Narin already has the smaller size 8 eyes, since the bigger size 10 made him look too young. He's trying on Maya's clothes to see how they fit, so I'll know how to adjust the patterns, and make him something of his own. At the moment he's a blonde, because it's the best look of all the wigs I tried on him. Not what I expected, but hey, these dolls have a mind of their own.
And now for a photo of my newest couple - Butterfly Narae and Narin by D'Storic. I've had them since the first week of January, and now that they have faceups, it's time to introduce them. They are both the Real skin French resin, which has to be my all time favourite skin colour of all my dolls. Narae is very beautiful, and she has such a sweat smile. She has a very "dreamy" look, so I may try a size smaller eyes to see if she can be made to have a direct gaze. It's just she has the most beautiful purple glass eyes at the moment, and I really don't want to change them.
Narin already has the smaller size 8 eyes, since the bigger size 10 made him look too young. He's trying on Maya's clothes to see how they fit, so I'll know how to adjust the patterns, and make him something of his own. At the moment he's a blonde, because it's the best look of all the wigs I tried on him. Not what I expected, but hey, these dolls have a mind of their own. Went to pick up Kassia, Narae and Narin last night. Charie redid Kassia, giving her a much softer look. At first she seemed a bit pale to me, especially remembering how bold her colouring had been before, but after trying some wigs on her, she seemed perfect. She now looked amazing in really light-coloured wigs, especially Tibetan lambskin ones. I had thought maybe Kassia just never wanted to be a "princess" , but since my "Blanchette" gown is the only thing I have available for her to wear right now, I put it back on her. And now it works!! Kassia is now soft and pale like the dress. She still looks a bit pensive, but she's lost that "depressed, been crying for hours" look. Just goes to show Charie knows what I like even better than I do myself, so now I'm very excited to see what she does with Soa and Erzulie! Beautiful Kassia, and pondering the weight of accepting the crown.... Narae and Narin are also home. They both look wonderful. I do have something for Narae to wear temporarily, but nothing for Narin, so I'll either have to quickly make him something - or steal something off one of the other boys - before I officially introduce him.
Today I have to finish the feather ornaments for two of the fairy outfits, and clean up my workspace. Then I need to address several small projects and loose ends while I wait for my next commission to get back to me. Yesterday I managed to paint two more sets of wings, as well as make the flower wreath for the Lavender Fairy. That leaves one set of wings left to paint, and two sets of feathered hair accessories to make, and I'll be finished everything. I like the shimmery look of the blue and lavender wings. They started out a shimmery organza, like the pink unpainted set, but the acrylic paint I use dulls the finish, so a coat of iridescent glitter over the painted areas helps puts the shimmer back. Charie has finished painting my Butterfly Narae and Narin, so I'm looking forward to going to pick them up. I have plans for them to be dressed as a very elaborate Rococo couple, heading off to a Masquerade Ball. They will be the most elaborate costumes I've done for a BJD to date, so will make another "Creative Journey" album to chronicle my progress. But I've just started negotiations for the next big commission, so the Rococo costumes will have to wait a little longer. In the meantime I do have something Narae (she'll need a new name) can wear, but there's nothing for Narin. Maybe I should throw together a quick simple "pioneer-Hobbit" type outfit like Maya's. I need another one of those for our summer trip anyways.
Yup, March 6th is Book Day, so everyone is supposed to start reading a book today. It's also "National Frozen Food Day", on which you are not supposed to cook, but just defrost and eat something out of the freezer. Rather an odd combination, but I guess if you started reading that book, and really got into it, then you wouldn't to take the time to cook anyways.
So, my little girls decided to get comfy on the couch and read some of their favourite little animal stories, and to celebrate "Frozen Food Day" they decided to indulge in some of their favourite frozen food - ice cream! The first fairy is finished, and today I'm painting the next set of wings. Even though it's a much bigger job than yesterday's set, I really prefer working with the cotton fabric wings. I soak them and lay them on paper towels and let the first layers of diluted paint flow in - much like water colours. After they dry, I'll add all the details. Another nice thing about this particular set of wings is that I own the originals, so I can have them there right in front of me to copy from, as opposed to always having to go check the wing images on the computer in my office. While the wings dry, I'll work on the finishing details of the costumes - like feather ornaments and flower wreaths. I'm really hoping to be all done by the weekend, so I can take some final photos outside. Last weekend while down at the lake, shooting a "Special Day" photo that needed an icy Arctic-like setting, I did check on the patch of periwinkle, and it's nice and green and snow-free, so that will probably be my fairy setting. My yard isn't very good this time of year - there's still lots of snow, and my "Christmas Tree Forest" has turned brown, and is ready for the Garden Waste Recycling truck. Plus, there's way too much ugly fence showing everywhere.
All sixteen wings have been top-stitched, and have had their edges trimmed, so today it's time
to insert wires. I was afraid I'd run out of wire, but it looks like there should be just enough. I really like the Luna Moth wings. Well, I'd better get back to wiring, so I can start painting. Well, all the wings have been cut out and the first seam sewn. There's white lamé organza for lavender and blue sets of wings, a pink lamé organza for pink-red wings, and some fine white cotton for the dark Topaz Fairy wings. It's hard to believe that by the end of the week - or sooner, if all goes well - all those flimsy bits of fabric will be beautiful fairy wings.
Well, it took a little longer than I expected (what doesn't these days?) but I'm finally finished the third and fourth fairy dresses. So today's job is to choose the wing fabrics and cut out the wings. Wings require a lot of sewing, and then painting, and there's four per outfit, which means a total of 16 wings!! I've been training my left foot to drive my sewing machine. The foot pedal on my expensive sewing machine is a bad design for me, so it's caused plantar facitis in my right foot. Last time I developed that (some 23 years ago) it took two years to heal, and Jan replaced the foot pedal of the sewing machine with a better one, so I never got it back. However, this sewing machine is a high end Husqvarna machine which is pretty much a "computer that sews" and I doubt it would react well to having it's wires cut. It's funny that it never even occurred to me when I bought this machine that I would have that problem again - after all, it had been 23 years - so I didn't even notice the design of the foot pedal. Since it took three years to develop the plantar facitis this time, and it takes two years to heal, I figure if I switch to my left foot for awhile, then go back and forth, switching feet for each new project, I should be okay.
Fairy costume number two is now finished, and there's still two to go. This commission was for a redo of my earlier Topaz Fairy - the outfit I converted into a warrior elf for my Isar. I didn't have any more of the same striped fabric so replaced it with another, more reddish-brown stripe. The last two fairy costumes are quite far along too - one just needs the last decorative beading, whereas the other still needs all the beading. Actually, they both still need their dangly fairy talismen attached to the bottoms of their upper skirts. And then there's four sets of wings to make - with four separate wings in each set. These four fairy costumes will be the final remakes of any existing versions in this size. Next time I make fairies they will be totally different colours and a new style. And maybe other sizes.
Today, being March first, is National Pig Day. It's also Peanut Butter Day. So Nami thought what better way to celebrate the day than to prepare some peanut butter sandwiches for a pig. A really, really BIG pile of peanut butter sandwiches! Some with crust, and some without - just in case he's a picky eater. "Yum! These are the best peanut butter sandwiches I ever had!" The pig figure is "Robin Hog, Prince of Swine". who steals food from the rich to give to the poor. He's one of Marianne's and mine joint effort figures, which she sculpted from polymer clay,
and I dressed and finished for her, several years ago. |
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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