All the Little Dresses

Okay, I've said it before, but I have been busy. This week I made dresses and a couple hats and some other things.

Hopefully I will finish up 2 customized dolls as well. I wanted to show you the dresses that I made, because I need a color boost.

I love the color green, in fact acid green is my favorite color -- and I am not knocking at all the fact that Vermont is the greenest state I have ever seen. But, in my yard, it is pretty much only green, since I am a horribly lazy gardener.

Grass and tree green mostly. Very little in the way of flowers at all, except the stray bee balm that the sheep haven't eaten.

So here is some color to give me the boost I need. Hope you are all well!

My Hat, My Hat, My Hat

I've been busy in my doll shop these past few weeks. It's been awhile since I have been able to get to clothes and hats, which used to be the mainstay of my shop. I have decided this is no longer a hobby and it really is a business, so I am working harder to keep things fresh in my store than I have in the past, so that people will always have a variety of things to choose from.



I have been so busy customizing dolls for clients, that I realized my store hasn't been spiffed up with as many new things as I would like in there. So, I set to making some new hats.



If you know me very well, you know I work kind of randomly. Okay, there is some sort of method to my madness, but it isn't very orthodox. I generally start with a plan, and I almost always decide to do something differently from how I started out. I have a really difficult time sticking to a design or pattern or anything that smacks of streamlined production. I tend to mix things up and try to make each thing I make a bit unique from each other thing. If I set out to make 2 similar things, inevitably I end up with 2 different things entirely.



The good news about that is, if you buy from me, you won't likely be getting something that everyone else has in multiples. The downside is that I can't recall how I did something or, most of the time, what I even did at all. So, when people ask me to repeat something as a custom job for them, I often am baffled as to how to proceed. Keeping track of what I do is something that almost never happens. In fact, when I do write something down, give me a day and I will have lost the notes.



My husband, a very organized creature, who makes hand-wired amplifiers, knows exactly what he does and has documentation to prove it. I, on the other hand, am left guessing and have to go by eyeballing old photos, with really no numbers or measurements written anywhere. Lucky for me, I do have a pretty good eye, so generally I can come reasonably close, otherwise it would probably be complete chaos. :)



In the midst of making some hats for my store this week, I had a couple of custom hats to do that were to resemble some other hats I had done in the past. I came fairly close, thankfully, and luckily the hats came out quite lovely, so I was pleased. So, if you are wanting custom work from me, know that you are probably going to get something more or less one-of-a-kind, but hopefully it will come out just as good or better than what it was modeled after. Based on my personality, it just has to be that way. Strangely, I started out as a chemistry major in college. Thankfully, I usually had very good lab partners :)



Hope your summer is still going well. It's almost back to school time for this state. Summer seems to have gone so quickly! I am so not ready for the weather to change. I could go on like this, with the windows open indefinitely. California dreaming...

Retro Fun

I stayed up late last night (late for me is 2:30 or 3 in the morning) making doll clothes. It has been awhile since I put any new clothes in my shop.



I am kind of hooked on this retro sort of saloon era type styling. I like high-stepping boots with my girls, and this type of styling goes well with that. I made 2 sets and put them in my shop. I like them both, so was a good night :)



This makes 2 blog posts in 2 days. I am astounded. I think that deserves a big watermelon smoothie, which I will have the minute I finish posting.



Earrings and necklace by Jean Yates

Be well!

Custom Blythe Dolls

I have been so busy, I am lagging terribly on this blog. I think for this post I will just put pictures up of the custom Blythes I finished in the month of July.

First up, my red/orange haired girl. I named her October Sky, or Tobey, after the beautiful maple tree that has shocking red leaves. I finished her in early July and had worked on her hair while on a family vacation camping. Sitting in my camp chair, I am sure I looked really strange pulling shocking red and orange mohair through a plastic scalp.



Next up is Rowan. She is an FBL mold, which I think is more innocent looking than the RBL mold. She has gorgeous black mohair that is shorter than most of the curly hair I do, and is more face-framing. She was the first dark haired girl I have done.



She went to live in NYC. She's going to love it there with her new owner. Rowan is a sweet girl with a dramatic flare, probably a lot like the woman who owns her.



Next is Hunter, a really dramatic bit of green mohair in so many shades, I forgot to count.



I was really uncertain how the hair would turn out when I was asked to do shades of forest green. I couldn't figure out what color "forest" was, so I decided to put in the whole forest.



Next is Auralie. She is a dark skinned Blythe on a Pure Neemo Flection body. She took quite a bit of work in order to get her neck modified so it won't detach from her head, and just to get the paint right. I was really happy with how she came out.



She got special pullcharms from my friend Jean Yates which are totally special and just really make her a piece of art.



Finally, last doll done in the month of July was Olivia. Another dark haired girl. This time black with purple highlights. Another FBL mold. I find her to be quite lovely.



I love the drama of the dark hair with the pale skin and purple makeup. FBLs may be one of my favorite molds customized. There is a sweetness in the face that I just love.



So that's my month's work all packed into one blog post. Hope everyone is having a lovely August. I hope to post a couple more times before August is over, but if history means anything, I may be being more optimistic than practical. Hope you are enjoying sunshine and good times!