Daisy and Clover

* Blythe Beauty Contest

We remained the semi-finalists this time round but we wish to congratulate the wonderful finalist entries! It was an amazing experience and we hope to try again next year!

Daisy and Clover got a mention on blythedoll.com! Thank you Natsuko san for the heads up! (^ 3^)!!!
To view other entries and more event report please go to
http://www.blythedoll.com/jpn/event/index.html (japanese)
http://www.blythedoll.com/eng/event/index.html (english)
There's extra description on the Japanese page ^O^!

Loosely translated:
Based on the song "Mary had a Little Lamb". The pull ring forms the collar for the puppet lamb and so the two (Daisy and Clover) are always together. Wiggle your finger and you can show off the lamb puppet. How very cute!

Why Daisy and Clover?

Daisy is named after one of my favourite flowers, and Clover for a little bit of luck!

Link to us!

Before Daisy and Clover...

My first "custom work" happened to my first doll, Ray, a SBL Velvet Minuet. One fine day, I decided to be brave and changed her eye chips, and also foiled two pairs of her eyes.

Ray also had her eye lashes replaced a few times, and eventually her eye shadow was reshaped and a little blush added since they were wearing out from play. Her eyelids has been slightly "lined" for a mock boggled appearance.

Her make up is not perfect, but she still holds a special place in my heart since she is my first girl!

Immy is my 2nd custom, and probably the most drastic one I have ever attempted to date. Originally a SBL Lounging Lovely, I was crazy enough to saran reroot her hair!

I decided to customize her after I realised that her blush was chipping off, and decide to go all out since I did not like her stock hair to begain with. She also have "sleep eyes" as well.

Immy has two shades of blue for her hair. I painted her lip shape to what I felt looked like kenner shape to me; I did not own a kenner blythe at the time.

Adorable Edith was originally an EBL Tea for two, she arrived with very cute blushy cheeks and perfect eye shadow!

I gave her a hair cut, and gently style her hair over time. Painting her lips took a few tries before I was satisfied with the shade.

She also received a Licca body transplant, which I think suits her child-like character well.

Luna was my first RBL, a 2nd-hand star dancer, who was partially sandmatted in her previous home. Curious about how the insides of RBL head works, I managed to open it up and made some changes.

One of the most drastic change I did with her is that I removed her lower eyelids after boggling her eyes. I love her boggled! She also have her blush airbrushed on recently.

Her lips has actually be carefully re-shaped for a more kenner-like look.

Sailing Sally was originally an RBL Primmadolly Ebony. I had used the airbrush to apply her blush and eye shadow, without opening her head.

Her hair and lips are customized as inspired by kenner blythe. And her new eyelashes are of similar texture to EBL blythes, probably only curlier.

Sally has found a new home : )

Adventures during the trip:
Daisy and Clover has been donated to Charity Auction for next year, we miss them already!
Some more pictures taken from before will be uploaded in future.

Adventures before the trip:
Since Daisy and Clover might be staying in Japan, I decided to spend more time with them while I can!
Below are some pictures taken around Steveston, I hope they had fun!
A warm thank you from us for a friend who brought us there!

Update on Daisy and Clover on flickr:
Daisy busies herself with preperations for the trip while Clover watches...

Many ideas were swimming about in my head when I decided to participate in this competition a little close to the deadline.
It was the nursery rhyme “Mary had a Little Lamb” that gave me the theme for my entry.
What most attracted me to this theme is how this nursery rhyme actually ends.

"Why does the lamb love Mary so?"
The eager children cry;
"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know,"
The teacher did reply.

Mary’s little lamb follows her around because Mary loves it too! Isn’t this similar to our romance with Blythe?

Since the inspiration is of American origin, my Blythe custom reincarnates as a young Caucasian lady, who is a child at heart. Her name is Daisy and she is a kindergarten teacher in her twenties. During her leisure hours, Daisy and her puppet lamb, Clover, are an inseparable pair, just like in the nursery rhyme!

Daisy’s outfits are designed to be versatile. They can be mix and matched such that she can be a girly girl indoors and an adventurous tomboy outdoors. A feature of the outfits is a pocket on the pinafore dress, which fits and hides the pull ring when it is not being used as a collar for the lamb.

I wanted to give Daisy a “child-like” quality so I mixed a pastel pink for lips and blush, and picked brown, a rather neutral colour, for her eye shadow to give her eyes some definition. I remembered seeing a superior face mold Blythe (French Trench) with curly hair with bangs, she look extremely child-like, so I decided to select a doll with short curly hair. I was very close to picking my favorite primmadolly 2, Saffy, but I decided that a Blythe with a center part will be better for the hair style I have in mind. In the end, SBL Pinafore Purple is my choice, since I feel that the slightly dark blond of pinafore purple’s hair makes her appear fair skinned.

Clover can “follow” Mary everywhere if it is attached to her in some way other than just affection. Therefore, test patterns and proto-types were experimented with to ensure the final puppet fits in securely by slipping the body thru the hole of the pull ring. A bell is sewn as the tail of Clover, so if it drops on the floor by accident when not wearing the pull ring collar, the bell tinkles. Clover can also be a small finger puppet for the Blythe doll owner.

List of customizations made:
Hair: Bangs have been cut and slightly curled to achieve a curled wispy look
Face: Sand matted carefully, lips were hand painted with a custom shape inspired a little by kenner lips, blush and eye shadow airbrushed. Human eyelashes with texture similar to EBL lashes were used to replace her original lashes and the front eye chips had been changed to turquoise green and dark brown.
Body: A gingham ribbon bow has been added to the pull ring, which also acts as a collar for her companion.

Items included:
Clover (puppet lamb), sun-bonnet, pinafore dress with a pocket which fits pull ring, collared top, ¾ pants (with working side and back pockets), ankle socks with fold down lace detail and little flower appliqué, a pair of bows sewn on hairclips, bra and underwear, pink rubber mary janes.