Monster High Crafter: Lovely Woods (Etsy)

I first heard of lovely woods through one of my Monster High Facebook groups. Most of her designs are Victorian in nature, though she also makes snazzy sparkly leggings as seen here.

I ordered two bloomers and two leggings. She had a BOGO sale going on, so this order cost me just $10. I plan to go back and order each piece of a Victorian-style dress for Twyla.

My order arrived quickly and was packaged well. She included a lovely thank-you card. 

 

Ok, let's get to the fitting, shall we?

Please pardon the lack of coordinates. I wish I owned fashions to match these bloomers.

I promptly wrecked the elastic on the left leg of the black pair. That's on me, not on the crafter. I struggled to get them on my witch OC, Myrtle Heffernan, and they didn't survive too well.

The purple pair fared much better. I apologize for Catty's terrible hair and clashing outfit.

The black pair fit snug around the waist, while the purple pair were a bit loose to allow room for the seam. Neither pair sagged or added too much bulk beneath other layers. 

 

Now, the leggings. I wasn't sure about buying them, because I'm not big on sparkles in general, but I decided Cleo would definitely love them and I needed more Cleo pieces.

The leggings fit wonderfully. They are very tight but the fabric is strong and stretchy. At first I was worried I'd tear it trying to pull it over Cleo's calves, but it's a thick fabric and can be inched up slowly without stretching too much.

 

Now that I see them in action, I LOVE them. I'm thinking of buying a pair in red or gold for Clawdia, and a white or black pair for Frankie.. or a white AND black pair? I want lots more. I seem to recall the crafter was trying to use up fabric remnants. I wonder if she has any left!

The waist is thick but not bulging. Stitching is a bit obvious but it's necessary for the scale and fabric strength, and the legs can be rotated so the stitches don't show as clearly from the front. 

 

I'm in love with them, despite my earlier misgivings. I'm picturing them on all my dolls. Send help.

You can check out lovely woods' Etsy shop (and get your own dolls some kick-ass leggings) here. 

Next up: Boo York Comet-Crossed Couple two-pack!

Save Frankie Jackson Review

"Save Frankie" Jackson Jekyll, along with Clawdeen and Draculaura, make up the budget line created for release along with the Monster High movie "Freaky Fusion". 

Jackson is the only one I wanted from this line, although I did love the shirts and Frankie-inspired face tattoos. For those of you less enthused about the permanent facial tattoo, it can be easily removed.

Jackson wears a black polo shirt with a yellow collar and his own personal "Save Frankie" logo, including his yin-yang tattoo in blue and yellow. His shorts have a plaid pattern in blue, yellow, grey, and white stitches (which looked like barbed wire to me) on a black square background. He wears blue and yellow loafers - a recolor of his "Picnic" loafers. He also comes with yellow hexagonal glasses (not pictured), a blue-framed Frankie poster, a black three-band arm cuff, and a blue stitched / barbed wire bracelet.

His shirt is made of a slick, shiny polyester blend that feels a bit like Spandex and leaves little black puffs on everything it touches. I had to pick bits of the shirt off his torso and face for photography, and the darn thing never even touched his face.

The shorts are stiff and have a plastic feel to them. They fit well, but look and feel very stiff.

His shoes are simple recolors. I typically hate recolors, but in this case I'm glad to have a pair in Jackson's preferred color scheme.

I like his bracelets - the bands on the arm cuff are separate, joined in a way that makes them look a bit more realistic, which is a nice touch - but the glasses shipped with this doll were just weird. Jackson wears glasses, yes, but I don't think he'd be brave enough to wear yellow hexagonal ones. Holt might, if he didn't think nerds were so unfashionable.

The poster seems like a useless prop, but I love the detail that went into it. Frankie's green skin looks exactly like it was colored with markers. I wish they had created a new pose for her instead of recycling the same old stock image, but it looks like a black-and-white photocopy of a school photo, carefully colored in. Nice detail work. My only gripe, aside from her pose, is the fact that the handle should have gone on the front, so dolls could wear it like a ring and it would look like it was gripped in their hand. I think I might either snip off the handle on the back and use it as decor for Jackson's room (once I get around to doing dollhouse rooms), or remove the poster from its frame and just keep that.

Jackson's hair is stiff with glue all around. In fact, this Jackson's face and neck were coated in glue as well. I'm a bit concerned I might have another glue-head on my hands. I like the hairstyle, but I have to remove the glue. Hopefully that won't wreck his severe side part.

I love the yellow streak in Jackson's hair. This style is very becoming for his face shape.

It's worth noting that this Jackson has lips that turn upwards at the corners, giving him a satisfied smiling expression, as opposed to previous dour-looking Jacksons. Mine has lips that are offset from the actual sculpt, making him look as if he's trying to keep that smile secret.
 

I'm always happy to add another Jekyll or Hyde to my collection. These boys are my favorites, and I'll probably continue snatching them up when they hot the shelves. However, this one deserves some decent pants, and his hair needs some definite work.