It's almost time for the New Year's Drawing!

Just TWO more days!!!

The drawing is an appreciation drawing for all of my customers from the prior year. Anyone who purchased a doll from me in 2014 is entered into the drawing and the winner will receive $600 off a custom doll. 

 This doll can be vinyl or silicone and of the Master Artist Series. (Re-do/fix up dolls is are not eligible for the award. Only new kits will be reborned.)

 Good luck 2014 customers!!

Dolly house just needs the roofing material!

It was still wet from the staining so we couldn't get close but LOOK!

It's a DOLLY HOUSE!

All it needs is the roofing material!

That is supposed to happen today, on Christmas Eve.

I'll try to get over there to get pictures~it's going to get real and real busy for us today as the rest of our kids and grandkids come into town.

Merry Christmas!!!

Dolly House progress day 3-4!

Yesterday was VERY exciting for me as I entered the shop from a different door and saw this:

Oh my gosh!!!!!!  

Then walking to the front side almost brought tears of glee!!!

My granddaughter, shown in the second picture, asked if I REALLY needed such a BIG house!

Yes, yes, I do!

Front bay window and the front door space:

 Jenalyne inside near the bay windows:

Look at that railing!  

I LOVE it!

They tell me that today by the time I visit the house will be FINISHED!!!  

The don't expect to deliver it until right after the New Year.

They will stop by and inspect my earth for softness etc.  We have had a lot of rain this week.

I am just delighted!

No dolly house progress pictures :(

I went to take pictures yesterday at the pre determined time but the gates were locked. 

I don't know if my builder ended up not working yesterday or if, because it was Saturday, the gates were required to be locked due to company policy.

If he DID work yesterday, then what we see Monday afternoon should be pretty amazing!

And my 11 yr old granddaughter will be here to enjoy it with me  :)

Hugs!

Day 2 Dolly House progress

It looked so HUGE as I approached the back/Northeast wall!

It does stand 14 feet 9 inches at the peak.  The interior walls are 8 feet high.

The plan comes with no windows on that back wall and I opted to keep it that way.

There will be an 8 foot long loft there and I will put lights in the section underneath which will be my dolly changing area. 

On the East/Southeast wall, I added one window and had them placed side by side.

 Today we can see how the extra three windows I added look together for a total of 5 windows on the two walls.  The door frame is in!  It will have windows in it as well.

There will be three windows in the bay here at the front of the house:

The builders and manager have been wonderful to me.  They are knowledgeable about their product, do not use faulty supplies, have been helpful and accommodating and are giving me the grand  pleasure of visiting every day.

In meeting with the manager several times, he helped me decide on upgrades and options for my house.

I upgraded to 8 foot walls as opposed to 7. 

I added three windows and upgraded them all to double pane vinyl windows as opposed to single pane.

I upgraded to 3/4" flooring and 12" on center floor joists.  

I was permitted to select the size of the building so I chose the 14'X28'.

When 14' wide is ordered, the floor joists are standard from 2x4 (in 12' wide) to 2x6 joists, otherwise I would have paid for that upgrade as I want this building to be solid.  

I will be putting in 1/2 sheetrock and good insulation as the interior will not be finished at the builders.  We will also add power and heat  :)  

My builder is not working today but he said he'll be back tomorrow (Saturday) to work on my building.

I'll go tomorrow afternoon for more pictures.  He said the building will be very awesome then!  

Dolly play house IN PROGRESS!

I've just been dying for this day when I could share the progress of the doll house I am having built to go into my back yard where I will house my personal doll collection.  

Yes!  I WILL have room for just ONE more!

This is the model of the house to which I have seen in person:

My house will be 14 foot wide by 28 feet long including the front porch.  I have added three more windows to the house and there are lofts along the back as well as above the porch!  

They began the building of my house yesterday at this shop just down the road from my home.

The company is called "Old Hickory Sheds" and they do fine, fine work!

The manager, Toby, has granted me permission to visit the shop every afternoon to take progress pictures.

These are the ones from yesterday, the first day:

One wall, the North wall, is UP!

The area of the floor that is not yet done is where the porch will be.

The frame laying on the floor is the North-East wall:

The North wall runs along the solid wood fence in my back yard.  I asked them to turn the windows sideways and place them up higher so that more light can come into the house.

Two of these windows were added to the standard plan:

They tell me that by this afternoon, all the walls will be up!  

This is SO exciting!

Room for just ONE more little one!

I have been really good about not adopting any new babies to add to my collection but....I could not resist this little darling!

She's my own "Elf on the Shelf"!

Meet Krissy Jingles!

She is a One of a Kind clay sculpt by Sharon Ullrich.  

I have several of Sharon's dolls and each one brings me simple delight!

Isn't she CUTE?!?!?!

XXOO

Presents in the mail!

Oh how I LOVE getting presents/packages in the mail!

Melissa, a DVD student (Hi Melissa!!!) sent hand made gifts!

Poppy was SO glad that she did because she thought what I had her dressed in for the fall was ridiculous!  (I thought the hat was pretty great!)

She is MUCH happier in the new little dress set that Auntie Melissa made.

It's her (and MY) favorite color!  (It is actually more purple than this picture shows.  Night time pictures.)

 

Melissa also hand dyed two lovely pieces of fabric...in purple!  

Sophie was a little jealous and wanted to try out the fabric too!

I will admit that the color looks splendid with her skin tones!

Thank you SO much Melissa!  

I squealed like a little kid!

I'll be the first to admit that I am so very, very spoiled!  

Love to you all!

Ahhhhh....silicone progress

With all of the many activities and details going on as we prepare for Christmas, it was so very relaxing to work on silicone for even just a day and a half last week.  

Painting/being creative is my peace.

One doesn't get a lot done in just a day and a half (not counting the half day I spent preparing the kits for paint), however, the "skin" is still coming alive.

This is Leigh Kewey who is my last silicone custom order.  

This baby will be a boy:

And what a DELIGHT it has been to work on my first newborn size Full Body silicone doll!

Here is progress on Hannah by Joanna Gomes.

In this face I see a boy but when I bought the sculpt, I didn't know there was a boy option so I got a girl.

At the moment, her lips are a bit bright but I wanted to post the picture so that you can see the progress as I work on her.  I have a goal with the lips to help her be more girly.

Hannah's lovely torso:

(That is not blue in the crease of her right leg.  It is an odd shadow or reflection that my camera  picked up.  I have not used blue on this baby yet.)

I am SO anxious to get back to work on these two but my weekend went flying by and I didn't get done what I needed to~that being finish decorating the house for Christmas and getting the boxes back out of my dining room, so I'll be taking today off to do that.  We are hosting a party on Friday with a trip to get our oldest grandgirl next Sunday, and I've got gifts to wrap and some to mail so as much as I am drawn to the studio, I better get the house finished today.  

But tomorrow....watch out tomorrow!!! 

Bathing silicone dolls

As I worked to prepare my Full Body "Hannah" sculpt by Joanna Gomes for painting yesterday, I could not help but take some darling propped pictures of her.

It was great fun for me but it also got me to thinking...

"Are people going to get the wrong ideas about bathing finished full body silicone dolls and will artists think that using the propped "Baby Bath" is a strong enough cleaner to prep full body silicones?"

So I am here to say that I do not recommend that finished full body silicone dolls be bathed in bubble bath...EVER.  If a full body doll needs cleaned of hairs and fuzz, it is best to spritz a little clean water (NO additives) onto your hand and rub your hand over the silicone parts that need cleaned.  

All soaps have solvents in them.  Solvents can soften and remove silicone paints, even when the paints are applied correctly.  Soap should never be used on a finished full body silicone doll, or any silicone doll for that matter.

Although the Baby Bath set the tone for this photo session, it is not a potent enough cleaner to prepare silicone for paint.

Dishsoap that cuts grease (such as Dawn) is the best soap for preparing silicone to take the paint. 

Now, enjoy the rest of the pictures  :)

(Hannah and one other silicone baby are next on the painting table!)

~HUGS~

Babies available!

JUST in time for Christmas!

I made three Create a Babies...Created! and posted them on my website yesterday.

Rhudolph was adopted right away:

 And is on his way home to his new family.  

Mary Noelle' is still available:

As is Nikolas:

What nice little beginner babies!

Please visit my website page to view their full pages as well as see 

Sebastian, who is still looking for his forever home.

~AVAILABLE BABIES FOR ADOPTION~

Happy Tuesday!

Sold out!

What an amazing mohair offering!

The mohair sold out in just two days!

(Except for one 1/2 oz pack that is left)

Thank you all so much!

Today I'll be putting together the three Create a Babies...Created and offering them for sale  :)

Hugs!

Mohair is READY!

Thank you all for your patience as I moved and settled into our new home.

It was nerve wracking to process mohair in my beautiful new kitchen but I managed to do it without staining the counters or floors.  Stoves always wash up so very nice but not counters and floors!

I have a system down now that will protect them when I process.  :)

~CLICK HERE TO BUY MOHAIR~

Please don't delay in making your purchases as there isn't as much as there usually is due to time issues and it won't last long.

THANK YOU always for your patronage!!!

XXOO

Making mohair...

Mohair will be ready to ship and available from my ArtFire shop on Thursday!

The email list will go out as well as a blog post here.

And since I am finishing up the mohair and I'll have three afternoons available for other projects, and since I don't like to work with silicone that way (and I've got two to start) I am going to make up three Create a Babies...Created!, just in time for Christmas!

Here is a sample of one of them I made a while back:

 

I am happy to be able to offer these this time of year!

Merry Christmas Season!!

Precious ended AMAZINGLY!

It has been a week since silicone Precious' auction ended.

I am still stunned at her final price of $6200!!!

We had a massive celebration party going on in this house last Monday night!  

And then the week took over and I had not come back on the blog to check in!

Many people would be wondering, because I know I do when I see an artist get recognized for her work via an amazing eBay auction...

"But did she get PAID???"

Yes...she DID!  :)

The buyer paid immediately for Precious and the sweet little girl is waiting for signature at a Texas post office.  

I am so very anxious for her "mommy" to give her that first cuddle.  

I am still in the clouds...

Painting walls is like painting dolls...

How did a whole week go by without me posting?

Oh...because it was a busy and exciting week, plus, husband took the week off!

We got a lot done, including finishing the shelter that was built for the horses, preping the back yard for the dolly house, a huge Thanksgiving feast for the family and...

I painted.

Walls, not dolls.

But there are a lot of similarities.  

Enamel wall paint is in the class of "Air Dry Paints".

It is not baked nor is a heat gun used on it.  It just dries with the air.

And the characteristics are the same.

I had placed a layer of prime on the wall I was painting.  It was mid-day when I put the paint brush down.  

The next day I came back to add another layer of primer (I was covering up very red paint).

My little roller brush end caught the edge of the opposing wall and scratched the paint off.

WHAT?!?!?!?   But I painted it YESTERDAY!!!!!

Was I really shocked?  No.  Although the first layer of primer was dry to the touch and I could add more paint, it still was not CURE.

I have the project finished now with 2 coats of primer, a coat of paint over all and some detail work on one small section of the area.  

I bet I could scratch any of it off today...and tomorrow...and maybe up to a full week or more.

But once this paint has had time to fully cure I bet I can only get it off with something like the edge of a screwdriver (which would take ANY paint off of ANYTHING), but certainly not a scratch of my nails or even the end of the paint roller brush.  

This is true of doll painted with Air Dry Paints. 

ANY Air Dry Paints.  

The paints MUST have time to cure before artists attempt to scratch the paint off.

I get many emails of "freaked out" artists stating that they checked their dolls paint the next day after painting and could get the paint off.

Yes, you can.  Wait.  Be Patient.  Give it Time to Cure.  Breathe.

XXOO

Working on mohair~finally!

Oh my goodness, I have hated being out of mohair for so long!

But, I'm back at it for the next two weeks so be watching....

Happy Wednesday!

Precious is on eBay!

It sure was a LONG two days to do this baby's photo shoot and put her auction up but finally,

she's waiting to know who her mommy will be.

~Precious' eBay link here~

Please do have a look if you have a moment.

The more page views she has brings her further up into the seen pages, giving collectors a better chance of knowing that she is even available for adoption.  

I think that this is the most newborn baby I've done to date.  

She warms my heart by her precious newborn essence.

I am so glad that I gave her hair!  

She could easily be a boy as well but with the pinkish tones I gave her, she said more girl to me than boy.  

I found myself talking to her as I did her shoot.  

I will miss her!  

XXOO