dolls.

Two things that I noticed are that the brushed on coating is still sheeny and I also found some areas where the matte had pooled.  Where it pooled it was white and pasty. I was able to scrape it out of the creases where it pooled with a wet wooden pick and a lot of work.

I pounced the second layer onto both dolls which took away the sheen on the brushed on layer.

I do not have side by side pictures of both as I guess I got anxious to get the smaller doll on the left done and sent to his new mommy but here are individual pictures of both dolls.

From now on, I will be doing two coats of the outdoor sealer or any matte product that I use and I will be pouncing both layers on and pouncing until just dry.  :) 

Portland, Oregon Doll and Teddy Bear show Saturday August 30th!

The Portland, Oregon 

~Crossroads Doll and Teddy Bear show~

is my favorite show of the whole year and it's happening THIS Saturday!

I'll have a table of reborn babies, silicone babies ( a new one in each category that you've not seen yet), my reborning DVD and....

MOHAIR!

Will I see YOU there???  :)  

I hope so!! 

 

Just sharing a little business secret, why so angry??

• 
  

  
  

  
  

  The other day, I was browsing through Etsy and found another seller using prototype pictures to gain custom orders.  

  
  

  As usual, I started out by sending a simple question asking if they had pictures of their own work.

  
  

  After I received a reply I then shared a business secret with the seller.  She became so defensive.   Why can't we all just work together and work with integrity???

  
  

  Here is the conversation that ensued:

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Hello Ami,
  Do you have any pictures of your work from past custom orders or other dolls you have made?
  Debbie
• 
  Ami Taylor

  4 days ago

  Hi,
  The Leah doll I have listed on my store is a custom I did. You can see 5 photos on that listing. Here are a few more.

  
• 
  DebbieHenshaw

  4 days ago

  Oh, that doll was not there when I looked this morning. There was another doll with the prototype pictures listed. I don't recall who it was though.
  
  Your work is nice. Will you start using pictures of your own work in the future? May I share a little business secret with you? Prototype pictures really are not to be used to gain custom orders. They are to be used for doll dealers to sell kits. It can be very misleading to customers. Your dolls are cute. I think you are at a place in your art where your own pictures will sell your dolls for you :)
  
  Best of luck!
  Debbie
• 
  Ami Taylor

  4 days ago

  That doll was absolutely there, this morning. I don't know what point you're trying to make but that doll was listed more than a week ago.
  
  Here's a "business secret" for you: Mind your own.
  
  Do NOT message me again or I will report you for harassment.
• 
  DebbieHenshaw

  4 days ago

  I suppose I could have seen it wrong. I was looking at a lot of listings on eBay and Etsy this morning, but I was pretty sure there were three listings with prototype pictures used.
  
  I AM glad to see a listing using your own pictures. That will fare you well in the doll world. :)
  
  Why are you so upset? I was just sharing some secrets of the trade with you since you are new within the last year.
  
  You can report me if you like but I am pretty sure that Etsy will not find that I am harassing you. We work in the same business and communicating about that business is not harassment. I was simply trying to help you make it in the field.
  
  I am only a buyer on Etsy. I do not sell on Etsy.
  
  Take care.
  Debbie

  
  

  
  

  I am just so frustrated with the way people are using other artists pictures to gain custom orders.  It is simply wrong.    

  
  

  
  

eBay sellers listing different locations? Are they Magic Beans Nursery???

Several weeks ago a kind follower contacted me and shared that she felt, due to what she had seen on Etsy by following two sellers there and what she was seeing on eBay, that this seller could possibly be Magic Beans Reborn Babies on eBay.

Remember Magic Beans Nursery was using pictures that were not her own to gain custom orders and Etsy finally shut her down.  

Well, I've been watching the two sellers that my follower shared with me and both of the sellers have auctions with either several locations or they have changed locations when they relisted the doll.

One seller has changed the ID since I began watching them.  

I am going to post a lot of links here.

One of the first ones I came across:

~wmdagumwj in Anniston, Alabama~

~wmdagumwj in Dearborn Heights, Michigan~

Same seller, different location.  She told me that she HAD been on vacation in Alabama.

I'm sorry, I simply do not buy that.

The seller wmdagumwj came on board in ~March of 2014~, at about the same time that Magic Beans Nursery got shut down on Etsy.  

This seller is also in Anniston, Alabama.  The ID name WAS

SouthernStyleStudio but changed to

~craftprincess in Anniston, Alabama~

coincidentally the ID name of that seller changed the same day wmdagumwj replied to my post here on the blog adding the ID name wmdagumwj to my blog post regarding Magic Beans Nursery.

~you can see here where the seller changed the ID~

Craftprincess keeps relisting dolls that were "sold" and is also

~craftprincess in Dearborn Heights, Michigan~

and

~craftprincess in Anniston, Alabama~

AND

~craftprincess in Oxford, Alabama~

Interesting enough, craftprincess listed this doll as

~craftprincess in Oxford, Alabama~

The relisted the same SOLD doll as

~craftprincess in Dearborn, Heights, Michigan~

Now, here is where it gets really good and how I can tie all of these sellers together and link them with Magic Beans Reborn Babies.

Because I had been communicating with "Anna" from Magic Beans Reborn Babies on Etsy, even though she is no longer permitted to sell on Etsy, I was still able to access her profile page.

On that profile page, you can see a picture of reborn baby "Joseph" as listed in the first link I have added to this page under the seller ID wmdagumwj:

~Anna's Magic Beans Reborn Babies Etsy Profile in Mobile, Alabama~

And interesting enough, when the link comes up, it shows "SouthernEnvyDesigns" in the address bar.  

I could not find anything like that on Etsy but it is a similar name to the first ID for craftprincess on eBay, SouthernStyleStudio.

And while I'm at posting links of shady sellers, let's add this one

~Vintage Fawn Nursery from Birmingham, Alabama on Etsy~

I do not know yet if these are all related but just because this new reborner is using all prototype pictures to gain custom orders,  and they are in also in a random place in Alabama,  and the descriptions are similar to the other two sellers (especially when Anna was on Etsy), I am going to  take a wild stab that they indeed are. 

One thing I will say about the two eBay IDs mentioned here, they are using their own pictures.

My blog follower who shared with me said that she was watching the two sellers on Etsy, Magic Beans and another one she did not give me the name for and the pictures used were identical across the two sellers.  

The eBay seller wmdagumwj currently does not have any items listed.

~craftprincess has these items listed~

with locations in Dearborn Heights, Michigan and Oxford, Alabama.

I would love to hear your comments regarding these sellers.

XXOO

Baby Daisies by Jenalyne~my granddaughter :)

What a fun time my granddaughter and I had in the nursery over the last week!

I took a few pictures of the progress of her baby and she took one of me with my blank baby before we begun.  After that, we forgot to take pictures of my baby.  But, you'll see her soon enough  :)

Jenalyne selected the Tristan sculpt by Jessica Schenk for her doll.

Here he is blank before we began:

I selected a "Sweet Embrace" Berenguer doll that I already had stripped and prepped for my doll:

Then the work began:

Lips:

Creases:

 End of day 1:

 

 She's doing a fine job.  We used Special Care Nursery Thick Medium to create textured eye brows and used Special Care Nursery paints to paint our dolls.

Such a fun and silly young lady!

 

But right before that funny shot, I got this one...AWE!!!

She was already kissing him at the end of day 1.

I didn't take as many pictures on day 2 and 3 of painting but here is what I have:

First blush:

Jenalyne rooted her first reborn doll so this time I decided to teach her to paint hair.  

We had SO many things on our "want to do list" this week that painted hair was a good option to help save time.

Oh my goodness.  She despised it!  LOL

Remember my post "A letter to Newbies"?  It applied to Jenalyne as I was working with her and after she began to melt-down, I sent her out of the nursery to cry, stomp, scream and gain her composure...basically to "breathe". 

When she returned, she was prepared to tackle the task at hand.  And she did a nice job!

(Those of you who have taken a live class from me know that only in emergencies do I place hand and brush to your reborn doll, I do not do the artwork for you, I allow you to make mistakes and learn through the challenges as it makes you a better artist.  The same holds true for my young students as well.) 

Finally, her sweet little man, Augustus, was painted:

For fun, I put her Tristan head next to the one that I painted at Sauder Village.

I like both versions!

I did help her matte her doll as I like to work side-by-side of my students showing the technique on my own doll then allowing them to do it on theirs.  I was not yet ready to matte my own doll, and matting can be tricky so I matted her head while she watched, then we each matted the limbs.  

It took us days to get the gloss perfect in the eyes but we just kept checking it and adding gloss as needed.  

She weighted the limbs of her Tristan while I weighted the limbs from the Tristan I painted the week before.  She has a unique way in adding glass beads!  LOL

Finally, her baby boy was ready for assembly.

She was so excited she could hardly stand it!

Putting the limbs on:

Filling the torso:

Adjusting the tightness of the head:

The final clip:

And her baby is born!

I don't have to say anything about this next picture...

Priceless!

The photo shoot:

We sure did have a busy week!

This is only a portion of what we did.

We:

Played at the park with Aunt Jill and baby Jack,

floated the river through town,

went to a demolition derby~yehaw!!

had Jack over night (he's my 10 month old grandson),

she tried to eat a huge giant pizza by herself one night at our local pizza place 

(it's her own personal pizza challenge that she's now attempted twice:

She at all but 3 pieces of that giant thing!

We worked in the yard pulling about 85 pounds of weeds,

we harvested in the garden and made rhubarb crunch and rhubarb syrup for sparkling juice,

we went to our friends ranch where she rode a 2 yr old filly:

 we took some dolls to our horse pasture and wrote two stories (to be released over the next two Friday's),

we rode our horses two days in a row...or at least she did.  I was without a bridle for my horse on one of the days...how it ended up at our house I don't know but that was okay, she had a good time and I did other chores that are never done when one has horses.

Riding 32 year old Toby:

 Riding 6 yr old Ruger:

She went to the park again with Aunt Jill, Uncle Zach and cousin Jack while I enjoyed a lunch date with my husband,

we took her to kereoke on night at the Veterans Club (I know...I'm going to burn for that one!  She had a great time though!)

and in between all of that, there was a couple of trips to the stores, laundry, cooking, dishes etc, etc, etc.

I am currently in a hotel with her in Grangeville, Idaho where my mother lives.  We have visited my mother and I'll be returning her home today then traveling the 4 more hours back to my home this afternoon...after a trip to Costco of course!

So, I appologize for being behind...but I'll catch up!

Next up in the nursery:

I'll be finishing both Tristan (who is sold) and Sweet Embrace (not yet named but headed for the Portland show in 2 weeks) and I have a brand new prototype to start by Kellie Beckett.  

Cheers!

Meet Jena's new baby, Augustus!

I still have to put her little nursery name on all of her pictures of Augustus

(She's still working on her name)

but here are a couple of Jena's new baby that she made during this last week.

Meet Augustus!

She is SO in love!

 Isn't he adorable????

More when I get back from taking her home...

XXOO