Escaping TO Alcatraz!

"Go ahead punk, make my day!"

Oh my! Pardon my little Luke. He is just really excited as he is getting packed up today to take the journey to San Fransisco, California where I will be attending the IRDA OOAK and Reborn Convention...and visiting Alcatraz! He is a little bit off as Clint Eastwood did not use that phrase in the movie "Escape from Alcatraz" but we can forgive him for that. He is still quite young and still gets facts mixed up.

It only seems fitting that the justice keeper of the nursery should attend, right?

Hmmm...do I feel a picture story coming on??

:)

In all seriousness~I am leaving in the morning and at this moment, I am not packed! But Zasha IS rooted! I'll be applying his glosses in a few minutes and I hope to have time to take some pictures to post on the blog in the morning. After that, the blog posts will be hit and miss for the next 7 days but you'll be sure to want to check as I'll be visiting other places as well before the conference starts.

Have a terrific week!

Hugs XXOO

Suzon has arrived to Norway!

It's a such a wonderful experience to breath that sigh of relief when a reborn arrives to her overseas home.

Her new mommy emailed yesterday to state that Suzon had arrived in excellent condition and to tell me how beautiful she is from head to toe. Sure makes me smile!

Here is the feedback she left on eBay:

Suzon is fantastic! Gorgeous and lifelike! Excellent communication! A+++

This customer has been a joy to work with and now she has her childhood playmate look-a-like.
How beautiful is that?

So onward forward to the next bundle of joy. Zasha has about half of his hair. Wish me well as I root like a maniac today in hopes to get him mostly done. I'll be packing tomorrow. I never leave this task till the last minute but I've had no choice.

Hugs for the day!

Sharing my collection Friday~on Saturday! Matthew Celebrates..

Horsie Scout's Birthday!

I made the little cakes for Scout and his pasture pals out of Quaker Oatemeal, shredded carrots and molasses. Scout was not too fond of the taste though....

So he shared with Toby:

Matthew was so glad to finally get out to the pasture this spring. He greeted Scout with birthday wishes....

and gave Scout a birthday scratch...

AND he had such a thrill getting to "ride" this big boy for the first time:
(If you know about sizes of horses, Scout is 16.2 hands high and weighs 1255+ pounds)

But you know who Mattew was REALLY anxious to see? Yes, that's right...HIS horse, Toby:

It was a long, LONG winter! Baby and horse were happy to be together again.

The birthday boy was happy to have little Matthew off his back as you see....he needed a nap!

Happy 6th Birthday beautiful Scout. Thanks for the 6 yrs of joy you have given us.

XXOO

Fun Doll Forum

I'm having a bit of blog block again today. I think my mind is just focused on getting this mohair processed, continuing Zasha's rooting (oh my it's looking awesome and this vinyl roots SO nice!) and preparing my class for my departure in 6 days.

So, Doll Fan was on my mind today. I've tossed up a couple of posts over the weekend/first of this week and you know, there are just some really fun days on that forum.

So if you need some time to "veg", go to Doll Fan and take a peek around. It is totally free to "lurke" as we call it. You can access all forum boards and posts except for the one private to members only board. You cannot post there until you become a member. Membership is just $1 though. That's a lot of bang for $1.

Cheers!

Zasha Prototype WIP day 5~figured the camera out!

Oh boy! I finally figured the camera out! I guess my Canon SLR just does not want to take pictures of the ethnic sweet heart so I tried the Nikon CoolPix and walla! Correct colors! I tried everything with the Canon. I took Zasha outside on an overcast day, I tried natural light from the window, I tried studio lights at all heights and distances and I tried many different camera settings. I finally remembered that one thing I loved about the Nikon was that it took some pretty good color-correct pictures so I gave it a try. Whew! What a relief! The more distance shots show him darker than he is but it's so much better than what I was taking before. The close ups are spot on.

I believe I am finishes with Zasha's paint and will begin rooting him today. (He is currently on a borrowed body but oh my...he is a nice armful of a baby and I LOVE his chubby full legs!)

Hugs for Tuesday!

This and That

Only 8 days until I lift off for California! OH dear I have MUCH to do!

I have a total of 3 students for the class at the IRDA Conference~one student is taking the full 2 day course and two students will be in just day one of the class, freeing them up to participate in other classes and events.

I think I have blog block today. Maybe I am just anxious to work on the mohair this morning and Zasha this afternoon.

So I think I'll just share that the other prototype of Suzon, a boy, reborned by Sylvia Jantzen of Little Dreamland Babies is now available!

~Hansi's Auction~

The little lad sure is having fun at Sylvia's house! *I* want to go and play at Sylvia's house!

Have a fabulous Monday!
XXOO

Zahsa Prototype paint day 4 WIP

I'm getting very close to being done with Zasha's paint.

Just a few more things tomorrow and then this little man will be ready for hair.

Speaking of hair~I'll be Gallery Sitting today and getting mohair ready to process.

9 days away from traveling to California for the IRDA conference!

Hugs for the day~

Sharing my collection Friday~NEW BABY Annie!

Oh boy! I got a new baby! Suzon is going to help me open up the box.

"What is in there??" she says.

"Ooohhh, some extra clothes!"

"And a beautiful widdle baby foot!"

"A lovely head of brown hair..." (rooted beautifully and uncombed in this picture)

"AWE! It's a BABY!"

"She is so sweet!"

Please welcome the first Elisa Marx sculpt (Phyllis) to my collection. I have named her Annie Allyssa and simply adore her!

She came in this cute jogging suit so she went with me on the March of Dimes walk that I did last weekend. She was such a good baby and everyone loved her and thought she looked so real.

I've not done her official photo shoot yet. Just have not had the time, but I'm dying to as a new, GORGESOUS Will Beth dress came in the mail for her the other day.

Maybe tomorrow I can find time to play some.

Hugs!

Zasha Prototype WIP day 3~stuggling with the camera!

I really ran out of time last night and had to quickly take these pictures. It was a bit later than the last 2 nights I've photographed Zasha and the evening sun was shining through the crack in the blinds distorting the light in the room That sun was intense!
Anyway, these are not purely accurate~He is not as dark as the dark pics show. Let's hope for better pics tonight~and hope that I am finished painting tonight!

I've yet to add the blues, greens, veins and highlights to him and I have to work on the finger and toe creases and nails yet. He's getting close though!

IN other NEWS:

I have 34 pounds of mohair arriving today! WHOOOO! It is always like Christmas to me when new mohair arrives. I didn't make it to the farm this spring so the farm is coming to me :)

And, there are still a few days left to register for the IRDA conference and classes.
Click on logo to access the site:

We have added a few tickets for just the first day of my LDC painting class for those who desire to take my class on Friday and then any other classes on Saturday. (My class is a 2 day class but one can gain a lot and feel very confidant using LDC paints after just one day~Friday).

I would love to see you in Walnut Creek! I'll be arriving the afternoon of May 31 and leaving the morning of June 7th.

Sweet Suzon found a new mommy last night and will be catching her flight to Norway in the morning!

Have a stellar Wednesday (it's my Friday and the weekend should be nice! We actually had 3 inches of snow on Monday!)

XXOO

Zasha Prototype WIP day 2

WARNING: Anatomically correct "nakie" picture below

Awe...Zasha is coming along nicely.
I failed to say that I am using Genesis Heat Set Paints on this baby. I'll post some colors I used under the last picture.

I think today that I need to darken his limbs a little bit. There is not enough change in color between his hands & feet and the limbs. And of course I must add a lot of darkness to the creases on the fingers and toes and be sure to bring that darkness down into the nail bed as seen on real ethnic babies.

And darken some area's on his face/head. The belly plate is looking great~I'm happy with that so far.

For the first color wash on Zasha, I used Genesis Burnt Umber and Mars Black and kept it very thin with Genesis Thinning gel.

As I worked on all parts, I used the same color to start darkening the creases and folds and then switched to an even darker mixture (added more Mars Black) to continue work on the creases, folds and other darker details such as brows. I have much work yet to do on the creases and folds on the hands and feet.

For the second color wash, I lightened the first color wash using Flesh 02 and added just a touch of Phthalo Blue 02. Again, I applied a very thin wash.

Going back to the first color wash, I darkened the head where the hair will be and finalized the brows (for now anyway!).

I can't really tell you all of the colors I used on the lips. Lips are such an intense art! I have a pallet that I work from and I just blend this and that and the other thing and keep applying different colors in different ways until I am happy with the results. I can't say that I am done with the lips just yet. I will get to a point where I can only say, "I am done" and then....I will be done with the lips.

I used a little bit of Genesis Red in a few areas on his face.

For the nails, I applied several layers of thinned Dioxazine Purple 04 and then I combined the Dioxazine Purple 04 with Genesis Glazing Gel and applied two more layers. This gives a lovely, natural sheen and also created textured lines as seen in real nails.

There should be a lot of change in this little man today. One of my business page Facebook followers noticed a difference in skin texture between Zasha and my other dolls. Isn't that interesting? I assured her that I am using Genesis paints on Zasha and that the texture will come later. I have to admit, in my eyes too, I don't like the texture or the lack of depth so far! That will change though with more layers.

Have a fantastic Tuesday!

Zasha Prototype WIP day 1

I began work on Zasha Prototype by Claire Taylor yesterday. I will be making my Zasha an anatomically correct ethnic boy! I just love baby boys!

Zasha is a unisex name so I will keep the sculpt name since he is a prototype.

Here are his first pictures after day one. There is much to do yet but isn't watching the progress fun? It is good for me to step back and evaluate him in pictures too.

I love how the fingers on this kit are not "webbed"~terrific! This baby has a lot of sculpted details.

LOOK at these beautiful feet!!

The Zasha kit by Claire Taylor is available for PREORDER now and is a limited edition.

I'm excited about day 2 on Zasha!

Hugs for Monday XXOO

Promotional offer on Suzon reborn kit!

Laura Tuzio Ross (My World of Babies) is offering a FREE armature for the Suzon Kit from May 12-19th! This is a great offer!
Here is the message from Laura and her contact information to participate in this offer:

Anyone who orders and pays in full for a Suzon kit this week, will receive the ARMATURE FREE. If you pre-ordered her and can pay this week, I will also include the free armature. After next thursday the armature can still be ordered, but it will be $16 additional.

Please contact me if you would like to place an order. Kits should be in late next week.
myworldofbabies@mac.com
Thank you!Laura

Pictures from Laura:

I paid almost $30 for the armature for Suzon that I bought from Kemper dolls so anyone who is going to buy the Suzon kit will want to take advantage of this offer. The custom made armature from Laura has the added part that goes into the head~a real bonus allowing more head poses!

In other news:

The blog was down on Thursday and Friday so I could not share with you that my new baby arrived. I'll share her this coming Friday.

I completed the March of Dimes walk yesterday and took my new, sweet girl on that walk. That was fun. My team opted to do the 5K walk instead of the 10K walk but it was fun and ended up being 3.7 miles instead of 3.1 miles. And the team as a whole exceeded the fundraising goal so that was awesome too! Thanks to those who contributed!

I'll be posting some mohair today on Artfire and starting a new prototype~Zasha by Claire Taylor.

And, it's just a little over 2 weeks before I travel to California for the IRDA conference! YIKES!

Have a great day!