Best Beloved

Neutralising Vinyl

2011-12-25T20:02:00.002Z

I get asked often about neutralising vinyl colours to make them enough of a neutral colour to get a realistic final skin tone. This step is one of the most important in the reborners art, understanding colour and how to cancel it out is an essential skill and takes patience, practice and a good understanding of the colour wheel, knowing what colour will cancel out another is really important.

To start this series of articles on neutralising kits I will begin with a Secrist kit, Erin, Secrist kits tend to be quite peachy coloured, you can just paint straight onto the kit un-neutralised but the finished result will still have that peach tone underneath your skin paints and doesn't really give the realistic skin tone that you want.

It's no longer used technique to paint inside kits, its been shown that colour over time can leach through the vinyl so all paint work it done on the outside of the kit.

To neutralise (cancel out) the peach tone of this kit and give a nice colour to work with the colour I use is a pale minty green. This is applied all over the kit, although I do avoid using it on the lips and on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet of my kit. You can do the entire surface of the kit but as I am going to paint those parts of my kit a pink anyway it seems a bit pointless to neutralise them first.

To make this colour I use the lightest Flesh Colour (Flesh 08) and Phthalo Green 06

There is a colour very similar to this called Earth Mint produced by Bountiful Baby in a pre-mix but I do think that it is good practice for an artist to learn to mix their colours from scratch. If you mix it, you understand it and if you understand how colour is created and works then you can use it better.

Mix your colour as you would any other skin layer, its much easier to apply paint that to remove it, so thin layers are the key. I find that 2 or 3 ultra thin layers works a treat.

I apply this colour to my kit with a mop brush or similar brush, make sure you don't have your brush dripping with colour and use a cosmetic wedge to pounce the colour in once it is applied.

Leave your kit pieces to one side, do not bake straight away, it's much easier to see gathered colour and streaks once the thinners have flashed off. and then use your sponge to blend any streaks or gathers you may have developed. Once you've done that, bake. Allow to cool and then assess whether or not your kit needs another layer.

You can see in the picture the difference in colour. At this point you can now apply skin layers as you normally would.

Life Saving Accessory

2011-06-27T15:11:00.001+01:00

If you use Genesis Heatset paints for any length of time one of the things you will eventually find that annoys you is dust in your paint. It's never easy to guess how much paint you will need for a particular baby and if you are like me and like to mix your own shades it's never easy to remember exactly what quantities of each colour... I always ended up with tons of paint going to waste or sitting in my pallet and going dry and dusty over the hours, specially overnight.

And then a moment of genius struck, it does happen on occasion, little jars, that's what I needed. And what an amazing bonus they have been... cheap and cheerful but so useful. Mix your paint as you normally would 1 part GHSP to 10 parts thinner is the usual ratio.

I like to mix up a lot of my favourite colours and I can relax in the knowledge that once the lid is on the jar my paints will remain dust free and the thinners won't evaporate too quickly either.

GHSP lasts indefinitely inside the jars, some of my paints have been in my jars for months I just keep topping up with thinners and additional paint if I am running low.

The paints do separate from the thinners and float to the bottom of the jar over time. But don't let this concern you, the paint is just heavier than the thinners so the particles of paint will drop down... but a quick shake of your closed jar mixes the paint back up.

Do make sure to test your paint thickness however as even with the lid closed tight thinners will evaporate to some degree so you may need to add extra

I do bring empty jars with me and have them on my tables at dollshows so if you want to grab a set of 6 for £4 pop by and see me.

Genesis Heatset Paint supplies available from Gloriarty.co.uk

Discover Dolls Show - Peterborough June 2011

2011-06-20T17:52:00.001+01:00

As always the Discover Dolls Show was a busy and full weekend. The summer version of the doll show ran over two days. On the first day as well as the stands there was also demonstrations by Doll Artists showing different painting and rooting technique over several hours during the middle of the day.

I was really impressed by the generosity of the doll community as was shown by the tables laden with prizes for both the Make A Wish Foundation fund raising and the Tombola.

My own donation to the Make A Wish table was Fraser who was lucky enough to be won and went off with his happy new owner.

For me however, the best part of the weekend was having a visit from our friends Sam and Garry, Sam who was a star helping me out over the two days but also just the fun we had over the entire weekend. Friends do seem to make any event so much better.

Silk Yarn Rocks

2011-06-17T17:40:00.000+01:00

My husband is teasing me mightily for my latest obsession with knitting booties... started off as a quickie thing that I could do in the car on those long car rides. I've knitted since I was little, my mother says I started at about 4 or 5 and I used to knit a lot but in the moves and the packing and unpacking I kind of mislaid all my things.

Why booties? Well because they are quick to do and there is an infinite variety, I can experiment with different wools and patterns. Craftwise it's pretty instant gratification.

So today's little beauties are these booties... knitting in silk yarn, incredibly fine at only about 2 ply and knitted on 2mm needles... teeny tiny little gems!

Who could resist this blue it's so jewel like. I made these to fit a teeny baby or sculpt.

Modelled here on Cora my First Love Sculpt and she is only a 14inch reborn so you can see these boots will keep tiny tootsies terribly toastie... Hey I'm a poet I just didn't know it!

More of my bootie creations are for sale on my new website www.bootielicious.co.uk

First Group Teaching Experience

2011-04-23T00:00:00.000+01:00

I had my very first experience of teaching in a group setting just before the recent Brighton Doll Festival. I have to admit to being quite scared beforehand. I mean I have taught in a one on one setting and although nervewracking being one to one with someone you don't have to be so concerned about timing the class or rather running out of time.

I was lucky enough to have three lovely students for my first group lesson, all three were keen, motivated and open minded about what we were going to do with our two days. We were blessed with excellent weather, it's always so much easier to be creative when the sun is shining! And also blessed with a wonderful venue for our workshop.

Ceinwen Clarke played host to the workshop in her light airy workroom, light and airy but also a treasure trove of crafting goodies... the urge to go for a rummage is always difficult to resist in that room. We were working on an Ember sculpt, a very cute sleeper kit. On the first day we managed to do the bulk of the skin tones on our kits and it left us in just the right position to concentrate on the fine details and to be able to have rooting demonstrations from myself, Ceinwen and Donna Wells. As well as Donna giving an excellent weighting demonstration which just showed how different everyone's techniques can be.

By the end of the two days the three students went home with completely painted and assembled babies and very full tummies from all the excellent food Ceinwen plied us with.

Future classes are going to be held in Brighton, Wellingborough and Whittlesea, for details feel free to contact me, Ceinwen or Cathy Read.

DIY Rooting Needle Holder

2011-02-09T17:26:00.000Z

I don't particularly like any of the commercially made needle holders, I get really bad RSI and i find they make my wrists ache... Plus I am quite heavy handed and tend to snap needles if they are in the commercial holders. So this is my way of getting round those problems, I find the needles flex more this way and are less likely to snap.

You will need:

1 Earplug (you could use something else but I find earplugs cheap and flexible

Rooting Needle

2-3 Hair bands (the cheap ones without the metal closure are best)

You will also need a pair of needle nose tweezers, you could actually just do this with a rooting needle but it runs the risk of bending.

I got these from an electrical store called Maplin for about £2 and I find them great for use during rooting as well for pulling out the extra hairs.

The first step is to poke a hole into your earplug, doesnt have to go all the way through, grab the centre of the ear plug with your needle nose tweezers and twist, that bores quite a nice neat little hole.

Push the end of your needle into the hole in your earplug and pull the earplug down, don't go push the needle all the way through, the earplug will act as protection for your fingertip.

Once your earplug is on take one of the hair bands and twist it round and round over the top of the needle... avoid doing this at the business end... there can be painful consequences.

I find 2 hair bands works fine for me, but you can use 3, twist them nice and tightly.

This is what you should end up with.

First Love Now Named Cora Completed

2011-01-10T18:00:00.018Z

It's been a couple of weeks since I started this little one and now having completed her, a name just popped into my mind when I looked at her little face. Cora, a sweet little name for a tiny little poppet.

Having said that, I am reliably informed that this baby is not a girl and is very much a boy. No!!! Say it ain't so! I think I need to stare at her/him a bit more and really make sure. But I suppose if people can see a baby dressed in pink and surrounded by pink and still tell you it's a boy then hmmm one ought to think again.

Deanna Goes to Spain

2011-01-10T10:30:00.001Z

I had a lovely little Christmas surprise when one of my auctions finished with a happy ending as little Deanna caught someone's eye. Deanna has now made her way to Spain to meet her new family.

Maya Leaves The Nursery

2011-01-09T18:28:00.000Z

Little Maya was adopted just after Christmas, a lovely couple came to visit my nursery to look over the babies I had available and little Maya caught their eye.

So after some cuddles Maya has left Best Beloved with her new family. It was a very special experience seeing someone fall in love for the first time.

WIP - First Love

2011-01-01T13:49:00.000Z

This is a sculpt that I just had to get, as soon as I saw the original sculpt by Ruth Annette on Facebook I just knew I wanted to do this little one. That fragile gentle little face is just something very special.

As a little Christmas light relief I thought I would just enjoy some painting time, it's funny how although it's quite a skillful thing to do it's also very relaxing and I find it very relaxing, I find that as I am painting my mood lifts, no matter how black and the tension I am feeling eases. Maybe that's just a reaction from doing anything that you enjoy.

I've worked on the base laters, the earliest skin undertones in blue, red, green and purple which always look a little strange.

I am really happy with the skin tones that are developing, I will update in a few more layers.

Jayden - Completed

2010-12-30T23:06:00.000Z

This custom ordered Jayden was a joy to do, I almost regretted completing it, the sculpt is such a fantastic one I will miss having it in the "to do" pile.

I must do another photo session with this little one before he or she is collected by the new mum which may be any day now. I will miss this face.

WIP - Jayden

2010-11-01T22:56:00.002Z

I am currently working on a custom order for a Natalie Scholl "Jayden" sculpt. I've completed the skin tones and am just waiting to hear from the lady that has ordered the baby.

I absolutely love this sculpt, it is so very realistic, I would love to leave this baby bald, the head shape is just perfect for being a baldy, but the customer wants hair on this baby so I am just waiting to hear from her with her choice of hair colour. Such a shame!

I will update my blog in a couple of weeks time when i have finished this baby and have updated photos.

Kimberley Beth

2010-10-21T19:03:00.000+01:00

A sweet friend of mine and fellow doll enthusiast Christine Derry asked me to reborn one of the Bethan Rose sculpts, I knew she liked what I had done with the prototype for the sculpt but was really honoured to be asked to do one specially for her. I think reborning for a friend is possibly more daunting than doing one for a stranger as when its a friend you really really want to give them the baby of their dreams even more...disappointing someone you care about is very hard to swallow after all.

Christine was incredibly patient with me as I worked on Kimberley Beth really slowly and was really precise in what I was doing... plus there was all the hassles of winding up the magazine etc which kind of brought me down.

I was finally able to present Kimberley Beth to Christine at yesterday's Discover Dolls fair and it really made my day to see her reaction and I managed to get a couple of fantastic pictures of just how pleased she was with her new baby.

Discover Dolls - Peterborough - October 2010

2010-10-19T00:34:00.000+01:00

What an amazing day! The show was great, lots of very familiar faces and lots of new people, I got to see a lady who I used to live quite close to but had lost touch with since my move, so that was a bonus! I also got to spend time with Sam Brown, a fellow reborn artist and good friend, who spent the day with me on my stand and was saleswoman extraordinaire, which gave me time to take lots of pictures for people at the photobooth, I will have to post a selection of the photos I took (including some incredible ones of Ceinwen's fairies) in another post because I have too much here just talking about the show!!

Sam and Ceinwen

I was really fortunate in that I had three babies adopted on the day, which really pleased me, Finn and Georgia both found new homes so I was really happy with that as well as Christine picking up her custom baby Kimberley Beth.


Christine Collecting Kimberley Beth

Sue collecting Finn

At the next table to me was Ceinwen Clarke who was displaying her amazing fairy creations and they were truly eyecatching and the amount of effort and time Ceinwen had put into not only the dolls but their individual outfits was wonderful.

There is something really satisfying about watching all these people who have come with such expectation and empty hands leaving with their new babies either wrapped in blankets or in presentation boxes and baskets with huge happy smiles at the end of the day. As an artist knowing you have given that pleasure... well to be honest, there's not a feeling like it.

I did take a lot of photographs of the stands, the visitors and the dolls on display and below there is a slideshow selection for you all to enjoy.

Maya

2010-10-15T19:05:00.025+01:00

Maya is another of the dolls that I will be displaying and with luck rehoming at the Discover Dolls Show this weekend. Maya has been created from a Deshawn sculpt by Jen Printy.

Maya measures about 19inches and has gorgeous baby blue german hand blown glass eyes.

Come along and meet her at the Discover Dolls Show on Sunday 17th October at the Holiday Inn, Peterborough.

Motorcycle Museum Doll Show - 26th September 2010

2010-10-15T14:02:00.000+01:00

I had a fantastic day at the Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, I joined Cathy Read and Lisa Dawson on the Discover Dolls stand for the day, thanks ladies, it was great to have such good company.

Shows are always so much more fun when you have company to share the day with. The Show was its usual mix of teddies, vintage dolls, reborn dolls and OOAK's and as usual the customer turn out was excellent, and customers seemed very enthusiastic about the artwork on show.

I was particularly delighted to have one of my babies adopted on the day, Charlie was rehomed to a really lovely lady who loved him on sight.

Teeny Tiny Finn

2010-10-15T09:05:00.034+01:00

I will also be presenting for sale this sweet little morsel at the upcoming Discover Dolls, Finn was created from a Tamie Yarie sculpt, Quinn, at 12 inches this little sweetie fits into your hands so well. But even being so tiny Finn is wonderfully detailed.

The tiny delicate limbs have all the detail and beauty of a full sized sculpt.

Finn will be available for a cuddle at Discover Dolls on Sunday 17th at the Peterborough Holiday Inn.

Come along and say hello.

Georgia

2010-10-14T22:32:00.001+01:00

The sculpt I used to create Georgia is one of my favourite sculpts, there is something so endearing about the cheeky face that Evelina Wosnjuk has created for this sculpt. Everytime I look at Georgia's face I find myself smiling, it's something I just can't help doing.

Georgia will be one of the dolls I will be presenting at the upcoming Discover Dolls Show in Peterborough at the Holiday in this coming Sunday 17th October.

The Discover Dolls Show is a great show with 3 rooms full of wonderful dolly art and supplies.

Dionne - Latest Ebay Baby

2010-08-16T16:21:00.000+01:00

It's been a while as I am not the best at keeping my auctions up to date, having far too much fun with the doll shows and doing the work.

But my latest baby up on auction is created from the very realistic Jayden sculpt from Natalie Scholl who I have named Dionne.

Dionne's auction runs until this coming Sunday 19th August 2010

I am hoping that Dionne finds a new family. To view Dionne's auction click HERE.

Tessa Off to Meet Her New Family

2010-08-13T15:40:00.001+01:00

Tessa is one of the biggest babies I have ever done, she is very similar in size to a Reva Schick Ariella and wears clothing up to 3 months very comfortably. I didn't want to make her too babyish as she is so big so I gave her a full head of curly blonde hair.

Tessa has gone to live with a lovely lady who has renamed her Angel and I wish Cathy many years of happiness with Angel.

Feedback

Hi Lisa love - i have been on tenterhooks all day wanting to let you know ho much i love my little girl. ngel is beautiful and is sitting on the bed beside me as i write to you. My little dog Bonnie has quite taken to her too and is snuggled up fast asleep with her head resting on Angel's feet - I love her shoes by the way, they are so pretty, and Thank you for the photo albumn love, what a sweet touch. She was in a lovely sturdy box and so well packaged, and in her pretty dress, she was as pretty as a picture. Thanks for everything. Cathy.xxx

Dolly Oven

2010-07-31T00:35:00.001+01:00

When the concerns arose last year regarding fumes being given off from vinyl during heating when curing the Genesis Heatset Paints I wanted to get a small stand alone oven that I could use for my dolly art only. The first oven I got was a Tefal mini oven which turned out to be a bit of a disaster, it cremated the tea towels on the baking trays within 3 uses and burned the trays as well before long. Which was really irritating.

The main problem I found with the mini ovens is where the heating elements are placed, either in bars placed on the bottom of the oven or on the top, or in some cases... both! But these elements are usually exposed, which is fine when you are cooking food you want to go brown... but not really good for heating a kit evenly.

I do have to say though that the mini oven did come in very handy for keeping me warm during a particularly cold craft fair... we ended up switching it on, heating it up and then opening the door and standing in front of it to defrost.

I was very lucky to receive a new Mini Oven from my parents in law for my birthday, this one is a Combination Oven, so it can be a convection oven, a microwave or a grill or a combination . Very handy!

It has a large internal cooking space so can take quite big kits, I managed to bake an Arianna kit in it quite happily. The elements to this oven are completely concealed within the walls of the oven so there's no problem of heating elements being too close to the kit and the temperature maintenance of the oven is very reliable and accurate. All in all after having this oven for over a year I would recommend it very highly as a suitable oven for reborning.

Christines Doll and Teddy Fair - Weston Super Mare - July 2010

2010-07-25T02:21:00.001+01:00

Going to Weston Super Mare was a first for me, never been there before. One of the things I am loving about the Dolly World is the fact that I am getting to visit towns I have never been to and didn't even know existed, it's a fantastic experience and it's definitel widening my horizons.

As Weston Super Mare was quite a trek for us, almost 3 hours and was almost half way between myself and my friend Natalie Milne we thought it would be really fun to make a long weekend out of it. So off to Weston we went. I was as excited about seeing Natalie and her family as I was about the show!

My stand on the day.

The room that we were all displaying in was large, bright and well lit, with lots of space for the stands and wide aisles between the stands giving visitors plenty of room to look around and browse. As well as reborn dolls there was kits and supplies on offer and teddy bears.

More photos of the day below.

Natalie Milne and her daughter Sophie

Dulcie travels to Ireland

2010-07-05T22:45:00.002+01:00

After a 10 day auction Dulcie, my sweet little Michelle by Evelina Wosnjuk was adopted by a new mum in Ireland who has renamed her Amy Leigh after her granddaughter.

After being carefully packed for travelling Amy Leigh arrived in ireland to very positive feedback.

I wish Amy Leigh's new family many years of enjoyment of her company.

Mitsuko- Searches for a Home

2010-07-01T23:32:00.000+01:00

I'm not the best most proactive person at marketing my beautiful babies, got to improve that, but over the last year I've been so engrossed in Hello Dolly that I've not dedicated the time into showing off my work... slapped hand time... so I'm going to make a more concerted effort to empty out the Nursery of it's current sweet inhabitants to make room for some new work.

Mitsuko was created from a Lotus sculpt by Adrie Stoete, I loved creating her, I wanted to give her a creamy Asian complexion with a sweet flush of blush but without being overly mottled.

I love Asian baby hair, quite often you see a thick mop of hair that has a mind of it's own and sticks up all over the place and I wanted to achieve that with Mitsuko.

Mitsuko is on Ebay for 10 days in the hopes that she will capture a new mum's heart and leave the Nursery and find a new home.

Mitsuko has a beautiful Peach Satin traditional Cheongsam outfit that she will be travelling home in.

To view Mitsuko's auction click here

WIP - Georgia

2010-06-19T00:33:00.000+01:00

The pile of painted kits is growing steadily, I've been a bit of a misery of late and the only thing that has cheered me up has been painting... rooting? Not so much! I've no doubt at some point fairly soon I will have to crack on with the rooting. Now I have a Rooting Companion it is only fair that I road test it thoroughly!

One of my recently painted kits is a gorgeous Estelle by Evelina Wosnjuk, definitely one of my all time favourite sculptors, who can resist that cheeky face and the beautifully detailed limbs. This is will be my second Estelle, the previous one went to a home in France.

The next step will of course be hair. Look out for a progress update soon.

WIP - Maya

2010-06-18T23:39:00.001+01:00

Coming soon to Best Beloved Nursery will be baby Maya... I've finished her skin tones, I wanted to give this delicate kit soft baby tones.

Maya is being created from a Jen Printy DeShawn kit. I love her sweet delicate features, I haven't quite decided if she is going to be a dark haired baby yet, so you'll have to wait for the update on that one.

The more I look at this kit the more I love her.

Dulcie on Ebay

2010-06-16T20:53:00.000+01:00

Dulcie has been reborn from a Michelle sculpt by Evelina Wosnjuk, this kit has proven to be one of my favourites to work on so far. I do love the detail that Evelina puts into her sculpts, so many tiny little creases and beautifully shaped head and limbs.

The tiny details just make the sculpt so realistic, you can't help touching the sweet little toes.

Baby Dulcie has been carefully and lovingly reborned using the best available fillings, paints and mohair.

Dulcie is approximately 18 inches in length with curved arms and legs. She fills the arms so well and feels so realistic.

Dulcie is on Ebay for 10 days. I am hoping she finds a new home to go to. To see Dulcie's auction click HERE

Benjamin - Custom Order

2010-05-09T22:38:00.000+01:00

Benjamin has been a joy to create, the lady who comissioned him had very specific ideas of what she wanted in her dream baby. We started off by going through a list of sculpts that she could look at until she found a face that she liked the look of, finally she decided on Benjamin by Regina Swailkowski

Benjamin will be making his way home this week to his new home.

Brighton Photo Booth

2010-04-09T19:32:00.005+01:00

One of the hardest parts of Reborn Art is the final photography, the photographs that we use for our auctions and to show the quality of our work on our websites.

We are always striving to create a natural, realistic photograph. A lot of what we do as artists is about illusion and the photographs at the end of the process are as important to us as the creation of our dolls. That is not not an easy task.

At the upcoming Brighton Show I will be co-womanning a photography stand with a dear friend Cassie Peak of Baby Dust Nursery where we will be taking quality photographs of visitors dolls.

We will be bringing along proper lighting equipment, backgrounds and props so that we can create beautiful photographs.

Examples of Photographic work:

There will be a nominal charge for photographs.

3 Photographs for £5
10 Photographs for £10
20 Photographs for £15

Photo sessions will last approximately 20 minutes, pop along to the booth (Stand 27) and book your session.

Make sure you bring the outfits you want your photos taken in and your email address.

Christine's Doll & Teddy Fair - 28th February 2010

2010-03-04T15:09:00.017Z

Christine’s Doll and Teddy Fair

28^th February 2010

Sutton Coldfield Town Hall

I had really been looking forward to being at Christine’s fair, I went to the first one she hosted as a visitor and a reporter for Hello Dolly so I knew what a fantastic venue the Town Hall was already.

I was a bit concerned that bad weather was going to strike and make turnout poor but this was not the case, there was a steady flow of visitors all morning and it was great seeing so many people making the effort to come out despite the rain and take a look at the available dolls and items.

It was a lovely day, I really enjoyed spending the day with my friend and fellow reborn artist Cassie Peek who was a great help, helping me set up on the day and manning my stand with me.

It's always good fun meeting up with other reborn artists and collectors.

The Next event at this venue is on 1st August 2010

Cassie Peek and Shirley Atkins

Georgeous Displays of Coverlets and Treatments

Coach Prams

Curly Hair - How To

2010-02-22T23:25:00.012Z

I had a recent custom order where the customer requested curly hair, now whilst you can get wavy mohair, properly curly is not so easy to find, so I thought I might have to be a bit ingenious about how I achieved properly curly hair.

The customer had chosen a Luca sculpt as a gift for her daughter and requested green eyes, handrooted eyelashes and closely rooted dark brown hair, long enough to tie in bunches but with curls.

So this is how I did it.

Obviously with mohair you could use curlers or tongs but the curls may just drop out and I wanted something a bit more permanent, plus curlers were a bit too big for the hair so I had a moment of genius and thought why not use straws and hair grips.

What I used:
A handful of straws
Hair grips (1 per curler)
Scissors
Comb
Setting Lotion
Spray Bottle

I wasn't entirely sure about the setting lotion so I used a solution of about 1 part setting lotion to 4 parts water and used a spray bottle to apply it to the hair.

I cut the straws into 1inch - 1.5 inch pieces but you could use longer pieces of straw and I also found that the type of straw you use make a difference, the straws you get in McDonalds are slightly bigger in diameter and give really nice fat curls whereas drinks straws from Tesco give smaller tighter curls.

Part the hair into small segments and use your water/setting lotion spray to spray each segment.

I also found there were two ways to achieve nice curls, one was to twist each segment of hair before rolling it up on a length of straw.
Twisting the hair before rolling it gives a nice dropped ringlet effect which is very charming but doesn't hold as well as flat rollering.

Continue all the way around the head, stick with small segments of hair and spray well each time, until the whole head is done.

Spray the curled hair with a mist of your water/setting lotion mix.
Once you've sprayed the hair the best thing to do is just to let it dry out naturally.

When you take the curlers out don't comb them out, it will make the hair frizzy, separate the curls gently with your fingers.

It Was All Fun At The Fair

2010-02-02T00:29:00.008Z

The morning was cold, so cold I had to scrape ice off the car and Cassie and I shivered for the 5 minute drive to McDonalds where we captured breakfast bagels (YUM!!!) before setting off for the fair venue.

You know when you have a good friend in someone when they are prepared to drag their carcass out of bed on a Sunday morning at silly o'clock to help you set up and run a stand at a craft fair.
The venue was really easy to find, always a bonus for the geographically challenged like myself and unloading, a breeze we could pull up right outside and just trundle everything inside. So important when you have a stand to set up and tons of stuff to bring in and you're half asleep from lack of sleep from anxiety and excitement.

I really loved the venue, outside great parking and easy access and inside a big airy room with lots of space to maneouvre and bonus 2 bars! We only had one table to organise so it wasn't terribly long before we were all set and even had time to spare to have a chat with another reborn artist who also had a table.

The day was mostly busy with a steady stream of visitors who showed, on the whole, a lot of positive interest in the dolls and were keen to ask questions about how much work goes into a doll and were quite shocked at the estimate of 120 hours of painstaking work.

Cassie and myself took turns to take a little wander around the rest of the show and there were so many wonderful things to see and buy, Cassie was particularly taken by a range of childrens clothing and I was in awe of some pottery and some mosaic glass art that was there for sale.

One of my mini's was lucky enough to find herself a new home with a very sweet lady who seemed particularly taken with the doll art.

By the time the event ended (4pm) I was feeling rather pooped and more than ready to pack up, head home and order a Chinese, mmmm Sweet and Sour Chicken Hong Kong Style, so so good!

Northampton Craft Fair - 31st January 2010

2010-01-13T01:04:00.005Z

I am very much looking forward to taking part in a new Craft Fair venue in Northampton at the Tetley Stand Conference facility at Northampton Saints Rugby Club which is located in the center of Northampton itself.

The Show's Organiser David Smith is an old hand at organising such events and the day looks to be a really fun exciting one with such crafts as jewellery artists, mosaic pictures, fine art photography, handmade cards, clocks, ceramics, handmade soaps, baked goods and much much more on offer.

Doors open on the fair at 10am and will run until 4pm with admission a very reasonable £2. With free parking for 2,000 vehicles at the venue it should be a really good day out, so come along and say hello.

Click here to have a look at some of the wonderful products, craft and artwork that will be available on the day.

My biggest concern with such a fine array of beautiful goods available will be to try not to max out my credit card buying beautiful things to take home.

Mini Magic

2010-01-12T01:01:00.006Z

I fell in love with the second set of Secrist mini sculpts when they first appeared on the scene. I missed out of the first set completely, they sold out very fast but in some ways I don't actually mind that as the first set were in truth more difficult to do. On the first set you didn't have any pre-done eyes and painting realistic eyes onto a tiny 6 inch mini sculpt is a challenge to say the very least.

The second set featured 3 sculpts, one sleeping and two open eyed of which Belle, pictured here was one. This time the eyes were already done, which I imagine lead to more than one sigh of relief.

You would be mistaken in thinking that creating a doll from one of these tiny sculpts is any easier or less time consuming than a full sized sculpt, of anything they are more so because the tiny little details really require close attention and care when working on them.

although the mini sculpts came with their own very cute little outfits, it's always nice to add something individual and handmade and as luck would have it, I got that opportunity when I tested out a crochet pattern by Ceinwen Clarke that was going to be featured in the December 2009 Issue of Hello Dolly Magazine. After making the snuggie pattern up twice in full size i was inspired to make a mini version to fit little baby Belle.

Belle has recently gone off to a new home in Lithuania but I can see more minis in my future they are so much fun to do.

Bethany Voyages to Spain

2009-12-30T01:18:00.005Z

Bethany, Prototype No. 3 by sculptor Toby Morgan is leaving me for her new home in Spain.

She has been carefully packaged ready for collection by the couriers so that her journey will be safe and she can arrive at her new home as beautiful as she is leaving me.

Now the nervous wait for feedback from her new owners.

Eastbourne Craft Fair - December 2009

2009-12-17T01:13:00.007Z

Ceinwen is on a mission to raise the profile of reborn art and I have to agree that the only way to do that really is to "get out there" in as many ways as we all can to show people the art and talk about the work involved in creating our dolls. I am so sick of hearing about Channel Four's 'My Fake Baby' programme. It has been a real double edged sword that one and the bad side was not only sharp but tipped with poison. For every 1 person who has said to me 'oh yes I saw My Fake Baby and it got me started in the artform', I can show you another 5 that say 'oh yes I saw My Fake Baby and you women that make these dolls are all mental and need psychiatric help' or something equally insulting and unnecessary.

I don't have a problem with people not liking reborn dolls, there is a reason for the aversion, it's understandable and in a lot of ways seeing someone do a double take because they're not sure or even seeing someone recoil can be a real compliment because it means that the artist has achieved the aim of the art, to make something so lifelike and realistic that the viewer is not sure what they are seeing.

If the art is ever going to shake off the stigma that has been attached by that programme and the other negative and sensationalist press that the artform has received, then it has to be down to the artists to get out there and tell people about what we do and why we do it.

Anyway I toddled off to Brighton to accompany Ceinwen to a craft event she was having a table at in Eastbourne, not a doll show, just a craft fair, but it seemed like a good opportunity to show off our work to some people other than doll enthusiasts... you never know, we might create a few new doll enthusiasts along the way. The room in the basement of the hotel was lovely, very airy and bright and there was a real mix of crafts on show on the various stands, from jewellery, knitting and photography to an amazing stand by a lady who made fabric art dolls which were incredibly detailed and had whimsical poses.

Our stand was on the outer ring of the second exhibition room in a really nice central spot and from the moment we started setting out our display we were busy, there was a constant stream of visitors to our stand, before the show opened it was other stall holders coming over, fascinated by the dolls on display and so it went on all day, we talked to people all day about the art, what was involved in making the dolls, how time consuming the rooting of hair was and how long it took to paint. Ceinwen was on hand with a blank kit to show the starting point of the art so people could see how much work was involved.

I spent most of the day demonstrating rooting and people commented how I must have the patience of a saint. I don't think I do, I just love what I do!

The only downside to this event for me was the lack of wifi and mobile service, something about the building made it impossible to get a signal and unfortunately that meant that we lost out on a couple of prospective doll sales.

Still... our intention in being there was really about showing off the art and getting people interested and we definitely achieved that!

Upcoming Shows

2009-11-29T23:23:00.003Z

I love going to doll shows, it's really good fun, exhausting mind you, but good fun, it's nice to be able to talk to other people about doll art without judgement. Doll Shows are one of the few places one can go and be totally into doll art without anyone looking at you as if you are somehow strange. I will be attending a number of doll shows in 2010 and having stands at some of them starting with

28th February 2010 10.30am – 4pm
Christine’s Dolls and Teddy Fair
Sutton Coldfield Town Hall
Sutton Coldfield
B73 6AB

Admission: 2.50 16 and under Free
Website

So if you get a chance do pop along and come and say hello.

Prototype Prestige

2009-11-25T22:34:00.006Z

One of the biggest coups for a reborn artist is being able to do a reborn a prototype, to a non reborner that probably doesn’t sound like much, but trust me, it is!

Just for the sake of clarity, when a sculptor has a new doll kit out on the market the first 2 or 3 test kits are called prototypes and those are very special, they are used to check for quality and for the promotion of the kit, the photos of those prototypes will be used tp promote the kit and hopefully help sell it to the rest of the reborning world. So of course those prototypes are really important. I mean, come on, no one is going to buy a kit if the prototype looks like the Baby of Frankenstein now are they?

So being asked to do a prototype is a very special event and a real compliment.

Bethany is a preemie sculpt by Toby Morgan a really sweet 14inch sculpt with a very preemie look and curled up limbs.

There is a bit of pressure of course to feel like you've done a good job on making a sculpt look good and in a lot of cases there is a lot of pressure on the artist to get prototypes done on time.

I think it takes a lot of determination and a huge amount of commitment on the part of an artist to do prototypes on a regular basis.

Prototypes in general sell at a premium because although there are a number of kits made from any one sculpt, even the limited edition sculpts, the first ones, the prototypes are so special that people want to have them.

I am so pleased with how Bethany has come out, she is perfectly proportioned and I have weighted her carefully to give her that new born floppiness.

Her hair is the softest best quality mohair from Slumberland Nursery in the softest baby brown and I rooted her eyelashes in the same soft mohair

Bethany is still looking for a home so if you would like to take her home click HERE

Doug Richards Meets Savannah

2009-11-23T20:45:00.000Z

Savannah was reborn from a Tina Kewy sculpt "Newborn Cherish". Savannah is one of a limited edition run of this sculpt totalling 500, Savannah is number 431. This sculpt was delightful to work with and created a beautiful baby. I wanted to try working with a blonde fair skinned effect for Savannah, I've rarely seen this sculpt done blonde so I decided to do mine that way to see how she would look.

Savannah has 3/4 length arms and legs in Tina's very expressive style. I recently attended a Conference for people who run home based businesses run by Enterprise Nation. At the conference Savannah ended up on stage with Doug Richards.

Savannah is still available to buy click here.

Introducing Baby Pia

2008-08-30T20:03:00.000+01:00

This is baby Pia, she has been reborn from a gorgeous sculpt "Lacey" by the very talented Shawna Clymer, I have spent many days creating a delicate young baby skin by using incredibly thin layers of Genesis Heatset Paints, each layer carefully oven cured to make sure it has set.

Great attention has been paid to the detail of this baby, she has had every crease and crevice of her body painted.

I used a very fine need to micro root her hair with ultra mohair in black. Her hair has then been sealed inside with a waterproof sealant that allows the new owner to dampen and restyle Pia's hair.

Pia has been weighted with a mixture of poly pellets and glass beads and that squidgy baby feel is achieved by the use of "baby fat" and polyester fibre fill. Because Pia's limbs and head are weighted she has the feel of a real baby and requires support to her head and limbs just like a real baby would do.

Reborning is an incredibly time consuming art, it's a real labour of love to create these amazing life like baby dolls.

If you would like to have a go at reborning please visit my website for kits and supplies http://www.gloriarty.co.uk/reborn And a wonderful resource for more information about reborning is RBUK a friendly welcome community of UK reborn artists and doll collectors.

If you like my work please feel free to leave a comment. If you are interested in purchasing one of my reborns or having me make a custom reborn specially for you please email me.

Pia is at present available for sale please contact me for information.

Enjoy the photos of Pia.