can't wait to carve into these beauties!

A couple of my recent eBay acquisitions… can you believe those green eyes?! I have to say, they are The. Most. Beautiful. green eyes I've EVER encountered on a Barbie doll before (and I've seen A LOT of Barbie eyes!) Green is hard enough to find as it is, let alone a pair as stunning as these! (the photo really doesn't even do them justice.) I can't WAIT to make something out of them.

And here's a lovely, sultry blue eyed princess I also won. Love the deep red lips on both also!

My studio life has been CRAZY busy lately - filling wholesale orders and working on tons of custom work. Unfortunately, my etsy shop has really been neglected because of this. However I hope to remedy that ASAP. Thanks for your inquiries about new work… I promise I'll be listing again as soon as I can. So many ideas, so little time…

Happy February everyone!

barbie art from back in the day!

At the top of the stairs in my parents house…

…hangs the collection of Barbies I transformed back in high school art class.
I thought it would be fun to share some pics! It's interesting to look back and see a path from where it all started.

man-barbie

zebra-barbie

carrot-barbie (this ones my favorite)

trippy-hippy-barbie

solid-silver-barbie

Adjustable Full Face Ring

This is the first time I've ever made a ring out of a complete Barbie face. As you may know, I tend to frame her individual facial elements in bits. Not only do I usually think it looks more interesting to isolate, but it also makes for easier wear in terms of the overall size.

This was a custom order for a client, who was giving it as a surprise gift for a man, and she didn't want to ask him his ring size, so I made the ring adjustable from a size 10 - 13 (also a first - I had never hand-fabricated an adjustable band before)

One of the coolest aspects of this design for me was in figuring out how to support the under-structure of the face. Since Barbie's head is made out of hollow rubber, she's easily "squish-able" so I had to come up with a way to fully support the rubber, without adding much weight. What I came up with is a secret (teehee) …however I'm really pleased with the final result, even if it is a bit massive for my fingers!

Boy oh Boy

Sometimes eBay persistence pays off! It's not always easy to find Ken dolls, particularly in big batches. I just won these two huge lots of Kens. I'm so excited… all those six pack abs! oooh-la-la ;-)

Friday From the Bench

A messy overview of my epoxy table - custom works in progress.

Custom Shedding Tears necklace for a client, drying resin: first round.

Custom POP Smile necklace in progress, drying resin: first round.

This is a new POP smile necklace I started a while back, but the shape just isn't working yet. I need to play around with it some more this weekend and get it to look more "organic" (for lack of a better word.)

And I saved the best for last folks… I'm super excited about this little piece of plastic, can you tell what it is…?

…Ken's 6 Pack Abs! I have lots of ideas for designs using this body part, but first and foremost, a 6 Pack Cocktail Ring is definitely in order. Stay tuned :-)

And the winner is…

That's right folks, one hundred and ninety-one face parts in the jar! Pretty wild huh? That means "miss dot" with 187 is the closest. (Please contact me with your address so I can send you your new Smile Pin!)

This contest was too much fun, so there will certainly be more chances to win in the future… stay tuned! ;-)

Thanks to all you "de-lurkers" and everyone who participated. I can't thank you enough for all your kind words, your support of my work, as well as my blog. I wish you all a very happy holiday season!

Contest!

I've decided to spread a little holiday cheer… with a CONTEST! The person who comes the closest to guessing the number of face parts in the glass container wins!

(note: they are not all entire faces, some are just the eyes, smiles, etc.)

'And what do I win?' you may ask… why, this lovely smile pin to help spread some of your own holiday cheer of course!

Contest ends next Saturday, December 15th so hurry up and start the guessing! :-)

A new face

Hooray! My postcards arrived today! D designed them (of course) and we decided to go with vistaprint for the printing. When all was said and done it cost about $70 for 250 postcards, but what was most impressive was the turn-around time. We ordered them on the 7th… they arrived on the 12th! The colors are slightly off, but overall for the price they're pretty decent. They'll be great for the Crafty Bastards show so people can walk off with a little something that has my name on it.

It was time for a new look for my blog and I decided to go with something cleaner and more streamlined. Since blogger only offers so many templates I thought this was a nice simple choice and better matches my website. I hope you like it too :-)

You may have also noticed my profile Midge has been replaced with a new doll… time to switch it up, and I just love that doll's face. I don't have the heart to cut it up… yet.

Minor accomplishments can sometimes be a big deal

This custom pendant was created for a very loyal etsy customer of mine and I'm rather pleased with how it turned out.

If you're familiar with my work you may realize this piece is the first of it's kind… can you guess why?


Alright, I'll tell you: until now, I've always used just one eye per "bezel." I was pleased when the client requested both eyes for the piece because it forced me to resolve the "double eye mounting issues" I've stumbled upon in the past when designing for a pair of eyes.

In order for the Barbie doll parts to be cold-connected in place after all the metal work is finished on a piece, there typically has to be enough flat surface on the back of the doll part for proper adhesion to the metal "framework" below it. Using one eye is more conducive to gluing because it has a flatter backside. Two eyes creates a natural curve that needs support under it because of Barbie's hollow head. It would look distorted if smooshed flat, which might make for an interesting effect as well…but I digress. I figured out a suitable lightweight under-structure for the pair of eyes that allows for support as well as enough surface for epoxy adhesion.

Hooray! I love it when I have a mini break-through! I will likely be using this technique for many more pieces to come. In fact I already have a very ambitious bracelet idea marinating…

custom necklace

I just completed this custom necklace for an etsy customer and am pleased with how it came out…


A simple yet bold, fun pendant. This is the type of new work that I will be making for my wholesale line. I only wish I had more time to develop it! I have so many ideas and never enough time to produce them these days. As I work through designs I will be posting some prototypes on my etsy shop so check back often. Etsy really is an amazing online community, filled with so many good people with BIG hearts, selling and shopping. I'm happy to be a part of it.

From the bench…

massacre scene from the bench

bits and pieces

A lovely redhead Midge recently purchased on ebay! Too pretty to cut in to but wow it's tempting, I absolutely love her lips.

My dream house!! (Actually technically it's the Barbie Dream Cottage, but whatever) I have big dreams for this abode. My collection of ebay sofas has grown a bit and for now I've decided to take a break from collecting them. But they really make me so happy to have in my studio with me, even if the whole thing is taking over my drafting table!

variation

My favorite dolls as a little girl were the Barbies with the more "subtle" faces - not a lot of "make-up" etc. It's still true today and I tend to have a harder time finding the desire to cut them up.

Sometimes when people see my work they're amazed to discover there are in fact variations in Barbie's face. There are SO many dolls, mold types and different various paint techniques out there that she's become quite diverse, for a mass-produced plastic toy. Even body type variation. I have my dolls separated out by "body type" in plastic pins and again, there's more of a difference from doll to doll than you may realize. Well OK, as far as "weight and height" Barbie of course has always been tall and curvy. But mold type and construction vary considerably year to year.