Hard to focus...

It sure is hard to come up with helpful doll information when there is so much Christmas activity going on!

Jarrod met and sat on Santa's lap:

My tree is up and Yuumei's goal was to take it apart in a snowman massacre! 

I think she must think she brought me treasures.

Last night was better.  She just launched an ambush on the snowman village, that's all.

I hope you are all enjoying your Christmas moments!

XXOO

Sharing my Collection Friday~Sarah in blue

Here is a little peek of one of the dolls changed for Christmas/Winter.

She is the largest doll in my collection~at the moment  :)  

Sarah is sitting pretty in blue and white

I should be able to share all of them next Friday!

Have a good weekend  :)

"Ask Debbie" has been pretty quiet...

December is such a busy month!

I believe everyone is hustling and bustling around getting ready for Christmas~

The Ask Debbie section has been very quiet both here and on my Facebook page.  

In other news, my mohair is close to being sold out.

I have my DVD on special this week only in my ArtFire store only:

~DVD's are $19 off retail price~

I am progressing on the hair for little girl Prescilla.  She is going to be SO sweet!

And I just have some of my OOAKs left to change for the Christmas/winter season! 

 I am almost done!

Of course I will share pictures  :)

Have a wonderful Thursday!

For Becky~Grandbabies!

One of my friends and outstanding customers doesn't get much time on the internet these days, but she does take the time to catch up on my blog...but not Facebook.

Well, I MUST show her the recent pictures of three of my youngest grandchildren  :)

These are pictures that I took over the weekend, practicing with the camera in manual mode. 

Oh boy...I do still have so much to work out! 

These kids are so cute that a little blur won't matter.

Remington, 6 months; Jack, 2 months, Jarrod, 9 months.

 Jack's smile  :)

 Jarrod says, "Remmy, talk to the hand cause the face ain't listening!"  LOL 

 "Can we be done yet???"

 I can't get enough of this smile!

These are from another session that I did with Remington:

And some that I took of Jarrod while he was doing normal baby things.

Happy after a little lunch:

 And total crash while in motion in the jumper!  

LOL 

This is the first time that any of us have seen him fall asleep during play.  Usually, he takes some persuasion to go to sleep.

 Out like a light! 

How many other's are blessed with three little grand kids all under the age of 1?  

(We actually have 4 but as I've mentioned before, we aren't permitted to see the other one  :(  )

Preston twins are matted and ready for rooting!

Matting is a BIG JOB!

After the initial matting and touching up two more times, I believe I have them matted as good as they are going to matte.  

Take a peek!

These babies are just about 19 inches long and would stretch their legs to 20 inches.  

Right now, he weighs 6 pounds, 6 ounces but I haven't decided if that is a little bit too much or not.  She weighs less than he does, on purpose.

They take full, real (silicone only) pacifiers.  

I'm so pleased with them!

XXOO

With a sad heart~Rio Prototype denied.

My Rio silicone prototype arrived in the nursery about 2 weeks ago.  

Upon first evaluation (Opening the bags that held the pieces), I knew right off that the silicone was not platinum silicone of any kind.  I believed it to be tin-based silicone, primarily due to the high smell and secondly to the look of it.

I did a Psycho platinum paint test and sure enough, the platinum paint did not stick or cure...at all.

A simple wipe of my thumb removed every remnant of the paint.

Platinum paint WILL NOT, WILL NOT, WILL NOT stick to tin-based silicone.

The other first thing that I noticed was that the head was not very heavy and I suspected it to be filled.

Upon communicating with Debbie Moore of Debbie's Reborn Doll Kits

I was asked to cut into the head to verify if it was filled and with what.

It was nicely filled with Styrofoam.  The company that manufactured the silicone kits for Debbie did do a nice job on that.  (This head replicated that of an Ashton Drake silicone doll's head.)

And they did a nice job on the sculpt.

They just used tin-based silicone and Debbie thought she was getting platinum with a solid head.

Well, the solid head didn't concern me that much as I could have listed my prototype as such but with that poor grade of tin-based silicone, I simply could not offer a doll to my collectors and to the public that did not meet my standards.  This silicone does not meet my standards.

I have reborned two tin-based silicone dolls before.  One was for my personal collection and one (An Ashton Drake silicone) I made available at the Down East Doll Show in June 2013.  

But those tins were a different quality and did not smell.

Even after a hot soapy (VERY SOAPY) bath and a rub down with acetone, the smell of the Rio kit would not subside.  

It's too, too bad.  I feel bad for Debbie Moore as this was her first silicone kit to offer. 

She is still offering the silicone kit and has updated her website with the new information as we know it, except she does not mention that the heads are filled.  So, if you purchase this kit, purchase it knowing that the head is not solid.  This is no big deal if you know it in advance.

I have denied doing the prototype and have sent it, cut head and all, to another silicone reborner to play around with, by Debbie Moore's approval.  The Rio prototype kit I had will not be offered as a prototype silicone doll.  

~sigh~

So onward forward.  This untied my time to work on some other silicone projects I have been anxious to get to.  :)

Have a wonderful "CYBER" Monday!  

Shop till you drop!

Preston silicone twins are painted!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I was simply delighted that I DID have time on Wednesday, before Thanksgiving, to finish the paint on these adorable twins!

I will matte them today and start rooting tomorrow  :)

I have been challenged to make her look like a girl as the sculpt is very masculine but I think in the end, she will be feminine.

 This is his head and belly plate:

 These are his toes:

I am so excited about these two!  

I had some problems on both lower lips, on one of his toes and with my nail tipping but I have overcome all of those and these babies will be exceptional.