Tuesday 2 October 2012

Dr. Zombie here!!! Mehehe

Bwaaaiinz!!!
I'm hi-jacking this blog! Who care's about how and why we can about?! Lets make this blog more interesting, lets make it about me!!!
They call me Doc, I was once was a doctor before being struck down by a virus that turned me into what you see before you, a devilshly handsome green man. Forget what you think you know about my kind, forget movies about slow moving mindless beasts or zombies with a rage virus; I wont chase you down and go 'frenzy' on you (how can I? I'm barely a foot tall!), I just wait until your asleep and nibble on your toes and fingers, rip the limbs and heads off cute/sweet/popular idiot dolls that mind-warp the younger generations into believing they should be as society dictates, I also like to tease cats and move your things around so you think your going crazy purely for my own entertainment ... I'm not all bad though, I make a great friend for watching scary movies with, I'm a good listener and as long as you carry me around no-one will ever think your a normal boring person :)


This is me, yes those ARE scissors holding my head up :) Wasn't I a handsome fellow even without the body?! BWAAIINZ
This stage of my being is a bit of a blur what with all the needles being poked in me and my head was only half filled with stuffing, still, even in head form I was a champion finger biter! You have been warned, twice now actually...


Aaaaah yes I have a body, all the better to swivel my head and eat you with my friend! BWAAAIINZ! I had a little mishap during a frenzy and lost my head to some rather unscrupulous characters, fortunately I was able to save my head before they damaged my good eye! Can't say much for the rest of my body, blood stains are so hard to remove...


 



Oh my love where art thou? Wasn't she a beauty? Alas she found another home away from I with a piece of my heart belonging to her forever, literally, she ripped a piece out before she left :-/ Such is the love of a zombie, tender earlobes, soft green calico skin... *sigh


So this is me, Doc...
I'm spending my days on a shelf with fellow Oddity's, playing tricks on our Odd Mother, like hiding her bag of eye's (aka buttons) hehehe she's still looking for them... Oh and of course tormenting the cat is always fun.



Sincerely, Doc Zombie


 

Friday 21 September 2012

A special offer

15% discount
If you pop over to my facebook page I have a special 15% discount on offer until the 14th October for all of my pre-made dolls!!! Follow the link to Oddity's facebook page:

www.facebook.com/myoddity.

<----- This is my current crew of available Oddity's, arent they dears?! Some have glow in the dark bits, some just need a new home, Over the next few weeks they will be introduced to you so stay tuned! Check them out on my facebook page for more photo's and descriptions ;)

Valid till the expiration date 14-10-2012 or until stocks last. Oddity reserves the right to cancel offer at any time; discount does not include postage which is calculated on the Australia post website. For purchases of more than one doll the 15% discount will be applied to total excluding post.
 
xo JayLee Oddity xo

Saturday 15 September 2012

Time and effort


So here’s the thing, at the moment I sew very slowly lol
I jumped into Oddity full steam ahead while being a Mum, house wench and full time university student! I suffered burnout from pushing myself to achieve everything at once and I now have RSI in my right hand so more than 20mins of sewing kills my hand, problem is, the front hairline on one doll alone takes over an hour to sew securely not to mention all the small sewing bits that the machine can’t do well like attaching the head or small details on clothes etc
 
<---- One of my simple dolls, takes around 8hrs to make, it could be done in a couple of days if I didn’t have other duties to perform but it usually takes me at least a week to complete one doll, at least it used to before I started having problems with my hands; I haven't attempted to make a doll since March. A much needed break was taken to attempt to get my inspiration back and over the past couple of weeks I have had idea after idea, I'm in the process of drawing up some new personalities and next week will be my first week in over 6mths that I have sat at the sewing machine for something other than clothing repair! It will still be a few weeks until I start releasing photo's of new Oddity's but I am finally feeling exited about creating my strange little dolls again! So, and hour or two to draw one up in full colour with detailed idea's then 4.5hrs for the body sewing, around 3 hours for clothing, finishing the hair line and a little more time for hand painted details and we'll officially be back in the doll game! 
 
YES a lot of effort for one little doll, makes you appreciate them a little more no? I certainly love seeing them complete after a lot of work!

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Doll making - Oddity style

What the hell is that?! A line I have in massive letters on business cards, banners and my facebook page and a line I am sure ran through your head the first time you laid eyes on my Oddity's or something similar!

Not so Norma.L Jean
Doll making has become a bit of an art form, gone are the days when making a rag doll out of, well rags, is enough to get you noticed in the doll world. Yes, traditional rag/cloth dolls are still very sweet and make gorgeous gifts for little girls everywhere but there is a growing love and appreciation for dolls among big girls and boys too, grown up dolls... I hear your scepticism, I'm sure there's a general perception of doll makers that involves some crazy old lady sitting over a sewing machine or in a rocking chair with a needle in her hand making a doll with multitudes of other dolls sitting around the house and I can honestly say, yeah your not far from the truth! Although despite my old grey filled hair I'm only in my 20's and sadly I don't have a rocking chair! I'm so happy to say that times are changing and cloth dolls are once again making a come back!

Dolls like mine, and yes there are many more like mine out there, appeal to all walks of life; customers of mine have bought and ordered custom dolls for themselves and as gifts for children, I had the privileged of creating a bridal set for a customers wedding, dressed like the actual bride and groom, fans young as 3 and as mature as 60+ have an Oddity sitting on a shelf somewhere in their home and honestly I think that's pretty damn great! The best part about it is that they aren't "scene" specific, I like to make them so that the can be loved by many, inspired by goth, punk, emo, horror (zombies), some are pretty like Not so Norma.L Jean (pictured above), some are rockabilly and some are just plain different...


One defining feature of Oddity is the detail on the back of each hand; a hand painted design that matches each doll, here are a few of my favourites :)
Now the Oddity back of hand 'stitch' is one detail I look forward doing on every doll because it feels like it sums the Oddity's identity up for me. It's also a feature I haven't seen on other dolls like mine which makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside :)



 
Now, I have made mention of similar dolls in this blog so let me say a few things here; Dolls like mine are becoming increasingly popular, at least for makers and doll enthusiasts, due to their individuality and uniqueness. This style I believe can be attributed to the likes of Tim Burton (love his work, I'm sure you have seen one of his many fantastic films, look him up if your not sure then kick yourself for not remembering his name...), societies enjoyment of urban legends such as vampires/ werewolves etc and the belief (by more than you think) that the end of the world will come in the form of a zombie apocalypse... I can't speak for every other doll maker out there, but I just love things like this because they're kooky, strange things make me smile :)
Let me be 100% clear here, I do not copy ANYONE! So get that right out of your head! I get an idea I run with it, I find inspiration from many things (usually films or something to do with my day), sometimes my head is just int he right space and I have idea's pouring from my brain, I have a notebook full of idea's, just need the hands to keep up! BUT I do take interest in other doll makers, especially one's like mine that are a little off in the head SO if you are a fellow doll maker, know of someone or you are a doll enthusiast PLEASE feel free to contact me either here or on facebook because I would love to help strengthen the doll community!!!
 
Thank you again for popping by! See you on the Odd road...
Sincerely,
The Odd(ity) Mother

Let me behave been searching for a rag doll for my baby girl that isnt a cutesy pink saturated shopping obsessed idiot doll and when I couldn't find what I wanted I figured I'd make one! Funny thing is, as strange as I may be, I wasnt the only one searching for something different, thus Oddity was born :)
*I'm always working on a new doll and uploading photo's as I complete them. Each one is dreamt up, sewn, hand painted, purposefully "twisted" and adjusted on the fly so your sure to get a one of a kind every time.
*I aim to fall in love with every Oddity I create, If I dont love it I wont sell it 'till I do so know that every doll has been made with the love and care that I'd expect as a consumer myself. have been searching for a rag doll for my baby girl that isnt a cutesy pink saturated shopping obsessed idiot doll and when I couldn't find what I wanted I figured I'd make one! Funny thing is, as strange as I may be, I wasnt the only one searching for something different, thus Oddity was born :)
*I'm always working on a new doll and uploading photo's as I complete them. Each one is dreamt up, sewn, hand painted, purposefully "twisted" and adjusted on the fly so your sure to get a one of a kind every time.
*I aim to fall in love with every Oddity I create, If I dont love it I wont sell it 'till I do so know that every doll has been made with the love and care that I'd expect as a consumer myself. I have been searching for a rag doll for my baby girl that isnt a cutesy pink saturated shopping obsessed idiot doll and when I couldn't find what I wanted I figured I'd make one! Funny thing is, as strange as I may be, I wasnt the only one searching for something different, thus Oddity was born :)
*I'm always working on a new doll and uploading photo's as I complete them. Each one is dreamt up, sewn, hand painted, purposefully "twisted" and adjusted on the fly so your sure to get a one of a kind every time.
*I aim to fall in love with every Oddity I create, If I dont love it I wont sell it 'till I do so know that every doll has been made with the love and care that I'd expect as a consumer myself.I have been searching for a rag doll for my baby girl that isnt a cutesy pink saturated shopping obsessed idiot doll and when I couldn't find what I wanted I figured I'd make one! Funny thing is, as strange as I may be, I wasnt the only one searching for something different, thus Oddity was born :)
*I'm always working on a new doll and uploading photo's as I complete them. Each one is dreamt up, sewn, hand painted, purposefully "twisted" and adjusted on the fly so your sure to get a one of a kind every time.
*I aim to fall in love with every Oddity I create, If I dont love it I wont sell it 'till I do so know that every doll has been made with the love and care that I'd expect as a consumer myself.

Saturday 8 September 2012

HELLO & WELCOME to the official Oddity Blog!!!

Here you can expect semi-interesting blogs from myself (the creator of Oddity dolls), also be sure to keep an eye out for "Straight from the painted mouth..." where the dolls high jack the blog and give you an insight into their personalities :-O

I guess the first thing to tell you is how Oddity came about! It's simple really,
I had been searching for a rag doll for my baby girl that isn’t a cutesy pink saturated shopping obsessed idiot doll and when I couldn't find what I wanted I figured I'd make one! Funny thing is, as strange as I may be, I wasn’t the only one searching for something different, thus Oddity was born :)First official blog photo!
The current collection of Oddity's
Not for the easily offended
I enjoy strange things, my dolls are not specifically goth, punk, emo OR voodoo, they're just different! I am not religious or anti-religion and I am not racists (just putting that all out there because dolls like mine tend to cause a stir). Some of my dolls feature religious symbols, various skin colours (usually white or green lol), blood (not real of course), the living dead and biting, so if my dolls offend you I apologise and I can only advise you to look the other way.



Shameless self promotion
*I'm usually working on a new doll and uploading photo's onto my facebook page as I complete them. Each one is dreamt up, sewn, hand painted, purposefully "twisted" and adjusted on the fly with the aim to get a one of a kind every time.
*I aim to fall in love with every Oddity I create, if I don’t love it I won’t sell it 'till I do so know that every doll has been made with the love and care that I'd expect as a consumer myself.

Here is a link to my facebook page so go check it out, like it even! 
 
GUIDENCE
Due to the nature of my Oddity dolls and small parts featured on some dolls I would not recommend them for people who take offence easily or small children. I make these as carefully as I can but kids have a knack for getting small parts off anything! Having said that, my small child has one of her own and quite a few people have bought them for children (Isn't that fabulous?!).
I also recommend storing your Oddity at night on a high shelf, in a cupboard or a cabinet, their mouths may be painted on but they still try to nibble on/steal toes while you sleep ;)

Thank you for sticking around for my first blog post, hope to see you here again!
Sincerely,
The Odd(ity) Mother xo