Un-boxing Ashlyn

Watch the video here.

Today I have a different kind of video and blog for you. I purchased one of the new Wellie Wishers from American Girl and decided to un-box her on camera. I love to watch un-boxing videos so I thought I might as well film as I opened.

If you aren't familiar with the Wellie Wisher line of dolls they are the newest addition to the American Girl family of dolls. They are being marketed to slightly younger girls (age 5 and up) than the traditional American Girl dolls(age 8 and up).

There are 5 dolls in the collection currently. I have no idea if they plan to add more later but I do hope so. The site describes each doll's personality and they have a range of colors of skin and hair. They are all very cute and it was hard to make a choice but I had a particular role in mind for this doll.

The dolls measure 14 ½” tall so they are smaller than the traditional American Girl dolls. They are also have a younger appearance to both their faces and body shape than the larger dolls. These two features also mean that they will look perfect as younger siblings in our doll collections.

They feature a completely hard body as opposed to the soft body of the larger dolls. I saw a few photos of dolls that people had gotten that had large gaps in the side seams of their dolls. Mine seems to be fine in that respect.

I think this doll's hair is her best feature, it is sooooo soft and silky. It has beautiful highlights too. Although that face is almost too cute to believe.

The price of $60 is high for a doll in my opinion but compared to the $115-$120 price tag of the larger dolls it seems almost reasonable. Currently (through the end of July 2016) they are offering free shipping on the Wellie Wisher dolls so that helps a bit.

As for delivery time for me I ordered on June 27^th and it arrived to my post office late in the day on July 7^th. Keep in mind we did have a holiday during the shipping too.

Now onto how this doll will fit into my doll family. This blog post is the last time you will probably see/hear her referred to by the name Ashlyn. This doll is now named Maria, and she is Jeremy's little sister. I had been wanting to get a little sister for him since the beginning but the doll I had planned to get is no longer made and I was never able to find one.

I took some pictures of Maria and Jeremy side by side so you see how they look together. I think they are going to make wonder bother and sister. Don't you?

I did get one outfit completed for Maria before she arrived and I love the way it looks on her. I have a couple more outfits cut out but didn't get time to finish them in time for the blog.

Both pieces are made from patterns from Pixie Faire.

The top is from the Trendy T-Shirt pattern which is a free pattern on the site. I made this one pretty much by the pattern. I did do my favorite finishing technique on the edges.

For the shorts I actually used the Piccadilly Pjs pattern bottoms. I simply made a guess where to cut them off and added a cuff the legs. I love how they turned out.

I need to get busy sewing for this little dear so she can have a few changes of clothing. Then you will see her here on my blog in some Allison's Journal posts very soon. 

Doll Size Gummy Bears

Watch the video here.

I am so excited because the Gummy Bear mold that I had ordered at the Seattle Miniature Show finally arrived!! I have become somewhat obsessed with making gummy bears since it arrived. I am certain the numbers now count in the hundreds but I can't help myself they are just so darn cute and easy to make. 

 

First if you want to make some gummy bears for your dolls here is the link to Ruth's site. I don't see the mold on the site as I am uploading this but you can contact her through her website for the information. 

The first thing I did when I got my mold was to try all the brands of clay I have in it. I did discover that Ruth's recommendation of the Sculpey III is the best one for this. The texture works the best with the mold. In instructions Ruth shows how to cut the excess clay off with a knife but I prefer to use the side of my dental tool. I am always worried about nicking the top of the mold with a knife.

The gummy bears made of polymer clay (5 parts translucent to 1 part color) come out really cute. The detail in this mold is amazing and it really does show up nicely in this version.

After a couple of batches of clay gummy bears I was in the mood to create some that looked a bit more like the real thing. I have been playing with my Liquid Kato clay that I picked up in the Hobby Lobby when I was in Seattle a while back. I love this product because it is not only really clear but it is also a bit shiny unlike the other liquid polymer clays I have tried. I used to have some Fimo Deco Gel and it is close but the Kato version is just enough better to seek it out.

There are several ways to color liquid polymer clay. One thing I keep seeing on Youtube videos is people using acrylic paint for this, that is really not a good idea. The products are not really compatible. For these gummy bears because I wanted to keep the translucency of the liquid clay I chose to use some oil paint. It just takes a tiny bit, I found that out on my first batch- any more and you will not have a transparent bear. The exception to this is the red, I had to add a lot more red paint because the color seems to disappear. I did find that the Rose Madder gives a nice red gummy bear color, most of the other reds I tried turned orange.

The mold creates 10 gummy bears at a time- 5 regular size and 5 “jumbo” ones.

The small ones only take a drop or two of the liquid clay while the larger ones take about 3 drops so you can see that jar of liquid clay is going to make a ton of gummy bears.

I did try TLS (Transparent Liquid Sculpey) but I really didn't like the result. The main problem being that TLS just doesn't get clear, it stays really white and has a very flat dull finish.

The Kato clay products all bake at a higher temperature than the other brands of clay- 350 degrees. I have read that this product will cure at a lower temperature but will not be as clear or as shiny.

I have more videos planned for this same liquid clay so keep your eyes on the blog and the channel for those.

Vintage Multiplication Cards

Watch the video here.

This week I am decided to show you how to work with the newest release from Paper Minis. If you have read my blogs for very long or watched my videos you already know I love the kits that Ann produces. As soon as I noticed this new kit I knew I had to order it. (I think I had it ordered within 3 minutes of starting to read that week's newsletter. LOL) 

 

Since this kit is a vintage item I had to figure out how to make it work with my dolls who live in today's world. It didn't take me long to come up with an idea.

You see I have spent a lot of hours the last year or two going through stacks of boxes of stuff that we packed up from my mom's house when she passed away. Not only are there boxes of stuff from my childhood but there are also an equal number of boxes from my mom's childhood and even a few from my grandmother's childhood. These cards look like they could have been in one of those many boxes.

One of the things I love to do with my dollhouse miniatures is to make them look old and worn. I decided to take some of those techniques and use them on this set of cards. I love the end result and they look like they have been around for a hundred years, sitting a box in someone's attic.

The first step in making up this kit is to make your choice of paper. You want a paper that it going to take the ink well and hold up to scoring, folding and gluing. I decided to use a good quality Matte finish photo paper. Photo papers will allow your printer to do the best job it can do. The matte finish was important for a couple of reasons. One being that I wanted to make these look old so I didn't want any shine to them. Also because of the number of folds the matte paper will hold up much better, glossy paper has more of a tendency to crack on the fold lines.

When you are printing your printies be sure to set your printer to 100% size and to no borders, this is really important in getting your printies to come out the correct size.

I like to allow my ink to set at least a couple of hours if not overnight before I handle them. It probably isn't important but it seems to me that I get less smearing that way. I didn't seal my paper but you can and should if your ink is not water resistant. I usually don't for normal printies just for ones that I am going to be using with a lot more glue or that I might need to clean in the future. (like wallpaper for a dollhouse)

I like to score all my fold lines before I cut out the pieces. For me it is just easier to do this while the pieces are all still together. For printies like these I usually use my dental pick as my scoring tool. As much as I would like to use my scoring board the lines it makes are just too wide to use for these little pieces. After all the fold lines are scored it is time to cut each piece out. Be very careful and take your time- actually this is important for all the steps in this project. The more care you take with each step the better your final project will look. I use a combination of a straight edge with a craft knife and a small pair of scissors to cut out my pieces. Use whatever tools are the most comfortable for you.

After all the pieces are cut out it is time to fold and crease on all those fold lines we scored a little while ago. Also make sure all your cuts are correct and that you know where to glue.

For glue I used some regular Tacky Glue for the box and a glue stick for the cards. Just don't apply too much glue. Clamp any places that need to be clamped to stay the way you want them. Go back over each piece several times while the glue it drying and make sure everything is the way you want it be.

After the glue was dry I checked each card and trimmed it as needed and used a pair of curved manicure scissors to trim those rounded corners.

If your are making your cards to look new you are now done! They are ready for your dolls to learn their multiplication facts. Since these are in the style of the early 1900's I would bet either Samantha or Rebecca would enjoy a set of them.

But if you are going age your card set like I did it is now time for the fun part!

To age the cards I used some Distress Ink from the Tim Holtz line made by Ranger in the colors: Vintage Photo and Old Paper. I also used an emery board to rough up the edges/corners of each piece. I love the finished look of my card set.

This set is going to join some other items I have been planning and working on for an Allison's Journal blog post in the future. You will just have to wait to see what that story is.

I would love to see your projects you make so be sure to send me pictures of them. I also ask that if you do buy this set (or any of the others I have shown you) from Ann that you let her know you heard about if from me. It is a lot of fun for both of us to learn those things.

Cupcakes for 18” Dolls

Watch the video here.

This week I am going to show you how to create some wonderfully cute cupcakes with the mold I got from Stewart Dollhouse Creations (click here for the website and here for a direct link to the mold I am using)

I was so happy to find out that Ruth had added this mold to her line of molds because I had been trying to come up with a mold on my own for cupcakes for a while and wasn't having very much luck with it. I have found that some foods, like cupcakes are just so much easier to make with a mold. I have purchased several molds in the past from different dealers and I have made a lot of my own over the years too.

This mold is actually dual purpose depending on which scale you work in. For our 18” dolls it is a cupcake (although a small one) and for 1/12^th scale dollhouses it is one of those giant cupcake shaped cakes.

The mold itself if made of a silicone so you can bake clay directly in the mold if you desire. I do prefer to bake more than one at a time so I pop mine out of the mold.

Just like any other product or kit the first step should be to read the directions and make sure you understand them. I do stray from the directions on the video a tiny bit simply because I want my cupcakes to have a slightly domed top just like the ones from my real kitchen. In the directions you are told to cut off the clay even with the top of the mold. It is a small difference and it is totally up to you which way you do yours. The advantage of the cutting the top off is you don't have fiddle around figuring out how big of a ball of clay you need to make your cupcakes. I find after a couple of tries I was able to judge the amount of clay I needed pretty easily.

After the cupcakes are formed I like to texture the top gently with a toothbrush. This makes them look a little more like a real cupcake, I also used some golden yellow chalk to give the top edges a baked look. I didn't add the chalk to the base since I wanted to color my bases to look like they had cupcake wrappers on them.

As for flavors I only made two this time: a white cake- made with Fimo Vanilla and a chocolate made with Premo! Burnt Umber. You can of course make yours any flavor you think your dolls would like. Just look online if you are lacking ideas.

Since these are rather thick they will need to bake for about 30 minutes. Use the temperature listed on your clay packages.

After baking allow your cupcakes to cool completely before the next steps.

Since I wanted to paint on my paper cupcake liners that was my next step. I just used some acrylic craft paint and a small stiff flat brush. Just go slow and you will be fine. It might take a few coats to cover the clay color especially on the chocolate ones.

Next we get to frost and decorate them! Again if you are lacking for ideas just look online at photos of real cupcakes. There are so many ideas out there since cupcakes are so popular right now.

I used my favorite frosting on the video- caulking from the hardware store. I always get the kind that can be painted in case I want to color the frosting for some projects.

To color the frosting just add in a small amount of acrylic paint, I used the kind in the small tubes this time and it works so much better than the craft paint I have used in the past. Just be warned it just takes a tiny bit.

To apply the caulking you can either spread it on (I like to use a toothpick) or you can pipe it on. If you are piping on the white caulking you can just tape the decorating tip directly onto the tube. If you want to pipe out the caulking you have colored just make use a small plastic bag just like you would for real frosting.

To further decorate our cupcakes we can add several types of sprinkles. The tiny micro marbles (also sometime called no hole beads) are really cute and can be found in the craft store. You can also use a tiny hole punch (1/16^th “) to punch out multiple colors of colored cardstock. This is also cute for holidays if you have tiny hole punches in different shapes.

If you want to have the look of decorator sugar use some fine glitter or some sand. The glitter looks more real in this scale but use which ever you have.

You can also add swirls of chocolate or other “syrups” by using some of the Scribbles 3-D fabric paints in the appropriate colors.

These are just so fun and somewhat addictive to both make and decorate.

Here are close ups of the different cupcakes I made this week. I would love to see what you do be sure to send me a photo if you make some cupcakes.

pink frosting with pink glitter

chocolate frosting with paper sprinkles and white glitter

white frosting (piped with a #5 tip) paper sprinkles, red microbeads, and red glitter

pink frosting , micro beads

chocolate frosting

white frosting (piped with #5 tip) micro beads, paper sprinkles and red glitter

white frosting (piped with #21 tip) paper sprinkles and white glitter

purple frosting (piped with #5 tip) white craft sand

purple frosting with white craft sand

white frosting (piped with #21 tip) Christmas Red Scribbles paint, white glitter

white frosting (piped with #21 tip) Hot Chocolate Scribbles paint, and white glitter

pink frosting with paper sprinkles

Also if you buy one of these molds let Ruth know you saw the video and blog.

Seattle Trip Haul

Watch the video here.

Since my main reason for going to Seattle was to attend the Dollhouse Show let's start with the item I got there that can be used for the 18” dolls. One of the my very favorite dealers at the show is Ruth Stewart of Stewart Dollhouse Creations. Ruth creates and sells some really nice silicone molds for use with polymer clay. I first found her last year at the Seattle show and fell in love with the items I got from her then. This year she was one of the first tables I visited since I knew she had a couple of dollhouse scale items I wanted. I was so happy to discover that they are beginning to make items for the 18” dolls too! I was able to get her cupcake mold at the show and ordered one more mold that she will be mailing to me as soon as she gets home from the show. When it arrives I will post a blog about it.  I really recommend you go over and see what all she has even though most of her items are smaller scale she is starting to add our scale too.

One place that was really high on my list of places to go on this trip was the American Girl Store. I had never been to one before and I wasn't going to let the chance slip away from me. I was a good girl though and kept my purchases in line. I only got a few things and I love each one.

I got this cute set of plates and mugs, won't those look cute with some of the foods I show you all how to make? And honestly I have been wanting to get my hands on some mugs so I could double check the size. I do plan to show a couple of different methods of making out own mugs soon. 

 

 

I also got the store t-shirt, I love the new design with all the sparkle.

 

Since I have wanted to read Kaya's books since I first saw her I picked up the set with all 3 of her books too. You see, back when I was growing up I loved whenever we got to study the local Native American people. Kaya's story takes place in what is now the state of Washington so I am super excited about it.

I spent just enough to get the opportunity to purchase the special outfit they were offering so I decided to go ahead and get it. I think it is really cute especially with spring on the way.

The other stop we made on the way home was to Hobby Lobby. I know a lot of you can drop in any time but for me it is a drive of between 100 and 150 miles so I had to stop. I got a couple of things that I am sure will show up in some tutorials over the next few months.

 

Grace is Here!!!!!

Grace finally got here, it took forever- or at least it seemed like forever! I ordered her on the 1^st and she finally got here today. (the 13^th ) I guess this is one of the downsides to living on the West coast of the US when everything ships from the east side of the country. I actually briefly considered driving to the nearest American Girl store on the 1^st to get her in person but since that is a 4 hour drive (each way) I decided that would be out of the question for a rational person. I did consider it though.

It did take a lot of self control to not tear the box open right in the middle of the parking lot at the post office but I was good. I waited until I got home. I was going to film an un-boxing video but my camera decided to not play nice and the video didn't turn out. Of course I didn't realize that until I had everything out of the box and I just don't feel like putting everything back together and starting over. I want to play instead. So you are going to have to settle for this blog post with photos.

My first impressions of Grace: she is so pretty! I don't normally like dolls with freckles but she is the exception. Her face mold is so pretty and I love that her brown hair has highlights. The blue of her eyes is really pretty too.

 I have only purchased American Girl dolls online since the store is so far away (and fairly new) and I always worry that I will get a doll that has a defect but so far I have been lucky. My Grace is a little looser in the leg joints than I would like but not bad at all. She stands just fine, it is just that one of her legs droops a bit when you hold her up horizontally. Otherwise I can't find anything wrong with her.

I do love the cute little boots she is wearing and while the tee shirt, skirt and undies are cute they are not really special. I do wish I had added the ear piercing to her, I was going to and forgot about it when I ordered. I mainly wanted to do that to have the cute Paris themed earrings that would have come with her then. The charm bracelet that comes with her is very cute but very hard to put on. I think I will probably switch out the fastener on it to something that is easier to use.

I also purchased a few things to go with her.

I got the second book so I would have her entire story. I haven't even opened the books yet but I am looking forward to learning about Grace.

I also got the welcome gift set. This includes a box of macarons, an Eiffel Tower cookie in a bag, a bouquet of flowers, a pink felt beret, and 3 post cards. The pieces are really cute, I am looking forward to challenging myself to making some more of the macarons I will make them separate however. (I didn't get a photo of the beret before the battery in my camera went dead on me)

The other thing I got- and probably the part I was most excited about was the Baking Set! I fell in love with the mixer as soon as I saw it. It looks just like my real one (okay different color but you know what I mean) I knew I would never be able to make a mixer that detailed and it will be so cute in the kitchen set I already made. You can expect to see a lot of this set in future blog posts! 

 

This set also contains- a box of almond flour, a sifter, measuring cups, a pastry cutter, a wooden spoon, a recipe booklet (for real treats) and a pretend tablet for the dolls.

I am really excited to add Grace into my collection although she will not be keeping her name. I have another name already picked out for her and she will be joining the rest of the dolls in one of my Allison's Journal blog posts very soon.

I hope you enjoy the photos and will be back to meet this doll and learn her place in the family .