Monday, April 9, 2012

Precious Little Pieces

The reader is referred to my July 24, 2011, post "Why I No Longer Collect Porcelain Dolls." 

For a brief recap, a porcelain doll was broken by my husband, who was very remorseful and immediately began a staged repair.

Because he is extremely meticulous, anything he does is never rushed.  I knew it would take close to forever for the doll to be completed, so I exercised the necessary patience required to see the repair through to the end.  I did capture images of the repair process as follows:

Repaired hand, photographed July 26, 2011, (two days prior it looked like this.)

Repaired arm, photographed July 26, 2011, (it looked like this two days before.)

Repaired arm and hand, August 4, 2011

Another view of the repaired arm and hand, August 4, 2011

During the repair (waiting) process, Precious had occupied a bed that no one uses.  There, Husband felt she would be safe from additional harm.  She was out of sight and out of mind, so I had no worries about her there either.

During last Tuesday's storm in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, my daughter's home was one of the thousands affected by a power outage.  She and her family camped-in at our house.  The bed Precious had occupied was, therefore, needed by breathers.  Husband moved Precious to the dining room table, complete with the vintage Ninja Turtle sleeping bag that had been used to cushion her for the past nine months 

Because she was no longer out of sight, out of mind, with all pieces securely glued in place, this past weekend, I used toffee acrylic paint, a makeup sponge, and acrylic sealer to cover up her bruises.  Months ago, husband had unsuccessfully attempted to cover the bruises with paint that did not match her complexion; this was the last stage of his repair.  I did not take photos of the color imperfections, but trust me, it was not a pretty sight.

Toffee paint worked well to achieve even coloring.  Husband (the master surgeon) was very impressed with my work, and said, "So you found some paint that matched."  "Yes," I replied.  "It was here all along." 
April 8, 2012, Precious' repaired, painted, varnished arm
As illustrated below, Precious is now, as good as new, ready to occupy her own doll bed, where she had been prior to her near devastating dilemma. 

Precious, April 8, 2012, whole once again

dbg

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7 comments:

  1. WELL DONE! You two make a formidable pair. I would suggest he go into business, but his turn around time needs some work. LOL! Shat did he use to secure the pieces back together? You and your crazy words. Breathers? Wow.

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    1. Don't let him hear you say that... that's exactly what he said after he examined Precious for the final time. "We should go into business... we'd have people lined up wanting their dolls fixed." Silence from me because as you said, his turn around time needs improving. I think he used super glue, but he filled in the gaps with something else. I'll have to ask. On his final inspection he also said, "Damn, I'm good. I couldn't tell which arm was repaired." He's not shy about giving himself praise either.

      dbg

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  2. I am glad this story has a happy ending and that Precious has been restored to almost her original state. Great teamwork!

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  3. Debbie, tell your dear huggy not to beat himself to death patting himself on the back!

    Seriously, though, this is good work. But I think there might be such a thing as "too meticulous" to judge by the turnaround time.

    Congrats on getting your dolly back, good as almost new!

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  4. Limbe Dolls - Thanks!

    LOL@ you, Miladyblue -- too funny!

    dbg

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