Art Dolls by Natalie Scholl

So Much for the New Year's Resolution!

2011-07-21T21:36:00.000-04:00

I just reread my last post and feel so ashamed at the fact that I wanted to post more on here for my New Year's Resolution and here we are entering the fourth week of July for my first post since!! I guess some things never change!

My house is still under construction somewhat, (15 months and counting now), but the projects left are all the small, fine detailed ones mainly. On the up side, it is inhabitable and on the down side... I tend to work slow on fine details.

This brings me onto the subject of sculpting! :) I am still working on a custom sculpt. I am very close to finishing now and am anxious to put the final result together and do a final photo shoot. Once she goes off to her "mommy", I will get hard at work on my next kit as well as a mini ooak that I will likely list for sale on Ebay. If not there, I will list it directly on my website. I hope to be able to post again soon with pictures of the latest little one here.

For now I am off to work on the little munchkin!

Goodnight!

Wow!

2010-12-13T09:00:00.002-05:00

I cannot believe it's been 7 months since my last post here! Wow! I guess one of my New Year's resolutions for my business will be to make a conscious effort not to forget about my blog! :)

The world of the internet surely can take you away. I signed up for a Facebook Fan Page and between updating that, answering emails that I get through three different addresses and my facebook mail, updating webpages, keeping up with orders for kits... you can see how time escapes me.

Ontop of all of this, I have been renovating my first home for the last 7 months. Things with that are finally starting to come to a close... just in time to host some Christmas dinners. I'm looking forward to enjoying time in a house without wearing construction boots!

What has been happening with Art Dolls by Natalie Scholl these last months? I introduced my second kit, "Ryan", a limited edition of 1000 kits. Pre-orders began on July 19th and within 50 hours, I had completely sold out and my dealers sold out shortly thereafter. I was definitely not prepared for this kind of response! This production took far longer than I had ever hoped for or imagined. The kits only arriving to me this past week. I, (along with my mom), have been busy inspecting each and every piece before sorting, packing and shipping. I have decided that having this many kits come in at this time of the year is extremely stressful.... and if I can avoid it in the future, I will do so!! I have so many things to do!! I'm just focusing on the day when the kits are all shipped out and I can relax.

I have also been working on a custom order and have begun sculpting a head for my next kit. With things the way they are at the moment, both of these projects are moving very slowly. I hope things will be able to pick up again in the new year.

For now, I'll leave you with pictures of little Ryan...

We also have a new little one in the family. Please meet baby Charlotte...

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukka, Happy Kwanzaa... or whatever you may celebrate!

Jayden Kits

2010-05-01T18:12:00.007-04:00

I have been away from blogging for awhile due to many things happening all at once! I am in the process of moving and renovations at the moment and am processing lots of kit orders for "Jayden". I will not be having any ooaks available until I get my studio set up in my new place, as I am working on some custom orders at the moment as well.

The prototypes for "Jayden" arrived last week and turned out absolutely wonderful! They are now at the reborners' and I am anxiously awaiting pictures of them! For now, I will post some pictures of the blank kits for you to see. If you are still wanting to order one of these kits, I would suggest ordering soon as there are only about 90 kits left now and seem to be selling fast since the prototypes came out.

For more ordering information, please go to: http://www.nataliescholl.com/Jayden.html

Here are some pictures of the blank, unpainted kit....

Tiny Teddy #3

2010-04-11T21:56:00.003-04:00

It has been a LONG time since I've been on my blog! Things here have been so busy that I have forgotten to come on and update. I will be back on soon to update, but for now I will share a listing that I have just placed on Ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190388414868

Tiny Teddy #2

2010-02-08T00:27:00.002-05:00

I have just listed the second baby in my "Tiny Teddies" series. Please meet little Clara...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190371543716

Tiny Teddies

2010-01-31T21:57:00.002-05:00

I have just listed the first baby in a new series for the year, called "Tiny Teddies". You can see the auction here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190369754150

Jayden Pre-Orders

2010-01-16T03:48:00.001-05:00

Pre-ordering is now set up for Jayden. If you would like to place an order, or would like more information/pictures, please go to: http://www.nataliescholl.com/Jayden.html

Jayden

2010-01-15T06:04:00.002-05:00

I am happy to announce my first kit will be named, "Jayden". I have heard back from the manufacturing company with costs, so I am now free to move on with the orders. I am working on finishing my order/payment page and will hopefully have it up in the next couple of days so that orders can be made directly from there. Production will take approximately 3 months from the time that the original is received at the factory.

I will update again when the page is up and ready. Thank you for your patience!

Nearly Finished!

2010-01-10T05:04:00.002-05:00

I am waiting for the last piece for my kit baby to bake. I am still contemplating doing a belly plate for this baby. I think it might be cute to have one, but I'm not sure if that many people would like one to make it worthwhile producing one. I have had so much fun creating this larger baby. I love making the mini ones, but every now and then it is fun to do something different. Hopefully I will have some pictures of the whole baby to share soon!

To Come...

2010-01-01T18:37:00.003-05:00

A glimpse of a newborn size baby to be produced as a reborn kit.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T15:27:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to stop in and wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

I finished my custom sculpts and have been recovering from another virus of some sort, so have been away from the computer recently. I am anxious to get to work on a new little one to offer for sale in the beginning of the new year!

I do hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday season!

Finished Sculpting!

2009-12-02T02:50:00.002-05:00

I have finally finished sculpting the limbs for these custom sculpts I'm working on. Now I just need to finish sanding and painting. Not too much longer now, and then I can get back to doing my own little ones. :)

Hope to be sharing some photos soon...

Two New Little Ones

2009-11-18T03:12:00.004-05:00

What can I say? I am still working on customs and have neglected my blog yet again! I was knocked off my feet for a little over a week from some sort of illness, but luckily I am back up and at it again now, and feeling much better.

I just finished limbs for another little one last night. They still need to be sanded and painted, but they are finally sculpted! I also finished another two babies a little while ago and since I had them here at the same time, I took a few photos of them together. I'll share one of them with you here... a sound little sleeper and a cranky little fellow. It looks a bit like a fist fight is about to errupt in this picture though! :)

A Quick Update

2009-09-28T15:09:00.003-04:00

Hello!!

I have had a couple of people email me in the last few days asking where I have disappeared to! I apologize for not writing in my blog as of late. I have been working many long hours on some custom sculpts trying to get caught up here. I have made lots of progress with them, but still have a ways to go yet. I do hope to have a new baby available in the coming weeks for sale. I also have plans to finally get at working on a kit doll. So, for all the reborners out there that have been asking when one will be available... with any luck, this winter!

For those of you on my mailing list... do not worry, you are still on my list! You have NOT missed any dolls! I have not had any available for awhile. :) I do appreciate you checking in and your continued interest! It is always good to hear from everyone.

Take care,
Natalie

Summer

2009-08-30T15:27:00.007-04:00

Nearing the end of summer already and I've neglected my blog again! I have been busy travelling and working on more custom orders. I flew out west to visit my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew. We went camping in the rockies together... what beautiful scenery! It was nice to see them and spend time together. I also travelled up north to go camping and canoeing for a few days. The weather didn't cooperate too much with that trip unfortunately, but it was still nice to get away and enjoy the solitude up there. I am posting a couple of pictures from my trips to share.

Miss Mia

2009-08-06T23:25:00.004-04:00

I have been busy travelling this past week, and am finally back and settled for a couple of weeks before I am off again. I am trying to enjoy the rest of the warm weather before the cold reappears here.

My little custom girl is named and now off to her mommy. Here she is ... little miss Mia.

A Peek at Little Miss

2009-07-23T19:35:00.002-04:00

I have finally finished this little miss, (still no name for now), and she is now at my mom's waiting to get her outfits made. She is a tiny little one compared to the last ones I have made... just barely 8 inches long. I took a few pictures of her right after I painted her. She did not have a body yet and I just placed her pieces in a dress, (which is far too large for her), for these pictures. I thought I would share her like this anyways. :)

Long Lost

2009-07-14T13:41:00.005-04:00

I can't believe so much time has gone by since my last posting! So much has been going on here as of late that has kept me either away from sculpting, or going slowly. I spent such a long time working on the limbs for this little girl... trying to improve on my arms and legs as I went. I sculpted and resculpted both the arms and legs several times. It wasn't a total waste of time, as I learned from each one that I decided to take apart again. :) I was lucky enough to have a couple of friends send me pictures from all different angles of legs and arms from the same baby to help me in my quest to improve. These pictures helped immensely and I look forward to the future when I can improve even more!

In the next couple of days I will be sanding and painting this little girl and then she will be ready to be outfitted. I shall share her with you all as soon as I can!

After an extremely hot week near the beginning of the summer, it has cooled right off here. It is unusually cool for our summers here, but it does make it easier to sculpt... so I won't complain about the coolness from that point of view! :) I have been enjoying the flowers and green grass that this summer has to offer as opposed to the burnt grass and desolate flowerbeds that are usually common this time of year from the heat. Here are a few pictures I have taken in the last little while...

I will write again soon!

Little Miss

2009-06-21T17:08:00.003-04:00

Before I left on my trip, I started on a custom order that I agreed to do awhile ago. I didn't get very far before I left, so when I got Emilio up on Ebay, I went back to work on that one. I finally finished the head for her late last night. She is now patiently awaiting her limbs so she can finally go home to her mommy who has been waiting so long for her. She is much daintier looking than Emilio... it is fun to put her head next to him and see the difference. It looks like a 5-6lb baby next to an 8lb one. My nephew, (the one that I used the pictures of to sculpt Emilio), was an 8 pounder, so I guess that seems right! :) This newest little one does not have a name yet, so I am just calling her "Little Miss".

I will post pictures soon....

Introducing Emilio

2009-06-15T00:00:00.006-04:00

After a two week vacation, I am back with a new listing on Ebay... my first in a very long time!

Please welcome Emilio...

His auction link is: http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190314649612

A Series of Unfortunate Events #2

2009-05-20T05:30:00.002-04:00

In continuation with the post that I just made, my second series of unfortunate events was in relation to the mini baby I have been working on. When I realized I was getting nowhere with my large head, (and fast), I decided to get back to work on my mini. I worked two days on a set of arms that I thought were some of my best yet. I put them in to bake and set a timer for fifteen minutes and when the timer went off, and I went to take them out, I was stunned at what I saw. Black tips of fingers, dark brown skin in other areas... blackened elbows... it was awful!! All my hard work gone! I could not figure out why they had burned like this. I have never burnt any of my sculpting before. It has happened to so many of my fellow artists, so I knew it was bound to happen to me one day... but why that day!? :)

I finally realized that I had set the oven to 375 instead of 275. I have been baking a lot of bread and cookies in the last few months, so I think being away from my sculpting while doing my resins... and only baking items that were always set to 375, I just automatically set it to that without thinking. Needless to say, I won't do that again!!

After a few days work, tonight I finally finished arms and legs for this little guy and I just pulled them out of the oven a little while ago. I am anxious to paint him and put him together. I made very newborn looking limbs for this one... working from pictures of my nephew to go with the head I made from his pictures. The feet and hands are more wrinkly than my usual... quite cute! I hope he turns out like I have him in my mind.

Anyways, I thought I would share a picture of my poor boy with his "unfortunate" limbs. :(

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2009-05-20T05:11:00.006-04:00

It is just after five in the morning and the sun is already rising. I still have not gotten used to the sun coming up so early and staying up so late in the day. It was only yesterday that I realized it is now light until about 9 at night here. I love having so many hours of sunlight. It is a shame though, when you still haven't gone to bed and the sun is already on the way up! :)

My series of unfortunate events began with working on a large head for hours on end to the point that my fingers and hands were actually cramping... to come out with a face like this...

Only to decide I didn't like it, and change it to this...

Only to yet again, decide I did not like it and change it to this...

Then I tweaked it a bit more to this...

and finally to this....

At this point, I still had to finish putting that eye on the left side in and get the cheek to match the other one, among a few other things. One day I woke up, looked at it, and decided it was just not realistic enough and destroyed the whole thing. What a waste of many long days of work that was!! Now I look back at some of these pictures and wish I had kept features from all of them. :)

From Small to Big

2009-05-04T18:57:00.003-04:00

Just thought I would check in since it's been awhile. After sculpting my last little head, I kept wishing it was lifesize. Probably the fact that he looks like my nephew did at birth did not help! :) So off to work I went on a lifesize head. I am at the point now where I cannot count how many times I have resculpted the face on this one. I have realized no matter how hard I try, I cannot replicate something I've already done! Going from a sculpt so tiny to one so big is also a challenge in many ways.

I am finally making good progress with this head though, and am hoping that in the end I will like it enough to have it reproduced into a kit doll. I will keep you posted as I finish up this head. I hope to finish it this week, but if I change my mind again on the face then it definitely won't be this week! :)

Tuckered Out

2009-04-17T00:56:00.003-04:00

After studying MANY newborn pictures of my nephew at various angles and an infant skull I have here, I think I have corrected some of the things that I had done wrong in previous sculpts. I think I have improved on the general head and face shape of a newborn with this sculpt... beginning with what the "skull structure" would be underneath and the various muscles, tendons, and fat pads associated with a newborn.

I had intended on creating a little girl, but this one has proven to be boy all the way. I guess studying all those boy pictures did rub off in another, unintended, way! :)

Here he is, just cured, no paint...

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T17:26:00.003-04:00

Now that I have hosted Easter dinner and all is calm again, I can return to my sculpting. I had started on a new head last week, but it was turning out smaller than I had wanted this one to be... so I started anew today. I am working on one that will be about 9 inches and will list it for sale on either my website or Ebay. I have not decided where yet.

I have an idea of what I would like this one to be like when it is done, and hopefully that idea will surface in this clay. :)

I will write again when I've made some progress.

Happy Easter!

A Matter of Neglect

2009-04-01T16:53:00.003-04:00

All I can say is, "Oops!". :) I was surprised when I logged on today and saw that I hadn't posted since March 17th! I have long since finished babies numbered 17, 18, and 19. Unfortunately the buyer for number 20 had to drop her spot. On the up side for me, it means I am now finished my resin orders and can get back to my sculpting. The past couple of days I have been catching up with my cleaning/organizing and knitting for my nephew. It has been nice and now I am ready to jump into the clay!

The three resins that I have left here I will complete at a later date... for now I need to sculpt a new face. :)

Here are numbers 17 and 18:

and number 19:

The Big Mix-up

2009-03-17T17:05:00.004-04:00

I forgot to come back and post a picture of these three cuties. I thought I was being so smart by having each of the three wear a different coloured diaper so I would know which one was which, but I still managed to mix up two of the babies. When I went to dress them, I mixed up their bows and outfits and was part-way through taking their pictures when I realized it! Good thing I don't have real triplets myself! :)

In this picture, the ones on the right and left are in the wrong outfits, but I liked this picture so much that I am posting it as they are... mixed up. The little one in the middle looks like she is squirming with all her might to get herself infront of the other two. :)

I am just finishing up numbers 17 and 18... they are almost ready for photos. I will post a picture of those two soon. When those two are finished and off, then I just have two left to complete. It is hard to believe I am nearing the end of this edition, yet, not so hard since it has been such a long process. What a great learning experience it has been all around.

Triplets

2009-03-11T20:19:00.002-04:00

I am just in the midst of finishing three more resins, (the first time I have attempted doing three at once). All the "mommies" requested medium brown glued hair... so even though they look slightly different in the way their hair lays, I still kind of look at them as triplets.

I just finished making their diapers... so they are lying on my bed waiting for their arms to be sewn on, but wearing their diapers. Each of them has a different coloured diaper so that I know which one is which. :)

After I finish these three, I will only have four left to do. Two people have given up their spots, so I will still have two left here to do, but since they are not yet sold, I can look forward to sculpting for now.

I will write again soon with pictures of these three, (numbers 13-15).

My Latest

2009-03-02T14:53:00.004-05:00

I forgot to post the last two resins when I finished them. I finished these two a few days ago... they are numbers 10 and 12 in the edition. I'm slowly getting there and as the new moms patiently wait for their babies, I patiently wait to get back to sculpting.

Here are the latest two...

Almost Halfway

2009-02-19T08:57:00.002-05:00

I have now finished numbers 8 and 9 in the edition, which brings me just about to the halfway point. It has been such a long process... I wonder how it will feel to me when I am back to sculpting. I am very much getting the "itch" to sculpt again. I see pictures of cute babies, or see pictures of other wonderful sculpts and it makes me want to pull all my sculpting stuff out. Soon enough!

I am beginning work on numbers 10 and 12 in the edition, (11 is on hold for now). Hopefully in a few days I will have pictures of them to share. For now, I will post this picture of 8 and 9.

My Time Off

2009-02-10T03:21:00.003-05:00

While waiting for my resins to come for the last week, I decided to take some time off. After several sleepless nights, I definitely needed the break. When I start on the rest of them, I will work straight, with no days off, until they are all complete... so I am using my time wisely now, and enjoying it. :)

I have spent my time doing the cleaning I neglected while working on all these little ones, as well as doing some knitting for my niece and nephew. I am a beginner knitter, so I work slowly... but I have made great progress, (for me), and hope I can finish off these two sweaters before these little ones outgrow them! I have enjoyed my time working on them.

I am now feeling renewed and ready for the rest of these resins.

Caught Up!

2009-01-30T03:25:00.003-05:00

Well, it is the middle of the night here and we are in the midst of a snowsquall... yet again. A night where we were only supposed to get "less than 1cm of snow" has now amounted to quite a lot more! It does look pretty out... blustery, but pretty.

I have finally caught up by finishing all the resins that I have here to do. I am now waiting for the rest of the edition to be shipped to me so I can finish numbers 8-20... the studio is a bit behind in schedule.

Here are some pictures of numbers 5, 6, and 7.

Jordan the Fourth

2009-01-17T16:18:00.001-05:00

Here she is... number four in the edition...

The Fourth

2009-01-17T01:17:00.002-05:00

I have made more progress in my resin edition... the fourth baby is now finished. Including all the proofs, I have now completed seven of these little ones and, surprisingly, it does not seem like it. I do miss my sculpting, but I am glad that I am not tired of finishing these resins. I will post pictures of her as soon as her "mommy" has seen the pictures for herself.

This week brought about a lot of activity surrounding my preemie. I had many emails about him. I was not at all prepared for this to happen. He was just a little guy that I knew was flawed, but I wanted to finish him anyways. I wanted to see what he would be like when he was all painted and put together. I discovered that I love his size. I also discovered that there are others out there that love him, just as I do. :)

My Little Guy

2009-01-11T04:58:00.008-05:00

Two posts in one day... must be a record for me! :)

Today I had planned to spend the whole day organizing and cleaning. I ended up doing a little bit of that, and then I pulled out my preemie that I started months ago. I worked on it until he was finished. This is the baby that had a couple of moonies in the leg and a small crack at the corner of one eye... so he will stay here with me... my little guy. I have decided that I do very much like this size. He is about the size of a 3lb baby I think.

Anyways, here are some pictures of him...

Now There are Three

2009-01-11T04:56:00.002-05:00

I finished number 3 in my resin edition the other night. I was waiting to hear back from the new mommy before I made pictures public. :)

Here she is....

Number 3

2009-01-08T03:16:00.002-05:00

Today marks the day that number 3 will be born. All the pieces are now ready and a body is waiting... I, on the other hand, at 3.20am have a bed that is waiting for me. :) Later today when I awake, I will put her together and make her little diaper and pacifier. These little ones have been such a long time coming, that it is nice when I finally come to the moment when they are ready for their very first photo session. The next few days have snow in the forecast, so hopefully I will be able to get some nice photos with the aide of some artificial lighting.

More to come...

Forgotten Blog

2009-01-04T16:48:00.004-05:00

With the hustle and bustle of Christmas, I entirely forgot to come back to my blog. I do sincerely apologize! I had a very busy holiday... and am now catching up with my next set of resins that arrived over the holidays. All my relatives have returned home in the last couple of days and I am back to the grind on these little ones. I did get numbers 1 and 2 finished and shipped... they even both arrived to their new mommies in time for Christmas. Here they are....

These two were a little difficult to photograph due to lighting issues. Number 1 in the edition has medium brown hair, (it looks mostly dark in my pictures), and number 2 is actually blonde... for some reason she shows up looking like she has strawberry coloured hair. The lighting issues were due to the weather. Almost every single day up until Christmas, it snowed here. I can't remember ever having so much snow so early in the season. Normally we are hoping for a white Christmas... this time, there was no question it would be. Following that, it got very mild with heavy rains and we experienced flooding. It sure has been a strange season so far!

I am presently working on numbers 3 and 4 in the edition now. I find I like working on two at a time while I paint, because it allows me to keep working while one is drying. Hopefully soon I will have pictures of two more to post!

Again, sorry for neglecting my blog. :)

And So it Begins...

2008-12-08T22:48:00.003-05:00

I am moving along with babies number 1 and 2 in my "Jordan" edition. Tonight, I am doing the finishing touches on the painting of these two. Once I am finished that, they will be sealed and ready for hair. Their bodies are ready and waiting for them, as are their outfits. Not much longer with these two before they will be off amongst all the Christmas packages out there in the post. Hopefully the mail won't be too slow and they will arrive home in time for Christmas.

I will post pictures of them when they are ready.

Jordan Proofs

2008-11-29T04:33:00.007-05:00

Today ended up being another long day... 12 more hours spent on these guys and their pictures. I decided to leave one of them bald as a choice for the new mommies. I don't normally like to leave my babies bald, but I thought it looked kind of cute. My keeper is the one with the thick head of hair! :)

Proof Day

2008-11-28T01:41:00.002-05:00

I am calling today "Proof Day" because my goal is to have my three Artist Proofs for the Jordan edition finished. I have been working all day since I got up on these and this will be another all nighter for me to get them finished. I have one finished and hope to finish the last two by later in the morning sometime. It's in the middle of the night now. :)

My mom is working hard on outfits for their first pictures, so hopefully after I have a bit of a sleep later in the day, I will be able to take pictures to share.

I had no idea it had been so long since I last posted on here! For those of you who read regularly, sorry for neglecting my blog! I have been so engrossed in these resins that I've lost track of all else.

I will write more later today.

Quick Update

2008-11-12T22:32:00.002-05:00

Just thought I would stop in to give a quick update. I have been trying painting techniques on my Artist Proofs... trying to find something that I like just as well as for my ooaks. I am making progress and hopefully will finish one soon and be able to post pictures. Then I will need to figure out a good way to glue hair on and make it look nice. These are so much different to do than the ooaks. It is difficult to do something where everything that you do to finish a doll is a whole new process. It is good to learn new things though, and I'm sure soon I will be moving right along on these. :)

Resins

2008-11-05T20:09:00.003-05:00

In some ways, it seems like only yesterday I sent little Jordan off to be molded and cast in resin, and now, two months later... I have received the first 5. I was originally hoping I would receive all 23 at once so I could get to work on them. When I took all the pieces out of the box today and placed them on my desk, I thought to myself, "What was I thinking!?" and was glad I only had 5 to begin with. They fill the whole desk as it is. With 5 pieces for each doll, I realized in the end I will have painted 115 pieces to complete the edition. I'm sure I would have been overwhelmed having them all at once!! I am anxious to get these five finished and get a picture of them together. I am really happy with the colour of the resin. I think it is a great base colour to work with.

I have also finished my crib, but I still need to make the bedding for it. It turned out great, and I'm very pleased with it. Hopefully shortly I will have some pictures of the resins and the crib complete with bedding! :)

Multi-tasking

2008-10-27T17:40:00.002-04:00

I realized today that it has been awhile since I've last posted, so thought I'd write.

I worked quite hard on a new head for my preemie, but it just wasn't turning out the way I was seeing it in my head... so I had to put it down for awhile. I will come back to it with a fresh look and hopefully it will progress better. In the meantime, I have started work on another 9 inch... something I'm more familiar with and something I can finish faster than the other. I have been taking my time with it as well however. :)

I have been busy trying to get everything I'll need for my resins. I need different paint, among other things, that I don't use on my ooaks. I've been researching on what paints are best to use, paint sealers, etc. I heard last week that my first shipment of resins will arrive in the next week or so. It won't be long now that I'll be totally immersed in those. I will post pictures as I finish them. The first three will be the Artist Proofs.

Anyways, soon I should have pictures of something to share, (whether it be of an ooak, resin, or a wooden crib I've been working on to display my babies in).

Bad News

2008-10-09T22:11:00.003-04:00

After countless hours spent on this preemie baby, I have sad news to report. I found a couple of moonies in one leg, so decided I needed to resculpt that.... which was disheartening enough. To add to that now, I found that I sculpted in the corner of the eye and let the clay get too thin there, and there are some hairline cracks there. So now I am left with sculpting another head and a leg. I was very upset to find these after all the time invested in this baby, but, time to move on.

The first of my resins are due to arrive here soon, so I had toyed with the idea of giving up on this preemie for a little while and go back to a smaller, more familiar size with the little time I have left before I get inundated with the resin work. The preemie however, calls out to be finished... so I am going to be working hard in the next number of days trying to replace what I have lost. Hopefully I can do just as good a job on this next head, or even better would always be acceptable too! :)

Pampers Ad

2008-10-02T23:30:00.002-04:00

Today I finished the arms for this little one and when they had cooled, I set all the pieces in a stuffed diaper and shirt to see how it looked all together. I took a few pictures and this one was my favourite of the lot... a preemie Pampers ad. :)

The limbs are not sanded or painted yet, so they look rather "flat" still. Soon they will come to life.

Overdue

2008-10-01T21:28:00.002-04:00

I have been moving along so slowly with this little preemie due to being extremely fussy with details and being unable to sculpt for a few days. I had anticipated this one being finished by now, so we will call this one... overdue. :)

I have completed the legs for this one and am working on finishing up the arms now. What a fragile being this little one is.

Sorry for the delay.

Preemie

2008-09-24T21:44:00.002-04:00

I am slowly progressing with the limbs for my preemie baby. It is completely different trying to sculpt this little one... everything has to be so fragile and delicate looking. I am having fun working on something so different, but it definitely is a learning curve for me! I have all four limbs started now. Normally I will finish a limb before starting another, but this time I am laying everything out in a stuffed body to be sure it suits this little one, (both proportion wise and style). Hopefully soon I will be putting this little one together.

I can't help but look at this baby and think how incredible it is that babies are born this small and survive. So amazing.

Miracle Baby

2008-09-18T02:51:00.002-04:00

Tonight I finally finished the head I've been working on for the last while. I worked so hard on it and changed it around so much, that I think I compressed the foil armature smaller than it originally was because this baby will be the size of a 2-3 lb preemie I think. Definitely not 40 weeks. So while I worked on it, I researched for hours on end, preemies of around this size. Their features are so difficult to replicate! I think this baby is maybe a bit of a mix of preemie and newborn features. I found a little guy online that I modelled it by, and he didn't have the regular micro-preemie characteristics... what a beautiful little boy he was. I only wish I could sculpt this one as beautiful as he was at that size. Anyways, I titled this post "Miracle Baby" because it kind of seemed fitting. Preemies of this size really are miracles. For this sculpt, it's a miracle it even is here! I changed the face completely more times than I can even remember and at one point I was ready to give up. But, here it is... all snuggled up in a blanket on my desk patiently waiting for some arms and legs.

:)

Jordan

2008-09-07T19:22:00.002-04:00

My first resin edition, "Jordan", is sold out and now begins the wait for the resin pieces to be molded and cast. Seems strange to wait so long now with nothing to do for them until they arrive when I know how busy I will be painting them and getting them all ready once they are here. In the meantime, I have decided to start working on a larger sized baby. I have replicated a 40 week skull using foil and will begin sculpting on that tonight. I have no idea how large the head will end up being once it is all sculpted, but I would guess this baby will be preemie or newborn size when finished. I was anxious to try something different after all the 9 inch ones I have just done in a row. I will post as I make progress on it.

New Look

2008-08-31T12:44:00.003-04:00

I have been wanting to redevelop my website for the last few months to give it a simpler and cleaner look, and to have it match the style of my blog. Finally, it is now finished. Please check out my new website...

http://www.nataliescholl.com

I would also like to announce that I only have 1 spot left now in my first resin edition. If you are interested in reserving that spot, please contact me through my webpage.

Limited Edition Resin

2008-08-27T16:53:00.001-04:00

I am happy to announce that I now have pre-ordering set up for my latest baby... baby Jordan. This baby will be a Limited Edition of 20, with 3 artist proofs. This is my first resin edition to be produced. If you are interested in knowing more about this baby, or would like to pre-order, please click on the following link:

http://nataliescholl.com/Jordan.html

Home

2008-08-27T10:43:00.003-04:00

I am home from my vacation now. My days were spent viewing beautiful scenery and wildlife that I had never seen before. It refreshed my mind and with that, I have jumped into getting my announcement ready. I will be posting it later today.

New Arrival

2008-08-16T12:34:00.004-04:00

This baby does not have a name yet, but here she/he is...

Sorry the pictures are a bit delayed, I've been trying to get ready to go on vacation and it slipped my mind. I do have special plans for this baby, which I will announce when I return from my trip... so if you are interested, please check back later this month.

Coming Soon...

2008-08-14T12:32:00.002-04:00

I have finished this baby and am waiting for my wonderful seamstress, (my mom), to come up with an outfit for it. She was hoping to finish something today, so once I get it back, I'll post some pictures. Please check back soon!

Pictures to Come

2008-08-11T11:40:00.003-04:00

I began another baby recently. I cannot remember now when I started the head, but I finally finished it this past weekend. It took me awhile to finish because I fussed over the face for hours as usual. Yesterday I finished up the legs, so this little one sits on my desk all positioned in a stuffed outfit with no arms yet. Poor thing. :)

Hopefully today I will manage to get some arms made. I will post pictures as soon as I can. I am finally able to do that now... back up and running with my Photoshop program.

Computer Issues

2008-08-04T09:37:00.002-04:00

I have not been able to post any photos of what I have been doing lately because the computer with all my photos has been freezing up on me. Luckily, I have two hard drives and had everything backed up on there. Yesterday I was forced to wipe the main drive and reinstall windows. I am still trying to get all the Windows updates on there and then all the software. Hopefully I'll be able to share some photos soon.

I did sculpt a new head which I thought I was going to use for a mini resin reproduction, but decided in the end that it just wasn't what I was looking for. Inbetween that, I've been working on a course that I have been taking. It is a forensic facial reconstruction class. We each had to get a lifesize human skull, (reproduction of one), to work on. It has been very interesting and quite amazing to do. I will share pictures of that as well once I get back to the computer with all the photos.

Alexander

2008-07-14T02:55:00.003-04:00

After a few unforseen unrelated delays, I now can finally present Alexander...

He is 9 inches long with 1/2 arms and full legs. He has newborn grey/blue glass eyes. After studying little Sam for hours, I sculpted this face to give that kind of expression a newborn has when studying his surroundings.

He is now available for sale on my website at: http://www.nataliescholl.com/Alexander2.html

I had planned on getting him up earlier, but my computer is being a little defiant and did not want to move at the pace I was wanting to. ;o)

Clothing Time for the New Baby

2008-07-11T15:28:00.004-04:00

I finally finished putting together my new little one last night... LATE last night. I always seem to be most creative at night. I don't know why that is. Of course I also had to make a diaper right away... necessities first. ;o) Today is clothing day and then I will be able to do his/her first photo shoot. I am leaning towards boy on this baby, but I am still not 100% convinced. I need to lay some fabrics on it to decide.

I had been wanting to sculpt more today on another baby, but it is very hot and humid today and the clay just melts in my hands. I had the air conditioner off, but it is on now and hopefully later it will be cool enough to get back to the clay. That is, if I'm not too busy posing the new baby and photographing. ;o)

Almost Finished

2008-07-03T17:07:00.003-04:00

Another night spent sculpting into the wee hours of the morning. I did manage to finish a set of legs for this open eyed baby though, so now I just need to finish the arms and it will be ready for sanding/painting and then assembly. I used little Sam's legs as a guide for these and will do the same for the arms. It really does help to have a real baby around to "inspect". ;o)

Hopefully soon I will be posting with some pictures of my newest little one.

One Head Down, One to Go!

2008-06-26T04:12:00.002-04:00

I have just put my head with open eyes in the oven. That took a lot more time to complete than I thought it would. I changed the face more times than I can even count because I was just not satisfied with it. I am also trying to get another head done at the moment... and of course, I will need 8 limbs to go along with them. So lots more work ahead of me in the next few days. At least with one head done, I finally feel like I'm making progress.

As of late, my days here have been filled with holding and playing with a 7 week old and sculpting by night. I'm trying to memorize every crease on his body, every curve of his head for my sculpting before he gets too big to use as a guide for my newborns. I marvel at every tiny feature on this little guy, and wish I could "sculpt" like that. =)

Stranger

2008-06-15T01:08:00.003-04:00

I feel like a stranger at this point on my own blog. I have been away for so long. It has been a busy spring to say the least. Spring seemed to take awhile to settle in and then when it finally did warm up, it was all entirely too fast with hot, sticky days. The temperatures have been up to 40 degrees celcius with the humidity, (104 fahrenheit); which is extremely warm for here, especially this time of year. It makes it difficult to work with my clay when it is so warm because the clay just seems to melt to the touch and doesn't hold the finer details as much as I would like. I have been working slowly on a new head during the times when it is cooler. Hopefully I will be able to finish it soon so that I'll have some news to report and some pictures to share.

Welcome Little Leah

2008-05-24T18:09:00.002-04:00

I decided to make a new pair of jeans for this little one. I didn't like the white thread and I found some cute pink fabric to use on the edges of the legs instead of the denim. Now that her outfit is finally finished, she is available for sale. If you interested in purchasing her, or would like to see more pictures of her, please click this link... http://www.nataliescholl.com/Leah.html

It's a Girl!

2008-05-20T13:48:00.002-04:00

After I put the paint on this little one, all I could see was girl. I spent two days painting her... one day just getting the light skintone that I wanted and another day to do all the detailing. I am pleased with how she turned out. My mom is going away and was too busy getting ready to sew, so I got creative last night and spent 4-5 hours creating some mini jeans. They make me laugh, but I think they suit her. I'd still like to either make a hat or a little hooded jacket to go with her and then she will be ready to go up for sale. I took this picture of her last night sporting her new jeans.

Update

2008-05-15T12:26:00.003-04:00

I have finished the arms for this latest little one and am happy with the positioning of all the fingers. Now to sand all the pieces down to get them as smooth as possible. Then they can begin to come to life with a little colouring. Though I am contemplating sculpting a little belly plate for this one. I have not quite decided yet. Hopefully I will have pictures to post in the next couple of days to give a sneak peek.

"Catch-Up"

2008-05-13T14:22:00.002-04:00

With all that has been going on here, I have been trying to play "catch-up" in order to finish a little one that I started a little while ago. I spent what seemed like forever working on the legs for this little one before I was finally happy with them. I just have the arms left to do now. Hopefully I can finish up with those soon here. I had run out of eyes and was waiting on those to arrive while I started this one, so it is another sleeper. The eyes have since arrived and they are beautiful solid glass eyes. Hopefully I can make some beautiful babies to put them in.

Sam I am

2008-05-05T01:47:00.003-04:00

Little Sam arrived into our growing family Saturday night. This sweet little boy should give me great inspiration for my sculpting.

It's a Boy!

2008-04-30T02:25:00.002-04:00

In keeping with my original thoughts, it is a he. Little Jacob is now listed on Ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190218740814

My Latest

2008-04-27T02:29:00.002-04:00

Well, here is the finished piece. I'm thinking this one looks more boy to me than girl. This baby is off to my mom's tomorrow so she can make some clothing to fit. I will probably wait to see what she imagines on this little one and see if it comes back to me as a girl or a boy.

In this picture, the arms still need to be filled a bit and sewn at the top. Other than that and the outfit, this baby is done.

The Last Long Night

2008-04-26T06:05:00.002-04:00

I am now finished with my last night of long hours working on this baby. Last night I finished up the arms and sculpted a set of legs for him as well. I was going to take pictures when I finished, but I was too exhausted after working for 12 hours straight. In the back of my mind, I had thoughts of reproducing this little one... which is why I wanted to do an open hand. In the end, I decided not to reproduce him, so I closed up his open hand. I am always afraid of doing hands like that for the ooaks because the fingers are so tiny that they can break easily. I wish I did not have to worry so much about the fragility of small pieces so I could pose them any way that I wanted.

Tonight I sanded all the pieces twice. Then I washed them all down to get rid of the fine residue left behind. Then I reconditioned the clay and prepared it for painting. I then spent the last 4-5 hours painting the pieces and am waiting for them to finish baking now to seal the paint on. Later today I will put him all together and he will be ready to be fitted for clothing. I now do not need to spend anymore long nights working on this little one and am looking forward to relaxing for two days!

I will take pictures later today to post when I get him all together.

A Night of Indecision

2008-04-24T06:34:00.003-04:00

I spent the whole night making these arms, then positioning and repositioning the fingers on them. Flexing the hand backwards, then forwards. Just how do I want these hands to be posed? I still have no idea and I have run out of steam and need to go to bed. Here is a picture of the final placement of the night. I'm not so sure they won't change once again when I return. Such a fragile looking little one.

The Last Stages

2008-04-23T05:34:00.003-04:00

Another long night tonight finishing up this head. I softened some of the features, corrected some of the unequal spots in the head and matched the ear sizes. Then I spent quite some time placing the hair on the head. I used very fine, soft mohair and made it sparse. The hair was placed bit by bit to create the appearance of a growth pattern on the head which is particularly important when there is not so much hair on the head as it is more noticeable. Here the head is before it was baked.

And the end product....

Now on to the arms and legs... this poor little baby needs some limbs! :)

In the Making...

2008-04-22T06:11:00.006-04:00

I began a head and forgot to take pictures along the way, so I began anew tonight with another 9 incher. After several hours through the night, I have progress pictures to share.

First I made a foil armature for the head giving it the general shape that I wanted.

Next, I covered the armature with a layer of clay and started to shape the head, nose, chin, and neck.Then I shaped in all the features... eyes, nose, mouth, browline, added ears, shaped the jawline and the temples. I have not done any smoothing yet, just a rough "sketch" of the head using my clay.

I have now begun to really "personalize" this baby by detailing the facial features. I have shaped the creases on the eyelids and under the eyes to how I would like them to look. I have also reshaped the mouth and detailed it more. The temples have been more defined. It still needs more smoothing at this point and the ears and head shape need to be more even, but it is "roughed" in and well on the way and will soon be ready for hair.

Spring has Sprung

2008-04-09T15:30:00.002-04:00

It has been awhile since I have dropped in here. Spring has sprung here finally, after a very long winter. We had an abnormally large amount of snow nearing the end of winter which allowed for spring skiing and then flooding waters. I have been out developing my photography skills, (or so I hope), while looking at the vast amounts of flooding in and around our city in the past week. The air is increasingly warmer, bringing buds on the trees with it. As new life develops outside, I begin to create a new "little one" inside.

I did finish a little open eyed head this past week, but it is put aside for now until I know where it will be going. While it waits, I start to dream up my new one. For this one, I have decided to let readers follow along as I work. I will be taking photos of my progress so that you can see step-by-step how this new one comes to be.

Then There Was Halle

2008-03-28T12:46:00.004-04:00

A few days ago, I finished another 9 inch baby... Halle. She has such petite features compared to Alex. I am doing a photo shoot of the two of them together and will post some of the pictures soon here.

I am anxious to get myself started on another one. I wonder what will come out of that clay this time around. I hope to post progress soon.

Full House

2008-03-19T04:04:00.002-04:00

Aside from all the partly finished heads I have lying about, I have been mad at work on a little girl, (or so it seems like a girl so far). Later today I am hoping to finish some arms for her and then all the pieces for her will be ready for sanding and painting. Her head and legs are posed beside Alex and I have to laugh each time I look at them because it looks like these two little ones are fighting for space. This new little one has her left leg sprawled across Alex's right leg as if she is trying to kick his out of the way to make space for herself. I can imagine a personality for this baby already just looking at the two of them together. She's a fighter, Alex is more on the timid side. Hopefully I will be able to finish up my little fighter in the next couple of days.

Welcome Baby Alex

2008-03-13T01:09:00.004-04:00

I finally went to pick up my baby boy from my mom's house. She made the sweetest little outfit for him... a puppy paw printed shirt with matching shoes and blue shorts and bib. He also has a floppy puppy eared hat. What a sweet little man. Last night I decided to name him Alex. I still have not done his true photo shoot, but I did manage to get this picture of him last night to post.

On another note, after spending hours working on my lifesize head, I awoke the next day and decided I did not like what I had made. So I then went to work destroying it. It seems I go through many cycles of sculpting, reworking, sculpting, destroying. I wish it did not take me so long to be satisfied with each piece... it takes me so long to complete them this way. I still have a dream that one day, with more practice, I'll become faster.

Quilter Bees

2008-03-06T02:45:00.002-05:00

I sit here in the wee hours of the morning feeling some creativity flowing again. It always seems to appear in the middle of the night for me. I have been absent for what must be days now because I have been busy trying to get a quilt ready for the new "real" baby coming into our family here. I am nearly finished with that now, so I am getting back to my sculpting. My "little one" is still at my mom's place waiting to get an outfit. She too has been quilting as of late. Hopefully soon she will have time to use her creativity to finish him off beautifully.

As for tonight, I have begun work on a lifesize that has been waiting for some time now. I have so many creation ideas floating around in my head that I am having trouble focusing on one at a time. I think I am needing to get away from the tiny ones for a bit, so this baby will be a good one to set my hands on. My hope for now is that all will go smoothly with this one.

A New Baby in the House

2008-02-28T15:59:00.003-05:00

Two nights ago I was finally able to complete my little guy. He still needs some clothing, so he will be going over to “grandma’s” soon for his fitting. I have been fortunate enough to have my talented mom sew the clothing for my little babies. I remember when I was growing up she always said how she wanted to sew baby clothing for a living. She probably did not ever imagine she would end up making outfits for babies this small. It has been wonderful working with her to create each piece. I sculpt what comes from my mind and my heart, and her beautiful outfits complete each little one.

I do have one sad report. I noticed some fine cracks on my “From Santa, with Love” baby head when I looked very closely. So now I cannot even salvage the head. Between that and the leg that I dropped, it was a rough week! Nothing to do from here but move on to create new little ones.

I leave you with a preview of my latest…

Finally, Some Progress!

2008-02-24T21:36:00.003-05:00

I was finally able to finish sculpting a replacement leg for my little guy. It is now cooling and tomorrow I will sand and paint it. In the last few days I also disassembled my "To Santa, with Love" piece. This little baby was done for the Jack Johnston contest in which we had to use Jack's armatures for the limbs. I usually make my own with foil. I do not think I know how to use them properly, as both arms and legs cracked. That was very disappointing. This is how the baby looked in his contest photos.

When I took the baby apart, I decided that I didn't quite like the paint job on him and wasn't sure I'd be able to match paint for his new limbs when they are ready. So tonight I stripped the paint and he now is ready and waiting for new limbs. Once they are ready, he will get a fresh coat of paint.

Like a Snail

2008-02-21T18:59:00.002-05:00

I guess snails do not really have hands, but if they did and they could sculpt, that is how I have been sculpting. Things here are progressing VERY slowly! So much so, that I would almost say they are not progressing at all. I must have put toes on my new leg a million times the other night and they just were not good enough. So then I tried working on a new head and could not satisfy myself with that either. I resorted to taking a two day break to clear my mind. Hopefully that helped so that I will have some good news to report soon.

Back to the Drawing Board

2008-02-16T05:41:00.008-05:00

To my dismay tonight, I broke one of the legs for my little guy. I had just finished waiting for the pieces to cool after baking the last layer of paint and was carrying the stand to my workspace when a leg fell to the ground. I hoped and prayed that it was not damaged, but it was cracked. After spending 5 hours painting tonight, I could hardly believe what I had done. I guess it is back to the drawing board tomorrow for another leg. This poor little boy has been waiting so long to be brought to life. Hopefully soon!

Fist Fight

2008-02-14T02:02:00.004-05:00

Not in the traditional sense, but there was a fist fight here this evening. I cannot recall the last time I positioned and repositioned fists as much as I did with these two tonight. I seem to be very fastidious with this little guy and I am still not even convinced that I will be entirely satisfied with these when I see them with fresh eyes tomorrow. I did end up going with the 3/4 arms for him. When I lay out all the pieces for this tiny little fellow, he looks so cold with no clothing here in the “Great White North”. Perhaps tomorrow I will come up with a nice outfit for my little man.

Creation of a Newborn

2008-02-13T15:59:00.003-05:00

As I type this, I sit here with a tiny little head and two legs wrapped up in blue. I see this one is going to be a boy already. I don't even need to be deciding that right now. What I need to decide is if he should have 3/4 arms or 1/2 arms. I love the posability of the 1/2 arms, but I think people like to dress babies with the 3/4 arms more. I usually do the 1/2 arms these days, so perhaps I should do the 3/4 ones this time. Slowly, this little guy is coming to life right before my eyes. What will make all the difference is when that paintbrush touches his skin. I myself can't wait for that part.