Night Walk

Saturday evening I'm off to the Tamar Lakes for a charity Night Walk. The walk is in aid of our local Hospice who are raising money not only for their hospice in Barnstaple but also for their Longhouse appeal a facility they would like to build in Holsworthy.

I've walked round the lake many times usually with the dog and my children during the day so at night will be interesting.  I'm going with my friends and I'm really looking forward to it, though I had better find my torch as there are no lights at Tamar. 

If you want to know more about the North Devon Hospice or even make a donation you will find the details on their website www.northdevonhospice.org.uk/

until next time

Vic xx

Photographing my dolls.

If you follow me on Tumblr, Facebook etc you may see my work in progress photos usually followed a couple of days later with the final photo shoot pictures. I have been trying to solve a issue with them, you see for my Elves, jewelery etc I use my pop up light cube / tent with a long piece of cream fabric as the background. I use the cream as it gives a nice warmth to the photos and it means my photos in my shops are similar. Well the full size dolls are too tall or the wings are too wide to fit in the light cube so I've been trying out ways to take their photos this time using my ironing board and my fabric. But first my fabric needed an iron to remove some of the creases I then took the fabric and ironing board into my conservatory as its has the best light in the house.

As you can see I pegged the fabric to the board, usually I drape the fabric over a stool in front of the board and stand / sit the doll on it but this doll hangs on a wall so she was suspended from a peg with a bit of strong thread. Unfortunately you could see the board though the fabric so I moved it around to another wall and it was a lot better.

 I would love a permanent area already set up so I can just take my photos but as space is a bit limited in my house. But this way is producing good photos which need minimal editing so I'll stick with it for a bit.

These photo collages show a selection of the photos I took of Ursula the mermaid.

until next time

Vic xx

Dolls and Beads

This is the second time of writing this post, I deleted the last one. So I've been busy with yet another doll, I seem to be on a roll with them so I just went with it. I decided to make the fairy from the patterns I bought recently. This doll was a little bit different to my usual patterns and it did take a lot longer, in total the fairy took 35 hours of work. Most of the work went on the decorations like a beadwork belt and jewellery for her wrists and ankles. As always I didn't really like the doll halfway through making but once the hair, wings and decorations went on she was lovely. 

I have two more dolls planned the mermaid and a troll, I got the fabric for their clothing this weekend. I just need to decide which to start first, it might be the troll as its easier than the mermaid. 

A week or so ago I made myself go and make some beads and it has taken me a least a week to get on and clean them. I decided to have a go with silver glass again, this could go very well or just be a big pile of brown mess. A few ended up in the water pot mainly an issue with the bead release but the rest they didn't turn out too bad. Some did storm and reduce a couple well refused to play, so out of a dozen beads I got a set of six and few orphans. One of the orphans has a jellyfish look so it may even be used for the mermaid doll. 

Until next time

Vic xx

Decorating and a new doll

I decided to have a bit of break for a couple of weeks mainly as it was the easter school holidays and last week we painted our kitchen. The kitchen has been bothering me for a while, its got cluttered and looked a bit tired. I would have loved to have new units but I think that will happen when I either win the lottery or when the kids move out. So I suggested we repaint it, naturally choosing a colour was the next problem we did agree on a green colour but which green, eventually we decided on a dusky grey green. It took about a day and a half and it looks so much nicer and refreshed.

I decided that I would only keep a few key pieces like on top of my dresser I have my cake stands and two vintage tins. The tins have a lot of memories for me as they were my Gran's, they are a Cornish Fairing biscuit tin and a Cornish Butterdrop tin. My Gran used to keep Rich Tea in the biscuit tin and the other tin was very special as she would keep sweets in there and we were allowed one before we left Grans after visiting or on our way to school.

So this week it was back to work for me and as I had recently sold my last doll. I decided to make a standing doll this time, this doll doesn't have and armature in the legs and has a bit of strong card in the boots / shoes to help it stand, though I think next time I may add the armature to give her a bit more stability.Naming her was the most difficult part I did have a name for the doll all the way through making her but by the end it wasn't right and then I had another name but again I wasn't happy with it. Luckily a lovely friend on facebook suggested Ruby on one of the work in progress photos I post on my page. Well that got me and my chief quality tester (my daughter) running through names this morning and we finally decided on Scarlet. 

She's a lovely doll and I did have to wrestle her back off my daughter as she really wanted to keep her, Scarlet is available on Etsy now. 

There may be a new doll next week as I'm waiting for a mermaid and fairy patterns to arrive along with some lace. 

Until next time

Vic xx