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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Random thought Thursday: Ball Jointed Dolls

Hello, hello one and all!
Welcome to another random thought Thursday. I was hoping to have a video ready for this blog but unfortunately ran out of time between work and starting dance classes again (yay!) but I wanted to share some pictures and a little about my new interest. 
So I have been fixing up two American Girl dolls who have been in need of some love, one has a very thin wig so I figured I would look up wigs and maybe pick one up! I found out that Blythe wigs fit AG dolls and was thrilled because they could keep their old wig and have a new one fit over the top. I have seen BJD (aka Ball Jointed Dolls) before but never really looked into them, though I have always loved the way they look. I was searching around and did some research and found a bunch that I love (I mean LOVE) and quite a few that I can start with as they are less expensive, but just as pretty.
I love the idea that you get to customize these dolls yourself, something I do with the AG dolls, but BJD have the lovely ability to hold millions of poses, plus they are smaller and give me the opportunity to make all sorts of new crafts!! 
I love the Pullip dolls, seriously if you ever want to give me something I will cherish forever here are two pictures and their links Tiphona and Snow White I can't even express how much I love these two!! 
 
Tiphona is on the left, Snow on the right.




















I love these dolls because you can move their eyes and open and close them with hidden buttons in the back of their head (wigs cover them!) 
Anyway, I am waiting for a few more etsy orders before placing an order at junkyspot.com, again an amazing site with TONS of BJD's for sale, best part is they are in the US so no crazy shipping amounts! 
For now I used a gift card I had to buy a pack of Monster High Dolls... Eck, I hate these dolls, I am a counselor and they present alllll the wrong messages to girls, but they are BJD and a good way for me to practice the painting (face-ups) of the face and other things to make the dolls your own! So magic eraser in hand, and paints in the other I got to work, here are the before's and afters :D


 


Oh my! Seriously what is Mattel thinking!?! These outfits don't fit and the makeup is crazy!! Time to change that!!!

I started by using a magic eraser to remove their lip colors, the one of the left (who was a vampire before) had bright red lips with fangs o_O and the sea monster on the left had green lips. It took a lot of elbow grease but I got it all off! (You can leave it on and paint over, but the colors are more true this way!)

 

Here is the beginning of the doll I named Pheobe. I wanted her to be this sort of mythical sea creature, sort of like a Siren from mythology, but not evil like sirens are!! First I gave her bronze lips, it looks great with her purpleish-blue skin. Next I painted over her green eye shadow. I liked her eyes so I didn't want to magic eraser anywhere near that!! Using a 10/0 brush I was able to paint inbetween the eyelashes, and even under the eye as well!
 

 Next up I changed the scales on her legs to a brushed turquoise and painted the details metallic silver to make them pop. I followed up by doing the same thing on her arms, and her gill like ears. I love how striking they look! 
Next up was Seraphina, who I decided was going to be a fairy. I loved her pixy style ears (which you can see in an upcoming photo) and her eyes seemed so sweet. I realized that her eyebrows were to harsh so I repainted them metallic silver. I considered painting her eyeliner and eyelashes in the same color but instead thought I would add a few swirls that came from her eyes instead, the result was more amazing then I originally thought it would be. Here is an awkward photo of her face (sorry about that! better ones farther down!) and a picture of her ankle. Both ankles have a design (though they are both different!) and both arms have one as well. One on her upper left shoulder (that you can kind of see in the face shot below) and one on the lower right near her hand. Also worth noting both dolls fingers and toe nails are painted :D which you can see in the ankle picture!!



Here are the two side by side, I apologize for the nakedness but I haven't made clothes yet x) I am also going to attempt to make wigs for them which should be interesting!! (also I don't know why they look so shiny on the camera, they are actually matte finished, though the vinyl heads did shine up a bit from the acrylic sealant) I plan on writing a bunch of bjd patterns, some will be free here and others will be on sale at my etsy shop! 
In the works are a few AG doll knitting patterns that I hope to put up soon! 
Remember if you want your Harry Potter wand in time for Halloween order ASAP! :D

Thanks for checking it out guys! Would love to know what you think of the transformation! I can't wait to share my future bjd's with you as well!!! :D
Any tips or advice (or doll suggestions) are welcome! I am still super new to this!
<3 
Megan
As always here is the link to my etsy shop :D






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