Tiny & Sweet - Miniature Reborn Baby Doll

UPDATE: Annie is now with her new mommy!

If you've been dreaming of bringing home a reborn baby doll, this little darling would love for you to be her forever Mommy. She's on sale for a limited time.

Annie is a precious 6-inch miniature reborn baby girl dressed in a sweet pink romper with matching bonnet.

Annie weighs approximately 9 ounces. Her head, limbs, and body were weighted with tiny glass weighting beads and high-quality Poly-fil. Body is cotton fabric. This baby is intended for adult collectors only. Not intended as a toy for children.

Annie began life as a vinyl kit created from Secrist's adorable sculpt, Bunny.

All of her beautiful details were patiently and meticulously painted by me using many layers of Genesis heat set paints...even her tiny fingernails, toenails, and eyebrows!

Annie will arrive wearing her pink romper and bonnet. Adoption certificate included. If you wish to change your baby's name, let me know in the message to seller, and I will include the name of your choice on the birth certificate.

Thank you for peeking at this little sweetheart! Bright Blessings!

Bringing Your Baby Doll to Life - Part 7

Welcome back!

Here's a picture of Kaylee's eyebrows. As you can see, I used a very fine liner brush to apply the color.

I'm planning to use premium blonde mohair for Kaylee's hair, so I wanted her eyebrows to be blonde, too. I used Genesis Yellow Ochre with a touch of Genesis Burnt Umber. For extra control, I like to use Genesis Thinning Medium instead of odorless thinner.

Paint the eyebrows using your choice of Genesis heat set paints and Genesis Thinning Medium.

Bake the head at 265 degrees Fahrenheit or 130 degrees Celsius. Allow it to cool completely before continuing.



P.S. I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture, but before I did the eyebrows, I added some details to the eyelids. They are very subtle. I painted red micro veins on Kaylee's lids with my fine liner brush. After baking the veins, I applied a very thin layer of blue to tint the lids. I baked the head again before applying a bit of thin purple tint to the lids.

~*~

If you are interested in an in depth look at color mixing and reborning, I highly recommend The Art of Reborning II - Painting with Genesis Heat Set Paints. (not an affiliate link)

Bring home one of my precious angels! See Baby Keri's Auction and My Babies on Etsy. 

Bringing Your Baby Doll to Life - Part 5

Welcome back! Today, I'm sharing pictures of how I painted Kaylee's creases and wrinkles.

Mix your crease and wrinkle paint in one of the wells on your porcelain (or aluminum...no plastic!) palette. I'm using Genesis Heat Set Paints. Darken your blush color mix with some of your Burnt Umber. This will deepen the tone of your paint. Stephanie Sullivan suggests adding a bit of Dioxazine Purple 04 to cool the color.

Mix your crease and wrinkle color on your palette.

I use my 00 round brush to apply this color to the creases and wrinkles. Use a scrubby brush to feather and blend the edges.

Apply crease and wrinkle paint to the inside of the nostrils.

Apply crease and wrinkle paint to the inside of the ears.

Use a scrubby brush to feather the edges of the crease and wrinkle paint.

Apply paint to the creases and wrinkles on the hands and arms.

Apply paint to the creases and wrinkles on the feet and legs.

Bake at 265 degrees Fahrenheit or 130 degrees Celsius. Allow the parts to cool completely before proceeding to the next step.

If you are interested in an in depth look at color mixing and reborning, I highly recommend The Art of Reborning II - Painting with Genesis Heat Set Paints. (not an affiliate link)

Bring home one of my precious angels! See Baby Keri's Auction and My Babies on Etsy. 

Bringing Your Baby Doll to Life - Part 3

Now it's time to apply the first layer of blush to your baby. For Kaylee, I'll be using a peaches and cream tone for her blush. Mix the blush using odorless thinner and Genesis Pyrole Red 02 with a bit of Pyrole Red 05 to deepen the color a bit. Add a bit of Genesis Burnt Umber to tone it down and a very small touch of Phthalo Blue 03 to cool the color.

Use a 00 round brush to mix the blush color for your baby.

 With a 1/2 inch Maxine's Mop, apply a dot of color to the end of a clean cosmetic foam wedge and apply the blush with a pouncing motion onto the head and limbs. This can be as dark or as light as you want. You'll be adding another blushing layer later on in the process.

Apply a dot of paint to the end of a clean cosmetic foam wedge sponge.

If you are interested in an in depth look at color mixing and reborning, I highly recommend The Art of Reborning II - Painting with Genesis Heat Set Paints. (not an affiliate link)

Bring home one of my precious angels! See Baby Keri's Auction and My Babies on Etsy.

Bringing Your Baby Doll to Life - Part 2

Our next step in bringing Kaylee to beautiful reborn life is applying the first foundation layer of paint. I use Genesis Flesh 08 mixed with odorless thinner.

Mix Genesis Flesh 08 with odorless thinner (I use Mona Lisa brand.)

Apply the thinned paint to the end of a clean cosmetic foam wedge sponge.

Using a 1/2 inch Maxine's Mop, I apply the thinned Flesh 08 to the end of a clean cosmetic foam wedge. With an up and down pouncing motion, I then apply the paint all over the head. Keep pouncing and adding more paint to the sponge until you have a nice even coat.

Apply the foundation layer in an even coat. Use an up and down pouncing motion.

This layer forms the foundation for all of the other layers of color I'll be adding along the way. Repeat this process for the arms and legs. I don't apply this coat to the lips or nails.

Set the parts on the drying rack to allow the odorless thinner to evaporate before baking the parts.

Set the parts on the drying rack. Wait until all of the odorless thinner has evaporated before placing the parts in your oven. I prefer to use a dedicated counter-top oven (not a toaster oven). Remember to use an oven thermometer to ensure the temperature is exactly 265 degrees Fahrenheit or 130 degrees Celsius. Set a timer for 8 minutes.

Once the parts are baked, allow them to cool before proceeding to the next step.

Always keep paints, thinner, and other supplies out of the reach of children and pets. When using a counter-top oven, position it where children and pets cannot touch it.

Up Next: Applying the first blushing layer

Bring home one of my precious angels! See Baby Keri's Auction and My Babies on Etsy.

Bringing Your Baby Doll to Life - Part 1

Over the next several posts, I'll be sharing photographs of Kaylee, as I bring her to life through the wonderful art of reborning (sometimes called newborning).

Kaylee will be 19 inches in length when she is completed. She has 3/4 limbs, which means 3/4 of the arms and legs are vinyl, with the remainder of each limb being a part of the cloth body. I purchased my Kaylee kit directly from Secrist Dolls. Her eyes were pre-inserted since I ordered them at the same time I bought the kit. They are a lovely shade of blue.

Once I've selected the doll kit I wish to reborn, I like to give the head and limbs a gentle bath in warm water with baby shampoo bubbles. I then rinse each part inside and out with warm water and set them on my drying rack. This gentle bath ensures any smudges from handling at the manufacturer are cleared away before I begin painting. I love the scent of baby shampoo, don't you? Brings back memories of when my 12 year old and 9 year old were wee ones.

Washing vinyl head and limbs before painting ensures surface is clean.

Drying rack

Next, I set up my paint palette. I like to use Genesis Heat Set paints. Use a porcelain or aluminum palette when mixing your heat set paints. Plastic palettes will react with the heat set paints, so never use plastic palettes. Use wooden craft sticks to lay out your colors.

For more color mixing and reborn painting guidance, see Secrist's The Art of Newborning II: Painting with Genesis Heat Set Paints (not an affiliate link). Stephanie Sullivan, renowned reborn artist, guides you through the color mixing and painting process. I can't recommend this DVD highly enough!

Using a 00 round brush, apply veining using a very thin mix of Genesis Phthalo Blue 03, Phthalo Green 06, and odorless paint thinner (I use Mona Lisa Brand). Browse pictures of real babies online to get ideas and inspiration for where to paint the veins.

Veining color mix

Apply the veining on the head, arms, and legs. Blot each vein as you go using a clean cosmetic foam wedge sponge. You want the veins to have a barely there appearance.

Veining should be applied lightly to give a natural, barely there appearance.

Genesis heat set paints must be baked at 265 degrees Fahrenheit or 130 degrees Celsius for 8 minutes. I use a dedicated countertop oven for my reborn dolls. I set the oven to the bake setting. I like to use the "stay on" feature on my oven. I use an oven thermometer to ensure the temperature of the oven is accurate. The outside of the oven will get very hot! Use caution to avoid burns and keep the oven in a place out of the reach of children and pets.

Dedicated countertop oven and oven thermometer to ensure correct temperature.

Rather than placing your doll parts directly on the baking pan, first layer fabric napkins to protect the parts from being scorched. Set a timer so the doll parts are baked for exactly 8 minutes. Over-baking will ruin the vinyl.

Once all the parts have been baked, allow them to cool completely before proceeding to the next step.

Up Next: Foundation Layer #1

Bring home one of my precious angels! See Baby Keri's Auction and My Babies on Etsy.

Darcy - Sweet Reborn Baby Girl

Meet Darcy, a precious baby girl reborned using Secrist's "Squeaky" kit. She is 19 inches long and is weighted with tiny glass weighting beads. Even though I'm keeping her in my personal collection, I just had to do the proud Momma thing and show her to you.

Doesn't Darcy look adorable all wrapped up in her ducky towel?

I painted Darcy's complexion with Authentic Reborn's Gentle Touch Strawberry Complexion paint set.

Love this little darling? I'd be delighted to create one like her especially for you! Just click on the Etsy Shop link in the right sidebar. In your notes to seller, let me know you'd love a baby reborned from Secrist's "Squeaky" kit. Outfits may vary depending upon what is available to me at the time you place your order.