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the Magic Talisman

8/29/2020

 
Way back in 1987, my sister Marianne wanted to make a Fantasy photo story using three of my children, and two nieces, as the main characters. She would take the kids out on location, dressed in outfits put together from my dress-up closet.  Since it was way before the days of digital cameras, all the special effects had to be done manually by cutting the kids out of the photos and gluing them into other scenes, and then taking a new photograph.

I wrote the story, based on Marianne's ideas and photos, and together we made four books, hand colouring all the borders on all the pages.

At that time I was still making cloth dolls, and I decided to make a series representing the main characters dressed in costumes, based on what the kids actually wore, but more elaborate in the way I envisioned they could have been.

The dolls have been on display in my doll case for over 30 years, and after debating about making some room for years now, I finally decided to give the entire set away to my daughter-in-law. But before doing so, I first wanted to take some photos of the dolls in settings similar to ones in the book.

First, the three main characters....Eric, Flint, and Galan.....  
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Eric, who was one of a set of twins separated at birth, was played by my son Nick, who was almost 8 at the time. 
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His companion was a magical 'ladybug-like' creature called Fizzbizz....
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Eric met Galan, a brave Knight...
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...played by my son Chris, who was 9 at the time
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The third companion was Flint, an Elf....
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She was played by my niece Kelly, and my daughter Mary would be her stand in for back views when Kelly wasn't available.  Both girls were almost 5 at the time.
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The dolls have never been properly photographed, and I thought it might be fun to take some photos of them in various scenes out of the book. So I took them along this week on a little drive up into the country.

​One of my favourite photos from the book has always been the one of Eric starting out on his adventure, heading through a cornfield....
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So we stopped beside a cornfield to take some photos....
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Sara
8/30/2020 12:27:16 am

Very cool dolls, and very cute story. I especially love the inclusion of Fizzbizz!

Dorothy
8/30/2020 01:59:03 am

What great photos. I like the one also of your son with FizzBizz.

I can see why you want the dolls to remain in the family. They are part of the family experience. I am sure that the children, now older, remember the fun they had enacting the characters.

The dolls are amazing. The costumes are beautiful.

Martha
8/30/2020 06:57:35 am

It's my two granddaughters who love the photos most, since their Dad, uncle, aunt, and other family they are close to, are in it. Plus it was put together by their great aunt, and Grandma.

Rae
8/30/2020 02:09:33 am

What fun! Such great memories. The dolls are very cute. I know they will be cherished in their new home.

Martha
8/30/2020 06:58:55 am

I hope so. I'm giving them to my daughter-in-law, who also loves dolls, in hopes that some day they will get passed down to my granddaughters.


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Martha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes.
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