For one last episode in one of the Christmas stories, I wanted to visit the Village Bake Shop.... It had always been Leona's dream to have her own Bakery, and as popular as her baked goods were, Christmas was always the busiest time of the year.... As much as she loved baking, it was a lot of work keeping up with customer demand.....
Bianca went to put on the beautiful gown. "How do I look??" "You look gorgeous! But you still need one more thing...." ...and he put on her tiara.... "There....now you're perfect!" "Now I can't wait to see you in your costume..." "Okay. My turn..." ....and off he went to change....and when he came back..... "What do you think?" "You look fantastic! My very own knight in shining armour." "This is going to be so much fun!" "Well, time to go. The limo just pulled up...." "I'm so glad I thought to book one, because there's no way I'd want to drive in this get-up.
Ready to go?" It was Bianca's birthday, and she was just relaxing, waiting for Rex to get home.... She heard the door. Rex was home. "Happy Birthday Sweetheart...! "My favourite pink roses!" 'And what's this? Special invitations to the Charity Gala at Medieval Times!" "Yes, it's tonight, and everyone will be going in costume...." "So I rented some for us..." "Oh, wow! It's gorgeous!!" "I can't believe you actually got us invitations!!" "Thank you so much! This is so thoughtful of you..." "This is going to be so much fun!!" Meanwhile someone else was having fun too.... "Why don't you go try it on?"
Today is National Appreciate Your Dragon Day, so I thought I'd go and link back to some of my favourite photo stories with Winston. First, the story of how he was made... (click on photos to link) A Dragon in the House...In the SnowDesert AdventuresWith Willie....Killarney AdventureWinston's BirthdayI just spent two whole days making a tiny tiara to go with Monica's gown. I wanted a red base similar to the one SartoriaJ offered. But it would be much more difficult on a much smaller scale. I had gone down to the basement to look for some wine velveteen, fused on the iron-on interfacing pattern, and sewed it with matching colour lining. It was a bear to turn right side out, but I managed. It wasn't bad, but when I compared it to the actual gown, the velveteen tiara was way too red. I had not bothered to compare the colours, and just assumed that 'wine red' was 'wine red'. Apparently not. What to do? So I made another tiara base from the last scrap of fabric from the bodice. Surprisingly enough it was even harder to turn right side out. But I didn't like the dull colour. Jan suggested trying to dye the first velveteen one, so I mixed up some 'Black Cherry' folk art paint with a drop of black, and some fabric medium, and 'dyed' it. The colour dried very close to the velour of her gown. And then it took two days of deciding how to embellish it, and actually doing it.... In the meantime, I've pulled three fabric combinations for more Medieval gowns. The first gown will be a dark turquoise green, made using the same pattern as the Mirror Queen. I was surprised to find that I had a green version of the gold-spotted brocade I'd used for the Mirror Queen, and I even had some of the same velvet trim, but in green. There's just enough of a similar gold trim for the bodice edging. The neckline and sleeves with be different this time round, and I'm thinking I may make cream sheer hanging sleeves, so it won't just be a green version of that first gown.... The other two fabric combinations I pulled are intended to be FID size versions of my bigger lady's Renaissance gowns, but before I can start cutting anything out, I first need to make a test bodice to check the pattern. These gowns will also be modelled on Bianca, so they will fit both Slim Iplehouse FIDs and the Slim Raccoon ladies. I'm also working on some new 'Medieval' banners. I used one from the castle downstairs for the knighting photos, and loved how it looked. There's plenty more banners on the castle in the basement, but they are all in way too bright colours. That was fine for Disney Princess stories 30 years ago, but I want something more muted that won't fight for attention in the background.... And then there's the foam core walls the banners have to hang on. So lots to do.....
Lawrence decided to make it official, and have his Queen knight Baron on New Year's Day.
So Baron became their first Knight.... Okay, with it being Bianca's birthday later this week, I got an idea for a little story. I don't normally do birthdays for the adults, but with Baron and Monica off to the spa, I suddenly had an interesting idea, and when inspiration hits, it's always best to just go with it. The story requires Rex and Bianca to be a modern couple in contemporary clothes - which is also something brand new that I've never done before. Not a single one of my Fashion dolls has ever been in regular everyday, modern clothes, so what could they wear? Well, since Steve and Iris were still back in Victorian times, their modern clothes seemed the best bet. They might be JID clothes and probably a little too short, but I didn't have much other choice. So Rex and Bianca tried them on, and posed for a family portrait with their cat... Rags was rather distracting.... After some more formal shots, I thought we'd try some more relaxed poses.... They still had their tree up, since Bianca likes to keep it up until her birthday.
Remember back when Byuri and her friends were baking cookies? Well, after they were all baked and decorated, she piled some of them on a tray... "Want to try one?" "No, I want a heart one instead..." 'They all look so yummy!" Byuri put the tray down and took a cookie.... Aaron took one too...."I think we all did a really good job..." "Your tree is really beautiful.."
After some card games, they decided to try a board game.... It's Baron's turn.... Miho is worried....her pieces are very vulnerable....
Finally the table was set, everyone was seated, and Lisa brought in the turkey... "You've done such a great job on our dinner today, Lisa..." "Yes, everything looks so delicious!" "I don't think I like turkey. Maybe I'll just wait for the dessert. I'm really looking forward to the pie Santa - I mean 'Nick' - brought..." Everyone turned to look.... "Your sister has been working in the kitchen all day, and I think you owe it to her to at least try some of everything.." Which he agreed to do.......and then they all had a wonderful dinner and time together. *The entire Victorian Christmas story is now up in Favourite Photos 2019, so you can see it from beginning to end without interuptions.
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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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