#Custom vintage Skipper

[smallfavorsboutique]

Living Skipper ooak doll with custom dress set.

[firespirited]

A lot has happened and I got the selective mutism again so here's a sleep meds dump.

Effie the cat abandoned by lady two doors down who's having a mental health crisis is currently living in our garden. We were going to rehome her but neighbour complexities mean that she'll be eating at the neighbours house and possibly slowly moving into their garage as their territorial cat adapts. She is a bird killer which annoys M, J who's very allergic has decided to mediate the whole cat business. I still think Effie would have no problem finding a new home but J's vetoed that. So there's a cat outside the window and I might need to build some sort of rainproof shelter soon. Papaye the cat is also back living in the building and two orange young cats moved opposite. Thankfully no fights yet.

I hurt my wrist doing some small crafts and barely any writing. RSIs are horrid. It's been a year. Very annoyed.

On the other hand uh so to speak, four people decide to shop for my dolls this week. Months of nada then 4 at once. I have parted with my preciouses, the baldies (and kept more than enough projects) to a fellow customizer and fully don't care if they get trashed, flipped into $200 customs or sit in a drawer. They're blank canvases that I can't paint. The ideas for the paintings can wait for another time, another scale, maybe even another medium.

I sent my first parcel to the states in ages!!! Will let you know how that goes!

Aaand the money earned on deglued catty noir and a couple of partial/yarn reroots went... straight back into 38 doll heads. I know. I knoooow.

So I had a rough series of days then I struck up conversation with a lady at the phonebox library to ask if she knows who runs it. She didn't know but volunteers at the red cross store in town. It was the kind of conversation that starts out friendly and I knew within a few minutes that if I didn't find a bunch of things to say that she was going to tell me her life story and probably trauma dump (which could be anything from getting older and adapting to empty nest to seriously awful), not sure why I have this effect on people but I do. I filled a awkward lull in conversation about people throwing away items that are still useful by stating that I repair fashion dolls and the enjoyment in making something old new again and learning about various crafts and she really wanted to either commission me for her 18y/o daughter's dolls or hand me the pile she's been keeping from throwing away at the red cross at which point I remembered my neck is borked (!) , i tried to repeatedly back pedal and explain that I'm currently not doing any commissions but ended up mumbling while staring at my feet oddly choked up that 'health has been a serious issue' lately and pretending Lily had pulled on her lead to change the subject. We ended the convo with thanks for her volunteer work and putting books at the phonebox, for the lovely chat, have a nice day etc.

It stuck like a piece of grit in the cogs for a few hours and then I heard we might someday get a vaccine for autoimmune diseases but that's the 15th 'promising' cure in 25 years, they really bum me out. We've been this close so many times before. I want the cure, i want the disabled to have value. I want hope. I want to not feel in debt and at society's mercy 24/7.

Later I was doing my normal ebay check just in case that rare doll drops and made a bid thinking that I probably wouldn't get it. What was in my mind was "dolls are my hobby and expertise - you can't use your shoulders so you don't have a hobby or expertise - i do it's a hiatus - it's been a year and no progress when does it end?" on a sort of quiet background loop of brain nonsense. As you do.

26euro shipped. 38 heads, 30 bodies (2heads and the bodies not pictured), terrible photos but I spied GG Nichelle, anime 90s skipper, Miko, vintage Steffie, Midge and Tutti.

It's an excellent investment if even 2 or 3 end up in decent condition.

It's also 38 steps backwards in the 'destash and stop messing with the shoulders' efforts, right at a point where I'm getting somewhere. You can't be like 'que sera que sera' when you're actively making choices.

IDK I was really hoping for a sign or a way forward and my dr and physio are super passive which is both great because they don't put me in positions where I have to face post exertional malaise by their hands only my own choices but I also do all of my own medical research and bring it to them for approval. I've run out of clues or ideas for my swollen tongue and damaged vertebrae. It makes me feel trapped then stupid happens. No, feeling trapped leads me to choose a thing that will make me feel mastery of crafts and skills and it also comes with a price tag of massive pain.

***Seriously it's small potatoes, some hobby supplies from a hobby I'm crippled at.***

... But it's symptomatic. It's part of a large scale pattern of reclaiming some sense of personal, well not control and probably not usefulness/productivity but something close to usefulness/skills? It's not quite dignity either but there's a little bit of pride in there. I'm not going to ruminate on a year of bad decisions or whether they were the least bad decisions to balance sanity and health. But there's something broken since the pandemic for sure and probably long before that I'm running from. It could even be being raised in the 'purposeful' life mindset (if you know you know)

ok i keep deleting paragraphs and paragraphs of unpacking stuff from my twenties so I'll leave it at that so my brain will allow this. The teal dear of it is that it's awfully hard to just exist without 'contributing' or generating money or cosmic goals I guess. Allowing yourself to be a mote and a blip in the universe sure is difficult.

I wouldn't allow this kind of talk from friends who have innate value to me. Hmm.

It sure was a nice few years getting to make things and I'm finding it hard to imagine a different life despite living it for a year.

__________

Well happy 21st everyone. Feed your skeleton and ear snails some funk today. Don't let the existential bedbugs bite (especially if they're ticks). Wear a mask when around gen pop and take the painkillers, things shouldn't hurt. 💚💚💚

I have a package of heads to look forward to. And a cat outside the window. And some introspection to avoid. 😅

[sweetest-dayz]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Rails Skipper Tropical Green Short Sleeve Linen Cotton Pocket T-Shirt Size XXL.

[globalatomic]

RAILS Essential Skipper classic (no pocket) crew tee - Mirage Heather

CA$98.00

Comfy enough to wear everyday, this essential Rails style has custom-designed super soft slub cotton fabric with a vintage wash effect and and clean appearance (no pocket like the other Skipper style) for a laid back, lived in look. Perfect for layering or wearing alone, this is sure to be your new favorite tee.

Available in Light Blue Mirage Heather

100% Cotton.

Model is wearing size M

[littlewalken]

Jul 5

Always there is laundry.

If I didn't like the color of the curvy yoga Barbie's hair so much I'd reroot her to be Mad Gallica or if the Tango sculpt looked more like her... The idea was to encourage Barbies to leave, not bring more in.

But it might just be easiest to bite the bullet and buy the particular Looks doll I want to use. I just want to fix her lips to make her look more friendly. ~insert pic of Mad Gallica and her bewbs dressed like a member of Barbie and the Rockers here~ I support grown people on the internet sharing their bodies within the TOS of the site they have chosen. And I'm telling kids she's Curvy Barbie. Someone ask her if kids have called her Barbie yet.

The more I think about it the more dolls, or at least heads, can go. India Barbie with the 90s Teresa sculpt can go, I think the one Hollywood Hair has her body so she can probably have it back, any MtM that comes thru these gates is mine.

As much as Svetlana is done being Svetlana I have half a feeling to keep her around as an example of the Lady Paradise if for no other reason to show how if you make the Paradise crochet doll clothes to gage they really don't fit the Lady Paradise.

Or getting Mad Gallica Barbie is a reward for getting rid of 25 others.

I'll look thru the selection of tall dolls and see if there's one with a head I can swap with yoga Barbie.

These are normal thoughts for doll customizers.

Now that Leas sculpt Teresa is done, at least for the rerooting she still needs a stylist, I can pick a color for the Casey sculpt. It would be nice if the Baby Unicorn would work but she looks a bit yellow. Some of the vintage Mod gals are like a yellow tinged nostalgic while others have a slightly peach tone.

Thoughts of the rerooted Living Barbie head going while keeping the pixie cut, to reroot in something other than Titian. All non 90s Skippers not Living or the one I've had forever will go.

I have a Dragon/DML/DID woman I think I will probably encourage to go, she looks enough like Sara Jane from Doctor Who that someone will want her.

My Whos do not lack companions. There's a back story to this, why Four is usually a MLP, and how to this day I still call the one girl Olive.

They're barefoot because I don't like to store them with shoes. I had a melt incident with my PTEs during a move in 2011 and now Mini Cooper can't wear shorts.

[dollgbt]

my OOAK 1963 first edition skipper 💕

IG: @dollgbt

[iodoesdolls]

Just finished rerooting a Skipper. Still needs some work, obviously; that one piece of hair is very stubborn. She’s wearing Creatable World clothes, and the ribbon around her knee is because there’s a huge rip in her leg plastic. I figured a bandage would remind me not to mess with it.

[cmpink]

Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra holding hands :-)

Mina is a custom Piccadilly Dolly Neo Blythe (2002; new lashes, custom pull cord charm, custom ears bought on Etsy, wig [designed for 18" dolls] from Amazon). She is wearing a 1970s vintage Skipper doll shirt, overalls handknit by me, and red faux leather boots.

Lucy is a Gothic & Lolita Bible Mitsukazu Mihara x ALICE and the PIRATES Pullip (2011). She wears all original clothes with some accessories removed (and stored).

Pictured with Dracula: Deluxe Edition by Bram Stoker with illustrations by Edward Gorey (Sterling Publishing/Union Square & Co., 2021).

[oak23]

Kawaii Skipper Reroot by Tiny Ribbons Studio 

[marzipanandminutiae]

Pandemic Doll Updates

Because it’s been a long, LONG year-and-a-bit, and this bitch needs to get her Good Brain Chemicals from somewhere. All the things I would normally spend money on, besides bills and food, are Not. So dolls have been Yes.

This year, I have welcomed home:

Celia (Minifee Mirwen). Found her in parts on eBay and Instagram. She’s presently judging me for not finishing her kirtle and moving on to her over-gown. I never intended to get a Minifee, but I found a legit body someone had modded for a steal online and the rest just kind of...happened.

Rosamond (Madame Alexander Cissy). Why did I want a 1950s fashion doll? Good question. Why this one specifically? Even better question. But I fell in mad obsession and a dear friend happened to have just picked up a box of damaged ones from an estate sale. He gave me a great price, and now she’s sitting next to me in a homemade pearl necklace and evening gown.

Charlotte (Smiling Bru French fashion doll, c. 1872). Remember the Doll Bod saga, where I sold a bunch of things to get my dream antique wooden body? This is that doll. Still wants a hardware store trip to rebuild her neck mechanism before I can attach head to body and make her complete. And then freak out that holy shit I actually have one of these now.

Barbie (Number Five Barbie doll c. 1960). This customer at Retail Job found out I collect dolls and straight-up gave me her childhood Barbie. With a carrying-case full of clothes. Sounds made up for Internet Points; actually happened.

Draculaura (Monster High Collector’s Draculaura). This follower on Tumblr found out I wanted this specific Draculaura and straight-up gave me the one he got to customize. Plus a Heartstruck Cupid in the bargain. Also sounds made up; also really happened. It really has been a strange year, but at least not all that strangeness has been bad.

[Name undecided] (Lillycat Chibbi Lana). I don’t know. I don’t know. She popped up on eBay and I’ve always wanted one of those extremely pear-shaped European artist BJDs and mature tinies that actually have mature faces are my kryptonite. Don’t @ me. She’s blue, so I’m hoping to trade her for one in a normal skin color.

With honorable mentions to some Foster Daughters:

Barbie II: Electric Boogaloo (#4 Barbie doll c. 1959-60). I’m mercenary and she was in parts, seriously stained and dirty, on eBay. Once her Clearasil treatment is done, she’s going back on eBay. Hopefully to fetch more than I paid for her, and all these tubes of extra-strength Clearasil.

Jessamine (MYou Bettina). She was on sale. I wanted a mature tiny. I could not find any of the aforementioned Pixar Mom Butt European options. I bought her- and then promptly sold her to get the money back when the Lana came up for sale. Sorry, Jess. That’ll teach me to impulse-buy something instead of waiting for what I really want.

1970s Barbie (normal Twist-N-Turn body with a Walk Lively head). Bought her at a comic store. Flipped her on eBay. Pretty much my usual M.O.

And this year also saw the rehoming of:

Abigail (Simon and Halbig fashion doll c. 1869). This sale paid for most of Charlotte’s body. I’d like to have one in my collection again someday, but a wood-bodied FF has just been my dream for too long.

Ellery (LUTS Senior Delf Dahlia). I never can pass up a dolly deal- and that’s honestly a problem I need to work on. Got her for a song in mid-2019, never did anything with her, and was honestly relieved to see her go. At least now I know that 60cm dolls are definitely not for me.

Except Rosamond.

Who is about that big.

...listen shut up

Skipper (first-issue Skipper with multiple clothing sets). Why did I have a vintage Skipper? Unclear. But she’s gone to a good home with a friend of mine who’s absolutely mad for all things Barbie, so a happy ending all around.

Unnamed 1880s china doll. Still working my way through that huge box lot of antique dolls I found on Craigslist ages ago  and bought from a 90-year-old woman’s creepy Midcentury Modern house in the forest off the Interstate. Honestly, the fact that that adventure didn’t get me haunted makes me strongly suspect nothing will. ...knock on wood.

Current collection count is ~30, counting the modern porcelain dolls at my parents’ house.

[dolldirt]

In the spirit of revisiting old projects. I've been trying to recolour this vintage Skipper body to use with my one and only Blythe custom. The body she had was a mashup of Volks and Pullip parts that hadn't aged well. Her arms crumbled years ago and her feet constantly fall off. I also decided that I prefer Blythe without bonus articulation after getting my knock off with an Azone body.

Anyway, the paint didn't want to stick to Skipper at all and stayed tacky. I washed the failed attempt off and coated the whole body in clear coat as a primer. Boom, paint adhered fine after that. It was just a matter of tweaking the colour mix after that... Which still isn't right but close enough.

Skipper originally has a very short cut joint style neck. I cut the peg off, drilled out the neck and threaded a nylon toilet bolt into her body leaving enough length for the head to attach properly. I trimmed the head of the bolt down to fit into the Blythe head and used Milliput to build up the neck (even though it's mostly hidden by the head).

I'm waiting to clear coat her again and coat her joints with super glue for durability. Then it's back to her assembled state. It's weird revisiting her now after all these years. My skills have gotten better and I should strip her down and sand her mods. But at the same time, it's a reminder of how I've grown as a customizer.

[smallfavorsboutique]

Skipper Crazy Daisy handmade using vintage bright fabric.

[firespirited]

I don't know if it's a great time but would you folks be interested if I did a sale (to worldwide) of reroots and a few barbie heads (Litdh Midge, Trichelle, Kayla, a bald Janay, the vintage skippers...), wigs, hair? Bigger dolls and items would have to be western EU only. I'm looking to declutter my brain space more than anything.

I have no wishlist except $ to send out gifts, fantasy nice nylon, curvy barbie bodies (molded bodices fine) casual clothes, liquid fusion and strands of nylon taped to a piece of paper with corresponding names to build up my swatch, whatever special custom documents bags you can just peel and stick to parcels (I haven't found the right keywords) and the elastics that come with mattel and mga dolls that are somehow more durable that anything you can get for humans.

I need to buy new paintbrushes and some medium, some doll-safe hair gel, plastic straws, non vinyl gloves.

Half finished projects or ones that need paint touchups will be discounted. Simba doll heads can be provided with neckgrafts pre installed.

I'll offer the cheap bubble letter with tracking or more expensive big shoe boxes.

Is it a bad time just before 'back to school' and with new doll lines hitting the shelves? (I'm also happy to do saran or nylon replacement on your new dolls at 5$ an hour, you supply the hair, if it turns out they have naf poly)

[timeapoortenant]

Logan & Skipper's Gifts

Logan and Skipper’s gift to Wilmore is a music box. The exterior is carved and painted to look like Manifold, from Skipper’s dreams. Inside, there is a custom music box that plays a tone similar to the tones heard between Manifold’s rocks. There’s also a custom embroidered vintage hat that says “Worlds’ Best Dad”. There’s also a holographic art card, hand-drawn with iridescent and holographic inks and touches of glitter gel and white pen, of Wilmore in his natural form. It seems to shift and radiate when the card is tilted back and forth. It’s signed with two hearts, one purple and one gold. Last but not least, there’s a fancy silk sleep mask for Wilmore to put on his meatsuit when he needs to leave it somewhere. It has hand-painted closed eyelids on it with elaborate and beautiful eyelashes.

--

Wil hardly knows what to think of the box. Assuming he doesn’t open it while they’re there, he spends a long time with it open, listening to the sounds it makes and crying in the dark. He’ll probably call them up to thank them personally.

[midgeenthusiast]

June 14, 2019 - Goodbye Kenzie

10:45 AM

Today I'm back at work and said goodbye to Kenzie.

She came out so beautiful, I am super proud. I ended up having to super glue the splits in her feet. This worked well in preventing her feet from entirely tearing apart. After about 3-4 boil washes, her hair is looking much better. It's no longer so matted and she has a full fluffy afro. It's adorable. I was unable to restore her hair to the way it was originally, since it is so worn from many years of play. The good news is that once I handed her over to Ana, Ana actually preferred the full fluffy frizzy fro (that's a tongue twister isn't it?) to the original look. I agree! I think it looks much fuller and natural! She ended up wearing the dress that my vintage Midge came in. It suited her well, and I don't think I have any other dolls who would suit this dress quite the same. In exchange, she was able to give me the Skipper she was unable to snag from her daughter previously. I'm very excited about this Skipper honestly. She has an adorable outfit, that I'm likely going to use on my doll that I eventually customize to represent myself. I'm also very excited to get this very first transformation video into the process of being edited! It's been a lot of fun to film, and actually much easier to film than I had anticipated. I've had this professional equipment for editing and filming for a while now and haven't made much use of it. It will be a lot of fun to finally compile this all together and get back into editing videos! I have butterflies in my stomach from giddiness thinking about how all of this is coming together. I'll be updating again soon! 

[iodoesdolls]

All the things I painted today. Little boy got his hair and clothes painted over, DC girls got new colors over existing paint, Midge was an attempt to correct faded paint, and skipper and monster high were complete repaints. Success levels were...varied. Some dolls will be redone. Skipper’s eyes are a problem, especially. And I’m clearly not good at eyebrows.