Okay, so I signed up for the challenge, opened her little peepers and started to paint. Well, the vinyl was rough where I had opened her eyes so I tried the old file trick…helped a little, but not much. Tried acetone and a q-tip. Nothing. So, I thought I’d try the x-acto knife again. Things were going GREAT, getting all smoothed out, getting the vinyl flat enough behind the eye sockets so I could hopefully get her eyes in SOMEDAY. After I’ve finished painting. And then…
I noticed one eye was ever so slightly bigger than the other.
Back to work with the x-acto knife…smoothing as I go, looks good ----
And I would love to say that I left good enough alone and continued painting and all’s well and oh boy, I can’t WAIT to show her off in the challenge.
I’d LOVE to say that, but I can’t. Her new head should be here Friday. She will NOT have open eyes.
Oh Karen! That’s exactly what I did to my first one. I’m sorry it happened to you. I have this problem that I just can’t leave well enough alone. Sounds like you do too, honey. I will commiserate with you! All will be well from here on out. Here, have cyber chocolate and a hug.
Oh Karen - that sounds “serious”. I did the Irelyn challenge, but am not in this one. I truly believe Celeste is much more difficult than Irelyn. And can’t wait to see everyone’s interpretation. I have seen a few on different sites and I can tell that mouth is a true challenge. You go girl!!
That’s terrible! So sorry that happened to you. Glad you were able to get a new head. I really enjoyed Celeste, but her eyebrows are giving me FITS! I have wiped them off about 5 times.
Karen, I feel your pain! I’m so sorry you’re having such problems!
I thinned out the eyelids on mine tonight and I also have one slightly open more than the other. I decided to listen to my inner voice (& Helen) and left it alone. I can’t wait to start painting her tomorrow!
So sorry that happened too…BUT you are a true sport like Helen…Never say never and didn’t let it beat you…THAT IS THE SPIRIT OF A TRUE REBORN ARTIST!
Good on you for hanging in there!!!
Thanks everyone! You guys are the BEST! After my trials with Lulu I did NOT need trouble from this little miss. BUT…I’m still glad I tried opening the eyes and if I knew more about sculpey or whatever it’s called I could fix the problem. Instead, I have a new head coming, so it’ll be fine. On the plus side, the vinyl takes paint really well ~ I’ve had none of the issues with it like I did with Lulu. AND this time I think I even figured out the tongue colors ~ wish I could show a picture; her mouth actually turned out really nice!
I have yet to start my Celeste. I will not be opening her eyes. I’m so sorry that you had such a bad time, but you have a great attitude about it. I know that your Celeste will be beautiful.
I started to open eyes once and never used the head… I wanted barely open eyes. Tried drembeling from the inside to smooth things down. Realized how hard it would be to get the eyes to stay in place without those bumps I hate to cut. Finally got frustrated and moved on. At least it was a seconds kit that was on a deep discount!
Tomorrow will by my Celeste’s reborn birthday. I’ve got everything finished and drying. The body is together and waiting. The head will get stuffed and added to the body tomorrow and then she will get dressed for her photo shoot. I’ll probably shoot her pix on Friday and then time to submit her. She came out okay. One of her eyes has a tiny nick, not even a boo-boo and I am certainly not going in with a knife to try at fix it at this point! LOL This has been a troublesome baby and although I like her a little bit, I don’t love her. I hope her Mommy-to-be finds her quickly and loves her completely because I like all of them to be loved. The results of my open eye experiment are not as I would like them, but I know what I would do next time if I were to open another dolls eyes. As long as we are learning, the work is a success in my opinion. I’d give her a B- if I were grading her, LOL. In July we’ll see how the forum rates her!
Oh, Karen! I’m so sorry. Guess we’ve all been there…mine was Victoria Michael. Sooooo glad heads are available for most sculpts. Hope this one turns out perfect for you. Closed eyes are good.
BUT…I’m still glad I tried opening the eyes and if I knew more about sculpey or whatever it’s called I could fix the problem. Instead, I have a new head coming, so it’ll be fine. On the plus side, the vinyl takes paint really well ~ I’ve had none of the issues with it like I did with Lulu. 
AND this time I think I even figured out the tongue colors ~ wish I could show a picture; her mouth actually turned out really nice!
I’m so sorry that you had such a bad time, but you have a great attitude about it. I know that your Celeste will be beautiful.
