Crafting...

Today was an interesting day. I decided to do something I'd been avoiding, fearing I couldn't do it. I decided to switch out some Liv doll eyes. Sounds simple, and for all the dolls I did it too it was simple. I decided to practice with several before I did the doll I really wanted to do it to. Yeah, what should have been a 5 minute craft with this one doll turned into a 3 hour adventure. For an hour I couldn't figure out why her right eye was wonky. I finally saw, after taking the eye out and putting it back in a million times, that the vinyl was very thin in one part of the eye well and ripped. So I couldn't put the eyes in as is. So I decided to cut off the cap of the head and install the eyes with some putty. I put some bjd acrylic eyes in, tonssss of putty, and now her head is drying from glue. I used plain clear glue so I can change her eyes if I want. In the morning I may not like her eyes. If I do then I will go back in and use E6000 to make it more sturdy. Ugh! It was suppose to be simple. I switched eyes and bodies all evening with no issues, and then the one I really wanted to turn out right doesn't. Oh well, I wouldn't have been able to use the eyes I finally did if I hadn't cut the eye well open. I just hope the cap glues well so the wig won't pull it off again. Fingers crossed. I'll update on it tomorrow. It's crazy, I was so crafty today. I finished the lips on the doll and it turned out really nice. I'll have to post about that later as well. And on that note I am off peeps. Time to get to work on some lenses. Bye for now.

Frustrated and tired,
Michelle

Image From Free Digital Photos

Mattel...Get It Together!

Ok, so about a year ago, while browsing through Tuesday Morning right after Christmas, I was lucky to find one single Monster High doll. That was lucky alone, but the extra luck came when I saw it was one of the ones I really wanted and hadn't had a chance to purchase yet. It was a Draculaura doll, The "Day At The Maul" one, to be exact. I looked at her in the dim light and thought she looked perfectly cute, and at $9.99 she was steal. So home she went with me.

Now, when I got her home, I bust opened her box to enjoy my plunder of the doll shelves and was instantly disappointed. Her eye shadow on one eye was scratched, her eye was scratched, her fangs were completely off center, the heart on her face was only half finished, and she just looked so derpy. I tossed her to the side and forgot about her, thinking I'd try to fix her when I could. Today I picked her up and thought "I'm going to wipe her face and try giving her a new one.", but first I had to remove her head. So I went and used a hairdryer on her and got the head off in about 5 minutes. I thought I was ready, but figured her broom stiff bangs would cause an issue with customizing, so I washed her hair with hot water and Lever2000 bar soap. I am not sure if she is keeping her hair yet so I didn't care what the soap would do to it because it tends to be fixable.

So after a good wash to get the glue out of her bangs, I dried her off and looked at her and noticed something odd. The wonky eye I mentioned was her left eye, but it was her right eye that shocked me.  Her right eyebrow is completely gone, her eyeshadow on that eye is only half there, her eyelashes on that eye have been cut in half, and on her wonky eye her eyebrow is just a bit worn and her eyeshadow on that eye is a bit worn. So the perfect looking eye was just wiped clean off. I wondered if it was the soap, since it is meant to get tough stains and grease off of hands, so I went back in and gave it a really rough cleaning in really hot water, nothing happened. So it wasn't the soap, I don't think, I think it was crap work at Mattel. The thing that gets me is that little kids are taking these dolls into their baths and the soap I used was meant for all over cleaning, it doesn't have those granules in it like the original, so it makes me think any soap would have ended in the same outcome. If a little kid had gotten my doll they would have been gutted to see their doll's face half gone. I know quality control will slip, but this is just a bit much. The doll was clearly not painted right in the first place and her face just washed off with soap and water. Oh and her hair is just pulling out and it's not from brushing as I have never brushed her hair at all. So yeah, I wonder if others from this batch ended up so bad.

I mean tell me guys, is it just me or are Monster High dolls quality just like this? Is it a hit or miss on what you will get? I only have three dolls and I plan on selling them eventually, that's for another post, and so I don't really know what to expect on Monster High dolls quality. I'm sad the paint was so messed up on this little one, but it also gives me a reason to do what I had planned to do after seeing her wonky face. I want to try customizing her and giving her new life. Excited to try it after watching some tutorials on face-ups. So yeah. I'll update you guys on how that is going. Need to get my craft area cleaned up before attempting it first and that will take a while since I need to write several Christmas articles and actually start Nanowrimo. I started on day one but haven't really worked on it. *sigh* It's day 7, I still have time. One time I had 40k to go with only three days left, and I won. So I know I can do it. Ok, getting off track here. But do tell me if you have had negative quality when it comes to your Monster High dolls.

And on that note I am off guys. I need to go see how some doll lips I painted and sealed are doing and then start working on some articles. Hope everyone is doing well, playing with their dolls, and aren't too bummed about yesterday's election. Whomever you voted for, just remember, in the end we may be divided by parties but we are united as a nation and we're all shooting for the same goal, one great country and nation. So dems, hug you fellow reps, and let's get back to playing with dolls. :-) Bye for now guys and gals.

Off to touch some lips and hope she doesn't get red on her fingers,
Michelle

Image from Amazon.com and it is linked to it's sale page.

I’m still alive!!!

Hey all, sorry I’ve been quiet on my end of the world as of late.  I was spending a lot of time sleeping and just watching stuff online from bed for a good couple of weeks and I had a doctor’s appointment last month on the 25th that told me some interesting things.  I had a wheat allergen test that came back negative.  In fact I was negative on any food allergies.  But I explained I feel a lot better after giving up gluten.  So she ordered an expensive celiac blood test that should tell me for sure if I have a gluten intolerance.  So we’ll see.  They upped my thyroid medicine so I’m feeling a lot better, but worry that I will feel bad again in a month because my thyroid will act up again.  I felt good last time and then went back to being exhausted again.  So I guess we will see.  Fingers crossed.

But moving on from that, I’ve got a Liv doll wig update.  Ok,so if you look back a few posts you will see my posts about wanting to take a Liv doll Hayden wig and making it look kind of like Rapunzel from the end of “Tangled”.  So I finally got the guts and took to snipping.  And snipping.  Andddd snipping.  And I finally came out with something that looks like this:

So I didn’t get the choppy look I wanted…I was to scared to mess up the wig.  I think I would have needed a razor to get the look I wanted.  So I just trimmed it how I liked it and left it as is.  After fluffing it some it’s gotten kind of choppy looking and mopish.  I love it.  I’ve placed it on a Liv doll Sophie and she’s perfect.  I finally learned my character’s name will be Lucy Shay.  I am happy with the wig and it will solely belong to Lucy since it was made for her specifically.

So that is my little doll update.  I hope to be blogging here on the regular here very soon.  Be good until then my lovelies.  Bye for now. 

Loves ya,
Mouse

The most awesome customizing tutorial.

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Hey guys, so while surfing the web in the wee hours of the morning, I decided to look at the Monster High community on Livejournal and one of the recent post in the community was from a member sharing how she customizes her dolls.  She used to customize Pullips and used this technique and when she switched to MH dolls she just decided to use the same technique and it worked.  I honestly can’t wait to try it out.

 

Before and After

So today I was hunting around the interwebs and found a Flickr group that took items that were either disliked or destined for the dump and changed it into something beautiful.  It got me to thinking about dolls and how some crafty people in the community can take a doll that is either disliked or is destined for the dump and make it into something beautiful.  I decided to hunt down some pictures of those dolls and share them here with you.  Have a look.