Tuesday, July 10, 2012

A wee little ball jointed doll named Orli

Big, Big, BIG announcement. I've been making dolls again.

It's been over three years since my last attempt at doll making I'd turned my focus to miniatures But when I saw my first ball jointed doll I fell in love. For about a year I'd been reading about how to make BJD's and writing down ideas for them. Well a few months ago it was time to start. I worked on her part time and the miniatures full time.

My friend and fellow Artist sister Nefer Kane has Inspired, supported and encouraged me in this new venture. If you've not seen Nefer's dolls take a look here: http://circuskane.com/circus-kane-online-store/ Be prepared to have your heart stolen. I've two of her dolls (Aleah and Miss Humpty Dumpty) I am head over heals for them.  

So now let me introduce Orli my first Micro BJD. She is a tiny 4 1/4 inches tall (10.6 cm). However her resin clones may end up slightly smaller.

She was sculpted from polymer clay and some areas gave me trouble so were carved and resculpted. This is why she has some discoloration. Her Resin clones will be a solid light tan skin tone.

She will be priced around $250.00. Her preorder will begin once I've confirmation she is safe in the manufacturer's hands.

I hope you all love little Orli. She is the beginning of many more characters to come.

♥•♥•♥ and Hugs,
Aleah

PS I'll announce the start of her preorder here, as well as on my Facebook page. More to come Very soon.








Friday, March 9, 2012

Yorkshire Terrier sculpting kit and a few other updates

Been Tweaking a few things here and there.

On Ebay. A new F.A.Q section is on my ME page. Questions include,
How do I add the Fur? What are the costumes made of? ect...

You can see the ME page here: http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=aleah_klay

The Auction pages look a bit different too. Under shipping we've added expected delivery times based on which Country you are in. This should help international collectors a lot since shipping time varies so much from Country to Country.

Over on Etsy. With the beginner in mind, We've created a supplies kit for Creating a Miniature Yorkshire Terrier. This Kit is meant to go with the Yorkshire Terrier Sculpting Tutorial.
It is the cheapest way to get all the materials needed. The beginner living in the USA who has none of the supplies would be spending $30.00-$40.00 to get everything.
With my kit you can now try sculpting and furring a miniature for just $12.99 http://www.etsy.com/shop/aleahklay


Still working on more tutorials, guides, and kits but it's all going very slowly. I can only work on them part time for now. When they are finished They'll be available on Etsy and will be announced on this blog as well as on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aleah-Klay-Miniatures/315174175161057

Until next time, Happy Sculpting!
Aleah

Thursday, February 2, 2012

How to Apply fur to polymer clay animal sculptures

You'll need Aileen's Clear Gel Tacky Glue, and fur.

I use Viscose doll hair but only because it is the thinnest I can find and I need thin for micro mini's. You can use anything though.

Add the fur in very thin layers, and just a few strands at a time. Start from the back of the animal, (leg or tail)  then work your way up to the snout. For areas with thin fur  (snout, paws ect..)I create flocking by cutting the fiber into a nearly powder like consistency.

To add color Start by dyeing/finding fur which matches the lightest shade of the real animal, The rest of the color (highlights, shadow, markings) is added with inks or Acrylic paints.

A couple of years ago I created a tutorial for sculpting and furring a Yorkshire Terrier. It is complete instructions from lump of clay to finished, furred, painted Yorkie. It is available here: http://store.payloadz.com/detail_html.asp?i=944907

xoxo
Aleah

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Dyeing viscose doll hair: Streaking three colors

I've noticed sometimes doll's hair doesn't look realistic because artists use just one shade of color. In reality hair has multiple shades of a specific color.

I've experimented and come up with one method (I'm sure there are many others) for streaking viscose doll hair. I say streaking but really it is combining three or more shades and not actual streaking.

In my last article I wrote about how to dye Viscose doll hair. For this technique you will need three or more shades of previously dyed doll hair.

Take your three colors of viscose doll hair.If needed brush out with a tooth brush.



Cut equal lengths of all three colors. split each color into smaller pieces.


Lay them side by side in an alternating pattern. Split them into a few smaller clusters.


Then begin blending by pulling pieces of the cluster out then adding it back and pull another section of the cluster and put back repeat until the hair is blended as much or as little as you'd like.You may need to repeat this part 30 times or so.
The cluster on the left shows what it looks like blended.


xoxo
Aleah

Monday, January 16, 2012

Dyeing Viscose doll hair with Rit dye

Take your viscose and tie a knot into one end. This prevents the doll hair from becoming a tangled mess in the dye bath.

Add a bit of water to the bottom of a small sauce pan. Set stove to medium add a drop of Rit dye.  
Note: to make the color lighter, add more water to make it darker use less water and/or add a tiny bit of black Rit dye.

Take your viscose doll hair and run under water to make damp. Then put the viscose in the dye bath.


How long you leave it in depends on how light or dark you want the color. If you'd like a light color leave it in for only a minute or so. For darker colors add a few more minutes.


When you've the color you'd like, take the viscose out with a spoon place on paper towel, then pat dry with a few paper towels. Lay flat to let it dry, or if you're in a hury use a hair dryer.





My next blog entry will be about how to add streaks using three different shades of Rit dyed, viscose doll hair.

xoxo
Aleah

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Conditioning Polymer Clay

Level of Experience: Beginner

Polymer clays need to be conditioned before sculpting. One good way to condition polymer clay is to first break off/cut off the amount of clay you want to use. Then roll it in your hands 30 seconds or so to warm the clay. Then begin to knead the clay (flatten, fold in half, and repeat).  until the clay is soft and easier to work with. After conditioning your clay if it is still to firm or soft after conditioning you have a couple of options:

If to firm: Mix your polymer clay with Fimo Mix quick (if you are using fimo) or Sculpey Clay softner (If you are using Polyform clays).

If to soft:  You can Leach your clay by placing it inbetween layers of paper. I use at least 10 sheets of white printer paper. 5 under neath the clay and 5 above the clay. I Then place something heavy on top of the whole stack. At least 24 hours later I remove the clay and check it. Usually by then it is ready to be sculpted with.

xoxo -Aleah