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Monday, November 28, 2011

ARTICLE -DOLL-MAKER GIVES NEW LIFE TO US BOGUS BABIES

Doll-makers give new life to US bogus babies

Published: 28 November, 2011

RT discovers why the business of making life-like dolls is anything but child's play.
Life-like baby dolls, known as ‘reborn’ dolls, were first made in the US back in the 1990s. They were meant to resemble a human baby as much as possible.
“Each of my dolls comes with a birth certificate like this – you can fill in the name, weight and height, as well as the date and place of birth,” reborn doll artist Tatyana Tsorn told RT.
Only a couple of years ago, these dolls were seen as exotic and could only be bought abroad. When Tatyana wanted to learn how to make them, she had to take a course in Germany because there were none in Russia. Now though, dozens of local doll artists have picked up the trend – and their customer numbers are growing.
“When people place an order with me, they usually specify what hair and eye colour they want the doll to have,” Tsorn told RT. “Some clients bring a photo and want the reborn to resemble it. But I like it when it’s left up to me to create and invent.”
Reborns were first made because doll enthusiasts wanted more realistic toys, but these are hardly playthings. Making one – in a process called “reborning” – is long and complicated. Artists initially transformed manufactured vinyl dolls, but today they mostly use special kits that have the necessary parts and supplies. Depending on craftsmanship, the dolls range in price from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
They look incredibly life-like and can be mistaken for a real child, so it is no wonder these fake babies leave no one indifferent. While some just love them, others say the fascination with them is a little odd.
Yet these dolls are said to have important therapeutic purposes. They have been known to help coping with the loss of an infant, or fill a void after a mother’s children have grown up. Psychologists say there is nothing wrong with mothering a fake tot, as long as the game remains just that.
There is also another reason for getting one – they are valuable collectibles. For Anna Volodina, an interior design fan, her five dolls add an extra touch to the look of her home.
“I wanted to use dolls as part of the decoration and reborns proved perfect,” Volodina told RT. “For each of them, I invent a story, choose clothes and find a special place in the house. For example, one of the baby boys is a hat-maker and he lives in an old hat box. Also, as my husband and I don’t have kids yet, these dolls create a very nice baby feel at home.”
Whatever the reason for getting a reborn, these babies are fast winning over those Russian women for whom dolls are far more than child’s play.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

38 FACTS ABOUT REBORN DOLLS



38 Facts About Reborn Dolls



Culture Buzz A reborn doll is a play doll that has been transformed to resemble a human baby with as much realism as possible. Here is everything you need to know about them.

1. The craft of making reborn dolls began in the United States in the early 1990s. 2. Almost all reborn customers are women, particularly older women. 
3. The internet has allowed doll artists and collectors to create an online society focused on reborn dolls. 
4. The process of creating a reborn doll is referred to as reborning and the doll artists are referred to as reborners. 
5. Reborn dolls are primarily purchased on the internet. 
6. Depending on craftsmanship, they range in price from $50 - $4,000. 
7. The International Reborn Doll Artists (IRDA) group was created to educate artists in the art form of reborn doll making. 
8. Some consumers of reborn dolls use them to replace a child they once lost, or a child that has grown up. 
9. These dolls are usually taken seriously and are cared for like an infant. 
10. In 2002, the first reborn was offered on eBay. 
11. Reborning is most popular in Britain and Australia. 
12. “Preemies” are smaller dolls molded after premature infants. 
13. Preemie dolls may come in incubators with a breathing apparatus attached to their nose. 
14. Purchasers can have magnets attached inside the mouth or head for attaching a pacifier or hair bows. 
15. Electronic devices that mimic a heart beat, or make the chest rise and fall to simulate breathing are common. 
16. In July 2008, police in Queensland, Australia smashed a car window to rescue what seemed like an unconscious baby only to find it was a reborn doll. 
17. Reborn hobbyists refer to the emotional response to holding their dolls as cuddle therapy. 
18. Mothering reborn dolls rather than just collecting them can become a problem when it is used as prop and becomes the person's only form of socializing. 
19. The remarkable degree of realism is achieved by dozens of layers of paint, beginning with tiny veins and mottled skin. 
20. Some women dress the dolls, wash their hair, take them for walks in strollers and take them shopping. 
21. At least one nursing home in the United Kingdom makes dolls available to female residents. 
22. Reborn Doll therapy has had amazing effects on Alzheimer's patients. 
23. They are sometimes called “memory” babies. 
24. What started out as a sub niche of the doll collecting industry has soon risen to become a world wide phenomeon. 
25. The best reborn babies come equipped with spines, squishy tummies and other soft, human like body parts. 
26. If you're willing to pay top dollar reborns can even be tailor made to resemble a picture of an infant you provide. 
27. Some reborn dolls are made to resemble monkeys and apes. 
28. Hair and eyelashes are usually made out of real human hair. 
29. People who amass a large collection of reborns make reborn nurserys. 
30. You should never buy a reborn doll for a woman without her consent (if you are trying to fix mental problems). 
31. Memorial reborn baby dolls can be made to memorialize lost babies. 
32. Reborn babies will never grow up, never move away, and never wake you up in the middle of the night for a faux baby bottle because they are hungry. 
33. In addition to a complete baby wardrobe the moms will have pacifiers, car seats, faux milk and faux juice bottles for their precious reborn babies. 
34. Their bodies are soft and weighted with rubber pellets, micro glass beads, and sometimes sand. 
35. The proccess of getting a newborn baby is often reffered to as “adoption.” 
36. Reborn dolls are usually made individually by home-based artisans. 
37. The first annual International Reborn Doll Artists Conference! was held in Orlando, Florida on January 21-23, 2005.  
38. Reborn owners often rotate their dolls. Fran Sullivan, 62, says she rotates her dolls, choosing a new one to care for each day depending on how she feels.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

ARTICLE - LEARN WHAT ARE REBORN DOLLS!

Learn What are Reborn Dolls!

Making dolls look like real-life babies is the main focus of Reborn Art. It began as a hobby in the United States in 1990 when enthusiasts wanted to create a doll as realistic as possible. Reborn dolls are made of vinyl, and are applied with multiple layers of paint. Vinyl is a good material since it is non-breakable, and allows customers to handle the dolls without fear of shattering them to pieces. It can be ordered and bought in online shops, or Reborn Artists conventions. The price range depends on the size and quality of the dolls and is usually between hundreds to thousands of dollars. It is advisable that customers examine ready-made dolls to avoid problems. When weighing down a Reborn doll, be sure to inspect the kinds of materials used as some are not the best and safest to use. Softer body fat pellets, for instance, could melt inside the vinyl parts and can destroy it as time goes by. Soft body fat pellets are safe if it is used inside the cloth body. Buying these dolls is a personal decision and varies according to tastes. Make sure to contact the artist so that you’ll have your deemed appropriate Newborn doll.
Although you can buy reborn dolls as they are, they can also be custom made using reborn kits which contain doll parts and other materials necessary to create your own reborn. Newborning is the term used to describe the process of making dolls from a kit. It allows artists to remove some steps of the fabrication, although some help from experts is still needed to make it look more realistic. Reborn supplies are readily available in some retailers. They include basic reborning necessities such as faces, heads, and limbs, as well as paint brushes, cloth bodies, cosmetic foam wedges and glue. It is tedious work as you need to work on every detail of the doll including strand-by-strand application of the hair. The process of making your own newborn baby dolls, usually, takes time, but if you want it to be as customized as possible, you ought to choose making your own rather than buying a reborn doll.


Reborn dolls are mostly patronized by doll collectors. In some instances, customers buy these dolls as emotional support to a loss, maybe from a miscarriage, a death of a child, or even for those who have grown-up children who long for taking care of babies again. Some parents send in photos and specifications to doll artists to request an exact simulation of their child’s face. Some newborn baby dolls are used as stand-ins for infants in television shows or movies because of their realistic appearance, as though a baby peacefully sleeping in a crib.
Reborn Art has made another leap on the doll history. And though there is wide speculation about the real benefits of owning a reborn doll, its industry continuously grows as the number of doll enthusiasts and reborn artists merge towards creating life out of every piece of vinyl.

ARTICLE - NOW FIND OUT ABOUT REBORN DOLLS

Now Find Out About Reborn Dolls

Reborn dolls are generally comprised of vinyl and  are  brought as near to reality as the reborn artist can create them. These dolls first started showing up during the early 1990′s and have since gathered a worldwide reputation. They’re rather collectible objects which can be of heirloom high quality and very costly.
The prices of reborns can range from a hundred dollars to over two thousand dollars, with respect to the quality of them and whether or not they’ve been expertly created. Reborn dolls are made of vinyl and decorated in many layers of heat set  paints to provide an authentic baby complexion.  Most commonly used are Genesis paints which won’t rub off or diminish as time passes. Creating life-like reborn baby dolls that feel and look  identical to the true thing is what you can achieve with the right painting techniques.


To create the life-like Newborn dolls that these reborn dolls are, you need to obtain the authentic doll kit from your specialized maker. There are numerous, but typically the most popular manufacturer has to be Berenguer. Berenguer Newborn dolls are definitely the clear option as the attention to fine detail that their dolls have give the impression of an actual baby.
Reborn dolls have blossomed into a serious activity for doll lovers.  You may choose to purchase a life- like Reborn baby from a Reborn artist or purchase a Reborn kit and create your own doll.  It truly is an art form which needs to be perfected by means of practice.
To begin creating, the kit is painted up with distinct skin toned paint colors to provide an actual skin tone, and then other shades and methods are applied to produce crease lines, imperfections and other skin-topping effects which make the doll appear a lot more realistic. These dolls are carefully created with hard work and enthusiasm. Reborn artists and doll enthusiasts alike decline to provide them with the name of “fake babies”.
Reborn dolls are just as they sound, they’re dolls which have been stripped of their factory surface finishes and have been “reborn” and changed into realistic looking infants. After they go through numerous techniques such as repainting, re weighting,  adding realistic hair, effects such as tears and very small blemishes and even heart beats, they begin to appear far more lifelike.
Some of the Reborn dolls you may come across will seem so realistic they make passersby do a double take.  After my first reborning  class I brought home my newborn  in the back seat of my brother’s car. When we stopped for lunch,  he opened the back seat and covered the doll with a newspaper. When I asked him why he did this, he replied that police officers had smashed a car’s window parked on the road thinking that the reborn doll inside was a real baby and he didn’t want that to happen to his car!
Sometimes, Reborn dolls are produced employing a particular method that works well to get rid of the dolls artificial look and features to produce a natural looking and feeling type. This process generally starts with taking apart the doll and removing the paint that has been put on in the initial creation.
These days Reborn kits can be obtained for those who have interested in creating these kinds of dolls, which includes vinyl models as well as some other basic materials for doll making. The other components which can be bought separately  include eyes,  hair, fake tears and epoxy. Furthermore, Reborn dolls don’t just look like real babies,  they also feel real as their bodies are packed and weighted to offer a similar body-weight and feel of any living baby. Mohair is commonly used for hair and the better dolls contain  hair that has been hand rooted into the head strand by strand. An extraordinary level of realism is attained by Reborn artists that devote many hours of work and love into the final creation of these stunning dolls.
Despite the fact that making reborn dolls is actually a craft that any person can perform, it usually is quite time-consuming. It requires plenty of patience and practice to master the technique of creating a realistic looking baby doll. One of the downsides of the craft for a few can be that the process is very time consuming and labor intensive.
A little bit harder to track down are the African American Reborn Dolls. They require a bit more skill, and a lot of Reborn artists prefer to concentrate on Caucasian babies. There seems to be a limited number of artists who are experts in these African American Reborn Dolls, and there are also less African American  Reborn kits available at this stage.
I suggest taking a look at Reborn dolls on Ebay.com to get a better understanding of what  good ones, as well as  not so good ones look like. This will give you an idea of  exactly what is achievable, and can serve as an excellent source of inspiration and motivation to have a go at creating one yourself.

ARTICLE -REBORN BABIES FOR ADOPTION OR FOR SALE

There are numerous Reborn baby dolls for adoption these days, but they don’t come easy. The hectic process of reborning dolls has been a major attribute to the successful creation of human-like dolls over the past years. A lot of techniques have been used to ensure success in the making of these speciality dolls. There are special technics required to use one doll to create another, in the true reborning process. The trick is enhancing a vinyl doll into one that has more defined human features. All the artificial factory features are first of all removed. The next steps require addition of human features such as veins, skin tone, milk spots among other natural marks.
These creations have become the love of many children in the world over the years. Childhood games have become more real, especially for those kids who like walking around with little baby dolls. They are one target of the reborning industries, as well as adults. Many children and moms like these dolls as they look so ‘real’. They could also be made to the specifications of the new ‘mother’ expecting it. One thing about these baby dolls is that you could do anything with them and get away with it. Not hustles with childcare policies and having to lock them in a closet. Dare try that with a real baby!


There are so many orders for Reborn dolls available even in online shopping stores. Many reborn artists have been able to setup shopping carts to link online shoppers to their desired Reborn dolls. The major key to quality dolls is going with an expert reborn maker. They can ensure that you get exactly what you order, with detailed photos of the doll. Master Reborn doll artists can be a major producer of quality dolls and have usually been doing this for a good deal of time. Visiting such an artist may help you acquire a deal that they did not expect and a quality doll too.
The making of these dolls is a process related with the life of people who order them. Some are meant for playing girls, boys while some are good for childless couples or older women, basically anyone how loves these dolls. The art of these dolls requires even knowledge of some very close characters of those who order for them. Childless couples might require a reborn for comfort. A little bundle of joy has to thus, be in the pipeline for them. It has to be the very way they want it. Some may want a usually kind like an orangutan, while others would opt for a little preemie Reborn doll. In any way, their choice is paramount.
Some people are also just mere collectors while others want to form basis on creating their own reborns. Still, they usually get whatever they ask for. These dolls are advertised in certain shops and online and special orders made to your needs. For one to get what they want good description is required and of course a skilled reborn artist. Patience is also vital as you wait for your little baby to be made. The end would justify all the waiting, long as it might take. The internet has made it so easy for people to order or buy a Reborn baby doll. Reborning has been a thriving with lots of people coming to see the new magic in town at doll shows, real – unreal babies. A free world where we can now buy a life like baby or could say beautiful Reborn Baby Dolls for adoption.

Friday, November 25, 2011

ARTICLE - REBORNS : DOLLS SO LIFELIKE YOU COULD MISTAKE THEM FOR REAL INFANTS

Reborns: dolls so lifelike you could mistake them for real infants

 

Some people buy them because they can't conceive; others just like the idea of having a baby around… Zoe Williams on a new phenomenon.

Zoe Williams
guardian.co.uk,
In the National Portrait Gallery in London at the start of this month, at the awards ceremony for the Taylor Wessing prize, a woman was standing with a tiny baby. That in itself was not unusual – there were probably three or four babies dotted around, and she was cradling it in the normal way, as if to support its head and not wake it. But it somehow didn't look right; it looked, in my peripheral vision, as if it wasn't moving enough. Anyway, while I Englishly darted looks at it without approaching, my friend did approach, and it wasn't real. Phew. Not ill, just inanimate.
It belonged to the photographer Rebecca Martinez, who had used it, and many others like it, for her project preTenders. And while I went over to look at it, and laughed, I felt resentful at being tricked. It had stirred some panic in me, something similar to that impotent distress you experience when you hear about a child being killed by an act of violence. Later, when telling me about the four years she has spent photographing people with these dolls, their collectors, their creators, her friends, a whole variety of subjects, Martinez said, "If I go out and I hold this doll in any way other than you would a real baby, people get mad. I cannot just hold it casually, like by one arm or whatever, because people will go, 'It's not right, you can't do that.' They go crazy. Even though the rational self knows it's a doll." But I'm with the mad people, because you don't start off knowing it's a doll; you start off thinking it's a baby. You can be disabused of your mistake but you can't, immediately, be disabused of your anger.
Reborns occupy a place that I think is unique in culture: to the artists who make them, they are works of art, and the artistry is undeniable. To some collectors, they are dolls, and to other collectors, they are something else altogether, a memory of a child or a substitute for a child. But it's possible to fall into neither of those categories, to be neither appreciating them as art, nor finding them cute as dolls, but nevertheless to respond to them in some profound way.
This is a relatively new phenomenon, springing up over the past six to seven years and spawning in its wake an entire industry that goes way beyond the making and selling of the dolls themselves into web forums, conferences, global export; generating ancillary industries, such as the provision of bespoke babywear. The dolls arrive as kits: vinyl "sculpts" made by specific people – some of them, such as Donna Rubert and Denise Pratt, are now big names in the business. Individual artists will then build on the basic structure, using layers of oil paint and various methods for the hair (a doll with painted hair will take a week to make, whereas a doll with real hair will take a month, since each strand needs to be individually rooted). They are weighted so they feel exactly like holding a baby, except that they're not warm. You can get quite crude ones on eBay for £100 but at their most expensive they can stretch to thousands of pounds (one was sold recently in the UK for around £11,000).
Martinez is full of stories about the way people react to a Reborn doll – the people who get freaked out and won't touch them, the people who seem to feel neutral towards them and yet start rocking them as if they were real, the men who play pranks with them. But before we consider the reactions of bystanders, the experiences of people who make and buy them are fascinating.
Claire Hughes and Min Li, two UK-based Reborn creators, are very upbeat and straightforward that this is an act of craft, with a burgeoning and busy market. Hughes remarks on the power of the dolls, but the vignettes she describes seem to underscore the fact that it's illusory: "My mum works in a care home with old people. If I take one of the dolls in, they love it. They think it's real, it calms them right down. The manager can't even look at them." She likens it to eccentric male hobbies – playing with train sets, or sitting for three hours by a riverbank, waiting to catch a fish.
Min Li has three boys, real ones, and started making baby girl dolls for her own enjoyment; she has since built up a market in China. "Most western babies have very thin hair and Chinese babies have lots of hair. They like that [thick-haired] kind of baby. So that's why I started doing it. Most people favour boys in their actual families," a hangover from the one-child policy, she says, "but," she adds feelingly, "people love girls."
The American artists I speak to, Cher Simnitt, Diana Mosquera and Gia Heath, seem less abashed, less inclined to forge an ironic distance. They describe the people who buy their dolls as more emotionally involved. Some people want a doll because what they really want is more children, but for practical or physical reasons can't have them; some want a doll made of their toddler, as the real child grows up, and they miss that physical sensation of the newborn; a family might commission a doll of their newborn to give to a grandparent, then, when the grandparent dies, it will pass back to the family "as a beautiful heirloom", Simnitt says. One woman who couldn't have children came to Heath and said, "Here's a picture of me, here's a picture of my husband, do you think you could make a baby that would look like us?" There's a story I find inexplicably moving about a wife who commissioned a doll of her husband, as a baby, then gave it to her mother-in-law. (What's the female for "uxorious"? And is there even a word for loving your mother-in-law that much?)
Then there are "portrait" or "memorial" babies, in which someone who has lost a child gets a doll commissioned in its image. Simnitt was, at one point, a midwife and a doll creator, and remembers, "I helped a woman who was 16 weeks pregnant. She came in and we got no heartbeat and she went on to miscarry. And she wanted to know what the baby looked like, but she was afraid to see it. So I had a model and I said, 'This is exactly what your baby looked like.' She carried that model for three weeks. And she said to me, 'I needed to grieve and hold something physical, and just work through it, and now I can let it go.' That's kind of drastic, I realise, but whatever gets you through."
What is more striking than these commemorative dolls, which are very rare, is the similarities between the artists. Before they started Reborn-creating full-time, they were often engaged in an intensely nurturing business, whether that was midwifery or art teaching for home-schooled kids; they had all been intensely nurturing people from a very young age – Simnitt cared for her mother, who was disabled by childhood polio, then went on to foster 125 drug-addicted babies and toddlers. Heath has adopted children; Mosquera had a typical experience as the oldest child of a large family: "I always took care of my sisters. When we had pets, I used to help with the breeding of the pets – there was always something being birthed around me." More importantly, both Simnitt and Heath suffered a tremendous loss just before they started making the dolls – Simnitt lost her mother, to whom she had been so close that, "literally, for 12 years, I was her body. When we ate, we had one plate, I took a bite, she took a bite, we bathed together. When someone passes away after having had a relationship like that, it's like something has been amputated from you. I would look at my hands and go, 'I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do with myself.' "
Heath, meanwhile, lost her baby daughter who was two months old, and says in a straightforward manner, "If I were to have a real daughter, I would love to have a daughter with green eyes and dark red hair and alabaster skin and freckles. I have my ideas, but when you go and put that on a doll, that's too much." It's almost as if they achieved this uncanny attention to detail as a product of their grief; that concentrating on something is a salve, but the focus of your concentration has to be a tightrope act, between reality and fantasy.
Martinez has observed the reactions these dolls get in many different scenarios, with friends and strangers, in different countries and cultures. "People say they want to hold the baby, then they get surprised, because the baby is made to feel as real as possible. Often, they'll start rocking the baby and cooing at it. And they'll realise what they're doing and they'll get embarrassed. They know on one level it's not real, and sometimes they're ashamed that they feel like that, that they've been fooled. It's something very deep and biological in people, something instinctive we have, that they're automatically comforting their baby. Some people are just delighted; they'll kiss the baby and not want to give it back. One time I had a man and he grabbed it and his body just tensed up, and he threw it on the ground. And I was upset, I said, 'Hey, that's a very expensive item, how dare you do that?' And he was so into what he was doing, he was so stiff, he wouldn't move for several minutes. He was trembling."
Martinez has observed wryly the stark differences between men's reactions in America and in Mexico – where American men will try to play some prank, to get a shocking reaction, Mexican men are much more nurturing and will kiss it and tend it, openly. She tells an extraordinary story about a time when she was burgled, in San Francisco: the boot of her car had been forced open, but nothing was stolen – she and the police surmised that the criminals had taken one look at the Reborns she had in there, concluded that they were real dead babies, and taken off. What was interesting was what happened next. "One of the officers said, 'I want you to photograph me with the baby.' So I said, 'What's your idea?' And he said, 'I want you to photograph me pointing a gun to the baby's head.' Even though it scared me a little – I'm afraid of guns – I thought, what a great photo this would be. I went to get a baby and in the couple of minutes I was gone, he was obviously talked out of it by his partner. So instead I have a photograph of him nurturing the baby. A few months later I was in New York and I walked past two police officers posing with tourists. So I went up and started talking, and one of the officers said, 'I have an idea' and said exactly the same thing, 'I want to be pointing a gun at the baby's head.' It was fascinating to me that these two police officers, 3,000 miles apart, both had the same idea."
It's funny because it's the grand impact images, the ones that fuel revulsion, that shock me the least; I can imagine how someone could look at a perfect simulacrum of a newborn and say, "I know, I'll pretend to eat it, or blow smoke on it, or smash its head against a wall." The Reborn-as-art is provocative, and you feel as if you should meet the provocation, that otherwise you're not up to its subversive standards. What I find compellingly mysterious, but simultaneously totally understandable, is the way people love them.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

TEGANS FULL KIT, HAS BEEN ORDERED!

OMG! IM SO EXCITED!
i can hardly contain myself!

hubby came home, told me to go ahead place the order, so i did!
so, tegans gonna be shipped, got the order confirmation email telling me they got the order.



omg...this is SO awesome!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!
and to whom ever gets tegan as a baby...:)
MICHELLE

I MIGHT HAVE THE CHANCE TO GET A FULL KIT TONIGHT


i am always on top of my email.
once a notice comes in (via a sound) im opening it up to at least get out the junk, so i can review the important emails when i have time (if not then)

so, today as ususal, i get a notification, as i always do several times a day..for email having been dropped in my email on my hardd rive..

so i go looking through them...and saw that there was a notice for a kit that ive had my eyes on (because of its price) AVAILABLE!!

wasnt the kit i wanted, but it will do...
it has everything i need to start this quest with..

1. Peach Teagan, by Denise Pratt (as shown above)! (item #2972)
2. A 16 inch body (item #2130 or #2596)
3. Two pounds of clear glass ECONOMY beads (item #2149)
4. One pair of nylons for containing the glass beads (item #266)
5. SMALL Gem-Tac glue (item #2438)
6. SMALL custom genesis complete set of nine paints. (item #2404)
7. 1/2 Ounce Genesis Thinning Medium (item #1829)
8. Four brush set for painting with Genesis (item #1667)
9. Any in-stock paint palette (use 2 if you put in a 6-well)
10. 8 inch Curved Hemostats (item #2468)
11. Precision Cuticle Nippers - 4 inch (item #301)
12. Hair cutting and styling comb razor (item #461)
13. Half ounce RRM- MB, DB, AB, or LB Straight (item's #3424, #3421, #3422, or #4075)(not a customer choice)
14. Bountiful Baby Rooting Tool (item #225)
15. Approximately 2 ozs of poly-fil supreme (a portion of item #217)
16. Natural Sea Sponge (item #2047)
17. Toothpicks (8)
18. Half Dozen Cosmetic Wedges (a portion of item #1282)
19. 25-page Full Color Instructions (our item #2497, which is a color laser printed copy of our downloadable instructions found by clicking here)
20. NEW! Complete kits now include "Making Reborn Baby Dolls, with Denise Pratt" on DVD (a 90 minute instructional video)

so, i emailed hubby...told him...
he asked how ;ong i thought it would be available..i dont know, a day, maybe a week? who can tell? i know i cant..
so he said hed shift some funds around and tonight (*Crossing fingers*) ill purchase this whole thing...

and in a week ill have a box set up with everything in it for me to start this quest! YES!!!!!
MICHELLE

Monday, November 7, 2011

ARTICLE - FINDING REBORN BABIES FOR ADOPTION

November 6, 2011 | Author: kangdede |
Finding Reborn Babies for Adoption is quite a bit less hard as you could think. There are three places that are thought to be the best for paying for these dolls. Since they are regarded as art work, you can request a child directly from the doll artist. You can even buy a custom doll to meet any needs you could have. Craft fairs are another place to find Reborn dolls. Often you can satisfy the artist face-to-face to discuss the dolls.

Overall, eBay is considered the main place to find reborn dolls for adoption. They always have a tremendous selection, and there are many artists which will custom make a little one to any specifications maybe you have or even from a photograph. Plus your purchase is included in the PayPal and auction web sites guarantee.

Reborn Babies are manufactured by talented doll artists to bear an amazing resemblance to real individual babies. Creating reborn babies started in the early 1990s while doll collectors desired more realistic babies. For many artists it begun as a hobby but quickly became a lucrative industry since well created dolls could fetch hundreds or even thousands.

The process of setting up a reborn is called reborning, and it involves many steps for this type of life-like creation. The artist or reborner starts with a vinyl doll and contributes many layers of special paint to the realistic skin. Even veins are added for realism. Realistic-looking blown glass is utilized for the eyes, and other realistic features are added for your full effect. It is a time consuming process, but each baby is totally unique and extraordinary.

Reborn kits are available for a reasonable price. Everything you need should be as part of the kit. There are a amount of steps, but in a nutshell here is an outline of what you will do. The doll parts ought to be soaked and dried before painting the vinyl areas. Using a fine hint paint brush, paint veins and other features on the doll. Glue the wig on, and fill the body with stuffing for just a soft feel. You can use actual baby clothes to dress the reborn.

Many folks do n’t have the time to make a doll from a kit. Many doll artists have their unique stores on eBay or their particular Website. Either way, an Internet search can turn up many places where you can find  reborn baby dolls for adoption.

ARTICLE - GERMAN DOLL ARTIST INA VOLPRICH NOMINATED FOR COLLIII AWARD 2011

Last year Ina Volprich won an unprecedented 3 Colliii Awards for her OOAK dolls. This year she is back and has once again been nominated. Find out what she has been doing since her triumph in 2010.
Ina Volprich
Colliii.com: Congratulations Ina. Last year won cleared up with 3 Colliii Awards for your one of a kind dolls. What has happend in the meantime?
Ina Volprich: Thanks! this past year I have been busy making numerous dolls for the Eschwege doll show here in Germany. I have had one OOAK doll that has produced as a kit and little "Jaron" has been on the market since July 2010.
Colliii.com: After your amazing haul at last years awards, why did you decide to enter again?
Ina Volprich: I wanted to enter some of my latest pieces. I have been working on improving my skills and it was important for me to measure myself again. The Colliii Awards is a great way to see what collectors think of my work and that is why I entered Margarethe.
Colliii.com: What made you enter Margarethe? Were you confident with your choice?

Ina Volprich:
Margarethe is a portrait sculpt of Margarethe Steiff. I was greatly inspired by the film about her, to see what a hard life she had and even though she had a hard time she still managed to create all those teddys which have been loved by so many people over the years. That was the biggest reason to recreate her and present her in this competition.

Colliii.com:
How long have you been sculpting for now?

Ina Volprich:
I started back in 2009 and have been making Reborn dolls before that, since 2007. I wanted to do Reborn versions of my own 3 children but could never find a kit that looked like them, so I decided to start sculpting. I made my first portait the same year in August and have been very busy since then!

Colliii.com:
What do you do with all the dolls that you make?

Ina Volprich:
I do a lot of portrait work for people that have asked me directly to work for them...so they tend to buy those dolls that I make. I sell some at doll shows and quite a bit of my work is at the Czech dolls museum "Muzeum Panenek a Medvidku".
Colliii.com: For those that cant make it to the Czech Republic, can they see your work online somewhere?
Ina Volprich: I have a website where I have all of my dolls and also add regular updates www.littlewonderkids.de

Friday, November 4, 2011

PIXIE HAT PATTERN

Pixie hat
ORIGINAL POST CAN BE FOUND HERE

Supplies needed:
F hook
Baby weight yarn (sock yarn was used)
Stitch marker
Flowers (optional)

Terms used:
Sc = single crochet
Slp st = slip stitch
Ch = chain
FO = fasten off/finish off

Hat is completed in one continuous spiral. Use stitch marker to mark each round end

Size: Should fit most newborn heads.

Starting at top of hat:

Ch 2
1) 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook
2-3) sc in each sc around
4) (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 2 sc) repeat once more (8 sc)
5) (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 3 sc) repeat once more (10 sc)
6) sc in each sc around
7) (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 4 sc) repeat once more (12 sc)
8) (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 5 sc) repeat once more (14 sc)
9) (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 6 sc) repeat once more (16 sc)
10) (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 5 sc) repeat once more, 2 sc in next sc, sc in last 3 sc (19 sc)
11) (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 5 sc) repeat 2 more times, sc in last sc (22 sc)
12) sc in first 3 sc, (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 6 sc) repeat once more, 2 sc in next sc, sc in last 4 sc (25 sc)
13) (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 5 sc) repeat 3 more times, sc in last sc (29 sc)
14) sc in first 3 sc, (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 5 sc) repeat 3 more times, sc in last 2 sc (33 sc)
15) (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 6 sc) repeat 3 more times, 2 sc in next sc, sc in last 4 sc (38 sc)
16) (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 6 sc) repeat 4 more times, sc in last 3 sc. (43 sc)
17) sc in each sc around
18) (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 6 sc) repeat 5 more times, sc in last sc (49 sc)
19) (2 sc in first sc, sc in next 11 sc) repeat 3 more times, sc in last sc. (53 sc)
20-40) sc in each sc around
Slip st in next 2 sc.
FO and weave in ends.
Flip up bottom of hat if desired
Sew or tacky glue on flowers if desired
Hat is complete!

CROCHET GNOME HAT PATTERN

 
I only used one skein of "Charisma" by Loops and Threads, a bulky 5 weight acrylic yarn. I chose a thick yarn for warmth, and acrylic for wash-ability. This was my second time using this yarn, I am really happy with the way it turned out and will probably use it again in the future. It is really soft and doesn't itch like some acrylic yarns. I have made this hat using a lighter weight yarn and it works fine, the spaces between stitches are a little larger though.
Most of the hat is crocheted in the round and is worked almost entirely using the double crochet stitch. The pattern I am sharing is for a 12month old - 3 yr old size head.

The hook I used was US I 9 / 5.50mm.

Gauge
3 rows of 6 dc = 2in x 2in

Here is a key for all the abbreviations I use.
dc = double crochet
ch = chain
sl st = slip stitch
rep = repeat
sk = skip
beg = beginning
rnd = round

Lets get stared,

Ch 4, join with a sl st to form a ring.

Rnd 1: ch 2 for first dc, 8 dc in ring, sl st to top of beg ch. 
(9 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 2: ch 2 for first dc, dc in each dc, sl st to top of beg ch. 
(9 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 3: ch 2 for first dc, dc in 1 dc, *2 dc in 1 dc, dc in next 2 dc, rep from *, sl st to top of beg ch. 
(12 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 4: same as rnd 2.
(12 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 5: same as rnd 3.
(16 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 6: same as rnd 2.
(16 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 7: same as rnd 3.
(21 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 8: same as rnd 2.
(21stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 9: same as rnd 3.
(28 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 10: same as rnd 2.
(28 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 11: same as rnd 3.
(37 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 12: same as rnd 2.
(37 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 13: same as rnd 3.
(49 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 14: same as rnd 2.
(49 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 15: same as rnd 2.
(49 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 16: same as rnd 2.
(49 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 17: same as rnd 2.
(49 stitches counting the ch 2.)

Rnd 18: same as rnd 2.
(49 stitches counting the ch 2.)

After round 18 is finished fasten off and thread extra yarn into the hat.
You should now have a cute little gnome hat with no ear flaps.  If you don't want ear flaps you can stop here and call it good. If you do want ear flaps keep reading. :)

If you look at your hat you will see a "seam" of stitches where you joined each round and started the next one.  Lay the hat flat so that The "seam" is in the middle to make counting stitches easier. (Likein the photo below.)
To add the first ear flap; Start working in the 10th stitch from the "seam". (see top photo above) Work the first row of the flap with the wrong side (inside of the hat) facing you.

Ear flap row 1: ch 3 for 1st dc, (working to the right) sk 2 dc, sl st,
(working to the left now) 7 dc (8 stitches total counting ch 3) in the same stitch that the ch 3 is coming out of, sk 2 dc, sl st. (See photo above.)
 
Flip over and work the next row on top of the row you just made. Work with the right side (outside of the hat) facing you.
Ear flap row 2: ch 3, (working to the right) sk 2 dc, sl st, 
(working to the left now) 2 dc in every 1 dc (16 stitches total counting ch 3), sk 2, sl st. 
Fasten off and thread the extra yarn into the hat. (See photo above)

For ear flap 2 rep Ear flap row 1 and 2, starting on the 10th stitch from the "seam" on the opposite side of the hat. (See top photo above.) 
The "seam" should end up being on the back of the hat. 
To make the ties cut 2 long strands of yarn. These should be three times longer than the length you want the finished ties to be.
Fold a strand in half and loop hook in the center fold of strand.
In the middle stitch of the ear flap (see bottom photo above) and pull strand of yarn though stitch. 
ch as many chain stitches it takes to run out of yarn. (Or as many ch stitches it takes to tie a bow under the chin of the person it is made for.) Fasten off and Trim excess.  
Do it again on the other flap.

 You hat should now look like the photo below.
 Yippee You're done!!
Put it on your little one to keep their little ears and cheeks warm and cozy.
(Or just to see how cute they look in it.)  :)

If you want you can change it up a bit you can add pom poms or tassels to the ends of the ties.  Or you could change the color of yarn every row to make stripes. The possibilities are endless.
Happy crocheting everyone!!!

PATTERN - SOCK MONKEY HAT

Sock Monkey hat pattern

 

So, for those who love this little monkey as much as I do, I am attempting to do this as my first free pattern available on my blog. I saw a picture of this adorable hat and had to try it. So thats what I did. I didn't have a pattern for this I just kind of "eyeballed" it. So sorry, if it doesn't make sense, post if you have a comment or question!

SOCK MONKEY HAT

Materials used
worsted weight yarn. I used pattons "canadiana"
in grey, cream and red.
Black buttons (2)
g hook

guage?? I will have to make a guage swatch and come back to this. The finished hat fits a 3 month old baby, but the pattern will be anywhere from newborn to 3 months.

Start with cream color by ch 4, join to first ch to form ring (or use magic ring).

1.ch2 6dc in ring. Join to top of ch 2

2.ch2 2dc in each dc (12 st) join every round unless otherwise noted

3.ch 2 (2dc in next dc, dc in next dc) 6 times (18 sts)

4.ch2 (2dc in next st, dc in next two sts) 6 times (24 sts)

5.ch2 (2dc in next st, dc in next three sts) 6 times (30 sts)
change to red yarn ch 1

6.ch 1 (sc in each st around) 2 times ( you will have 2 rows of red in sc)

7.change color to grey ch 2
dc in same st, dc all the way around. Continue in pattern until 6 rows of dc are done.
break off yarn

earflap: (make two)
start by attaching grey yarn to hat

1.dc 11, ch 2 turn

2.dc2tog, dc in next 7 st dc2tog ch 2 turn

3.dc2tog, dc in next 5 st, dc2 tog ch 2 turn

4.dc2tog, dc in nex 3 st, dc2tog ch 2 turn

5.dc2tog,  dc in nex st, dc2tog ch 2 turn

6.dc2tog twice. break off yarn.

Monkey ear:
 use grey. ch 2

1. 6sc in second ch from hook
do not join

2. 2sc in each of the 6 previous sc. (12 sts)

3. (2sc in next st, sc in next two sts) 6 times (18 sts)

4. 18 sc around (2 times). Break yarn leaving 12" at least for sewing on. attach using darning needle.

Monkey mouth
with red ch 15
1. sc in second ch from hook, and in each stitch across. sc a second time in last st.

2. working on the under side of initial chain sc all the way sc twice in last st.

3. change to cream yarn. sc all the way around twice, doing two sc in each of the "corner" stitches. Leave a long tail for sewing to hat.

Attach black buttons for eyes using cream colored yarn, or thread.

I used four strands of each color to attach tie strings on to the earflaps and braided them, then trimmed the ends.

Hope you have fun with this pattern! If you would like to purchase a pre made hat, please visit us on facebook at Knotty Knotty crochet

Thursday, November 3, 2011

ARTICLE - REBORN ARTIST - BEATRIX SCHRODER - Exclisive Interview


The German reborn doll artist Beatrix Schröder has been nominated for 2 Colliii Awards in 2011. Watch her at work and find out more about her in this exclusive interview...


Beatrix Schröder
 
Colliii.com: Congratulations on your nomination. What motivated you to take part in this years Colliii Awards?

Beatrix Schröder: Well firstly I think its fun to take part in things like the Colliii Awards. It is always exciting and I took part without really hoping too much to get a nomination.
Lots of competitions are based too far away from where I live, but with the Colliii Awards its easier. This year I also got an Ervera "seal of quality" for my Reborn babies which I was very happy to receive. 

Colliii.com:
How did you decide which dolls to enter for the competition?

Beatrix Schröder: "Bella" has always been special for me as the kit looks a lot like my son "Mike". I always wanted to do a Reborn version of my son and 2 years have passed until I found the time to do it. I then got 2 Bella kits and made the time to do Mike, I also did a twin sister for him too! 

Colliii.com:
How long have you been Reborning dolls for?

Beatrix Schröder: I started back in November 2007 after seeing Reborn dolls only a few months earlier. I never knew that they even existed but I soon realised that it was something that I wanted to do as I have always been interested in artistic pursuits. I had to take my time though, to save up and also to inform myself some more. Just as I was about to get ready to start my mother (who was a passionate doll collector) died and I had to put it all aside for a while. But in November 2007 I started and since then I no longer paint on canvas but vinyl. 

Colliii.com: What is going to happen with the finished reborns that have been nominated?

Beatrix Schröder: I sell the reborns that I make although I sometimes like to keep them for a while.I am normally so busy with the production of the dolls that there is isn´t too much time left afterwards. I mostly reborn for customers which isn´t always easy to time manage. I wont be selling my "Mike" nor my first ever Reborn which was a Vivien from Evelina Wosnjuk kit.
I was very proud of my Vivien even if I only painted 3 coats on her. She always makes me smile and she helps me to see how far my work has come since then! 

Colliii.com: You used to give Reborn courses. Do you still do that? If not are you going to start again?

Beatrix Schröder:  For the time being I wont be doing courses as I just dont have the time. I am very busy with other things such as doing proto-types. I always need a lot of time to plan the courses and the courses themselves run for 2 and a half days and often mean long nights too. The courses have a lot of background work too, I need to prepare food and drinks for the people and the whole act is quite time consuming. It is a lot of fun to do the courses so who knows what the future will bring. As soon as I have any courses planned they will be announced on my website.  http://www.beatrix-reborn-babys.de/WB/



ARTICLE - REBORN DOLLS - ALMOST REAL BABIES

Reborn Dolls – Almost Real Babies

It will be easy to confuse one of these with a real baby. These dolls are called Reborn!
Reborn doll art creates almost a real babies. Reborn artists make dolls that are remarkably like real children. Reborn Doll Bodies’ are created by molds and then painted. Real materials are then added to this marvel in miniature. Arms, head and body Reborn doll treat a variety of techniques, giving the skin a very realistic. Many layers of paint is added to dissolve the doll gives your skin feels like a real newborn baby. Even the veins Reborn dolls are created exactly as they seem to have a human child. Two types of dolls Reborn are available on the market, and the soft vinyl. Reborn Babies are soft padded to give them a feeling of cuddlier. They weigh almost like a real baby. Next is the hair of Reborn dolls are really rooted in the scalp, and a call real doll. The hair is made of high-colored mohair, and has its roots in a specific pin head and eyebrows.
Anchoring Strand Beach hair done, and therefore takes days to complete a single doll. Reborn dolls nails are painted and well maintained, giving them a glossy finish. The eyes of the doll is made with blown glass, they are usually blue and can be customized as well. Unlike most other dolls on the market are the nostrils open at the doll to make her feel as if the doll is actually breathing. Some reborn dolls have improved with the beating of the heart, eyes and hair moving magnetic tape, reborn baby kits are also available. The last doll is dressed in real baby and packed ñ ready to amaze at first sight!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

ARTICLE - SCULPT ARTISTS KITS - REBORN DOLL SCULPT ARTISTS REBORN DOLL KITS

Sculpt Artist Kits

REBORN DOLL SCULPT ARTISTS
 REBORN DOLL KITS

Sculpt Artists are the creators of the sculpted reborn dolls head, face, arms, legs and even tushie, belly and tummy plates. These vinyl kits that are "reborned" into life like baby dolls called reborn dolls are first carved and sculpted out of FIMO or other polymer clay products. That original sculpture is then used to create a mold in which hundreds or thousands of copies are made out of soft vinyl by a doll manufacturer.  New sculpts are often released in limited editions of 500 or 1000, but some sculpt artists who ae also reborn artists, such as Denise Farmer or Ruth Annette, will create just one sculpt which is then reborned into a true OOAK (One Of A Kind) realistic baby doll.
There are so many talented sculpt artists always striving to create more realistic and more adorable kits and sculpts, and more being mentored and taught every year. The skills used to create reborn sculpts are those of any 3D realism sculptor, the difference being that these sculptors do not finish the work of art. They only create the first stage of the reborn doll process, the sculpted kits that will be turned into a life like infant doll, each one unique, by the reborn artists.
Some of the most well known popular sculpt artists are listed below. Click on the artist's name below to view all the reborn kits, including the latest releases, made by that sculpt artist.

SCULPT ARTISTS LISTED BY FIRST NAME

Adrie Stoete Jacqueline Gwin Nikki Britt
Aleina Peterson
Janni De Lange Olga Auer
Andrea Arcello Jessica Schenk Pat Moulton
Ann Timmerman
Joanna Gomes Petra Lechner
Anneke Doeven Jorja Pigott Philomena Donnelly
Berenguer
Kathryn Brodie Regina Swialkowski
Bonnie Brown Laura Lee Eagles Reva Schick
Cathy Rowland Laura Tuzio-Ross Rolanda Heimer
Cindy Musgrove
Lillian Breedveld Romie Strydom
Cheryl Webber Linda K. Smith Ruth Annette
Claire Taylor Linda Murray Sandy Faber
Danielle Clavette Linde Scherer Sebilla Boss
Dawn Donofrio Lorna Miller Sands Shawna Clymer
Denise Pratt Maribel Villanova Sheila Michael
Didy Jacobson Marissa May Shelly Halperin
Donna Rubert Marita Winters Sherry Rawn
Elisa Marx Margaret Mousa Stephanie Sullivan
Elly Knoops Melissa Pallesse Tamie Yarie
Emily Jameson Melody Hess Tasha Edenholm
Eva Helland Michelle Fagan Tina Kewy
Evelina Wosnjuk Natalie Blick Wendy Dickison
Gundrun Legler Natalie Scholl
Heather Boneham
Nel de Man