I thought the pigtails of Emily's wig would obscure too much of the wings, so tried on a commercial wig that I'd originally purchased for her years ago. I trimmed all the long curls at the sides and back.
I had wanted to make little butterfly fairy costumes for the Avery twins so they could go out and about with the Grandma Phairby. So, last month I started on the wings, forming them out of wire, and then gluing on white cotton with Gemtack glue. I didn't feel like painting all the fine details of monarch butterfly wings, so I researched other 'orange butterflies' so the kids would still be the same colour as their Grandma. I settled on the Tawny Emperor Butterfly. Then I started painting the wings.... It took forever since both sides of the wings needed to be painted, which meant sixteen sides altogether. Then they were sealed with a few coats of matte varnish... I started on tiny fairy outfits based on the ones I had made years ago for the OOAK polymer clay fairies, but they just weren't working out, so I gave up for a few weeks and went on to some other things. Then a month later I decided to try finish the two tiny fairy outfits I'd started, as I really hate having unfinished projects laying around. Especially after having put all that time into the wings. So I tried the outfits I'd made onto the dolls again and determined that what had tripped me up was trying to make fairy outfits with no sleeves, and that they would be worn with bare legs. I realized the two dolls didn't look very good with bare limbs. They had way too many tiny joints (the arms have five separate pieces alone) and their arms are always twisting all over the place. The dolls needed long sleeves and tights. So I made both dolls black stockings, and stitched tiny orange tubes for sleeves, which I hand-stitched into the existing armholes. I thought the pigtails of Emily's wig would obscure too much of the wings, so tried on a commercial wig that I'd originally purchased for her years ago. I trimmed all the long curls at the sides and back. Then I stitched the two long braids into little buns instead... Then the twins were ready to go exploring with their Grandma...
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It was World Puppetry Day, and the royal children were playing with their knight puppets with their young dragon friends. Most of the little dragons were afraid of the big scary knight puppets.... ...except for Scorch, who took matters into his own hands...
We hadn't had a decent snowfall all winter. Every time there was a 'storm' in the forecast, it would start in the evening after dark, and it would look gorgeous outside when we went to bed. But in the night it would turn to rain, and in the morning it would be a totally washed out mess. So, on March 22nd another storm was forecast, and it was supposed to start in the morning for a change, and it did. Big soft flakes started falling at dawn, and actually stayed on the ground. We were expecting several centimetres before it was over, and it looked like the perfect snowfall for some doll photos. I'd wanted to take photos of Matias and his horse in the snow, so I packed them up, and off we went to the Guildwood Ruins Garden. As we arrived, the softly falling snow turned into a blizzard, and the place was deserted. But we weren't deterred. We trudged through the snow to the first place I had in mind for some photos. That ruin had a nice, raised, stone railing on which to stand Matias and his horse, so I posed them on it, and started taking photos. When taking photos in the snow it's always important to take more than one, because you never know when a snowflake or three will streak in front of your subject's face. Like here... It's fine if there are streaks of snow anywhere else, as it adds to the reality of the storm, just as long as there aren't any streaks across the middle of the subject's face.... Then I wanted to take some photos over at my favourite spot between two large pillars with the Greek Theatre in the background. It meant posing Matias on his horse on the ground, along with the dragon. The spot was somewhat sheltered by some tall trees, so the snow wasn't coming down quite as hard. But it was windy, and very cold. I knew I'd wanted to take photos in this spot, and that meant getting down on the ground, so we'd brought along a tarp for me to lay down on. The best doll photos are always taken level at the doll's eyes, so that meant laying flat on the ground. It's the only way to get a photo like this.... Then it's just a matter of zooming in for some closer shots... ...and squirming around on the tarp for a different angle.... I love taking photos in the snow, especially while it's actually snowing, as it gives a certain, magical quality to the scene. Almost like a fantasy painting. I had wanted to take some photos of the ruins as well, but my fingers were in severe pain from the cold (even though I was wearing mittens) so we just left. In the end I was thrilled with the photos, and was glad we'd made the effort.
Returning home after another gruelling winter campaign.... Matias meets Saphira also on her way home.
In late March we had the only major snowfall of the entire winter. I had wanted to take photos of Matias in the snow, so we headed out to the Ruins Garden in the storm, before the snow would get too deep and out of scale. It's always a challenge taking photos when it's actually snowing, since the falling snow can cause streaks across the subject's face, but I was lucky and most of my photos were perfect. In fact they turned out to be some of my favourite photos of him.
Every day I see such beautiful AI photos online featuring dragons, that they've inspired me to take more photos with my own dragons. No story, just a few photos to inspire the viewer's imagination.
We didn't get much snow this past winter, so when a late spring storm a few weeks ago dumped several inches of wet snow, the kids eagerly went out to build a snowman...
April 8th we were going to experience a total solar eclipse, and I wanted to take photos for my Special Days book. The forecast was for clouds on the actual day, so I decided to take my photos a few days earlier, and I thought the beach would be a good place to view an eclipse, so off we went. I'm getting too old and stiff to be getting down on the ground - unless absolutely necessary - so we brought along our projector stand to pose the dolls on. I don't normally like taking doll photos in full sun because of the possibility of harsh shadows, but taking photos earlier or later in the day when the sun is not high overhead, and then having all the dolls looking into the sun helps minimize the shadows.... I sprinkled some of the fine beach gravel on the stand to help hide it in the photos, and made sure everyone was looking in the exact same direction, before taking close up photos.... We had taken a white umbrella along to shade the dolls from the sun when I wasn't taking photos of them... Behind the Scenes at HomeThe castle interior was set up on the dining room table, but I needed to photograph several Special Days photos, and most needed just a small set-up at one end of the table. Like the sleeping babies in their bed, for World Sleep Day... I was in the process of taking several completely different scenes, so there was quite a mess piled on the other end of the table. But no one would ever notice since all the photos I needed were close-ups Then the wall and furniture were switched for the National Quilt Day photos... Again for just a small scene at the window end of the table... My work space was also a huge mess with several projects on the go all at the same time... Bonnie was changed into her paint smock to be photographed for the Art book, I was in the process of making tiny baby elf wigs, and clothes for the Myou twins, as well as a Victorian outfit for Baron. But my work space is constantly changing. This ,morning there's an entirely new group, with Matias patiently waiting for one last photo shoot before he gets changed into his casual outfit, and all the little girls that I'd been making lace party dresses for. There is just one green BID dress left to finish, and then I'd be done and can move on....
A few days later, after another significant spring snowfall last month, Winston took the kids outside to make a snowman....
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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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