"Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful day!" Then it was time to give Elora her gifts... "Oh, wow!!" "It's a special wind-up music box we had made for you...." " It has all your favourite ponies on it...." "I love it, and I love my new Teddy too. Thank you so much!" "So, when is it going to be dinner time? I can't wait for Nora, Nick, and Hans to come..."
I finally forced myself to finish the shoes I started several months ago. Making the uppers was the easy part, but I'm not a fan of working with Apoxie. I love the final results, just hate working with it. To me it always feels like trying to sculpt with chewed gum. The stuff is sloppy and sticks to everything. Anyways, I was determined to finish them, so made all the soles first, then carved and sanded them down, then added the heels. After the heels cured, and were sanded, they all needed to get painted before being glued to the uppers.... The shoes were so much work that I decided to shoot a little story around them, as I was finishing them. So, something to look forward to once we get to the end of the current Christmas Story.
Elora was supposed to stay off her sprained foot, but was getting rather frustrated by her lack of mobility... When her Dad came in.... "I was over at the infirmary to see if they had any small crutches your size...." "Let's see if this helps you to get around..." Elora was a little unstable at first... She just needed a little practice to get used to it.... "I think this will help a lot!" *This brings us to the end of Part 4, now available in Favourite Photos 2021
The Queen was so relieved to have Elora home again, and made her comfortable in the window so she could watch what was going on out in the courtyard, as the other castle folk prepared for their Christmas celebrations.... "That was quite some adventure you had today." "I was really scared at first, but after Nick took us to his house, Nora was so nice to us, and I had a really good time." "Daddy invited everyone to our Christmas dinner, so I get to see them all again tomorrow."
"However, Elora did have a little accident in the woods, and did something to her foot..." "They said she didn't break anything, and that she likely just sprained it...." The Queen took a look...."Yes, nothing seems to be broken, but her ankle is quite swollen. I'm sure they were right, and it's just a sprain. But she's going to have to stay off it for a little while" "You know, young lady, it could have been so much worse...." "You can't just leave the castle and not tell anyone where you are going. Your Mother was worried sick about you..." "I know.....I'm really sorry...." "I won't ever do that again...."
With most of Jude's outfit finished, I had to take some photos of him, before I took down the castle.
I had resewn the chainmail sleeves so they'd be 3/8 of an inch shorter. I also thought his kilt was a touch too long, so cut off the waistband and sewed on a new one, so a little of his legs would show. The Queen rushed to embrace her daughter... "I'm so relived that she's safe. Wherever did you find her??" She was apparently on her way to the village, when she got lost in the woods. Old Nick's dog found her, along with a little boy from the village, who was trying to help her. You know Nick. He's the wood cutter who has the firewood contract with us. He took them home, where his granddaughter looked after them until his parents, and I, arrived..." "I brought her home as quickly as I could..." "I knew how worried you were..." "But she's safe back home now."
Jude's armour is coming along nicely. It took me all week because sewing leather is so hard on my hands. The hardest was the beading on the edges of his belt, and sewing on all the buckles and straps. I'm especially pleased with his wrist guards..... I haven't decided yet if I'm going to stain it or not. I used really dull, old 'brass', and copper coloured beads so they wouldn't be too bright, so they don't really need it.
After trying to figure out how to make the chainmail show underneath I ended up just sewing the strips inside the bottom of the leather tunic. I had just one long rectangle left over from a butcher's glove my son gave me a few years ago, and I split it lengthwise unevenly - on purpose - so it wouldn't be all straight and neat. That took three days to cut - one tiny ring at a time. Now the only thing left to make is a harness so he can carry his broadsword on his back. The King took his daughter, and left. He mounted his horse, and held Elora tight.... ..and they headed for home... It was still snowing hard, and Elora snuggled close into her Father's shoulder.... Before too long, they were back at the castle.... The King was glad to be home.... With his daughter safe in his arms...
As he was about to leave, the King turned to Nick... "I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am that you rescued my daughter, and took such good care of her.." "I'm just glad I could help, Sire." "I'd be honoured if you and your granddaughter would come to the castle tomorrow, and join us for Christmas dinner." "I'm sure the Queen would love to meet you..." Then he turned to Hans and his parents... "I'd be honoured if your family could come as well, especially your young little hero there...." "Good-bye, until tomorrow then.."
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
May 2024
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