Deijah is born!

After a lot of work Deijah was finally reborn on March 27, 2011.  She is a nice sized baby at 21" long and 5.5 lbs.  I had initially given her painted hair but once I heat set the paint for her hair I didn't like the way it looked.  At that point I decided the only thing to do was to root her a thick head of hair.  This baby has more hair than I ever root on a typical reborn but I wanted to cover the painted hair well.  She is hand rooted, not micro rooted.  Her hair was then washed, cut and styled for this full curly look.  I think it really works for her.  I am not sure what her ethnicity is but to me she looks like a little gypsy or latino baby maybe.  She isn't as dark as most bi-racial reborns but is definitely darker than a Caucasian.  She is now available for sale.

Lets talk about using air dry sealer as primers when air dry painting

People often contact me for advice about issues they have had with air dry paints because they are aware that I have tested several types mediums. Even if I am not using the brand they are there are some basic similarities to using all air dry paints.

I was recently asked some questions regarding dolls that had gone sticky after being painted and sealed with one of the newer air dry reborn paint systems on the market that incorporates a final air dry sealer as part of the process. (This was not LDC paint.) The reborner had been told by the company to try priming the pieces with their sealer first and then painting because perhaps some of the releasing agents from the vinyl was seeping through the paints causing them to be sticky. The thought was that if the vinyl is sealed before painting this would prevent the problem (if indeed it is a vinyl problem.) Once the reborner tried this, she found that the air dry paints would not stick as well as they did to bare vinyl. It was at this point I was contacted and asked about a possible solution.

Other than some issues with the Secrist vinyls that occurred last year, I do not know of any currently produced vinyls that are leaching releasing agents. I truly think the issues that some may have with air dry painted babies going sticky are issues of technique and not issues from the vinyl. However, if there is some leaching vinyl still out there, it is true that sealing them will stop this. Secrist recommended sealing them with Genesis Matte Varnish before painting to stop the problem. It is possible that using an air dry prep sealer would work but I personally have not tried this so you will have to test it for yourself. If you do, DO NOT use your final sealer product as a prep sealer. I will explain why in a minute. I recommend using Delta Ceramcoat All Purpose Sealer. It is a sealer designed to prep and seal a surface before painting and does bond well to vinyl and not peel up. It also dries clear and does NOT dry sticky. I once tried Jo Sonjas All Purpose sealer but it is white like glue and even though it dried pretty clear it left a sticky residue when dry which will not work for reborn painting. The Delta Ceramcoat All Purpose sealer will leave a bit of sheen behind but it is the best product I have found on the market to use as a prep sealer.

You can buy it at Hobby Lobby or order it from Hofcraft: http://www.hofcraft.com/delta-ceramcoat ... diums.html

As far as prep sealing vinyl with air dry varnish or sealer used as a final sealer for painting I do not recommend doing this. Air dry top sealers are not meant be used as a primer because part of their final sealing property is to create a barrier shield that protects. This barrier surface will act as a deterrent to your paint sticking to the vinyl when you try to paint over it. The final sealers are designed to make the surface more smooth and less porous and resistant to scratches, fading etc. The surface does not have as much "tooth" for the paint to grab onto. Even though bare vinyl feels smooth it still has a "tooth" property because it is porous and that grabs the paint. In the case of the very slick vinyls where people have had issues with the paints not wanting to stick to them the reason is that they have less "tooth" to them and that is why we prime them to make the paint stick.

When priming a surface to be painted you want to use something that will increase the surface "tooth" not decrease it. This is why Genesis Matte Varnish works so well as a primer. This is also why the Delta Ceramcoat All Purpose Prep Sealer works well. Even though it still leaves the vinyl fairly smooth, you can tell that it does leave the tiniest bit of texture or "tooth" to the surface when comparing it to an unprimed vinyl. Also it bonds very well to the surface and won't peel up which is a concern I have about using thick layers of top sealer as a primer.

The other possibility of why some may be experiencing stickiness after top sealing their paint is that there may not have been enough cure time allowed between the last paint application and the sealant application. I think if there is any moisture left in the paints that needs to aerate during the curing process then sealing them will trap it and the moisture will try to get out through the sealer causing it to break down and become sticky. So be sure to wait at least the minimum time recommended by your painting system between the last paint application and applying the final sealer.

Summer in progress!

I bet when you saw that title you thought I meant the season of summer is on the way!  Well spring has definitely come in with a bang of pollen coating everything yellow at my house and before you know it hot summer sun will follow.

I have spent the last 3 day painting on the Summer kit by Jacque Gwin.  I dug out my Genesis paints that I haven't used all winter.  Now that it is nicer weather it is easier to use the heat set paints since I do my heat setting in a table top convection oven on my back screened porch to avoid harmful fumes/toxins getting in my house.

I chose to give Summer a slightly warmer skin tone with minimal mottling.  She also has some nice skin texture.  I was going for an Asian or Asian bi-racial skin tone.  I had planned to give her very dark brown almost black rooted mohair but may end up going lighter brown since her painted wispy hairs came out lighter than I had planned.  We will see.  Here she is so far. Click on each image to see them in larger format.

 

I just love the detail of the hands and fingers on this baby as well as her facial features.  She is going to be a lovely baby when finished.  

Rooting Hair Tutorial and Mom's Bonnie Chyle Reborn

Hello and happy Saturday afternoon!  Here in GA it is a warm 81 degrees.  Spring has sprung!  I have on my shorts and even fired up the window unit air conditioner in our bonus room.  That room gets a lot of afternoon sun so it is the first room to get hot.

I recently purchased some 43g 1 barb rooting needles from Hunnybuns and I can not tell you how much I LOVE these needles!  I had tried one barb needles before and couldn't root a thing with them but these pick up the hair very well.

Per request of one of the ladies on my chat board, The Reborn Connection, I have put together a VERY simple and quick video tutorial showing how to use this needle.  It isn't the best for closeups as I had my husband using his Droid phone to make it but it give you an idea of things.  You can laugh along at this quite country southern gal as I give you my discourse on how to micro root from cut ends and hand root from the middle using this needle.  I did not heat the head up for the video but I do suggest doing so using a heat rice sock so that the rooting is even easier.  I would also like to clarify that I just grabbed a section of mohair to make this quick demonstration and laid down more on the head so that it would show up on the camera phone video than in reality I would use if actually rooting a head.  Normally, I use a much smaller section of mohair, about 1/4 this amount.  Click link below to view the tutorial.

Rooting Tutorial using 43g 1 barb needle

I used this needle to micro root William's hair, rooting from the cut ends.  You can see how nicely his hair lays in this photo.

I also used this needle to root a Bonnie Chyle reborn I was making for my Mom.  I chose to do a hand root (not micro root) on this doll for a few reasons.  First being that she has such a large head and I hate to root and the other being that Mom doesn't care one way or another as to whether she was micro rooted.  As you can see from this photo, even using the old fashioned hand root method I got a nice head of hair that did not look all pluggy.

Yesterday I actually finished my Mom's reborn Bonnie Chyle baby and she came by in the afternoon to get her.  She was so pleased with the baby which made me very happy.  Here is a quick photo of her with her baby.

And this is my favorite close up of the baby.  Mom says she looks like she is about to get into mischief!

New Dimples kit came today!

I am so excited that my Dimples kits came today!  Dimples is a limited edition kit of 500 produced by Melissa Palesse of Divine Treasures Nursery.  This kit makes an adorable baby as can be seen at Melissa's website.
http://www.divinetreasuresnursery.com/divine_treasures_web_site_008.htm

 Dimples kits are a lovely neutral cream colored soft vinyl that is easy to paint and root.  She makes a lovely 22-23" baby depending on the body you use.  This baby will be a nice size to hold and dress wearing 0-3 mos sized clothing.  I can't wait to get started reborning her! I will be offering #49/500 up for sale once she is reborn.  If you are interested in having her as a custom reborn baby contact me to make arrangements. 

Tired of Ebay?

Sellers, are you tired of Ebay's high fees? Buyers, are you frustrated that Ebay no longer offers payment via postal money orders? Perhaps there is a solution!

Check out the new auction site  http://www.uhippo.com
for even greater savings on your Lil Dumplins reborn baby purchases!
This site offers lower fees to sellers giving us the opportunity to offer lower prices to our loyal customers!  

I have listed my adorable baby Kelsie (Cookie sculpt) with uHippo at a very special low reserve as an introduction to uHippo.  Be sure to stop by and check out her auction today!  You won't want to miss this great deal!

http://www.uhippo.com/Reborn-Doll-Nine-Month-Old-Baby-Cookie-now-Kelsie,name,101689,auction_id,auction_details

Babies' Day Out

Today we visited my father's church to hear him preach and have Sunday lunch with he and Mom.  It had been requested by the church ladies that I bring some reborns with me next time I came to visit.  As I was packing the car full of babies my teen aged daughter said, "Well Mom I didn't know we were bringing all the kids along!"

In tow was Whitney

Julianna  

William


And Kelsie.

It was fun to see how each lady would gravitate to a particular baby and begin to snuggle with it.   Whitney brought lots of smiles and comments about her happy face and white teeth.  Julianna seemed to be the favorite for cuddling.  One lady was quite taken with William and remarked how he was the same size as someone in her family's triplets were when they were born.  Everyone had to take turns holding Kelsie and discussing how realistic her weight, size and features were of a 9 month old baby.  I made sure to mention that she was currently for sale and that the others were from my personal collection.  I had one lady ask me if I didn't just want to sit and cuddle one of these babies all the time to which I replied that I quite often do exactly that. 

When it came time for me to go home I had no shortage of volunteers to help carry babies to the car and help secure them for their ride home.  It was a fun and rewarding experience to share these kids with them all.  Maybe some of them will get a Lil Dumplin of their own one day soon!

Lil Dumplins has a darling new reborn baby in the nursery looking for a home!

Reborn Baby Doll Kelsie
From a Cookie Sculpt
By Donna Rubertt.
Size of a 9 month old baby.
Email me for more information.

lildumplins@gmail.com
CLICK LINK BELOW TO BE TAKEN TO A TEMPLATE 

WITH ALL OF BABY'S INFORMATION AND MORE PHOTOS
http://www.freewebs.com/anjsmiles/Air Dry Painted and Sealer Template.htm