Merekat Mayhem

why is it that I'm always the one busting my ass before #Akon29, but I'm not even going? The larger doll is Phantom. She is the personafication of @phantomkrafting. She is going to con with @mooncrafter2, while I stay home and clean house. Joy.. The pink critter is Ichigo from #TokyoMewMew. She is for a friend of Sarah's. Now I'm off to get some sleep.

I don’t know if I will ever get out of the well. I’ve accepted that at some point, I may be able to sit on the edge of the well, basking in the warm light. But I will always have my feet dangling over the edge.

Got my desk all clan and managed to shoo off the #cat. Now I found the body I was working on and I can start #makingsomething. #maker #getmotivated #whattomake

And so I get my desk to a workable state, and Shuri just flopped in the middle like she owns it or something. #cleaning #cats #springcleaning #organization

Only a crafter can get away with finding random body parts buried under a mound of crap. #springcleaning #organization #crafting #itsnotwhatyouthink

I think my desk needs a little organization. #springcleaning #smallspaces #crafting

Shuri is not sure about the white wig. I kind if like it. #newhair #cats

The difference #MrSuperClear makes is noticeable. The soon to be #Fluttershy was done with acrylic paints and the Krylon UV-Resistant Clear Matte, which is the less expensive and easier to find alternative to the Mr. Super Clear. Where the Krylon works well with the soft pastels, using the watercolor pencils is next to near impossible. @mooncrafter2 went straight to acrylic paint to get any opacity with color. After a few layers with acrylic paint, the build up is kind of crazy. We finally got our can of MSC and @mooncrafter2 went to work. Oh the differences. The soft pastels stick better and the watercolor pencils glide on like warm butter over hot toast. You can see the difference, especially in the eyes. The other thing @mooncrafter2 did was - for the first few layers of pastels and watercolor pencils, she used MSC. When she transitioned from the pastels and watercolor pencils to the acrylic paint, she sealed the watercolor pencils and pastels with the Krylon and went to the acrylic paint. According to @mooncrafter2, she likes how the Krylon works with the watered down acrylic paint better than MSC. I have not had a chance to test this yet, as I just haven't had time to play with it. Just some notes I thought to share. #repaintingdolls #MSC #Krylon #EverAfterHigh #MonsterHigh #MyLittlePonies #OOAK #LoliRock

Meet the newest member to the family. This is Ynque. @mooncrafter2 is getting better and better at the faces. She started life as a gently played with #HoneySwamp from #MonsterHigh. The sculpt on the doll has the beautiful swirly vine pattern that gave us the idea for a character that has the power of ink and color. Her clothes aren't done yet, so she is wearing something to keep her modesty. Sewing tiny clothes is not as easy as I thought it would be. #ooak #monsterhighrepaint #custom #doll #repaint

Thank you @walkercolours! You gave me an idea and I ran with it. I have started using the paper mache technique for EVERYTHING! I use two ply paper towels, pulled apart. Then I cut them into strips. My glue mix is 1 part water to 1.5 part glue. I'm thinking of trying wood glue in stead of the Elmer's Glue All, mostly to achieve a stiffer form when finished. Craft foam is great for doll armor, but paper mache would be easier in my opinion. In these pictures, I'm wrapping an arm to get a sleeve pattern and I'm wrapping a torso for an armor pattern. I knew those "Make your own Mosnter" doll sets would come in handy some day. #Ooak #monsterhigh #monsterhighclothes #fashion #tutorial

Meet Nikko - The Succubi of Lust. She is the first in our "Sins and Virtues". I'm still working on clothes while @mooncrafter2 is working on hair and the face ups. #monsterhighrepaint #ooakdoll #ooak #repaintingdolls #monsterhighdolls #frankiestein

We have boot legs! Lol! Thanks to a tutorial by @walkercolours, @mooncrafter2 and I are embarking on making shoes for the dolls. I thought it was funny that I had legs sticking out of my foam block. #shoes #tinyshoes #monsterhighdolls #ooak #monsterhighshoes

I did not clean my desk off so Shuri would have a place to sleep. There is doll that needs dressed. Stationery to make, and general things that must be done. #deskspace #cats #cleaning #organization

Meet Violet! She is wearing temporary clothes, but we are done with her face and hair. Tomorrow I work on her clothes. I was told to go with pastel gothic Lolita style. #monsterhighrepaint #ooakdoll #ooak #monsterhighdolls #reroot

Our latest face up. We haven't named her yet, but @mooncrafter2 has decided that this one is HER doll. #monsterhighrepaint #ooakdoll #custom

So we took Jennifire and turned her into Hebihime. I should have documented more of the process, but I was to busy getting lost in her construction. When we got her, her leg was broken, so we came up with the Naga idea. We didn't have hair for a reroot and we decided to use the doll's factory hair. The snake body is a core of aluminum foil, wrapped in a few layers of tissue paper, wrapped in a black piece of scrap fabric, then stitched together. We took inspiration from @dollightfully 's Mermaid Repaint. I found all her videos on YouTube extremely informative and helped me get started. I'm pretty please with @mooncrafter2 and my first repaint. Sarah is better at faces than I am though... #custom #customdoll #ooak #monsterhigh #repaint #monsterhighrepaint

@mooncrafter2 is working on her first face up. About a week ago, we found a box of second hand, gently played with Monster High dolls. We're turning the Jennifire doll (a dragon) into a Naga. More pictures to come. #monsterhighdolls #monsterhighrepaint #repaintingdolls #newhobby