My Way Nala

I should have known that resurrecting Toy Box Philosopher would slow down my doll projects, but I tend to have very unrealistic assumptions about time and the amount of work I can do in one day.  Poor Evie is still not listed in the Etsy store, but I figured at this point she might as well wait for her friend Nala to be ready, and then they can head over to the shop together.

Thank you so much for all of the words of support both here and on TBP.  One crossover idea I have planned is that I'll resume work on my stash of "quick fix" My Twinns.  These are dolls who need fairly simple repairs--stuff like new wigs, new eyes, and maybe some very light paint enhancement. No full face-ups or body work.  These dolls will not have in-depth posts on this blog, but I'll put a single comparison GIF here and then list them for sale in the Virtual Garage Sale store over at TBP.

I'll also be posting announcements for new dolls (and when they go to the Etsy shop) and new reviews on Twitter (@TBP_emily).  I'm not a fan of social media in general, but this seems like a necessary way to communicate these days.

For now, though, I'm starting work on the My Twinn Cinderellas and have finally gotten My Way Kid Nala's photos sorted out.  I really love this girl and am excited to show you her transformation!

My Way Kid doll with the Tender face and dark vinyl.

My Way Evie

Well, this is going to be a busy fall.  After what was surely not enough deliberation, I decided to start writing over at Toy Box Philosopher again.  This decision probably seems odd and sudden to you, and it seems odd and sudden to me, too.  All I know is that it makes me ridiculously happy to think about reviewing dolls again!  My goal is to start this Sunday with a Sunday Surprise review and take it from there.  I'm already planning about twenty reviews--some of which are underway.  There's a lot of catching up to be done!

Before that project takes over my week (and my life), I have two My Way Kids that I want to show you.  These two are probably my very favorites so far!  They'll join the Belle dolls over in the Etsy shop as soon as they can.  For Evie, that will mean later this week.

The first girl has the pale skin tone and the Mischievous face.  She came with brown eyes and a red wig:

My Way Kid doll with pale vinyl and the Mischievous face.

My Way Pria

I never should have said that I'd share this girl by the end of last week.  It seemed like such an easy goal at the time, and yet here we are.  My estimates are--sadly--always wrong.  Three big events conspired to mess up my schedule last week, one of which was that I had to drive to Boston to pick up my granddog (a 10-week-old dachshund) who I'm babysitting for ten days.  I'd forgotten how much work little puppies are...but they're certainly cute enough to make up for it.

Some of you might have seen the updates I made to Claire (the crazy-eyed girl from my last post).  Since that update, I've changed her eyes yet again.  I've taken pretty much all of the advice that was given to me in the comment section at this point, so my next attempt will include a new (less intense) pair of resin eyes, darker eyelashes...and a fairy dress!  I'm hoping that will do the trick.  If not, this has still been a fun project to work on.

Today my mission is to show you the latest My Way Kid makeover.  I named this girl Pria.  Pria is a Sanskrit name that means "dear, beloved."  Pria started out as a dark-skinned Kid with light brown hair, brown eyes, and the Mischievous face:

19" My Way Kid with dark skin and the Mischievous face.

My Way Lucy

I'm still working away on the princess series (both of the Belle heads are painted), but I've also been enjoying some non-princess dolls during the last few weeks.  Among them are two 19" My Way Kids.  If you're new to the blog or new to the My Way Kid brand, you can find a lot more information about these dolls in this post and in some of my other recent entries.

I'm slowly figuring out the best way to clean, strengthen, and improve the bodies on these little ones, which is a challenging but rewarding process.  The bodies aren't made as well as My Twinn bodies, so that can be frustrating, but I do think they have some nice features and I enjoy their easy-to-handle size.  What I really love about these dolls, though, is working on their cute little heads!  There's something about the face molds in this line that always makes me smile.

Today I'm going to share another Cutie-faced doll with you (Mila also has the Cutie face).  The Cutie face is the most common--as far as I can tell--and so this mold is probably the easiest to find.  This girl started out as a red-headed imp with zig-zagged bangs and faded eyes:

My Way Kid doll with the Cutie face and medium vinyl.

My Way Rosa (with some new clothing options!)

I have been so scattered lately, I can't even tell you.  First of all, we've had several visitors during the last few weeks (finally!), and I also decided that I wanted to do something about my dark basement work space.  So, I did a lot of painting and reorganizing, and my husband built me two new tables (yay!) and now I have a much bigger, brighter, better-planned studio that does not use old packing boxes for walls.

I also have a new photography set-up, but--even after a whole day of maneuvering lights and taking test pictures--I'm still in the tweaking process. Please forgive the (mostly overexposed) pictures. I'll figure it out eventually.

Despite some effort, I've failed to find a good solution for the historical Rapunzel's hair--even though I thought that the idea of adding detachable curls was brilliant.  For some reason I have not been able to get the hair to curl nicely...or I've been too busy to give it my best effort.  Anyway, with 50 responses to my poll, about 59.6% of you told me to leave the hair alone, so I'm feeling comfortable with that choice.  If I do find a way to curl the hair, I'll include photos of that when I do the group shots of the two Rapunzels.

I needed a quick break from princesses, though, so today I'll show you my latest My Way Kid.  I named her Rosa:

My Way Kid doll with medium vinyl and the Tender face.

My Way Mary

I don't usually do custom work (I'm way too slow and I worry about people being disappointed), but I had a neat opportunity a few weeks ago to make a custom My Way Kid doll for a person who has been really supportive and dear to me over the last few years.

The My Way Kids do not have realistic features, so it's a little hard to make a portrait doll with them, but because they were originally designed to be customized, I was excited to try my own version of this process.

My friend wanted a doll that resembled her daughter, Mary.  The real Mary is fair with light freckles, hazel-green eyes, and wavy brown hair.  The doll version of Mary started out as this Mischievous-faced My Way Kid with grey eyes, pale skin, patchy blushing, and messy blonde hair:

My Way Kid doll with pale skin and the Mischievous face.

My Way Raye, With Some Updates, Experiments, and a Poll

For those who were hoping to see another Tiana--sorry!  I have been working on her post and this one at the same time, and I just happened to finish this one first.

I haven't been great at answering all of the comments on the My Way Kid posts, but I truly appreciate all of the nice words and excellent suggestions!  Today I'll show you another My Way Kid that I've fixed up, and I'll also address a few of the suggestions that were made.

I tried two new things with these dolls that could use some feedback.  It would be wonderful if you would weigh in with what you think by using the poll in the right hand margin.  Thank you so much!

The most recent Kid that I've been working on is this dark-skinned cutie with the Mischievous face.  In keeping with my strict four-letter name rule for these dolls, I call this one Raye, which I think means "my friend" or "my companion."  She's definitely been a fun little companion these past few weeks:

My Way Kid doll with the Mischievous face.

My Way Mila

I'm not going to do extensive blog posts about the My Way Kids that I work on (it's a My Twinn blog after all) but I think it might be fun to share a little something about each girl's makeover.  So, I'll post blog snippets about these dolls; I'll highlight anything noteworthy about their makeover, and also post the pictures I take for their sales page on Etsy.

You can read all about the My Way Kid brand in my last entry.  These funny little dolls have captured my heart and I am having a really great time working on them!

I give all of the My Way Kids a four-letter name.  This makes the naming process easier, and I also think the pixie-like faces of these dolls fit well with short, simple names.  I named this little one Mila (I pronounce this Mee-lah, but you can pronounce it however you like).  Here's how Mila looked when I got her:

My Way Kid doll with the Cutie face.

My Way Kids by Geppeddo

Ack!  I didn't mean to keep you in suspense for so long!  Sorry about that.  Here I am, finally, ready to share a bit about the new brand of doll that I've been working on: My Way Kids by Geppeddo. 

I was really surprised and delighted to see that one of you--kiwic1chick--guessed it right away!  Wow!!   I didn't think my hints were very good.  Well done.  The Just Pretend guess was good, too.  I don't know much about that brand, either, but have recently been hunting for some Just Pretend clothing to see if it might fit the My Way Kids (I don't know the answer to that question yet).

Anyway, for those of you who, like me, were clueless about these little dolls, I'm going to do a Toy Box Philosopher-type introduction and review of this unusual line!

My Way Kid doll, 2001-2004.