Yeah, just some pictures of me trying to restring my dolls.
I made my MSDs arms too tight, and my tinys head is too loose because of the way I restrung her legs. So I have to fix it later.
Yeah, just some pictures of me trying to restring my dolls. I made my MSDs arms too tight, and my tinys head is too loose because of the way I restrung her legs. So I have to fix it later.
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I'm just so excited! I took tons of box opening pictures, and then was plating with posing my MSD :) Yup. Lots of pictures! Fun Stuff :)
You may have read the small excript from my story in progress, Concrete in my previous post. there is more of it available on Wattpad here: http://w.tt/1pUHUgP
I invite you to come and read the story :) I have not been on my blog in some time. I was surprised, upon coming back, to find that there were actually a few people about every other day visiting. I was discouraged that no one ever left any comments or ever appeared to take an interest in my blog. However, someone out there must. So I shall plan a few future posts to create for your reading pleasure.
The First: I plan on doing a video project. My intention is to portray the storyline from Of Mice and Men as a music video to a song by the band Switchfoot. The name of the song is Meant to Live. It will be animated, from beginning to end, and I hope it comes out nicely. I intend to put a great deal of time and effort into it. On the side I'll be posting an introduction video and other videos done as practice from my flash animation class. If anyone is interested in specifics, I'll be using the program Flash CS6. I don't know whether it will be traditional animation, tweened animation with symbols, or a usage of both, however I do know that it will be entirely animated. Any encouragement on this project would be greatly appreciated! :) The Second: I want to write reviews/analyses/opinions on random things! My Little Pony, Dark Life (a book), farting in public, apple or Samsung, et cetera, et cetera. That and deeper topics such as religion, relationships, humans in general. Maybe one day I'll get into larger topics as well! :) The Third: I ordered my first Ball Jointed Doll (BJD)! I ordered from Mint on Card, and they have been satisfactory. I also ordered in time (by about 24 hours) to receive the Arwen doll from doll leaves! I actually can't remember the doll I ordered as my main order... I think the mold was Dorothy or something that started with a D. It's a female, she is Minifee size, and I got her some nice aqua green eyes. She also has red hair and a white dress. I don't know what I'll do with the arwen doll. Online the body looks unisex, meaning it has no characteristics to define it as male or female, so I think I'll use clothing and makeup to make it a girl. I only ordered blue eyes for her and that's all. I also need to name them both. My intention is to create full fledged characters, with back stories, personalities, and I hope to give them a great aura. I want to make lots of home made things for them. They're both blank so I get to paint their faces! I might invest in some better sealant than what I currently have, however... (you can find the name in one of my past posts) The Fourth: I am writing a story currently, and wanted a few opinions. I thought I'd post a small hunk of it and see if anyone takes interest in it. If you like it, dislike it, or otherwise, please tell me so in the comments. The beginning is mildly confusing (its supposed to be, but I mean the point doesn't come across smoothly and I stumble and fumble with my wording in a few parts) so please DO point out when you don't understand something or anything you think will help the story make sense. I'll take any suggestions! It may be named Concrete, however that may change. So, all formalities, here is the first hunk of my story in progress: Running. When I try to remember as far back as I can, I'm running. Something about it, the exertion of energy maybe, makes it exhilarating. The ice cold lightning of adrenaline pours through my veins as I run, footsteps of two other people on my heels. I'm running, through a concrete hallway. It's utterly frightening. A machine gun is in my hands and the strap is around my neck, over my back, and under my armpit. "There!" One of my partners yells, a male voice. I simply react: I aim at the door he was pointing out, and as it opens, I open fire. Sparks fly and a robot carcass falls to the concrete floor. We stop in front of the door. I glance at my two partners as questions rumble through my head like a round of bullets hitting the wall. I ignore the thoughts and push them aside. Something in me makes me feel like this is survival. The robot came from a small room, completely concrete, and about four feet by five feet. Without speaking, the three of us pull the robot into the room, which is the size of a super skinny and short person, and the three of us huddle in as well. Someone closes the door, one of the people in this party who I barely glanced at. In the room it's dark, and my eyes strain for light. "What is going on?" I ask vaguely, "I don't understand." The male who spoke before speaks up, "I don't know." As if it was helpful to say. "I don't know either." Says the other, apparently male as well. "So you're a female?" The other one asks. I nod, feeling a bit sullen. Realizing it's too dark to see my gesture, I say, "Yes." "Do you...?" he asks, letting his voice trail off. "Ask whatever it is you want to ask." I tell him. "Can you remember anything? Do you remember how we got here?" He asks quickly. I stare at the blackness where the ground would be, then I sit down. "No. I remember nothing. When I try to remember as far back as I can, I'm running. That's it. Those moments maybe five minutes ago. That's all the memory I have." The other male, who seems to be the quiet sort, speaks up, "Maybe we should rest on it. Names?" I pause, my name being something I can't remember. "Mariah." I finally say. I know it isn't my name, but it feels significant in my mind. So that is the name I say. "John. I can't remember mine, but John will do." "I can't remember mine either." I confess. "Call me Leonard." Says the quiet one. We all lay down, knowing little of each other, not even what each other looks like, in an impossible situation. I find that rest comes easily to me, and fall into sleep. ***** I wake, feeling blind in the deep dark. "Hello?" I whisper. A small gasp comes from my right. "Hello." Says John, "You seem to have slept well. I was restless..." he says, letting his voice trail off. "I'm sorry." I say, feeling guilty for resting while he couldn't sleep. "What are you sorry for?" His voice carries soft anger, "Don't worry over me unless I tell you to." I frown in John's general direction, "Will you be honest, if you need help?" "Hermmm..." John makes a sound, considering what I said. My gut tightens, though I can't tell why. "Maybe." He finally decides, "I'll leave it up to your better judgement, how about that?" I smile to myself, feeling proud he's leaving something up to my judgement. The tightness in my gut is relieved. "Hey," I say, "Leonard." "Leonard?" John asks, "Oh, Leonard." I grope around in the dark, searching for Leonard. I grab an ankle, and shake his foot. "That's me." John says, half laughing. "Oh." I mutter. I continue my search for Leonard, and find the concrete wall opposite the one I was near when I slept. Searching the concrete floor, I move my hands left and right as I move forward, hoping to find Leonard. My hand comes into contact with a shoe. I grab the ankle, certain it isn't John this time, and gently shake it in hopes of waking Leonard up. "Gah!" A half whisper-half yell comes from the general direction in front of me. Leonard leaps on top of me, hands on my shoulders, his breath hot on my face. I struggle to contain my fear, and take a deep breath, "Leonard," I say as I exhale, "It's me, um..." my voice trails off, as I've forgotten the name I've given myself. "Well, I can't remember." I say boldly, "but we just met before we all went to sleep." Leonard relaxes his grip on my shoulders, and I sense the lack of heat above me and know he is no longer above me. "Mariah." Leonard says, "I understand how you forgot." I wait for him to say something more, but am left sitting and waiting. "Well?" Leonard asks expectantly, "What was important enough to wake me up?" His voice isn't agitated, but rather concerned. "We just..." John begins, but his voice trails off. "John and I, we were awake, and I didn't know what to do, and well," I pause, gathering my thoughts, "Are we in a group together, or will we seperate?" My question is met with silence. End of Story Hunk What did you think? Is it interesting? Do you want to hear more? Is it too confusing? I would love to hear any questions or comments, not on the story only, but anything you may feel like putting in the comments. Thank you for reading my blog! I hope you enjoyed yourself! :) I apologize for being gone for so long! It appears that despite my absence, people have been continuing to stop by my little blog. I have a few announcements:
The First: I will not be posting on here for likely another two weeks. A busy schedule means minimal time for the long posts I have planned. The Second: I will be creating a posting schedule, with (but not limited to, and no promises they'll all be executed): a weekly quote, a bimonthly long post, and maybe a monthly update on my life. The Third: I have big plans for this site that will simply take time to do. I've wanted to create a Nintendogs gaming page, and a few BJD pages. I also would like to add more art to my art page, and am considering promoting a few artists I've befriended one way or another, or simply appreciate. In addition, I would like to have open debates and things like polls. All in due time, indeed. The Fourth: I've ordered my first BJD!!!!! Eeep! :3 I ordered a normal skin Dora MSD from Doll Leaves. My order qualified for the event, so I get a free tiny size Arwen doll, he, who is unisex and I'll be making a girl, will have white skin. I ordered him some white imp wings too. I got them through Mint on Card and I give them a solid A for having a site that is easy to order from as long as you read through everything first. I am really excited!!! I'll do box opening pictures... which makes me feel so nerdy, but this is gonna be so much fun!!! Eeep!!! Excited!!! Dear reader, If you've made it to the bottom of this post, I am glad that it was interesting enough for you to read all the way through. I ask for any suggestions you may give. Got a topic you'd like to debate? Suggest it. Know of some interesting fact or discovery you'd like to see on here? Give me the link. Any thoughts or comments? I'd love to hear them. I love getting feedback :) I have had barely enough time lately to work on my doll. Being a high school senior and graduating in a few weeks has made my life busy. I have had enough time to put some work into my doll, but haven't had the time to post about it. So here is the post for you :) This is a list of supplies that I am using, pictures are at the bottom of the post. -100% acetone. I have CVS brand nail polish remover. I'm using it to remove the original face ups and my practice face ups on this particular doll. -Q Tips. I have a generic brand. I'm using them to apply the acetone to the dolls head and body. -Cotton facial squares. It's a generic brand. I'm using them to apply acetone to larger areas of the face. (cotton balls work better but I don't have any) -Tree House Studio brand Clear Acrylic Matte Coating. This is the sealent I'm using. It works well and once dry is not water soluble. -Chalk pastels. I need to check out the brand, it will be updated later. I'm using this for blush, and places where the face naturally varies in color. -Water color pencils. Brand will be updated later. I'm using these for finer details, like eyeliner. -Water. Just tap water. Applying pastels with a damp brush can have an interesting affect. -Paint brushes. I've had them for years now so I can't give you a brand, sorry. They're used to apply pastels, and to soften already applied pastels. -Q-tips. I know this is repeated. I use them to smudge pastels and pencil lines. -Fake eyelashes. I still need to buy some, so I don't have a brand for you. I will get some simple human ones likely. NOTE: For anyone interested in doing their own face ups, please research methods and choose one you are comfortable with. This is just one that I like and can afford, I had most of these things prior to being interested in dolls or BJDs. IMPORTANT: Anything oil based can and will harm/stain resin and vinyl. Regular colored pencils have oil in them, so do some pastels that look chalky. Read the ingredients, and if you're not sure, try researching it. I've been working on other aspects of the doll lately, namely clothing and hair. She came with this odd wig with shoulder length dark brown hair and butt length blond hair underneath. I personally don't like the style so I want to dye the blond hair red or pink and trim the whole thing. I think she will be made to be sort of fairy like. She will be complete with floral tattoos on her body and beautiful long eyelashes. A fairy she will be indeed! :) I'm pretty proud of this, for a first try I'd say it's pretty good! She has pink eye shadow, pink lips, black eyeliner, black bottom lashes, a flower face tattoo, and pink color on her cheeks, nose, and chin. the hardest part of working on the doll was the poor sealent. I used it, and put three coatings on as a base coat. The can said it dryed in two minutes but I gave it 15 between coats. I added my second coat unevenly, and though the third coat helped a little, it left a line on her face. This is, of course, practice. I intend to remove the face up and all of the sealent layers tomorrow. I'll use only two base coats, since I think the three was what made it shinier. I really love doing the face, but tomorrow I might do her body too. She needs darker eyebrows, and I wish I knew how. As of right now, I don't know how to make my pencil lines darker. (The black stem of the flower is watercolor pencil, the pink flowers are chalk pastel applied with a wet brush) If anyone out there reading this can give me any pointers, I would appreciate it! :) For my doll's face up I wish the pencils work better. At least the pastels work well :)
My supplies are chalk pastels, paint brushes, and watercolor colored pencils. Here are the steps in the process of getting the doll to this point: 1. Remove doll head. (Hold head in boiling water to soften, then gently pull head off. A blow dryer works too.) 2. Remove doll eyes. (Place face in boiling water, then put a long object like a pencil into the head and push eyes out from behind.) 3. Remove face paint. (Use 100% acetone with no added dyes or other things. Professional grade CVS brand is what I used.) So I started doing my dolls face up, but without the sealent underneath, the face isn't rough enough to get the pencils to work. (Paper has these teeth which fill up with pencil lead when you write or draw on it. The spaces between the teeth are filled. Smooth surfaces don't have teeth to fill, or have very shallow teeth, so a pencil won't work well.) The sealent underneath the face up is meant to not only protect the original doll head, but also create a rougher, more toothy surface to work on. But I can't get sealent, since I'm still 17 (but in a month I'll be 18) and the sealent can is behind the spray paint glass which you need to be 18 to buy. I want to work on this doll but my mom is insisting that I practice, which I understand, but the acetone will eat away at her face and I like this doll in particular. Maybe I'll go get a barbie or some other doll that I'm not afraid of ruining, because I sort of wanted to keep this one. Does anyone have a pattern for a dress like this? It is super cute and I would really like to make one for my doll. My doll also needs a name. But before I name her, she also sort of needs a face XD. Anyone who can support me with a few kind words of encouragement, please do so! I feel so alone on this whole doll thing... I apologize for the confusing photos, I will fix them tomorrow on my laptop. Whenever I try to post photos through the app, they get really mixed up :(
I got a doll today at a thrift store to practice face painting on!!! Here she is: The other dolls I found were either Barbie's, Bratz, or creepy non-brand names with ultra thin plastic for a body. I wanted doll with joints at the shoulders, legs, elbows, and knees minimum. This one has all those joints plus wrists, ankles, and her waist. The waist joint is sort of loose. I pulled her head off before I thought to take a few posing pics, so these are all headless. (Sorry, the head was herd enough to get off. Didn't want to put it back on, snap pics, then pull it off again) I didn't go all out posing her, just did whatever came to mind. Her knees are double jointed, but unless she sits with her legs wide apart, the leg joints will only come up to make a 90° with her torso. So this doll has similarities and differences fro BJDs. I thought I'd list them: Similarities: Ball joints Similar to human flexibility Wig Eyes are not part of the head mold Differences: More restricted movement Wig uses peg to attach Skull doesn't have opening The doll is plastic Panties are part of body mold Those are the main ones. I shined a light in her head through the wig peg hole and looked up through her neck and found that her eyes look a little like these ones: My major problem is that I want to remove the eyes before doing the face up. I don't know what to do, anyone have any ideas? Is it a good idea to remove part of the skull like some BJDs have? The wig would cover the seam... I honestly am unsure of what to do now. The eyes are fastened with some sort of glue, which is strong enough that when I tried to poke the eye in it didn't fall out. Can anyone identify this doll? I want to see if anyone online has a good tutorial for this sort of thing! Any help is appreciated :)
Also, I want to do her body. Should I go natural or add tattoos and stuff? |