How are the dolls made?
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My dolls are made by me completely from start to finish.
Starting with a block of clay, I build the sculpt gradually until I have a sculpture of a full baby. Then I make a mould, and pour the baby in a super soft silicone, and then either sell the babies as blank kits or make them into finished babies as custom orders. |
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I also have an online course where I teach students how to make silicone babies - every stage of making them from Sculpting and Moulding through to pouring, painting and rooting your very own silicone baby.
I also offer sections of the course on their own (for example if you just want to join the Painting Silicone Babies section of the course). More information please click on Silicone Magic tab above. |
(1) The first stage is sculpting the doll. I start with a block of clay and sculpting tools, and I sculpt the head and body of the baby in clay. I usually use polymer clay which is soft when used but hardens, or cures, in the oven. Once the baby is baked, he or she is sanded down to give her a nice smooth finish and then she is ready for moulding.
(2) The second stage, the moulding and casting process involves a soft 'glove mould' made out of silicone, and then a hard shell or 'mother mould' so that the glove mould will keep its shape whilst being cast. Then the liquid silicone is prepared, degassed and poured into the mould and allowed to cure. Once cured the new baby is pulled from the mould and cleaned, fixed and prepared for painting.
(3) The third stage is painting and rooting the baby, to make him or her as realistic as possible. The eyelashes are usually rooted, and the hair is rooted using a fine needle pushing in one or two strands at a time.
Our super-soft 'mallow' silicone
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Our full body silicone babies are usually poured in our super-soft ‘mallow’ blend of silicone. This is Ecoflex 20 with a blend of slacker to make our babies extremely soft. It is a very high quality ‘prosthetics grade’ of platinum silicone.
We have been using super-soft silicone for over six years now, being one of the first doll artists to experiment with the very soft silicones so we have plenty of experience both in mixing and pouring the soft blends, and also feedback from customers on longevity. When the baby is first pulled from the mould, the surface of super-soft silicone is more ‘sticky’ than a harder silicone, and more fragile which means that sometimes it is a struggle to get the baby out of the mould. It is often a difficult birth! Because of this, the very soft silicone is likely to have more surface imperfections than a baby cast in a harder silicone. However, most of these minor imperfections are not noticeable once the baby has been painted, and those that remain we consider add to, rather than detract from, the product to make it even more unique. The individuality and uniqueness of your baby is evidence that your baby is totally hand-made and virtually one of a kind. Your baby is imperfectly perfect! Imagine a rubber ball, you place it on the table and it sits a perfect round and starts rolling around. If you sit a child on the table, their little bottom won’t stay a perfect round spherical rubbery bottom, it will spread a little into the surface, babies, children (and of course adults) our flesh moves with us it doesn't bounce back to the perfect sculpted shape. And that is how I like to think of the mallow silicone babies. The baby ’falls’ into your arms and relaxes onto the table or into the crib. The super-soft baby is much easier to pose due to less elasticity in the limbs and body so we don’t get that annoying bounce-back into the original sculpted position. We hope that you love our beautiful super-soft 'mallow' silicone as much as we do! |
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Our Terms and Conditions ...
PLEASE NOTE IF ORDERING FROM OUTSIDE THE UK: Before committing to buying any produce from overseas, please do check you understand your country's Customs and Excise tax system, to get an idea what customs tax you might have to pay (if any) to your country's government when purchasing from another country.
All our custom babies, and most of our blank kits, are now offered on layaway - silicone babies are expensive items and it means you can pay for your baby in manageable chunks each month. It also gives us time to plan our work and make sure that except for any unforeseen delays, you will know when your baby or kit will be shipped to you.
For finished babies (painted and rooted) the layaway we offer is normally 12 months, and generally only one custom baby is made every month. These babies can be pre-ordered quite a few months ahead which means instead of sitting on a waiting list, you can book your slot and know you are getting your baby.
For blank kits, we normally offer up to 4 months layaway with an option to also pay for your baby and receive within 2-4 weeks if you prefer.
(**Please note, because your baby is hand made from start to finish, occasionally there are events outside our control that may delay things, in which case we will inform you as soon as this happens**)
How to pay
All payments are made via Paypal. We do not ask you to pay 'friends and family' as this would affect your rights as a customer, we always take payments as a business which protects both the buyer and the seller, even though this means we are charged a paypal fee.
If you do not have to have a Paypal account, you can still pay by any debit or credit card via the Paypal system.
We always invoice in GBP currency (British Pounds). If you wish to work out the value in your own currency please refer to a currency convertor website (for example www.xe.com). We cannot invoice you in any other currency.
The shipping cost will be calculated in the first month when you pay the deposit. The shipping fee is for the cost of shipping by courier (DHL) and insurance which is optional.
How do I know I can trust Carolyn Doughty Dolls (formerly Our World of Chi)?
If you are a new customer to Carolyn Doughty Dolls, you might feel nervous of entering into an agreement with a business that you may not know, and might be in a different country.
We have been making silicone baby dolls since 2013 and have built up a strong following on facebook and youtube.
There is information about us on our website, please do check through -
We also have several reviews on our website, written by our customers. If you would like to contact any of our customers personally, then please ask.
Also if you would like to chat with us first, then please email us - sometimes easier to decide if you have discussed it with us beforehand.
What happens if I can’t pay?
Because this is a custom made doll, all payments are considered non-refundable and a missing a payment could result in you losing all of your previous payments, and the doll.
If, after paying the deposit and perhaps some of the payments, you find you are struggling with the payments, please contact us, we might be able to arrange for you to pay smaller amounts over a longer period of time, or have a payment holiday. If you miss a payment and we do not hear from you, you are at risk of losing the doll and any payments made.
If you are in genuine difficulty and find you cannot continue with the payments, we might be able to arrange to sell the doll (or the 'slot') on your behalf and, if we are successful, then we will refund some, or all, of the payments you have made (but not the deposit – we retain this to recover our materials and time involved). If you do find you cannot continue with your payments, we can hold the payments made as store credit towards another baby in the future but we wouldn't be able to can't guarantee you will be offered the same baby and you would lose your 'slot' as we would need to restart your plan further along the line.
What if Carolyn Doughty Dolls cannot finish making the doll?
If, for any reason, we are unable to supply the doll that is reserved for you (for example if the mould unexpectedly developed a problem and we had to cancel all pours for that baby), then all your payments and deposit will be returned to you in full. Alternatively if you prefer, you might be able to transfer your payment credits to another baby and we will try and expedite you to the top of that list so that your baby is ready when originally planned.
I don't live in the UK, can you ship to my country?
We do ship to most countries worldwide. If in doubt, please contact us before ordering so that we can check for you.
Your baby will be sent home to you via DHL which we have found to be extremely reliable, safe and quick. It is completely tracked and we have never yet lost a parcel.
IMPORTANT: Many countries add a customs/excise duty onto your purchase. It will be your responsibility to pay that duty. If in doubt please find out before ordering, about your countries rules on receiving goods from the UK.
Anything else?
If you have any further questions, at any time, please email us at c[email protected]
For finished babies (painted and rooted) the layaway we offer is normally 12 months, and generally only one custom baby is made every month. These babies can be pre-ordered quite a few months ahead which means instead of sitting on a waiting list, you can book your slot and know you are getting your baby.
For blank kits, we normally offer up to 4 months layaway with an option to also pay for your baby and receive within 2-4 weeks if you prefer.
(**Please note, because your baby is hand made from start to finish, occasionally there are events outside our control that may delay things, in which case we will inform you as soon as this happens**)
How to pay
All payments are made via Paypal. We do not ask you to pay 'friends and family' as this would affect your rights as a customer, we always take payments as a business which protects both the buyer and the seller, even though this means we are charged a paypal fee.
If you do not have to have a Paypal account, you can still pay by any debit or credit card via the Paypal system.
We always invoice in GBP currency (British Pounds). If you wish to work out the value in your own currency please refer to a currency convertor website (for example www.xe.com). We cannot invoice you in any other currency.
The shipping cost will be calculated in the first month when you pay the deposit. The shipping fee is for the cost of shipping by courier (DHL) and insurance which is optional.
How do I know I can trust Carolyn Doughty Dolls (formerly Our World of Chi)?
If you are a new customer to Carolyn Doughty Dolls, you might feel nervous of entering into an agreement with a business that you may not know, and might be in a different country.
We have been making silicone baby dolls since 2013 and have built up a strong following on facebook and youtube.
There is information about us on our website, please do check through -
- http://www.carolyndoughtydolls.com
- https://www.facebook.com/ourworldofchi
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb56-3bj19W9JURKTwmaqWw
- (or just search Carolyn Doughty on YouTube)
We also have several reviews on our website, written by our customers. If you would like to contact any of our customers personally, then please ask.
Also if you would like to chat with us first, then please email us - sometimes easier to decide if you have discussed it with us beforehand.
What happens if I can’t pay?
Because this is a custom made doll, all payments are considered non-refundable and a missing a payment could result in you losing all of your previous payments, and the doll.
If, after paying the deposit and perhaps some of the payments, you find you are struggling with the payments, please contact us, we might be able to arrange for you to pay smaller amounts over a longer period of time, or have a payment holiday. If you miss a payment and we do not hear from you, you are at risk of losing the doll and any payments made.
If you are in genuine difficulty and find you cannot continue with the payments, we might be able to arrange to sell the doll (or the 'slot') on your behalf and, if we are successful, then we will refund some, or all, of the payments you have made (but not the deposit – we retain this to recover our materials and time involved). If you do find you cannot continue with your payments, we can hold the payments made as store credit towards another baby in the future but we wouldn't be able to can't guarantee you will be offered the same baby and you would lose your 'slot' as we would need to restart your plan further along the line.
What if Carolyn Doughty Dolls cannot finish making the doll?
If, for any reason, we are unable to supply the doll that is reserved for you (for example if the mould unexpectedly developed a problem and we had to cancel all pours for that baby), then all your payments and deposit will be returned to you in full. Alternatively if you prefer, you might be able to transfer your payment credits to another baby and we will try and expedite you to the top of that list so that your baby is ready when originally planned.
I don't live in the UK, can you ship to my country?
We do ship to most countries worldwide. If in doubt, please contact us before ordering so that we can check for you.
Your baby will be sent home to you via DHL which we have found to be extremely reliable, safe and quick. It is completely tracked and we have never yet lost a parcel.
IMPORTANT: Many countries add a customs/excise duty onto your purchase. It will be your responsibility to pay that duty. If in doubt please find out before ordering, about your countries rules on receiving goods from the UK.
Anything else?
If you have any further questions, at any time, please email us at c[email protected]