LOL Putting dolls together What do you DREAD

I hate varnishing! I keep telling my kids and my husband that I need to teach them how to do it LOL. Its my fault, I came up with my crazy, elaborate, varnishing process but I don’t like my babies without it.

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its tedious! I swear I spend more time on my computer selling babies than making babies!

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I don’t varnish all my babies. I use GHSP, that stuff isn’t coming off. I add a tiny bit of matte varnish to my last flesh layer and call it a day. I have tried stripping a baby and forget about it, that stuff is on to stay. I always varnish painted hair but mostly for texture.

I do varnish with matte if I have a shiny baby.

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First I do an isolation coat, then I let that sit overnight, then I do a thin layer of Golden polymer matte with Super matte medium and matting powder. I let that sit overnight, then I do a light coat of Americana soft touch mixed with matting powder. On some babies I can stop there and on some I add another plain layer of Americana soft touch. Sometimes I get them a bit too matte and they don’t look “alive”. It makes them look more dewy but the don’t go shiny with all the matting I use ;).

@Gabriell I thought about using heat set varnish but due to my connective tissue disease my lungs are more fragile and I also saw that its not really an easy process…overcooking etc. so I decided against it. Same reason I decided to use acrylics (Im also in a wheelchair so going back and forth outdoors to bake would wear me down)…also another reason I hate varnishing…the polymer matte varnish has some nasty fumes, I have to open the window and I need to get myself a mask!

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Is it weird that I like the smell of it? Gas and isopropyl alcohol too. :rofl::rofl:

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No…I like the smell of gasine and markers…I also used to sniff my brothers model airplane glue LOL…probably whats wrong with me :rofl:

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Just don’t add this to your info. I see many listings without ‘born dates’.

I could do that for the listing, but i have premade birth certificates that go home with the babies and the birthdate is listed on the cert. Im affraid if its on the certificate, but not disclosed in the listing then that would open the door for someone claiming “false advertisement” or something after the sell.

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My dates are old sometimes too, lol. You can list in your listing no previous owners.

Thats a good idea too.
As soon as the baby is put together, I weigh, measure and fill out the cert. cause thats when i consider the baby actually “born.” Maybe i should delay adding the date until baby is all dressed and photographed.

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If you like those, you’d love the smell of the prisma marker I use for veining. I cant quite put my finger on what it is, but its sort of a sweet excellorant type deal. It’s subtle, but all the components are there lol.

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How can I forget that I love the smell of markers too? Lol Next time I go to Michael’s, I’ll check out the prisma ones. :grin:

I use my listing date as the ‘born’ date because it’s usually within a couple of days of finishing it.

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I have seen the Prisma markers and have wondered if they would work for the veins. I wasn’t sure about markers in general as they can act differently depending on what you use them on. So, you do have good success with that? Do they come in different points? Like sharp, not so sharp, etc.? And if they do which one do you use for the veins? Thanks for any help!

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I hear ya.

I worry about the health affects of cooking vinyl and the exposure to thinners and paints.

I use gloves when I paint now, I developed horrid eczema from the paint and thinners, I can’t get rid of it, sometimes it cracks and bleeds and my hands are getting scarred. The cortisone helps but it thins your skin so now look like I have my great grandmothers paper skin hands.

I bake babies outside and don’t bring them in until they cool. I try to never eat or drink in my studio.

I have a window cracked open and I run a small fan to keep air circulating but I know I am still breathing in stuff I shouldn’t.

I wanted to switch to air-dry but I really like working with GHSP, I am use to it. I don’t want to start over.

Sorry you have health struggles…

That is a long varnish routine but damn that paint isn’t going anywhere!

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No, its definitely not coming off easily…I and my husband tried to strip one of my babies and it took about a week, working on one piece at a time and there were still places that I couldn’t get the paint off. Golden is also really good and difficult to get off. I wash all my babies with a soft brush and dish soap after I am finished painting and before varnishing…it helps get rid of extra medium and fuzzies…and my paint never comes off.

I definitely understand not wanting to switch…even when I switched from Liquitex to Golden it was a learning process all over again so switching from Genesis to acrylics, I would imagine, would really be difficult.

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What I dread most of all is matching different colors of vinyl. I avoid it whenever possible. Photoshoots run a close second.

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I’ve not heard of mod podging the flanges. Is that to aid in mobility of the joints instead of using rings?

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Yep, you just modge podge around the flanges (glossy) and let it dry, It works like a ring, creating a really smooth area for the fabric to slide around on.

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Eyebrows!!! Ugggh…can’t tell you how many I’ve wiped off Patience

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