HAPPY HOLIDAYS...

So the end of my relocation is near... I moved into my new apartment in New York last weekend! Of course I promptly had to leave said apartment to spend Christmas with my family in Michigan... but I'm hoping in another month I'll be unpacked and ready to get back into this doll modding business!! :)

And remember during this holiday shopping season to... just say NO to scalpers. :)

Ok I lied...

... so I do have something else to post before heading to NYC!

I started this pattern ages ago... finally took my messy scratchy pattern pieces and traced them into something people can print. I haven't had time to print it myself and make a dress from the pattern (to make sure nothing was lost in translation). So if you make this use scrap fabric for your first try... in case something needs to be adjusted.

My first go at the original drawing of pattern is below. You can see I added some ribbon details to the super basic pattern to make it a halter. So don't be shy... play around with it! :)

OH!! I found the new Toralei doll at Toys 'r Us yesterday! I couldn't believe it... I beat the Ebay scalpers!! Take that you jerks! :P


* DOWNLOAD DOLL PATTERN PDF *

Going on a short Hiatus...

... so all my diabolical Monster High customizing plans are being put on hold for a while.

I am relocating to New York City so I'm cleaning, sorting, trashing and packing for the next couple weeks... then I'll be cleaning, unpacking and organizing my new life on the other side of the country! Since it will be winter time when I arrive in the Big Apple I'm sure I'll have lots of time hiding from the snow indoors to work on doll stuff once I'm settled in. :)

So I leave you with this little guy, the last thing I was able to finish before starting to pack everything up... his name is "Mello" and he is Gia Gamory's pet camel. He is a Littlest Pet Shop toy... it really bugged me that his body doesn't match the head so I tried to make sense of it by adding the darker pink to his legs. I ran out of acrylic varnish to seal everything though... so I hope he makes the trip to New York without any of his new paint getting chipped!

Creature Cruisin...

Oh yeah... now this is a car for my Monster High Girls!! LOL!

I found this vintage 1963 Barbie Hot Rod on ETSY for crazy cheap! And how amazing its not pink with Barbie logos all over it. It needs work... but it is in solid condition. Some bits are broken (like the windshield) or missing, but thats ok because I'm planning to customize this baby into a mean monster machine!!

The windshield frame has snapped off at the base but I have the clear plexiglass panel. I need to figure out a way to rig it... the carburetor heads are missing... but I'm planning on some chrome skull beads to take their place. Oh the plans I have... MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Printable Dollhouse Pages

The link below is to a PDF that you can print out. There are 5 pages, designed to overlap for an almost seamless look. Page 4 is a "blank" so you can print several and extend the background if you have lots of space to fill. Please note these are sized of 11X17" paper, though you may be able to print the top and bottom of each page on 8.5x11... but it might be tricky. :)

DOWNLOAD PDF FILE HERE!!

I'm offering these to the community for all to enjoy, I only ask that if you share you link to this blog post. Do not redistribute the file, claim it as your own or use it for anything except printing for personal use.

Oh and I'd love to see pics if you use them!! :D

OFF WITH THIER HEADS!!

Freshly decapitated dolls heads!

Pulling heads off of dolls is rather therapeutic... though I'm sure the professional head shrinkers would say I have "issues" that need to be addressed. This is cheaper... LOL!

It takes a while to get all the hair out... I sat through Footloose (the original. I can't believe they are re-making it. Hollywood should be shot!) and a Scooby-Doo cartoon movie and 2 Buffy episodes. Re-rooting doll hair is not a quick process....

So once all the hair was removed I found the factory rooting made some pretty big holes in the doll heads. Draculaura was the worst...

 I remembered reading about melting holes in vinyl with a hot glue gun (minus the glue) so I gave it a shot. It only melts the surface together, it doesn't melt all the way through... but I think it will help a bit when I start putting hair back in. I'll keep you posted!

If you try this.. be super careful!! You don't want to burn bigger holes in your dolls head. Especially after spending hours getting that darn hair out!

After removing all the hair and fixing the holes its time to prep the head for rerooting. I mixed up paint getting as close to the hair color that I'm using for their rerooting. You don't have to do this, but I like to... so you won't see the vinyl color through the hair.

Next step is hours upon hours of punching hair strands into the heads. This could take weeks... so stay tuned! :D

Klatti B. - Part Two

I went a little punchy crazy with the rerooting tool (which is awesome by the way) so Klatti's hair is crazy thick now! Looks like a little teal hair helmet. But hey she is an Alien so thats ok... LOL! I did manage to thin it out a bit by the time her face was done... now to make her some proper Mod Alien Girl clothing!

Klatti B. - Part One

Meet the first of my Character Designs to be turned into a doll...

So Klatti is my very first completed reroot. I'm not going to lie to you... rerooting is TEDIOUS. If you plan to try this yourself make sure you aren't in a hurry. I forgot how many nights I sat in the sofa watching TV and punching hair into Klatti's head... but it was a lot!

First Restyling - Char Katze

She started out as a "Dawn of the Dance" Clawdeen Doll, another victim of helmet hair. Something just had to be done! The one thing about the Clawdeen doll that has bugged me from the beginning is she is supposed to be a Werewolf... but her clothing and accessories seem more "cat-like". So I made this one into a Cat Girl.

She has been repainted and this was my first attempt at a "Boil Perm". I used pipe cleaners as curlers. Think it turned out pretty cute!

First Repaint... Dracleo

Yes that name is sooo lame... but this is my first go at repainting a Monster High doll. Over 10 years ago I used to customize Gene Dolls but its been a long time! Monster High is considerably smaller than Gene was... but I think the heads might be fairly close to the same size. MH Dolls have big ole' heads!

So this gal started out as a "Dawn of the Dance" Cleo. She had SERIOUS helmet hair... no I'm not joking. I think they used about 40 oz. of hair gel on her at the factory and it was hard as a rock. So she got a shampoo and a new face. I also cut the hair... it still needs to be a bit shorter. I want a 20's Flapper look to her.

The painting is ok, a little wobbly but I just need to get used to drawing/painting without a computer... *shudder*. Its also a little thick... I don't know how people paint on dolls & vinyl toys and get it to look so smooth!! But I got some paint "retardant" which is supposed to slow the drying time of acrylics so it doesn't get to heavy. We'll see if that helps on my next try.

Let the games begin!!

Here is a line-up of my MH OCs as of today. I'm planning to customizing exiting dolls to create each and every one! I've been reading and researching like a woman obsessed (because I am!) and I'm finally ready to start making some Custom Dolls!

The "Pets" are based off of Littlest Pet Shop toys... so I will be making these as well! Hooray!!