PERSONALITY PLUS

DO YOUR GIRLS HAVE THEIR OWN PERSONALITIES???

OF COURSE THEY DO !

But .... HOW is this possible ????


When I first discovered Blythe ... and the "eye changing dolls" ... I had to "laugh" at all the folks I kept seeing on flickr, who were talking "for" their girls, acting as it ....

but then ... WAIT a second ...

From the VERY MOMENT when I received my very first LBE .... she DEFINITELY had a mood ... and attitude ... even on the auction site ad where I purchased her ... and I KNEW RIGHT THEN I had to have her!

Fast-forward to having LBE dolls with the SAME color hair (2 lemon; 2 jet black; 2 grape ...) and THEY ARE EACH SOOOOO DIFFERENT!!!!!

ADD to that, their little expressions AFTER I carved them, added their own INDIVIDUALLY HAND-MADE EYE CHIPS ... and well ...

They DO HAVE THEIR OWN PERSONALITIES !!!  THAT is why I believe the Blythe world is so huge, and so STRONG!


I made little PERSONALITY POSTERS of my GIRLS:

She was actually NAMED after a VERY SCHOLARLY YOUNG LADY,

who was attending USC

I had no idea when I braided her hair for her boil perms,

that I would LOVE HER IN THIS HAIRSTYLE SO MUCH,

that I would KEEP HER THIS WAY ...

she always looks SO SPORTY ...

Camryn is now:

CAYLEE CAMRYN CANE

.....named after that poor, dear, sweet FL girl who will be

FOREVER  A  LITTLE  BABY .....

She truly IS ... our little GHOST ... as she did come back from the "dead"

(I committed accidental dolly-cide on her,

but then RESURRECTED HER into this GHOST ... )

DOES SHE or DOES SHE NOT ... look JUST LIKE A DEBUTANTE ?????

Perfect as GRACE KELLY as well ...

"SOMETHING" about her RASPBERRY HAIR ...

Makes you think of love, Love, LOVE .....

MAYBE its the eye make-up I put on her ....

PLUS she is named after the ULTIMATE FLIRT EVER ....

YEP, just look at her SWEET LITTLE FACE !!!

(my 2nd lemon hair LBE ... yet oh, SO DIFFERENT .....)

SOMETHING about the way I carved her mouth into a shape

that every time I look at her,

she looks like MISCHIEF ..... A LITTLE "IMP" .....

MY VERY FIRST REAL BLYTHE ...

THE TRUE MEANING OF "INGENUE" .....

YOUNG, FRESH, INNOCENT ...

THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING .....

MY GIRLS: BEFORE and AFTER PICTURES

HERE ARE ALL MY GIRLS ... BEFORE and AFTER their make-overs ...

Ashleigh Aqua:
Little Big Eyes (Black Hair)
(she has extra-long black hair extensions)

Bertha Belle: 
Little Big Eyes (Lemon hair)

CAYLEE CAMERON CANE:
CCE Basaak doll (from Taiwan)

DALLET DARLING:
Blybe doll
(I did commit "dolly-cide" on her,
but then, I transformed her into ....)

Dallet Darling:
Our Little GHOST

EmALY EriKA:
Little Big Eyes doll  (grape hair)
She got ash-blonde wig extensions
(no more visible purple/grape hair)

Jay~Anna July:
Little Big Eyes doll (Raspberry hair)

Kirstyn Kavaleri
Little Big Eyes Doll (black hair)

Lena LaRosse
Little Big Eyes doll
(my second lemon hair LBE)

Lena LaRosse
(pic # 2 of her)

Molly Marine
Little Big Eyes doll
(my second grape hair ... kept hers purple)

Nenetl Nenetl
(means DOLL in Aztec)
My first, and so far, my ONLY "REAL" BLYTHE DOLL
She is the Ashton Drake Galleries (ADG) Aztec Arrival

DOLL BODY COMPARISONS: Blythe; Blybe; CCE; LBE; and OTHER CLONES

When I first discovered BLYTHE ... and realized I could not afford one ... and then figured I could get a clone and STILL accomplish my goal  (designing and producing dolly fashions to offer for sale ... )

I then discovered there is a whole OTHER WORLD of ... CLONES!!!

This was all very confusing.  But THANKS to all the wonderful flickr folks, you can find so many people who have comparison pictures, which helps a lot.

Here, I will post my own comparison pictures.  Some of the other clone pics I have found, are from various locations, but since I am not trying to sell anything here, or benefit in any other way besides INFORMATION ONLY, I am sure it will be okay.

Left to right:  REAL BLYTHE  (ADG Aztec Arrival) ... Center:  CCE (body with SPINDLY LEGS and arms)
Right:  This is a MARY-KATE & ASHLEY doll which I previously put on my CCE doll,
because I could not DEAL with the TWIG LIMBS!

BODIES: 

One of the FIRST THINGS to research was:  BODY SIZE.  Comparison of CLONE to the REAL BLYTHE … so that when I made my crochet fashions, I would be getting the size right.

            Here is what I have discovered:

            LBE:  Their TORSO and LEGS combined, make her about 1 inch taller than BLYTHE.

            Blybe:  CLOSE enough to BLYTHE although CHEAP-O made.

            CCE:  I could NOT DEAL with her spindly body.  Before commiting dolly-cide on her, I changed her body with a MARY-KATE & ASHLEY body that I had from when my niece used to come over and play dolls in the 90’s.  It was surprisingly VERY similar.  But ANYTHING would have been better than that TOOTHPICK CCE body.  HAD TO get rid of it.

            BLYTHE*:  It is what it is.  MANY different colors of plastic though:  her head is GREEN;  her torso is another color and her arms and legs are another color.  WHICH doesn’t matter much to me, as I do NOT like the skin showing on photo shoots.  I just DON’T.  (has nothing to do with modesty, I just don’t think it looks right.)

* I am referring to the only Blythe I have: The ADG (Ashton Drake Galleries) Aztec Arrival. 

 

 

HANDS                                      

Hand of Little Big Eyes Doll:  After I sliced between the fingers

            LBE:            Nice hands, made of rubber.  NOT hard-ass plastic.  I cut between each of their fingers, because I wanted to.

HERE you can see the "webbing" on the Blybe doll (cheaply produced)

            CLONE:  Definitely had some “webbing” going on, and had to cut off the overhanging pieces, obviously cheaply made.

            BLYTHE:  Left them as is.

FEET                               

            LBE:  Their feet are HUGE and FLAT. 

Color stained feet from LBE doll
Left:  Original size
Right:  I tried to "carve" them down because they were TOO BIG!

Left:  CCE Doll   Center:  Blybe Right:  Little Big Eyes

The large size of their feet was going to prove to be a bit of a

problem if I was ever planning to dress them in the extreme cuteness of Blythe and/or Barbie footwear!  

And for ME, the solution was simple, as I NEVER plan to have their FEET showing …. I just CARVED THEM ALL into BLYTHE SIZE FEET.  Sure, they don’t look that great, but the blonde ones have PINK FEET anyway, due to staining from the red boots, but again, as long as they can wear BLYTHE and/or BARBIE SIZE FOOTWEAR …. That is all I need.  I tried to make an “arch” but that was sort of futile … but at least I got the size down.

            BLYBE CLONE feet are okay.

            BLYTHE:  LEFT AS IS.

HERE are some of the CLONES out there:  (if anyone owns these pics and has any objections, by all means let me know and I will remove them from this directory):

"Blybe" ... has more of a "Blythe-like" shape body

Basaak  (Spindle body)

Close up of ICY DOLL and her wonky mouth ...

Strange looking ... this one is:  BLYTH  (no "E" )

I think this one was a "CCE" ... Color Changing Eyes

THIS is an "ICY" doll ... for some reason, they cost about $75. and above ... they have a VERY strange face (my opinion )

This one is called "JECCI 5" or something like that

<>

This one is really rather pretty ... saw this on ebay I think ...
BLYH  (no "T"  ... no "E"  )

YEP, JECCI FIVE  (I believe it was some sort of department store promo doll)

THIS is a LITTLE BIG EYES doll, that was on ebay I believe.
SHE is the same as MY LITTLE BIG EYES DOLL.
You can see that this person has done a bit of customizing on her

I am sure there are many (?) other clones out there, but these are the ones I discovered in MY research.

Notes on Customization of Blythe Dolls: MAKE-UP

MAKE-UP                

After sand matting faces, you may want to put color back into your doll's face.  There are a few tutorials on-line to help you do this.  

All faces sanded ... now to spray with MATTE clear, prior to make-up application

close-up of face-up BEFORE

Airbrush method:  I DO NOT OWN AN AIRBRUSH painter.  I do not have any intention of becoming a professional customizer, or investing in the (costly?) equipment.  I just wanted to make a NICE FACE on each of my girls.  NOTHING too fancy …. Just a nice and NATURAL looking.  But here is what I have found:

LBE and BLYBE TYPE CLONES with HARD PLASTIC FACES: 

          EVEN though you have sand-matted their faces …. The pucci collective is correct:  IT IS HARD TO GET PASTELS (chalk) TO SHOW ANY REAL COLOR !!!  I tried and tried and TRIED …. Until I CRIED !  I was thinking, DARN I came this far, HOW COME THE COLOR WON’T STAY !!!!!?????? #%^^$@$^^$##@*&!!!  I had CHALK DUST EVERYWHERE …. But NONE OF IT was sticking to the doll !!!!  ARGH !!!  I ended up just putting my FINGER into the chalk and dust I had on paper, GROUNDING it in … then GROUNDING it into the FACE! 

I know …. I NEVER saw or read ANYONE giving THAT ADVICE …. But at this point, I did not care, I just did what ever worked!  

[ I bought two chalk sets:  One at Michael's and one at JoAnn's.  Very reasonable prices.   Just be sure they are NOT oil pastels. ]

Planning what hues for each girl, to be sure they all look DIFFERENT

 RE:  Face-ups using paint

            I did SEE a nice YOU-TUBE video on “how to suck less at face-ups”.  [ I should go find that again to give her the credit she deserves ... ] The artist was VERY good, and she was making sort of a dolfie~pullip type doll … from scratch (blank face).  Her advice was to get GOOD artist quality paints (advice I should have had at the beginning, before I started all my eye chip mania … );  and a good ‘medium’ … not water. 

TIP to save $$$:  Use disposable plastic when painting.  Normally not much paint is used/ needed, so little plastic pieces are perfect for this ... then you can just throw them away!

 

She also used MR. SUPER CLEAR, and for the life of me, I know it is reportedly the BEST, and you just have to have it, etc…… but I was NOT going to go back on ebay and spend one more DIME, and who knows?  Maybe it would not WORK on the CLONES!  So, forget it. 

I just went to Michaels Craft store and got some “KRYLON Super Clear” in matte for preserving pastel (and other) type works.  I just thought:  I WILL TRY IT on my ‘murder victim’ and see if it works.  I tried it … it was “so so” …. But STILL not as good as THE REAL BLYTHE DOLL WAS/ IS….. without spraying anything.  I also concede that the benefits of using MSC vs. another brand may ONLY be noticable "in the long run" ... but for me ...and for now ... it worked perfectly fine.  I have seen no changes, no yellowing, etc. for the past 9 months ...

Back to the video  ...   ANOTHER thing I liked about her video was:  she HAD WORDS ON THE SCREEN !  This is VERY RARE on You-Tube, but helped me tremendously …. Because I was viewing them on a computer without speakers, and I “got” everything she was teaching.  So, THANK YOU.

MAKE-UP PROGRESS ...

           

I normally don't the “stock” green and / or blue eye shadow that I have seen on factory-issue Blythe dolls … so I knew I would not only be REMOVING any existing eyeshadow, but NOT trying to duplicate it either.  I DID however, see some very interesting ideas on flickr, which I tried to … well, not exactly COPY, but emulate.  OF COURSE, when I got out my pastel chalk, and it didn’t stick….. The EYESHADOW that I did try, that eventually stuck …. looks like CRAP. 

Just a little experimenting with acrylic water-based paint to see if I could make LIPS ...

This was my attempt to put "frosted" lines on a solid color lip ... sort of an "apple" effect ....

 

            The CHEEKS look ‘so-so’ … From a distance.  Close-up … not so much.  I am thinking that it HAS TO BE the HARD PLASTIC again.   Because when I tried to put even just a TINY bit of pastel on the REAL BLYTHE ….. IT STUCK IMMEDIATELY!  So, there you have it.

Here is another tip:  When painting on faces:  Just stick to acrylic paint.  I did attempt to ADD a bit of my own lip gloss to the paint, and it sure did LOOK GOOD ... but then a flickr friend told me:  DON'T DO IT !  THE OIL IN THE LIP GLOSS WILL ERODE THE PLASTIC ... and he was right!  So, Thank You Sailorb :)

There just has to be some "secrets" that I have not found, or that I just don't "get".  I know that a layer of MSC (Mr. Super Clear) prior to make-up is supposed to give the chalk "legs" to stick to ... so I can't fully complain, as I did not use that. 

At this point, all I really wanted to do, was to GET TO MY DESIGNS already!   And so ...



* 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 professionalism 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.

Notes on customization of Blythe Dolls: EYE BROWS

EYE BROWS                                

Little Big Eyes dolls come WITH eyebrows.  A tiny little line in brown.

I have read those ‘haters’ who don’t like them, but I did not find them offensive.  However, on my particular models, I had to take them off, due to the overall matte appearance that I was going for, and for the life of me, I could not figure out how to KEEP the eyebrows on ... and sand "around" them !

I have also seen some customizers try to “add” eyebrows on their dolls;  The Blythe doll, the Middie, and the Clones ... which is just another personal preference.  The ones I have seen, I just don't like the way they look.   I don’t prefer them.  I also do not prefer the SAD ones, the ones that are actually CRYING ... but again ... "personal preference"  ...

In this picture, you can see the LITTLE BIG EYES dolls' eyebrows, before they were sanded off ...

REAL BLYTHE dolls and Blybe/ CCE Clones do not come with eyebrows.

I also LIKE the shiny face sometimes ... and was sad that I could not / did not keep at least ONE of my girls faces shiny ... But again, with all the CARVING I had to do ...










* 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.

Notes on Customization of Blythe Dolls: HAIR

HAIR

The factory hair on some dolls can be very problematic.

Even if it appears to be soft and silky upon arrival, and out of the box ... over time, it can become coarse and knotted ... even if your doll just sits there...

The Blythe dolls have a better head of hair than their Clone sisters.  The Blybe / CCE clones' hair can be choppy, uneven, and sparse.  The hair on the Little Big Eyes dolls are slightly better quality, but not by much.  Their bangs are cut very strangely, too close to the brow, and just look "cheap".

The BEST and most expensive or time-consuming method, would obviously be a re-root.  I have seen tons of the most BEAUTIFUL re-roots on flickr ... I love the alpaca "wild" mohair look ... but I also LOVE the saran-type SILKY ones, too! 

THIS is one area that I think I WOULD spend money on a professional :)

There are other options of course:

Cut your dolls' hair.  If you don't know how, there are a few remote sites that show you.  I already know the basics of hair-cutting, due to a cosmetology background, so I just trimmed the girls hair.  You just have to remember;  synthetic plastic is way different than real human hair (PLUS it is obviously less forgiving, in that ... it will NOT grow back!)

There are also WIGS out there.  I have seen them on the auction sites, but not seen one in person, so can not vouch for their effect.  I added extensions on two of my girls, but I don't think that is a good solution ... only temporary ...

The easiest way to alter a dolls hair would be a BOIL PERM.

I don't know why a big deal is made of this process ... it could not be more simple.  Just put the dolls hair in rollers, or bend it around the bendable sort of curlers.  You can even use a pipecleaner for a different effect.  I used curlers on most, and BRAIDS on one of my lemon haired LBE dolls. 

If you want to straighted just the bangs, just tape them down and submerge ONLY bangs in boiling water

ALL BRAIDED and READY TO PERM ...

Braids in progress:  Start in middle;  Braid the ends ... to keep hair in EVEN amounts

Step One:  Braid or Put hair in curlers ...

After water is boiled, simply pour into a GLASS bowl/ container, large enough to cover the area of hair you are changing.  Slowly put HAIR into the boiling water, and leave it there for 5-7 minutes.  (I propped up my girl so I wouldn't have to stand there holding her over the bowl.)

(This pic is sideways !)  anyway, this is hair IMMERSED in boiling water, in GLASS container

Rinse the hair with COLD water, and then let dry.  I recommend at least 3 days of allowing the hair to dry and set into place.

Rinse with cold water;  then LET DRY ... FOR DAYS

MY ADG Aztec Arrival came with super long hair, which proceeded to get tangled and knotted during the make-over process, even though I was trying to protect it all the while ...

This is after the FIRST boil perm I gave her ... It looks pretty here ... but then it was just TOO much ... TOO BUSHY!

THIS is how she currenly looks with her SHORTER hair :)

I cut off QUITE A BIT of her hair ... and gave her a SECOND BOIL PERM ...

* 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.