Sneak peek at Megan~A work in Progress

I have finished the paint on Megan, the Heike Koplin kit "Megan" from Doll Dreams. She is such a sweet, chubby baby!

I have painted hair on her but will be rooting as well in a shade lighter than the painted hair.

Look at her great diaper cover! I just got these in the mail the other day and I love them! They fit the dolls really nice, covering the cloth part of the leg. Here is another shot of one of my personal babies, Alexis, in one:

These diaper covers can be ordered from:

~Diaper covers and outfits here~

I will have a good supply of these for sale at IDEX 2010 as I like them so much! (Some of my babies will be displayed and adopted with these darling diaper covers too)

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I have been spending my "spare" time over the last two weeks finishing up a set of AA Crib Cap babies. I had painted them last fall but just have not gotten around to rooting hair on them. Crib Cap babies are dolls that are small enough to curl up in a crib cap that a real baby wears~usually 12-14" in length. They are close to completion but I am struggling with the eye lashes on him.

Happy Thursday!

Another technique for spit bubbles!

Posted Via comments from Ethnic Cuddles~Thanks Crystal!!! With my luck I would cut the tongue off the doll! ROFL! I have stirred the glaze in the jar lid with a toothpick to create bubbles. I forgot that part so thanks for the reminder! Here's Crystal's post:

My method is..take a broken rooting needle & put some paper glaze on an old plate or something & whip the paperglaze with the needle til you get some bubbles....then..use an exacto knife & carefully place bubbles where you want. Heck..its bootleg, but works for me lolol

Blowing bubbles...spit bubbles that is!

Spit bubbles are the hottest thing on the market right now~giggle giggle~and not quite so easy to make!

My favorite way to make them is to shake up a FRESH bottle of Alene's Paper Glaze (found at Michael's or online), untwist and remove the cap and let it rest elevated. Bubbles will form inside the cap. (for the sake of photography, I shook the bottle, poured some in a dish and used my syringe to create more bubbles)



I dampen a small, flat paintbrush and insert it under a bubble that I choose for the specific place in the dolls mouth. I gently scoop up the bubble and gently slide the paint brush to the selected area of placement. Using a toothpick, I help the bubble off every so gently. The most I put on at a time are two bigger bubbles or a brush full of teeny bubbles. Rinse the paint brush often in hot water and damp dry on a lint free cloth. Keep applying bubbles until you are happy with the results. Let the head rest in an undisturbed place free of movement and wind. Make sure the head is angled so that the bubbles won't slide where you don't want them. Let this dry for the remainder of the day or night. Replace any bubbles that popped (does not happen often to me at all) or add more bubbles if needed when drying is complete.



The second way to do bubbles is with an insulin syringe. Using a small, damp brush, apply some Alene's Paper Glaze into the selected area of the mouth of the doll. VERY slowly and gently, inject air into the glaze forming bubbles. When you have achieved the amount of bubbles you desire, allow them to dry as listed above. Keep the syringe cleaned off in hot water and a lint free cloth.




I have just begun using the syringe method and I need more practice and skill. If anyone has any great ideas to add to this method~or any others, please post a comment and help us all out. :)

As mentioned yesterday, I am offering a free 31 gauge syringe with the purchase of mohair from my ArtFire store~link is at the bottom of the blog.

Have a great Wednesday!

Debbie

More color guides for LDC paints are ready!

My LDC color guides are ready!

These guides are to be used in conjunction with my techniques as described in my FREE tutorial on www.dolldreams.net and are specific for LDC paints.

All guides now come with a helpful tips supplement.

An E-copy is just $7 which will walk you through all of the color combinations used to achieve the tones as seen above. Of course, results may vary according to artist techniques but everyone who has purchased these and those who have followed the free tutorial have had great results.

If you desire an E-copy, just drop me an email at tngun05@gmail.com and I will tell you how to pay and get it sent to you right away.

The guides available are as follows:

Gwin Twin guide (above)

Latino Guide (Above)

Bountiful Baby "Peach" guide (above)

Newborn Skin Tone Guide

Remember that I have quality, premium Angora mohair for sale in my ArtFire store. For any purchases from ArtFire this month, I will include a free "spit bubbles" syringe! I will put up a spit bubbles tutorial on the blog tomorrow :)

Happy Tuesday!

Don't check the blog later today!

Something else has come up and I am going to be out of town today. I will try again tomorrow!
Sorry!

(Don't worry~all is well. Hubby just decided we should do our shopping TODAY instead of Thursday)

More color guides for LDC paints.

I am working on more color guide for use with the LDC paints. I will have them done by the end of the day and will post when they are ready for purchase. I will also post more information about these guides.

Added to the Color Guides will be helpful tips. Those who have purchased a color guide already will get an updated version of the original plus the added helpful tips.

Check the blog later today!

Award winning goats provide my mohair!

This is my goat raiser, Sue, and her gorgeous award winning goat, Jill. Sue is the sole provider of fiber for TNGUN's beautiful mohair.

Sue recently took a few of her goats to the Oregon Flock and Fiber show. Jill, above, was awarded the first place honors in her class and Reserve Champion overall.

Molly is another goat that Sue owns who took First in her class and Best Fiber Overall~Wow! I do not have a picture of Molly to share but I hope to be going to Sue's next weekend to make my fall purchase selection of raw mohair, and Molly will be first on my list to view!

Also placing high on the awards was Rose, a kid goat. She took First place in a class of 12 goats. :) I do not have a picture of her either.

This is Glory! I have posted about Glory before. Glory is a yearling goat and this fall marks her fourth shearing/clipping~her first clipping as a yearling. Let me tell you about Glory's first three shearings. Glory's first kid clipping was the most amazing hair! It was silky and smooth with a thick fiber making it easy to root. It was straight which is hard to find in a kid goat. Her name matched her fiber well~Glorious! I bought all that Glory had to offer that first year, (the fall of 2008), and that hair is all gone except for a wee little bit that I saved for my own reborns.

This last spring was Glory's second clipping. I went to the farm and bought all that was available from Glory. The ends of Glory's fiber was amazing but the clipped end of the lock was very dense and almost impossible to comb through. I just could not work with her fiber. Just combing out 1/2 ounce took me about an hour. That just is not a productful use of my time. Both Sue and I were heartsick over Glory's 2nd clip fiber. We had talked and agreed that Glory should be sold and moved from the farm. But something in Sue prompted her to keep Glory anyway, and she sheared her a second time shortly after the spring shearing. The above picture is of Glory taken during the summer of 2009...she is looking good!

So, Sue took Glory to the Flock and Fiber show too! And our little Miss Glory placed 4th in her class with only a four month growth of fiber on her! The judges do look for length when placing the goats. We are so proud of Glory and thrilled that Sue had enough sense to keep her at the farm. I can't wait to see her fiber next week and hope that it is long enough to use for dolls.


Above is Memo. Memo has gorgeous fiber as well! I did not buy any of Memo's fiber in the spring as it was too short. I need to buy hair that is 5" or longer to use for doll hair. I am anxious to see Memo's fiber.


The beauty below is Spice. This picture was taken before her fall 2009 shearing. Spice has LOVELY fiber with lot's of springy curls. I currently have some of her fiber for sale on Artfire. See the link at the bottom of my blog.

And here is Lucy! Lucy is an old girl but she has produced consistent amazing fiber over her years.


I used Lucy's hair from the Spring 2009 clipping on Ari, my precious baby who has a Colliii awards nomination! Look at this gorgeous hair! It rooted well, stays put, is not fly away. looks really real and feels wonderful too!

Her is Ari's current award~


I am so very thrilled to have found Sue and her gorgeous animals way back in 2005 when I started reborning dolls. It took me about 2 years to get into the swing of processing hair for sale and although I don't have it made up all the time, I try to have some available for other artists. Processing mohair takes a lot of time and effort but the most important part of the process is the quality of the hair as it comes from the goat. I am blessed!

Be sure to check out the mohair that is listed on ArtFire! You do not need an account to purchase from ArtFire. Anyone purchasing mohair from Artfire this month will receive a "Spit Bubble" making syringe for FREE!

Have a great day!