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Julie Molloy made this awesome sign for me!

Come see me in Denver!!!

Silicone Sillyness!

I have four silicone babies on the table right now.  Three for the ROSE show and one to offer when she is complete.

It is very difficult to take progress pictures of the silicone dolls as they are being worked on as the lighting by the end of the day and where the parts are drying is not conducive to good photography.

I COULD take pictures of the babies somewhat assembled early in the morning before painting has begun but then they get loaded down with fuzz and hair from the clothing and blankets.  

So, we all just have to be in suspense as I continue to work.

In the meantime, I found it funny to return to my work on Sunday after a few days off to this:

I failed to empty the dish that holds odorless thinner that is used to rinse off the sponges I use as I paint.  

The remnants of the silicone left in the bowl somewhat set up leaving this super sticky goo!

It reminds me of that "toy" we had as kids.  I don't remember what it was called but you could fling it to the wall and it would stick and slowly crawl down the wall with the force of gravity helping it along.

So is this silicone "cured"?  No, not really.  There is far too much thinner in it.  This brings to point the use of air guns and silicone paint.  

To thin silicone enough for use of an air gun, there has to be a LOT of thinner added. 

That thinner inhibits the full curing and stability of the silicone.  

I am fully against the use of air guns in silicone painting.  

I want my dolls to last a very, very long time without the need for repainting, so all of my silicone dolls (and vinyl dolls for that matter) are completely painted by hand with the use of sponges and brushes.   And no odorless paint thinners! 

I sure can't wait to share these four babies! 

XXOO

Just a darling little baby

For no particular reason, I just want to post a picture or three of this wee little one  :)

Sharing a satisfied customers box opening :)

Sometimes I forget to share the very precious moments of my "work".

Enjoy this box opening from one of my fellow artists as she opens a silicone doll that she bought on the secondary market that she loved from the time I released him over 2 years ago.

She is totally over the moon with him and he gets lots of cuddles  :)

Please meet AA Lakesha!

I sure wish I were better at taking ethnic pictures!

Being in a new studio hasn't helped much either....I simply need more time just to play with lights and settings.

Anyway, although her pictures do not do her justice, here is my newest little girl who is available for direct adoption through my website:

I named her Lakesha.

She is fully painted using Baby FX paints and mediums.

I had NO rub or shine spots develop as I rooted her head.  The surface of her "skin" is so silky and lovely!

I absolutely love this sweet little one!

~See Lakesha's Adoption Page HERE~

With her 1/4 limbs, she simply cannot get any more snuggly.

I am very anxious to paint my next Baby FX ethnic baby!

But for now, I'll be working on silicone babies.

What a wonderful experience she has been!

Back to work, excellent progress on the Dolly House!

What an awesome week!

My friend Becky arrived on Monday night.  She was supposed to arrive on Sunday night but got delayed, but that didn't reduce her time here with me to work on the Dolly House as she stayed a day longer than planned.  

Since my husband was home anyway on Monday, I used the time to prepare food for the work week so that we didn't use valuable time for meal preparation.  It all went so smoothly!

We FINISHED the insulation of the building first:

You can't really see it in this picture and I didn't want to move the scaffolding and supplies but the bay area of the building took a very long time to insulate due to many, MANY small areas which meant cutting insulation and figuring out ways to keep it attached to the walls.  We were so happy when that was done that we whooped and hollered!  

We only had one morning remaining to start the sheet rock/drywall.  

Oh my!  This was SO exciting!!!!

This is the first piece going in!!

 It was so exciting I could hardly breathe!

And the first wall is UP!

Becky showed me how to "mud" before she had to fly out the door to get home to her own finishing work on a large, real house.

She tells me that she loves to mud.  Thank goodness.  I told her to knock herself out and boy will she have a lot of mudding to do when she comes back!  I made a few mistakes after she left. 

The day after she left, I decided to see what I could do on my own.

I was so excited to know that I could do the lower levels myself that I just kept going!

 I called in support from my husband (who really should not be doing this type of work due to a degenerative disc problem in his back) and he helped me get up this upper piece.

Last night, we had our son come over and the three of us were able to get the lower loft ceiling done plus the small piece from the power box to the window!!!

The plan was to also complete the back wall but holding those full sheets above our head was enough for one day!  

I am so happy with all that was done over the week and just can't thank my amazing people enough!

So today I am back to work on a new schedule mind you.

Every spring, my husband's schedule changes from 5 8-hour days a week to 4 10-hour days a week.  I change with him.  We will work Sunday-Wednesday with Thursday-Saturday off.  We love this schedule as we get so much done on our weekends!

Today I will be assembling and making available for adoption the little AA Berenguer reborn that I finished the artwork on right before I took the week off.

I can't wait to show her to you!

Hugs!

Calum is born AND available for adoption!

Isn't he just adorable?!?!?!

I LOVE Berenguer dolls, especially the 1/4 vinyl limb ones!

you just can't get more cuddly!!  

I had a body made for him by Lorraine Wells Thomas.

It looks SO good, feels amazing and moves just right!

Calum is up for adoption through my website:

~SEE CALUM'S ADOPTION PAGE HERE~

Remember that I painted Calum with Baby FX paints.  They are GORGEOUS paints!

I used the hair texturizing kit from Melissa but I think I need more practice as well as I have other ideas on how to incorporate the mediums into the paint making the actual paint strokes texturized. 

I think his softly painted dark blonde hair is just precious on him.

I enjoy walking into the studio and gazing upon this peaceful face.  

In fact, the name Calum is Irish/Scottish for "peaceful"!

Have a beautiful weekend!!

I do NOT have to replace my computer!

It turns out that the old battery had swelled causing pressure on the track pad (the mouse pad) creating havoc!!  

For now, the battery is removed while I scour eBay and Amazon looking for a GENUINE Apple battery.  I'd rather search for the vintage and no longer made genuine Apple product before I buy a knock off brand.  We'll see how that goes.

For now, I can run the computer just fine plugged in with the battery removed.  

Awesome!  

I am BACK!

(but hiding away for now trying to get the little AA Berenguer head rooted.

Oh my!  I forgot what trouble it is to root a Berenguer.  

Heat the wheat sack, heat the head, root, heat the head, root, re-heat the cooled wheat bag, heat the head, root the head.....

For hours on end!

But, she is going to be just adorable!  

Monday will find me in the Dolly House with my friend, Becky, finishing the insulation!  Tuesday and Wednesday, we MIGHT be putting up sheetrock!  I picked that up today as I headed back from getting my computer.

Eeeeek!  So exciting!

(Oh and I took the taxes to a CPA and we filed an extension.  Whew, that is a relief!)

Sick computer update

My visit to the Apple Genius Bar was promising but unfortunately, what was a chance solution did not work.

The good news is, that even after 7 years of extreme use with over 30,000 pictures loaded onto it, my hard drive is in excellent condition, I have plenty of storage left, my battery checks out as almost new (and I've never replaced it) and the main functioning of the computer is fine.  

They were hoping that the problem laid within the software.  So, they cleared everything off and I loaded my backup onto the computer when I arrived home.  

It IS working a little faster in some areas but I am still having tracking pad and mouse malfunctions which freeze after a certain amount of time using it.  

So, that didn't solve the original problem.

Since this machine is "vintage" in the eyes of the Mac/Apple folks, Apple will not work on it.

However, they referred me onto an Apple approved shop that will work on them.

I will call that shop (also in the City~a 2 hour drive for me) and see if they can give me some direction and costs over the phone.  

I know that I NEED to replace this computer and I did ask about the new MacBook Pro laptops~which excite me with their power and functionality~it's just with all of the other things going on financially right now, I am trying to prevent from doing that until later in the year. But, we will see.  I might just have to bite the bullet.  

I am back to work today and will be making available the sweet little Berenguer boy....right after I go and see the CPA regarding getting my taxes...uhm...started.  Yes, I was just too overwhelmed to even begin.   I was sure hoping I have a reliable computer to work on before I began this process.  I'll start entering expenses and sales tonight and see how that goes.  

Maybe an extension is in my tax future.  

Have a good Monday!

Progress....

The mohair orders have been coming in and being sent out.  

My computer is hanging in there and allowing me to get most of the orders processed before it crashes.  I shut it down then try again after a few hours.  I am managing this way  :)

I painted the hair on the little boy Berenguer (Caucasian) yesterday using the Baby FX paints.  I did the textured hair as well but I am thinking of building texture within the paint not after the paint for the next doll I try this on.  I didn't get outstanding results, but that might be because I used the texture blend pretty lightly and I didn't put the super shine over the top.  You know how I feel about shine...

The darling little boy is as sweet as can be.

I rooted tiny little eye lashes which brought him to life completely.

I can't wait to offer him up for adoption at the first of next week!

I'll be taking tomorrow through Sunday off.  We have appointments in the city tomorrow and I'll be taking out grand girl back home on Sunday.

She's having a great time during her spring break.

She loves living across the road from our horses and she'll just shout out, "I'm going to ride; I'll be home at such and such" and off she goes!  I love it too!

Have a glorious Resurrection Sunday weekend!

XXOO