I've finished the five new fairy dresses, and am very pleased with how they turned out. Each is a one-of-a-kind that can't be reproduced because I'm using up very old flower petals as I go.... Next step is to make wings, panties and a hair-wreath, but I have company for the weekend, so it has to wait. I think before I start the wings, I should design and cut out a couple of bodices for KID-size dresses, and maybe two for my Kaye Wiggs Tinies as well. I know that if I totally finish these outfits I'll feel 'done' and I won't want to start any more new ones, but if I leave the wings and start another bunch of new dresses, I'll be forced to finish all of them. Plus it would be totally cute to have all my tiny girls in fairy outfits at once for fairy photos before most go up for sale.
In addition to being Independence Day, July 4th is also 'Tom Sawyer Fence Painting Day'. I had thought of making a small picket fence, but was too busy, so decided to go with the real thing and make it another 'out-of-scale' photo. Poor Maya. That's one HUGE job!
Today is the Fourth of July, and my girls and I, would like to wish all our friends and neighbours to the south a Happy Independence Day as they celebrate their nation's 237th birthday! (we didn't have any 'stars and stripes' so the girls painted stars on some of their balloons) The United States is our favourite foreign country to go visit - in fact it's the ONLY foreign country my girls have been to. So to commemorate this special day, I thought I'd do another photo tribute of some of our favourite places in the USA that we've been to. Like Canada, the United States stretches from sea, to sea, to sea. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, and down to the Gulf of Mexico. From rugged Maine on the eastern seaboard.... Down the Atlantic coast to the sandy beaches of Georgia... ...all the way south to the Florida Keys..... ....and to the west coast and the rugged Pacific coast of Oregon.... ..and the even more rugged coast of Olympic National Park in Washington state.... ...then down to the sandy beaches along the Gulf of Mexico.... As beautiful as the coastlines are, the interior is equally spectacular.... .....from the Badlands of South Dakota.... ...to the snow-capped Sierra Mountains and Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington state.... ..across the Beartooth in southern Montana.... ...to the wonders of Yellowstone National Park... ...and the Grand Tetons in western Wyoming. We admire their pioneer spirit... ....and respect their native heritage.... ...and we love the US Southwest, with it's spectacular eroded red rocks...like at Bryce Canyon... ..and most wondrous of all, one of the seven great wonders of the natural world..... .....the Grand Canyon.....at dawn... The United States of America; a fabulous place to visit!
Happy Fourth of July, from your neighbours to the north! Well, I still can't get to Tedros, so his commission continues to be on hold. In the meantime I've started a bunch of BID fairy costumes. I've gone through my flower petal collection and the box of nylon tricot to see what colour combinations are possible. I love the 'apple blossom' colours of the first one I made for Elin, but those were the last of the gold-edged pink & white petals. So I'm trying to come up with some other nice combinations. My girls are all still in their Canada Day outfits, and I didn't want to undress any of them yet, so I'm using Ringo as my model for now. He's not too happy about it, but I figure he might as well make himself useful around here. The biggest challenge will be the wings. Up until now, I've always sewed wings from a double layer of fabric, and inserted the wires afterwards. I like the look of the butterflies I bought many years ago for a mobile project that never materialized, but I feel I really need to make the wings to go with these outfits myself. So I'm using the butterflies for inspiration, trying to figure out how to glue a single layer of fabric onto the wire, then embellishing with paint and glitter. I can already imagine all the fun photos that might be possible with so many fairies, but then I started thinking it might be nice to have fairies of different sizes. I tried one of the dresses on a KID and it looked wonderful on her - although somewhat short. I thought it might be nice to lengthen the fairy bodice a smidge and make a couple of versions with longer skirts for the KIDs. Then I thought fairy costumes would be perfect for Cinnamon and Tillie as well. That brings the tentative goal up to ten now! Makes me feel like a fairy factory! Oh well, as long as Tedros can't come out of the closet, I have plenty of time to work on fairies. So, I'll see how many I can actually make - or how long it takes before I get totally bored and fed up, and forceably pry Tedros out of the cupboard just so I can get started on that costume for him instead.
I don't think I've shown a clear photo of my 'patriotic sundresses' yet. Here they are... I thought the two fabrics would make cute sundresses, but also figured I didn't need a lot of them, or Canada Day photos would get way too eye-boggling, so I just bought 1/4 meter of both. But even after making four, there's still plenty of fabric left. These tiny outfits don't take much. I find these busy sundresses work well when combined with other red outfits for variety, or when partially obscured by balloons and flags.....like this..... ....or this.... The girls were very lucky that a new order of frog shoes arrived Monday, so they could wear the red ones with their new sundresses. After all, every girl wants co-ordinating footwear! BID & KID Sundress Sets Up for SaleI've finally put several new BID and KID sundress outfits up for sale, as well as some older ones... For more information go to Fashions For Sale page
This morning I was reminded of the famous song which we all learned when we were growing up.. This land is your land, This land is my land, From Bonavista, to Vancouver Island From the Arctic Circle to the Great Lakes waters, This land was made for you and me. I realized my dolls have been many places in this great country of ours, and they even celebrated Canada Day at Cape Bonivista last year. So I thought it might be fun to go back through the archives and pull out some photos of the great Canadian places my dolls have been... from Cape Bonavista Newfoundland... ...to Vancouver Island, and Pacific Rim National Park.... ...from the Arctic circle (or Labrador, which is close enough).... ..to the Great Lakes Waters.....(Lake Ontario)... .....Lake Superior.... ....Lake Huron.... From the easternmost point in North America, at Cape Spear Newfoundland.... ..to the sandy beaches along the rocky Pacific coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia... ..and all the glorious places in between - like the majestic Rockies of Banff and Jasper in Alberta.... ...the stunning Icefields Parkway.... ...and Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta... ...and we can't forget the Maritimes on the east coast...Peggy's Cove.... ...icebergs drifting by on the Labrador current off Newfoundland.... ..and we can't forget the legacy of our First Nations people.... ...Canada, from sea, to sea, to sea, a wonderful place I call home.
My girls have gathered along the parade route, anxiously waiting for the parade to start, and would like to wish all fellow Canadians a very Happy Canada Day!
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
April 2024
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