Doll & Teddy Show ~ Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham

Had a lovely day at the Motorcycle Museum at the weekend even though the weather was atrocious there was a good turnout and everyone seemed quite chipper. 

Cheese eating grin!

Below is a selection of photos taken on the day by myself and Cathy Read. 

Sweet Little Valerie

I know that Secrist kits are a little bit out of favour these days, all the hoohah over oily vinyl really put a bit of a damper on the kits, but the truth is they are actually nice kits,  a bit of a muck up with the vinyl formula seems to have been sorted out and even the older kits are still usable... you just need to know how to handle them.  

Valerie here has been reborned from a Secrist Erin kit, I particularly liked the shape of her head and the sweet pouty lips.  Initially I reborned her to show you can get a really nice skintone on a Secrist kit if you just neutralise the colour properly to start with. A previous post dealt with using mint green paint to neutralise the pinky orange vinyl colour.

Valerie is available to purchase from my website Best Beloved ~ AvailableBabies



The gorgeous outfit Valerie is wearing was handknitted by Anne-Marie Edwards
 

Tenten ~ Completed and Ready to Go Home

Tenten was reborn from a Donna Rubert "Holly" sculpt.    The customer and I have worked together really closely on this doll,  Geraldine was very specific about what she wanted, which was both daunting and at the same time quite refreshing.  There is a challenge in trying to create something that is already in someone else's head. Making that a reality isn't an easy thing to do. 

We started with a blank Holly Sculpt and built up the skin tones,  with my checking with Geraldine all the way through if the colours were right. 



I wasn't entirely convinced that this doll would look good, I wasn't sure about having such long, thick hair on a sculpt that looked like such a young baby, but the customer had given a brief so I had to go with it.   The rooting took me weeks, as it had to be very closely rooted to get the right kind of thickness. 

But as soon as she was put together and dressed, I got it,  I could see what Geraldine had been trying to achieve and have to admit I have to applaud her choice of sculpt.  It just works! 


So  now Tenten has had her photoshoot and is ready for packing up and sending off to her new home in Switzerland. 

The lovely outfit was designed and made by Rachel Blythe, I picked it up at the Discover Dolls Show in Peterborough during the Summer show. As soon as I saw the dress on the hanger I just knew I had to have it and that it would suit a doll I made eventually. 

 

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William Goes Home

Today sees the departure from the nursery of a cute little chap that I have become quite attached to.  William has been to a couple of shows with me hoping to find his new home without success when out of the blue he was snapped up by a previous customer of mine from my website.

I was so pleased when I saw the name of the buyer, as I have done a custom for this lady in the past and she was a dream to work with on the project so I know that not only will William have a good home but he will be treasured by someone who understands and appreciates the artform.

So William has been packed to go to his new home along with his bosom buddy puppy.

I'm loving the PLBD customisable boxes, hopefully the box will be something that Williams new family will hold onto just because it's prettily decorated and perfect for moving him in should they need to.

I plan on stocking these boxes in the UK so if you are interested in them do feel free to drop me a line.