A little more progress on my art doll

5-27-18

It has been so muggy and hot here in NC, it is sometimes hard to work. But on rainy days I make a few things for Topaz my alabaster doll. I made her a magic wand, drawstring bag, some shoes for her swollen little old feet, a belt, and sugar skull necklace too. Modelled again by MIM doll.

 The drawstring bag is crocheted with woven ribbons too. It is for her to carry her own lucky, magical stones. 

The wand is made from gold-toned craft wire, glass crystal beads, and altered bead caps and golden beads. 

 The belt and jewelry are made from gold-toned chains, sugar skull charms, jump rings, hooks and jingle bells.

 The shoes are made from woven ribbons, foam, cardboard, Elmer's glue, super glue, bells, crochet thread, and jingle bells. She can wear some Make it Mine shoes, but I wanted some original shoes.

 I got her feet done and hardened her body (most of it). I am still working on the elbows and hands between rain storms and gardening and yard work. She's so impatient with me at times but I don't blame her. I am excited for her too. It looks like I may have her a little black kitten on the way too.

 She does stand even with cords hanging out her feet.

I put hole magnets in her feet and tied knots in the recessed area. So not only does it help attach the feet, support her weight, but she can stand on metal too.

 I gave her a little bit of definition to her toes and nails.

 She does have fat ankles. I had to do that to make her sturdy. 

One more day off and so many things to do.

Rainy Days in NC & carving is on hold

It has rained a lot here in NC and is supposed to rain some more. I do all my carvings outdoors, so it is time to work on doll stuff indoors. I have quite a bit of work left to do on my Topaz. She needs some elbows, hands and feet. Her neck joint is too thick.

 I did get to make her some sugar skull and jingle bell earrings for a Christmas outfit I have been making her. I painted her some grey colored eyebrows because that goes with her own wig. I worked on her wig this week and still it's a work in progress. I gave her some eyelashes. I was going to go with white eyelashes but I think they are too light for her. She got auburn colored eyelashes instead.

 I put a little notch over her nose so she can wear reading glasses. And I placed magnets inside her head to secure her earrings. I had planned the earrings way ahead. I bored holes large enough to hold the magnets right at the inside of her ear piercing. It's easy to see how much difference there is between the polished head and unpolished body. As soon as I finish shaping her, I'll polish her body.

Happy Mothers Day to Everyone!

Still carving the alabaster doll. I cut the first block on 3-23-18, after 4 years of dreaming about carving my rock. 

I did some more gardening today, and I got Topaz to where she can sit. 

 I did have to make her a spine to keep her from slipping apart.  I dropped the doll on the brick steps right where I fell on ice in 2015. She broke off a piece of her hip just where my hip was so injured. Fortunately, I managed to trim some pounds off her and repair her hip. The break made me feel bonded with her like she was my personal spirit doll. I really felt something for her. 

Now, that the drama is behind me, I actually like the doll trimmed down enough to wear more slim MSD type clothes. The only problem with that is the clothes are for younger styles mostly. I haven't really seen anything that would look great on my doll. But that leaves the door wide open for my own creativity. 

I am hoping to work on her arms tomorrow and sanding her more.

I painted her lips and around her eyes. I think it is a little too dark red for the eyes but I definitely wanted her to have bright red lipstick like my grandmother use to wear. I did use alizarin crimson oil paint to get her the red lips. Next she needs some eyelashes when she cures a day or two. 

Roses and Dollies

 I rushed around and made some dollie pictures when I heard the thunder in the distance. I wanted to get a few pics before some wind came and blew the petals around on the ground. I used my phone for the first few. This is Sleepy doll from Doll Chateau again. She needed to take her rabbit out to play. The white roses are called Sea Foam and they are a vine that takes root everywhere it touches on the ground. 

 This is where I switched to a DSLR camera. The color is more vibrant. 

These roses I forgot the name but they always come out for Mother's Day. I remember my parents had one of these, but still don't remember what they're called. Dad always called them Mother's Day Roses. My 5star doll Mia is hugging her little sister TylTyl.

Now she's hugging her Lati Yellow Sister. I'm not sure of the name yet.

This is another phone picture of a steel ball (non-magnetic) hanging under a standard staple. The disc at the top is a magnet. I just had to do that. I was designing a micro horseshoe magnet for a dollhouse that really works! This would be fabulous for a Wizard scene.

I worked on cutting out leg shapes for the doll today. I later worked on the leg joints to make her stand but I won't know until she has feet if it worked or not. Right now her body is just a puppet. I noticed a few dark spots in the rock but that's what I have. I decided she has birthmarks. I really believe the joints and standing without a stand are the more complicated parts of doing this artwork in alabaster. But that's what made me decide to do this. It is challenging and unique. It makes me think outside the box. I look at the different dolls I have had and I just know the material makes all the difference in the world what can be done and what won't work. 

The problem I ran into is designing a joint that won't break easily. I can only make the alabaster so thin and then it becomes fragile. I had cut her legs out and found some parts were too short for what I wanted. So I had to cut new leg parts out. I put aside the old ones for perhaps joints or a future Mr. Wizard to go with her. My rock is almost gone except for a few chunks and scraps. I have enough to make hands and feet, possibly an extra head. That would be nice to have a Mr. and Mrs. Wizard. It kind of reminds me of the old apple head dolls I used to see when I visited my grandparents and their friends. Of course I rounded and trimmed her calves while I was fitting her upper and lower leg parts together. I think it may work best to work from the bottom to the top now, with the goal of making her stand.

She's saying "Hurry up, I ain't got no body." 😉

May Dolls and Flowers

5-5-18

I worked on the arms and started the legs of the doll today. My hands got so tired I had to stop for the rest of the day. I polished the head with Tung oil a few days ago and it is cured out enough to move it around. You can see from the picture where I tried to paint watercolor on her and it just wouldn't take. So I know I will definitely have to use oil based paint to give her a little lip color. It has to be. I have never really liked blank dolls.

 She constantly reminds me of my dad. That's why I like her so much. She's me when I'm 80. 

 I made her some undies to go under the dress I made. I have been modelling her stuff on the MIM doll, because Topaz (my alabaster doll) is so dusty right now in the carving process.

I started her some shoes and it is my first pair of doll shoes besides sandals so it's a gem in the rough right now. I keep telling myself "it's only a doll". That's keeps me from giving up.

 MIM doll Taylor works so hard to be a model. She smiles all the time. So cute!

I had to take some pictures of my flowers too. My little darling doll needed some attention, so I let her go out with me.

 Wild violets just popped up everywhere this Spring. Little Darling is barely bigger than the flowers in my yard. 

 This dress was really for MIM doll Taylor but it will do for now. The straps are made for a bigger doll. 

I have collected and rooted my own Knock-out roses for years. This year I am going to be doing cuttings again for friends. Of course I save myself a couple. Every once in a while I don't know why but they die. They could be crowded or dogs, moles and voles mess them up, but they die. So I make as many as I can without damaging the ones I have.

These are a bright pink.

 These are a light pink. My late father always said these were the prettiest.

 These are a medium pink.

 This one is supposed to be a double Knock-out. But the only reason I could tell the difference is the red ones in the back ground. I got those at the same time.

 This is a yellow Knock out. They haven't really grown much. Maybe they'll get bigger now that a much larger and older rose has already died. The bigger one was keeping this one down. 

 This is a double red Knock-out rose. I didn't expect to see a Knock-out that bright red. But Lowes sold these as double Knock-outs. 

 This is another bright pink one I don't even remember planting all these. 

 Another medium pink one that I don't remember planting. It's like they just showed up suddenly. 

May Roses and an Elf

I was so happy to see all my roses are in bloom at once. A month ago I thought they were all dead from the harsh winter we had. Now they are attracting my little elf to come out and play. Little Mia is trying to blend into the yellow roses with her yellow dress. She thinks because she is an elf she is supposed to be invisible to people. She's telling me about her puppet as if I didn't already know about the puppets I bought for her to play with.

 Mia is matching the petals well here. I think her eyes gave her away and the puppet.

 I still can't get over the eyes she has. I don't reposition them and they still look like they follow me everywhere I go. I looked everywhere for more doll eyes like these. It is just amazing how they make her look so alive.

 Mia is a 5Stardoll Tiny.

I have made some undies for my witch costume. I am working on some shoes for the doll I'm making right now. I just had to take a flower break and look at my dolls for a minute.