Hooray, Willa Photos!

Thanks to some lightning-fast email skills, here are the pictures of Willa, Nealie's Makie showing off her ninja knitting.

I must admit, I can't do 5 needles at once!

Zombie Cat Attack! Eeeks!

Thanks for showing us your talent, Willa! 

Willa's Got Talent!

Hey hey all,

Here's another talent contest entry, this time from Nealie's Willa.












Yeah, that's a big ol' empty space!

Unfortunately, Nealie uses Ipernity and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get her photos on to the blog or to save to my computer! How irritating.

I'm going to drop Nealie an email asking her to send them on over, but in the meantime, you can gaze upon the lovely Willa knitting in the round, struggling for space for her mega project or... gasp!... fending off a feral zombie cat.

I hope you be able to bring you the proper pictures soon :)

Remember, there's still time to enter the talent contest! Entries accepted up to and including June 30th!

Sugru

Today, a surprise arrived in the post. The Boyfriend had ordered a couple of mixed packs of some stuff called Sugru, which I'd heard of as something used in MakieModding but had never really figured out what it was.

Turns out, it's an air-curing, freely-shapeable silicon rubber that bonds to pretty much any surface easily. On first opening the foil pouch, it's got a texture like air-drying modelling clay or slightly damp dough. It's really easy to shape and finish. 

I had a fiddle with a 5g pack and Number 12 (who started off as somethingsomethingcandy... must remind myself!) and this is what I came up with. 

Hey hey Deery.

The website FAQ says that paint is at risk of flaking because of the flexibility of the cured substance... but I'm hopeful that won't be an issue on parts this small. I'm going to leave it overnight and have a good play tomorrow, and will just have to see what happens next! I've already got the materials for the rest of this girl and I'm confident she could be my most adventurous custom yet.

Eli's Got Talent!

Okay, so this is a first!

Here's Eli, who belongs to Vicky, and she's doing a tightrope walk...

...WITHOUT A ROPE.

Round of applause, please! Well done, Eli. I like your improvisation. I'm not letting Plink see this though, she'll be giving it a go herself!

Can your doll out-balance Eli? Plenty of time still to enter!

Mitchie's Got Talent!

Goodness. I guess it was only a matter of time before we had cats...

...according to Michelle, her Makie Mitchie has decided she can talk to cats. This has apparently come about after watching the Horizon programme on frisky felines (I saw this and it was terribly good).

Must admit, Mitchie, my cats are a dab hand at 'smug' already! 

Has your doll got a talent? Take a look here for details of how to enter the contest!

Qwaychou's Got Talent!

Or at least, her BJD has...

...and she was obviously so engrossed in folding this tiny tiny crane, she forgot to put on some clothes today!

Does your doll have a talent to match this? Give our competition a go!

Wholly Together!

Yep, after three days of arguments, swapping bits in and out, brute force, naughty words, filing, glueing, drilling and improvising, Number 11 (aka 'Leggy') is finally in one bit!

(Okay, okay, so we're minus a couple of screws)

This lovely lady was assembled from a mishmash of spare parts, not all of which were designed to go together. I've no idea where the mech came from, or what they used to hold the chips in, but after an hour of glue-chip attempts, I had to resort to drilling the little blighters out.

Sea green chips... very pleased with these. 

Once the new chips were in, the mech decided to pack in on me. I had to swap out the arc in the end, which has 90% fixed the problem, but a bit of the eyeball itself is worn and not all the changes are entirely reliable.

Mmmm, pinky-gold and GLOWING. 

The Obitsu body was the choice of the lovely Fil. It gets +8 points for pose-ability, -5 for having a bloody horrible neck wobble without the aid of elastic bands and a further -5 because the body is too floppy to hold up the weight of its head. That said, I have seen some gorgeous photos from these, so we'll give it a +2 for potential and call it an outright 0 score. Wouldn't use one myself, but I'm not going to stop anyone from buying one if they really, really want to. I'm going to have to have a play with a Neemo to compare.

Hey hey, Leggy.

Still. She's not looking too bad for all the problems we've gone through and I hope the Fil is pleased with her. I also hope I've not landed her with the name 'Leggy' forever after...

Mini's got talent!

Ladies and Jellyspoons, the first entry is in! Heartsandhugs98089's girl Mini has a particularly interesting talent to share with us...

...DOG WRESTLING!

Mini gets the fearsome foe in a cunning headlock hold! 

Here comes the count... one... two... thr...

OH NOES, it's a paw to the face! This bout is still wide open!

Thanks for sharing, Mini! Let us know who wins the match!

Don't forget, you've got until June the 30th to showcase your doll's talents. Email your photos today!

Saturday Afternoon Diversion (and a competition, YAAY!)

This weekend, it is mostly raining. The problem when it rains is that everyone gets a) 'bored' which swiftly proceeds to b) an excess of mischief.

Today has been no exception. I'd just settled myself into a bit of 'kill or cure' on Leggy (more of that later) after a fairly strenuous run, when a chorus of 'we're bored', 'do something with us' and 'Yarr harr! Have at you! Walk the plank!' arose from the bookcase.

After taking the cutlass off of Melchett and giving it back to the Playmobil pirate, I suggested that everyone find something non-lethal and preferably QUIET to do.

"What sort of thing?", asked Aspen, a little poutily.
I sighed. "I don't know. You lot are a talented bunch, you'll think of something!" I wrestled with the knot Captain Melchett had tied in my favourite lace hanky, currently masquerading as a ghost pirate bandanna.

Next thing I know, everyone's off if a huddle and there are requests for spotlights, curtains, Simon Cowell(?!) and after a noisy disagreement, Elin appears with a sign.

Ah. Okay. This isn't going to be quiet is it?

After about 5 minutes, Leggy appeared. The German Eurovision entry came pounding out of my iPad (I've honestly no idea what that's doing on there...) and she was either in terribly pain or throwing some street dancing shapes...

I'm not entirely sure that the judges were impressed.

Next up was Plink, who demonstrated a new chemistry experiment. Happily nothing exploded.

Aspen tried to galvanise Batson into doing some tricks...

...it wasn't very effective.

Melchie had been rummaging through some boxes off to one side and now she boldly marched onto the stage.

"Nothing up my sleeves!"

And with a flourish of her hand...

...she pulled two bunny slippers out of a hat.

I was rather impressed and after conferring with Plum and Esme, decided she had to be the winner.

THEN, you lucky folks, we decided that we want to see your talents! 

Here's how it works:

• Between now and 18:00 BST on June the 30th, take a photo or two of your doll, be it Makie, Blythe or WHATEVER, exhibiting their very best talent. 
• Once you're happy with it, email me either the photos (maximum of 3 images, please do consider my inbox size when you send...) or a link to the pictures with a short description of what they're up to. 
• Be sure to include your subject's name and your name in the email. I'll feature all the photos on the blog over the coming days. 

On June the 30th, I'll pick my favourite 5 photos and put them in a post... then we'll go really reality TV and put it to a public vote over the next 24 hours. The winner will get (in the finest tradition of Makie Couture) some STUFF and THINGS! 

By emailing the photos, you give me the permission to reproduce them on this blog. The photos remain the property of the photographer and you can ask for 'em to be taken down at any time. Photos should be taken 'specially for this competition and not recycled from other things. My decision as to what goes into the top 5 is final. Ta. 

So whether you've got a Makie into cat jousting, a Blythe who can do the hula, a Barbie who's a dab hand at competitive knitting or a Pullip with a penchant for polo, get them to it, get a photo and send an entry! Awesome!

Day off...

Today I've mostly been doing life admin, sending Swampy off to her new home, sending Swampy's hat off in a separate package after her (whoops) and being dribbled on by one of the cats.

This afternoon has been spent watching Green Wing and working on Leggy. She's carved and sanded and I'm about to swap out the chips.

(May have found time to purchase number 12 on evilBay too!)

Sketches

Today we've been having a play with a new iPad app.

It's called 'sketches' and it's got some thoroughly lovely brushes and effects bundled in to the free version. I'm a big fan of the brush pen and the watercolour brush. It's very easy to get the hang of and is great for fiddling with whilst sat in front of the TV.

Here are the results of a bit of idle doodling :)

Leggy Assemblified!

From this... 

To this! 

...at which point, she was taken to pieces and the real work began. 

Fun with Obitsu

Fil's Magical Parcel of Awesome wasn't just wooly hats and some seriously cool brooches (which I'll show you another day), it also contained Number 11 (aka 'Leggy'), who's here to get assembled and a make-over.

Although it's a little odd to be assembling an entirely new girl from spare and second hand parts, I'm up for the challenge; and Fil's concept for this one is brilliant. Can't wait to see her finally put together.

Plink gave me a hand with the unpacking of the bits.

Yes yes, hello. 

*sigh* Very good. 

You're both little teapots? 

"Taadaaaaaaa!"

I give up.

Conversation

"Esme?"
"Yes, Plum."
"It's 22 degrees centigrade outside, and we're wearing wooly hats."

"Well, someone's got to start the trend, haven't they?"

Thanks for the presents, Fil! We love them.

BLOGGYVERSAREEEE!

O HAI YOU GUYZ! HAPPY BLOGGYVERSARY!

Ack and crikey and believe it or not, it's been a year today since I started with all this nonsense, and by-gosh and by-golly, I'm still at it now one whole orbit of the sun later and with not just the originally intended one little Makie, but having had 12 dolls and one beastlie pass through my hands and into my life.

I'm chuffed to bits that I seem to have stuck with blogging for once, and I'm delighted that there seem to be a few of you out there reading the junk I stick up here on a reasonably irregular basis. I had planned a special post today, with cakes and candles and special paper hats, but work went *ping* in the way that working in the medical profession often does, and I completely forgot all about it. Am rubbish.

So instead of bells and whistles, I thought I'd mention some of my favourite bits from the last year and highlight a few of Makie Couture's... um... achievements...

I've had loads of fun dreaming up content for you all to enjoy...

From messenger bags... 

...to BEAR HATS....

...to WOLF SUITS... 

We've had fun in the sun...

Is it a bird? Is it a plane... NO, it's SUPERPLINK!

In more sun... 

And even in the snow!

We've had competitions...

....and worn some exceptionally silly costumes...

We've even done SCIENCE...

...occasionally, we've had parties with other Makies!

...and above all, have very much enjoyed ourselves!

...most of the time... 

But we really couldn't do it without you, our lovely readers, who have clicked on this little website over 27,000 times as of today! (Although I do take this opportunity to apologise to the 700 or so of you who thought you'd get some sort of sensible post on the Sewaholic Cambie dress... whoops...)

So please keep reading, keep dropping the comments and keep letting me know that you're out there, because above all else we've had a brilliant time meeting some of you fellow dolly nutters and your mad families of plastic lovelies. I have to send one of the biggest, snuggliest virtual hugs to all of you.

Can't wait to see what we all get up to during the next year!

Even more Foxy!

Love it when you forget you purchased a little something.