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the Twins

4/12/2022

I made wigs for my two little Myou 'twins'. I made wig caps, then chose the mohair. For the little girl (Feng Linger), I chose the same mohair as her future Mom. But the little boy (Du Du) didn't suit his future Dad's dark brown, so I chose a tight, curly medium brown. After sewing the mohair fringes, I glued them onto the wig caps...

Then after combing, and styling.....and posing with Sena for size comparison. Since their future parents can time travel, they will need contemporary outfits as well as Fantasy Medieval ones. But for now they are sharing parts of Sena's outfits.

Then, since they looked so cute, I brought out a bunch of toys so they could have some fun...

I'm considering naming the little girl Fiona, since I like to choose names that start with the same letter of the alphabet. Her hair still needs some work - maybe some trimming or different styling - but it can wait until after she gets her own outfit(s).

Du Du may become Daniel....

Making Progress

4/11/2022

Things are progressing slowly. I'd finished all the 'easy' things, like all the machine stitching, stuffing the main body, and finishing the wings. I'd cut a double length of wire for inside the body to go from inside the head, down to where the tail bends at the ground. I twisted the wires, then wrapped them with glue-covered seam binding, to create some 'tooth' for the stuffing to hold onto. Then I inserted the wire into the body and proceeded to stuff it, making sure the wire was always buried in the middle of the body. After it was stuffed, I applied some diluted purple paint along the outer edges of the striped belly.

Then I got out ALL my purple beads so I could decide which ones to use. I beaded the entire length on both sides of the under-belly. It was a serious challenge since I was often seeing double, and could barely make out the holes in the beads, but I persisted doing only a section at a time. That alone took three whole days. But at least it was a simple repeat pattern, so no brain drain....

The wings are also finished, and ready to bead. I'd stuffed the edge of the wings - one of the most difficult things to do on the entire dragon. Getting tiny wisps of stuffing into the tiny points proved very challenging, especially with the wire already filling much of the space. Thankfully the opening at the top of the wings helped, since there were no bends to stuff around..

I formed 'claws' out of Aves Apoxie, poked holes through near their base, so they could be sewn onto the bend in the top of the wings after they cured. Then I smoothed more Apoxie around the base of each claw. I used a 3-D paint to squirt raised lines along the stitched vein lines. Then I enhanced the wings with paint to help give them more definition. It took at least five layers - some of which were just diluted paint, which was allowed to seep into the wet fabric, but still allowing the salt dye pattern to show through....

The ears had to be redone several times. The first set I cut out, I stitched all the way round, forgetting that I didn't want a nice turned outer edge. It was very neat, but not at all what I wanted. So into the garbage they went.

Then I cut out a second set, and just stitched the upper and lower edges. But then, like with the wings, I added glue between the layers of fabric before doing the top-stitching, and then I couldn't get the stuffing into the ends of the three points. So another set into the garbage.

Then I started over yet again, and the third time was the charm. I stuffed the points, top-stitched by hand, then glued the outer layers of fabric together, and cut out the ragged edges. After highlighting with a bit of paint, I beaded the stuffed spines....

Mouse Fairies

4/10/2022

My sister and I are working on a Fairy book, and I needed portrait shots of all 39 dolls that appear in the book. I found one for everyone except the three tiny mouse fairies. Well, I did have nice studio shots of them, but decided to try shoot some nice portraits with flowers in the background.

Muffy Mouse...

Melody Mouse

Missy Mouse

Then I realized Missy and Melody were wearing each other's costumes (yes, they all have their own specific colour) so I switched and photographed them again....

Then after all that effort, the photos didn't end up in the book after all. We went with the studio shots. But I did get some nice portraits of the three of them.

Making an Outfit for Baron

4/9/2022

After finishing her own wedding gown, Naomi started on Baron's wedding outfit....

She had chosen rich brown and gold fabrics to compliment her own gown....

She had asked Baron to come for a fitting...

"I'm very curious to see what you're making for me..."

"I'll need you to take your shirt off..."

"Nice trim..."

"I hoped you'd like it. Could you try on the surcoat first, please?"

"Just have to double check your arm length..."

"That's perfect."

"Now, if you could take it back off and try on the shirt....

"It's not quite done yet, but I just need to check how it fits so far...."

"How does it feel?"

"It feels great..."

"Except...."

"...this arm is going to get rather cold."

Naomi smiled...."You're so silly!"

Another Dragon

4/8/2022

I finally decided to make the second dragon that I've always wanted. Winston was the first dragon, and he was intended to just be my 'test dragon', but he turned out so well that I never took the time to make another. Over the years, Winston has made many good friends.....

With all my health issues I just figured I wouldn't be able to tackle another dragon, but after making wings for Miho last year - which were made exactly the same as Winston's wings - I realized that it was definitely still possible.

While I was working on taking photos for my White Cat story, I found myself thinking of dragons a lot, and thought that, even though Winston was friends with everyone, he could use a friend of his own species.....another dragon. A girl dragon.

I had always envisioned a dragon as a steed for one of my little House Elf Warriors, and with one in the house, and another on the way, I figured now was as good a time as any. After all, my eyesight wasn't getting any better. I had always thought the second dragon would be bigger and in a different pose, but decided that it would be nice if Winston could have a girlfriend much the same size as himself, and decided to just make alterations to the changes I'd already made the first time.

So, I put an Elf on Winston's back to check for size, and where I needed to make adjustments to the pattern. I thought they worked quite well together....

I took out the fabric that I'd bought after I finished Winston - it was a similar salt dye cotton, in turquoise, but leaning towards purple. I got out the patterns and made adjustments to all the places where I thought Winston could have used some improvement;

- straighten the neck some so it could be posed easier without strain on the stitches in the inner curves
- straighten the bend in the arms so they could be straightened more without popping the inner elbow stitches.
- put darts in the tail where it first touches the ground, so the dragon will stand upright and not keel forward all the time
- add a little extra length in the body to accommodate a saddle for the Elf.
- separate all the fins on the back so each one is its own separate unit

I made the pattern adjustments using blue paper so I'd know exactly what I'd added....

I began cutting out the pieces. There were a lot! I had found a nice purple stripe fabric for the dragon underbelly, but it was too contrasty on the right side, so I used the lighter wrong side instead. The sewing began....

Some of the body parts sewn together....

The wings were just sewn along the top edge - leaving an opening at the bend at the top - then turned right side out, pressed, and then the channel for the wire was sewn. I applied a thin layer of glue along the bottom raw edges of the wing fabric to hold the layers smoothly together. After that dried, I sewed the 'wing veins', drew on the rugged edge, and cut it out with scissors....

All the individual fins on the back were stitched, turned, and top-stitched. I left the last three fins in one piece since they were going onto a straight section of the tail. When doing any top-stitching I'd leave long threads that would need to be sewn in invisibly by hand later - as opposed to backstitching at the beginning and ends of every line.

Rags

4/7/2022

While Willie was taking notes, Rags decided to come out of hiding.....

He had been hiding for days, but there were finally some humans in the room. So he carefully ventured out....

"Why, hello there! What's your name??"

"His name is Rags. He's our kitty, but he's terrified of us now that we are all huge cats."

"Maybe you could do him - and us - a huge favour, and take him back home with you. I'm sure he'd be way more comfortable with you than with us right now. He just sees us as huge monsters."

"We'd be more than happy to," and when Willie opened her bag, Rags jumped in....

Adrian was sad to see his beloved kitty go....but he knew it was for the best...."Good-bye..Rags....I'll miss you."

"We'll take good care of him, while we try to figure out what's going on, and what to do about it..."

"But it may take a while...."

"So, try to stay calm, and go on with your lives like normal as best you can. And please, don't do anything drastic. We'll figure this out. It may just take some time."

After the Wizard and Willie left, Kassia was exhausted....

"I sure hope it doesn't take them too long..."

*to be continued

That takes us to the end of Chapter One, so it's time for an intermission. Even though most of the photos for the next two chapters were taken during the past two years, there are still several parts which I'm in the process of shooting. And then there's still chapter four which hasn't been photographed at all. Plus I have lots of other things going on.

In the meantime, the entire story so far can be revisited in Favourite Photos 2022, as one continuous story - Happily Ever After?

the Interview

4/6/2022

The Wizard and Wliie finally arrived at the castle, and the maid, ushered them in.....

"Your Highness, the Wizard has arrived..."

"Normally I'd ask what's wrong, but it's pretty obvious...."

"By the way, this is Willie, my esteemed colleague. She came along in hopes that maybe she could help."

"So, why don't you start at the beginning, and tell us what happened..."

And Willie sat down, ready to take notes....

"Well, I went away for a few weeks on a trip, and when I came home everyone had turned into a cat again. The next morning when I woke up I was one too."

"You said 'again'. What do you mean by 'again'?"

So Kassia recounted the story of how she had been transformed into a cat by a jealous, vindictive Fairy Queen years ago. How she, and everyone in the castle were transformed into cats

...and how Prince Adrian had stumbled upon her castle and eventually broken the spell...

"I had to convince him that he had to stab me in the heart in order to break the spell. The blade barely touched me before I was transformed back to my human self, and I didn't feel anything. Then everyone else became human again as well. But...now..... this time.... there was no warning, and no Fairy Queen. It just happened. We all went to bed.... and woke up the next morning...like this....."

The Wizard felt bad for Kassia. She was clearly very distraught...

"All I can say at this point, is that even though the situation may seem the same, I'd strongly suggest that everyone try to stay calm, and definitely don't do anything drastic. It may not work this time...and you wouldn't want to do anything that you would regret. So, just try and relax, while Willie and I attempt to figure it out."

Returning with the Wizard

4/5/2022

It was several days later, and the guards had found the Wizard, explained the situation, and asked him to come....

Willie had been visiting with her friend, and was intrigued, so decided to come along as well...

She had never seen cats wearing clothes and riding on horses before, and found them fascinating....

The Wizard had never heard of anything like this happening before either....

....and wasn't sure he could help, but was determined to try....

So...on they rode....

A Frightened Kitty

4/4/2022

Adrian and Kassia went for a little walk out in the garden to get some fresh air...

"I haven't seen Rags since I returned home. Do you know where he is?"

When they went in, they found him asleep on the sofa...."Rags!! There you are!!"

Rags woke up....

...and was very wary of the two giant cats coming towards him....

He was terrified of them...

"But Rags..."

"...it's me!"

"Don't be scared...."

"It's just me....Adrian..."

But Rags was having none of it....

...and he wasn't going to come out...

"He's been hiding ever since we all turned to cats yesterday..."

But for Adrian it was the final blow. Not only had he been transformed into a cat....

But his beloved kitty was terrified of him, and didn't want to have anything to do with him.

Adrian's Reaction

4/3/2022

The Prince was in shock....

"This is intolerable!! I don't want to be a cat!!"

"Well neither do I!!"

The maid came in to deliver some fresh towels....

"My goodness! Your Highness is now a cat too!?!"

"It would seem so...."

Adrian started to get dressed....

"I have an idea. I think I know who we can ask for some help..."

"Really?? Who???"

"The old Wizard, Nick. He's a powerful sorcerer, and knows all about magic and spells. Maybe he knows how to fix this."

So they went down, and Adrian summoned his two most trusted men......er...cats.....

They were rather stunned to see that the Prince was now a cat too....

"We need you to go find the old Wizard, Nick, and bring him here..."

"This is a high priority mission. Tell him that we need to see him as soon as possible."

"Hopefully he can figure out whatever is going on, and set things straight.."

"Right away, Your Highness.."

And they headed off....

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*to be continued

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