Blog Archives

Mother and Daughter

4/14/2016

It's hard to believe that just a few days ago, we were still in the depths of 'winter', and that some of the kids were skating in the frozen-solid bird bath. Well, Mother Nature has thrown the seasonal light switch, and now it's Spring. Finally!

The field of scillas along the townline has started to bloom, and I though it would be the perfect setting for some photos of Lily in the Native Regalia. To make things more interesting, I wanted to photograph her with one of my little girls in the smaller, original version of the outfit. It was originally made for Byuri, who has tanned skin, but with Lily being 'normal' resin, I needed a little girl to match, who was also 'normal'. So I chose Nami.

Whooops!

4/11/2016

It's difficult enough trying to stand on skates for the very first time, and even more so when they are hockey skates without the toe-picks. Nysaa was having a very hard time, even with a chair....

The others rushed over to help....

"Here, why don't you take a break, and just sit on the chair for a bit, and I'll push you around.."

Going Skating

4/9/2016

It's been another frigid, winter weekend, even though it's almost halfway into April. The bird bath was frozen solid, so I thought it was the perfect time to finally let some of my kids try out the skates I bought them before Christmas. But who to choose? Well, I must admit to getting a bit lazy in my 'old age', so chose three kids who were already in their winter wear. But then, when it came to putting on the skates, I decided two of the dolls had on footwear that was going to be too much work to remove, so I switched them for two other kids. And that's how Coco, Erzulie and Nyssa ended up being the ones to go skating.....

The 'rink' was a nice small circle, with an elephant statue in the middle for them to hold onto....
but Nyssa, who had never skated before, just couldn't stand in her skates.....

Erzulie was still tying up her skates.

"Just wait a minute. There's another chair over there. Try holding onto that"

The chair helped a lot, and Nyssa was able to 'skate' around the rink....

Lily in her Native Regalia

4/8/2016

Lily's native ensemble is finally finished. Now I just need to take some nice photos of her in it. Unfortunately it's still not good enough outside, what with all the snow we've been having. There's flurries flying out there right now as I type. So some quick shots inside will have to do until then...

Lily is wearing the 'sleeves' as 'capes' in these photos. Also, keep in mind that even
though this ensemble was created to fit a Limhwa Lily, mine is normal resin, while
the new owner's Lily is tan resin, so she'll look even better in it.

Now if it would just warm up and stop snowing, because I'd really like to photograph her in
the field of blue scillas. Mine are showing colour, and there's even one blooming in a warmer, sheltered spot against the house, so it won't be long now. If it would just warm up.

I hear Mother Nature is going to throw the 'seasonal lightswitch' at the end of next week,
and we will make the jump from winter to summer. No 'spring' this year.

Final Details

4/6/2016

Well, it seems to be taking longer each week to get back into my sewing after a weekend, but I'm finally back to the native ensemble and finishing off the accessories. The moccasins are done, and for once they are actually a 'pair' with a left and a right moccasin.

When it comes to finishing the details, it really helps to have an earlier version on hand to copy. I'm trying to recreate the multiple-strand necklace from my Asa's West Coast Regalia, but didn't have any of the small cylindrical stone beads left, so ended up having to make some from polymer clay. The first batch was made using translucent Sculpey, mixed with bits of other natural colours. The plain translucent beads looked perfect - just like the stone beads - until they were baked and they turned an orange-yellow. So I had to make a second set using opaque white clay as a base....

The hair clips and fan were rather fussy to put together. I used some white and turquoise bits of fluff as embellishment. The main feathers are budgie feathers. A long time ago, when we had lots of budgies, I used to save their feathers whenever they molted. I had lots of green, yellow and blue feathers. But now the blue ones are all used up.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!"

4/4/2016

We received quite some dumping of snow overnight - more than any other snowfall
all 'winter'. In fact we broke a 30-year record for snowfall on April 4th.

The kids were lucky that I went out and trampled down some of the snow before
they had to go to school, or it would have been up to their necks!

"I thought it was supposed to be Spring?"

If "April showers bring May flowers", then what do April Blizzards bring??

I guess we'll find out, since there's another storm coming later this week,
that's supposed to bring an even bigger dumping.

Little Emily

4/2/2016

We made the trip to see our newest little granddaughter yesterday. It's a 400 km drive,
and we arrived shortly after our daughter and baby arrived home from the hospital.

What a little cutie she is!!

My daughter got out the baby outfit she herself had worn when we took her home from the hospital. After two boys I was really hoping for a girl, but didn't want to tempt fate by knitting anything pink, so knit a Fair Isle sweater set in baby colours.....

My daughter had wanted some "pink tutu" style photos taken, so that's what we did....

And for the other Grandma, who was thrilled to finally have a little girl in her family, we took a photo of Emily with her gifts - a cute pink hat, and some colourful flowers...

Doll Buggies

4/2/2016

We've been working on doll buggies this week. I washed and refreshed my daughter's old wicker buggy, so we could bring it when we went to visit. Jan also used it as a model for making a tiny doll buggy out of a fine wicker baby basket I'd purchased at a doll show several years ago. Then, since he was on a roll, he decided to rework another, bigger buggy that was part of a Dionne Quints set. The buggy was very rough, with wheels of rough rattan sitting just above the ground. So Jan made a whole new, higher undercarriage, with brand new wheels out of wooden curtain rod loops...

Now I need to make some tiny bedding for both.

Making Progress

4/2/2016

It's been a crazy week, so I've been neglecting my posts. The native ensemble is coming along quite nicely. The under-dress is finished. I had to insert a waistband of matching-coloured cotton, since I'd forgotten that the chamois shrinks when it's wet, and I really didn't want to start all over.

The dress bodice was designed to fit over a protective under-bodice. Whether or not the new owner wants their doll to wear it or not, is up to them, but I thought I should provide it just in case.

The 'jacket' is also finished now. I wet and stained all the surfaces to make everything look a little more 'aged'. The fringe then dries more crinkled, which also helps give a more authentic look.

Now come all the finishing details - like leggings and moccasins, neck;aces and hair ornaments.
It's very helpful that some of my own dolls have Native-inspired outfits, so I have some of their accessories handy to work from and copy.

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