2 Iplekids Everyday - Fav Photos 2022

Iplekids Everyday 2

A collection of smaller photo shoots featuring my Iplehouse dolls

Another Lisa

I recently acquired a second KID Lisa. I love my Special Real Skin version, and often thought I'd like to get her in Normal resin as well. Well, I was at the Cambridge Doll Show a few weeks ago, and who should I spot, but a beautiful Peach/Gold Lisa for sale. Like, what were the chances?

I've never purchased any Iplehouse dolls in their PG resin before, since it tends to make my older Real Skin dolls look 'green' beside it. But the doll was so beautiful. She was an older version in their original PG resin, which had a lovely translucent quality. And she had the make up from their Addiction series. I couldn't resist.

She's going to be a Medieval teen, helping Naomi around the house. I had one Medieval gown available for her to wear until I make her something just for her. And I tried on some wigs to see what I liked best...

This one from Iplehouse was a nice style and colour, but was way too long with way too much hair.

The mohair wig was a better length, but also had too much hair. So I'm going to have to make her a new one, just for her.

I'm her fourth owner, and somewhere along the line someone made a mess of her eyelashes. There was quite a bit of glue showing, so after taking these intro photo I was going to see if I could remove it. Then I figured there was too much risk of me making an even worse mess, or ruining her lashes altogether, so I just took my thinnest brush and ever so carefully touched up the glue spots with paint to hide them. So they are no longer visible.

Relaxing with a Book

Iris had been picking apples in the orchard, but it was such a lovely autumn day, that she decided to just relax and read her new books out in the garden...

What could be better than an entertaining book, and a mug of mulled cider?

Maybe some friends...

...to cuddle with in a nice warm afghan?

Crying Goblins

I was working on the Then & Now book, and wasn't happy with the page with the passing of the Evil Fairy from the White Cat story.

I needed a better photo of the goblins who had come to pay their respects, to replace the photo on the bottom right corner. But I didn't feel like setting up the entire scene, so just took Leona and the goblins out for some photos...

I gave them some tissues like they'd been crying...

Leona's skirt seemed a bit too busy in the background, so I moved her black cloak over to cover it up some...

In the end all the work was for nothing since I decided to cut that page from the book.

Emily Carr

December 13th, is the birthday of Emily Carr, one of Canada's most iconic artists. She was born in Victoria, British Columbia, on a stormy night in 1871. She was the second youngest of nine children, and as she grew up her artistic inclinations were encouraged. Later as a young woman she made several sketching and painting trips up the coast to visit Aboriginal villages.

She focused much of her work on sketching and painting native villages and totem poles on location along the coast all the way up to Alaska, in the hopes that the Museum would be interested in purchasing her entire collection as a historical record. But they turned her down, claiming her paintings were "too colourful". Totally disheartened, she stopped painting for the next 15 years, turning her attention to running a boarding house and raising dogs, to help pay expenses. She started writing, and did eventually return to painting, encouraged by members of the Group of Seven, notably Lawren Harris.

I've always admired her work, so Marianne and I made an art doll figure of her for our Artists series years ago. To this day she still sits at her easel in my display case.

Back in 2013 when I was shooting my Special Days series, I did a tribute to Emily Carr for her birthday that year, but it wasn't up to today's standards. So I decided to do it again, so I could include the photos in my new Then & Now book.

I set up her studio on my dining room table. I filled it with her paintings, some Indigenous art, and native regalia. Then I tried to imagine the scene with three little girls there for some art lessons, even though she hadn't really been much of an art teacher. She had taken a teaching position at the 'Ladies Art Club' in Vancouver in 1905 - but for just a month. She was unpopular because of her rude behaviour, smoking and cursing at the students, so they boycotted her classes.

So my scene is totally imaginary, how it might have been if a friendly Emily had actually taken children in for art lessons.

Emily had a pet monkey. Woo, who I imagined would have been a total distraction...