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"Kassia grew up into a lovely little girl, thinking the Fairy Queen was her Mother, and the other smaller fairies were her sisters..." "But as she got older she began to realize that she was not like the others." "She felt different from the fairies who came every day to play with her..." "They loved playing with her and her toys." "..and having tea parties together with her dolls..." "Kassia wondered why she didn't have wings like everyone else? Was she even a fairy?" "But no one would answer." "She started to feel like there was some kind of secret they weren't telling her, and often sat out on her own.." "And she would spend hours staring out the window wondering what was out there beyond the garden gates..." "What weren't they telling her?" "She felt very isolated and alone, even in a room full of fairies. However, unknown to the little Princess, there actually were other humans in the castle, humans stolen away to become servants to the fairies. There were maids, cooks, and guards, but they were all forbidden contact with the little Princess, so she didn't even know of their existence..." "The Fairy Queen did came every day to spend some time with her..." "... but she wouldn't answer Kassia's questions either." "She just knew she wasn't like the fairies, and wondered if there was anyone else like her out there." Copyright © 2022 Martha Boers
All Rights Reserved "The fairies raised little Kassia with all the advantages due her royal status." "They loved her..." "...and enjoyed playing with her." Copyright © 2022 Martha Boers
All Rights Reserved The Fairy judges listened intently as the Wizard continued on with Kassia's story... "So the Fairy Queen took the baby Princess..." "...and her dragons took the cradle, and they all went back to the Fairy castle..." "Where all the other younger fairies were eagerly waiting to see her..." 'You are going to be my daughter now.' And she passed the baby to the fairies who would be taking care of her.... 'She's so cute!!' And they laid the baby down into her own cradle... Copyright © 2022 Martha Boers
All Rights Reserved The Wizard continued with Kassia's story... "The Fairy Queen was very angry, and as a punishment for not surrendering their daughter, she sent her dragons to wreck havoc on the kingdom, burning the villages and devouring the people. Until finally the King realized that his army was no match for the Fairy Queen and her dragons, that they were doomed to fail, and that he would have to surrender his daughter in order to save what was left of his kingdom." "So he summoned the Fairy Queen... who arrived accompanied by several of her dragons.." 'So, you've finally come to your senses...and have decided to relinquish the child??' 'You've given me no choice.' 'Don't worry. She'll be going to a far better home.' 'Just.... please...call off your dragons. My people are innocent victims in this, and they can take no more.' "And he gave her his daughter." "A great personal sacrifice...to save what was left of his kingdom." 'You're coming home with me now...' '...and I'm going to be your new Mother.' "The Queen was devastated. She had regretted her part of the bargain the moment she had taken that first bite of fairy fruit. " "..and she sought some comfort in the arms of her husband." "But it would not be forthcoming. He did not know if he could ever forgive her." Copyright © 2022 Martha Boers
All Rights Reserved "The Queen returned home, but didn't tell the King about the bargain she had made, and a few months later was delivered of a beautiful little baby girl." "They were both thrilled to finally have a child." "But then an unexpected visitor suddenly arrived. It was the Fairy Queen..." 'I've come to collect on your side of our bargain.' 'What bargain??' 'What is she talking about?' 'What have you done??' 'We made an agreement some months ago. All of our fruit that she could eat, in exchange for her unborn child.' 'We delivered on our side of the bargain, and now it's time for the Queen to deliver on hers. So give me the child!' 'Never! Be gone you witch!! You will not have my daughter!!' 'A bargain is a bargain!!' '..and I promise that you will pay dearly for this!!!' Copyright © 2022 Martha Boers
All Rights Reserved "The Queen had heard rumours that the fairies grew very special fruit in their gardens that tasted more wonderful than anything one could ever imagine, and she desperately wanted to try some." "But it was getting late, so the guards set up their tents just outside the castle gates. That night, in her tent, the Queen couldn't sleep, and lay tossing and turning for want of the fairy fruit." "When suddenly after midnight, the Fairy Queen whose castle it was, appeared to her.." 'I understand that you would like to sample some of our special fruit....' '...and I have a proposition for you.' "More fairies appeared, each carrying baskets overflowing with the most amazing fruit the Queen had ever seen." 'We will provide you with all the fruit your heart desires...for a price....' 'In exchange you must give us your unborn child.' "The Queen tried to refuse their offer. She and her husband had always wanted a child, and were very happy to finally be having a baby. But her cravings were very strong. And the Fairy Queen was persistent...' 'I know that your cravings for our enchanted fruit have become overpowering, and are making you ill, so ill that you will surely die if you do not have any. So, take the fruit or die, you won't have your child either way. Agree to my offer... and live... You can always have another child.' 'The choice is yours.' "The fairies disappeared, leaving all the baskets of fruit...to further tempt the Queen.' "The fairy fruit looked so tantalizing, sparkling in the candlelight..." "She picked up some, knowing that if she took a bite the bargain would be sealed." "But her cravings were too strong..." "She took a bite...and her baby's fate was sealed."
Copyright © 2022 Martha Boers All Rights Reserved "It took some extensive research to discover how Kassia ended up living with the fairies." "Her parents were a good King and Queen..." "Who were very much in love." "The Queen was with child, and yearned to go out on one more trip before her baby arrived." "They both loved to travel, but the King was too busy with pressing affairs of state..." "...so he suggested she could go on her own...." "So she left..." "...accompanied by some of the King's most trusted men." "They travelled far from home, into a distant fairy realm." "Where they came across a beautiful fairy castle. It was surrounded by the most magnificent gardens, but there was no way in. " Copyright © 2022 Martha Boers
All Rights Reserved The Wizard addressed the fairies... "Honourable Judges, we come before you today to appeal to your sense of honour and fair play...." "...and right a serious wrong committed against many of the people here before you." "According to our research, nothing like this has ever happened before." "..and it would seem to be in direct violation of the Fairy Code itself...." "..which states that all curses and evil spells must come with an 'escape clause'. No matter how difficult, or seemingly impossible, every evil spell must be able to be undone." "All these good people you see before you, have been subjected to evil spells and curses, which they all managed to overcome." "But then, a year ago, a far reaching spell was cast by a powerful, dying fairy, bringing back all the evil curses and spells from the past, and this time with no escape clause." "The three brothers of this Princess were suddenly transformed back into Ravens..." "..and the Princess who had undone the spell on the Frog Prince, suddenly found her husband transformed back into a frog." "..and Prince Philip here, who had rescued the Sleeping Beauty, suddenly found his wife and everyone in the entire castle in a mysterious sleep again. Everyone except for his two little daughters and himself." "And then there's the Princess Kassia, whose entire life has been spent at the mercy of vengeful fairies...." "Let me tell you her sad story..." Copyright © 2022 Martha Boers
All Rights Reserved The Fairy Court was held in an enchanted garden setting. The Judges included the wisest fairies from among all the different fairy realms.... They were a varied.... ...and intimidating lot... ..despite some of their sweet and innocent appearances.... Each would have an equal say... ...and they were ready to hear the case... Kassia, Adrian, and Willie took their seats along with all the other plaintiffs... The Wizard stepped forward... "Esteemed Judges, we are honoured that you have agreed to hear our case today..." Copyright © 2022 Martha Boers
All Rights Reserved Today is the twelfth anniversary of my Antique Lilac website. The very first post was actually in the end of October 2010, but I chose November first to be the official start. And I celebrate with a small cake every year. Although as the number of candles grows, so does the size of the cake.... Twelve years is a long time, and things have changed a lot since then. Back then I had only 2 BJDs - Elfdoll Ryung, and my first Narae, and three dolls on order - Kaye Wiggs Cinnamon, Iplehouse JID Asa, and a Soom Cuprit (who was transformed into Hazy shortly after her arrival) Even though I originally started my website as a platform for selling doll costumes, that quickly dropped to the wayside as my love for photographing the dolls totally took over. The first few dolls were purchased to be costume models, but after photography became more and more important, I decided I preferred the MSD and smaller dolls, and I started ordering dolls just because I loved them, or to make a family unit. So, over the years my doll family has grown from those first few models to one hundred and six dolls, with just one more currently on order, scheduled to arrive some time in the new year. Sixty one of the dolls are friends of Winston the dragon, and appear in the back of his Photo Album... I always enjoyed photographing my contemporary kids, however when the first fashion sized dolls were introduced six years ago, I was really in my element, finally having the perfect sized realistic proportioned dolls to sew costumes for. I love the Fashion sized dolls from Iplehouse, and more recently the ones by SartoriaJ, a company started by two artists from Iplehouse. They are the same size as the dolls my sister and I used to make years ago, so the perfect, comfortable size for me to make costumes for. Yesterday I finally finished the outfit for my newest arrival, Dominic by SJ. I finished his robe, and the scabbard for his dagger, and I gave him a fancy chain around his neck... So now he's ready to be introduced to Baron and Naomi. I still need to try make him a mohair wig, but the style I'd like would be a huge challenge. Anyways, it's never going to happen if I don't try. I just need to photograph the scene where Miho introduces him to Baron and Naomi, so his wig stays consistent through their wedding story, and doesn't change part way through. And then I can attempt it..maybe. Plans?So, what are my plans for the upcoming year? Well, first of all I'd really like to finish off my White Cat sequel. I started shooting that story over two years ago, and it took on a life of its own, growing exponentially. I will start posting the final chapter tomorrow. Obviously we know there will be a happy ending, but we will also discover Kassia's back story in the process. Here's a sneak peak... Then there's Baron and Naomi's wedding story. I've been working towards that all year, but didn't want to start posting it until after I finish my White Cat sequel. I still have hundreds of photos to process, but I'll give a little sneak peak.... The little flower girls coming for their dress fitting.... In the cathedral, just before Lawrence walks Naomi down the aisle... Then there's the whole ceremony in the cathedral, which was photographed at our son's movie studio. The photos are amazing, but most still need to be processed... Then there's all the formal portraits.... ...their garden reception... ...and their honeymoon in Quebec... Once those two stories are finished, I'll finally be free to just take photos whenever inspiration hits. Although there is still one story I had really wanted to put together this past year, since most of the photos for it were shot ten years ago. I had thought it would make a great tenth anniversary project to finally address this year, but then the other two stories pretty much took over all my time. I'll see if I can still fit it in, but with Christmas decorations already appearing in the stores, this calendar year is quickly coming to an end. After all it's November already! Anyways, it's great I have the two stories to post since I'm starting a new project today. I was contacted last month by a company in Hong Kong to see if I'd be interested in some costume collaborations for their popular line of collector dolls. I have two of their dolls to serve as my costume models, and I've been given carte blanche to make whatever I want. It's an exciting new project, but I won't be able to share photos of my work until after something gets produced. I'm hoping they'll be happy with what I'm planning on making. In addition to the costume prototypes for the collector dolls, I have a huge list of doll clothes that I've been wanting to make for some time now. The list just keeps getting longer and longer. Some things do eventually get done, like the outfits for all my House Elves that were finally painted... ....and I finally made that second dragon I've been wanting to for years... I'd also like to work towards some more books, but don't know where to start. There are so many great photos and stories that would make great books. I do have a couple of ideas for which ones I'd like to do next. But it takes a lot of time, even though I'm not the one doing the actual layout.
I'd also like to reorganize my website to create a For Sale page for all the things I've been wanting to let go of; wigs, shoes, doll eyes, old art dolls, and books. I've been wanting to do that for years now, but everything takes time, and I can only do so much. So it never happens. Anyways, today I can look back and celebrate all the things I did get done this past year, and a year from now I can look back to see what happened next. Hopefully a lot! Copyright © 2022 Martha Boers All Rights Reserved |
AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
April 2024
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