Ricky J Goes Home

This little man was a custom order and the buyer had very specific ideas about what she wanted, which in a way was quite a good thing for me.  With such a big kit and he really does have a mahoosive head I probably wouldn't have picked this kit to do myself.   So having someone choose it and already know what they wanted a finished doll to look like is a head start.

After that it's about collaboration and working to reach a goal.

I do have to thank the buyer on this one though as it took me forever to root this head.

 

Valerie ~ Goes Home

Sweet little Virginia has found a new family and gone off home.  Her new family love having her and that's got to be the best bit of my job, creating something that brings someone else happiness.

Sutton Coldfield - August 2013

Even though the weather was not the best as the recent Christines Doll and Teddy Fair in Sutton Coldfield, inside we had a lovely day,  great chance to chat and meet up with other dollmakers and get our gossip on.

Below are a selection of photos that I took on the day... Enjoy!

WIP ~ Virginia

Currently as a Work In Progress is Virginia, still waiting for her hair though, I am thinking medium brown kid mohair from Slumberland... but even bald she is adorable!

Virginia is reborn from a Cassie Brace Hattie kit and I have to admit to being in love with this gorgeous little mite.  

Bring on the hair eh!

If you fancy this little one and want to buy her but would prefer different hair, let me know before I start rooting. 

Bruge Doll Show - August 2013

A year ago I booked to go to my first ever overseas doll show, seemed like a good idea at the time!  And you know what, it was a fantastic idea.  It was really hard work, kinda terrifying driving onto a ferry, another first for me and even more terrifying driving across two countries to get there... ok bit of an exaggeration there, two bits of two countries.   But I did it and to be honest it was quite a liberating experience, made me realise actually I am much braver than I thought I was.


A good friend of mine, Morny, stepped in at the last moment to come with me and saved my bacon.  We had a blast, we laughed so much during the trip there, we sang to loud pop music and we generally put the world to rights.  Morny for Prime Minister!!!

After a very very early start and a long... but fun... drive we arrived in the fantastically beautiful ancient city of Bruge, although let me tell you, the one way system is a BITCH!!!

We went around the city one way system 3 times.... all three times we found the venue and the hotel but couldn't approach it as we were being wildly gesticulated at by people telling us we couldn't approach the venue, "no cars allowed"!   Eventually we just thought sod this and approached anyway and finally arrived at the destination. 

Ceinwen (my partner in crime) and her husband were already half assembled when we arrived and from there on in the weekend was just a blur of doll show, faces and laughter.

I took a lot of photos of the show and the city so I hope you take a moment to watch the slideshow and enjoy some of my moments from the weekend.

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. 

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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Curls

Picked these up whilst I was having my hair done the other day. 

Long luscious curls... are you thinking what I am thinking...

"ARIELLA!"

I haven't done one yet so maybe it's time I did!

Cora Goes Home

Another of the things I love about working in the dolly world is the friendships you make, how you end up meeting people you might never have come across just because they have seen and liked your work.  

Cora for intance has gone home to someone I didn't know but whom I believe I have developed a real friendship with and that makes me happy.   Quite often when I send a doll home to a new owner, its to never hear from that person again or sometimes only to hear from them when they want another baby made, but as a person and an artist it's a great feeling to know you have a connection with your customer. 

Cora arrived home very quickly,  well done City Link, less than 24 hours!  That's pretty darn good going so definitely a recommendation for their services from me!

And I have received a positive message from Cora's new mum, so all in all, a jolly super day... What What! 

Cora was created from a "First Love" kit sculpted by Ruth Annette of Simply Reborn Ltd.

Rowena Goes Home

I love what I do, although I write the magazine and sell supplies my favourite bit of my job is making dolls. It's the part of my life that brings me the most contentment and the most calm and sometimes my job is frustrating and slow work and hard but then every now and again it's downright dreadful, frustrating and depressing. But the best bit is providing a bit of happiness for someone else. 

Yesterday I sent off Rowena, a very special baby who has been a slow job for me... I have been lucky that the lady that ordered her was so patient with me and allowed me the time I needed to get Rowena looking the way I wanted her to. 

I actually felt a pang of sadness seeing Rowena packed up in her box.

I think I will miss this little lady, she has been a real labour of love for me, I wanted to make a doll that this very special lady would love and treasure.  It makes a massive difference knowing a baby is going off to someone you consider a friend.

Improving Mohair Quality

Sometimes when you buy a batch of mohair it looks wonderful in the pictures but when you get it in your hands its a bit dry and frizzy, at that point you can be a bit disappointed and worried that the mohair might not be any good to use.  

But just like our own hair adding a bit of moisture to frizzy mohair can make an enormous difference to its quality and at the same time make it much easier to use when you come to root it. 

When I mohair that turns out to be a bit dry the first thing I do is separate it into managable locks which I hold together with silicone bands, making sure the bands are twisted on really tight, you lose a lot less hair during the process using silicone bands as opposed to ribbon.  

I give the hair a good comb through with a small toothed comb, a pet comb with metal teeth or even a nit comb works well for this.  Once it's combed I use a leave in conditioner to moisturise the hair, the products I use are designed for Affro Caribbean hair so they really do moisturise the hair and improve it's condition enormously.  Once you have throughly soaked the mohair in moisturiser, comb it through again and then lay on tissue paper to dry out. 

 

As you can see the mohair goes from being dry and frizzy to sleek, shiny and soft. What looked like completely unpromising mohair becomes something special.

You do lose mohair during this process, specially in the combing out but it worthwhile to be left with such a soft usable product.

I find that this process also gives me a good opportunity to test the colour fastness of the dyes in the mohair, the last thing you want to happen is find the dye runs when you have already rooted half a head.

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Deanna Goes to Spain

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.  

WIP - First Love

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.

Discover Dolls - Peterborough - October 2010

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.

Teeny Tiny Finn

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.

Tessa Off to Meet Her New Family

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

Introducing Baby Pia

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.