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Pillows and Tapestries

1/21/2022

With the Forest Dweller outfits finally finished, I was taking the week to catch up with some work on my website, and finish using up some of the stuff I'd started. Back in early December I'd found two table runners at Value Village....

The first thing I did was to make two new banners to hang in the castle at Christmas....

But what to do with the leftovers? I decided to turn them into pillows and cushions....

A week after finding the table runners, I found a big Rococo tapestry in a nice frame. I thought the tapestry could be cut up to make two smaller ones for an upcoming story, and the frame could be cut down to fit around a painting that still needed a frame. So Jan took the frame off and reworked it for the painting.

The tapestry was extremely faded, and I wondered if washing it would help, and it did brighten it a little bit. Then I proceeded to cut a section off, and started framing it with leftover cream borders from the red table runner....

It turns out that it was actually good that the tapestry was so faded, as the camera really picks up the colours and brightens them. It might have been too distracting in the background had it still been the original bright colours.

Anyways, I did my best to make a nice straight border, but it still ended up uneven on the outer edge, but there's nothing I can do about it at this point so it is what it is.

Back to Work

1/20/2022

With the holidays over, it was time for Baron to go back to work. It was time for the annual patrol of the outlying villages, and he didn't know exactly when he would be back. It would be the first time since they came back that Naomi would be alone in the past, and she came out in the snow to say good-bye....

The Big Snow

1/19/2022

We had a huge dumping of snow Sunday night into Monday, and are finally getting everything cleared off. Environment Canada issued a 'Blizzard Warning' for our area - the first time that I can even remember. We got well over 40 cm of snow...

So Monday morning the shovelling began....

The neighbour's cars....

Everyone was told to stay home, but some people ventured out anyways....and promptly got stuck in the middle of the road....

Piles along the sidewalk reached almost two meters.....

I had been excited to get snow, since we'd had hardly any so far this winter, and I had several doll photo shoots planned. But there was just WAY too much snow.

Now two days later, with the temperature up above freezing, we needed to do some last minute clearing before the bottom falls out of the temperature tonight turning everything into solid ice.

Two little girls came out to help....

The road was plowed yesterday, and with the 'warmer' temperature today, it was finally clear....

Most people had cleared their sidewalks so they were clear too....

...well not in this direction....

But there was still plenty up the front walk to the house that needed moving....

The girls decided that shovelling this much snow was definitely no fun....

Tiny Guys

1/18/2022

I finally finished the outfits for my two new little Forest Dweller guys. I spent much of last week working on them intermittently each evening, but on Sunday decided that their tops were turning out way too stiff, and I also didn't like how wide the neck openings were. So I decided to throw them in the trash, and start over completely from scratch. I made the new neck openings smaller, lengthened the vest by about 1/8" and lengthened the sleeves by a touch. At this tiny scale it's amazing what a difference even 1/16" can make.

The new tops turned out so much better. Komirka Chipmunk's shirt seemed to be missing something, so I gave him a tiny red bow tie - to match the red flowers on his wife's apron....

These tiny outfits are definitely no fun. The sleeves are about as big as a postage stamp, and inserting them into the armhole has to be the worst job ever. And then there's the tiny collars hand-sewn from double 1/8" wide silk ribbon. I have to sew with a beading needle since it's the only needle fine enough. But they are finally finished! Yay!!

While I was at it, I also decided to try make a crocheted hat for Miss Chipmunk. I had to make changes to my crochet pattern in order to accommodate the different position of her ears. I chose some gray crochet thread to match her apron, and embellished it with red and turquoise silk ribbon and a small red ribbon rose....

The gray mouse couple...

All four new, little Forest Dwellers....

I also dressed Miss Muffin Mouse. She's a tiny, jointed, porcelain character, roughly the same height as the four Forest Dwellers, and she is supposed to be a 'mouse', but compared to the much more realistic looking Whispering Grass Mice, she looks way more like a 'rabbit' in my opinion (even with the rounded ears) so that's what she's going to be....

More Partying

1/17/2022

After the obligatory group photos, everyone scattered to mingle....

Willie and the Wizard sat down to catch up....

Winston and Isar were checking out the treats on the dessert table....

Raillie and Soa seemed to be deep in conversation....

Phairby was visiting with her tiny friends....

...while Lily was helping herself to another cupcake....

Then before cutting the cake, Willie and Phairby posed for one last photo....

A Birthday Party

1/16/2022

I've tried to throw birthday parties for all my smaller dolls on the anniversary of their arrival. Willie arrived at the end of December 2017, and Phairby a year later in the beginning of January 2019. I've meant to throw them a joint birthday party around Christmas time every year since, but something always got in the way. Until this year....

So, invitations were sent out, and the castle was decorated with balloons and ribbons, and a huge cake was chosen from the bakery. When the guests arrived, I took a group photo....

The birthday ladies....

..were so happy...

They were thrilled so many of their friends had come to celebrate with them...

Of course Winston was there....

Along with many of their fairy friends...

The tiny fairies were in charge of keeping track of all the gifts....

Soa, the Earth Goddess, had come....

...as had Lily, Goddess of Spring...

...and the younger fairies....

...and of course, the Wizard was there too. Willie was his oldest friend....

.....and he'd never miss her birthday.

Making the Ring and Box

1/15/2022

I needed a ring for Naomi, but had no idea how to make one. Until I remembered that I had several sheets of thin metal, and one was a gold colour. So I cut a thin strip of the gold metal foil, and curved it to make a ring. I left it overlapping in the back so it would be adjustable. Then I looked through my collection of doll jewelry, and found one tiny vintage doll earring. It had a fancy setting just the right size, and it had a pale green stone - which was the perfect colour, since Naomi's wedding gown would be pale green and white. So I cut off the loop, and glued the setting onto the tiny metal ring.....

Then I wanted something to hold the ring. I'd been given the beautiful little gold box as a gift, and thought it would be perfect. But I needed to make a nice velvet interior, with a place to hold the ring. So I cut out several small cardboard circles.

The inner lid of the box only needed one layer of cardboard, but the bottom needed to be 'higher', so I cut several cardboard circles, punched holes in the middle with my hole punch, and glued them on top of each other.

Then I cut out two circles of wine velour, and lightly glued them on top of the cardboard. I used a dowel to poke the velour down into the hole so there would be a place to insert the ring....

Then I gathered the velour and glued it down on the wrong side....

...then inserted the velour-covered cardboard into the gold box...

And Baron had his gift....

The Ring

1/14/2022

Baron was excited for Naomi to see what was inside the jewelry box....
"Go ahead....open it.."

"It's a ring! It's 'my' ring!"

"It's the ring I showed you in the jewelry store window back home. The one I stopped to look at every time I went by..."

Baron took out the ring, and slipped it on Naomi's finger....

"It's gorgeous.....and it fits perfectly."

"But....how.....when....did you get it?"

"Well....do you remember....one of the last days when we went back in the fall...."

"...and I went out to get us some coffee the one morning...."

"...and you complained about how long I was gone...."

"Well...that was because I stopped in at the jewelry store to buy this ring."

"I knew how much you loved it..... and I had planned for it to be my wedding present...."

"But I couldn't wait any longer...."

"That's so sweet of you. Thank you.....I love it so much!"

"...and I love you even more...."

A Gift

1/13/2022

That evening, as they were getting ready for bed, Baron presented Naomi with a gift....

"I have something for you...."

"Thank you..."

"That's so sweet of you..."

"You know....I had a really wonderful day today."

"The King and Queen were so warm and welcoming, and the children were so delightful...."

Baron tried to redirect her attention to his gift...."Go ahead and open it..."

Naomi wondered what it could be...

She undid the ribbons and opened the box....

To reveal something...

...carefully wrapped in red tissue paper...

It was a beautiful silver jewelry box, adorned with her favourite flowers...
"It's beautiful! Thank you so much!"

A Set Change

1/11/2022

With Christmas dinner finished, I was ready to move on to the next scene. Almost everything needed to be removed so a new room could be set up. The royal family was no longer needed, so they had gone back to their spots in the display case. The table had been cleared off, and most of the chairs had already gone back into storage. Only Baron and Naomi were left, still sitting at the table, oblivious to the mess around them.

Then, as I was folding up the table cloths to put them away, it suddenly struck me that Baron and Naomi looked like two movie actors, patiently waiting in the middle of a set change. So I decided to go with the inspiration, and show what really goes on here behind the scene... after the director and movie crew arrive....

So....now you know what really goes on here....

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