Black and Pink and WIP

Well, this doll took a 

completely different direction.

I'd always thought she was a Goth.

A romantic Goth in red.

All brooding and passionate.

 A Heathcliff and Catherine,

Vlad and Mina,

Gomez and Morticia

kind of Goth.

I was so wrong.

In fact, she's a Miss Dior,

 a New Look,

fabulous and fashionable,

Fifties femme fatale

And that wild gothic hair

gets tamed under a hat.

The basic hat,

but she wants a little tulle

and some roses, darling.

She's still a romantic.

That's the pink lace

I didn't want

and those are some 

sharp little stilettos

which are actually a big cheat.

(Tutorial coming.)

She's almost done. 

Almost, almost!

I want the hat to be prettied up

and removeable

so it could be 

displayed separately

or held in her hand

as an accessory .

Shared on Pink Saturday.

Meanwhile...

While I find the images I'm looking for, 

for this week's Dollmaker on Thursday

here's something I'm working on.

You might remember her from this protest group seen here.

She's finally getting some clothes!

And hair!

And this is a random frog in my rosemary nursery this morning.

Isn't he sweet?

 Look at those legs!

International Fairy Day

Today was

International Fairy Day.

Here is a drawing I did

some time ago

of a fairy and a rabbit 

in deep conversation.

I also started sculpting on my

Titania doll

as it's Midsummer's Day

which seemed like a good place to start.

So, between her

the black cat in a red corset

and the doll for the 

Mad Tea Party,

I'm quite busy.

Yes please,

I'd love a cup of tea.

Visit Vanessa at

A Fanciful Twist

for an invitation to

this year's spectacular

Mad Tea Party 

Dollmakers on Thursday. Nicole West and Titania

So, 23rd of June

is a Supermoon

and it's coming soon.

23rd of June is also

Midsummer's Eve.

It was a night for wild dances in the woods

and a bit of drunkeness and frolicing,

so it's rather a pity

it's been passed over.

If it wasn't for Shakespeare

we'd have forgotten about it completely.

Midsummer's Night Dream. Landseer

 With  albino rabbits. 

And Puck is showing Bottom something.

Yeah...

So, anyway...

...with it being

Midsummer's Eve,

I wanted to show some 

amazing Titania dolls

by astonishing doll artist

Nicole West.

Like this.

Titania

Night Queen

Her dolls have the most amazing eyes
and gorgeous, sculptural bodies.

By which I mean
they're sexy.

In fact, Nicole West
is a doll artist
Hubby found first.

See?

Glamourous

in the original meaning of the word.

Nicole sculpts all kinds of figures,

fairies, mermaids, angels

and naughty pin-ups.

Her Titanias show a range 

of themes,

from the vampish 

 Night Queen 

(above)

to sylvan sovereigns

guarding fertility and fruitfulness,

like this Harvest Queen.

Titania Harvest Queen

With her mask, 

(above)

she is exotic and mysterious'

Without it, 

(below)

she is tender and vulnerable.

 Nicole's Titanias can also be
powerful, even dangerous,
like this magnificent monarch
striding through the woodland
vines, arms akimbo
and eyes ablaze.

Forest Fairy Queen 

Or they can be sweet
and ethereal
clad in simple wisps and leaves.

Titania

Queen of the Fairies.

And  delicate

butterfly mask

I love Nicole's dolls

and her deviantArt site is worth looking at

for exotic beings

who aren't afraid to flaunt themselves

and who reflect Nicole's sure touch with 

poses, with expressions

and with warm, translucent skin.

She makes her fairies and mermaids

entirely believable

and extraordinarily beautiful.

Winter Wonderland Tinkerbell.

Bessie in the Buttercups.

This is my dog, Bessie,

in the buttercups.

And this is a very short post!

Élodie finished and ready for her new home

I have some quick photos to post 

so you can see Élodie all finished.

She's in a box and all ready to go to her new home.

Posing for the camera.

Oh! The fabulous silk ribbon embroidery?

I didn't do that.

It's a vintage piece I've had forever

and never found the right place to use it.

Flowers in the hair.

Bows and daisies.

Frilly, lacy sleeves.

Ribbons and ringlets.

Choker and roses.

(And sunburnt nose.

She's had a busy day,

our Princess Milkmaid.)

The printed skirt.

I had a lot of fun with Élodie.

I learned how to make sculpted toes on a cloth doll,

and painting skin tones on cloth

was easier than I expected.

I loved making and embellishing 

her 18th century clothes.

But now she's done and sold

I need to make another.

Maybe with wild white hair?

Oh!

I have a commission!

A black cat in a red corset! 

Ooooh!

Now shared on
What's it Wednesday
over at the wonderful
Ivy and Elephants

Dollmakers on Thursday. The MH Repaint Phenomenon

WARNING

This post is going to show 

photographs of 

naked plastic dolls.

If you're offended, 

upset or aroused by

naked plastic dolls

I'm sorry but

I won't be able to

 keep a straight face.

End of Warning

You may be aware of 

Monster High dolls.

They look like this.

They're dolls presented as the 

high school age

children of classic 

horror film characters.

It's an interesting idea, 

but I'd never really 

looked at the dolls.

Then I found what

 doll artists were doing

with the basic doll.

This is Draculaura

(Image from toys r us)

She's rockin' a whole Steampunk thing here,

but she doesn't really do anything for me.

Now, a bit of acetone and 

some paint and watercolour pencils,

see the same doll transformed.

Angel, by 

My Sweet Queen Dolls

Almudena Doncel

Sweet Queen's Blog

Virginia Dentata

by

Armeleia at Deviantart

Ameleia's Etsy

Snowflake

by

Kamarza at Deviantart

To commission a repaint by

Kamarza, 

see LA PUPA Magazine

Draculaura

by

Gerakina's Dolls

on Etsy

All different versions of the 

basic Draculaura doll,

rewigged and repainted.

The dolls can be heavily modded, too.

These are morbidly sweet

conjoined twins by

the delightful wicked

Mourningwake Press.

at dA.

See her dolls on Ebay.

The basic dolls are produced

 in a range of skin colours

including dead.

Like Ghoulia Yelps

and  Frankie Stein

You'd think the blue tones would be 

hard to make appealing.

But look at these.

Sleeping Frankie

and Clothilde

(Ghoulia)

both by Kamarza

Frankie, by

Armeleia

Here is a 

compare and contrast

image of Frankie

by My Sweet Queen Dolls.

Repaint on the left.

Rebecca,

charity auction

Frankie Stein

by the lovely

Hello Happy Crafts on dA.

Hello Happy's Etsy

Another Frankie

by Amber Honey at dA

Amber Honey's Etsy.

The dolls lend themselves to

modding

In fact, customising kits

are available

with skeleton arms

or fins or tails

to make whatever 

kind of monster doll

you want.

Waiting for the Body

by Kamarza

The dolls can also be altered with apoxie

and clay.

See this amazing work-in-progress

for the Faun from Pan's Labyrinth

by Mourningwake Press.

And here's the finished result.

The same artist also created

Edward Scissorhands

from a MH Spectra

What I learned 

from these talented and 

inspiring artists

is that the

basic sculpt 

is only part of the story,

and colour and shade

can change a doll's face

any way you want.

I've bought a Ghoulia of my own

and I'm going to have a go!

Puttin' on the Ritz

 Elodie

the

 Princess Milkmaid

being fitted for her gown.

Embroidered flowers and tulle

 will entwine up the front.

My favourite rosette garland

of ombre ribbons in a band 

across the petticoat.

Then more lace and the gauze

and the ribbon roses and the 

tulle and the braid...

The most thrilling thing

about 18th century fashion?

There's no such thing as too much!

I'm adding the last ruffles to her robe

and the fancy cuffs to her sleeves

and she's nearly, nearly done.

Which is good,

as she already has a home to go to.

Elodie's hair is still wild

but mulberry paper roses

and silky ribbons will fix that.