After a bit of a hiatus, I have started repainting dolls again for offer in my Etsy shop! This one has been done for a bit, but life is finally allowing me to post her. For some reason, I really love working on freckled dolls, and they also seem to be pretty quick sellers for me which tells me that others like them as well!
I have another work in progress (WIP) that Ishould be finishing up soon and hope to get her photo’d this weekend for posting.
Thanks and enjoy!
I have a new listing up in my Etsy shop!
As with my other dolls, Draculaura’s original factory paint has been removed and she has been repainted using quality Faber-Castell and Prismacolor watercolor pencils and chalk pastels. She has also been sealed with multiple layers of Mr. Hobby Super Clear UV Cut Flat sealant to protect her with Liquitex Gloss Varnish for her eyes and lips to give them shine. Eyelashes were applied and her hair was washed, conditioned and trimmed.
She, along with my other dolls, are located for sale at http://www.chrysaliscreation.etsy.com and thanks for looking!
Two new dolls have been listed for sale in my Etsy shop this morning! I’ve named them both, though only one will come clothed. First is “Seer” and she is a repainted Monster High Twyla doll made to look like an ethereal prophetess.
Her hair was washed, conditioned, and boil permed to acquire the curls. I removed the gray swirls from her legs (they were quiet scuffed as it was) and left the gray on her hands and forearms for a more mystic appearance.
As with all my repaints, the factory paint/make up was removed using 100% acetone nail polish remover and then she was repainted using Faber-Castell and Prismacolor watercolor pencils and chalk pastels. Each layer was sealed using Mr. Super Clear’s UV Matte Sealant. Liquitex Gloss Varnish was applied to the eyes and lips to give them that dewy appearance and in this instance individual eyelashes were glued for a more 3d, in depth look.
Second is “Chelsea”, whom I plan on doing a separate post about for my Adventures in Rerooting series of posts. Chelsea was a little more complicated, as previous posts show she had quite a bit of damage when I removing the factory hair plugs for her reroot. But I had this great idea to use DMC embroidery floss, pulled apart into separate strands, to restyle her hair and I LOVED the way it turned out. I fully expect to use this method and medium again. Clawdeen is truly one of the molds that I love to work on and shes great fun to play with.
She was also repainted in the same method above, with eyelashes glued for a more realistic effect. I just think she’d DARLING and I hope that she finds a wonderful new home.
So I had a Dawn of the Dance Clawdeen Wolf from Monster High to whom I had repainted her face…but I wasn’t a huge fan of this series doll’s hair. I had been considering for a long while what to do as reroots are still something I am brand-spanking new at and the idea of what I wanted to turn this doll into hadn’t fully surfaced yet. Then I had the idea to utilize embroidery floss in lieu of the traditional nylon/saran hair or yarn.
Original doll, after face up, after hair removal.
I went out and got myself some colors of floss that I liked and that I thought would work well with not only the dolls coloring, but how I repainted her face. I then proceeded to get through the daunting task of removing the hair from the dolls head. Removal of the head is actually pretty easy if you go slow and use REALLY hot water to loosen the vinyl. Once you do that head quite literally will pop off without too much force. Then I soaked the inside of the head briefly in 100% pure acetone to loosen up the gunk of glue that they utilize to keep the originally rooted hair in place. After a good rinsing, I grabbed my pliers and got to work.
Do not let anyone tell you otherwise – pulling out a dolls originally factory rooted hair is ROUGH. My hand, the day after, is STILL sore from having to grip the pliers and pull. The industrial strength glue that they use is RIDICULOUS! Not to mention, with this doll, they put a TON of hair in the dolls part which makes it even more difficult. As you can see in the second pic on the top row, there are quite a few places where, even trying to pull gently, the force of getting the glue out caused huge holes in the mold that I will now have to try to patch and/or cover. I think I’ll be able to cover them thankfully but was NONE too happy to have that happen. Finally I was working on the hair rooted at the crown and I could swear to the powers that be the dolls head was either trying to give birth, or throw up. I’m still not certain which it was. As you can see, the MASS of hair and glue was quite large and I’m actually amazed more damage wasn’t done to the head sculpt.
I’ve already begun the long and arduous process of rerooting with the floss and so far I’m quite liking the result. I wont always want to use it since I think it will lend itself to a certain signature, but I’m excited to see how she finishes up and of course pics will be posted when she’s ready for sale.
I’d also like to take this moment to point out that I know why most folks wll repaint AFTER a reroot now, since the process causes strain on the sealant and Clawdeen now has a white band across her nose – which oddly has inspired me to do a little more to her when I do to repair the ‘damage’. Make lemonade out of lemons people!
Also, if you ever wondered WHY repainted and rerooted dolls especially are so expensive – yes this process is something that I’m new to. But it took me about an hour and a half to remove the hair from the original doll and it’s going to take me roughly 3 more hours to reroot her. I spent an hour on her last night with the floss and I only had about two rows completed. Repainting can take anywhere from 2 to 5 hours currently depending on what exactly I want to do to it. (The norm is about two to three). When you pay for a repainted one-of-a-kind doll your honestly paying for the artists time. Please remember to respect that. It’s one of the things I love about this community, however, is that the time spent really is something that true collectors appreciate. (And dont even get me started on constructing clothing! I’m still working on a dress!)
I have been beating myself up lately for NOT being as ‘productive’ as I would like to be. My running had stagnated and though my Etsy shop has been building and I am utterly thankful for all that have purchased my dolls AND left me wonderful reviews,  I have not replenished stock as quickly as I should. It’s not for lack of inventory – I think I have upwards of 30 dolls sitting in my extra room that are ready and waiting not only for their make-overs, but their close ups! 🙂 The difficulty, I believe, is in the transition.
Its summertime in Florida and if any of you know Florida, you know summer s literally the mid point of the temperature oven! Its not the actual temperature either, as the southwest has temps that far exceed our own, but it’s the nasty, sticky and oppressive humidity that does it. You walk outside and before you get to the car door in the parking lot you are drenched in sweat and ready for a nice cool glass of whatever your choice of hydration happens to be!
That being said, it’s absolutely no excuse for not painting. In fact, the warmer temps are ideal for my sealant of choice – though I learned a valuable lesson this weekend. Dont start a new doll if you’re not 100% certain you have enough sealant to finish it. It’s not that it will do anything to the doll – its the fact that having a half finished doll sitting there looking back at me is rather sad.
I was at least able to get on doll finished though she still awaits being redressed and photographed for listing. I have also determined that she is, by far, my favorite of the Monster High doll molds in that she’s not only gorgeous, but one of the easiest molds to work with!
Honey Swamp is, by far, I think the best mold to work with as she already had defined eyelids, her nose is perfect and her lips can be worked with in so many ways! I had debated straightening her hair, in spite of the various controversies that surround doing just that – read here, here and here. But I have decided to keep it just as it fabulously is. Regardless, she should be up in the shop within the next two weeks for everyone to enjoy!
For now, though I try not to let the heat get to me and effect the drive I had. Have. Life’s too short and I have far too much I want to do!
I have two new dolls available that I posted last night for sale in my Etsy shop! I know I say I’m quite proud of them when I post them, but honestly I DO feel a great deal of pride in creating something beautiful and different. I’ve been working on marketing them more and sharing them with others who appreciate the medium as it were and am glad that they can be shared.
So without further ado…my two new girls!
As always, my dolls are stripped of their factory paint and refaced with quality Faber-Castell and Prismacolor brand watercolor pencils and soft chalk pastels. They are sealed multiple times and in multiple layers with Mr. Super Clean UV Matte Sealant and Liquitex Gloss Varnish. Hair is usually washed and conditioned, then restyled with either a boil perm, boil straightening, braiding or cut. I’ve recently started to apply eyelashes as well for a three-dimensional depth and on occasion have given the dolls body blushing and/or painted nails. Dolls can also be customized and requests for commissions are accepted!!
So I know I’ve been a little remiss in posting as of late but that’s due, in part, to having a race to run and getting things up and going shop wise still. I’m always on the look out for new dolls to procure at decent prices (so I can keep the prices for my repaints relatively affordable!) and besides, I started a new position in my job which has me going non-stop almost all of the day so by the time I get home I’m exhausted! I’ve also been in a very introspective place which I think I will write about and share soon.
However, that didnt stop me from getting not one, but TWO new dolls up into my shop this past weekend. I generally try to get the new listings posted the same day that I get them in the shop, but it just hasn’t worked out that way this go around so hopefully it will with the next one. I also have a new WIP that I’m working on and a doll I had previously repainted that I’ve been debating rerooting – but trying to decide on hair! (Thankfully Dollyhair.com has a 10% sale going right now so I might just have to take advantage of that for her once I decide on colors!)
So, up for offer recently are:
Operetta Repaint
Now this one, this one I’m REALLY excited for and took great pride working on. Granted, I love all the dolls I work on, but sometimes you do something and you step back when you’re finished and you’re just EXCITED about the work you’ve created. This Skelita, now she I can sit back and say YES! This is why I do this.
  Skelita Calaveras Monster High Repaint 
  
  
  
As always, my dolls are repainted using high-quality Faber-Castell and Prismacolor watercolor pencils and soft chalk pastels. They are sealed using Mr. Super Clean UV Matte Sealant and Liquitex Gloss Varnish for their shiny parts. In both instances here, their hair was washed, conditioned and then boil-permed, styled and sprayed into place. All purchase information is located on my etsy shop.
You can also always follow my expoloits with dolls on the following social media platforms where in I offer regular promotional discounts to followers!
Pinterest:Â www.pinterest.com/chrysaliscreati
Twitter:Â twitter.com/ChrysalisCreate
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chrysaliscreate
Instagram:Â instagram.com/chrysaliscreation/
I have yet another offering available today in my Etsy shop! She’s rather simply beautiful and I’m quite proud of her. Her hair wanted to give me a little trouble and I think I want to go back to washing and conditioning the dolls hair PRIOR to faceup so that when I go to style it I have an easier time, especially for some of the dolls with the thicker hair like Lagoona.
As always, Lagoona has been repainted using the highest quality products: Faber-Castell Watercolor Pencils and Soft Pastels, Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils and Soft Pastels, Mr. Super Clean UV Matte Sealant and Liquitex Gloss Varnish.
I got her finished in the same weekend! The other day I posted my new WIP and was quite pleased that I was able to get her completed AND posted for sale in my Etsy shop all in the same timeframe. Usually I start a doll one weekend and finish her the next but this Warrior Goddess came together quite easily. Hair is very loosely based off of Lagertha from the Vikings Series.
Katheryn Winnick as Lagertha in Vikings
But today I can post that she has indeed been placed into my Etsy shop for sale and here she is!
As I teased last night, I decided to not only list a new doll for sale today on my Etsy shop, but also a brand new product idea that I had been debating tackling and was QUITE happy with the final outcome. I had dabbled around with decoupage in the past, but hadnt really thought about doing it for the purchase of creating something to sell. Then I was out wandering around my local craft store and found some materials that had, indeed, inspired me. So without further ado I present to you, my adoring public, my new doll offering as well as my new product line that I will hopefully be doing more of as well as a means to expand Chrysalis Creation. 🙂 Both are for sale now in my Etsy store and dont forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter!
The doll was a Monster High Abbey Bomidable doll that was of course repainted with watercolor pencils and soft chalk pastels, and sealed with Mr. Super Clear UV Matte Sealant (multiple times – from start to finish!) as well as Liquitex Gloss Varnish on her lips and eyes (which was added after photos were taken!) Her hair was washed, conditioned and then restyled in something influenced by the 80s. (I was channeling JEM and the Holograms!) then her nails were pained in “Lacey Lilac” from Sally Hansen and topped with Seche Vite topcoat.
The Victorian inspired Decoupage Floral Arrangement centerpiece was made by covering an old wine bottle with two different types of textured craft paper in shades of beige, and decorating it with pink printed Washi tape, two different sized pearl cabochons – (which were hand laid individually!), lace appliques and victorian styled die cuts in whimsical sorts of designs with butterlies and three dimensional white roses. The floral arranagement is faux Ranunculus and faux White Amaranth branches.
Chrysalis Creation 