Naomi had the opportunity to pose for a magazine fashion shoot. A beautiful woman in a gorgeous gown, in a very simple setting...
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Yesterday was also 'National Peanut Butter Cookie Day', so some of the girls baked up a batch... "Would you like one too?"
It took a bit of time to figure out what I wanted to do for Miho's wings and wig. I wanted her to have 'dragon' wings, and went through several boxes of fabrics looking for just the right thing. All the purples were just too 'purple' and would give her a cartoony or 'dollish' vibe. I eventually decided on some dull turquoise & purple, salt dye, batik cotton. I bought it years ago right after I made Winston. He was supposed to be the 'practice dragon' on which I'd work out whatever problems arose so I could make the next one better. But he turned out so well that his big brother never materialized. So I guess it's just meant to be that some of that fabric would end up as dragon wings after all. And since I know everyone likes to see projects under construction, I took a photo of the two wings, one which only has the upper wing seams sewn, and then the wing turned right side out. The wing on the right has the upper wire pocket sewn, as well as the veins... I can already hear people say "But they aren't purple, and won't go with her gown!". Nope, they aren't purple, but I like the colour combination. Anyways, this is just the very first step, and they will change a lot, and I'll take photos as I go.
The next thing I need to make is a wig. I had a bag of purple mohair in my stash, the exact same colour as her gown. It was purchased years ago at a Doll Convention, and was intended for either fun doll hair, or needle felting. I have a hard cap already, and was trying to decide if I wanted to use the purple mohair. Not for the whole wig, but just for some streaks. But was it colourfast? I didn't want the dye staining the resin. So I took some locks and soaked them to see if any dye would come off. So far so good......nothing yet.....so should be safe.... Tiana came across Mr Ropuha, stark naked by the fountain. "What are you doing?" It's ' National Swimming Pool Day' today, so I thought I'd go for a swim, but this fountain isn't big enough for my floatie... "Well, the bird bath is big enough, so why not go there instead? And I'll join you!" So they went.... "What a great idea!" 'This is the life!!" "Some more wine, sweetheart?" "Yes, please!"
Lisa was finishing the needlepoint pillows that she and Muffy had done... She had framed the needlepoint with velvet, sewn the pillows and stuffed them.... She thought they turned out really well... Looking back I realized that I'd used cream instead of white for the background on the older pillows. The cream colour is more subtle, and blends into the background better, and I wish I'd realized it sooner, but there's no going back. I'm wondering if it would work to stain them with tea? But then the flowers would change colour too. So they are what they are.
Well, I finally finished Miho's new gown yesterday. It took me three weeks of constant redoing, and it ended up quite different from what I had originally envisioned, but It's finally done. I had envisioned a stand-up collar of flower petals around her neckline, to match the petals on the under skirt, but after struggling with it and picking it off four times, I finally realized the dress only wanted a simple row of small flowers. And of course I didn't have any the right colour, so had to stain some white ones with diluted, purple metallic paint. I had thought to use the same trim for her waistband that I used on the front edges of her underskirt, but that didn't look good either, so I ended up with a trim that had the colours reversed, with black spots in the middle of gold trim. I think I need to make her a wig. I tried all the ones her size that I have, and none really looked right. The Paige wig she had been wearing made her look too old, like she was Monica's Mother, which wasn't the look I was after. My favourite was a long wavy one, but it was pale blonde, and she isn't a blonde. So for now she has a long straight dark brown. Once she gets a better wig - in dark brown with streaks of purple - I will figure out what she needs on her head. Right now she has a simple circlet made of beaded gold trim. I was going to make a beaded necklace, but found this one in my BJD jewelry box... She also needs some wings. I looked through several boxes of fabric, but I don't have anything suitable, so I'm going to wait until the stores open up again and I can go look in person. So for now her gown is considered done...
It's that time of year that I can take photos outside on my patio table again. First the Pizza Party. I had hoped to use the fallen crabapple petals, which fall like pink confetti every year. But this year we had a heat wave right then, so the petals were dark red, and the white petals turned golden brown. But they still helped add a bit of interest to the plain wooden table... The scene was set up late in the afternoon when the table was in total shade, which meant I'd need the white card to bounce some extra light into the faces of the dolls, especially the darker ones... I don't usually shoot from above, but I wanted to see the pizza in one of the photos..... However, the best photos happen when zooming in at the doll's eye level... Then there was Donut Day. I wanted something different so chose Phairby and the Forest Dweller mice. This time I set up the tiny scene in a different direction facing the big open sky to the east, so there would be plenty of light, and no need for the white card... I used pansies and million bells for background, along with some big mushrooms, and sprinkled chestnut flowers all over the ground. I tried taking some photos showing the entire mushrooms to get a feel for just how small the characters were.... But decided it worked better to just get closer...
Yesterday was 'National Chocolate Ice Cream Day', so I made up some cones for the girls and told them to take them outside. But it was so hot out that the ice cream melted before they could even eat it.... Although Cinnamon's chocolate dipped ice cream did fare better. Raillie's melted down her dress... So much for Chocolate Ice Cream Day! Only Rags seemed happy....
There have been so many lovely blooming bushes and trees this spring, but there's only one way to take advantage of them for doll photos.....have an assistant hold the doll among the blossoms...
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
March 2024
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