Sunset Beanie No2

Sunset beanie, a photo by Zanalee on Flickr.

Been doing a little knitting this weekend. This is one of two that I have completed to satisfaction. I need to work on a few more to get a consistent pattern down and then I'll probably put a few into the Blythe Warmers shop.

Castaneda Yesteryear

Castaneda Yesteryear, a photo by Zanalee on Flickr.

Our Moshi Moshi "Annie Hall" shirt just arrived today! I wasn't sure who would get to wear it first and then I spotted Castaneda in the same halter dress she's been wearing for nearly a month and grabbed her.

This girl can work anything! I just adore her! I'm starting to doubt I will ever think of selling her again. She just brings me so much joy and smiles. I love what she does for this shirt. EEEP!!!I need one more! LOL!

Dolly Mail News!

Moshi Moshi Annie Hall Shirt

So I was sitting at my desk at work yesterday at 5:00, normally the time I'm running for the door, but instead I'm counting down the seconds to the Moshi Moshi Studio Etsy update. 5:00pm on the dot, 10:00pm UK time, all the goodies are up but there's only one thing I want and it's my second Annie Hall Blythe shirt.

I've learned to think quickly during these updates because I've had several items ripped right of my cart on the way to check out and it is never cool. With the Annie Hall shirt Hilary makes, of which I have become a huge fan, I've learned to look first at the shirt material and then at the tie material. If I like one or the other enough, I grab it. For my last purchase I went for the tie material. This time I went for the shirt. I really love the pattern and the olive green color. Miraculously, it is mine. I would love to say that this is the last one for some time but I just can't. It's almost like winning an auction on ebay! It's just too much of a rush! And I adore these shirts so much! I wish she made them in my size!

Hendrix in her Pom Pom Dress

As if that was not enough, I get a text from my sweety right after I leave work that I have dolly mail at home!!! What could be better? I finally got a Shershe original Pom Pom knit dress! I've been loving them forever and finally got around to contacting her for a commission a few weeks ago. It is the softest, most delicate, floofiest most darling thing ever! I just love looking at it! It is so sweet, I knew it had to go on Hendrix first. But I'm sure she's willing to share. Sherri's Pom Pom dresses are just so sweet and simple, with colors that are just so cheery and textures so dandelion like, they appear to be able to float. I may need one more. I'm hopeless. In the mean time, as per usual, I haven't shopped for myself in ages. LOL!

Been out sick

Untitled, a photo by Zanalee on Flickr.

Sorry for the long dull silence but I have had bronchitis for over two weeks and have only started to recover recently.

During that time I was so lethargic and even a bit depressed that I almost felt I was no longer even interested in taking dolly pics or making reports. Bronchitis, while it runs it's course through your system, only gives you enough energy to hold your body up so you can cough your brains out before collapsing again. But I think I'm steadily beginning to make a come back.

There is an NYC Blythe meet coming up soon which I do plan to attend, at least for a couple of hours or so. Sometimes you just get sick of your own dollies and really need to see others in order to be inspired again. It's what I really love most about Blythe meets. That and having all the patrons at the selected venue stare at us with combinations of wonder, shock and unexplainable envy.

Four Faces of Emily

Emily was my first Blythe ever, a PWP ADG and I have put her through so much, from a really bad dye job (cause ADG hair is just not very versatile) to a blue bob wig she wore for over a year while I re-rooted her old scalp with Thermal changing orange saran. I'm really happy she hung in there and is still around while others have left.

I have to say that the thermal changing orange saran and I guess the whole thermal changing series of saran colors are just a dream to photograph. Since the hair itself changes from orange to yellow and back in response to heat and touch, you never know exactly what you're going to get when you play with it! I just love that! It's so experimental and alive. I get my saran from My Little Customs usually and when they're out of what I need I go to Restore Doll. Both are superb resources for Saran and rooting tutorials as well as other dolly custom materials. I can't wait to get started on my alpaca re-root. I'm hoping the coolcat scalp will get here sometime this week.

Does anyone know how to perforate a black scalp? How big do you usually male the holes? What pattern do you usually use? And what about thatching? I'm still a bit intimidated by thatching but clearly I need to get over it so any advice or tutorials you can offer out there in dolly land would be greatly appreciated.

You'll feel better in a couple of days

You'll feel better in a couple of days, a photo by Zanalee on Flickr.

Emily has been tied up since Friday night when I finally completed her Orange thermal changing Saran re-root. WHEW! I started the thing in 2010 people! Oh, that sounds crazy just hearing it!

But anyway, flaws, part thatching still pending, it is done. And I'm not taking the rubber bands off until tomorrow because it's a lot of hair and I am not going to be happy if it falls off because I didn't leave her wrapped up long enough. That happened to to me more times than I care to mention with Bowie's "Simply Mango" scalp and all her flanges are completely intact. It was just a scalp switch. But the scalp was constantly falling out of the dome! Finally I just ended up adding Crazy Glue in with the Tacky glue. That was that.

I think I will release Emily from her rubber band torture sometime tomorrow evening.

I'm waiting for my blank coolcat scalp to come in so that I can start on Whitney's alpaca re-root next. I'm hoping that by making the holes in the scalp myself which will be the first time ever for me, I may be able to make the whole re-root process a little easier on myself. We shall see.

St. Croix Blythe

We're all back from vacation feeling relaxed and renewed for the time being. Three days at work and I'm still feeling a little afterglow. And in my dolly world there's already a lot of activity going on. I came back very determined to continue and complete Emily's thermal change orange re-root and I'm happy to say I have made  lot of progress and have very little left to do. I am at the very edge of her scalp and hoping what I have left of the saran will be enough. I may have to skip a few holes in the back as a I go. It's a heck of a lot of hair. I've learned that it's not necessary to fill the holes with large hooks of saran to get a full head of hair. But I went a little crazy when I started a year ago and probably wasted a lot of saran.

For my next re-root I will try to be much more economical. And yes, I already have the hair and just ordered a coolcat scalp this morning. This re-root is intended for my Hollywood Blythe Whitney who I am still in the process of customizing. I actually ordered the hair while I was still on vacation and it arrived yesterday from Stephanie A Smith. It's an ounce of pink brushed suri alpca and I'm not a pink person but I saw it and couldn't resist. If it was just a flat pink I would never have bought it but this has gradients of pink, fushia and even brown in it. And I've been dying to do an alpaca re-root since I saw my first alpaca re-root Blythe at an NYC meet. It is so insanely soft, it's unbelievable. I can't wait to get started but I absolutely will not touch it until I am done with Emily's. She's been wearing a wig for the longest! LOL!!

Brushed Suri Alpaca for re-rooting

So before I left for vacation, I was already not looking forward to returning to work and decided to order something to make me happy upon my return. I know. It's like that. What can I say? So I purchased "Roller Maze" Lagoona from Amazon. And then while I was in Palisades over the weekend after I came back to the states, I saw "So In Style Trichelle" at Target for a reduced price. I have been looking at Trichelle for a long time and just loving her but never found her at a price I thought was reasonable. This time it just seemed right. Plus she was the last one one in that section. I will be looking to re-body her though because I really don't like Barbie bodies very much.

"So in Style Trichelle"

I just love Trichelle's face. It's so sassy and cute and something else. I really like that Mattel created this unique mold because she actually looks familiar to me like a face I would see in New York. In my mind, she's from the Caribbean. She's Caribbean American but she was born in Brooklyn like me. Haha!!

"Roller Maze Lagoona"

The first thing that struck me about "Roller Maze" Lagoona is how much yellower her hair is than "Skull Shores." I have to get used to her pink lips as well. It's always weird for me when I get a MH duplicate in a different series, especially when I love the first one as much as I love "Skull Shores" Lagoona. But I definitely like "Roller Maze" a lot. I was bit disappointed though that she didn't come with a brush. Not that I don't already have plenty of MH brushes but I kind of look forward to them. That Barbie brush bitch in me has just never died. LOL! Other than that, her skates, helmet and knee pads are so dope! The wheels are real and she has a little Shaka sign hand on her right arm which I adore!

I haven't deboxed Trichelle as yet but will probably get to it this weekend. Until my next update Stay cool!