Matte Sealing with Baby FX and other tips

The Final Sealer mix with the Baby FX paints tend to leave the doll kit shiny/sheeny.

 

I've been working to find a way to prevent this while "sealing" the paints and I believe I have figured it out!

It is a 3 component mixture consisting of these Baby FX products:

10 drops Final Sealer

20 drops Shine Reducer 

and

a brush full of Ultra Matte

After it is stirred well, you may add more Ultra Matte if you feel the mixture is too glossy. 

You can also use a little less Final Sealer as it is the component that creates the shine.

But adjust in small measurements and be sure to have at least 5 drops of Final Sealer in the mix.

(The above mixture has worked well for me sealing the doll kit while creating a nice matte finish.)

The way to apply is it almost the same as on my video

Applying Air Dry Matte Products

Notice that I apply VERY LITTLE product to the application wedge!

This is super important because if you get too much on that wedge, the wedge will slip on the doll kit creating shine.  You can remove that shine once this layer is cured by going over it again, but who wants to repeat layers?  Just be careful not to slip.

Instead of pouncing the product on, press and hold your clean wedge against the matte sealer.  Press without slipping.

Melissa George told me that she reuses her press and hold wedges.  I tried that yesterday, saving the wedges I used from the last two dolls I matted, and I'll be darned, they work well!

You see, some of the matting agent is left behind on the wedge helping your matting process to go better.

On that note though, once your press and hold wedge begins to gain moisture from the matte sealer, change to a new wedge allowing that original wedge to dry.  You an go back to it once it is dry but I have found that moist wedges do not work as well and can slip too.

I have been told that pouncing with a dry brush works well on this mixture too.  

I have used a dry brush in the creases and that did work.

Notice on Baby FX bottle cap breakage:

Some of us have experienced the tip of the Baby FX paint bottle caps breaking.

This comes from our zeal to make sure the caps are tight so that the paints do not dry out as experienced by other Air Dry Products.

These bottles are designed to seal before the cap is on super tight.  If they are over tightened, they will break.

The good new is, on the caps that I have broken, the paint has NOT dried out!  

So, trust your bottles, and the paint, and just close the caps until they catch.

Happy Baby FX Painting! 

Don't forget!

The Portland show venue has CHANGED to 

The Red Lion Hotel on Jantzen Beach

See you there!

Dolly House update/progress

There had been a long break in dolly house progress due to time schedules, HOT weather and recently, horrible smoke from massive fires all over the Northwest.  

But....progress is now being made again!

I hired a man to do the "mudding" as some call it.  Others call it taping and jointing.

Either way, I found it was a job that I didn't want to do, nor have time to do!

As of today, he has already put 27 hours into the project and he has said more than once,

"This is a really hard project!".  And he is a professional!

And  perfectionist so I can't be more thrilled to have him working on my ever-so-special building.

These are the first pictures I took of his work:

He works in a manner where there is very little mess and NO dust as he does a sponge sanding technique as he works.  I LOVE that!

These next pictures were taken when he was at a place where he had to come back to finish the other half of some of the joints.  This put us at a place where he may have 5-8 hours more work until he is ready for texturing!  My excitement level is high!

He was out yesterday to finish up those joints so when he comes back next Sunday and Monday, this building should be textured and ready for paint!  

(He is doing this on his weekends as he has a real job as well.)

In the meantime, my husband and I got the skirting up around the house!

I had already put up the facing boards around the house.  That is when the weather got really hot and I abandoned the project until this last Saturday.

I still have to put up trim as well as remove all of the bricks, stack them properly and set them in mortar.  (I just quickly stacked them to keep animals from going under the house since we had the skirting up.)

Next year, my raised garden beds will be in front of the wall, but not extending to the front porch and not up against the building.  I will leave a good 4" walkway between building and gardens. 

 I REALLY wanted the bricks all the way around the porch but the way the skids were placed under the building just wouldn't allow a proper finish so we put up the siding/skirting along the front face.  

Gravel will be pushed up to the deck to a height of about 6 inches and I'll build a little stoop as well.

On the right side, I will put the bricks in a nice pattern and stain that exposed board to match the color of the little park bench that I bought and refinished. 

I have a lot of gravel to move this coming weekend to all perimeters of the house.

My goal is to have this house finished and all dollies moved in by the end of October  :) 

Granddaughter's 3rd reborn baby

My 12 year old grandgirl, Jena has just completed her 3rd reborn baby.

She thought it would be fun to make a micro-preemie baby for her newly acquired 4 year old step-sister.

We selected an 11 inch Berenguer LaBaby baby doll and she used the Baby FX paints.

I just gave her the color guide that I made from the class that I did and let her go!

She had a difficult time working with the tiny parts of the small doll so she was hesitant to put a lot of color on her.  She fell in love with the little doll and was honored to present her to her sister.

I was not there for the presentation so I do not have pictures  :( 

This baby originally comes with a sew on cloth body.  For all of the 10 years that I have been reborning, I have devised a way to remove the cloth body and attach the limbs to a new body with zip ties.  Jena and I filmed that process and I will make a tutorial video as soon as I have time. 

Here are the results of her little baby that she lovingly named Mia.

We have ordered a custom little outfit in pink as our new girl loves pink.  It has not arrived but I'll send it forward when it is finished.

And this is my darling new little "bonus" grandgirl that joined our family in April.

Her name is Namine, pronounced Nah-mi-nay. 

She is a WONDERFUL addition to our worlds and we love her!

The next time I see her, I will do a full photo shoot of her.  

I have delivered Jena back home and am back in the studio doing the final preparations for the Portland doll show.  

Portland Show baby preview

These are the babies I am preparing for the Portland, Oregon doll show on September 5th.

Most are a work in progress.

I had taken the silicones to Denver but the matting powder I had used doesn't seem to be holding up so I am currently waiting for a new shipment to re-matte these two:

Mordecai,

 a cloth body silicone with a belly plate by Toby Morgan (Crystal kit).  Eco 30 platinum silicone.

He is bald.  I didn't have time to root him before Denver and I don't have time to root him now.  I have another one that I want to get rooted more than him.  He's pretty cute bald and I had given him some textured hair strokes around his face and forehead which look really nice.

He is newborn size at 19 inches with bent legs.

Krymsun,

a lower full torso, anatomically correct silicone girl, "Opal" by Sherry Bowden.

Eco 30 platinum silicone.

She has a new custom dress set on the way.

She is a micro-preemie measuring 13 inches.

 

This is Summer's Snow.  

She is a full body mini silicone by Melissa McCrory.  

Melissa never named this sculpt.

She is a full 9 1/2 inches long.

Platinum silicone in the older, rigid form.  

She IS rigid but sculpted in such a darling post making her desirable.  

The only change to her will be a tutu that I am going to make  :)

I am just waiting for the pink tule to arrive.  

 

These are the only two vinyls I have had time to prepare.

Both are works in progress and both painted exclusively with the Baby FX paints and mediums.

Denver (Rose) by Marita Winters.

This is the baby I painted in my class in Denver as I taught my students.  

I just teach best when I am doing what they are doing.  

This baby was painted using my new Baby FX Class Baby Color Guide.

I have added painted hair and will add lashes, sealer and some special effects.

And last but certainly not least, Ethnic Andi!

Oh I have waited so very long to paint this kit!!

I am DELIGHTED that I waited long enough for the Baby FX paints to be created becasuse 

I LOVE how they handle and how they look!

This is Andi by Linda Murray of the Cradle Kits, a very old, and quite possibly one of their first Cradle Kits??  

THIS is the one that MUST have rooted hair...lots of it~dark and wavy!

I hope to see some of you in Portland!

Crossroads Doll and Teddy Bear Show

My ROSE show table

This last month has been so crammed full of things! 
I finally feel a light at the end of the tunnel and have a moment to post pictures from my ROSE show table!

The ROSE show theme was "Christmas in July".

Since I love snowmen and snowflakes so very much, that is the theme I went with.  

These are the babies I took to the show.

They were all dressed in a long sleeve side-snap T-shirt, a white diaper and socks.

Some had blue accents to match the table theme. 

Mordecai (silicone Crystal by Toby Morgan):

 

Logan James (vinyl Mathilda by Joanna Kazmierczak):

 Krymsum (Silicone partial body by Sherry Bowden):

 Summer's Snow (full body mini silicone by Melissa McCrory):

and Sebastian (mini vinyl by Marita Winters):

Even my own personal baby, Sophie, was dressed for the theme!

I will share more pictures of the babies tomorrow when I post those who sold.  

On Tuesday, I'll post who's going to the Portland, Oregon show with me on September 5th.

Have a great Sunday!

XXOO