Wrist surgery

I took some extra time to prepare this post because I wanted to turn it into a more global tutorial. I was just about ready when Blogger had this annoying glitch for a couple of days. What was up with that? It drove me crazy! I half prepared another post while saving this one for a time when people could actually see it, but now it's fixed, and I know I kept the suspense long enough. I'm happy to say I got to the bottom of the blackening issue, then made a new wrist replacement, and another one for a different (not broken) doll. I now present you a full tutorial for fixing broken wrists/elbows/knees on any doll that uses the kind of joint seen in the first picture. The beauty of it is that it uses common materials and can be adapted for any size and colour!

28th World Doll Day

Today was the 28th World Doll Day, a holiday started by a doll enthusiast, Mildred Seeley, to celebrate our hobby. I found out about this not long ago thanks to Confessions of a Doll Collector's Daughter's post. She included Mildred's letter to her friends where she described how she wanted this day to be (go read it!). I'm happy that we get our own holiday, but I was caught very unprepared this year. I have nothing to give, not even words of wisdom a tutorial. The best I can do is raise awareness about the fact that yes, there is a day for us collectors. I'll shut up now and leave you with a bunch of more or less artistic (read: edited) photos of my doll shelves. Enjoy!

J-Doll upgrade, part 1: A look at the broken wrist

When you are trying to keep a blog, nothing goes according to the plan. I like to think of myself as a fairly organized person. Yes, I'm slow and overwhelmed with ideas, but generally, I make lists, never skip steps and my stuff has to be in the right place or I flip out on the person who moved it. I take pictures for the blog that I put in labeled and numbered folders, signifying the order in which I intend to write the corresponding posts. Yet there's always some event that disrupts the perfect queue and this is how my promised continuation of the hair care saga has been in drafts for months and also, how today's post came into existence.

One week ago one of the girls from the doll meeting messaged me with good and bad news. Her new J-doll came in the mail, but one wrist was smashed to pieces. She knew mine had a wrist problem as well and asked if I'd fixed it. I had to admit that no, I was reluctant to move it and break it any further. Unfortunately, things don't fix themselves if you do nothing about it. I bought a doll, not a statue. I decided I've had enough of that.

Managing super fine doll hair?

Hubby caught me snapping the photo above this evening in our kitchen and now he wouldn't let me go to sleep until I write my new article :) Luckily for my killer headache, it's going to be a short one. I want to share a little discovery I made while trying to fix Scaris Ghoulia's fried hair that will maybe get us closer to understanding how this hair fiber works.

Not alone

I've often lamented about how moch it sucks not to have anyone  around who shares my hobby, well guess what? Last Sunday I bagged two of my dollies and brought them to my first ever doll meet!

Story of a story

Oh, look at my "2 posts every month" schedule! Half a month went by and the things I'm working on right now are moving too slow to have any results worth showing. Bad me. To make up, I decided to write about old stuff I've had on my mind for a while. That long rocky road we stumble on before completing a project. I usually try to sound optimistic and upbeat when I put a tutorial together and that may give the impression that I have a magic ability to do everything right effortlessly. Well, that's not exactly how it works in real life...

Mood for Mods: Snap it!

Mood for Mods (as in "modifications") deals with ways of fixing or restyling factory doll outfits. Skirt too short or too tight? Shoes with floppy heels? No problem! Are you in the mood for mods? Let's see what can be done!

The folder with today's photos has been gathering dust for a long time. It's among the first things I wanted to write about, but somehow it got overlooked. I kept thinking that Tanya would be very mad at me for sitting on my butt without being productive. Yesterday I dared to wear mascara again after her death; today I finished this. It's a post about fixing one of the most common problems with factory doll clothes - the hook-and-loop tape (velcro) closure. It's a useful and fairly easy modification. Below you'll see two ways to replace the tape with snaps.

In Memoriam

Reginleif - OOAK by Tanya

This morning I woke up to find the most heartbreaking post on my Facebook - the one announcing the demise of an amazing friend and OOAK artist, Tanya Van Der Ploeg, also known as Valkyrie. She was a kind, positive and fearless lady who battled a crippling illness for years while never giving up on her passion and the community she brought together. She was much like the dolls she created - incarnations of legendary heroines and warrior goddesses. Words can't express the grief we all feel right now. I gathered a few pictures from her own website for a short eulogy. Let her art speak of her talent and dedication.
All the images are clickable to the source website, while it still exists.

Eggs galore!

You know what's funny?

I started this post almost a year ago and when I checked the calendar to schedule it I discovered that Orthodox and Catholic Easter fall on the same day! I think it's really neat because both sides can prepare at the same time :)

This being said, I don't endorse any religion. This holiday is simply an occasion for me to introduce you to the art of pysanky* - Easter eggs from Eastern Europe.

Resolutions

Yesterday was my first blogoversary. Yay, I guess? I don't have many accomplishments to be proud of. It's not bad, it's a great improvement over the B.B. (before Blogger) era, but I still have a lot of things to work on. I'm glad I decided to start this blog. It kept my scattered brain somehow under control. I can easily count everything I managed over the past year. This is exactly what I'll do in this post - celebrate my little victories and plan new conquests.