Catch up Weeks 1

A little behind in my blogs, had some medical issues with my 8yr old pup and had to say goodbye to him last month so its been a tough few months.

But I have been doing a few bjd related things that I haven't had a chance to post and hope to get back in the swing of things with posting more frequently.

This weeks is a look back to September with:  Project Runway Challenge "Behold Mount Olympus"

The challenge details were as following:
You have entered the realm of the Gods. Behold Mt. Olympus, rising majestically toward heaven in a billow of white clouds! Lush vineyards, fruit orchards, the purest and coolest of springs, wildlife in abundance, perfection in every aspect! 
In the midstof this paradise lies a palace of epic proportions. White marble glistening in the sun, gold inlayed embellishments, huge airy rooms, larger than life stone statues in the gardens, and private, hidden courtyards. 
Sights never seen by mortals, but this legacy is your birthright. You are a God!

From the list provided, chose the name of the Greek god/goddess you wish to represent. Choice is on a first-come, first-served basis. Once a name has been taken, you cannot also choose that name. When you post your entry, state which god/goddess you have picked.

A description of each god/goddess is given, including symbols/animals that are sacred to them. You will choose one symbol or animal and include it as an accessory to your costume. For this challenge only, you may make or purchase this accessory. If you choose to include other accessories, such as headpieces, pouches, etc., they must be handmade.

We are not looking for the traditional white togas. Use your imagination to create a costume that best suits your god/goddess and defines their personal attributes. 

My model for this challenge was Shahrivar and my God Hephaestus - God of Metal/Fire

Hephaestus as I stated is known as the God of Metal or Fire, he created alot of the weapons and armour pieces of the other Gods he was known as the blacksmith. So of course since my doll already had modded metal arms I chose him to potray this God and also because it follows along with my dolls story. So I chose fabrics and accessories befitting a blacksmith. The direction I decided to go was a bit steampunkish. 

Front:

Being a blacksmith one must have the essential leather apron and protective leg coverings. Both made in genuine leather from a recycled purse.

Back:

Contrast Leather pockets on multi-colored striped pants, faux leather corset of sorts...

Detail 1:

What blacksmith wouldn't be without his trustee anvil and hammer. Made from wood and foam...

Detail 2:

Eye covering with magnifying glass to properly see the fine details when crafting, a leather apron with pocket and contrast straps.

Glamour:

And there you have my inspiration of Hephaestus. I did not place in the challenge but I was very pleased with the results as I have been meaning to make this character some clothing...though in reality he would probably forgo the eyepatch and he'd be more modest and wear a shirt..lol. 

Week 34 Happy Anniversary to DOA

So wow Den of Angels is celebrating their 9th year! I've been a member of the forum since only 6/10/10 and have met so many wonderful people, brought home new dolls and gained a wealth of information on all things BJD related. This is however my first year that I decided to participate in their annual anniversary contests, well for one I had no clue about them..lol. Anyway so though my time was crunched with many other projects I was able to complete 3 of the contests. Unfortunetly 1 of them states that I can't post it anywhere else, I'm assuming this is until the judging is done. The other 2 didn't specify so I figured ad this as my weekly blog.

#1 Tailoring: A Multitude of Muslins...the challenge to create a formal outfit out of muslin fabric, there were restrictions on the amount used for each size of doll, also we were not allowed to use any notions unless they were made from the muslin itself. I'll post all my photos of this in a later blog after the contest is over.
#2 Photo Story Contest: 9 lives..the challenge to interpret the theme through the lens of the anniversary theme deconstruction/reconstruction. This I will also have in a separate blog as I'm not able to post the story until after the contest.
#3 Photography Contest: Tableau Vivant...this is the challenge for this blog. Create a living picture of a famous work of art.

I chose one of my favorite artists Gustav Klimt the artwork is "The Virgin". His artwork has always been so colorful and inspiring to me in my fashion designing the different mixtures of shapes, flowers and colors.

Now lets meet the models I chose to recreate this masterpiece. It was a hard choice but only 7 were able to participate. I chose my lightest skinned dolls, though I'm thinking of redoing this at some other point with all my kitty/anthro girls.

On to the fun stuff! Here is my recreation photo and entry into the contest:

Obviously not an exact duplication since I didn't have fabrics to match the original, but keeping with Klimt's work I mix/matched in different textures, colors, prints and added in a few flowers as well. The models from the far left clockwise: Hypoxia, Cricket, Audryme, Nabiya, Ylva, Raynebo and in the center is Syringa.

And more random fun that I had with editing programs and special effects, figured while I had the dolls all posed like this I should take tons of photos. 

Invert Colors

Pixilate

Comic Book

Pencil Sketch

Other view points, closeups and individuals:

Thanks for viewing and see you next week with another fun weekly doll project!

Week 32 Doll Weekend Fun

Yay for Weekend dollie fun! So this weeks blog is just a mix of doll project and just plan on doll fun. There was a local meetup that a friend of mine wanted to attend she had just purchased her first doll, a Withdoll Kyle girl, a few months ago. So this was to be her first meet up so I thought hey you should bring her over and we can do a faceup so she is nice an pretty for her first meet. So faceup time became sleep over!! She came over after work and we started getting busy on faceups.

My girl that I decided to work on for the night was Harmony, my Obitsu Yamato with a Gretel head. I am potential going to another meetup next week so had thought to take all my vinyl dolls with and Harmony was the only one without a current faceup.

Before photo of her blank

This is her sister Bliss I wanted to use some of the same colors to make them look similar in tones.

1st layer of pastels:

Last layer of pastels and acrylic paints: 

And wigged:

I'm pretty happy with the results, though she definitely could use some lower and upper lashes. My hands aren't too graceful to due tiny little lashes..lol..may need to hand it over to someone else to complete. I do think I could have added in some more rosy tones since her wig is this burgundy color and warm tones are a bit too orangy. But that is the great thing about this hobby, I can always clean it and redo it later.

Thanks for viewing, feel free to leave any comments and look forward to doing next weeks. 

Week 31 Project Runway Challenge 18 Welcome to Camelot!

Had to unfortunetly skip another week since I've been involved in some non BJD projects but I'm back with this weeks project. Another fun design challenge from doll forum Den of Angels thread Project Runway..not related at all to the actual Project Runway just a fun little game that is posted every other month.

Challenge 18 Welcome to Camelot!
Welcome to Camelot, the largest Renaissance Fair in North America! To attend the fair you must dress appropriately in mediaeval attire. We expect a wide variety of costumes, fancy or plain, colorful and accurate for the time period. We’d like to see a cross section of the populace.

Lets meet the model:

This is Sithryl, the lady's man of the group. I was having a hard time deciding on who to use for this challenge as I do have a few dolls that probably could have worked well for this challenge. The final decision was due to a friend on Facebook saying they could see him wearing a codpiece. And well she was right..lol.

So first off yes the title of the challenge is a little confusing as Camelot was not set in the Renaissance time, but the person who runs the challenges really meant for it to be Renaissance, but we were able to do medieval attire from any era. I chose the 16th century. Now on to the inspirations:

And the finished costume:

Front view: 8 piece outfit in red, blue, white, black and golds.

Back view

Detail 1: Closer look at some of the details on the costume.

Detail 2: More fun details

Glamour Shot

Details of the costume: The costume like I stated consists of 8 pieces of attire. First we have a blue doublet with black/gold trim and tiny gold beads for buttons. Matching blue velvet hat with red band, red feathers and a decorative brooch. Red silk sleeves attached to the doublet. Ruffled lace collar and cuffs. Paned Trunkhose using blue and red ribbon with decorative gold/black trim and matching codpiece. Red knit hose.

Blue velvet matching shoes. And the finishing touch a gold chain. 

I'm really very happy with the outcome, there are a few things that I could have added like a belt and dagger, maybe I'll have to add that later. But I think he totally looks perfect in this outfit, it really suits his personality as the playboy ladies man. I'll update this post after the results of the contest are availble...wish me luck!

UPDATE 08/18/13 Won 1st place in the competition also received my critique back from the judges: 

Kitty Blue: This is a truly lovely representation of the perfect renaissance dandy, the kind of character you would find wooing all the ladies and kissing hands at the festival. The fabrics are wonderful and their overall appearance really speaks to the period style. I also liked your use of trim ina size that was in scale for this costume. In total, it's an excellent concept,well executed. And the cod piece is a perfectly in scale touch! Big kudos for that!

Kitty Blue (lord outfit)

I absolutely adore this ensemble. It has everything going for it: exciting colors, amazing execution, super cute shoes and hat, and above all, it has pomp and sassbefitting a lord.
The only thing that I am confused about is the pouch in the front of his crotch. I still have no clue what that is and it is distracting me lol.

Kitty blue
This costume is stunning! It’s very authentic looking and the design is featured in many paintings. The colors look great together and the details are impressive. Thegold trim, ribbon and necklace are wonderful touches. I really love his hat!I’m really impressed with the outfit.It’s one of my favorites! Fantastic job!

Week 28- Dynamite!

This past week I decided to do a few small improvements on one of my dolls so I could take her to a local doll meet, perfect for this weeks blog!

This is Dyvonne, my Dollfie Dream Dynamite:

You can slightly tell in this photo that she has eyelashes in that are falling down into her eyes, and glue residue is showing. This was all done by the previous owner. So the first thing that I wanted to do was remove the eyelashes and redo the placement of her eyes, you'll see why in the next few photos.

In this photo you can see the gap at the top of the eyes, they are not flush to the head...

...and this is why. The gobs of glue on the inside are preventing the eyes from setting right in her head. So I took on the task of removing all the glue and set her eyes back in place with silicone ear plugs.

The after photo of her with the eyes set in correctly, a great improvement her eyes look brighter and gives her a more clean open look. Now on to making her an appropriate outfit for a doll meet at the park.

Tada..a simple casual look. Tan corduroy shorts and a strapless shirt with a decorative trim belt. I just tried on this other wig to see how I like it, its ok but I think I like the longer one better. 

And lastly a few photos of her at the doll meet: 

Dyvonne with the other 2 dolls that I decided to take with me, you probably recognize the other two from previous blog entries. Lil Stix up in in the tree, and Amaryllis standing next to her. 

And thats it for week 27, not a labor intensive production, but it was fun to finally make a cute little outfit for Dyvonne. Oh wait one last photo to end this weeks blog..

 Dyvonne with a few of her other Dollfie Dream friends. 

Week 27 A new look for Keiyoko

Keiyoko is my mini me doll as I may have mentioned before, she is a Resinsoul Xue. Since Keiyoko is kinda supose to follow my own chameleon like styles she likes to dress up in different style clothing and is a big fan of wigs. So in order to catch up a week missing over the weekend I made her  a lovely infinity dress and she promptly stole Umi's wig (my doll chateau Colin). I also made another outfit that one of my other girls is currently wearing I'll upload that photo soon.

So here is her current look which may change with a simple whim:

This girl is hoping to someday have as many clothes and wigs as I do...lol...we shall see how that goes, though there are a few wigs I've been eyeing for her. Short blog but I really wanted to get back on track and like I said I'll update this blog with a new photo of the other outfit I made over the weekend. Have a great dolly day!

Week 26 Doll Room

As some or many may know I have quite a few dolls, so was needing a space to put them all so that they were out of the way but yet decoratively displayed. My boyfriends solution: Make the office into a doll room, well of course I wasn't going to argue that one...lol. So this past weekend we worked on said project and these are the results.

Before:

 Here is the way all the dolls were crammed together when I first placed them all in the office space many many months ago. Before that they were living in my spare room/closet room on top of my dresser and everywhere else that had a space for them.

And more dolls on the floor and the mess of boxes, etc scattered about the room that is taking up space.

This is the soon to be doll bookcase, books, books and more books. Should have taken a better photo when I cleared out all the boxes out of the room, but you get the point lots and lots of stuff..lol.

After:

Tada!! What we did or I should say what my boyfriend did for me was we took a few shelves out and moved them around so that there was more open space for the dolls to stand or sit. I decided to leave the action figures up on top of the bookcase. This may not be the final location that all of them will remain in but for now this is how I arranged them...

Next we got rid of the small bookcase that was on the side wall and he built a new one to be the same height as the other and again open space to place the dolls. More fun action figures on top. 

Shelf by Shelf:

A closer look at the dolls,   more photos can be seen on my Facebook page Here .

Left Side

Right Side

There is a bit of a space under this last shelf where the vent in the room is at the moment a 1/6 motorcyle is there but I may just store some other BJD related items there, we shall see. 

New Bookcase:

And there you have it a definite WIP (work in progress) as I still have the rest of the room to straighten up so I may post another blog with updated photos. I have other dolls such as Bratz, Barbies and Monster High that are in random other spots in this room and my closet room. And as I said for more detailed photos just go to my FB page and read all about the dolls that are in each shelf. :o)

Oh wait speaking of my closet room I forgot one of my precious dolls:

She is sharing a shelf with some other random items that I have in the same room as all my monster high dolls in fact. And that ends the weekly blog hope maybe this will inspire others to be creative and find a special place for your dolls. Until next week take care.