Finishing touches on Martia the Martian

Finishing touches on Martia the Martian, a photo by Zanalee on Flickr.

Last night I just had this burst of inspiration to start doing some paint design on Martia that I've been thinking about since I first painted her and sent her off to be flocked.

Martia is supposed to be a Martian or space alien and I imagined her in a spacey glittery way with silvery face markings to identify her spacey origins. But I've been hesitating to do it for weeks because I wanted it be perfect and I often had serious doubts about my ability to execute the image I had in my head.

Anyway, for whatever reasons, I just went for it last night and to my delight I was able to do exactly what I had imagined. I hate to sound all esoteric and corny but I swear it almost did itself. I just tried to be nicer to myself around the possibility of mistakes. Sometimes I can become so paralyzed with not wanting to make mistakes in my work that I end up doing nothing at all and that's not good. It's not good for anyone whose instinct is to create things.

So, I'm hoping to be more open to the creativity gods this year and to trust myself a little more when I have ideas because I really love how this turned out. This is just the little alien I had in mind.
: )

"I was drinking earlier, now I'm drivin!"

"I was drinking earlier, now I'm drivin!", a photo by Zanalee on Flickr.

Say Hello to Gwen!

ADAD 80/365: Gwen, a photo by Zanalee on Flickr.

Gwen is my second and I do believe last Licca doll. Really, I only bought her head on ebay. If you're an ebay troll as I am you know that there's an endless amount of licca heads floating around the market right now.

It was after I saw a photo of a few of Erica Duhs Licca girls that I became convinced I needed one with a side part because I just think the side part is so cute. But I was determined to find a brunette this time.

At last weekend's Blythe meet in Jersey City, I had the pleasure of getting to see and talk with Erica and see her pretty liccas in person. I noticed one was on a Takara body and she looked so good! It never even occured to me to do this! I would have gone ahead and bought another Licca body for her.

But as it happens I have a spare Takara body lying around and after getting this tip from Erica, I just popped Gwen's head on it and wallah! I really love how she looks! It's kind a pain getting her head to turn but otherwise she's totally sweet and now Shanon my first Licca has a new sister/playmate. ^__^

Mimsy Bear Hat!

Spring rain, a photo by Zanalee on Flickr.

I've been on Camembears commission list for so long that I forgot I was on it! LOL!!

She sent me a notification last month to let me know she'd gotten to my name and to inquire after details I wanted for the hat. There are a lot of great bear and animal hats popping up in the Blythe world these days. But Mimsy's are the first ones I was ever aware of and I have adored them and watched with delight for some time as she posted photos of these wonderful creations as well as the photos of those lucky enough to acquire them.

While I had the opportunity, I also managed to put in an order for one more hat for a friend. They arrived a few days ago and I just love them. Somehow they turn Blythe into quite another kind of doll, something cuddly and more toy-like than usual. I was very comfortable taking Ellington out in public for shots yesterday because of it. I guess I feel like everyone might think she was a teddy bear or something and that made me less shy.

Today, I brought a different Blythe with me to work and she is wearing the hat also. There's a big Blythe meet coming up this weekend and the hat will definitely make it's way there as well! LOL!! Can't wait!

Felt Fun

Ever since I visited this incredible exhibition on felting design years ago at Cooper Hewitt I've been fascinated by the possibilities of felt to create new fibers and shapes. The ability to improvise with it seems so endless and broad. The exhibit showed no examples of needle felting. There were several video installations on rural and industrial approaches to the process of water felting. Although I loved watching it seemed a bit messy and impractical for me to attempt in my tiny apartment. I became aware of needle felting a year or two ago in the Blythe World and the world of handmade craft on etsy.

Maybe about a year ago, my friend Paula of Madebypabilita showed me this really amazing needle felted brown fox scarf made by Erica Fustero and I just adored it. I liked the sturdy yet soft feel of it and I liked the sense of work put into shaping and molding it. Aside from the sweet design, what I feel makes it unique is it's medium outside of the sewing, knitting crocheting world of designing for Blythe. "Alternative" design materials are very exciting to me especially when they are so widely accessible and so many things can be done with them. We have all seen adorable felted animal plushies before but don't always know what goes into making them or that's possible for anyone to do this with a little patience and instruction.

Felted Wolf Ornament at Urban Outfitters

I'm certainly no expert. I just started last week with a felting kit my lovely fiancee got me on out anniversary, but I was just so excited by it! I just loved the process so much. I watched a few video tutorials and whipped up my own felted Blythe scarf inspired by Erica Fustero's but instead of a fox I modeled it on the white wolf. It's got a very cozy wintery vibe about and I just love it. It makes me feel so good whenever I look at it. It makes me want to learn how to do so much more. The three dimensional figures require a lot more skill than I have at the moment but I really hope to take a stab at them in the future when I have more time. I love the fact that you can never make any two felted creations identical. Really, like any other handcrafted work, each piece can't help but have it's own signature identity that makes it more or less different than the last. It's one of the things I love most about making stuff.

Angora models my needle felted "White Wolf" scarf

Twice the blob! LOL!

Twice the blob! LOL!, a photo by Zanalee on Flickr.

I love Blob Girl's wig so much that yes, I went and got a second one. I presently have a total of three CAM dolls and it looks good on all of them. It's the perfect solution to constat hair styling and maintenance. Ahem! I may get just one more. LOL!

Martia The Martian (Pt 1)

Started on @zanalee 's girl :-), a photo by luxielou on Flickr.

Martia is in Cali with Luxielou who has just started on her first layer of flocking.

I saw her for the first time last night on flickr and I think my heart nearly stopped.

There's this incredible feeling you get when you send a doll out to be customized and you see her for the first time staring at you from behind the screen in someones else's hands. It's kind of intense I felt it the first time I sent Hamsa to Melly Kay and I felt it last night.

In this case, it's even more particular, this feeling , because I had already customized Martia myself by cutting and pulling all her hair out and then painting her and sealing her with MSC. I may still add my more painted elements to her face. So this feel a little bit like a collaborative effort as well. And that excites me sooo much.

I just adore custom dolls because they have so much of the mark of a story about them, whether intended or incidental.

I customized Martia to be a space alien of sorts, and extraterrestrial being. There's more in store for her flocking which I won't reveal , but that I hope well drive home that theme even more. I already adore her to pieces! I cannot wait to see her when she's done.