Notes on Customization of Blythe Dolls: EYES: EYE CHIPS

THIS SECTION will be about the EYE CHIPS themselves:

* Disclaimer on ALL of my NOTES:  I am not a true customizer.  I have only done the few girls that I own, 7 Little Big Eyes, 2 Blybe, and one real Blythe.  The caliber and skill and profesionalism that is so evident by the lovely flickr pictures ... well there is no comparison to my extreme amateur attempts.  HOWEVER, ALL I really wanted to do was to change them from the hideousness that I saw, into just a teeny bit more beautiful, for my own pleasure and sense of accomplishment.  I do not now, or ever, plan to offer my own skills at customization ... the reason for these blog entries is to help the few out there who would like to do just a few little steps, without spending ANOTHER huge amount on their already expensive girls.

So any of the steps I used, are explained here, JUST FOR FUN :)

EYE CHIPS for Blythe and Blythe - Like/Type  Clones:

            First of all, let me say, I LOVE all those beautiful, sparking, fantastic colored eye chips out there!  And the ones that look like REAL EYEBALLS?  Well, those are AMAZING!!!  The artists that can hand paint a chip to make it look like a real eye … just fantastic. 

            Here is my problem:  I AM POOR.  Well, not exactly, but I AM in debt, and on a budget!  So, spending $4.-$5. for ONE PAIR of chips …. Times 10 dolls that I have … times they each have 4 pair …. Would be MINIMUM EXPENSE OF $ 200.  JUST for the cheap-o looking ones that I don’t even like all that much, because I have a problem with the “spokes”.  Okay, so that is just me … please don’t be offended if you prefer those, we all have our individual preferences J  OH, and if I were to purchase the hand-painted, realistic looking ones, for $20. a pair …. Times 10 dollies  …. Times 4 each … $80. per doll, x 10 …. $800. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Really ???????

            So, what is the CHEAP GIRL do?  I already knew there was NO WAY I was keeping those hideous eye chips the way they are ….

STOCK EYE CHIPS on ADG (Ashton Drake Galleries) BLYTHE DOLL:  AZTEC ARRIVAL

STOCK EYE CHIPS for Blybe /  CCE "Clone" doll

STOCK EYE CHIPS for LITTLE BIG EYES (LBE) Dolls

 MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE STOCK EYE CHIPS THAT CAME WITH EACH DOLL TYPE:

            Blybe type clones:  The CCE dolls chips were SO cheap looking, even compared to the “Blybe” Basaak clone, it was not funny.  (the very first one I tried to take out, but ONLY after I had put the poor girl in the hospital and knew she was a gonner … broke in half right off the bat with the gluestick method.)  The Blybe clone’s eyes were “so so” and very similar to the Real Blythe’s … EXCEPT that the pupil is MUCH smaller, just MAGNIFYING that “deer in the headlights” that I can’t deal with.  JUST can not.

            LBE:  A domed piece of plastic, in a dull boring color, with absolutely NO life, NO spark, even SPOKES would be better than these chips.  They are dull, lifeless and just not acceptable.  I think the blank eye socket painted with a Sharpie marker would be better than these chips (!)   I took them ALL out of all the 7 LBE dolls, soaked them in rubbing alcohol per the Pucci tutorial, let them soak overnight and brushed them all clean.  I put one pair BACK into my “guinea pig” and added FOIL (again, here, as the Cheap Girl … I used some old Christmas wrapping paper from circa 2001 … ), added more BLACK to the pupil, and took a comparison shot next to another LBE, and there is some improvement.

STOCK EYE CHIPS ON LBE DOLLS:  LEFT;  Stock  RIGHT;  Cleaned and added FOIL and enhanced pupil

 SO, after I purchased too many of these dolls, I knew I had to do "something" ... so LET THE RESEARCH BEGIN! 

Started searching on etsy, ebay, and all over the internet ... and saw some AMAZING ones on flickr ... and my reaction was:     

         

“WOW !  Those hand-painted eye chips look SO cool! … but ... $20.00 for one pair?  Oh geez ..."

And like the thrifty little resourseful person that I have always been ... began to wonder ... HOW did THEY learn to do this?  I searched until my brain was fried and my fingers were numb ... but for the life of me, I could not discover ANYWHERE where there was even a tutorial, a "how-to", a class I could join ... NOTHING!  This still has the ability to perplex me, to this day ... I mean, HOW DID THEY learn how???

That is when I had to realize that I was either going to have to fork over BIG BUCKS, or think of another solution to changing my girls' eye chips ... knowing FULL WELL that I had not the materials, nor the resources or equipment, much less the TALENT for painting what I saw as some more beautiful than life-like eyechips I had seen... 

But whatever I could come up with, seriously couldn’t be much worse than the hideous spokes of the Blythe~Blybe or the dull and boring of the LBE …..

            SO…… I began MAKING EYE CHIPS! 

I know, I know …. How very ridiculous.  And if you look closely, they are very amateur …. But… it was either that, or SPEND $800. for what I REALLY wanted ! 

  HERE are some of the methods I used:         

I took the stock eye chips and PAINTED RIGHT OVER THEM!  I also figured, heck, if I didn’t like them, I could just remove the paint with alcohol, and nothing would be lost (except for my time and frustration, of course).  Then, I even took SEWING BUTTONS out of my “bag of tricks” already on hand for my crochet creations, and PAINTED ON TOP OF THOSE, and topped with varnish!  And again, ad naseum, if thought to myself .... if I had this idea, I am sure TONS of people have had this idea !  so I know I am not original in my “cheap-ness” J

           

LITTLE BIG EYES DOLLS:  4 NEW SETS OF EYECHIPS;  HANDMADE BY ME

LITTLE BIG EYES:  4 NEW PAIR EYECHIPS HAND-MADE BY ME

LITTLE BIG EYES:  4 NEW PAIR EYECHIPS;  HANDMADE BY ME

LITTLE BIG EYES:  4 NEW PAIR EYECHIPS, HANDMADE BY ME

BLYTHE DOLL:  4 NEW PAIR EYECHIPS (I HAVE SINCE MADE NEW ONES FOR HER ...)