The Mushroom Peddler

Closing Blog :) Please follow me...

2011-01-18T17:51:00.000-08:00

Hi :)

I have found it difficult to keep this blog updated as well as my gallery at http://themushroompeddler.deviantart.com and other places I update about my dolls.

Because of this I am closing this blog (at least for the time being) and ask that you go to my gallery to find updates of my dolls and wings.

Thanks and hope to see you soon!
~Sarah~

Shelly Ordering

2010-08-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

Hi :)

Just wanted to remind everyone that Shelly will be available only until Sept 1st 2010. After that date, she will not be available until August 2011. My plan is to release a new doll each month and so Shelly will be available each August.

The doll for September 2010 will be named "Grif". Can you guess what he will be? ;)

Shelly the Turtle Doll

2010-08-01T13:35:00.000-07:00

You can now order Shelly the Pond Turtle ball jointed doll at www.themushroompeddler.com

Website LIVE!!!!

2010-07-29T22:35:00.000-07:00

3...2...1!!!!

The website is finally finished and live!!! Please go check it out and let me know if you find any broken links or typos :) It would be much appreciated.

www.TheMushroomPeddler.com

I can finally announce my secret project... Introducing Shelly, the Pond Turtle.

She went from this concept-

To this finished prototype -

Her first ordering period will be from August 1st - September 1st 2010 as both a basic and full-set doll. Please see her page at the website for more details- Shelly's Page
More photos, pricing, and details will be added on August 1st.

*Happy Dance*

2010-07-29T19:07:00.001-07:00

7...6...5...4... almost :)

Random

2010-07-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Just a post to give you an update...
I worked some more on the prototypes for the secret project and nearly have a second prototype finished. I am trying to think of all the ways to make the most of this project so I am experimenting with some new things. My goodness it is hard to talk about this without saying anything to give it away lol I guess I'll just be quiet about it for now.

Continuing to work on the web site and it is coming along really well. Just adding content and photos for the most part...9...8...

Getting Closer

2010-07-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

I worked on the secret project yesterday and finally have a fully finished prototype *dances* I am so excited and it is very difficult to restrain myself from spilling the beans and showing photos to everyone. I have to wait though. I promised myself I wouldn't announce it or show photos until the web page was at least done enough that I could launch it with at least some information there lol
I worked most of today on the web site and it is getting closer to being ready to go!

Countdown has begun... 10...

Update

2010-07-19T13:54:00.001-07:00

Worked more on making molds today. While waiting for the silicone to set, I worked on some fun jewelry I am making to take to my table at DragonCon. If you are going to be there this year, please come say hi at my table in the Artist Alley :)

I might go back over to my workshop after my husband gets back from work if I can swing it. My 9mo baby has a cold though, so I might just call it a day and spend time with the family tonight. I seem to be gone an awful lot lately.

Random

2010-07-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would post a couple more photos of the unicorns :) I should have more updates tomorrow after I get back from work.

Blank baby unicorn doll-

With hair and tail-

With a Littlefee from Fairyland dolls-

14" (approx. size) Unicorn

Casting

2010-07-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

Today I got up extra early (at about 6am) before the kids were up and headed to work. I got a lot done. I usually head over around 9am after breakfast, but my hubby offered to watch the kids and let me go early :)

I worked on my secret project and cast several of the pieces involved with it (sorry, no spoilers *grins*). I promise it will be worth the wait. Something totally different than my other projects, though still doll related.

I hope to have it done and ready for opening sales by DragonCon in Georgia this September, so I am working hard on it and also on several wing orders.

Speaking of wings, I plan to have several sets for sale at my table in the Artist's Alley at the con in addition to other fun things, so please stop by and check out my wares if you plan on being there.

Onward

2010-07-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I am just about the head in to the workshop.
I found the perfect place about two months ago to create and cast my dolls at. It is about 1500sqft and has two offices, a large warehouse room, two bathrooms, and a loft *Yay for space!* I can finally stretch out and get some serious things done... but have fun at the same time of course. I was doing everything in my little condo up to that point and with three little children, that wasn't ideal at all. This is much better :)

I am thinking about getting a bunch of tables and chairs and having a doll meet up there sometime. If I do decide to do that I will announce it here.

Anyway, off to work on my secret project *evil laugh* Betcha can't wait to see what it is. Something totally unexpected and unique I can assure you.

About time for an update!

2010-07-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I know it has been forever since I last posted anything. I apologize for being so silent.
I have been posting small updates at my DeviantArt.com account http://themushroompeddler.deviantart.com , but I plan to start posting here at least a few times a week as things move forward.

Just a quick overview of the last year or so...

I finished the prototype for the large unicorn (about 23" tall). Tada!

I love her a lot and am happy with her looks, however I have found that the large pieces of resin are difficult to cast and quite heavy. It makes her unable to stand and fairly awkward to pose which is not at all up to the standard I am going for.

I became pregnant with my third child early 2009 and had to stop casting until after the baby was born (Oct 2009) to avoid the resin fumes. As soon as I could I jummped back into making some decisions about where I wanted to go next with this business.

That said, I have reevaluated what I would like to do and have decided to do a smaller version about 15" tall. She is much easier to cast and can stand on her own! Yay!

I felt that not only did making her smaller make easier to cast and pose, but also it would put the cost of purchasing her closer to a price most people could more easily afford.

I also created a baby that is the perfect size for her (about 3ish inches tall) which is available to order at Etsy here - http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheMushroomPeddler

I am working on perfecting the smaller lady unicorn and will begin selling her as soon as I have her to the standard I am going for. I am also working on a couple of other fun projects that will be talked about in the coming months so please stay tuned :)

Almost Done Casting This Doll!

2008-01-26T09:52:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

Going to work on casting the last couple of pieces today, so I should have pics of a finished doll come this evening! *dances* I am so incredibly excited!

Not sure on what the cost will be for the dolls just yet, but I will work it out and let you know soon :)

Update of the pictureque kind

2007-12-12T08:36:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! It's been a while since we updated, unfortunately Sarah and I got completely backlogged by life. Every time we tried to get together to cast, things came up!

BUT the last two weekends we've been busting tail to get things done! The good news is that we have the master molds done for almost every single part. We're down to the last little pieces (fiddling things like the hands.).

We won't be casting this Saturday, because Sarah and I are Co-chairing the art show for Mountaincon, so we'll be at the concom meeting instead. But the following saturday our fingers are crossed to get those last pieces cast. We're so close to having the completed dolls it's driving us crazy! CRAZY I SAY!

So here's some photos from our last casting session. We realized that we're badly out of practice, as we had a few rough starts/clumsy moments and Sarah and I are both now sporting a fine coating of resin over our fingers.

Here's a shot of me waiting for Sarah. It was only the begining of the blizzard that plunked down on us and left our cars covered in about 6 inches of snow when we had to leave.

This is fondly known as the 'frankenmold'. Believe it or not, this monstrocity makes the prettiest of torso pieces.

And the day wouldn't be complete without Sarah's ever present smile. Even when we're picking resin off of our fingers!

Here Sarah is cutting off the extra resin from the pour holes, as we demolded the chest piece!

Sarah hard at work!

And here's some last minute sanding of the thigh while we get the case ready to make a mold of it. Sarah's better at this part then me, my arthritis makes it so I sand for about five minutes before I cry. Girl's got muscles from doing this!

And that's it. I didn't take too many pictures this time around, but next time I should hopefully have something REALLY excellent to share! We'll resume casting the saturday after this one! Till then, happy holidays to you all!

~Jessica M. Douglas~

2007-11-04T16:00:00.000-08:00

Wow! Is it November already? Tell me it isn't, quick! Time is going by so fast that I am having trouble keeping up with it.

We are still working on perfecting the dolls. We are very frustrated that it is taking so long, especially since we have several people already waiting to buy them. Since it is a first for both of us, it is taking some extra time to figure everything out. Our goal is to have at least a couple of dolls fully completed by the end of the year, so we will keep you updated. We apologize for the delay.

Hope you all had a great Halloween!
~Sarah B. Seiter~

2007-07-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hi guys, sorry about the delay! We're resanding the dolls because they just aren't quite there yet in smoothness, so we're not satisfied with the resin casts. But fingers crossed we should be back on track very soon.

Sarah and I are both stay at home moms, and unfortunately we live a good forty five minutes/hour away from each other. So getting together when we don't have children is HARD. Things will pick up this month though, hopefully! At least until I get yanked out of the state for dragoncon.

Meanwhile we've released a sneak sale of the newest wings. They WILL be offered on the mushroom peddler website once it's up. Each is one of a kind since they're hand painted. I *did* have pictures of us in the process of making these, but it seems my kids saved over the pictures with pictures of the kitten. Sooo... here's the wings themselves!

2007-07-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

Just a note to let you know we are still alive lol We have both been so busy over the last few weeks that we have not been able to cast. We are still working on other aspects of the dolls though, such as perfecting the sculpting. We will post as son as we have some more exciting news ;)

2007-06-30T22:40:00.001-07:00

Hello all!

My appologies for not updating after our last two casting sessions. My camera seems to have died and Sarah forgot hers! So we don't have pictures of this particular round.

However things are going good. We've come a long way, and are a lot closer to our goals then we realised. Of course that's before we cast the torso and realised it needed some more sanding before we can make the master mold. But we're still on our way!

We didn't cast this weekend, but casting will begin again on tuesday, so we'll keep you updated on our progress.

Glad you guys are as excited about this as we are!

A day in the life of the mushroom peddlers

2007-06-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

Hello hello all! Jess here!

We spent yesterday casting, and things are really progressing! So I thought I'd add a few photographs of our day.

We arrive at the lab, and Sarah is parched!

But after a short break for a drink, we get our things all set up:

Oooo! Sarah has been fiddling with some new ear ideas!

A few false starts, and we have all our molds set up and ready for resin!

Here's Sarah being a mad scientist:

A messy mad scientist:

But a happy mad scientist:

Other highlights for the day included an in depth discussion on Sarah's tendancies to be cruel and sadistic to cardboard. Her repressed memories of her childhood cardboard torturing days, and learning that mold release and tape do not go together.

But we're getting there!

2007-06-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

News Flash!

Hi everyone!

We decided to open this blog to show our latest progress on getting The Mushroom Peddler store up and running. Things are going well as we have the layout done and now are going forward with coding everything. We are hoping to have the site up and running within the next month, but as we are both moms of small children it may take a little longer. We will do our best.

Check back soon for limited edition dolls, wings, clothing, and other fun things for ball-jointed-dolls coming soon!

Oh... The official storefront will be at www.TheMushroomPeddler.com

See you soon!
Sarah B. Seiter (MisticUnicorn) & Jessica Douglas
aka: The Mushroom Peddlers