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More Lovely Fairies

8/20/2012

I took a few more fairy photos in my backyard today. Narae's black hair is a bit of a challenge, because it tends to blend into the dark parts of the background, and I have to pay attention to make sure Aeran's white spots are hidden as well, but here's one of my favourites.

I love these fairies! Pink and blues are my favourite colours, and Naraes is such a beautiful dolls.
As soon as I work through all the photos from the last two days, I'll make a Favourite Photos with the best ones. And a "for sale" page for whichever ensemble my customer doesn't choose.

Then it's time to make evening gowns or party dresses from the first two test bodices. I think I may bead them like these fairy bodices, but the skirts will be plain fabric. Could be nice.

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Lavender Ice

8/19/2012

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The second lavender fairy is done, so we took both of them out for some wildflower photography. Aeran looked lovely in her blue and lavender ensemble - the colour reminds me of blue irises.

I actually took the time to make two new lavender mohair wigs - one for both girls - but as nice as they looked on them individually, it really made Narae's yellow skin stand out too much in comparison to Aeran's beautiful tan French resin. With darker hair Narae's yellow skin and more intense makeup don't contrast as much with Aeran - in fact her skin doesn't look yellow at all. I also brought along Isar for a few quick "Fairy Queen with her Court" photos.

The yellow bird's foot trefoil and the stunted Queen Anne's lace worked very nicely as a setting. The nice thing about fairies is that the scale of the flowers isn't as important as when photographing "human" figures, but it helps if they aren't too big. Tomorrow I may try some more shots in the backyard - mostly for close-ups. Then I have to take studio shots.

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"A" is for Admiring Abstract Art

8/19/2012

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One of the Yahoo groups I belong to is starting an Iplekids Alphabet Game today. For the next few days members can post photos of their Iplehouse JIDs and BIDs (and KIDs when they start arriving) illustrating the letter "A". Then on Wednesday we'll move on to "B" for a few days, and next Sunday "C", and so on. I do have lots of photos in my archives for many upcoming letters, but when I don't - or am feeling creative - I'll shoot something specially for the game.

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Magenta Ice

8/17/2012

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The first of my two fairy costumes is done. It's quite different than my usual fairy costumes. It's based upon my very first blue Ice Fairy ensemble I made for Ryung several years ago - except that it's a lot smaller, made to fit a slim MSD, and the wing design has been updated so each wing inserts separately into pockets sewn onto the back of the bodice.

The lavender-blue fairy outfit is quite far along too, and as soon as it's done I can try take some interesting photos out in nature. With all the rain we've had recently all the plants have come back to life, and I spotted some nice yellow bird's foot trefoil and miniature Queen Anne's lace along the edge of the Dairy Queen parking lot. Usually at this time of year the wildflowers are gigantic - but I need small ones. Thankfully with fairies flower size isn't quite as important.

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My Work Space

8/17/2012

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At the risk of dashing everyone's expectations, I took a photo of my workspace. No, I don't have a fancy studio - just a big comfy armchair with a small table, and a desk in the corner of my family room with my sewing machine. This is where all the magic happens!

Cutting out of fabrics, and all painting gets done at the kitchen table.
Even though I've often thought I'd like a nice fancy studio, this is how
I've always worked, so I don't see changing my ways now.

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Beaded Bodice

8/16/2012

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I'm well on my way beading the first fairy bodice. Just a few dangly strings, and some strands of beads falling off the shoulders and this dress will be done.

The wings are all sewn now - after having to make a trip to Fabricland for some more thread. I ran out on the fourth wing to one set, and Walmart didn't have any. Fabricland even had a very big sale on - 40% off everything! I was really good and only bought two spools of thread - and a hemostat (I'm trying to not look at fabrics and not add anything to my ever-increasing stash)

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Trying on New Boots

8/16/2012

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A shipment of shoes and boots arrived yesterday from Mimiwoo. Most are for the tiny girls, and along with several nice pairs of dress shoes, there's also several pairs of boots for when they go back to work as "Christmas Elves". Last year only one of the "elves" had boots to go out in the snow - although that didn't stop the rest of them. So now three more will get boots to keep their feet warm and dry, although I'm still one pair short.

Nami and Elin decided to try them on right away, and Elin claimed the bright red shiny ones.

I just love the little boxes many of the shoes come in.

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Scale in Iplehouse Dolls

8/15/2012

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There's been a lot of discussion lately on DOA as to what ages we see our dolls, so I took this photo to illustrate "scale", and why I think the JIDs and BIDs don't fit with the larger dolls scale-wise. Here's all of my Iplehouse family, except Asa (SID) who is away getting her body blushed.

Back row: EIDs Carina and Tedros, JIDs Kyle and Asa
Front row: BID Elin, JID Isar, BIDs Nami and Byuri

Some people combine all the sizes into one family with JIDs and BIDs being children to the much larger EIDs and SIDs. Problem is, the JIDs are waist-high to Tedros, and that's the height of a 4-6 year old, not a child of 8-10. Just to prove my point, here's a photo of my 6' son with my 4 and 5 year old granddaughters. They are waist-high. Taller compared to their Mom who is shorter.

Of course, the dolls are very customizable, so if someone chose a very young looking JID sculpt and gave him or her a young faceup and clothing, they might be able to pull it off. However the BIDs are way too mature looking to be a young child to an EID as they are scale-wise the size of an infant.

My JIDs are definitely too old-looking to be children to the larger dolls. In fact Isar looks to be about the same age as Carina, just a lot smaller scale. Kyle and Asa look to be mid to late teens. BIDs come to the waist of a JID, so I consider them to be 4-5 year olds with my JIDs.

I just solve the scale issue by keeping my taller and smaller dolls separate. The JIDs and BIDs go great together, and the new KIDs just released by Iplehouse will fit nicely in between.

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Purple Wings

8/14/2012

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I'm working on machine-embroidering the fairy wings. It's been a long time since I've made wings using something like this technique, but I wasn't fond of the way I made those early wings, so I've developed a new technique. Instead of layering all kinds of laces and fabrics between tulle, and then machine embroidering, and satin-stitching the wires onto the outside of the wings, these are the opposite. The main wing fabric is an iridescent organza, and the coloured tulles are layered on the outside, and the wires will go on the inside. Each wing will be wired separately and insert into pockets on the back of the bodice.

The magenta wings are quite far along, although I've run out of the wine thread, so need to make a trip to the fabric store. Or maybe WalMart has it - that's a lot closer. After inserting wires, they'll need a bit of paint to hide the fabric edges, and some glitter to make the wings sparkle.

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Lavender Fairy Gowns

8/13/2012

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Well, I'm back on track with my "lavender" fairy dresses. I'm making two - one towards the blues, and the other more magenta. The blue and lavender one hangs better as the skirt fabrics are all soft and "drapy". The more magenta version has two colours of tulle, so is stiffer, and the tulle catches on everything, so the skirt needs constant "combing" with the fingers to straighten everything out. I wish nylon tricot were more readily available, because I prefer it to tulle.

My Nare, who is the model for the fairy outfits, has traded her long red locks for a short brown bob, so her hair won't constantly be getting in the way. Next step is to insert eyelets in the back, then start on the beading and embellishing. Both dresses still need separate under-skirts as well.

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