Abieka

Sometimes doll photography can
be very challenging 28/365

So when life is a little challenging with lots of projects on the go, a few deadlines slipping away and a bit of personal stress happening, what does a sensible person do?  Scale back maybe, reduce commitments, reschedule stuff, you know, things to reduce the load.  Now what does Ariel do?  She joins the A Blythe A Day Keeps Boredom Away photography group on flickr, where they all, well, upload a pic of blythe that they took that day, every day.

Okay, I promise I won’t do the third-person-narrative again in this post.

Sunshine girl (ABAD 25/365)

I am totally loving this photography group. It’s a brilliant creative outlet, and the natural progression from my last post about photography. Even better, I’m getting to know other blythies who are incredibly talented and brilliant. I’m amazed by the photography of flickr members like rockymountainroz and renata, and they seriously inspire me to improve my picture-taking. Now I listed only those two photographers because I’m trying to cap the time I spend on the internet, and there are so many amazing people on flickr I have trouble keeping up with their photostreams. And the artists, craftsters, designers, doll customisers, fellow blythe collectors…

Beautiful CP - Vadha 16/365

Fuzz fairy 27/365

…I strayed off topic a bit, but if you love blythe, then flickr is an awesome place to web-surf. There are hundreds of blythe doll groups with different themes.  Here’s four:

1. Blythe Blythe Blythe! - a popular photo pool for any and all things blythe.
2. Blythe walk of fame (25+ faves) - pics in this group have been chosen as favourites by at least 25 other flickr members, so they’re pretty good in there.
3. Photographing blythe - a group for blythies who are photography enthusiasts.
4. Blythe - all the anniversary girls - shameless self-promotion, I’m admin to this group. It’s a photo pool for the special anniversary blythe releases.

Awwwgawd the layout on that list is bloody awful. Sorry. I’ve gotta do something about that.

It’s been just over a month since I joined ABAD, and it’s been so engrossing, I forgot that I had a blog with dreams and ideas, lol. The pics in this post are my contributions to the gorup. Er…I might technically be 4 or 5 pictures behind…best be off then, to catch up. XD Instead of a proper blog update, here’s a few more of my shots for the ABAD group.

Take me seriously 1/365

The glow that illuminates 26/365

Pallas in Viola 6/365

Georgette 15/365

That look 13/365

More angels 18/365

Holiday 4/365

Dainty Artie 24/365

The gladdest thing 1/365

Glow 5/365

originally uploaded on my flicker

Breaking news! Zit cream really does work to improve red stains on vintage vinyl. April, my blondie kenner blythe, had spent a few too many of her 36 years in stock red plastic boots. Over those years, additives migrated out of her vinyl legs and reacted with the interior of the red plastic boots. The reaction turned the inside of the boots to goop and liberated the red dye - which then migrated into April’s legs and stained them a rich red.

The restoration and conservation of vintage plastic collectibles is a pretty new science, so there wasn’t much info around to guide me in removing the staining. I tried Clearasil, then Dylon dye remover. Neither affected the stain but they did leave a nice perfume behind. The dye remover + very hot water treatment did cause the vinyl to retract very slightly from the stiff leg ’skeleton’. I’m not sure if it was the very hot water or the Dylon, but I won’t try the dye remover again.

originally uploaded on my flickr

Another method I had heard of was to lather butter on the stain and leave in a sunny spot for days/weeks/months - in theory the fat in the butter leaches out the red stain. I gave it a go. I figured having a doll that smells of rancid butter would be the worst outcome possible.

And that was enough of a worry that I checked on April’s legs after 12 hours. It turns out that butter-stinkiness is not a problem. The butter very rapidly drew out and reacted with another substance in the vinyl, creating a slimy mess that reeked of rubber. It softened the vinyl so much that as I was cleaning the mess off in a panic, I accidentally pulled the vinyl right off it’s interior skeleton, and just about fainted when I thought I’d broken April’s ankle.

In the image above, the left side shows the failed and dangerous butter experiment outcome. I can report that I didn’t break her ankle and I was able to slip her foot back onto the skeleton properly. Thankfully, one month later the vinyl feels as though it has firmed up, and no longer stinks of rubber.

“Don’t butter up your kenner pt I”, originally uploaded on my flickr

It was enough of a rude shock that I couldn’t face working on April for a while. Then I got inspired to research it all a bit more, and I decided to give the zit cream treatment a go again. I figured the Clearasil was limited because it dried out very quickly. So I went for Benzac, which has different ingredients and doesn’t dry out nearly as quickly.

The right side of the above image shows April’s legs after 7 days basting in Benzac on a windowsill. I’m over the moon about this. Really, I was coming to terms with April being a boots-only girl. It turns out the miracle ingredient is benzoyl peroxide. There are a few different formulations of Clearasil, and the one I used first time around has triclosan and sulphur-precipitated. If you are going the Clearasil route, make sure you get Clearasil Ultra, which has the benzoyl peroxide in it, and smells nice too.

But all the Clearasil ointments have bentonite in them. Bentonite is a fine clay used to draw excess oils out of the zit…for my purposes it means that the Clearasil dries out too quickly which prevents the benzoyl peroxide from doing its thing.

The Benzac staid nice and moist inside the ziplock-baggie in the sun. After a week the improvement in the stain is just amazing. And most importantly, the Benzac doesn’t look/feel/smell like it has hurt the 36 year old vinyl of April’s legs. Yay!

I am going to repeat the process and see just how much improvement can be achieved without obviously damaging the legs any further. So I applied more Benzac and wrapped the legs in plastic to prevent drying out, wrapped the torso and arms in fabric to prevent exposing those parts to sun, and placed April’s body back on the windowsill. It is a bit of a balancing game - the UV accelerates the stain removal, but also irreversibly damages the vinyl…All I can do is monitor and record what happens. Fingers crossed!

Luka

Back at the farm last weekend, which is the ultimate chillout-room. Whatever the near-divorce issues, bills, offspring problems, dirty laundry, un-mowed lawn…it all fades away when we park up the car. There is a japanese word for the sense of wellbeing derived from the sensory experience of being outdoors - and whenever we go there I wonder why there isn’t an equivalent in english.

The weekend was decided at the last moment, and it was all about family. I didn’t think I’d have time or inclination to take doll photos, but grabbed Luka on the way out the door anyway. You never know.

Luka

I did go off for a walk through the forest by myself, armed with doll and camera and a glass of wine. My husband thinks I’m insane for the interest I take in Blythe - especially the photography side of things. Occasionally I have agreed with him. The kickbacks for this hobby aren’t obvious or straightforward. I usually explain the social and fashion elements, the repressed dolly-ness of my childhood, photography subject matter that stays still while I learn how to use my camera…blah-de-blah blah blah…one day I might write up the essay about why this previously cool and normal woman in her 30s became so smitten with these dolls. (Hey, I’m sure I’m still cool..are’t I?)

Luka

Last weekend showed me a new reason, and it’s probably the fundamental reason for my affection. There is a great mental state, very meditative, that takes over in the creative process. I expect it when I’m painting, knitting, sewing, designing, whatever. It’s like a runner’s high. Setting Luka up for some shots, I felt that change of state take place. Dwellingup was already working its magic, but this was another level of calm. Deliberate thought stopped, my soul flew and nothing mattered but that perfect moment.

To take the romance out of it and talk behavioural psych-like here, it is a displacement activity that works incredibly well for me. An activity that takes me out of “reality” and give me a break from the murky churning chaos that is normally my mind.

So this crazy doll obsession is good for my soul at least.

And my photography skills really are improving.

Posted on my flickr

Lately, all the topics and happenings that normally go in a blog are ending up posted in my flickr and forums. Note to self: blog it first, or why have a blog?

Part of my doll adoption plan is to buy Limited Edition Blythe as soon as they are released - usually direct from Junie Moon at the recommended retail price. So along came Precocious Candy’s Mushroom. Sorta sweet in the stock-shots, but too twee for me in real life. Even with that awesome shock of red hair. (I’m all about the fantasy hair, see.) She remained nameless in the To-Do Box.

On the weekend I was inspired to name her, and a naming needs a photoshoot, and a photoshoot needs girly groomings. Reviewing the communal wardrode, my PCM didn’t feel right in anything sweet or lolly at all, but she came alive in more grown-up styles. Typical of the girls in my doll-family. She borrowed the Asian Butterfly stock cheongsam and zori and posed in front of our blooming hardenbergia vines, and says, “Hi! I’m Sukey.”

I’m intrigued by the way a change in style or presentation can totally change how I feel about a doll. Straighten that hair a bit and pull it back, and put on a different frock, and I went from “feh” to “wowser! <3<3<3″. I wonder how mixups, changes and customisations change the way other people feel about their dolls?

Aside: still writing up my notes about April’s critical butter-on-the-legs failed restoration attempt. Got a little sidetracked sawing a hole in the ceiling - I’m determined to prove my home-handywoman skills by installing a skylight over my work table. So far all I proved is I can make a humungous mess. XD

Mosaic - Perth get-together

Originally uploaded by smittee

See this poor neglected blog. It’s poor and neglected. Poor thing. I think about it every day but there is always something happening to stop me tending it. The honest truth is that though I love this pretty Rainbow Garden blog template, it is too inflexible for a n00b-webmastah like me. I must change it to something easier for teh novice to manage. Until I get to it, this blog will probably be a bit sloooooooow…

…as a substitute for genuine blog-substance, here is some Blythe pr0narama courtesy of our get-together here in Perth on sunday. We had over 60 plastic girls together. I think we figured 160+ Blythe dolls that we know of in quiet sleepy Perth.

It was a real joy to meet everyone and talk about our many-varied reasons for loving these dolls. Thanks Kendall for letting us take over your house and scare the fella. Thanks to you great gals for coming along. And special thanks to Jo for the mars bar slice and twee choccies, and for letting me take April home with me. ^___^

Luka thought I’d given up on her for a while there, poor ole’ blossie. She’s forgiven me now, because this week I got her scalp back on and let her dress up for ATP’s Harajuku Style comp.

She was a Mod Molly. Now she is herself:

• wool dreadlock reroot.
• removed blush and eyeshadow.
• iridescent glitter to eyelids, as eyeshadow and under eyes.
• 3 new eyechips (kept the green) and foiled all 4.
• shaped eyelashes.
• pinker lip colour.
  

• butterfly cheek art.
• new scalp painted to match MM complexion.

  Her design was an experiment, and I am very lucky that my first Blythe custom turned out so well. The kiddles help me make the wool “worms”, which was an excellet sunny day adventure. ^^ More pics will make their way to Luka’s flickr photoset.

It’s my birthday, I think I have to go.

My first Blythe anniversary girl. I have’t had much time to get to know her (I’ve been working furiously to get my entry together for the Addicted to Plastic Harajuku Girls competition). But she made it plainly known up front: Minerva might be a princess, but she prefers blunnies and bovva boots to blahniks:

She’s proof that it’s been worth it to pfaff about with Yahoo!Japan auctions. The engrish translation of her auction page made me think that her crinoline skirting was broken (the white plastic birdcage-thingy), so my bid was well below her release rrp. Her stock is present and minty, but it’s her white outer box that’s a bit scuffed. Minerva even arrived in her shipper-box. Check out the booty that the 6th Anniversary Princess a la Mode Blythe comes with:

I’ll take more pics after I’ve finished the Harajuku craziness.

Russian Jet

Originally uploaded by smittee

I know nothing about Sullivan and Lane. I was just lucky enough to stumble across their work somewhere on the net (I’ve been lots of places today). These two pics just gripped me. It’s possible I’m in a very grrlie mood today. But if you go check out their portfolio, you’ll see the fabulousness goes beyond leggy revolutionaries to a bit of muscle (which is also my kind of thing, heh heh).

Oh, a teeny bit more effort researching says that Brandon is the photographer and Kyle is the illustrator.

<3s all round boys.

I mentioned earlier that a My Melody pullip had joined our family - and that brushing out tight sausage curls is the fast track to an afro. After a bit of fussing, conclusive proof:

Melody: the fuzz and the straight

A nylon afro can be straightened!