I could have gone on and on forever taking fantasy shots of Lisa and Lonnie with my art dolls, and managed a few more quick shots yesterday morning before it started to rain. I was trying for some special ones with Lisa, as she seems difficult to photograph. It's interesting how some dolls actually look better in photos than they do in real life - like my Peach - but Lisa is one whose photos never seem to do her justice. For these photos she took more of a warrior stance, having found a sword she could hold, and borrowing a shield from Rosie..... 

Well, that's it for Celtic Maidens. Both girls are now dressed in their Victorian outfits. I really need to make a third so all three of them can be Victorian girls together.

Still no painting of Easter eggs. My three girls in paint smocks are still standing around waiting. But I've not been feeling well all week, and now I have a house full of guests, and as much as I don't care to take doll photos in public, I wouldn't ever consider doing it in front of family. So the dolls will just have to wait a bit longer. 

I took several photos of Lonnie and Lisa in their Celtic outfits over the past few days. It was fun coming up with ways to have them interact with some of my other dolls and art figures. These are some of my favourites.....

Isar teaching Lonnie to shoot...

Aeran letting Lonnie hold her sword...

Going for a walk with Dad...

Lonnie showing the sword to her friends...

Lisa resting on the rocks...

I love the photos taken in the snow, but unfortunately it didn't last very long, so had to make do with the usual 'rugged' looking spots in my backyard. I've processed all the photos and put them into a Favourite Photos album. You can see it by clicking on the photo of Lisa above.

Today I need to take the studio shots of Lonnie and Lisa, so I can pack up their outfits and send them off to their new home. There's also going to be some egg-painting happening. In fact Bonnie and Erzulie already have their paint smocks on in eager anticipation.

Well, we are finally down to the last two sets of photos from our trip down south.  First we have Nami with a bouquet of flowers, taken near the beach at Tybee Island. I think they are vetch.

Then there's two quick photos taken of Lonnie in historic Charleston....

So that's it for doll photos from our trip.  Now I still have to process all the non-doll photos and put them in an album on my other website. I was doing really well with those, but stalled at day 2. Oh well! Ever since I started taking dolls along on our trips, the actual trip photo albums don't seem to be getting done anymore. Too many distractions. I still have a west coast trip from 2012 to finish, as well as last year's trip to Newfoundland, and now this recent one to Florida. The west coast one is about half done, but the Newfoundland one is also stalled on one of the first few days. It's down to a choice between sewing or working on photos. I can only do so much.

Anyway, I've started the next commission, a Little Bo Peep for a Kaye Wiggs doll. I'm aiming to try make it similar to the one that sold last year, but that one was remade from an old art doll, and none of those fabrics are available anymore. So I nave to substitute. I'm in the process of gathering fabrics, and sewing the trims onto the straw hats. Next step is to choose a model and start on the tights and slips while I work on the patterns.

I'm also trying to take some final photos of my two little Celtic girls before I have to pack up the costumes and send them off to their new home. I think it might be interesting to pose the girls with some of my old art dolls for some fun photos.

Well, today it's back to a few more photos from our recent trip. Lonnie and Elin had gone out on the beach at Tybee Island with us, and after a bit of beach-combing and looking for shells, they sat down to enjoy the warm sunshine and watch the waves rolling in......

Just a reminder that all the trip photos are going into two albums in Favourite Photos
so you can see them all together there in one place.

Well, it was over 20 C yesterday, but we got snow overnight, and now it's below zero again, just as was promised, and we are back in the never-ending winter of 2014!  

However, I finished the two little Celtic KID outfits this morning, so took advantage of the snow and went outside for some photos. I thought I'd take Isar out too, as being an expert archer, she could give them some lessons.....

I'm really happy with how these costumes turned out, and especially like Lonnie in the red one. 
In a couple of days we'll be back in spring again, and I'd like to take a few more photos before sending the outfits off to their new homes.

So now it's time to clean up the last of the supplies I used, and then decide on the next commission - one down, five to go. Or maybe take a really quick break for the rest of this week, and finish Owen's outfit, and make those cushions for the tiny mouse furniture. After all, Easter is coming up, and I'm getting a house full of guests, and as nice as that is, it will also mess with my momentum. It would be better to finish up some small projects. And take pictures.

The two Celtic outfits are coming along nicely. The tunics are embroidered and beaded, 
skirts pleated and pressed, 'chain-mail' sleeves knit and sewn to wrist guards.....

I've sewn the knit sleeves onto the leather wrist guards, so there would be less bulk at the 
wrists. KIDs have expressive hands with fingers spread wide, so I've left the bottoms of the 
sleeves open a bit above the wrist guards in order to facilitate getting the hand through.

I've never made these Celtic outfits for such a small doll before, and I'm getting excited to see how they will look finished. It would be nice if I could get at least one done today, as the warmer weather we've been experiencing will disappear this evening and we are expecting freezing rain and snow through tomorrow (is this winter ever going to end???) and that could present some interesting photo opportunities. 

The beaches on Tybee Island, Georgia, have the same rough, shell-strewn sand as the 
beaches in northern Florida. It was a bright, sunny day, so Elin & Lonnie went out for a
 quick look to see what they could find....

Lonnie found a feather....

...and Elin found a shell with a perfectly round hole in it.

I had always thought they were 'periwinkle holes', but upon doing some research, discovered that periwinkles are herbivores that mostly eat algae. Those perfectly round, bevelled holes in sea shells are made by carnivorous snails- either whelks, moon snails, or oyster drills.

The packages with silicon wig caps arrived the other day, and I promptly put them on all my little ones. I love the wig caps!  I don't know why it took me so long to try them. No more messing with tape or cleaning up sticky residue on their scalps. No more having to adjust their wigs for every photo shoot. When redressing the dolls, or smoothing the hair out of their necks, their bangs aren't suddenly down over their eyes anymore. And when taking off a hat, the wig doesn't come off along with it. The wigs stay nicely in place. So now the girls can do summersaults, stand on their heads, or hang from the trees and monkey-bars. They were thrilled, and had to go test it out......

I love St. Augustine! It's my favourite city in all of Florida. Founded by the Spanish in the mid 16th century, it's the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the USA. The historic heart is a wonderful place to explore. Then add in all the magnificent churches and former hotels built by Henry Flagler during St. Augustine's heyday in the late 19th century, and it's just a fantastic place to visit. We like their Tour Train system, where we can get on and off throughout the historic district.  Elin and Byuri came along with us on the Tour Train that day.

Most people hang their wet, clean clothes out to dry, but not me. Today it's warm and very windy out, so the perfect day for drying stuff, but it's not clean clothes that need drying, but dirty clothes. I've wet all the Celtic costume parts, dipped the hems in dirt-coloured paint, and hung them out to dry. After all, I'm going for realism, which means tattered and stained edges on everything.

The skirts have been pleated onto the waistbands, and when they are dry I'll pin in the rest of the  pleats. The cloaks may need to be re-wet when they are ready to be shaped onto the dolls