I needed a way to keep my little mice safe, so bought a small basket yesterday, and am now in the process of lining it with padded fabric, and making some small pillows. The mice are really too small to be sitting or standing out on my shelf, so I figured this would be a good way to carry them around, or display them. The basket is big enough that they can sit, stand, or lay down, and they'll still fit even when they eventually get some clothes. I think there will even be room for Mr. Ropuha the Toad, when he comes some time next year. Hallowe'en is now finally over and done with. I finished processing all my photos, and finished posting them in the four new Favourite Photos albums. The third album of Special Days photos is also up to date. Now I just wish my vacation albums were finished! There's two that I've started but haven't finished yet - the Pacific trip from spring 2012, and Newfoundland in summer 2013.
This week's Iplekids Challenge colour is Brown. At first I was surprised. With it being the week of Hallowe'en, I fully expected orange or black, but no, it was brown. Definitely not my favourite colour. But then it dawned on me that I actually have a brown outfit - a nice Renaissance gown - and the more I thought about it, the more I realized brown wasn't going to be a problem after all. Chocolate is brown, and I still had my chocolate Anniversary tart. I had brown stuffed animals, and most wooden furniture is brown too. So, here's this week's contribution for "Brown"...... With Hallowe'en behind us, it's almost "back to normal". I took so many photos this past week, that I'm only partway through processing them all. I've added four new albums to the Favourite Photos page, and two are finished - the Pumpkin Farm, and Carving the Jack-O-Lanterns. The Hallowe'en album just needs a few more photos processed, and I'm hoping to finish the Autumn Fun today as well.
I'm also pulling out the fabrics for the next few doll costumes, and hoping to get started on those as well. There's several costumes for Kaye Wiggs dolls I still need to make, so I'll do those first. I had thought there weren't many Special Days coming up this month, but then I went and checked the listings on the various websites, and as a result my list for the months of November and December filled up considerably. I doubt I can do all of them, but I will do my best to tackle the ones that inspire me. Too many pictures, and I can't get to all my sewing, so it's a trade-off. So who am I kidding? I know perfectly well why my sewing goes so slowly these days. It's all those doll photos! But the results are so much fun! And isn't that what it's all about? It was exactly three years ago today that my Antique Lilac website went online, so today I'm looking back, and celebrating. It was a great year doll-wise, with several new additions; Kassia, Lonnie, Butterfly Narae and Narin, Erzulie, Soa, Peach, three little Manuna Mice, Owen and Bonnie. The smaller dolls have definitely taken over! I've had a lot of fun photographing my dolls, especially for the 'Special Days" series. This coming February it will truly become an entire year's worth of Special Days, and I'll need a new project. Maybe I'll actually get back to sewing more costumes. My fabric stash isn't getting any smaller, and neither is the list of people still wanting costumes. Even though over 50 outfits were made this past year, it feels like I'm never getting to the costumes I've been wanting to make for years now. It seems like the older I get, the slower I work. So, it would seem totally appropriate that the pastry I chose for this year's Anniversary photo is a "Turtles Tart"..... So, what's ahead? I looked back at the posts from the past two Anniversaries, and I could pretty much copy the hopes and plans from last year, and paste them here. Other than finishing taking photos for the Quest photo story, and having Narae repaired and Asa redone, everything else on my "hope to do" list, still remains. I still want to make more Renaissance outfits - not only for the bigger girls, but also for the MSD size. There are so many untouched, beautiful brocades in my fabric boxes, just waiting to be turned into something spectacular. I really want to make more fairies as well - I bought fabrics for those over a year ago, and they are all waiting too. The silk I bought for fairy wings three years ago is still sitting there untouched as well. So many ideas, and not nearly enough time!! Then there's the Rococo costumes that I purchased the wigs for several years back, also patiently waiting on the back burner.
Between now and Christmas, what I'd really like to get done is at least three commissioned outfits, my Queen of the Night, some special Kaye Wiggs Christmas dresses, a costume and wig for Owen, plus a couple of new tutorials. We'll see. I think I'd need elves working through the night to actually get all that done. But November doesn't have a lot of special days to eat up my time - at least not as many as October. But Christmas is a very busy time, and I'm sure I'll get some spontaneous ideas which will push back my plans. Hopefully once the Special Days photo series is complete in February, I'll be able to focus more on sewing. But photography is such fun! And the results are so immediate! And having fun is what collecting dolls is supposed to be all about. So that will be my goal for the upcoming year - to have fun and enjoy my dolls. And don't get too stressed out over costumes that just aren't materializing, but enjoy working on the ones that I am inspired to make. |
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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