*Ebay listing* 

♥ Custom #74♥  
It's getting colder and the leaves are changing, but this little one is daydreaming of springtime memories...

She is a base doll Primadolly Aubrena Encore (RBL), with the following customizations done by me.. 

• Alpaca/Mohair blend reroot in shades of sky blue
• Stock makeup sanded away and given a new faceup with pastels and acrylics 
• New faceup sealed with MSC
• Nostril holes and philtrum slightly carved 
• Lips carved, painted, and glossed
• Natural sprinkling of freckles across nose
• Metallic shimmer around her eyes for a dewy finish  
• Eyes boggled, gaze corrected, and given sleep eyes 
• Special new pull strings and pull charms including shimmering glass beads, vintage beads, and silver sparrow pendant 
• Hand drawn flower eyelids, sealed and glossed
• Bottom part of eyemech painted brown
• Four new sets of eyechips , which are..

*Front facing: Hand painted brown/black

*Left facing:  Hand painted pale blue

*Front facing:  Smooth purple enlarged pupil

*Right facing:  Lined brown

• Stock eyelashes removed and replaced with new soft black lashes

Given a quality Licca body (if winning bidder prefers her Takara body, please let me know and she can come with that instead) 

BlytheCon 2012 in Dallas TX!

I'm very excited to be a part of the planning/fundraising team for next years BlytheCon in Dallas, TX!!
It's going to be a fantastic event and I hope a lot of people will be able to attend!!

If you haven't already, please check out the official BlytheCon2012 website for all the info and registration:
http://blythecon2012.com/ 

From now until the event I'm donating my photography prints on my Etsy shop towards BlytheCon fundraising.  All profits of prints purchased will be going directly towards making this event super special and fun!   I DO take custom orders, if there's any picture in my Flickr stream you'd like made into a print, any size, please feel free to convo me on Etsy and I can list it for you!

Please take a look at the shop, and a huge THANK YOU for helping out in supporting this great event!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MorganOrton

Also in the months to come I'll be working on an amazingly adorable rerooted cowgirl custom who will be auctioned off on Ebay.   All the profits from her sale will also be going to BlytheCon expenses and extra goodies at the event!!  So keep an eye out for her!  :D


Thanks and I hope to see ya'll in Texas on August 5th, 2012!  

Alpaca Reroot Care & Styling Guide

I had a former Alpaca hair care guide available in my Flickr group, but with no pictures or anything, so I think it was still a little confusing to some people.  I've finally gotten around to creating a better one with photos!  For this demo I'm using Kirsten's dolly, a custom by Jess/Sookie with a reroot by me.  Her hair was in need of a good wash and style so I offered to give her a little hair spa time!
                       (you can click the images to view them larger)

Alpaca hair strands naturally have a sort of stringy look (though you can break that up with a boars or other bristle brush for a more fluffy look)
But if you don't regularly comb through your Alpaca reroot it will get a messy/dreaded sort of look to it.

 (This is how I wash and style an Alpaca reroot, I'm sure there are many other ways of doing it, but this is how I do it:)

★Step ➊  COMB THROUGH
Comb through your Alpaca reroot with a standard comb, using the part with wider teeth.  Comb it out as best you can, get out all the tangles.  I like to start at the middle of the strands and comb my way down to the ends, then get my comb into the top of the strands (closest to the scalp) and work my way all the way down.  If the hair is even the least bit tangled you probably wont be able to stick your comb in and pull it all the way down to the ends in one clean pull.  Don't try to do that if the comb gets stuck in the hair.  Instead use smaller strokes, comb and then remove when it's stuck, comb, remove, comb, remove.  This way you're not pulling too hard on the hair and any tangles will slowly come loose and you'll be able to pull the comb all the way down the strand of hair without being stopped.

Often times, especially if it's a thick reroot, you'll want to part the hair into smaller sections to make sure you get the underneath layers, especially since the areas closest to the scalp are the ones that will tangle or matte most quickly.

*You should do Step 1 about once every week or two, depending on how much play your girl gets.  You should regularly comb through your reroot in between playing so that it doesn't get too tangled.  If you do "regular maintenance" comb throughs then you wont have any real big tangles to deal with later on.

★Step ➋  WASH/CONDITION
Use warm to hot water, but not scalding.  Don't rapidly increase or decrease the temperature, you don't want any felting to occur.
Put the faucet on low to medium stream, you don't want to put the pressure too high or else you'll have water splashing all over your girls face.  Gently wet her hair.  Make sure to avoid getting water too close to the scalp line, if water soluble glue was used to attach her reroot (which is what most people use, including me) then you could loosen the glue, causing her scalp to come up a little.
Alpaca doesn't absorb water super quickly, so you might need to lift the hair up a little to make sure the inside layers of hair get wet.

Once the hairs been wet, add a little more than a pea sized amount of gentle shampoo.  I use Method baby shampoo because that's what I use on my daughter, but regular gentle/mild shampoo is fine too (as long as it's not labeled ultra "cleansing" which normally means it's a bit harsher to make hair cleaner)  Gently rub the shampoo onto the hair, but don't scrub or rub the hair too harshly.  I like to rinse a tiny bit of water onto the hair once I have the shampoo on, and then run my fingers over it a little more to help the shampoo saturate all the hair strands.  Then rinse the shampoo out the same way you wet the hair, turn her around to get all parts of the hair, but avoid getting the scalp line wet.

Then condition with a medium to heavy conditioner.  I like to start at the ends and work my way up.  You don't want too much conditioner in the root/scalp area, that will just make her hair look flat and be more difficult for you to rinse out.  Rinse the conditioner out, you might have to gently rub your fingers down the hair to help remove all the conditioner.

★Step ➌  DRYING/STYLING

To dry and style you'll need a towel, a comb, a hairdryer, and a boars bristle brush.  I recommend boars or another all natural bristle brush, but others can be used.  Here's a great, and short, article on why boars bristle brushes are so much better:
http://beauty.about.com/od/hairbasics/f/boarbristle.htm

To get started you'll want to gently ring out any excess water with a clean towel.  Then you'll want to thoroughly comb out the hair.  This can be difficult sometimes if the hair is tangled or matted at all.  (regular combing makes this process much easier!)  Just comb the same way I described above, in small quick strokes, until it becomes more smooth.  You'll want to separate into smaller sections so you can get the hair closest to the scalp/root area.  If this part is stressing you out just be patient and go slow, if a girl has super tangled hair it can take me 20-30 minutes sometimes to get completely combed out.  And a little bit of shedding onto your comb is completely natural, don't be freaked out by it.  Once you've got it pretty much all combed out you can begin blow drying.

I like to start out on the medium setting on my blow dryer.  I hold my doll upside down and wave my dryer about a foot away from her hair, I move my dryer back and forth lots and don't hold it on one area for too long.  Turn your doll as you go.  Her hair will naturally fly around some so you can reach some of the under layers as well as the surface layer.
I blow dry for about 2 minutes then stop and do a quick comb through.  Then I repeat with 2 more minutes of drying and then stop and comb through again.  Turn her upright and comb her hair that way and blow dry that part of her scalp.  Once the hair is feeling damp and slightly dry I brush through with the boars bristle brush as well the comb.  You'll have to start focusing more on the "roots" area, closer to the scalp, this area is the slowest to dry, especially in the part line where there are more strands of hair.  Keep alternating between drying for a few minutes and stopping to comb and brush.  Once it's nice and dry do one final comb through with your comb and then brush with the boars bristle brush.

And Voile! silky smooth fluffy alpaca hair!☺
Before/After:

New

I have all my old photos back and my photostream is kind of back to normal now, yay!!  I'm trying to take advantage of having a new account, and changing up my sets a little and the way things are set up.   I'm juggling a bunch of commissions at the moment, but just wanted to share some recent works...

Linz's SBL custom.. she was one of the Faceup for Japan raffle winners.  She opted
to add on an Alpaca reroot.

Wembley, my personal dolly, got a new Alpaca/Mohair  blend reroot.
I'm calling this colorful style my Rainbow Sherbet reroots:)

Thanks for looking, have a great weekend!!:)

Flickr account deleted ..update!

Just wanted to give a quick update that Flickr finally did take some pity on me and allow me access to my old account for long enough to save my images, yay!!  I've currently got all my old photos back onto my new stream, just working on creating sets now.  Thanks again so much for all the support!!

♥

As most of my friends know by now, my Flickr account was deleted (by Flickr) yesterday, supposedly for breaking the rules and using my stream too commercially.  I did have photos of my latest custom (who is for sale on ebay currently) and had a link to the listing in my profile, as I thought that was allowed.

My account was deleted with no warning or even an email from Flickr, all my photos, sets, everything are gone.  I have written them and I am *hoping* they will work with me somewhat in getting some of my pictures back, at least ones of my daughter, but haven't heard word on that yet.

I will slowly be rebuilding my new photostream.  I think I may have some of my custom work photos on file or in a place they could maybe be recovered, but I know many are lost forever probably:(  Please be patient with me in getting photos back onto my new photostream of my custom work.  I will continue to work on commissions and post commission photos, I will just have to be very careful with my wording I guess.

Though this has me totally devastated, it's also made me realize that I have lots of friends in the Blythe world I cherish very much!  THANK YOU to everyone who has left me kind and concerned comments and messages, it's really helped me a lot!!  Hugs to you all!!

Here's my new photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63358792@N05/5765405877/in/photostream

Newest custom available on Ebay!

*Ebay listing*

Custom #71

This sweet girl has been wishing and hoping for the carnival to come to town, and now would like to come to yours to share it with you! 

 

      She is a base doll NickyLad (RBL), with the following customizations done by me.. 

• Alpaca reroot in several shades including natural red, orange, yellow, pink, and white 
• Stock makeup sanded away and given a new faceup with pastels and acrylics 
• New faceup sealed with MSC
• Nostril holes and philtrum slightly carved 
• Lips carved, painted, and glossed
• Natural sprinkling of freckles 
• Metallic shimmer around her eyes for a dewy finish  
• Eyes boggled, gaze corrected, and given sleep eyes 
• Special new pull strings and pull charms including shimmering glass beads, vintage flower beads, and clown pendant 
• Metallic painted eyelids with painted glittery star detail
• Bottom part of eyemech painted to match
• Four new sets of eyechips , which are..

*Front facing: Midnight blue

*Left facing:  Plum purple

*Front facing:  Amber gold

*Right facing:  Olive green

• Eyelashes replaced 
• Given a quality Licca body (if winning bidder prefers her Takara body, please let me know and she can come with that instead) 

      

Her Alpaca reroot was done via knot method, and has a loose center part, meaning that you can move it around or style it different ways if you'd like.  My Alpaca reroots have been featured on MademoiselleBlythe blog.  Alpaca hair is straight, soft, and has a very unique look and texture.  Alpaca hair can be heat styled just like other natural fibers, like Mohair.  It is easy to style, and I will be including my Alpaca care and styling guide for her new mommy or daddy. 

She will be traveling to her new home with all clothing, accessories, and toys pictured, including..

• Custom made Fishknees dress made just for her
• Lalaloopsy ferris wheel, doll, and doll's accessories
• Lots of extra goodies for her and her new mom or dad

*Ebay listing*

Thanks so much for checking her out!!<3

Progress..

Something I've been trying to make a lot of lately!

I've been working super hard to get our home in order since we moved, and also on getting some commissions finished and new ones started!  It's not been easy to find time lately, Alice has been keeping me very busy, but I love having the creative outlet of Blythe in my life!  Here's a pic of my new customizing space...

And here's a few Work In Progress preview pictures of my latest customs I've been working on..

Avery, commission for Kathi                            

Hero, commission for Maggie

Sprinkles, commission for April

  

Wembley, personal custom

And last but not least, I just want to mention I'm planning a special Ebay girl for this month.  She's going to have an Alpaca reroot, and will come in an awesome custom made dress just for her, as well as some special toys to her new home!  She'll be listed sometime next week, so keep your eyes peeled for preview pictures soon!! :D

Waiting List Now Closed..New Studio Open!

As mentioned in a few posts down, I've decided to close the waiting list.  That goes into effect today, April 1st.  I'd really like to catch up and concentrate on the dollies currently on the list, and also work on some side projects of my own.  I will still occasionally be making dolls available through Blythe Kingdom and Ebay though if you did not get a chance to be added onto the list but would still like a custom by me.

Thanks so much for your understanding!!

And in other news, we are finally feeling a little more settled into the new home!  It's been way more work than I anticipated, but we're slowly getting there!  I've got the new studio pretty much set up now and have slowly begun work on the dolls currently here.  I think having this new space will speed things up a bit, and I'm very excited to get back to work!! :D

Raffle winners !

I announced it on Flickr, but I wanted to  post the outcome of the raffle here! :)

First of all though, I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated, I think all of you are winners!! :)  Seriously, I am very proud to be a part of this awesome dolly community!  We raised and donated $850 for Japan!!  The funds have been sent to GlobalGiving Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund  http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/japan-earthquake-tsunami-relief/


Ok, on to the prize winners..

53. Lindsay..ellewoods2007  - Free faceup!!

80. Sarah..mmmpecanpie - Free faceup!!

64. Abby(April's girl)..LittleSheepEep - Custom seashell necklace from elle.silver

4. Sandie..Samilou1 - Custom Blythe nametags from Keelienicole

63. April..LittleSheepEep - Giraffe headband from SugarDuckFairy

2. Kerry..Dimples1967 - JuneBug Flutterby beanie from JuneMarie

43. Leslie..Missleslielew - Stretchy magnetic headband from glastra

I'll be emailing the prize winners (and prize donors) tonight with details on their prizes!!

Thanks again!!

** Faceup Raffle for Japan Relief !! **

(image in middle is a graphic courtesy of Gaia )

I'd like to help out with raising funds for relief in Japan, so decided to follow suit of some other amazing Blythe community members and hold a raffle!!
Japan has always been close to my heart, and I've always been very inspired by it's people and culture.  To see so much destruction and suffering anywhere is truly heartbreaking, but we can do something to help!  The littlest things can sometimes mean so much!!

I'd like to offer TWO free faceups to help out with the relief fund!  That means two different winners will receive a full faceup with all the works on a doll of their choice.  If you win all you have to do is supply the doll and pay for it's shipping fee home.  The faceup will include any of the following services you may want:

..Faceup (sandmatted, all new makeup applied and sealed)
..Lips carved
..Nostrils carved
..New eyelashes, or no lashes if you prefer that look
..4 new eyechips (BW or Coolcat)
..Boggle
..Gaze Correct
..Sleep eyes with ribbon string

You can leave as little or as much of the details as far as coloring and look up to me, I love to collaborate with people who know exactly what they want, and can also create an adorable girl from scratch!
I currently have a pretty long waiting list, but these raffle customs will be fit in as soon as their moms or dads are ready to send them!

DETAILS:
ALL of the proceeds of this raffle will be going to http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/japan-earthquake-tsunami-relief/

..My goal:  Raise $500** edit, read below, we have raised $500, let's keep going for Japan!!
..Cost per ticket:  $10
..Amount of tickets: 50   **now 100
..Ends:  Sunday March 31st at 8:00pm Eastern time
..Winners will be selected randomly at that time with Random.org
..There is no limit on the amount of tickets you may buy, the more tickets purchased the better chance you have to win!!
..If by chance we reach $500 and I still have people emailing me for tickets I will not turn them down, I will extend the list past the original 50 people, but it *will* end Sunday at the designated time for sure even if we don't reach 50 tickets sold!
**EDIT:  We have raised my original goal of $500!!  Thanks SO much everyone!!  As stated before, I'm not going to stop taking donations or turn anyone away until the drawing on Sunday, so I'm extending the list another 50 spots.  I know this lowers chances of winning, but since there are two grand prizes hopefully that will be ok with everyone, also I'm working on coming up with some extra little gift packages for runners up!! (please let me know if you'd like to donate anything for runners up prizes!)

5 runners up prizes include:

 

• A gorgeous hand made sterling silver shell pendent made and donated by elle.silver.  The recipient can pick which shape, (cone or scallop) and which color (pastel green, pink, purple or blue) and whether they want a silver chain or suede cord.  The winner of this prize will be 3rd on the Random.org list (since there are 2 grand prizes of faceups)
• A set of 5 (picture of 6 is just for reference) Blythe name tags donated from Keelienicole.  The winner of this prize can contact Keelie and let her know the names they'd like on each tag.  This prize will be going to the 4th name on the Random.org list on Sunday!
• An amazingly adorable needle felted giraffe headband made by Sugraduckfairy/Rachel.  The winner of this prize will be the 5th name on the Random.org list on Sunday!
• A super adorable JuneBug Flutterby Beanie! These are crocheted beanies with fabric flowers and swarovski crystals sewn on! (The hat won will be different than the one in this pic, I just used this as an example) This prize will go to the 6th name on the Random.org list!
• Donated by Ilana (aka glastra) is a really cute and clever stretchy magnetic headband, as well as a packet of 3 extra magnetic pieces to mix and match and decorate the headband with!  This prize will be going to the 7th name on the Random.org list!

Thanks SO much to Elle, Keelie, Rachel, June, and Ilana for donating those great prizes!! 

HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS:
..Please Paypal your ticket purchases to:   MorganOrton@yahoo.com
..Please send payments as gifts to optimize the amount we can raise for Japan!
..Please only send one lump payment for multiple tickets purchased, unless of course you decide at a later time to purchase more.
..In the "Notes" section of payment please include your name and Flickr screen name!
..Please do NOT say "raffle" in the payment, I believe it is technically against Paypal rules.  You may put Japan in the notes section though and I will know.
..You will receive an email from me confirming that I got your ticket payment!

If you have any questions for me please email me at:  MorganOrton@yahoo.com  instead of through Flickr! I'll be moving on Friday, I can check emails easily through my phone, but wont have access to Flickr for most of that day.  Due to me moving, I may be slow getting this site updated and confirmation emails sent out on Friday, but I will update it and send emails out on Friday night!

THANK YOU for all your help and support!!


1.  Kerry..Dimples1967
2.  Kerry..Dimples1967
3.  Sandie..Samilou1
4.  Sandie..Samilou1
5.  Sandie..Samilou1
6.  Lynn..natsukigirl
7.  Rebecca..bramlet6
8.  An..poppy~OhChiWaWa
9.  Sarah..mmmpecanpie
10.  Aimee..froggymonkey
11.  Aimee..froggymonkey
12.  Aimee..froggymonkey
13.  Aimee..froggymonkey
14.  Aimee..froggymonkey
15.  Aimee..froggymonkey
16.  Aimee..froggymonkey
17.  Aimee..froggymonkey
18.  Aimee..froggymonkey
19.  Aimee..froggymonkey
20.  Vicky..scrummyland
21.  Sarah..mmmpecanpie
22.  Vicky..scrummyland
23.  Vicky..scrummyland
24.  Juliet..mydollies4
25.  Juliet..mydollies4
26.  Samantha..china-lilly
27.  MaryAnn..rubyzu
28.  MaryAnn..rubyzu
29.  Kristal..bussobae
30.  Kristal..bussobabe
31.  Kristal..bussobabe
32.  Maite..tunga
33.  Julie..Julie.B
34.  Julie..Juli.B
35.  Penny..blythegalaxy
36.  Denise..Neecey67
37.  Denise..Neecey67
38.  Wendy..simplyminty
39.  Leslie..Missleslielew
40.  Leslie..Missleslielew
41.  Leslie..Missleslielew
42.  Leslie..Missleslielew
43.  Leslie..Missleslielew
44.  Leslie..Missleslielew
45.  Leslie..Missleslielew
56.  Leslie..Missleslielew
47.  Leslie..Missleslielew
48.  Leslie..Missleslielew
49.  Cagla..chacha
50.  Cagla..chacha
51.  Fae..pommepomme
52.  Lindsay..ellewoods2007
53.  Lindsay..ellewoods2007
54.  Rebecca..bramlet6
55.  Rebecca..bramlet6
56.  Katie..katie.cupcake
57.  Katie..katie.cupcake
58.  Katie..katie.cupcake
59.  Lisa..dolli*fever
60.  Karen..Karena74
61.  Karen..Karena74
62.  April..LittleSheepEep
63.  April..LittleSheepEep
64.  Abby..LittleSheepEep
65.  Julie..ValentineWestphal
66.  Ilana..glastra
67.  Sarah..sarah.boirin
68.  Camilla..camillaeatfiftyeggs
69.  Michelle..fashionmimi
70.  Michelle..fashionmimi
71.  Ilana..glastra
72.  Ilana..glastra
73.  Ilana..glastra
74.  Ilana..glastra
75.  Lynn..natsukigirl
76.  Rachel..fairyflip
77.  Kara..imafundork
78.  Kara..imafundork
79.  Simone..rosessimone
80.  Sarah..mmmpecanpie
81.  Elin..lin1610
82.  Kerry..Dimples1967
83.  Kerry..Dimples1967
84.  MaryAnn..rubyzu
85.  MaryAnn..rubyzu
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.


*AMOUNT RAISED SO FAR:  $850  WOW!  THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Price increase, Move, and Ebay news!

Hi everyone!  It's been a while since I posted here, but I really would like to utilize this blog more for news and updates about my commissions and dolls for sale, so expect more news soon and more frequently!  

... First bit of news is that I have increased my commission prices a little bit.  If you'd like to see the new prices please go check out the Price List on this site.  I've purposefully tried to keep my prices as low as possible for as long as possible because I want people to be able to afford my creations.  But I do feel it's necessary at this time for a little price increase since I know my skill level has definitely increased since I first made the old price list.  I'd also like to stay competitive in this market, and to pay bills too:)  The new prices go into effect today, but of course do not apply to anyone who already has a doll here or I have already given an itemized total to.  If this is a problem for anyone currently on the list please let me know and I will work with you to be able to afford your commission when your turn comes!  I will be CLOSING the Waiting List on Friday March 18th, so if you'd like your name added before I close it please contact me before then!  I'd like to focus my attention on the current list and some other side projects before I let it get too much longer, thank you for your understanding!!

... Secondly, me and my family are moving this week, on Friday!!  I may be unreachable for a couple days around that time, but I will reply to all emails or FMs once we have all our furniture moved into the new place and the internet is set up.  I'm excited to start tackling my commission list once we're settled in!!  We'll have a whole lot more room at the new place than we do now, and I'll finally have my own studio to work on my customs in!  I'm anticipating that this will help out a lot with getting stuff done quicker, so hopefully the commission waiting list will pick up and move faster once we're settled in!

... And last but not least, THANK YOU all who watched and bid on my custom who was recently listen on Ebay!!  It was the first custom I've listed there in years, and I was so happy it went well!! I'd like to continue to list special girls there in the future.  But I still want to give my friends and contacts in the Blythe community a chance to own my customs a little more hassle-free, so I will still be listing some girls (mostly ones with stock hair, but maybe an occasional rerooted girl) on BlytheKingdom forum as well.

Ebay feedback from her new mom:  

" Wonderful Seller~ Good communication~ highly recommended~ Thank you SO much!! =) "