We Interrupt This Re-root

My mohair re-rooting for my Save the Animals Blythe, which I started a couple days ago and blogged about here came to a sudden stop at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. I sort of missed the rubber scalp and stuck myself with the very sharp and somewhat big embroidery needle. When I pulled the needle out, because it was stuck, there was a little, okay big, gusher of blood and a big, weird goose-egg thing of blood formed immediately. Then I was left with this lovely bruise. So, today I moved on to lip-painting.

A W.I.P.: Work in Progress

My new Save the Animals is getting a major overhaul on my vacation. So far I've sanded away her shiny face, painted her eyelids, changed all her chips (from blue, green, gray and brown to green, red, purple sparkle and Hello Kitty glitter sparkle, the latter two from Milky Way Blythe on Etsy), pulled out her stock eyelashes and replaced them with sideswept lashes with glitter rims, added sleep eyes and changed her pull rings.

I've gotten her put back together successfully--always a scary moment--and now I'm finishing her green mohair reroot, after painting her Cool Cat scalp. The mohair is from a sheep on the farm of Elizabeth's Fiber & Yarns in Washington state. Re-rooting was temporarily halted about 1:30 a.m. today when I stabbed my hand instead of the scalp with the very sharp embroidery needle.

The lips you see above--a combination of a lip sticker and nail polish--have already been sanded off again as I saw how crooked and lumpy they were. Time to try again soon. Hope to have her done this week. Then she will need a name!

Sweater girls and mohair

A work-in-progress purple mohair re-root is my first attempt at covering a Blythe scalp from Cool Cat. Nothing like jumping in head first! Meanwhile, some of the girlz show off their sweaters, in the 90-degree June heat. Oh, to be a Blythe!

At top Virginia shows off her sweater by DeeBear, knitted just for us, and complemented by a crocheted bubble hat by her daughter MandyLynn. I had the pleasure of meeting these two talented Canadian ladies a couple years ago in Michigan. Check out the crocs I found on Ebay! They had Minnie Mouse heads on them, which popped right off, just like real Croc decorations. The knitted wool socks are by Dolly Dress Up. All can be found on Etsy and the crocs by Leo Toy on Ebay.

Also on Etsy are the darling sweaters with felt appliques and felt mascots, like Hello Kitty (seen on Charlotte) and Paul Frank's Julius (seen on Abby). The are made in Brazil by nanistore. And lastly, Cookie wears a crocheted halter top, granny square wrap skirt and headscarf by an unknown maker.

Meet Zena!

This incredible girl arrived recently quite by surprise, or I guess I should say, by design. The sender, a dear, talented, Blythe-loving artist and on-line friend, whom I will get to meet soon, packed her up and sent her 'cross country.
Zena arrived quite politely, with her own bed and some wardrobe selections, including the fabulous vintage Skipper maxi dress she is wearing here.
If you are reading this, you may well be a Blythe lover, or even a Blythe-aholic, so you can imagine the gasping that accompanied the opening of that package. People just DO NOT send free Blythes. People DO NOT send mohair re-rooted customized Blythes for surprise gifts. Nice, big surprises like that just DO NOT happen.
But it did.
The story isn't that long, and it isn't even a "private" kind of thing; I'm just sort of keeping it to myself- not for fear that the giver will reconsider (or come to her senses!), but because it is just so nice and so special that it requires no shouting from the rooftops. I truly was speechless, and once I became (somewhat) convinced the sender was really (quite?) okay with this and actually intended to put her in the box with the bed and clothes and send them to me, I started to relax and rejoice in this new girl that I just really, really LOVE!
The blue hair is just as incredible as it looks, with eyes just as blue (in two shades, plus green and red) and blue eyelashes! Does anyone remember wearing Maybelline blue mascara in the 1970s? I do! Did anyone have this Skipper dress growing up? I did! Did I say I love this doll? I do!
I've thanked the giver a couple times, but how do you properly thank someone for such a surprise gesture? I don't know, but I am thrilled we will get to meet in person this summer! I think I'll take Zena along.