Sunday, March 22, 2009

New online selling venue

So I've decided to try out Artfire, another online selling venue for handmade items that is gaining in popularity. The terms and set-up is different from Etsy. I'm using the same shop name, Karen's Creations. I've just spent the last 3 hours setting up my shop, so let's hope I get some sales!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009



Can't say I'm really a 'fun in the sun' type of person, but I do enjoy sitting out on a deck or patio when the weather is nice. I found these plastic chair frames at a supply store, and they are the perfect size for a chair for Blythe dolls. Let the BBQs start!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

So I decided to make some slight modifications to my three Blythe dolls. On all three, I changed their eyelashes, and on two of them I replaced some of their eye chips. Previously I had opened their heads to remove their faceplates, but figuring out how to remove the eye mechanisms and change the eye chips was not easy!



I soaked the eyeballs in warm soapy water for about 10 minutes to loosen the glue, then used the hot glue stick method to remove the chip. They came out with no problem. To remove the eyelashes, I also soaked the eyelid mechanism in warm water, and pulled them out with tweezers. To stick the new ones in I used a sewing needle to poke them into the eyelash slot. Very tedious work!

With this particular brand of eye chip, I didn't realize that I had to paint the stub of the chip in order to get a black iris.


My third doll still needs to be sand-matted, so I'll add pics of her when she's done. Here is Penny and Margot with their new eyelashes and eye chips (clothes made by me):

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

New saris

I absolutely love saris and Indian silk. The saris I make for Blythe are my best-selling item in my Etsy shop, and it was time to make new ones:





The red material I've used before, but the blue and purple combination is new. I kept it simple and only added the silver trim along both ends of the wrap, and along the bottom of the cropped top. Silk is a bit tricky to work with as it tends to tear, which I'm trying to learn how to avoid. The silk is actually sari remnants I find in sari shops in Toronto's little India neighbourhood.