Took a few photos of Asa in the new blue "Guliana" ensemble. All of the new fantasy Renaissance gowns are being given Italian Renaissance names. I added some more beads to the cap, and changed Asa's wig to the very long, dark brown, human hair one.
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I thought it was time for a family portrait again now that everyone was dressed. Jan volunteered to take all my dolls down to the studio for me, and I set them up. The only one missing is Carina, who is just a "floating head" today, since it was Asa's turn to model a new Renaissance gown.  Back row, from left to right: Supia Rosy (NS), Iplehouse EID Asa and Tedros (both RS), Elfdoll Ryung (NS), Elfdoll Hazy-Soom hybrid (NS). Middle row, from left to right: Narin Narae (Golden Beige FR), Doll Leaves Maya (NS), Narin Narae (Tanning FR), Iplehouse JID Asa (RS), Kaye Wiggs Layla (FS) and Miki (Lt Tan). In front: Iplehouse BID Elin (RS) & Kaye Wiggs Cinnamon (Lt Tan).
Managed to take some photos of Carina and Tedros outside this afternoon. I think they make a wonderful couple. Tedros still needs some work, but he was happy to finally be allowed out of the cabinet, even if it was only as a "prop" to showcase one of the lovely ladies.  Well, I finally had to face reality, and have come to realize there's no way I can complete all the outfits I had planned before the end of the year. I hate using health as an excuse, and refuse to whine about it here, but the flu/cold bug I've been enduring the past three weeks has now turned into an ear infection. It's no wonder my Renaissance gowns are taking forever to finish!! I still manage to slowly work on things, but have decided I needed to take some of the stress off and delay all my commissions. Hopefully things will have improved by Christmas and I can address the backlog. In the mean time it also means I won't be taking on any new commissions again until some time next year. Unfortunately it means everything gets bumped further into the future. On a more positive note, I did find some great black and gold metallic brocade for "Christine" underskirts. I bought all the other fabrics and trims over a year ago, and now I have everything for the costumes. Here's hoping they'll finally get made in 2012.
Finished the first new headdress for the new set of fantasy Renaissance gowns. I had to make some adjustments to the crochet cap as I went along, but I wrote down every step so I can reproduce it in other colours for the other three gowns. Sewing the pearls onto the netting by hand didn't even take as long as I had expected. Even though I have dozens of rolls of ribbon in every colour and width, I didn't have anything suitable to match the golden gown, so had to go to Fabricland, and they had the perfect narrow gold satin ribbon. The cap has ribbon ties which can be tied under the chin or at the back of the neck, and the crochet netting laces together underneath. I love the look of this golden ensemble, and am seriously considering keeping it myself - My Asa and Carina have been standing around in dressing gowns long enough. I think they would look amazing and make a great pair with Tedros who will be dressed all in browns. 
Now to make three more caps for the other three gowns, so I can take photos, and some can finally be offered up for sale.
All four Fantasy Renaissance gowns are now done - except for the final pressing - so it's time to design and make a new headpiece. I'm thinking a narrow, beaded, trimmed "cap", with a crochet mesh caul at the back. On one of the episodes of "the Borgias", Lucrezia wore a mesh caul just over the top part of her hair with the long wavy ends cascading out the bottom. I think that's the look I'm after, and not the totally hair-enclosing caul. I experimented with several different threads and even bought some very fine metallic crochet thread at Michael's, but it's a pain to work with so I'm thinking I'll just go with the thicker metallic thread - the kind I knit "chain-mail" sleeves out of for my Celtic costumes. It means I'll have to sew the pearls on by hand, but these gowns have already taken forever so what's a few more days?
Layla and Miki wanted to try out their new bicycles yesterday. so when there was a short break in the weather they went outside to give them a spin. Layla was a bit timid to try, but Miki jumped right on and sped away!! 
Picked up my second Narae last night. Charie did the most amazing job with her - she's so beautiful!! This Narae is the "tanning" French resin version from 2005, and she had no yellowing at all - or so little it's hardly noticeable. Charie gave her a lovely lighter faceup using a brand new technique she just developed. I think this girl looks very sweet, and younger than my first Narae. I asked for side-glancing eyes, so she has size 12 eyes - maybe that also contributes to her younger look. To avoid confusion with my first Narae in photo shoots, I've decided to call this one "Aeran" (Narae spelled backwards, more or less). When she's working as a costume model she'll revert back to "Narae" so as not to confuse potential customers, but for my own photography she'll go by Aeran. Or at least that's the plan. I've never been any good at renaming anything, so I'll see if it sticks. 
Found this amazing metal bike at Pier One today. It actually works like a real bike - the pedals move the chain which turns the back wheel!! I thought it would make a great MSD size prop, so bought one. I tried it with several of my dolls, but really liked how it worked with Maya. I rolled some newspapers and he was off to deliver them!! I think I really should go back and get a second one so two friends can go biking together..  Doll Leaves asked me if they could post some of my photos of Maya on their Facebook page, and of course I said they could, after all he was a gift from them. Later, they told me they had posted this photo of Maya on the bike, and that they almost immediately had over 100 people share the photo.
Still working on the new fantasy Renaissance outfits for the EID ladies. It feels like I've been working on them forever, and I'm really ready to move on and start something new. Problem is they take around a week and a half each, and I'm doing four at once, and we went on a two-week holiday right after I started them. So, it really is taking "forever". There hasn't been anything new offered for sale in ages. I'm hoping two of the Renaissance outfits will make it up for sale - one is definitely spoken for - maybe even two. Then there's Tedros, and two commissions before I'm FREE. I keep watching the calendar as the days trickle away, hoping to get everything done that I'd like to before Christmas.
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
December 2023
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