Repainted Kellys!

I'm not particularly keen on Mattel's Kellys and Tommys, but this site, showcasing the work of doll customizer Loanne Ostiie, showing reroots, repaints and makeover on the little tykes, demonstrates to me that they can look cute, engaging and non-idiotic. The hairstyling is particularly impressive. Thanks, Kinjou!

P.S. Check out her gallery of custom Tommys, available from the index [first link].

How to make an Edwardian updo

This tutorial on how to make a late-Victorian pompadour, created for 1:12 dolls, looks perfectly adaptable to my method of gluing 1:6 hair on people's heads, if only I can figure out what's going on in the step where she turns the doll upside-down.

If this works, I can take that horrible bun off of Leonora's head and replace it with something more realistic.

LHF increases in popularity.

I now post LHF eps on this blog, on MWD, on FN, on OSAFB and, when I remember, on Facebook. Comments and praise have spiked recently, especially for Will's My Sorry Relationship plotline, universally hailed as hilarious. People also really like Anneka's plotline about going back up to Vermont and seeing her family; apparently this is sad, emotionally engaging and compelling.

As measured by sheer volume of comments, my most popular eps are:

• Meanwhile 7: When Zombies Attack! (16)
• Meanwhile 8: Zombie in the Diner!! (12)
• Meanwhile 9: Zombie in the Library (12)
• 4.5: My Sorry Relationship I (12)
• 4.6: Gift of Sunsets (12)
• Meanwhile 3: Yummy Summer (11)
• 3.9: The Revenant (10)
• Meanwhile 13: Materyllis' Pesky Pussy (10)
• 1.1: Domestic Vampires (9)
• Meanwhile 4: The Vampire FAQ (9)
• Dead Girl's Diary 1: Irredeemable Mind (9)

I'm not sure that I can draw a lot of conclusions from these, but I do see some interesting trends.

• Zinnia Pascale [directly responsible for the success of Meanwhiles 7, 8 and 9, as well as 3.9] is the most popular character I have ever created. There's just something about a crochety, ass-kicking Fruits zombie....
• Light, humorous interstitials inevitably garner the most positive response.
• That said, the popularity of Irredeemable Mind and Gift of Sunsets shows that a majority of the audience appreciates introspective, emotionally charged eps full of character development.
• Most of the most popular eps are from recent seasons, suggesting that the dolls are much more liked than the 3-D models and also that LHF is gaining readers as it goes.

Go me!

Absinthe's body, round 3

Round 1 was when she was an action fig head on a cut-down Toy Biz body. Round 2 was when she was an Elfdoll Kathlen head on an Obitsu 27cm torso with Obitsu 23cm legs. Since the large torso and the small legs didn't fit together very well, I got her a whole new Obitsu 27cm body with the intent to cut down the legs to an appropriate length. After all, I have experience doing so in the form of Geordie.

I'm currently stumped, though, since the Obitsu 27cm, despite its appropriate scrawniness elsewhere, possesses comparatively thunderous thighs. But Absinthe, being 13 when she died, is not supposed to have any curves. There's no way to get rid of the thunderous thighs unless I swap out her pelvis and legs for those from ANOTHER doll. Maybe a Volks EB Dollfie boy? Part of me just wants to get her a resin body, preferably Planetdoll Mini Riz'.

Right now she's in pieces as I try to construct a body for her. I am unhappy that one of my favorite characters is in pieces. After the many frustrations I am going through to make her, I am making her a primary character, just to get back as much blood, sweat and tears as I put into her.