How much does it cost to make a reborn doll?

 I've heard much criticism about reborn dolls, and especially about how expensive they are and how much money reborn artists must make (sure, some of the top artists sell their babies for thousands, but the majority of us do not). To assume that an artist makes a lot of money on these dolls is a naive opinion, so here is my little break-down on all the prices incurred by the artist (excluding their own shipping fees of products used). This could also be helpful to those who have the idea to begin reborning, as it will show you exactly what to expect- it is an expensive hobby!

The vinyl kit ~ £69.99      
Body for kit ~ £13.45
Mohair ~        £10.99 for 1/4oz      
Needles ~       £ 4.25          
Eyes~             £13.99
Lashes ~         £ 2.75      

Then we need the weighing (£4.99 per KG), so let's just say we use 3KG for this example - £14.95

Total so far:    £130.39

And then we must add the initial set up costs, the products which we don't replace every single time:
genesis heat set paints (£33.99 for a mini starter set), a bottle of thinner (around £5), paintbrushes (various prices, at least £10 for a small selection), sponges, paint pots, glues, matte varnish, gloss varnish, a convection oven. And finally, clothing for the doll.


This is the cost of the products, this doesn't include the many many hours that an artist puts into making the actual doll. So, next time someone assumes that these dolls are 'ridiculously' priced...show them the facts! ;)


Links to products mentioned:
(http://www.tinkerbellcreations.co.uk/elodie-4858-p.asp)
 (http://www.tinkerbellcreations.co.uk/blossom-blonde-2229-p.asp)
(http://www.tinkerbellcreations.co.uk/42-3-barb-extra-strong-485-p.asp)
(http://www.tinkerbellcreations.co.uk/baby-blue-blown-glass-eyes-22mm-237-p.asp) (http://www.tinkerbellcreations.co.uk/wispy-baby-lashes-363-p.asp)

First ever preemie

I'm super excited to be working on my first ever preemie baby. I love how fragile and delicate premature babies look. They really show how precious life is and what a miracle babies truly are. I could spend all day staring at their tiny toes, their wrinkly hands and their cute-as-a-button faces.
Here's a quick pic of my work in progress, many layers of paint left to go~

This is the Rosebud sculpt by Cindy Musgrove

She's approx 14" long

Reborn Baby Doll Twins

These are my little girls completed!

They are sculpted by Michelle Fagan and they're the Gena and Gabriel kits which are approx 20 inches long.

I love how one of them is awake, with her pretty brown eyes, whilst the other is quite content having a little snooze.

They have been painted with many layers of genesis heat-set paint and both have painted hair.

They'll be listed shortly to find a new mummy, on eBay.

Baby Summer

Her photo's are all done! Here is a small selection of them, enjoy x

 

Summer is finally here!

Yay! It's July 4th, which means it's Summer still absolutely miserable in England.

As the real Summer is *yet* to show its face in Britain, I have indeed just finished this precious little baby doll and named her 'Summer'.

She is from the Cozy kit by Linda K.Smith and I loooove this sculpt. I hope to do her photo shoot tomorrow, providing there's enough daylight to get any decent snaps! Taking photos of my art is definitely an area which I lack in and am trying quite hard to improve. I always envy other artists amazing camera skills, because their photos always look so fantastic- the perfect exposure, the lighting just right, the positioning of the doll, bla bla bla. Although, I mustn't give up hope! My photo-taking skillls are improving each time, slowly but surely! :D

That's all for now bloggers!
          x    x

A few steps to a personalised eBay listing

I've decided it's about time that I personalised my eBay listings a little bit more and thought I'd share my how-to.

By just following these few steps, you can have a listing which is a little more personalised.

Decorative Section Titles

Step 1. Find an image, or use part of your logo, which is decorative. In my case, I've used a flower design which I also use in my logo.

Step 2. Once this image is opened in an editor, you'll then need to add text depending on which section you wish to use this logo for...In this example I've used 'Shipping'.

Step 3. Save this new image and upload it to Photobucket, or a similar site.

Step 4. When you create your eBay listing, just simply copy and past the image from Photobucket into your eBay listing to create the section title.

^ This is my example!