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Almost Home

8/31/2022

The Elf Delegation who had been to Lawrence's kingdom had been travelling for a while, and were finally on the last legs of their journey home.

It had been a very successful trip...

But they were all tired from the long journey...

"It's not much further now..."

"I'm looking forward to getting home. I really miss Daisy and the kids."

"I think I'm just going to put my feet up and relax for a week."

Archibald and Willie led the way into the forest....

"It's not much further now..."

"We should be home later today..."

"I can't wait!!"

And they quickened their pace in anticipation...

At the Fair

8/30/2022

It was time for the annual Forest Friends Fair, something everyone had been looking forward to all summer.

Gino and Daisy made it a point to take their twins to the Fair every year, but the Elf Delegation had not yet returned from their long trip to the Kingdom of Man. However Grandma Phairby had flown back ahead of the others, so she and Daisy took Avery & Emily to the Fair by themselves...

Daisy's friends asked how she was doing. "Mother says Gino and the others should be coming home very soon. Maybe in another day or so."

"I can't wait for him to get back. He's never been gone this long before. I really miss him."

Meanwhile, Phairby had taken the children to get a balloon...

"Look Mom!!"

"Grandma got us some balloons!!"

Practicing

8/29/2022

I have quite a few things on the go right now, not the least of which is preparing for Baron and Naomi's wedding. It's taking almost as long as a real one, and there's still plenty to do.

In the meantime my dining room table is standing in for the cathedral. I bought a huge piece of fabric at Value Village which I thought would make a good 'cathedral floor'. Jan made two wooden partitions behind which the guests will sit. Any dolls that are ready, get put into place so I can see how they will eventually look.

Lawrence and Baron have been best friends since they were boys, but as a King, Lawrence can't stand in as Baron's Best Man. So Naomi, who is an orphan, asked him if he'd walk her down the aisle. He was honoured, and gladly accepted, and will do so without any of his royal accoutrements; no robes, no crown, nothing to distract from the bride on her special day....

All the flower girls are part of the extended royal family, and daughters of Baron's friends. Two of them are Royal Princesses. Ringo, who is also dressed in blue, will be Ring Bearer.

I cut a new, longer veil for Naomi, so Paige and Faye could hold it.

It's looking very impressive, even if I do say so myself. I just hope the photos of the actual ceremony turn out as good as I imagine. But before that, there's still lots to do to get ready.

I need to finish some of the details of the Bishop's outfit, make circles out of the flooring fabric to cover the guy's stands, make the carpet for the steps up to the alter, and dress any guests who aren't wearing appropriate 'period' costumes. There will be a lot of guests, but I have to divide them by aesthetic. All the Fashion sized ones will be together on one side, while all the JIDs and other MSDs will be together on the other side. Then there's still the flowers, and wedding decorations. And the reception. Like I said, almost as much work as a real wedding!!

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Stone Arches

8/28/2022

Still preparing for the wedding of the year, I wanted some new architectural detail for the castle gardens for the reception. Both of us are getting rather 'lazy' in our old age, so I came up with the simplest idea possible; to make a removable arch unit to fit on top of the three styrofoam pillars I already had. I bought them years ago at Value Village as Halloween decor. Two had skulls on top, while one was missing on the third. I always placed the pillars so the backs of the skulls were showing and they'd look like 'stone balls' instead. So I removed the skulls.

I drew up an arch pattern, and Jan glued a sheet of pink insulation foam onto both sides of a sheet of foam core - for strength and support - then cut out the basic shape. He routed the inside edges to give it some more architectural detail, and then I sanded in the 'mortar' spaces between the 'stones', and knicked the surfaces to give it more of a 'stone' texture. We also bought some smooth styrofoam balls to replace the skulls. The arch, styrofoam balls, and skulls were fitted with dowels, to fit into the tops of the pillars. And everything was underpainted with gray paint....

Then I sponge painted all the stonework to match the pillars. and I was ready to try it out..

I think it will work nicely....

Dominic

8/27/2022

After finishing the last three elves, it was Dominic's turn. He had been wearing a JID Musketeer outfit since he arrived, but then I needed the shirt he was borrowing, so he ended up in Rex's Outlander outfit, looking straight out of Poldark....or Treasure Island....

I wasn't looking forward to making his wig, so thought I'd try getting rid of the bangs on the 'Monique Lovely' wig he'd been wearing. So far they'd always been hidden under his hats, but as a Medieval nobleman he wouldn't be wearing a hat. So I wet the front of the wig, covered it with a cloth and pressed the bangs back with my iron. Not bad....

The wig would do until I got up the courage to make a mohair one.

I started working on his outfit, not really knowing the direction I wanted to go. But he'd need a shirt for sure, so started with that. I used my pattern for an Iplehouse Muscle body since it's comparable to a SartoriaJ Athletic body, but forgot to check the length of the sleeves against a bent arm. SartoriaJ dolls are all a bit bigger than Iplehouse dolls, so the sleeve was going to be too short if he bent his elbows. The sleeves were too nice to just throw in the garbage, so I decided to add an inch wide strip of patterned silk at the tops to make the sleeves long enough. Then I embroidered the collar in matching colours...

Posing with Miho for the first time. She looks so fine and delicate beside him.

I thought it would be nice if he could attend the upcoming wedding with Miho, but wasn't ready to work on the rest of his outfit yet, so tried a bunch of borrowed pieces on him. I tried on Baron's knight surcoat and the Wizard's coat...with an assortment of different trims...

I felt it made him look too scholarly, like an Italian Renaissance Nobleman. Plus it was all a little too 'purple'. I haven't decided exactly what the rest of his outfit will be just yet, so he will be temporarily wearing Baron's surcoat. It will do for now, until Baron needs it back.

Naomi's Outfits

8/26/2022

An update on the outfits I was working on for Naomi. I finished the new scarf for her sweater set, and liked it much better. I also sewed two plain shirts to wear underneath; a white and a light blue one. Then I took a photo...

I'm glad I decided to unravel and start over (two times) even thought it was frustrating at the time, as the sweater fits perfectly.

Then, because I hate waste if I can help it, I finished the Boho style top I had originally started. I embellished and beaded the neckline and sleeves, embroidered flowers around the neckline, and added lace to the hem. I sewed a long skirt out of the same fabric, to wear with it as a maternity gown...for when the time comes and she needs it....

Avery Twins

8/25/2022

Last, but not least, to be finished were the Avery twins. They arrived in September three years ago. Dreamhigh Studio had a special offer, that the first Averys ordered would receive a free sleeping head, and my order qualified, but only the first Avery came with the sleeping head. I couldn't get any of them painted until I had the extra heads for both, and the second one didn't arrive until many months later along with Nolan. That was at the same time that the pandemic hit, so none of them were able to be painted until this June.

Anyways, at least their costumes went well - for a change. Even their wigs went well. This is what they looked like right after I'd glued on the mohair, but hadn't yet done the final styling....

The tuft on the boy's head is his crown, which still needed to be pressed flat. And the girl's hair still needed to be wet and combed to reduce the bulk. I decided to keep Avery as the boy's name, and call the girl Emily. Here they are with Daisy....

They both have very tiny slits for eyes, and Charie actually managed to glue lashes in them. However, with their eyes being so small and narrow the lashes pretty much filled their eye holes. So I decided to remove them. I brushed water on the lashes to soften the glue, and removed them with tweezers. Then I had to carefully paint their upper eyelids and add a few more upper lashes. That was incredibly difficult. I can't paint a thin line to save my life, and didn't have a brush fine enough. So I took my finest brush and cut off 3/4 of the hairs so there would be just a few hairs left. Even so I had to wipe the lashes away many times before I was reasonably happy with the result. It certainly proved once again that doing face painting is not for me.

I wanted to take some photos of all the newly finished dolls and their family, so set up a little scene out on the patio table. First, Avery and Emily...

Jan had even made Avery a teensie, tiny, wooden sword...

The twins with their whole family. Gino and Daisy are their parents...

Phairby is Daisy's mother,

...so is the twins' Grandma...

One of these days I will make the twins little butterfly fairy costumes so they can go out flying with their Grandma...

Introducing Daisy

8/24/2022

Back in early June I finally had all my DreamHigh Studio House Elves painted. I'd had four of them blank for almost three years, because the pandemic prevented me getting them painted. So they'd been lingering in their boxes, and several times I considered selling them. But I'm glad I didn't.

I was only able to finish three of them before our little trip up north in July, and thought I'd just get back to where I left off and finish the remaining three rather quickly once we got home. But the trip interrupted my momentum, threw a wrench in my creativity, and I found it difficult to get back into the tiny costumes.

I had already chosen fabrics for Daisy before our trip, then had second thoughts. Then third thoughts, as another skirt ended up in the trash. I finally just decided to go with another set of fabric choices and started the skirt, and apron, and cut a vest out of ultra-suede. then the bodice was nothing but trouble. I had wanted to make puffed upper sleeves, and had stitched patterned fabric strips alternating with satin ribbon. The upper sleeves turned out way too stiff (bodice on bottom left) so I had to start over again.

This time I made the upper sleeves out of a very fine red silk, and stitched silk ribbon stripes onto it (upper left). The vest needed some embellishing, and it was a challenge doing chain stitch that tiny with just a single strand of embroidery floss. But I got it done.

To reduce bulk, I stitched her hair right into her hat, just like with Willie.

Her eyes are rather wide-set, and seemed to fill her entire eye socket, so I replaced them with a size smaller. I also trimmed away most of the hair in front of her ears so I could see them, and gave her scissors and keys tied on cords to her waistband...

Daisy is Gino's partner....

My Work Space

8/23/2022

Like usual I am busy with a lot of things all at once. I don't have a dedicated studio. Instead I work all over my house, with all of the sewing taking place in a corner of our living room. Cutting out fabric, and anything requiring paint or sculpting gets done at the kitchen table, and indoor photography gets done in my dining room. Fabrics are sorted and stored in boxes in closets all over the house. There is a photo studio in the basement where all my props, doll furniture, and more fabrics are stored. This is how I've always worked.

Standing in my work space are my two newest arrivals; SJ Dominic, who is temporarily dressed as a Musketeer, and is patiently waiting for me to get inspired to make him his own costume; and KW Layla who also needs an assortment of outfits.

But there's several ahead of them. First my SJ Naomi; I had knit her a sweater for her fall honeymoon, on our recent trip up north (had to unravel it and start over twice). I knit a scarf to go with it, then changed my mind about the colours and started a new one...

I had envisioned a light blue 'boho' style top underneath, which didn't work out as planned, so it will now be worn over a long skirt as a Medieval 'maternity' gown. It's way too plain, so still needs embroidery and beading. I've cut out a white and a pale blue shirt instead, one of which will hopefully work with her sweater..

A also still have three House Elves to dress and wig. I had completed three in time to come on our trip up north, but then there was still Daisy and the Avery twins.

So, lots to do......like usual.

More Behind the Scenes

8/22/2022

Back at home, I needed to photograph the banquet to honour the signing of the Treaty. I spent several days trying to figure out the seating arrangements, and finally came up with what I thought would work best...

I had four of the Elves seated beside each other on the far side of the table, so I could see their faces, and no one would be in their way to block the camera. it was a challenge to make the two sizes of dolls interact with each other, since the Elves heads don't tilt to look up very high.

Since there was only room for four Elves on the far side of the table, I chose to have Willie sitting with her back to the camera. After all, we've seen her a lot over the years, and I wanted to highlight the other four. Even so, she was still included in the conversation

Ketchup

Meanwhile, Winston and Saphira were having dinner on the castle terrace (my patio table)

It's one of the easiest places to take doll photos, and I buy several hanging baskets of million bells every year, with their small petunia-like flowers, to serve as background in any patio scenes.

At that time, I was working on Winston's Photo Album book with my sister, and had filled in 'Crunchy things with Ketchup' as his favourite food. She suggested I should put a bottle of ketchup on the table when he has Saphira over. Which I did...

But I went one further. I had taken the photos of Winston and Saphira squirting ketchup on their drumsticks, then decided it would look more believable if there was actually 'ketchup' on it, so tried drawing some on in Photoshop....

I was not impressed. So I got another idea. I asked Jan to hold two drumsticks onto which I squirted real ketchup...

I took close-up photos....

Then 'cloned' the ketchup in Photoshop, onto the drumsticks in the photos. Much better!!

Leaving the Castle

I decided that I didn't want to go straight into the wilderness scenes right after the dinner scenes, so thought of going back to the Ruins Garden for some 'leaving' photos. I was still recovering from the pain from the last time I got down on the ground to take photos, so decided I'd have to do it on something raised. Which meant posing them all on the top of the railing on one of the big installations.....

It was a cloudy day, so didn't require any shading from my assistant....who was free to roam around.....

I really wanted one more photo, with the Greek Theatre this time, but didn't want to take the photo in the usual location where I'd have to get down on the ground, plus a theatre group was setting up for a rehearsal there, and they were in the way. So I decided to shoot right on the stage itself, in the direction away from where the actors were setting up.

I had just fifteen minutes to do a really fast photo shoot....and shot the photo while sitting down on one of the lower steps. Then it was everyone back in the box, as the costume rack was wheeled onto the stage....

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