TheyNeverGrowUpNursery

My guys did a crazy race!

2012-01-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

The Wilson Creek 50K Frozen ultra trail race was an experience!
Both my husband and son have either competed in Marathons (26..2 miles) or just gone out on their own and ran this long. Neither of them expected the trials that were found on the trail of the Wilson Creek 50K (31 miles).

They began early in the morning...in the dark.

The tiny lights you see is the line of runners going up the trail into the dark:

Pictures on the trail. They expected mud but not this much mud and not such sticky, icky mud! This mud had a clay base and just stuck to everything. I know, I helped with the dirty clothes and shoes and oh my...that mud stuck to anything it came into contact with and it did not just rinse off. It had to be scrubbed! This part of the course was 20 miles and most of it was like this:

The 31 mile race started with a 20 mile loop. Here are my guys coming inn from that first 20 miles:

My husband coming in:

My son:

At that point they had the option of being done at 20 miles or continuing onto the final 11 mile loop. They decided that they had enough fun for one day! My son's knee was blown out so going another 11 in the mud was not an option for him.

Even after more than 6 hours in the mud, my DH is still smiling!

The back of my son's legs:

They felt a little defeated until they heard from many other runners~runners who do this kind of event on a regular basis~of how overpowering the Wilson Creek race was.

Here is a great report from a running blogger:

~A racing bloggers view~

I'm very proud of them for completing the 20 miles in that goo. Atta boys!

(I'm leaving for Florida in the morning!!! Whooo!)

Sharing my collection Friday~Active Babies!

2012-01-20T06:55:00.001-08:00

Wow, I am not really sure that I can leave all these guys alone for a whole week+!
Michael is climbing up to get the bottle of milk:

Timmy is pretty active too:

Buddy is pretty relaxed but he sure likes that stuffed toy that Timmy has. I hope there is not a fight:

As long as no one tries to take his baseball, Giovanni will be okay. He loves anything baseball and is pretty possessive:

Tommy thinks the boys are just too rambunctious and wants OUT!

Daniel does not want to play at all. He just wants to cuddle his special things and look crabby:

Gianna just realized that Mommy will be gone for a week and is very concerned:

Tika doesn't know what to think. She just wants a cuddle:

Bethany says she will just dance the time away...

Oh boy. This is one I really have to watch out for, my little spit fire Jena!

Look, she already has Sweet Pickles thinking she can climb out too!

Brooke does not care. She is just delighted that SHE got to wear the coveted giant purple bow:

Kami will take care of Louisa. Hmmm, that's the most alert I've ever seen Louisa...things could get out of hand!

Joylynne is MAJOR excitied! She's all dressed in her running clothes and going to IDEX. Mommy hopes to get out on a walk or two so Joylynne wanted to be ready:

Molly will be good. She loves to play with her dolly so won't cause any trouble:

Lisa asks if I REALLY have to go:

These sweet babies won't be a problem...all they do is sleep!
Olivia Grace:

Kenji:

Laurel:

Beata. She's still dreaming of snow in her precious snowman dress set:

Good bye mommy....we will miss you!

Baby Billy is ready for Orlando!

2012-01-19T08:37:00.000-08:00

He might be a bit overdressed though as it's going to be in the high 70's when I arrive on Tuesday. When I leave it will be in the 20's! Guess he will only sweat when we get there.

But since I am carrying him on the plane with me and it will be a long day with two plane changes, I decided that a second hand sleeper would be best. That way if I spill anything on him, it won't matter.

Billy is just as cuddly as they come. That is one thing I love about 1/4 limbed dolls.

I ended up not working yesterday. I just could not get in the creative groove and both of the ends of my thumbs are cracked from the long, cold winter months. I was trying to get them healed before I had to root but it just did not happen.

We had a snow storm yesterday that left 5 inches of snow but it's quickly melting off. In fact, it's almost gone this morning. ~sigh~ Oh well, that will make the roads good on the way to the airport which is 2 hours away.

Alright....Debbie is on Vacation! See you from Orlando!

XXOO

Baby Laura is painted!

2012-01-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

Baby Laura just tickles me pink!

What a sweet and delightful baby doll.
I'm done with her coloring now and I've got today to root on her hair. Then I will be on vacation until February 2nd! Whoo!

Oh I'll pop in tomorrow and show off my new baby Billy and I'll pop in while I'm in Orlando to share the excitement and fun with you but I won't be "at work"...I'll be AT PLAY!
Sorry, I'm just a little bit excited!

Hugs!

Portrait Laura progress 2

2012-01-17T08:13:00.000-08:00

At closing time, in the dark, on Sunday, I knew I would have to take another look at Baby Laura in the daylight to be sure I had all of the brown/orange neutralized.

Upon opening time yesterday, I could see there were high spots on her face that were still orangish and also her limbs were still too orange.

I used white paint to cover the high spots on her face and then coated her entire limbs. That did the trick.

Usually I would then do a layer with my Newborn Flush color I mix up but since it has brown in it, i decided that was not a good idea so I used a rose and red blush color and applied it with the oval poured sponge. It's a horse bathing sponge that makes great oval and round shapes for texture.

For her creases, I used the red version of my crease color as opposed to the purple version.

I did her nails as well as began layering her brows.

Look at these cute little piggies!

Today I will blush her, do her undertones, brows, veins and give her that final highlight coat.

Let's hope I don't run out of day in order to finish her coloring.

Happy Tuesday!

Custom portrait baby WIP

2012-01-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

Did I ever mention how very much I love doing portrait babies? I've not done one for a customer in a long while (I've done some for myself) so I am delighted to have this custom portrait of Baby Laura!

Here is the real Baby Laura who is now 60 years old:

I searched hundreds of sculpts and came up with this Rieke kit by Linde Scherer.
The vinyl was a dark brown/orange and I sure was worried about getting it neutralized. Very worried! I didn't want to ruin this baby and neutralizing is not my greatest gift.

With some advice from my good friend Angie of Lil Dumplins, I am quite pleased with the neutralizing layers! I've done just a little bit of detail work on her as well:

In the process of painting, I found two tiny teeth in her gums! This is perfect as the real baby picture has teeth.

What a sweet heart!

I have coated this baby with Genesis Matte Varnish and am using LDC paints on her.

Angie suggested that I use a couple of layers of blue to start but the blue just made the vinyl darker. I tried cyan but again, it just accentuated the darkness of the vinyl. Even the color wheel says to use blue to green blue but it simply did not work. The baby in the picture is fair skinned so it was important to lighten the vinyl, not darken it.

I settled on mint green created with green and white. I applied one layer with a mop brush, followed up by a wedge and then thinned the paint and added a little more white to a lighter shade and did another layer in the same manner.

The next layer was a mixture of light flesh, yellow and white. Using a sponge cloth, I applied two layers of this, pouncing each layer with a wedge.

One thing I always forget is that on these brown/orange kits, I can't use my standard purple on the nail beds. Cyan works wonderful for prepping the nail beds. I then used a light blush color of rose and red to color the nail.

When I do the creases, I won't use my standard purply/red color~I will use shades of red so that I don't bring back that orange.

I am excited to get to work on this precious one today!

International Doll Expo~IDEX~2012

2012-01-15T07:02:00.000-08:00

I was almost certain that this year I was not going to be able to make it to IDEX but with a slight turn of events I will be attending IDEX 2012!

That makes me VERY happy! This will be my 6th year going.

IDEX is held in Orlando Florida each year and this time will find itself at the Renaissance Resort near SeaWorld. It's excited to go to a new place as it's been at the Rosen Shingle Creek for the last 5 years.

Oh Dollies and Friends and FUN!

Joylynne will be taking the trip with me, as will Billy.

She's all ready in her running clothes in the event that Mommy gets to take her out on a walk/run...and poor baby is already packed into my carry-on. I had to do some pre-packing as our family will be gone on an overnight trip right before I have to pack and leave.

Billy is not dressed yet because he is not put together yet. I am waiting for some supplies to arrive for him.

There is still time to sign up to attend IDEX 2012~just go to the link above.

See you there??

XXOO

Friday Funnies~Maybe they DO walk!

2012-01-13T13:20:00.001-08:00

A while ago I wrote this story, and you need to read it to understand the story that follows:

~They got up and Walked~

Maybe my husband is onto something!
I was changing my personal babies the other night when I remember a pair of shoes that Nablina was wearing that I thought would look great with another baby's outfit.

These are the shoes I was after. I really like the fuzz on the inside and the suede on the outside.
So I walked over to fetch the shoes and the first thing that I noticed was that the edge of one shoe was tipped up. "That is odd" I thought.

Upon removing the shoes, OMG you won't believe what I found!!!

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A squished SPIDER!
EEEEeeeeeeKKKKKkkkkkkkkk!

I kid you not, I did not stage that spider! I had NOTHING to do with it!

Maybe they really DO get up and walk in the night!

Shivers.....

New kits by Jessica Schenk! And...MOHAIR!

2012-01-12T08:57:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, Jessica Schenk has a set of triplets coming out! I adore each one of them and think that I MUST have them for the Down East Doll Show in North Carolina in June!!

~JESSICA's NEW TRIPLETS~

I've been busy working up some gorgeous mohair and it's ready to go:

~TNGUN MOHAIR AVAILABLE~

And a new baby has been begun! I will share her on Sunday.
Tomorrow is Friday and I have a picture story to share! Be sure to check in!

Hugs for Thursday XXOO

Final evaluation and prognosis on Ultra Matte Gel

2012-01-11T08:24:00.000-08:00

Well, I applied the Ultra Matte Gel full strength to Billy but I don't see that it really did that much and someone wrote to me and said that after about two weeks one of her dolls coated with UMG got sticky. Of course, this is why I chose to do this with a doll I am keeping.

I do like how the UMG medium carries the paints and wow...do the reds stay red! I may have overdone his reds! LOL At night he looks really red. Interesting huh?

I did try to make the paint thicker to create the textured lines on the nails and that didn't work but, the nails are a very nice translucent color, just like I've achieved with my LDC products. I like using the Genesis Glazing gel on the nail beds before I paint and can still do that if I choose to use the UMG in the future. This test was to see if I could get the same effect. The brows are nice but not really textured either.

So, do I like the stuff or not? Well, yes, I do but not for my Master Artist Series babies. It is great for Simple Treasures Series and Kids Corner! dolls. I feel that the paints cured faster and that they are durable.

The true test comes now when I pack Billy around and see if he becomes more shiny.

TNGUN Reborning Tutorial Video update

2012-01-10T07:28:00.000-08:00

I am so very excited I can hardly breathe!

The tutorial video is edited!

Dianna Effner has commissioned a local musician to write some soft background music for the video and once that is done, it will be ready for production!

The tutorial is 5 hours long and will be placed on 3 DVDs. It takes one through all of the stages of reborning from preparation of the vinyl to assembling your reborn.

On this happy note I must share a youtube video of our own Dianna Effner and her family. Did YOU know how musically inclined they are??

~WILDFLOWERS~

Oh happy day!

Mixing the Ultra Matte Gel and LDC paints

2012-01-09T07:41:00.001-08:00

It occurred to me that I've not really given very clear instructions on how to mix and use the Ultra Matte Gel with the LDC paints so here is a mini tutorial:

Mixing a blush color that I call burnt orange/red. I have used this color as my second blush on Billy, the reborn I am making as I try out the Ultra Matte Gel with the LDC paints.

Using a craft stick, place a dime sized portion of red paint into a one ounce jar:

With a toothpick, add a touch or two of brown (I actually added more brown than is shown here as I mixed to get the color I was looking for) As you can see, my brown color is marked "new brown" because I still have an old jar of the first brown that LDC came out with. That brown was more purple and I love it for nail beds! It's no longer available so I treasure that jar of "old brown".

With another craft stick, add a good sized blog of the Ultra Matte Gel. I am using about as much gel as my total paint:

Mix this well before adding the water. You an add water before mixing but it does not blend as well and takes longer to stir:

Using an eye dropper, fill the jar up to 1/4 full with water. This is less water than I use with the LDC paints and LDC retarder. Usually I fill the jar 1/2 full with the LDC retarder.
I want my paints thick in my jar as to not dilute the pigments. I can add water later to my pallet.

The paint on my pallet is a bit thick/rich. It's been lingering on the side of the plate too long:

I've added about 5 drops of water and it's just right. The way to test the "just right" is by applying it to the back of your reborns head to test it. This way, if it dries too fast and makes a mess, it will be covered up with hair later and your doll will just have an extra blushy spot under the hair:

I have applied all my colors in the same fashion that I always do, using a combination of sponges and brushes.

And here is how Billy is looking after all his coloring is done:

He is still sheeny/shiny in some places so today I am going to go over all his parts with full strength Ultra Matte Gel applied with a wedge and pounced in with clean wedges.

I've talked myself out of doing the custom portrait doll using the new gel and then I talked myself back into it after doing a little test on that vinyl yesterday. The vinyl on the Linde Scherer kit is very rubbery and I was concerned on how the paint would adhere without the Genesis Matte Varnish applied first. Upon the test, I like how it went on so I'll do the brows and nail bed textured with the Genesis Matte Varnish and then carry on with the UMG/LDC mixture.

I'm back to my wild days again as I process mohair and birth babies.
Does anyone have a maid I could borrow???

Happy day to you!

They tell me this is not normal

2012-01-08T08:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my family and horses spent the afternoon surrounded by our horse loving friends who told me that they have NEVER been to, or thrown, a birthday party for a horse. They say it's not been a common or "NORMAL" thing in their lives.

WHAT??? Huh, how odd! LOL

I have to admit that this is the first horse party we have had where we invited guests and decorated the round pen with helium balloons, but we do have horse birthday parties.

But this was a very special event because my horse, Toby, has turned 30 years old. Although horses do live to be into their 30's, it's more common that they pass in their mid 20's.

My Toby has been my best friend. He has always been patient, kind and gentle. He has heart and strength, and he will protect me at all times. I almost lost him in 2007 to colic. But once again, he endured through it with heart and strength. It was then and after last winter when he did not winter very well due to a miscalculation in our feeding amount that I determined to have a real birthday party for him when he turned 30.

Here is the beloved birthday boy all decked out for his party:

Is that hat not just the greatest??? It's actually a pinata I found at WalMart! I simply cut the bottom out of it and attached festive birthday ribbon~perfect!

I put helium balloons around the round pen, a birthday banner on the round pen gate and made him a special horse birthday cake that he could share with his pasture pals.

Guests brought gifts and Toby's vet sent him a gift and card in the mail.

With the video camera running, we all sang happy birthday. There were 11 people present.

Then we directed them to eat the cake:

Ohhh...they loved it!
From L-R are Ruger, Toby and Scout.

Here I am with my best boy!

And of course look who else showed up! Matthew!
Matthew loves Toby as much as I do and his face shows his excitement to be on Toby's back on his 30th birthday!

Matthew got down to wish Toby a very happy birthday...

pat his warm muzzle....

And give him a kiss. Awe!
Toby looks as if he is saying, "Awe gawsh, the boy loves me!"

I made a Toby look-a-like cupcake cake for our guests and served peppermint hot cocoa.

After the guests left, Toby got down in the dirt and rolled....GLORIOUS!

What a great, GREAT day!
I am so thankful for our friends coming out in the cold to celebrate this special horse on his special day. XXOO

Oh. This is Alan. He is our farrier and has been for a lot of years. Today was the first time he met Matthew~although he has heard a lot about him. He was a bit taken to the little man and there is rumor that Matthew might need to travel around with Alan taking some farrier lessons. I can see it now...a tiny anvil, a tiny hammer, a tiny baby doll holding up a giant horses foot!

New Years Day 2012 winners confirmed!

2012-01-05T21:44:00.000-08:00

Just popping in real quick to let you all know that I have spoke with and confirmed both drawings for 2012.

Donna Duff is thrilled to have received her $600 credit towards a custom reborn so there won't be another draw. Yay Donna!

And of course Sally Snyder is very thrilled too with her 50% off custom order doll!

My heartfelt congratulations to you both!

XXOO

Day 2 of Ultra Matte Gel Testing

2012-01-05T07:55:00.001-08:00

Oh Billy already gives me so much joy!
Things are going pretty well with the UMgel. I find that I don't need as much water in the paint mixture as with the LDC retarder. I like that because the colors are richer.

Yesterday was spent working on his creases, brows, lips, nails and his first blush.

On the side I have a Doll Dreams arm that I am tinkering with. It was looking really shiny so I took some of the UMG straight and applied it with a make up wedge, pouncing it in with a clean wedge. I really like the results of that so will do that to Billy in the end.

I'm taking today off to travel to the city to shop. This family might starve to death if I don't! My "weekend" will be spent making a cake and having a party for my 30 year old horse.

I almost lost ole' Toby in 2007 and last year he didn't come out of winter very good so I was determined that if he made it to 30 yrs old, I was going to have a real birthday party so I am!

BTW, he is going through this winter looking a lot better. The weather has been rather mild the last couple of weeks so that helps too.

See you Sunday!

Day 1 Ultra Matte Gel testing

2012-01-04T07:26:00.001-08:00

Things are going pretty good with the Ultra Matte GEl (UMG) testing but...some shine/sheen is developing.

Here is "Billy" before I began painting him. (My BFF suggested the name for him and I think it's just right, especially since I have a Timmy and a Tommy in my collection!)

And here are his pictures after day 1.

I love how the medium carries the paint and I'm not having any problems mixing it or using it~I just really do not like sheen/shine on my dolls!

Because one can use this thick gel straight from the bottle, I am trying to create the textured brows and nail beds with it....not sure if it will ever be as good as the Genesis Matte Varnish (GMV) though.

Speaking of GMV, Stephanie Sullivan of

~HUNNYBUNS REBORN SUPPLY~

has received a new shipment of GMV and sent me a jar that arrived yesterday. It is the old formula~the perfect one! I am just thrilled.

Alright~onto day 2!

(Ps, I am still waiting for confirmation of the Customer 2012 Drawing. If she opts out of her win, there will be another drawing from the TNGUN customers of 2011)

The Ultra Matte Gel test starts today

2012-01-03T07:12:00.000-08:00

I am trying a new product made by Liquitex.

It is an "Ultra" Matte Gel medium to be mixed right in with acrylic paints which is what the LDC paints are.

I do believe in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" saying and it applies to my LDC paints and LDC retarder. I am very happy with them. The part that is broke is the Genesis Matte Varnish (although Genesis is working on the problem) which I prime my doll kits with.

But I have another problem that is pending. I'm doing a custom portrait order and using a Linde Scherer sculpt called Rieke.

Oh my. I would not have selected this sculpt had I known the color of the vinyl!
ACK! It is dark browny-orange and the portrait baby is fair skinned!

That in itself will be a challenge but the thing I was most concerned about was using the Genesis Matte Varnish on this older, made in China kit. The vinyl is already very matte (and opaque! Double ACK!) and "stiffer" if that makes any sense. Applying matte varnish and baking this type of vinyl makes the vinyl very rough and hard.

So I want to avoid that.

One thing that I like about the Ultra Matte Gel medium is that is it semi-opaque. My thinking is that it will help me to neutralized that opaque yucky color vinyl better than I can with the LDC retarder which is very translucent.

But...before I go applying this new medium to a custom portrait kit, I need to test it some more. I was testing it on a Doll Dreams German vinyl limb but after a few layers, it became shiny. I can't have shine.

I've prepped a 1/4 limb Berenguer doll that I've been saving for myself. This baby will be a good trial for the new medium as the vinyl, although lighter in color, is similar in texture. And I will be keeping this doll so I can watch the paint over time.

The adventure begins....

Lotte takes my breath away!

2012-01-02T07:53:00.001-08:00

I need to make sure that I spend a lot of time cuddling this little one this week as it will be hard to send her away!

Please welcome Lotte by Sebilla Bos.
She is 21 inches, 6 lbs, 4 oz of sweetness.

The Lotte doll kit is now available for pre-order!

~INTERNATIONAL at Petra's Dolls~

~IN THE USA at Creative Impressions~

~View Lotte's auction HERE~

XXOO

Drumroll again please.....

2012-01-01T17:09:00.000-08:00

Sharon Robinson-Ullrich has asked to have another draw for the Blog Drawing as she simply does not have room for another baby.

So.....

Drumroll......

SALLY SNYDER YOU WIN!

Congratulations to you!!!!

Congratulations 2012 winners! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

And the winners are.....

Drum roll please....

As I wait for the strike of midnight.....

And it's finally 2012!

The 2012 CUSTOMER winner is

DONNA DUFF from Oregon!
Congratulations Donna!!
You get $600 OFF a custom Master Artist Series reborn doll!

The 2012 BLOG winner is:

SHARON ROBINSON ULLRICH!
Congratulations Sharon!
You get 50% off any custom order reborn doll!

Both winners will have the option of passing her win onto the next drawees.
I will keep you all posted.

May 2012 be an amazing year for all of my customers, friends, family and blog followers!
You are all SO appreciated!

Let's all hope that this year goes by a LOT slower! :)

Happy New Year Hugs!
XXOO

Bye Bye 2011, hello 2012!

2011-12-31T07:58:00.000-08:00

We all say it...

"I can't believe it's the New Year."

So I don't need to repeat it! LOL

Wow.

2011 was a very busy year for me and it went very fast.

My goals, as I remember them, were to get all the babies done on my custom order list to allow more time to reborn some sculpts I had purchased that I was anxious to get to; to spend more time with family, friends and on social events; to write more picture stories; to have several Simple Treasures and Kids Corner! babies available at Christmas; to make small tutorial videos to post on my blog; and to produce my DVD.

Let's see how I did:

There is just one more custom baby on the list to begin next week. It is a portrait baby. This delay is my fault as I agreed to take on the Lotte Prototype so I bumped this custom to January. Almost made that goal! :) I think I reborned 6 sculpts outside of the prototype and custom order list.

I think that time spent with family was slightly better this year than last year so that is progress. I am looking forward to even more time in 2012 and I really want to ride my horses more this year.

I miss being able to go for coffee or lunch with girlfriends. I remember one morning out with a girlfriend for coffee in 2011. Really failed on the time with friends and social events!

Hmmm, I didn't do too well on the picture stories. I did write the one for Discover Dolls and am currently working on another one for them. I have fully enjoyed the time spent on these.

I made two Simple Treasures dolls this year, but it was early on in the year. I just didn't have the time to make any more or any kids dolls for Christmas.

I DID make small tutorials, but I didn't have time to edit them or figure out how to post them.

And I DID record a reborning video! It is still in the editing process and I am thrilled to have filmed it!

So, all the goals remain the same for 2012 and I feel confident that they will be reached this year.

At this moment there are no new prototypes in the nursery (except for Lotte who will be going on eBay either tomorrow or Monday) so for January, my focus will be on doing the custom portrait, processing mohair and going to IDEX 2012. IF I have relaxed time to do it (meaning I don't want to be stressed out in order to get it done), I will make myself a new baby to enter into the Tiny Treasures contest at IDEX. I try to make myself one new doll each year and I didn't get it done in 2011.

Sincere thanks go out to my wonderful customers who continue love my babies and mohair, to my family for their patience and love and to my friends for always being there to support me and help me.

I love you all!

Happy New Year!

Sharing my collection Friday~Itty Bitty Babies!

2011-12-30T08:31:00.000-08:00

There are mini babies and there are itty-bitty babies! These are my itty-bittiy babies:

To show you how small they are~and this in one of the bigger ones, this tiny OOAK baby is wearing my size 7 wedding ring on her legs!

The rest of these itty characters are porcelain reproduction dolls:

This one is really tiny!

This one is the largest:

I failed to get a picture of my itty anatomically correct little AA boy. I'll have to do that someday.

On Christmas day I began changing the babies back into their regular clothes. All the boys are changed and some of the girls. Ohhh! I get to share pictures again when I am finished!

Hugs!

Can I get a custom reborn baby for peanuts?

2011-12-29T07:27:00.000-08:00

Awe, people are funny and dogs bite...and sometimes vice versa!

Sometimes my reborn buddies come along at JUST the right time with something that releases stress that reborn artists deal with every day.

Recently, I had a person contact me through my website. She wanted a custom baby. I kindly explained that I am no long taking custom baby orders and directed her to the 5 babies that are available on my site.

She responded with, "Yes, I saw those but I thought a custom might cost less".
?????

It is hard to understand this type of thinking~but no matter.

One of our reborn buddies created this

XTRANORMAL

video to simulate a scenario that most of us have had.

Grab a cup, sit back and be amazed! LOL

It's good to have this form of relief.

I've been looking at new cars. I want another Subaru Outback. There is the basic model and the Limited Edition model. Hmmm...wonder if I can get that Limited Edition model with the heated leather seats and all the bells and whistles for less than the basic model? Hehehehe

Have a good day! We are getting so close to the New Years Day drawings!!!

I'm so excited that I need a blog shout of of those who have not checked in yet!

Hugs!

Baby Bess going home to Mommy!

2011-12-28T08:04:00.001-08:00

This is the third "Dimples" by Melissa Palesse kit I've done and I just don't think I can tire of it!

Please welcome Bess!

Two of the Dimples kits together: Sammie, one of the prototypes of Dimples that I made and kept and Bess:

Peek-A-Boo Mommy! I'm on my way home to you!

These girls make such wonderful winter babies!

Bess is my last reborn for 2011 and she is my 260th reborn. She is joining 17 other TNGUN siblings! What a lucky girl is she (and I!)!

Have a happy Wednesday!

Traditional Jingle Bell horse ride

2011-12-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

I sure hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
I made sure to take my annual, traditional bare back Jingle Bell ride on my best boy, Toby.

It sounds so pretty as we trot around with the bells draped over his shoulders. Snow makes is all the more magical but we just have not had the snow this year.

I'm back to work as of last night. I got the custom order Dimples (Bess) rooted! I'll trim her hair this morning and let her sealers air out before I put her together. I am so delighted!

The next few days will find me rooting the prototype of Lotte.

Hugs to all! (More later~running behind already!)

Sharing my collection Friday~Christmas Babies!

2011-12-23T10:01:00.001-08:00

Oh dear! Where to start on this blog! Well first, before I could change the babies, it was time to bring the cherry crib back into the nursery after having it out of there for most of 2011 while I did the Gallery window display and used the crib for the fall shows. I simply had not had the time to bring it back in.

Looking at this mess one wonders just WHERE that crib is going to go!?!?!?

Right there! Where there is a will, there is a way!
This last summer, we had also purchased a matching changing table for the crib. I thought it would replace my old one which is right inside the door, to the right of this picture (I am standing in the door way to take the picture) but, the new table it too long and won't fit in the space. But I really wanted to use it! So...

I took out and have decided to sell a "co-sleeper" baby bed that I had in the corner where now the new changing table resides. as you can see, I am using it to display babies:

Once I got all the furniture arranged, it was time to put babies in their places. The boys are VERY delighted to have their crib all to themselves once again.

And the girls were just as delighted to not have to cram in with the boys!

Let me share some close ups of these beautiful dolls.

These are some of them that are not in the nursery but in other areas of the house:

Joylynne (manufactured prototype from Ashton Drake and Huti Babies) keeps us delighted in the high chair in the dining room:
The "cowkids" Matthew (reborn made by me) and Tamara (Manufactured doll by Masterpiece Galleries and Dawn Donofrio) will be in their pj's waiting up by the tree for Santa to arrive:
Precious Sammie (reborn prototype made by me) is resting peacefully in the buggy in the living room:
A close up of her since I love her oh-so-much!

Audra, my mini OOAK by Sharon Robinson is on the dresser in the nursery:
Brennan, Mini OOAK by Sharon Robinson is content in the Strombecker cradle that one of my dear friends gave me for Christmas this year.

Chance, Mini OOAK by Sharon Robinson, loves his rocking horse!

And spoiled Mindy, a Mini OOAK by Sharon Robinson, loves her little walker:

Gianna (Reborn by Heaven's Garden of Angels) is on the dresser:

And so is my JD Kestner antique Baby:

Kenji (OOAK Huti Baby) rests on the new changing table:

As does Olivia Grace (OOAK Angela Harris baby):

While Annie (Reborn made by Ally Marie) keeps watch over the sleeping OOAK's:

Megan (reborn by Bella Mia Babies) sleeps with two other babies on the second shelf of the changing table:

Becca (Manufactured Ashton Drake "Farrah Beth" by Bonnie Chyle) stands near the basket of mini reborns:

Molly (reborn by Little Barn Babies/Kate Leach) sits in the nanny's chair:

On the bench are Sarah (Manufactured Masterpiece Galleries doll...I can't think of her artists name right now!)

Darling Debbie (Manufactured Berenguer doll called "Little Ballerina")

Jasmine (Jasmine at 1 1/2 yrs by Ashton Drake and Waltrud Hanal~manufactured) and Janae (Manufactured doll by Masterpiece Galleries and Laura Tuzio Ross):

Tika (reborn prototype by Valencia Lacy):

Lisa (Gotz manufactured doll)

Girls in the vintage mini crib:

Louisa (reborn prototype by Selena Saxton)

Sweet Pickles! (reborn by a gal named Rene from years ago):

Khami

Those in the girls cherry crib:

Abi (reborn by me)

Another shot of of Abi while she waited in the "holding area" as I re-arranged. I just love this shot of her widdle bum! She is snuggling Rory (reborn prototype by Dawn Donofrio...Dawn reborned him!)

Marquelle (reborn by Antie Dawn~one the last reborns she ever made. Antie Dawn is now Delta Dawn mohair)

Lauren in Silicone (Jorja Pigott/Pigott's Playpen):

Carrie Lynn (Laura Tuzio Ross silicone):

In the boys crib:
Giovanni (Laura Tuzio Ross silicone):

Michael (customized Ashton Drake/Bonnie Chyle by me) , Daniel (reborn by Yolanda Gomez) and Rory (reborn prototype by Dawn Donofrio):

Tommy~in the center with the red antlers on! I can't believe I forgot to take his picture!

Tommy is a hollow-cast silicone by Melissa McCrory. Here is another shot from distance. Also in this picture are Jacob (L corner~mini reborn by one of my reborn students), Giovanni in the rear L corner, Tommy, next to him Buddy Cassidy (manufactured Lee Middleton), Michael, Daniel, Rory then Josh in the front (reborn by me) and Erik (reborn by me)

Whew! That was a LOT of work...more work than doing the whole nursery I think! LOL There are a lot of babies that I didn't take individual pictures of...or any pictures of.
I am so very blessed to have all these dolls to enrich my life!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

A new baby is...PAINTED! Lotte!!! Blog call out

2011-12-22T07:44:00.001-08:00

This sweet baby really moves me! I just want to sit in the rocking chair and hold her all day! Of course, I can't yet as she really is not on her body~LOL

And she needs rooted hair.

I am officially on Christmas Break. That being said, I will be rooting on Bess the next two nights. I didn't get to rooting last night as I had some last minute packages to get ready for the mail today.

I'll be back to work on Tuesday, however, I'll pop in with silly antics from my personal babies...especially on Friday~oh I have lot's of pictures to share!

Thank you to those who have called out on the blog! I've got you on the list :)

Merry Christmas everyone! May you be blessed XXOO

Bess is getting hair!

2011-12-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

I always struggle putting dark hair on babies. I LOVE dark hair on babies but never feel like my tone and hair match up. But for this little sweetie, I am most pleased! I love this color on her.

This is Suri Alpaca hair in natural black. I said I would never root Alpaca again but I am...and it might be my last! LOL I was combing the hair on her right side and all the hair around her ear came out! So now I am sealing it as I go (I still have to re-root that area). I have no idea why it came out there~it's not coming out other places but then again, that area was hard to root.

Last night I got the top done through the swirl. Now just the back and the rest of the sides, including that area to re-root. I also need to darken her brows but wanted to wait until I was done.

I'm pretty much ready for Christmas so I'll spend the next three nights rooting. She will be going home for the New Year!

Miss Becky, I got your comment! You are back up and running! XXOO

Have a good day ya'all!

I blushed Lotte yesterday and am ready to do undertones, thin skin, veins and highlights today.

Michael is in the Christmas Spirit!

2011-12-20T07:03:00.001-08:00

Since I missed posting from my personal collection last Friday, I thought I might enlighten you today. Last Friday I began to change the babies for Christmas, and on Saturday, I re-arranged the nursery and finished changing those I could. My oh my...I have a lot of babies and I need a bigger house!

Anyway, I'll share some pics of those two days this coming Friday.

Oh I had so much fun and Michael really got into the Holiday Spirit.

He was singing Joy to the World at the top of his lungs!

I'm not so sure it was working very well for Tommy though! LOL

Oh how I just love my little kids!

Happy Tuesday!

Mika will be home for Christmas!

2011-12-19T08:53:00.001-08:00

There he is singing "I'll be home for Christmas", but it won't be if only in his dreams because he is headed there today! And he only has to hop over to the next state.

Mika is a precious baldie. He ended up to be 21 inches and is such a joyful bundle!

Poor little guy...first his hat was lost in shipping. The company made good and sent another one though. Then the body I had for him ended up being way too thin so he had to wait for another one...this one is perfect for him.

I can't wait till his new mommy cuddles him.

I'm off to work at the Gallery all day today. Miss Bess' head is going with me so I'll be rooting hair on her (I already started but I plan to get a lot done today). She is the custom order "Dimples" I've been working on.

Hugs for the day!

Custom "Kitten" now Stella is home! PICS!

2011-12-18T07:38:00.001-08:00

TaDa! I can finally share pictures of the completed Stella who has arrived at her new home! She has joined 26 other siblings and is looking forward to an amazing Christmas.

Although technically, I am not taking custom orders any longer, I added this 9 month old sized girl in order to trade for a silicone Sophie Faber that this customer and dear friend had.

Here is my Sophie:

We are both very happy with our trade babies!

Remember, it is the end of the year:

BLOG CALL OUT! If you can't seem to post a comment, just email me at tngun05@gmail.com
Some followers are not able to get through on the comment option.

XXOO

Sharing WIP Prototype Lotte/Sebilla Bos

2011-12-16T10:21:00.001-08:00

Lotte is such a sweet and beautiful sculpt!
I am really enjoying working on her~she is a dream to reborn!

Day One:

Day two:
I spent all day yesterday just working on fine details, creases, lips and nails.

She is ready for blushing now.

XXOO

BLOG CALL OUT!! Nearing the end of 2011

2011-12-15T08:46:00.000-08:00

It is truly unbelievable that the end of 2011 is right out the back door. Wow.

That means that two exciting things are happening:

One is that soon, on January 1st, I will be drawing from the pot of names of those who have faithfully followed my blog for all of 2011.

This is where you come into play. You must comment to me that you are still here otherwise I don't know. I'll be posting reminders of this for the next two weeks so do give a shout out! There are 91 followers signed up on this blog. Of those 91, I had 12 followers give a shout out in June.

So...are you there? Just comment~it won't be published~only I will see your comment. Then I can add you to the list.

Oh? What is the prize you ask? The winner of that drawing will be able to purchase a TNGUN custom reborn baby for 1/2 price! This can be from any lines of my reborn babies! You can cash this in anytime in 2012 and I'll reborn your baby as soon as I can and of course you are free to pass the drawing onto the next draw if you like.

Good luck!

The other exciting drawing is for those customers who have adopted from me in 2011.

The winner of that drawing will receive $600 off a custom "Master Artist Series" reborn baby! Just a little token of my appreciation.

There are still chances to get added into the Customer Drawing to be held on New Years Day as well.
Although I won't have any auctions on eBay until the first of the year, I do have these five babies available on my website. Click the baby's name to go to their website adoption page where many more pictures are available:

~Noah John~

~Missy~

~Haku Ibu~

~Nicky Jack~

~Sweetie~

Alright, good luck everyone!

XXOO

Well nuts!

2011-12-14T09:26:00.000-08:00

How is that for a title?

But, that is how I felt yesterday (and today really!) when I went to assemble Mika and his body just was not going to work.

Who knows why the wrong body was in the wrong package but it was. I've ordered him a new body and will try again when it arrives.

However, the Kitten sculpt, now Stella has left the nursery and is heading home to her new mommy to love.

Today I will work on the Lotte prototype. She is all ready for paint!

Here is a peek of her in clay form:

I LOVE her chunky cheeks!

Have a good day XXOO

That gorgeous Feser girl~awesome ending price!

2011-12-13T08:20:00.000-08:00

I love when fellow artists gain a good price for their dolls as did
Le Ruban Rose Nursery did during the sale of

~LINDA~

I was told yesterday that my dolls are expensive. Well they DO cost real money as my real money and time are spent on them but as a doll collector myself, I do not feel that this sweet girl, Linda, was expensive. She is a beautiful work of art and if I had the $$ to spend, I would have purchased her without one hesitation.

Of course I understand the time, money, energy and sleepless nights that go into creating a piece like her. To me, she is a grand value!

Congratulations Le Ruban Rose Nursery!!

XXOO

Two babies will be home for Christmas!

2011-12-12T08:48:00.001-08:00

THIS little stinker will be going home to his mommy on Wednesday! Mika's paint is finished and since I took these pictures, he has his lashes and gloss and is ready for assembly and photos.
And his replacement hat that was lost from the UK is here! Yay!

Remember this little Peek-A-Boo? Well she is FINALLY rooted but I can't show you! Other than knowing what sculpt she is and seeing this picture of her tone, she is a mystery baby! I'll share her after she arrives home...she also will be leaving on Wednesday.

THIS one has been patiently waiting for hair so she is next! She won't make it home for Christmas but she will be home for the new year.

I'll be starting prep work on prototype Lotte by Sebilla Bos today.

Hugs!

The Huggy Bear that Dianna Effner reborned! Painted eyes!

2011-12-11T09:47:00.001-08:00

Dianna Effner and her first vinyl reborn kit, Huggy Bear, that she reborned under my supervision. She did an excellent job!

Dianna offers this kit with two options:
open eye sockets for insertable eyes which I reborned my Huggy Bear with:

and blank vinyl sockets that can be painted as seen on the left below:

Here is Dianna's version with the blank sockets that she painted:

Isn't that amazing??

I love this picture of Dianna's Huggy Bear as a boy:

So CUTE!

Let's talk about vinyl/rooting and varnishes!

2011-12-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

As I was working on Mika the other day, the sun came through the window and hit his head just right so that I caught a glimpse of the vinyl inside his head. Now, I don't usually examine the vinyl inside the doll heads but I have noticed...after rooting more than 260 doll heads....that there are sometimes spots that are simply very hard to root.

Ahha, that light through the head showed that there are very thick areas of vinyl and very thin areas of vinyl. That explains the difficulty at times but I will note that even though German made kits can have some variances in the head vinyl, I don't recall ever having a difficult time rooting a German made vinyl head. That is why I never mind rooting an Arianna, Tatiana or Angelica. They have always taken me less time than any Chinese made vinyl toddler heads. And they always turn out so beautiful.

While rooting on the big ole "Kitten" head last night, I really noticed some quarter size spots in that head...I could FEEL them and of course, they were very hard to root in those areas. (I have just the size of my palm and one finger left to root on her! Whooo!)

Yes, it is true, I am very biased towards German made vinyl.

The order of Liquitex Ultra Matte Gel arrived and I've had just a little bit of time to play around with it. This is a product I am trying out to see if it can replace the Genesis Matte Varnish (GMV) since the GMV has been so inconsistent and very difficult to use.

I was hoping that I could apply this gel directly to the vinyl as a primer, but it really is not meant for that and did not knock down the shine of the vinyl at all. It is described to be used as a medium IN the paints. I do like the texture...it takes away the slick feeling of the vinyl but is still soft to the touch, much softer than GMV, and there would be no baking involved.

So I mixed some of this gel with some LDC pigments and then added water. Since the gel is a medium, I just replaced the LDC retarder with it. I found out that the gel and paint must be mixed together first, before the water is added and it does not take much pigment to the gel as the gel intensifies the paint. When adding water before combining the gel and pigment, the gel became lumpy like tapioca pudding and took a bit to stir together. It DID stir together, just took more time. After just one layer on a test piece I did notice a reduction in shine and am anticipating full shine knock out by time a reborn is fully painted with this combination.

This gel is not to be used as a finish but it does not say that it needs a finish but rather "permanent, non-yellowing, flexible and water resistant when dry".

The gel is semi-opaque. I was not sure how I felt about that but what I painted so far does not look opaque to me and I am a little excited about what might happen with some of that ucky dark pink, red and brown opaque vinyls when painted with a richer mixture of paints mixed with this gel. Opaque against opaque might be just the fix needed for those.

So, I am hoping that in about a month I can make a reborn for me to keep using this gel and my LDC paints. I am due for a new TNGUN baby (I try to make one for me each year) and this will allow me to watch the finish on the doll over time.

Fun stuff!

Just love the Mika Donnelly sculpt! WIP

2011-12-07T08:23:00.000-08:00

This is the second "Mika" sculpt by Phil Donnelly that I've done, and both times, this baby has had me smiling through the entire process. This one is a custom order and will be bald. I've inserted one tooth~the other Mika I did I gave two teeth.

I should have him fully painted by late tomorrow.

Just love him!

XXOO

It's all about ME today!

2011-12-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

Aren't I cute??? LOL This was my outfit for the 2011 Jingle Bell Run/Walk in Portland Oregon. I love the big, shining snowflakes in the background. We had a good time with family over the weekend of this run. I did my 5K walk (3.1 miles) in 42 minutes, 54 seconds.

We traveled home on Sunday but since my husband and son were around yesterday, I took the day off. With great joy, I watched my Huggy Bear's auction soar to $1235 in the last few seconds of his time! It's been a long time since I've had a Moon Baby and this could not have come at a better time. I am very thankful! Huggy Bear, now named Thomas is traveling home to the UK today.

Speaking of Moon Babies~I think this one will go beyond the moon and if I could, she would be mine:

~Gorgeous "Linda"~

I think she is simply delightful and would love to help me decorate the tree!

To which I got set up yesterday (using the fake one this year), got the lights on and some of the garland. That's as far as I got. My husband lured me onto the couch to watch Miracle on 34th Street so I set the decor aside. I'll get back to it...sometime between now and Christmas!

Today will find me walking Huggy Bear/Thomas to the post office, painting on the custom Mika Donnelly and finishing the day by rooting on big Kitten. Ohhh....just have the back of her head to do now. Of course the back of her head is my whole hand stretched out some!

Have a great Tuesday!!
XXOO

Sharing my collection Friday~New cup!

2011-12-02T07:48:00.001-08:00

Hewwo Aunties!
Dis is Joylynne.
I has sometin to show ewe....

I dot a new tup!

Mommy Debbie should ob cweaned it so you could see da pretty silver and duck but hers was more interwested in pwaying wif me!

Love Joylynne

Rooting, rooting and more rooting!

2011-12-01T08:05:00.000-08:00

Oh how I wish I could show you how the "Kitten" sculpt is coming along but this is a "mystery" baby for my customer. She knows which sculpt it is, but nothing more.

This head is BIG and takes a long time to root! I am using baby fine kid hair, 3 needles (42g & 40g CROWN and a 38g Ultra). I am more than 1/3 of the way done and have all day today and this evening to root. This is getting exciting!!

I am hoping that today the 3rd and 4th set of eyes I've ordered for her arrive. Who knew it would be so difficult to get eyes to fit this sculpt? Part of the problem is the color that I wanted. Not all colors come in all types of eyes.

Next in line for rooting is that custom order "Dimples" named Bess by her mommy. She'll be rooted with black/brown Suri Alpaca hair unless I have as many problems rooting that alpaca as I did with the Sweet Melody prototype.

I have prepped my next custom order, a Mika Donnelly sculpt and applied his little tooth. I will paint him next week. He is a bald baby and will be so fun! I ordered an outfit from the UK for him which arrived the other day in a gigantic box that was damaged. So damaged that the hat for the outfit fell out along the way. But the company emailed this morning stating they are sending another one right out. Can't wait to see the size of the box! LOL

AND...I was asked by Petra Jansen of Petra's Dolls in the Netherlands to reborn a prototype for Sebilla Bos. "Lotte" arrived yesterday and oh my~I am IN LOVE! It's a beautiful sculpt with incredible details. I will start her on the 13th of December. (I tried to add a picture of the OOAK but seems my blog is not working correctly)

Makin' Babies...

Why do artists charge "so much"?

2011-11-30T08:47:00.000-08:00

I found this on a Facebook post, found the words to be meaningful, changed them up a bit and thought I would share:

Have you ever asked why ARTISTS (Reborn Artists, Makeup Artists, Designers, Tattooists, Painters, Actors, Singers, Dancers,Musicians or anyone who falls under the artist category) charge "SO MUCH" for their work or performances?

Consider that, we don't get paid vacation, we don't get paid sick days, we don't get bonuses for outstanding performances nor for Christmas. We don't have insurance plans. We don't have a business that we work for that pays for all the supplies needed to do our "job".

We sacrifice our family on special days trying to meet deadlines so that we can bring happiness to others.

Illness or personal affairs are not excuses for bad work or a bad performance.

Next time you ask, remember that ARTISTS are ARTISTS because we love our art and the people that we serve. The "so much" that we get does not even begin to compensate for all that is in the realm of that which we produce. I've said it before~we would all be financially well off if we just went to work for someone else. :)

Loving my art......

Huggy Bear Prototype 1 on eBay!

2011-11-29T07:50:00.000-08:00

I am simply delighted with the little man!

How exciting to finally have Dianna Effner's first ever vinyl kit reborned and up on eBay!

~Huggy Bears Auction~

Dianna tells me that she has her Huggy Bear assembled and will be taking pictures next week. She will be keeping her prototype and said that he was a huge hit at the family Thanksgiving dinner.

I will post pictures of her boy here on the blog when she send me some.

XXOO

Great article about reborns!

2011-11-28T08:34:00.000-08:00

I met a lady several years ago by the name of Rebecca Martinez. She is a photographer, no, an artist in photography.

Rebecca has followed the reborn crowd around for many years taking photos and engaging her subjects, being very intrigued with the reborns, the artists, the collectors and the public in general.

Rebecca happened to be at the right place at the right time when a reporter (Zoe Williams) for the Guardian, a UK based paper, saw her doll. A very interesting article came of this meeting.

~Reborns: Dolls so life-like you could mistake them for real infants~

It's a great read!

Rebecca has a small gallery of photos on her website. Within some of those photos are two very dear friends of mine~we have been at many of those events that were taking place where Rebecca shot the photos.

Great stuff to share!

Hugs for Monday!

Holiday check in

2011-11-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been fun and lazy. I am not used to having this much time on my hands and sometimes feel lost as to what to do!

With the family out on a trail run this morning and just the grandgirl and I at home, I think she and I will change some babies into Christmas outfits. We love doing that together!

Some packages came in the mail today~another thing I love~and in them were some matte artist medium that I am going to try instead of Genesis Matte Varnish. That is pretty exciting to me.

The other package was the outfit I ordered for the custom order Dimples. Oh my goodness it is so cute and perfect for her. I did hear from her mommy and she agrees with me, a bit more blush would be wonderful.

Tonight we are going to a live play. That will be fun!

Hugs for Saturday!
XXOO

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T08:20:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving from my fall home and babies to yours!

May you have a lot of loved ones around to roll in the leaves with!

Bless each and every one of you...

See you on Monday.

Dimples #3 paint complete

2011-11-22T08:51:00.001-08:00

I just don't think I could get tired of this sculpt! I have loved all three that I have done.

This little gal is a custom order that's been on the books for almost a year now. Her "mommy" wanted her to have peaches and cream skin tone and very dark hair. This hair is just popped under the head band but it is the hair that I might use. It is Suri Alpaca.

I am thinking that she might need a bit more cheek blush but I will let her mommy decide that.

Hugs for Tuesday!

Kids say the darndest things!

2011-11-21T07:05:00.000-08:00

Even adult kids!

My oldest daughter called the other morning at 7:45. She said, "Hi Mom. I hope I am not calling too early, did I get you out of bed?" to which I exclaimed "Oh Heaven's no! I've been up since 4:45!" She blurted out "WHY?!??! It's not like you have a job to go to or anything!"

ROFL ROFL ROFL!!!

Oh my goodness did I giggle at her! I told her that she simply has no idea and that if I don't get up then, I don't get my walk in, I get started late in my day and I just get further behind than I already am.

Too funny~I don't have a job to go to!

Toodles...I am off to my job!

Huggy Bear kit available for pre-order

2011-11-20T09:44:00.000-08:00

The Huggy Bear vinyl reborn kit is now available for pre-orders on the

EXPRESSIONS website

This kit is made of German vinyl and is lovely to paint!

I can't wait to see all the Huggy Bears out there!

(Prototype auction will begin Monday November 28, 2011)

My grandson is here!

2011-11-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

My work thoughts have been a bit distracted by the fact that our sweet grandson entered into the world yesterday, November 16th, just shortly after 2 pm.

This precious family lives 5 hours from us and they like their privacy these first few weeks so I won't be officially meeting our little man (who weighed in at 9 lbs 2 ounces!) for a time.

My kids are very private and protective people so I won't be posting pictures or names~I just wanted to share the exciting news!

XXOO

Genesis Heat Set mediums

2011-11-16T08:15:00.000-08:00

I thought it was just me that was struggling with Genesis Matte Varnish lately. The last two jars I have purchased were super thick, not even able to stir it into a soft gel as in the past. It is unusable unless thinned with Genesis Thinning Gel as I have had to do. I am not happy about this as I am not sure how matte the thinning gel will stay. I KNOW that when Genesis products are mixed with odorless thinners, the finish becomes shiny over time. I don't use odorless thinners.

Come to find out that many artist are having problems with all of the Genesis medium, from thinning gel down to glazing gel. And the mediums are not mixing up properly with odorless thinners as they have in the past.

The Genesis company is telling retailers that their products were never intended to use on vinyl anything, let alone dolls. Of course I know that but I have enjoyed the use of their matte varnish until now.

I used a product called Delta All Purpose air dry Sealer on three dolls in the past year. I had a love/hate relationship with the sealer and finally threw a big ole bottle of it away! I might have to purchase it again and refine my technique of it's use. I have seen all three dolls since they were adopted and all three still looked wonderful. It's a pain to use as it does dry very fast but it is easy to touch up.

I did get the Dimples sculpt coated with matte varnish yesterday. I'll see how she looks this morning before I begin painting. Wish me luck!

XXOO

Nursery news

2011-11-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

Now that I have covered my trip to Dianna Effners, it's time to update on the happenings in the nursery.

Not fully happy with Huggy Bear due to having to get him done on camera, I added some hair along his bang line. It's just right! Today I will do some minor tweaking~adding gloss here and there and adding a bit more blush. Then the little man will be ready for his auction on eBay. His outfits are so simple and cute. He looks so adorable in layette type clothing~I can't wait to take his pictures!

On the painting table is a custom order Dimples that has been on order for quite a long time.

In the rooting station is the custom order Kitten. She is the one that I tore the hair out before I went to Missouri. I began rooting her again last night with much better results. This hair is perfect for her.

In the shipping department is a big box of clothes to send to my son and daughter-in-law. Some of the things are for my sweet 2 yr old granddaughter and the rest is for our soon-to-be-born FIRST grandson. (I went shopping!) That has nothing to do with the nursery but I wanted to share my anticipation and excitement! His due date is November 21. They have two names selected but my son tells me "Well, I have to SEE him first before I fully decide!" LOL He is a wise man.
They are a very private family so I won't be there for the delivery but I'll be traveling up soon after he is born to offer a helping hand and arms to cuddle both babies.

Hugs for the day!

How will that reborning DVD turn out?

2011-11-14T07:22:00.000-08:00

I really don't know!

I fully planned out the introduction and practiced it. (Don't laugh! Strange things happen to a person~even a confident person~when in front of a camera!) I got to see a quick edit of the intro to which I was very happy. In my planning, I just figured that once I started the actual reborning of the doll, I would not need any helps.

There were several factors that I didn't consider in my planning. One was that even though I had all of my supplies, I was not in my normal "space" where it is comfortable and things are just there in front of me in their place and order, flowing as I reborn.

I did not consider in the equation sever fatigue where a term or a tool that is so common and ordinary to me could quickly slip from my mind leaving me stumped as I tried to explain what I was doing or using. And of course there again was the camera taunting me, teasing me, making me feel inadequate! I will master that camera!

Dianna and her son kept reassuring me that everything I was feeling was completely normal. Dianna told me that I did a great job on the teaching and explaining and not to worry.

One thing is for sure, I won't offer it up if I am not positive that it will be a real help to the reborner~new and skilled alike. So if it does come up for offer~rest assured it will be good.

The tapes have been left in Missouri where Dianna's son will edit them onto a DVD for my review. I will be anxiously awaiting the proof!

XXOO

"Expressions" Doll Molds by Dianna Effner

2011-11-13T08:56:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Expressions in Jamestown Missouri!

This is the company that produces Dianna Effner's doll molds for purchase as well as provide many doll making supplies.

Expressions was closed on the day that I took a self-guided tour so other than the little bit of information that I understand about mold processing from the questions that I asked Dianna Effner, I really cannot tell you too much about this process.

I can tell you that this building is HUGE! This section, the area where they do some of the mold processing is just a small section of the building.

I never did ask what the big troughs of water are for but I assume they are for washing/cooling the molds during part of the process.

Back in the storage area of the warehouse are shelves and shelves of molds waiting to be purchased and shipped. I saw many sheets of instructions that go along with the molds.

All parts are labeled:

Some of the molds from the first stages of production:

This was the first time I've ever seen doll molds up close. It was really exciting for me to see! This is where beautiful dolls begin :)

Dianna Effner's "The Doll Studio"

2011-11-11T07:42:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Jamestown, Missouri, home of The Doll Studio.

Dianna Effner and I had hardly any time to spend much of it in the Doll Gallery, but any spare moment I had, I would wander into the doll-filled room finding myself delighted with the precious faces staring back at me. Not only are the dolls sweet, innocent and beautiful, the outfits are simply stunning and fit each personality so well.

Here are some quick pictures I took upon one of those short visits. I don't know their names, or even their stories. I just know that they are amazing!

This is a shot looking down from the stairwell that goes upstairs to the studios, classroom and guest housing units.

The door on the left at the top of the stairs leads to the guest room, the bunk rooms and women and mens restrooms. Many people can be housed in that side of the building.

The door straight on leads to studios where dolls are sculpted, clothes are sewn and photo's are taken. The door on the right leads to the large class room.

The filming set in the class room:

Around the upstairs studios, several dolls are found. These dolls are somewhere in the process of being created.

I am totally in love with this beautiful girl!

And this made me giggle!

This face is just so sweet and mystical:

There are many shelves that store supplies in every room.

I hope you enjoyed the quick little tour of The Doll Studio. It is a fantastic and very hospitable place. I was completely at home during my stay there. It is my wish for every doll artist to have such an accommodating place such as this. :)

Hey it's good to be back home again~PHOTOS!

2011-11-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

Hello again! I am home! As much as I enjoyed Missouri and my time there, I am delighted to be back in Oregon...I really missed it! We have snow in places left over from a good snow storm on Nov. 5th. The mountains have much snow. Ahhhh...winter!

I decided to show the photos that I took in sections and thought that you would be most anxious to see the Huggy Bear reborns first.

Here is the progression of both boys:

The babies are now painted in these pictures. Mine is on the left (with the wrong eyes in so they don't fit~that gets changed later) and Dianna's in on the right. The painting of the eyes needs to be done last, after hair is rooted. And we never did have time for her to do that :( She will be making a video of reborn eye painting as she finishes Huggy Bear. I can't wait to see!

Dianna's Huggy Bear:

She really did a beautiful job. She gave him some lightly painted hair to use as her guide. She was following a photo of her grandson whom this sculpt was sculpted after:

Both boys:

My Huggy Bear's right hand holding Dianna's Huggy Bear left hand:

Dianna rooting in the middle of the night~it was after 1 am in this picture, day three of rooting. She fell asleep right there where she sat about 15 min after I took this picture. This is the only picture I have of either of us. We were so busy and didn't have anyone around who had time to take pics plus we worked late into the nights too. In the 6 days that we spend reborning, we worked 84 hours each!

Dianna finished rooting her Huggy Bear the morning I was leaving. Here he is!

He is so sweet!

Dianna did a fantastic job on her first ever rooting! She had been studying rooting and hair lines for quite some time in anticipation of this class. Self study is always an added bonus to reborning.

And here is my Huggy Bear with his proper eyes. He is "finished" in these photos but I have some tweaking to do on him. Things that are not as excellent as I like due to trying to get him reborn in just 6 days. Dianna and I decided that Master reborning is not for sissies! LOL It takes a lot of dedication, time and attention to details. I will never attempt to reborn a Master Artist doll in such a short amount of days again!

Both boys with hair. Dianna's Huggy Bear is not on his body. Mine is but the company sent the wrong body so I need to order a new one for him as this one is a little long:

I am sure that Dianna will share pictures of her Huggy Bear when she finishes the eyes. I will then share here :)

Awe, even though much of our time together was kindof drudgery due to the LONG hours (about 14 hours per day of actual reborning) we had a really good time together. Some day I will go back again so that we can play dollies (something we were both so tempted to do!) And see more of Missouri.

Dianna has a lot of natural ability in reborning (duh!) and has some great ideas to experiment with. She LOVES using the Matte Varnish as a primer/first coat before painting. Of course she taught me a thing or two, which is normal whenever I teach anybody as this art is ever changing with new ideas evolving all of the time.

Tomorrow~if I have time (massive laundry day in prep for yet another running event for my family on Saturday~we have to leave at 4 in the morning on Sat. to get there in time!) I will post photo's of The Doll Studio which is the business you find Dianna's porcelain dolls at.

Then I will share the rest of the studio building and then the mold making business called "Expressions" where Dianna's molds can be purchased. The Huggy Bear vinyl kit will soon be added to Expressions for purchase.

Until then, have a great day!

XXOO

Huggy Bears are painted!

2011-11-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

But are there any photos? No.

I did take some photos of Dianna's doll shop, parts of the studio and of the doll mold warehouse. They just are not downloaded yet.

We had a good time painting our baby kits and I learned some wonderful tricks from Dianna. I love how Dianna painted her kit! She painted some hair on hers too. I will have to take a picture of that!

Today begins the weighting process (limbs) and rooting. Dianna is hoping that we won't have to work such long days.......

XXOO

End of day 2/Dianna Effner

2011-11-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

Still NO photo's yet but we did get finished in time to have some "down/leisure" time tonight. We both had to check our emails and websites so I thought I would pop in here.

We are at the exciting stage and it is so fun to watch Dianna get so excited as her life-like baby is born before her eyes! We almost didn't want to stop painting tonight!

We SHOULD be able to finish painting after a long day tomorrow...we sure hope to so that we can have three full days to root and assemble. Eeek...that will really be pushing it, but we are determined!

I hope to get a photo or two tomorrow.

XXOO

Having a great time at Dianna Effner's Studio!

2011-11-03T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hello from Missouri!

I am sorry, but I don't have any photo's to share as of yet. I should have taken a picture of Dianna's and my bedtime snack last night though...

We worked until nearly 11 pm and felt justified to bring out FOUR containers of coconut ice cream and sample flavors from each container.

My it was an exhausting day.

I was still recovering from a full day of traveling (and shopping after Dianna picked me up) so we started filming around 11 am (after unpacking my supplies, setting up the filming area and rehearsing many times.

LOL...our filming editor tells us that he will be saving some of the bloopers of the day! THAT should be fun! Hahahahahha

Dianna's studio is wonderful and I has a little peek of the porcelain warehouse/production area too. I do hope to get a full tour of that building and take pictures of the entire site including the doll room.....oh.....sweet Dianna Effner faces abound there! I could spend all day in that room!

Time is super limited, so is internet service (due to rain and wind) and I have NO cell phone service. It takes me back into time when life was just...simpler.

I'll check in again when I can.

XXOO

I'm leaving on a jet plane....

2011-10-31T08:10:00.000-07:00

But I DO know when I'll be back again!

You all have a great week while I am gone. Depending on internet connection and time, I'll try to pop in here to tell you how things are coming along with my and Dianna's Huggy Bear kits and the filming of it all.

XXOO

Photo collage from the Doll Museum field trip

2011-10-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...that is a bit small. I hope that clicking on it will make it bigger!

Anyway, as you can see, the group had a really great time during the whole field trip day!

~IN THE NURSERY~

All reborning here at the nursery is put on hold as I pack up the supplies and head to the airport tomorrow to fly out to Dianna Effner's on Tuesday! I really can't believe that the time has come as we have both waited so long for this to happen.

I am not sure how much internet service I will have or how much time. Don't loose faith that I am giving up on the blog~I am not. I just may not be able to get to it until I return on November 9th.

Melody found a mommy in Australia last night. I know she is going to love her to bits!

Debra has been adopted as well. There are still 4 beautiful babies left.

Take care!
XXOO

Huge "To Do" marked off the list!

2011-10-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

As we enter the holiday season (yes really...already!) it is important that if an artist has dolls ready for adoption/sale that she get them posted and available to the collectors.

Most years, I have not had any dolls available during the holidays, but with the slowing economy, this year, I have six babies available so I felt it very important to get them listed on my website.

I've been working on pictures for the last week or so and finally, after working on my website for most of the day yesterday, I have them all placed!

~HERE THEY ARE~

I think the page looks pretty good for an amateur website master :)

I really am relieved...so much so that I want to dance and skip!

Today will find me doing some odd jobs as I prepare for my upcoming trip to Dianna Effners studio on Tuesday. I will have to leave on Monday for the city close to the airport since my flight is very early on Tuesday.

XXOO

Wow, these are gorgeous, realistic dolls!

2011-10-26T07:40:00.001-07:00

I love finding beautiful babies on eBay.

There are two up right now that are so real looking!

The first is this Elisa Marx "Yelina" reborned by Linda Moore of Dolls2Babies:

YELINA

And the second is a new kit sculpted by Donna Rupert and produced by Bountiful Babies.
This one was reborn by Melissa George of Bundles of Loveliness.

HEATHER

And then this gorgeous ethnic baby sold right away on a Buy It Now sale. He was reborned by the very talented Brooke Nicole's sister, Lexus Ivy~wow...gorgeous!

BRYCEN CHASE

That was a fabulous price for that baby! Where IS that money tree when I need it?

Just wanted to share some babies that caught my eye this week :)

Have a great Wednesday!!

Sweet Melody Prototype on ebay!

2011-10-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

And is she ever SWEET!

Now, before I give the auction link, I KNOW that the gloss in her eyes is not dry and I have a bit more work to do on the eyes to get them perfect but I simply had no choice but to get her pictures done. I do note this in the auction.

~Melody's Auction Link~

Now I am off to the nursery to fix those eyes :)

Huggies!

Sweet Melody Prototype is done!

2011-10-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Assembly, pictures and auction going up today~Lord willing!

(Sorry, it was late last night and I didn't take any pictures yet)

Have a stellar day!

I'm back, rested and ready to work! Show pics!

2011-10-23T08:26:00.000-07:00

Oh I had SO much fun!

Here is what typically happens when me and my room mate friends get to our hotel rooms when we take a trip together.....we bust out the baby dolls and PLAY!

This time, my close friend Sally was my room mate. She is fussing with her new baby here.

And then Miss Susan (Sweet and Sassy prototype) tried on her new hat and booties...she was DELIGHTED with the Jackalope booties!

Later in the evening, there was a dolly clothing swap in the room of other gals and Susan just had a grand ole time!

Too cute!

This is Sally's new Michelle Fagan baby~SO ADORABLE!

On the way to the Puyallup Crossroads Doll and Teddy Bear show! The theme was "wear pink" in honor of our "sisters" who have battled breast cancer. Sally's outfit was wonderful!! She knows how to think PINK!

Me...not so pink! Sally added to my outfit by loaning me the pink scarf!

On Saturday of the show, they were running a hat contest. Sally's hat was just so charming!

AND she added pink to it!

Look at this amazing hat!

This little girl even got into the spirit of it:

The show was very fun to browse. Besides the show are gatherings of ladies who know each other through clubs and forums such as Doll Fan. Shows are great places to meet and deliver newly adopted dolls. At this show, 2 ladies had the privileged of "box openings".

Here is Monique opening her new baby:

First gazes into baby's face:

A beautiful ethnic Buggy Brown and one happy "mom".

Next it was Susan's turn:

This is her first silicone baby.

Gorgeous Sariah by Andrea Arcello!

And this new friend of ours, Danielle, had never really liked dolls. She just came along to spend time with her mom, but she has became twitterpated with BJD's at this show! This is her first BJD that she purchased at this show. (In our room the night before, she purchased another on eBay! LOL She is really in love!)

Doll Fan members just hanging out in the snack shack on the show room floor:
L-R: Heather, Erin and a REAL baby, Sally and Jess.

The show was closing and I found it so funny to watch groups of ladies rush to booths for last considerations/purchases.

The lady in read adopted a sweet Ariella from Stephanie (center).

On the Monday after the doll show, there was an organized field trip to those doll show attendees who desired to go. Here is the group at the Rosalie Whyel Doll Art Museum. I am third from the right in the back.
This museum is amazing! Not only is the building gorgeous, the collection is vast and pristine. We were honored to meet Rosalie and share some moments with her. She told us that even though the museum is full, this is only ONE FIFTH of her collection (the whole collection in the museum belongs to her).
We were only able to take this one photo as photo's are not allowed in the Galleries. The museum is due to close unless things turn around and more visitors come so if you are in the Bellevue, Washington area, you simply MUST go! It's delightful!

With the show and field trip events over, Sally, whom I spent the week with, took me to the Swedish store, IKEA. Oh what fun! We took dolls and spent some wonderful moments with customers. One gal even cried at how realistic the dolls are and said she would have one SOON!
Sammie (Dimples) took a little nap in the bin of puppy dogs....Zzzzzzzzz

I have more pictures of the visit to IKEA but don't have them downloaded off my phone yet.

Back at Sally's condo, we dressed up our Dimples girls:

I love going to visit the doll shows and customers turned friends. I get to spend time with dolls I've made and adopted out. Nina (below) had a joint come apart in her arm so I met with her "mommy" and did a little surgery on her. I so love this baby!

Alright....back to work! I leave in another 8 days to visit Dianna Effner and teach her to reborn. I think she might teach me more than I teach her and I can't wait!

Today I will FINALLY finish Sweet Melody prototype for Laura Tuzio Ross. Maybe I'll give a peek tomorrow before I set up her auction. We will see. Today marks the new fall and winter schedule at my husbands work. I work when he does (plus extra hours in the night) so we are going back to five 8 hour shifts a week instead of four 10's.

Hugs to you all!

Having a great time~my new silicone baby!

2011-10-17T07:48:00.001-07:00

Here she is! Please meet Sophia Amelia Faber!

She is a solid silicone doll created by the very talented Sandy Faber.

I sure do adore her!
I found a stuffed rattle for her at the show yesterday and she was very upset as Dimples tried to take it from her~LOL

It was a wonderful weekend!! It was so nice to just take the time off and enjoy the doll show. There was a fair sized group of ladies from Doll Fan who met at this show and enjoyed a lot of fun times together. Good friends are met through forums and at activities and I am so happy for that!

What will this week bring??? :)

Sleepless in Seattle!

2011-10-14T05:12:00.000-07:00

I am currently sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to Seattle to spend a week of vacation and dolly bliss!

Even though the nights might be long as we girls talk and talk and talk, I will return to the nursery refreshed and ready to finish the projects that have been so difficult for me lately.

Rests and breaks are a must I am finding out!

I did not get the "Kitten" head rooted...in fact, I spent 9 hours rooting her on Tuesday only to spend 1/2 hour on Wednesday morning pulling it all out! I just was not happy with it.

So I picked up the Laura Tuzio Ross prototype "Melody" to attempt to finish her hair. I only had the top to finish but even after 7 hours, I am still not done with her. She will be first on the list when I return home as I've done Laura such a disservice showing her to the world.

"See" you when I get back!

XXOO

I smell a SKUNK! Cindy Kohlsheen returned??

2011-10-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

One of the ladies on Doll Fan found this seller in eBay:

~mombargainfinds~

This seller is selling RDK kits and kits from Cindy's exclusive club (I can't recall the name of that club at the moment)~and that is ALL that she has for sale. RDK and the club kits exclusively.

It sure does smell like a stinky skunk to me. I knew Cindy K would turn up again eventually. She calls herself Cheryl Williams in this identity. Her identity "Emma Castle" on facebook has had no activity since February.

Here is the POST ON DOLL FAN regarding this new seller.

Just had to pop in here to blow the horn. Hehehehehehe

Oh and speaking of blowing the horn, Jenny Gannon is now Jenny Singleton on Facebook. Some people never give up. ~sigh~

Avoiding the blog...and other things!

2011-10-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

Once again I wonder where the "slow down" of September and October went/is??

However, I did just enjoy 5 days off (sort of~I did root on Melody through Friday night). On Saturday, we traveled out of town for my husbands very first marathon run. Here he is coming across the finish line. I am amazed that after 26.2 miles, he remembered to stop his personal GPS that keeps track of his time, miles and pace. WOW!

He placed 5th in his men's age group with a 4 hour, 37 minute 15 second finish. I am so proud of him!

After a lovely meal we checked into the Anniversary Inn in Boise, Idaho for a stately stay in the Marble Mansion room. Oh my...that room was as big as the main part of my house! I woke up to my 47th birthday feeling like a queen!

Arriving home late last night after shopping our way home, I am now ready for a major rooting marathon. I have two days to root big ole "Kitten" head and another half a day to get my laundry done, organize my husband and son, pack my bags and head to Seattle Washington to spend a week of dolly bliss! You may not hear from me until I get back after October 21st.

Hugs to all!

Colliii award nominee's are IN!

2011-10-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Colliii Award Nominee's are in!

Well, some of them anyway. The reborn category and the OOAK category are now posted online.

~SEE THEM HERE~

CONGRATULATIONS to all the nominees! I wish you the best of luck through the jury voting!

Many of these talented ladies I know personally so I'm really excited for them!

XXOO times 15!

Waiting for Colliii nominations

2011-10-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

Are the rest of you as excited as I am for the revelation of the 2011 Colliii nominations?

They will be posted HERE sometime in the next couple of days.

Another thing I am excited about is the 2012 IDEX show January 26-29, 2012.

IDEX will be allowing cash and carry sales from the show room floor for the first time in IDEX history! Being a trade show, this was never allowed before and buyers had to either order their dolls or pay for and pick them up on the final day of the 3 day show. I better start saving my pennies!

Once again, there will be a Tiny Treasures doll contest which is always fun.

AND....IDEX is at SeaWorld this year!

I can hardly wait. :)

Beyond artist block

2011-10-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

Beyond artist block is when an artist isn't out of ideas, she is just too tired to take action on ideas.
That is where I find myself the last 20 hours...I'm just flat tired. I WANT to work on my babies (and I am) but my hands just keep stopping.

Rooting on Prototype Melody is going very slow. Come to find out that Alpaca hair is tedious to root. I think I will like the outcome, I just want the outcome to have happened yesterday!

I started paint on a custom toddler. This is the toddler that I will be trading for a new baby for me. My new baby is a Sophie Faber solid silicone Asian girl. I can't wait to cuddle that little chubby girl again. I've "met" her already~years ago in fact and have never got her out of my mind.

The painting is going well.

Several babies still have not had pictures edited and placed on my website. Hmm...someday I might get that done~LOL

I'm anxious for the Puyallup Doll and Teddy Bear show coming up Oct 15-16. I will spend a week with one of my best friends and enjoy spending time with many of my doll artist friends and new friends that I will meet. Are we there yet???

Other's dolls from the Hello Dollie show

2011-10-03T08:47:00.001-07:00

There was one other table of reborns at the show.
All were created by Gina of Nonie's Angel's Nursery and the pictures don't do them justice. She had a gorgeous ethnic baby there that the pic was so bad, I can't bring myself to share it.
These first three pictures are of Gina's babies. She sold several babies and took a few custom orders.

The rest of these dolls are dolls or bears that I would have loved to have brought home! Some I could have bought but had NO room for.

This little Sheebee was so charming!

This little antique baby stole my heart! If I would have had the money, she would have come home with me!

Adorable!

This large porcelain doll was only $75. If only I had the room as I loved her!

These next three were cute little girls by Deb's Darlin's. They are porcelain.

Oh I LOVE this one:

Next are two OOAK sculpts~oh my gosh! They are so full of character and amazing!

HE needs to be bought by the cell phone store downtown and be put on display in their western window front! He is as wonderful as they get!

Ahhh...what a fun show!

2011 Hello Dollie Doll Show Caldwell, Idaho

2011-10-02T09:38:00.001-07:00

My booth. I was so pleased with it!

Noah Schick:

Tatiana Schick:

Debra:

Haku Ibu:

Nicky Jack:

Other show tables:

The show was quite small this year and the attendance even smaller. The Hello Dollie Doll Club did an amazing job organizing this show with drawings happening all day and a full baked potato bar~YUM!

At the end of the day two amazing raffles were drawn for. One was for a refurbished Patty Play Pal and the other was for an antique doll and gorgeous wicker carriage.

All of the attendees and vendors had a great day in spite of the small crowd.

None of my babies were adopted which means for the first time in a very long time, I'll have babies available for Christmas!

Tomorrow I will share some reborns from the other table of reborns and also some dolls that I would have loved to have brought home!

XXOO

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

2011-09-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

I might just make it! (Meaning getting Tatiana rooted before the show)

Yesterday, I finished the paint on Noah Schick. He has painted "just there" hair and is so adorable! So since I was able to finish his paint, now I have all day today and most of tomorrow to work on the rest of Tatiana's hair. I am excited and off to root!

XXOO

Fall schedule

2011-09-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

Usually September and October are a welcomed time of slowing down, but that does not appear to be happening THIS September and October....and November for that matter. And December, and January and February!

September has found me very busy working on prototypes and preparing for the Hello Dollie show to be held in Caldwell, Idaho this Saturday October 1st. (WHERE did September go again??) I'm not sure that I will get the Tatiana head rooted and completed for that show but I'll take her anyway as the entire front and top will be done. Since it's a local show, customers may look at her and if they should adopt her, I can bring her home, finish her and deliver her later.

So, September September 30-October 1st will find me in Caldwell, Idaho.

When I return, I will finish rooting the Laura Tuzio Ross "Melody" prototype, get her listed on eBay and begin painting a toddler for one of my best customers whom I am doing a trade with (I will be adopting a Sophie Faber silicone that I've loved for years now!)

October 8-10th will find me in Boise, Idaho as I support my darling husband while he runs his very first marathon race.

October 14-21 will find me in the Seattle, Washington area as I attend the Puyallup Dolls 4 All/Crossroads Doll and Teddy Bear show and visit said customer who I'm doing the toddler trade with.

I'll have a week to work on another custom order for another one of my best customers before I pack up supplies and head to Dianna Effner's studio where I'll show her the reborn techniques (November 1-8)

Over those next few weeks upon returning, I'll anxiously await the birth of my first grand son which will entail a trip to North-Central Idaho.

In December, my husband and I will travel to Phoenix, Arizona to visit his parents and attend a Clinton Anderson/Down Under Horsemanship tour with some dear friends (Yes Sharon~we are planning on coming! :)

The end of January will find me in true bliss as I attend the 2012 IDEX show in Orlando, Florida.

Then I'll be BACK in Orlando the third week of February to cheer on my daughter as she competes in the 2012 Disney Princess half marathon.

After that, I think I'll stay home for a while and get ready for the show in North Carolina in June!

Can I take a nap now?

Hello Dollie Doll show this Saturday~works in progress

2011-09-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

Hello Dollie Doll Show

October 1, 2011
10am-4pm
Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church
1122 W Linden St. (Linden and Farmway)
Caldwell, Idaho 83605

I will have 6 babies available for adoption during this show. I a currently working on:

Tatiana Schick who is getting her hair rooted. It's taking many late nights to get her done in time!

Aurora, now Debra is ready for assembly and a short photo session. In this picture she still has no eye lashes but I gave her some yesterday morning. She sure is darling!

And Noah Schick is in the process. He will have painted hair due to lack of time for rooting. I think he's going to be so cute! He will have the same fair skin tone as Tatiana.

XXOO

Prototype "Huggy Bear" by Dianna Effner

2011-09-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

I am so very excited and honored to give the first peeks of Dianna Effner's first vinyl baby doll reborn kit, Huggy Bear!

Isn't he just as sweet as can be? If you know Dianna Effner's dolls at all, you will know that they always have the sweetest, most innocent of faces.

Dianna has a real passion for and is an expert at painted eyes. Huggy Bear will be available with the option where you can paint the eyes or add standard doll eyes.

You can see a few pictures of Huggy Bear reborned by Dianna on her ~WEBSITE~

(scroll down to find Huggy Bear)

I have purchased my flight to Dianna's studio in November where I will teach her the reborn methods as we each reborn a Huggy Bear prototype together (she will show me how to paint eyes!). While we do that, her staff will film the sessions so that I can produce my own training DVD. This has been a dream in the makings now for more than 2 years! She and I are very excited.

Huggy Bear is not available yet for pre-order but when he is, he will be available through Dianna's Expression Dolls website as well as her Europe dealer. More information will follow as it is available.

Have a great day!

Sharing my collection Friday~1919 antique "Big Girl"

2011-09-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

I would like to introduce one of the more recent additions to my collection, a 1919 JD Kestner girl doll. Isn't she beautiful?

She is fully jointed and articulated and in wonderful condition.
And she fits right in with my decor. What a lovely gift from a dear customer!

May your weekend be exceptional XXOO

Just because I adore Cassie Peek

2011-09-21T07:25:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my voting in the 2011 Colliii awards!

Before I left the site though, I came across this article on

CASSIE PEEK

Because I adore her, I wanted to share the article in case you missed it :)

In the nursery, I finished rooting the Aurora sculpt whom I have named Debra. That RDK head was HARD to root. The vinyl just would not grab the hairs each time and it showed more poke holes than I like. The best vinyl to root is German vinyl, like the vinyl produced by Doll Dreams.

As I mentioned earlier, the RDK pink vinyl was horrible to paint too. I am satisfied with how the baby turned out but my goodness I did not have fun bringing her to life!

I am having fun bringing Tatiana by Reva Schick to life though. One can never get enough of Reva's sculpts! She is for the show on October 1st. I'll have to do some major long hours and turbo rooting to get her done. I should finish her paint today if all goes well.

Speaking of German vinyl....remember a very LONG time ago that I said that I would be reborning the prototype baby for Dianna Effner? That poor lady has been through the mill getting that kit produced into German vinyl but finally, she had enough "parts" to send me a complete kit to evaluate. The plan was that if I thought it was a good enough prototype that I would travel to her studio and teach her how to reborn while I reborned the prototype. Part two of that wonderful plan is that her staff will tape the reborning sessions and I can produce my own training DVD.

WELL....let me tell you, I am IN LOVE with this prototype, "Huggy Bear"! He is so very cute! I want to get started on him right away...but I'll stick with the plan. We don't have the travel plans fully sketched out yet but I am thinking sometime in the end of October, first part of November. And I've not yet approved the sneak peeks of the prototype yet with Dianna so~you'll have to wait. ~sigh~

Last night, I started the rooting on the Melody prototype by Laura Tuzio Ross. I am using suri alpaca hair and am loving the results. She probably won't be finished in time for the October 1st show as the rooting is going to take a very long time and, I've got to get Tatiana finished.

Update on my son:
The trip to the oral surgeon yesterday brought some good news and one less tooth that he came home with. The front tooth that was remaining in the upper jaw had to be removed. The chances of it surviving were very small as it was severed from the roots by 1/8 of an inch and setting it back into the position that it once was would only damage the tooth more. So for now, in total of 3 front teeth are gone. The 4th tooth in question has been braced with a pin connecting it to the tooth next to it for stability. That is the one that has the jaw broken around it and it has a very good chance of survival.

The jaw is broken in three places but thankfully, all of the breaks are in the soft tissue so no surgery needs to take place. He has a splint in the roof of his mouth on the left side which will make eating difficult (as if it's not difficult already! LOL) until that splint can be removed. All in all, it will take 6 months for the jaw to heal. Once his gums are healed up from the missing teeth and his lips are healed, the dentist will fit him with a retainer-type set of teeth. When his jaw is completely healed, he will be fitted with whatever type of teeth they decide later...a bridge or some form of permanent teeth. I am a little foggy on the options that are available for that process.

His spirits are good and...he really wants a hamburger! Last night, the whole family ate a soft food meal just to come beside him in support.

Today is my "Friday" but I'll try to pop in on Friday to share a collection baby. I'll root through the weekend as the clock is ticking!

Hugs!

It's been an emotional 9 days!

2011-09-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to mention the events over the last two days here on my blog as they are not dolly related, but I decided it best to inform my followers simply because I am sure I will probably say a few things over the next many months that will need some kind of introduction.

As if the death of our precious friend and the 10th anniversary of 9/11 weren't enough, our family has had another emotional event added to the emotional pile.

My oldest step-daughter tells the story best on her

~Blog Post~

I will add that we are a military family so these wounds run deeper than the wounds on my step-sons face. Our hearts are broken. What happened that night was so odd, but as my step-son says in his comment on that Blog Post, the soldier who hit him had an added demon of alcohol to fuel him. We are praying that THAT demon was the worse one that he has and that the other demons that seem to ail him can be healed. We are not as angry at him as we are hurting for him.

I am a slow processor of events so I'll be processing this for a while. In the mean time, I'll be processing many different foods in my Vitamix so that I can feed my son! He was only here for a short visit but it looks like he will be staying for a while. His recovery will take about 6 months for the jaw to heal and new teeth to be built. Right now, he is on a liquid diet. They are trying to get me to try to blend up pizza but I just don't think that will work! LOL

When he called from the emergency room that night and told me over the phone "yah, he knocked out two of my teeth" my first thought was "OH NO! Not the teeth! Bones can heal but teeth don't come back!" Well they will come back~they just won't be real.

The lost teeth are not the greater issue in his mouth. Upon preliminary evaluations, it is highly possible that the upper jaw in the center of his mouth is fractured in 3 places. One fracture is surrounding one of the teeth that did not get knocked out. The tooth is solid in it's roots but the bone around it appears to be broken. There is another tooth that probably won't live as well. That will make all 4 teeth in the front, top jaw damaged or gone. Those were three hard, direct hits. I have to give credit to the intoxicated mans ability to be so direct! The lower jaw is fine as is the nose. The lower lip has 3 stitches but it's already healing up nicely.

A trip to the city today to visit the oral surgeon will tell us much more about the fractures and the recovery plan. They did not have proper equipment here in our little city to get the Xrays that are needed.

So....my dolly work has been a bit strained but I'm still trying!

Quiet Monday

2011-09-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

I've not much to share today.

I'm rooting Aurora/Debra in the evenings and have prepped a Tatiana sculpt by Reva Schick for painting. Both of these babies are for the upcoming show on October 1st.

Little Melody is next in line for hair. I should be starting her tomorrow evening. I have a style in mind and am going to try some Sari Alpaca hair on her.

The next 10 days of schedule will be very tight and I don't think I'll be able to do many photo updates~but I'll try :)

Have a great Monday!

Colliii award voting is open!

2011-09-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is an exciting time of year in the dolly world as the 2011 Colliii awards are now open for public voting.

There are a lot of wonderful dolls to vote on....I've been casting my votes for the last couple of days.

You do have to register with colliii.com in order to vote but registration is free.

Grab a good cuppa, enjoy the dolls and

~CAST YOUR VOTES HERE~

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Sharing my collection Friday~A new BUNNY!

2011-09-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

I could not resist this precious Bunnies by the Bay bunny at the Portland show!
Bunnies by the Bay no longer makes these types of bunnies, or any of the other collectibles they used to make so she was a real find. She is prototype #1.

Of course we all know that Bunnies by the Bay makes wonderful items for babies (and dolls!) and the details that they used in making this bunny along with all the other wonderful BBtB items I saw that day has spilled over into the making of fine baby items and clothing.

Doesn't she match the nursery just beautifully?

Have a beautiful weekend!

Sweet Melody Prototype~Laura Tuzio Ross

2011-09-14T18:03:00.001-07:00

Oh I just could not wait until my weekend was over (Thursday-Saturday) to show you just how sweet Melody is! I am really loving this baby!

Her paint is now finished~I wanted her to be full of details yet very soft in complexion.

Sure can't wait to give her hair!

I've got someone from my collection to show you on Friday but, I don't know if I'll get to it. If not, see you on Sunday!

XXOO

My first Baby Beau and Belle purchase/Sassy's auction

2011-09-14T07:36:00.001-07:00

Isn't that just precious??

Finally, after more than 6 years of dreaming of purchasing an outfit from Baby Beau and Belle, the dream has come true and just in time to outfit adorable Sweet and Sassy!

This set is from the "Belle" collection. Accented with pretty ribbons on the sleeves gorgeous lace on the headband, bodice and booties, this set could not be any more beautiful.

Sweet and Sassy's auction is ready to run at 11 am today. I'll post the link after it becomes live.
She was fun to play with and photograph!

~Sassy's Auction~

Hugs!

Sweet and Sassy has hair!

2011-09-13T08:09:00.001-07:00

Such a cutie!
Her hair turned out curlier than what I was aiming for...it's been a long while since I used this clipping of hair~I suppose I forgot it was curly!

It's okay though, I like it on her.
Look...she has feet too! LOL

I'll be taking her auction pictures today and getting her listing ready to start tomorrow morning.

Things went well on the painting table yesterday with Melody. She's looking more real.

XXOO

Dedication and works in progress

2011-09-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

We made it through yesterday. I don't know about you, but it was hard to work.

Since I cannot pay my respects to my dear friend in the Philippines, it helped to write
~Dan's Dedication~ on my website. I've been facebooking and emailing with his precious daughter, age 16, who is being so very strong and mature in the loss of her Daddy. He was raising her on his own and did such a fantastic job.

Even though it was hard to work, I did get a fair start on the Melody prototype by Laura Tuzio Ross. My goal is to do a soft complexion on this one~very sweet and girly.

I will continue work on Melody today as well as give Miss Sweet and Sassy her lashes and final glossing as, even though I did not take ONE hair picture during the process, she does have her hair as of 1 am this morning!

Here she is with her paint finished:

So...off to work I go!

Tributes

2011-09-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

September 11, 2011

Ten years ago today~I remember.

I pay tribute, honor and respect to every single person involved in the tragedies of 9/11.

Silent Tribute for I know not what else to do.

Never Forget.

To add to this day, last night, September 11, 2011 Philippine time, our dear family friend, Daniel Chua passed into Glory and met Our Father.

Dan, who is a wonderful and kind person, was terrified of dolls. We met Dan through an eBay transaction between he and my husband. They were dealing in knives. Dan quickly became a family friend, and I began to terrify him by sharing my love of dolls. They Never Grow Up Nursery was not yet "born" at this time~I was merely enjoying looking at dolls on eBay.

After several years of watching the reborn art, I told Dan, via email, that I think I'd like to see if I can create a life-like reborn doll. Dan said "Go for it Debbie!" so I did.

Dan has help me get started in more ways than I can even list. He even bought a tutorial for me and he created my first website which he ran for the first 6 years that TNGUN was in existence.

Dan taught me so many things about the computer, the internet and about photography. He was a man of all trades.

In the beginning, Dan would re-size all of my photo's for me, preparing them to post on eBay. There was so much that I did not know about the computer and internet that one night, at 3 am, my husband woke up to find me on the living room couch, laptop close by, crying that I could not get the photo's sent to Dan that I NEEDED to send to him. Dear Husband helped out (and also has taught me so much) and I was able to rest. Those were some memorable days of the beginnings of TNGUN. Dan was always right there by my side, offering a helping hand.

He was a true friend.

I pay tribute to Dan. Not so much for what he did for TNGUN, but for the friend he was to me and my family.

Never Forget.

Sharing my collection Friday~Antique doll dated

2011-09-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this little sweetheart that joined my collection in June?

Well, she didn't have a date on her or any markings at all so I took her to the Portland doll show where she was evaluated by an antique doll expert.

She is a JD Kestner bisque and composition baby named Sammy from around 1910.
She was made in Sonnenburg, Germany.
I was told that she is a TRUE antique being 101 years old. I was told that by US customs, a true antique must be 100 yrs old.

Her eyes have weights that should make them close when laid down. There is wax in there helping with the mechanisms and sometimes the wax gets gunky OR someone in her past may have put tissue paper inside her head to hold her eyes stable.

A few years ago, she would have been valued around $600 but due to the economy, her value is $250-300. Does not matter, she is staying here with me.

This little gal is a treasure in my nursery. I call her "Baby".

Aurora, now Debra paint finished

2011-09-07T07:08:00.000-07:00

I struggled and I fought with this PINK vinyl but finally, I have her painted to my satisfaction.

I started her painting process with Genesis paints and odorless thinner. Hmmm, I'm not sure I like that technique. Maybe I'm just used to using the Genesis Thinning Gel~I know that I prefer the texture that I can get with the thinning gel verses the odorless thinner.
When I could not longer attain what I desired with Genesis, I switched over the LDC paints. LDC paints are simply my favorite paints to use.

I've named this darling Aurora kit, Debra after a very sweet friend of mine.

I almost can't wait to give her hair as I think she is going to be really sweet!
But...She will have to wait as I am rooting Sweet and Sassy.

I began work on a new prototype: Melody by Laura Tuzio Ross. I don't think I mentioned that this one would be arriving. She was not scheduled for me but I had time to work her in when Laura asked if I could. She is adorable!

The mohair is back up on ~ARTFIRE~
Be sure to take a peek~I've got chocolate brown kid hair!

Have a great Wednesday!

Master Artist Series vs Simple Treasures Series

2011-09-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

Please welcome "Simple Treasures" baby, Dimples!

Isn't she a beautiful baby??

The above "Dimples" sculpt (by Melissa Palesse) is from my "Simple Treasures Series" line of reborn babies. The "Simple Treasures Series" babies are beautiful pieces of artwork that replicate the dolls that I made in the first few years of my reborn journey. Those dolls were "simple", using much less paint/details and rooting the hair quicker with larger needles. They were, and still are, treasures to the collectors that love them.

When viewing the Dimples above by herself, one would think she is a fully articulated reborn baby doll. When you compare her~A Simple Treasures Series Baby to my Master Artist Series baby below, you can see the difference: (click on the photo's for a larger view with fuller color)

The Master Artist Series (MAS) baby is on the left, the Simple Treasures Series (STS) baby is on the right.

Let's look at the finer details:

HAIR

I used the same exact clipping and color of mohair on both babies. For the MAS baby, I used a 42g Crown needle and rooted the hair from the ends~mostly. On the STS baby, I used a 38g Ultra needle and rooted the hair from the upper end of the lock but not on the ends.
I spent a lot more time on the crown on the MAS baby than on the STS baby. Both heads are great but side by side, the MAS baby's hair is finer and looks more real.

Finer paint details:

The MAS baby had a lot more time spent on coloring the ends of the fingers and the toes as well as the creases and nail colors.

More attention is spent on the bottoms of the feet and palms of the hands.

Both babies are still so very, very sweet and cuddly!

I balance the weight of both series of babies using the same, high quality products and bodies on both. The dimples on the left is heavier than the one on the right simply because the customer of the Dimples on the right does not like her babies to be as heavy.

I hope you have enjoyed learning about these two lines of They Never Grow Up Nursery babies!

XXOO

Labor Day?

2011-09-05T08:55:00.001-07:00

Hmmm, I guess so as I'll be in labor! LOL

Today is a regular working day like all others. I'll unload the car from the show, prep the Melody prototype by Laura Tuzio Ross that arrived while I was gone, work up some mohair for Sweet and Sassy prototype and put the mohair listings back up on Artfire.

I'll "rest" this weekend...maybe!

Have a beautiful and restful day!

The Portland Doll and Teddy show was a SUCCESS!

2011-09-04T09:29:00.001-07:00

What a wonderful time and a wonderful crowd at the Portland Oregon Crossroads Doll and Teddy Bear show!

The crowd was like this for almost all of the day. What a delight!

This is my display:

The Arianna toddler on the floor was not for sale. She is a reborn I made for my friend, customer and helper. She was just hanging out :)

Babies in the crib:

Katharine~ADOPTED:

Lisa~ADOPTED:

Logan~ADOPTED
(Jacob is the little guy. He was not for sale. He was made for me by one of my students as her first solo baby after taking my class)

Sweetie~AVAILABLE

Nicky Jack prototype~AVAILABLE

Haku Ibu (Bonnie Brown "Sophia Madelina" prototype)
Pending internet adoption

Sweet and Sassy prototype WIP delighted the crowds with her smile!

With the adoption of 3 babies at she show and a likely adoption of Haku, that leaves only 2 babies ready for the Caldwell Idaho "Hello Dollie" Show on October 2nd. I best get busy!

Hugs to all!

And now I am not so ready!

2011-09-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

I guess the work I had to do yesterday was going to take much more time than I expected and I did not get pictures taken of any of the babies. So today, instead of taking care of my home and fully preparing myself for my trip tomorrow in a relaxed state, I will be frantically trying to get it all done so that at least tonight I can cuddle on the couch with my dear husband and watch a movie.

Wish me luck!

The clock is ticking down to the Porltand OR show!

2011-08-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

And I am nearing ready!

Yesterday I put together little Katharine who ended up being 14 inches long. She is such a sweetheart!

The 5" Berenguer almost lost her "Sweetie" name yesterday when it took me more than an hour and a half to apply her lashes! Notice that I changed the name spelling from Sweettee to Sweetie. It just makes more sense. She is ready for pictures now and I suppose still sweet~and adorable. I will recover.

Last night at 1:30 am (or shall I say this morning??), I finished rooting the big Berenguer, Lisa. I'll trim her hair this morning, seal it and apply her lashes and gloss. My hind end is sore from sitting so very much this week and I am behind on my exercising. ~sigh~ Too bad that rooting, processing mohair and painting dolls does not burn 500 calories an hour.

This afternoon I hope to finish painting Sweet and Sassy. IF that happens, I will quickly put her together and take her to the show for display~hairless. LOL

Tonight I'll take pics of everyone and get the birth certificates and take-home bags all ready. That should give me some time to relax on my "day off" tomorrow. But then there is laundry and food prep for a husband who does not cook. I can't let him starve while I am gone...I need a nap!

Oh, did I tell you what all I have packed into my 99 Subaru Outback? Well, since I had to take down the Gallery window display the other day, I decided to just take those display items to Portland and use to set up my show. In my car, I have a full size crib and mattress, full size changing table, full size wooden high chair (it does not fold down at all), a pad for the changing table and two very large totes! The totes are large enough to fit an 8-10 yr old child in~they are that big! AND....I have room to spare so if I find any treasures at the show, I can bring them home :)

I'll probably pop in tomorrow morning to post a few pics of the new babies that will be traveling with me for the show. Fun times!

Hugs!

Using acid dyes vs human hair dyes to color mohair

2011-08-30T07:39:00.001-07:00

There have been several posts on the forums I belong to lately about bleeding mohair.
I've seen bleeding mohair before and recently, faded mohair.

This discrepancy comes from using human hair dyes to color mohair instead of acid dyes made for mohair fibers. (I will note that some mohair processors have said that if you heat the hair that is dyed with human hair dye that the dye will set but I've never tried it myself.)

If human hair dye bleeds into your vinyl, it is very difficult to get it of as it is a dye and does stain. As far as staining the hair for a long period of time, well, it does not. Just like your own hair, human hair dye fades and diminishes over time~that is why you have to redye your hair. I am not sure if the dye would fade off of the vinyl over time.

I had the babies down at the gallery for 2 months in the window display. Most of the babies down there were babies that I made for myself and are in my personal collection. One of the babies, Beata, is a baby that I made using hair that was dyed with human hair dye. (When I first began coloring angora hair, I did use human hair dye until I learned the facts). She was in the light for many hours a day, laying on her back. The front of her hair is now very faded where the back is not. None of the other babies hair faded (Nor did the paints for those who wonder about the lasting effects of LDC and Genesis paints) as they were either dyed with acid dyes or tea. Tea is an acid and the hair is cooked in it so of course it will hold.

Buyers of angora mohair that is processed for dolls should ask the seller what the process is for dying the hair. I have this information on my WEBSITE and am always available to answer questions.

Just thinking about processed mohair today!

XXOO