Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Witches and Fall Fae

I promised to share some photos of the new dolls in the shop so here we go...

A Candy Corn Witch (sold)


A Pumpkin Witch (sold)


This one has both so we'll call her a Halloween Witch


Autumn Leaves Pixie


Autumn Berries Pixie (sold)

Happy Fall...Enjoy!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A Lovely Surprise!

Saturday was a long day...a long day at the end of a very long week. It was a week of non stop excessive heat, nagging illness, looming deadlines, and a few tedious commitments thrown in for good measure. Then we had to get up Saturday at what should be an illegally early hour to drive to the mountains to do a College open house. Even though it turned out to be a fun day, we were totally exhausted by the time we finally managed to drag ourselves in the front door of our own home. But then I got ... The Lovely Surprise!

In the mail there was a satisfyingly mysterious package with Air Mail and Royal Mail stamps all over the brown paper wrapping. I tore off the paper and found this...


Even the note was lovely with its pretty embroidery ...and what could be in the box?
Well, all this!!


Buttons, and lace, and beads, and crystals...Oh MY! I can't tell you how delighted I was and how much this sweet surprise lifted my spirits. And how cool to think this came in response to my blog post about making Red. Thank you SO much Liz! I'm sending a little thank-you your way too.

I think this was just the lift I needed to finish up a slew of dolls today, I'll post some pictures tomorrow. The weather here has finally cooled, we might even get some Autumn eventually, and for now I have some more of those dang tedious commitments...but I face them with a bit more cheer. Thanks again Liz!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

WIP Wednesday

Here's what's on my table at the moment...mushroom pixies, little witches (yes, that's who's getting the pointy shoes from the last post), and a couple of fall fae.


Can you guess which is witch?

Friday, September 10, 2010

Can You Guess!

I'm sorry I haven't posted much this week, my health issues have started up once again and I've been having a hard time getting my mind into my work. Which is pretty unfair since my work is actually something I love....sigh. But I did get some tiny shoes made yesterday and there were a set that made me laugh...


Can you guess who might wear these funny pointed slippers?


I'll give you a clue. They would probably have a creature that looks much like this lurking about their house.


(My kitty Natasha condescended to pose for this portrait. You can see how happy she is about it.)

So who do you think it might be?

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Predator and Prey Story

This gorgeous lady has been hanging out in my garden...

Now this is the same garden where, as I mentioned before, all these fellows have been congregating as well...

Today I watched as the two came closer and closer, tragedy seemed inevitable. Would I intervene or let Nature take her course?


Luckily I didn't need to decide. For today, butterfly was not on the menu. ( But I did give her a fat, juicy tomato worm as a consolation...better she eat the worm then it eat my tomatoes!)

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Red Riding Hood

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For this Wednesday instead of a WIP I actually have a finished piece. I made Red Riding Hood, or Red Cap as she's known in older translations, for the current ADO challenge which was to make a character from one of Grimm's fairy tales.

The story of Little Red Riding Hood has undergone some amazing transformations over the years. In the older versions the heroine saves herself with her intelligence and quick thinking, but in the later versions she is completely witless and has to be rescued by a man. In the middle are the versions
, including Perrault's, where she and her grandmother are eaten as an example of what happens to bad little girls who don't follow the rules. Fascinating to think about that process of revision and what it says about the role of women, isn't it? For a fabulous take on this process and some analysis of the story read Terri Windling's marvelous article over at the Endicott Studio archives. I promise you won't be sorry.

While I was never that fond of the story as a kid, having access to only the latter version, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Little Red Riding Hood dolls. When I was about 5, I had a handed down Ginny doll that had a red riding hood outfit, and this doll was one of my all time favorites. We called her Luleela, which I think came from my baby sister's pronunciation of the story, and I played with that doll to death, losing all her clothes over the years and most of her hair as well... as my husband says, "we all lose our charms in the end. "...sigh.

I also think part of my attraction to the story currently is that I would LOVE to have a crimson red cloak...well who wouldn't?

So here's my Red, 12 inches tall cloth "skin" over cloth and wire armature. Wool and silk cloak and lots of vintage lace. ...what do you think?




And a inside shot of her lacy underthings...oolala!

You can find more photos on Red in the shop.