5 Days To Go - Things To Do

Just 5 days left until my first fair of the year at Swansea National Waterfront Museum J
I have lots to do and lots to organise before Saturday and I’ve got myself organised with a big To Do list.
It looks like I’m going to be a busy girl, but at least most of my new little peg dolls are almost ready.

Things To Do :

Make 2 tiny top hats – for Sweeney Todd,  and Jack The Ripper
Make 2 witched pointed hats
Make 1 tiny razor needed for Mr Todd
Make 1 Long knife with blood needed for Jack
2 pairs of fairy wings to attach when I find them (put safe and now missing :S)
Make 1 broom
Paint 2 pumpkins and 1 pie for the witches and Mrs Lovett
Tear and dirty up 2 asylum dolls
Add blood and gore to the zombie
Silver leaf 2 pairs of demon horns
Dress 3 more pegs dolls – Black Cat, girl demon and Lady
Wig 4 more dolls – Black Cat, Girl demon, Boy demon and Lady
Write up all the missing tags
Pack everything
Badly paint my nails
Drink a Lot of wine
Get very little sleep
Turn up early for the fair and set up :S

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can........

The Best Kind Of Mess :)

I’ve no idea what’s going on with Blogger but I’m having some troubles, so I hope this one comes up ok :S

I couldn’t even add my photos last week but I’m gonna make sure you can see the ones I have for this week.

 

 

 

After getting back on track with all my dolls I’ve had a week of finishing what I can before going totally nuts and making as many peg dolls as I can ready for my upcoming fair at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea on the 24^th of this month. I managed to sculpt 24 of the little blighters in one night after finishing work. You should have seen me. I was like a demon with a  mission and I’m not even sure if I even had dinner (although Hubby would have shouted at me so I’m sure I did). I was there laying on the floor surrounded with clay and eyes and pegs and everything I needed and I got them all done J It’s the only space big enough for me to spread out and work.

Now, of course, I have to dress them all :S

 

 

 

I have two weeks to get all 24 of them dressed wigged and ready. Do you think I can do it?

I’m not too convinced, so have set myself a deadline for dressing them for next Wednesday as if I don’t start giving them hair by then they’ll be bald!

 

 

 

So far I have all the sculpting finished including a couple of pumpkins for two witches and a pie for Mrs Lovett. I know who each doll is and where I want to go with their costumes. All the dolls and their arms are painted , varnished and glossed where appropriate. And I have all of the little petticoats made up and pieces cut for trousers and shirts for the boys. I’m in a bit of a daze as I don’t think I’ve stopped all weekend!!

 

 

 

My Hubby Cris has been helping me get them all drilled for joints and has even been cutting arms for me. He didn’t even complain once. And he’s promised me help to get them all labelled and ready next weekend too. What a dear he is <3.

I’d be really stuck without him. Especially as I know how much he supports me and that he’s not even going to mind too much that I’ll be sewing as soon as I get home and he’ll be cooking dinner for two weeks (I hope – Please????).

 

Tonight I’m going to start on the three boys I’m making, Sweeney Todd, Jack The Ripper, and a little Demon, as well as my female White Rabbit as she needs a shirt and waistcoat too. If I can get those four done in two days and a few other things I’ll be ok. I think! :S

And this weekend coming my needle won’t leave my hand.

Part of me is secretly hoping I can meet this challenge I’ve given myself and another part is trying to hide under the bed clothes.

Come on Tasha! You can do this!!! ??? !!! :S

What A Difference A Week Makes

Last week I was stuck in what seemed like a never-ending circle of unfinished dolls. Every one I started needed something I didn't have and had to order. And the longer I had to wait for things to arrive saw me starting more and more.

But this last week has changed everything for the better. My long awaited lace from China finally arrived and was perfect for Lucrizia Borgia. Nelferch, the Lady of the Lake, has her lace too which I'm now beading. And my Alice Bunny and Hatter are almost done.

My chimney sweep is still waiting for his hat. And I have one or two other little things to do. But it's been a good week for getting things done.

This morning I realised something that I hope this new found purpose and getting things done phase I have will help with. My next Craft Fair has snuck up on me and I now only have three weeks left to get a load of things done. First is that I have nowhere near enough peg dolls to take with me :S

In a mad panic this morning I ordered up more clay as I know I have only a very little left, and my brain is swimming with ideas for who I should make.

On my notebook in front of me is a list of twenty little guys I'd like to see on my table at Swansea Waterfront Museum on the 24th (come say hello and meet my dolls in person), but whether or not I can get them all made is another question.

My poor husband is going to have to put up with my doll factory style of mass sculpting and having heads drying all over the place. And if I'm very lucky I might be able to get him to help me with the arms. The poor guy does have to put up with a lot.

It's my own fault of course as I should be more organised. But my brain has been busy with custom orders and the dolls I wanted to make for so long. I'm sad they'll have to be put to one side for a few weeks but there's not a lot I can do now. I don't tend to take all of my largest sized dolls to fairs and try to have good variation in the rest. I've been so lucky that so many of my little guys have been finding new homes so quickly :)

Before my clay arrives I have one more special secret commission to do that I just can't tell you all about just yet. You never know who will be spying around the corner that shouldn't know what's happening :)

And hopefully I'll get to finish my latest Alice Bunny and Hatter so they can come to the fair too.

What's With All The WIP's???

Really. Someone please tell me what on earth is going on with me lately?!!!???!?
I had a great run of getting lots of dolls made for different commissions. Everything going swimmingly and smooth. And now I've no idea :S

Firstly I started Lucrizia Borgia and just couldn't find the right lace to finish her. I ordered it from a lovely lady on Etsy who sent it from China, so I knew I had a wait until it came. After weeks and weeks we find it's been lost in the mail so now I'm waiting all over again as she very kindly sent it out again.
Knowing my luck they'll both arrive together!

I worked on some little peg dolls for people and all went well. But then my new trend kicked in again when I started on Nelferch, The Lady of the Lake. Again, stupidly, I came a cropper when it came to trimmings again and found that I had nothing suitable for her. The Husband doesn't believe this for a second and thinks I'm making excuses to buy more lace, but really I had nothing that worked. So I ordered that after finding something perfect on ebay, so had to wait again. (it arrived today so I get to go back to work on Nelferch. Yay! :))

Next, I started on a doll I've wanted to make for ages after finding the perfect little wooden row boat at a flea market. My Lady of Shalott was coming along beautifully until I reached into the zip lock bag I keep my plain silks in only to find I didn't have enough cream habotai left!!!
She's now sitting on my table waiting till I can order that up too. :(

What the B**P B**P is going on???

You can guess where I'm stuck now of course. I have all these dolls to finish, and I really do want to finish them, and because I'm so addicted to sewing I of course started on a small sized jointed Hatter and Alice White Rabbit yesterday for something to keep me occupied on the last lazy day of our hols.
Oh, and there's a Victorian Sweep to finish somewhere in that lot too.

I got to get it together.
I've no idea where to start, but I have to sort this mess out. As the lace arrived today for Nelferch I'll start sewing that on tonight and maybe make my Hatter some trousers.
Keep your eye out for some major confusing WIP update pic on my FB Page :) LOL :)
xxx

New Dolls & Work In Progress

I've been very lucky lately. I've had lots of lovely custom orders from some of my favourite customers, and they brought me some great ideas :)

I've made a Wonderland set and another little White Rabbit girl. As well as a Katrina Van Tassel (from Sleepy Hollow, a fab Johnny Depp film) peg doll for a lovely lady.
And my little Daemon Ruby found a home before I could get her in the shop and is off to a great home very soon with the lovely Emily :)

After making so many you'd think I'd be tired of sewing but............ NO :)
I'm already working on my next two dolls and have my one after that all lined up. Unfortunately my lace from China for Lucrezia Borgia has got lost in the mail so she's still waiting to be finished and I'm still waiting for a second delivery. At least I'm keeping busy in the meantime.

This lady is a doll I've wanted to make for a long time, but I had to wait for my next sculpt batch so that I could use these amazing eyes for her.
Nelferch (also known as Nimue) is the lady at the centre of the Lady of the Lake legends. Of course she needed a gentle face, and I'm working in colours that I've seen for myself at the lake where she is supposed to have emerged from the waters with the sword Excalibur. It's a beautiful lake high in the Brecon Beacons National Park South Wales, and we often visit that part of the country as it's not too far away and always a stunning place no matter what time of year you visit it.

I'll be mixing a number of the legends surrounding Nelferch in the story I tell with this doll, including that of Excalibur and the tale of her marriage and return to the waters. So far she has her underwear made from white cotton, with a petticoat edges in an ivory frothy trim and embroidered ribbon. Her under-dress is a soft sand colour made from heavy cotton with a brushed finish and edged in a cream crochet trim around the hem and sleeves.
I'm also going to make her an overdress in a lovely shade of slate grey I think, but I'm not too sure what this will be like yet. I need to look up some more information first before I decide.

While Sewing for Nelferch I'm also working on this little guy. He's looking quite smart at the moment but won't look quite so when I'm done with him even though he's done his best to look smart. You see he's a chimney sweep. So he never quite looks perfectly clean as over the years the soot has worked it's way into his skin. But today he's made an effort, as he always does on such occasions, as he's been asked to call at the home of a young lady to wish her luck on a very special day. Did you know that it's considered lucky to kiss a chimney sweep on your wedding day?

We always like to go search through flea markets and car boot sales on sunny days. And yesterday I was so glad we went to one. I found this little boat, which I know doesn't seem like much. But I've been looking for a boat like this for a long long time so that I can make a version of The Lady of Shalott as painted by Milais. This little row boat is just perfect as it stands on it's own and is just the right size to hold one of my small dolls. She she'll be next, my Lady of Shalott :)

My Little Seamstress & New Peg Dolls

 

This little seamstress, Glynys, is a poor young woman that has had some very good luck. She left her family home to try and earn some money which she could send home to her mother to help her keep her 8 younger brothers and sisters.
After searching around the big city showing her needlework and asking for work she came across a small neat Tailor Shop that had a small sign asking for a piece work sewer.
The kind Tailor and his wife took her in and were very kind. They let her sleep next to the fire in the kitchen where it’s warm and dry. And they are very kind to her and are always trying to feed her up and encouraging her to learn from the books of their own daughters. The tailor and his family are very religious people, and as they can’t pay Glynys much they always worry that she’ll leave them or turn to walking the street to earn extra money like other girls do. So to try and help her as much as possible they let her take any scraps of fabric that are too small to make anything for the store.
He often sneaks extra fabric and trimmings into her scraps box to make sure she can make more money for herself.
With them she makes tiny dolls clothes and monograms handkerchiefs that she sells to the rich women that come to the shop to buy the fine dresses and children’s clothes that they make there. She doesn’t notice how proud the tailor is of this quite kind young woman who has brought him twice the business he used to have with her fine stitching and perfect needlework.

My Seamstress wears tidy white cotton underwear trimmed with a little lace under three cotton petticoats. She was lucky enough to receive a gift of some very fine fabric from her employers last Christmas with which she made her outermost one among other things. Her blouse is highly gathered and she keeps it very clean and neat as it’s the only good one she had, and her blue flowered dress is made with pinafore top so that she can keep her pins tucked into the top. Around her neck she has her scissors close at hand, and she comes with her own little stool, a dress that she’s in the process of sewing and a basket of her dolls clothes and monogramed handkerchiefs.

 

Little Vlad the Vampire is a very sad young boy. He was only turned a few hundred years ago and the older Vamps tease him about not being fully grown. It’s not his fault his maker chose him when he was still growing is it?
He’d like a home that he can share with a nice polite person that understands his lifestyle and accepts it. Could you be the friend that Vlad needs?

Little Vald wears smart black trouser and a clean white shirt as he’s very fussy about keeping clean and presentable. His cravat is neatly tied and tucked into his waistband. His tiny teeth are very sharp so please watch your fingers. This little guy bites.

 

 

 Lucia the Vampire is looking for a new friend. She’s very tired of travelling and grand Vampire balls. She’s getting very fed up with all the egos involved with the other Vamps. They seem to think a great deal of themselves.
She’d like a forever home with a kind friend that she can share he adventure with.

Lucia has a very smart green silk gown trimmed with gold lace, and worn over a fine white lace petticoat. She’s very proud of her fine clothes, but she’s willing to share with her friends.
Please watch your fingers with this young lady around. Her teeth are sharp and she does like to bite.

 

Now I'm on to my next dolls, a little devil doll in her corset and bustle, and another custom order Rabbit Girl for the lovely Emily :)

I hope you like what I have coming soon :)

 
 

 

Silver Bells & Cockle Shells & Pretty Maids All In A Row.

I've worked worked worked all weekend and finally have dolls to show for it :)
It makes me so happy to see them sitting there in front of me now they are all painted and varnished. And I have 32 new dolls to play with and make dresses for (maybe some of them are boys, but they're still fun to dress up too).

I spent all of last night stringing together all the little elbow and knee joints, and tonight I get to attach them all to the dolls so that they can finally feel whole.
My husband is heaving a sigh of relief that the house will start to look semi normal again (as normal as it gets in my house) without every surface littered with doll parts in various states of completion, and I just can't wait to start work on all the ideas I have. I'll be making The Lady Of The Lake, a little devil with silver horns, I'm finally going to be brave and make my first Victoria, and lots lots more. But if you see a face you like that just jumps out at you as your doll and as the character you want me to make just let me know and I'll see what I can do :)
I've always had wonderful experiences of custom dolls and am always happy to hear new ideas.

There are 6 new lovelies in my largest size.
I love the honey coloured eyes on the one top right, and I know she'll have to be someone special.

I have 10 new medium sized people here, and you can see who will be my Lady Of The Lake with her blue and purple pearl eyes far right second middle row.
I have one or two of these set aside already but I'm quite flexible on who the others could be as they aren't talking to me much yet :)

Here are my 10 new small dolls, and my little devil right in the middle :)
I've no idea why I wanted to make her but she sort of just happened. I'm blaming it on a bit of cursed clay.

 

This lot are a few of my new peg dolls and my 4 faces for my 2 new topsy turvy dolls. I'm still trying to decide on what character pairs to make so any suggestions will be gratefully received :)

 

Next on my to do list is to finish off the embroidery for my Dark Alice / White Rabbit dolls apron. As my first Anthropomorphic doll I'm very pleased with how she's come out, and am happy to say her new owner seems happy too :)
She just need the clock face embroidered apron skirts and her white blonde hair and she'll be winging off to her new home.

Then I still have my Lucrizia Borgia to finish and have still not received my lace from China. I'm hoping it'll arrive in the next few days or it'll be lost forever in the great customs void!
And my little seamstress to add her accessories and bits and pieces to finish. I can't wait to get sewing again and bringing to life the mad world inside my head :)
xxx