Archive for blythe
September 7, 2004 at 10:17 pm · Filed under blythe
Mandy from Bon Bon Blythe and ZooBeZooBeZoo was kind enough to share her technique for painting and adding glitter to eye chips.
To change the color, I use regular acrylic craft paint (the kind you get for $1 per bottle in most craft stores). In the first picture (Disco Boogie), I painted only the inside ring of the eye chips, where the ridges are. I thinned out the paint with just a little bit with water (be gentle when mixing, so that you don’t create a lot of bubbles), then painted it all around the inside area, making sure to get paint into the corners of the little grooves.
After it was dry, I used a dry toothpick to gently scrape the paint off of just the raised parts of that area (and also any that might have gotten on the outer edge of the chip), leaving the paint down in the grooves. Then I went over the raised parts again with a wet toothpick to further clean them up and get rid of any cloudiness. This technique gives a lot of definition and depth in the eye color, rather than a flat, all over color.
In the second picture (Love Mission), I used this same technique for the inner part of the chip, and then I also painted the outer edges of the chips in the same colors as the inner parts. The outer rim requires 3-4 coats of slightly thinned paint (make sure you let each coat dry thoroughly before applying the next). I recommend using paint that is cut slightly with water because it goes on smoother and thinner, and therefore won’t add too much extra bulk to the inside of the chip (this is especially important if you are going to add glitter, which is the next step).
On both pairs of eyes, after all of the chips were painted and allowed to dry overnight, I painted on a thin layer of decoupage glue (I use Mod Podge; you should also thin this out with a tiny amount of water), then I poured extra fine grain glitter on the wet glue (I got my fine grain glitter at a craft store like Hobby Lobby or Michael’s. It’s MUCH smaller than regular craft glitter). Let that sit for a few minutes so the glue can set up a little bit, then carefully pick the chip up and dump off as much of the excess glitter as you can. Allow these to dry for a couple of hours, then come back with a soft, wide paintbrush and gently brush off any leftover excess glitter. And that’s it! It sounds like a lot of steps, but it’s actually quite easy.
I’m going to work with the chips I had painted brown. I’m also thinking about opening up Audrey’s head, removing her eye mechanism, and painting the lids. That will also allow me to do a better job with the shadow. Eep! Now I just need some bravery.
September 6, 2004 at 2:33 pm · Filed under blythe
Audrey’s face is now silky smooth. I tried to put eyeshadow on her using chalk pastels, but it came out blotchy and uneven. I ended up re-sanding her, and I’m a little reluctant to give her makeup now. Maybe if I took her entire head apart, but that is so scary. In other news, her extra eyelashes came out when I was doing the eye chip removal, and I lost one set. Urgh. Poor Audrey!
September 4, 2004 at 11:30 pm · Filed under blythe
Even though Audrey’s head had been opened before, I decided to use the glue stick method for eye chip extraction. It was a little scary (and bizarre looking) but it worked pretty well. I took out the orange chips and painted them brown. I also painted the pupils of my fleige p-chips.
I wasn’t especially happy with how the brown eyes looked, though. They were too dark, and made Audrey look like one of those sad-eyed velvet paintings, all dark pupils. Later I discovered a post on the TIB forum that made me realize a solid coat of paint probably wasn’t the right approach.
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September 3, 2004 at 10:20 am · Filed under blythe
Yesterday I gathered together some materials. Double-sided tape (for reattaching Audrey’s scalp). Acrylic paint. Glue gun sticks.
I already have soft pastels and a fleige p-chip.
I wonder if the girls have picked up on my devious plans. I’m going to remove Audrey’s makeup and sand-matte her. I want to take out her pink and orange eye chips and give them a thin layer of paint. Angelica is going to be the recipient of the p-chip, if I get brave enough. Excitement!
September 2, 2004 at 12:45 am · Filed under blythe
The Licca doll that I had ordered arrived today, and I finally got brave enough to peek inside Audrey’s head. She had already been customized (sleepy eyes), so it wasn’t that difficult. The scalp was already loose, and the head opened easily. While it was open, I added a pull cord for the sleepy eyes so the lids won’t have to be closed manually anymore. Unfortunately, though, I dropped the pretty orange p-ring I’d ordered–and it broke in half. (I glued it. We’ll see if it holds.)
There’s one problem with the Licca body, though. The skin tone seems a good deal darker than the original EBL body. Audrey had it on long enough to try out the most popular bendy Blythe move (see picture), but the kids insisted I take it off. They thought it looked too close to the color of Audrey’s hair.
I’m still trying to decide. In some ways, I like the EBL body better, but it would be fun to have something different.
August 30, 2004 at 12:17 am · Filed under blythe
With all the cool new clothes we’ve been getting lately, it was high time for a photo shoot. I took the girls over to Harbor House and set up in one of the median gardens. There was a birthday party going on at the pool, and I had a few interesting looks from some of the guests.
August 27, 2004 at 10:48 pm · Filed under blythe
My third girl arrived today from Nevada. She is a custom Fruit Punch that I couldn’t pass up. Of course, I had to take pictures.
August 22, 2004 at 9:02 pm · Filed under blythe
In the Blythe world (and the doll world in general), a custom girl is one to whom you add your own special touches. From day one, Xanthe seemed to cry out for her own special look.
So here she is… with a matte face, new makeup and shorter hair. Pretty frickin’ lovely, if you ask me.
Now I’m eyeing Angelica, because she’s been looking mighty shiny lately. Demabrasion is fun, really.
August 1, 2004 at 1:57 pm · Filed under blythe
I’ve been waiting to mention the most exciting news of the weekend. My eagerly-awaited package from Korea arrived Friday during the garage sale. Meet Xanthe! Nichole witnessed my obsession first-hand, as I had to document the de-boxing event immediately. Xanthe is a Lounging Lovely, inspired by the 1970s Blythe outfit of the same name. She came with lots of goodies, including a record player and coffee mug.
Moon has admitted: “Blythe is cool.”
July 26, 2004 at 6:43 pm · Filed under blythe
I loooooove special mail. Today I got an extra-special goodie from Wendy (aka honeymonkey) a fellow Blythie in Dublin, Ireland. She made a skirt for Angelica. It’s super cool, and I can’t wait to pair it with a black or pink shirt. I found a simple pattern at Puchimadam, and if I get brave enough I’ll give it a try.
I have had more international mail this month than I’ve had since my penpal days. (Once upon a time, I had penpals in India and Haiti. The Haitian boy only spoke French, and his language seemed so elegant to me. My rudimentary translation skills notwithstanding.)
Blythe – the new universal language.
July 14, 2004 at 12:06 am · Filed under blythe
Can you guess why I look so happy? My two eBay orders arrived today! The smaller box came from Hong Kong, the larger from Japan.
Peter assisted me with taking some photos to mark the occasion. He also helped get the teeny weeny clothing items detached from the boxes, although he insisted he was creeped out by the whole thing.
Have I mentioned I’m stoked about this? Angelica (yes, of course I’ve named them – duh) is an “I Love You It’s True” and Ginny is a Petit “Sailing, Sailing” Blythe. Ginny’s eyes don’t change, but they blink. But Angelica has the full-on pull-cord-activated eye-color-change feature.
Moon was just envious that her packages didn’t arrive yet.
July 12, 2004 at 11:03 pm · Filed under blythe
I just checked Blythe’s travel itinerary and discovered that she’s in Chicago! Yipee!
I bet I’ll have her by the end of the week, and I can take de-boxing pictures and basically turn into a scary doll enthusiast. Moon thinks it’s getting pretty creepy. She keeps catching me looking at the Blythe forums, where I am enthralled by discussions of abbreviations, customization and cool outfits. I’m even looking at name ideas.
Most of all, I can’t wait to pull the string and make her eyes change color. That will be so cool.
Yes, I am a freak.
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