Slowly Does It...

I have been taking my time - re-learning how to make dolls house dolls using polymer clay. I kind of have my own way of making them - a mixture of a LOT of watching how other people sculpt, and then trying out different techniques until I was happy with what I could do.

I am no expert. I have a habit of starting out with a bit of clay, deciding what I want to do... and then abandoning all thoughts of what I want as the clay seems to have a mind of it's own, and I just end up with whatever happens to be made in front of me lol

I make my own eyes for the dolls - once again, a technique that's been a LOT of trial and error (mostly error!). I don't gloss the eyes until the last of the baking has been done - I use oven-dry clay usually - so they may look a bit dull until they're finished. A quick peek at the heads so far...

Jacob Marley (the ghost), and a figurine that I call "Come give Grandma a kiss"...

 I make the front of the heads first, as I find this much easier - mainly because I am quite heavy handed and tend to squash things out of shape if I have to hold them AND sculpt them :)

A 'head in progress' is my next 'doll'... he's going to be a man smoking a cigarette...

 The cigarette is remove-able at the moment - I'll glue it into place when he is otherwise completely finished, as I need to shorten is slightly at the filter end, and also to make sure it doesn't break :)

 I am also making a little cat from leftover clay - an experiment. He is sculpted now... but only got fur on his legs at the moment. I decided that to make the faces, I really needed to clear away ALL bits of mohair. The hair gets EVERYWHERE! I even find I am sneezing it out several days after using it!

I have had a bit of a break from crafting... I had quite a stunning allergic reaction to some medication I had been prescribed - it started with my lip, and then my whole face swelled - it was so funny! Of course, in the last two pictures, you will have to excuse my awful nails that need redoing... and my awful 'selfie' with no make-up and not even my hair done! Had to show the photo though - I am rocking those Jagger-lips :)

Update

Well, I have tried my hand, once again, at making a 1:12 scale dolls house doll. It's been several years since I made my last one, and since that time, I have aged somewhat. My eyesight has dimmed and my fingers are a lot less nimble... the result is far from fetching, I am afraid. I am trying (trying being the operative word here) to create a figure for the 'Woman In Black' Study room... the proportions are off - I think the head is too big. BUT that's not the only problem... The figure has been made with a mix of nightglow, white, and pale skin tone Fimo clay. For a ghost, the pallor of her skin is perfect... but the way she has been sculpted (I used the term VERY loosely here) and then painted, makes her look as though she's an alien who has gone mad in a Goth's wardrobe...

I can only hope that she looks better when dressed and hidden under a black veil. This sculpting malarkey is so much more difficult than I recall.

When she's finished, I will post a photo - nomatter how bad it is... along with Miss Havisham - who has been waiting YEARS to be dressed - Oh, The Shame! lol

At least I can say I have tried.

Revamped Dolls House Doll

Isn't it funny how you buy something that you know you're just going to change completely?

Take my dolls house doll, for instance... here she is when I ordered her:

Long dress and full pinny, dark hair and a cap (bald under that cap though!), and sleeve protectors.

All perfectly acceptable...  but not for my dolls house. I just liked the look of her face... so that's why I bought her. So... I got her home and ripped her hat and hair off. The sleeve protectors were a no-no, and also the full pinny. Collar on that dress?... not a chance! As for the length... way too long. But she had cute bloomers on that could stay.

Her hair was replaced with blonde mohair - twice! Never again... that stuff gets everywhere!

The dress was shortened, the collar removed and the neckline widened... no pinny - just a purple ribbon instead and we were almost there. Except for those legs. She had flat feet with painted black boots on. No good at all for curling up on the sofa to read a book, or settling down on a blanket to fuss the dogs. No... they had to go. So I ripped them off.

Oh, the guilt! I kept looking at the sweet face on the doll, and telling her that I could rebuild her... better, stronger... :)

The major problem here, of course, is that I have no idea how to sculpt feet and legs. I knew I wanted chubby legs with small feet (just like mine!)... but that was about it. Last night I couldn't sleep - probably the thought of that doll laid on the table with no legs! So up I got from my bed, into the craft room, found some pink skin-tone clay and tried to make something... anything that might ease the guilt.

The leg-making and feet-sculpting was so hard - but not nearly as difficult as trying to keep them the same size!

I did it though... and for an old lady whose got rheumatoid arthritis and is a complete amateur, I reckon I did alright... and the doll seems quite happy too.

The originals and the replacements. The new legs look bigger - but from heel to top they are about the same length as the older legs.

You can see how chubby they look from behind... just how I wanted them to be :)

I shaped the legs and feet so that I could pose them - bending at the 'knee' and with a slight pointing of the foot. She can now tuck her legs under her as she sits on her blanket and plays with the Jack Russell pups...

She looks so different!
Oh... I nearly forgot to add that the mohair costs about £2, the fimo polymer clay I get on EBay (postage free) for £1.59... and the rest of the doll is just altered from what she was wearing originally - except for the piece of ribbon that I found in my stash drawer. A dolls house doll, customised to suit my (still un-made) dolls house for under £4... and the doll originally cost £3.50 - so that's a unique and perfect-for-me dolls house doll for very little cost. I'm a happy bunny :)