Who is the gaijin in your neighborhood?

Hi, Neighbors!

Don’t mind us! We’re just TEATHERED* to the balcony here and slathered in acne cream.

*we get earthquakes. I figured it’s best to tie them for their protection.

I dressed them because I rationalized that seeing naked dolls would be more upsetting for my neighborhood.

These girls need sunlight to clean their face-stains. Well, sunlight and acne medication with 10% benzoyl peroxide. I’m nearly out so Gina is sending me some. It’s not available in Japan.

Cinderella’s stains are responding, slowly but surely.

Aurora? Not yet.

About Auroa’s hair. This was my first very intense boil perm.

Unfortunately some of the curls on the right hand side of the photo were too loose and I’m redoing those looser curls. They’re drying right now.

I thought about redoing them all because she’s alarmingly curly but…I might just turn her into Claudia when I repaint her.

craft, Disney, Doll, monster high, Uncategorized

New Hands Are Here!

Right now it’s hard to prioritize things. I get home and everything shouts for attention: my bed, my need for nourishing food, my need to make that food, my crafts, the things I need to do for dance and the studio…

Before I know it it’s past my bedtime, way past, and I feel like nothing got done but a mess was made. I know that’s in part the depression talking but it’s also true that my focus feels fragmented.

I did manage to get the studio website updated to the best of my ability tonight. Unfortunately I had some questions about some class description titles not matching the names of the classes on our schedule.

This is all compounded by the fact that I can read (almost) all the home page and promotional copy I get from my dance partner, in my second language, but I can’t always trust my second language for generating new copy when something is lacking or contradicting itself.

My dance partner also just had a baby. It’s a fresh baby…like 3 months fresh..so text replies to my questions to her might come at once or at 4 am. I’m closing LINE/Instagram and the studio homepage editor for the night and just being glad I started the process and have made headway into new classes and the 2019 schedule.

You say new baby, I say napping partner. This was at his 2 month mark. I’m going to be doing a lot of baby duty while she gets back into classes at the studio in the new year.

The good news is…I can feel like I did much more tonight because my replacement hands arrived in the mail.

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I found replacement hands for my Sally Doll in progress. Shipping from America isn’t always cheap but…I wasn’t looking forward to hand sculpting hands with a wrist joint and arm pegs.

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…and I can send more goofy text photos to friends here.

craft, Disney, Doll, monster high, Uncategorized

Starting Melody

Meet Princess Melody, the daughter of Ariel and Erik.

That there is all I know about Melody.
Gina’s daughter knows more. She loves Melody. This is how I pay for the 15 dolls Gina sent me. Melody gets made.

From Gina, re: which doll gets Melodied and is she planning to wig or reroot:

I was thinking the belle doll. I didn’t know what would be easiest for you it would be fine if she was a brunette for it as Freya (Daughter) is a brunette if her hair is Good enough. What ever floats your creative juices. Most of all, have fun.

I’m a brunette.

Disney faces are so simplified that hair shape and color do a LOT for identifying character ….So, I wanted to get CLOSE. At least a darker brunette if not black.

The dramatic sweep of bangs and the side part make Melody read as Melody…so I set to experimenting.

First I noticed that there aren’t many videos about re-rooting these dolls.This is probably because of what a pain in the ass removing the heads is AND how much time rerooting a giant head takes. Most customizers seem to go with wigs or gluing wefts to the dolls. Kid play made both of these seem like “meh.” ideas.

I have two Belles in my collection, both from Gina. One is from the first generation of Belle dolls (I can tell because she has blue painted on undies to match the blue dress she came with) and MORE hair, and a second generation doll with yellow undies and less hair.

I started experimenting with more hair Belle and figured I could trick her bangs into doing a side-sweep…even if I couldn’t move her hair part. I set to work seeing if I could get her hair any darker.

I know that synthetic strands don’t really take dye well….but I’m not above magical thinking and believing in the power of stains.

Yeah…No. Neither Dylon nor alcohol and arcylic inks worker to get her hair more than a shade darker.

I have a new sink container now.

I turned to Belle with the more sparse hair…and chopped.

Then I dipped her head in boiling water and set to softening her vinyl. Her neck softened first, ball of the head joint.

Unlike Barbie dolls, the ball part in her neck is what rotates and moves. The section inside her head remains connected to the head….but it had to come out so I could glue the hair from inside the head.

It was possible to get my tools in at the front of the neck between the joint and the head vinyl but in the back section the vinyl and joint were fused together. I had to tear some vinyl.

The neck hole is a little jagged but I figure I can bond it all together with liquid fusion after rerooting and repainting.

The

The pencil line shows where the part will be moving to. I’ll also be doubling up on the small holes at the front of the head so hair can be swept forward for bangs and back for her pony tail…no gaps.

Starting the rooting process. I’ve painted the scalp so it doesn’t show through the hair..

Which was when I realized that I hadn’t done the same for my Wednesday doll. The hair is pretty thick but I stopped rooting to paint the top, as that is where the scalp will most likely show through.

And this is how my Monday evening is looking…hairy.

craft, Doll, Uncategorized

Seeepage.

My Raven Queen from Ever After High is kinda nasty. She’s introduced me to a new doll ailment: glue seepage.

I should probably avoid negative terms like “nasty”. Getting glue seepage isn’t a reflection on a doll’s character, it’s just something that can happen.

The first time I wrote about her I noted that her hair was oily and oddly sticky.

Well, I boil washed it. Greasy. I washed it with dish soap and hot water…and it was still greasy.

I felt like a fool googling “why does my doll has greasy hair?” because my dolls are not…I repeat NOT…alive. They don’t have skin and scalps and oils like we do.

Apparently there can be a build up of glue that starts to breakdown. Maybe something is off in the glue head ratio…I’m wondering if it’s a chemical thing that can happen like plastic melt…and that excess glue breakdown runoff ends up coming out of the scalp holes via the hair. My hot water and boiling water was just telling that breakdown “get excited and do more!”

If you get rid of all the glue inside the head…that’s what’s holding the hair in place…although I fear if other methods don’t work I will eventually have to remove her hair, remove all the glue somehow. Shame, I like her hair.

I removed her head from her neck peg. Indeed, the neck peg was coated in greasy sticky blobs. I tried to scrub the inside of the head with a paste of baking soda/tea tree oil/coconut oil (diy Goo Gone as goo gone isn’t sold here…I also wanted to use up my tea tree oil. Hedgehogs can’t handle tea tree oil so I can never use it for house stuff) to get larger clumps of glue out. Then I washed the inside a few times with a toothbrush and dish detergent.

I hung it to dry.

Now I’m soaking up excess oil by throwing the head in a baggie with some cornstarch and doing a shake/no bake and comb out process.

Doll heads in white baggies is my new kitchen decor. My friends love my random texts now…

But, as I’m combing it out…it still feels greasy.

I may have a solution. I’ve been thinking about what sort of figures these big moon-faced dolls would work for…

Edward. Goddamned. Gorey.

If I just cut the hair off and scrape out her head….His women are fond of short bobs (doll wig) and…turbans.

yeessssssss

craft, Doll, monster high, Uncategorized

Sculpting Sally

Sally has little boots and slumpy striped socks.

My Freaky Friend doesn’t have real shoes. She has red shoe-shapes covering wide, triangular leg ends. Nothing foot-like under the shoes.

Like Bratz before them, oversized shoes are a HUGE part of the Monster high look. Doll Sally won’t have the tiny little feetzies of film Sally.

It’s not like a Sally doll is going to wear other outfits or need to change her shoes. I’ve decided to sculpt her socks and shoes right on her.

I’m learning to sculpt with Tamiya epoxy putty. It comes in two different colored sticks, like flat gum, and you mix two equal parts together to create the chemical reaction needed for the epoxy to airdry. I picked up two small packets of Tamiya Epoxy Putty (Smooth type and quick type) at Yellow Submarine for about 500yen each on Monday.

Last night I tried the quick type, without familiarizing myself with epoxy and how you need to keep your fingers and surfaces wet, and wasted about 250 yen worth last evening. not much but still…meh

Moral of the story: When you take the Ambien… GET IN BED.

When I got home today I tried the Smooth Type.

I figured I’d build the socks and the tongue of the boot first. Tomorrow I teach dance after work and Friday and Saturday are restaurant gigs after work so I probably won’t be able to do a thing until Sunday…but smooth type sometimes needs a full day to cure.

After that dries I’ll fashion the body of the boot (cant make heels, alas, due to her foot wedges). Then I’ll sand a bit and add the laces. Everything will be painted later.

craft, Disney, Doll, Uncategorized

Monster High Gore-geous Ghoul Beast Freaky Friend: Sally

I thought the 17″ (38cm) Frightfully Tall Ghoul line of Monster High dolls were the tallest Monster High dolls. I was wrong.

I am new to dolls and much of what I know comes from getting a doll that’s been through some rough time and then Googling to figure out WTF I have.

I know that the Monster High Voltageous dolls are 28″ (71cm) because I have one now. It came in THE BOX OF DOLLS.

Meet my new Gore-geous Ghoul Beast Freaky Friend (Green).

She originally came with attachable wings, extra webbed hands, shoe covers, multiple glasses and headbands, a dress, and…AN EXTRA FLESH FACE SHE CAN WEAR OVER HER ORIGINAL FACE.

It just pops right on!

Thanks to Gina, I now have:

Her. She comes with shoes that are not meant to come off, a dress, and no hands.

Her eye gimick works, you click a button on the back of her head and her eyes change to three different options. The white is “in between”

A child has also added glitter to her eyelids.

Her hair was a little sparse but I couldn’t get the scalp off and it was the right color for…SALLY

No hands was a drawback but I figured I could hunt for some or sculpt my own…because WHY NOT sculpt jointed hands.

In removing her face I came close to destroying her. I started with Acetone (which melts this sort of plastic) and then caught my error and continued with paint thinner and sand paper.

I also started experimenting with carving.

And then her eyes rolled back into her skull. A section of old plastic snapped…rollllll.

I was unable to get to her eyes. The plastic held a section of the gimick in place inside her skull.

So….with a thin hacksaw and some prying I TOOK HER SKULL OFF.

My reasoning being that:

I could always re-attach it.
I could widen her eye holes more for better Sally proportions.
I could add hair to the scalp before replacing it.
It was free.
Why not?

Tonight I’ll experiment with carving her body and preparing to add resin epoxy strings.

New Normal, folks

craft, Doll, Uncategorized

Mimosa Fairy!

Saturday night I got three dolls in the mail, small ones.

It’s Monday evening and one has finished basic transformation. Yasmina Clairvoya stands at 11″ tall (28cm) and is now The Mimosa Fairy.

She’s wearing a wig I just happened to have so I didn’t need to reroot.

And, because the box also contained vintage doll clothes she’s lounging around in this…the pants are too long for her so I may like the skirt of the top and use the pants on a taller doll. She doesn’t have any shoes yet but…Mimosa Fairies lose shoes ALL the time.

MIMOSAS FOR ALLLLLL

craft, Doll, Uncategorized

Three more dolls, another box.

My father and stepmother shipped me an early Christmas box.

You have to understand that boxes from them are an assortment of thrift-store finds: jewelry (for my costume making) books, random things my father think will make me laugh (Jell-o girl gives a party cookbook/Popeye Sweater Pattern book/Informative magnets telling you what you can and can”t eat with braces) and now dolls and doll clothing. They started this doll clothing sewing with The Thimble People last year. They didn’t mean to but that’s how it happened.

The box arrived after I’d taught three Saturday dance lessons and before I was due to a gig.

One of the books was Ozma of Oz. I dance under the name Ozma. I tend to specify “Ozma of Japan”

That’s restaurant gig face right there.

And the three dolls…

Thrift store DC Super Hero Girls Wonder Woman Intergalactic Gala Doll. She’s lost her chest crest and her belt but that’s ok.

I got this last night and she now looks like…

She’ll be getting a new face when her boil curl has totally set. She’ll still be Wonder Woman.

Although, with the amount of Wonder Women already in my apartment PLUS the groovy vintage doll clothing I have…they’re a very good chance she’s going to become a teen version of The New Wonder Woman. The 1968 GROOOOOOVEY chick version of WW who forgoes her superpowers to stay with mankind and becomes a kung-fu master.

Like, fuck that but she had great lewks.

The other two dolls:

On the left is Ever After High™ Raven Queen™ Doll. Copy for this doll tells of the “hexquisite” details in her costume, describes “sipping hocus lattes” and promises that girls will have a “spelltacular journey!” with these dolls.

“Hexcellent for play, spellbinding to display!”

I don’t know what I’ll do with her. I did wash her hair already. It was…tacky to the touch. Maybe if normal-sized Starfire needs a Raven friend to hang out with I’ll color her more gray-ish/pink and repaint her.

And that leaves us with Bratzillaz Magic Night Out Yasmina Clairvoya Doll

The interesting thing about this shortlived line of Bratz is that they have glass eyes. It’s apparently pretty easy to swap other 12 mm glass eyes in…but I don’t need to start having more eyeballs around the house.

The Yellow eyes. I’ve decided that she’ll become The Mimosa Fairy, who I drew for a friend a while back.

This would mean a reroot but I noted I have a black wig that was too large for Little Pullip and way too small for any of my other dolls that fits her.

I’ve chopped off all her hair and removed her makeup (and her witch tattoo)

I inserted washi tape to protect her eyes and have started priming her.

Because this is a normal Sunday night thing to do….if you want to get dolls ready to LEAVE YOUR HOUSE SOMEDAY.

craft, Disney, Doll

BoxDoll: Ariel’s Blessed Hair.

Ariel’s hair abides.

It’s magical. I don’t know chemically or structurally what makes her red Disney Animator Doll hair so impervious to abuse but I am thankful for it.

It doesn’t suffer the frizzled bent shape that plagues other matted colors. It bounces back. You soak, untangle, and go.

Here are two from the box after washing and brushing. One has waves I finger crunched back as she dried, the other has sections I twisted and secured before drying.

They’re wearing dresses because I have grown tired of having too many naked dolls in my apartment as they dry, but this is not their final form.

And, there may be more dolls coming. My father and step mom (who may or may not be my secret doll clothes hookup…but who are definitely the perps who sent me The Thimble People book that got me into doll clothes ONLY LAST YEAR) have sent me a Christmas package.

I wasn’t here to receive it a few days ago but it’s now scheduled to arrive after my three dance lessons and before my gig tonight.

Wish my apartment luck.

craft, Disney, Doll

BoxDoll: The hair.

What am I doing to relax now that the giant box of dolls has come to live with me ?

Oh, some days when I get home I’m just turning on Netflix, pinning a doll between my knees so she won’t struggle, and then dividing her hair (after hours of soaking in liquid fabric softener, combing out, rinsing, and repeating) into portions to carefully straight iron.

This is actually not the first before picture of Belle