Who's A Pretty Princess?

 

I am trying something new this month.  I made this OOAK princess dress a week ago.  It is a little more special.  I don't want to put it in my etsy store, because honestly, I don't know how to price it.  It's got a really nice bodice, with some silver-tone beads down the front, and layering, and well, I really like it. 

 

I am working on a doll at the moment to go to a show I was invited to participate in in Melbourne, Australia.  The coolest gallery I have ever seen contacted me to participate.   If you haven't been to the website of Auguste Clown, do check it out.  The artists they represent are amazing.  I can't even express how honored I am that, one, they even know who I am, and two, they asked me to participate in a future show.

 

For that doll, I have a theme and story going, and it relates to queens and princesses and things, which is something I am partial to. Thinking about princesses has led me to think about princess dresses.  The one for the gallery doll is different from the one seen here, and I will be showing sneak peeks here eventually, but that is my inspiration for thinking about princess dresses in the first place.

 

Which leads me to this dress here.  I found some really fun unicorn print fabric at the quilt store a few weeks back and wasn't sure what I would do with it. "Princess dress" was screaming out in my head, and so, I worked on a suitable bodice for a few days.  This is what I ended up with, and the skirting and overskirting and sleeves and all of that came together, and voila' this fun dress.  I've got is listed on Ebay for 5 days, and so far, at least a few people want it, so I feel like I am on the right track.  There may be other princess dresses in the future, but this OOAK number with the unicorns, well, like unicorns, you won't see it again after it's gone.  Hope you are having a lovely creative week!

Friday is For Relaxing

It's Friday today and I was planning on taking the day off and relaxing a bit, since I usually work through the weekend anyway. It's a rainy day and seems like the thing to do. It's almost noon, though, and I still have to go through photos and list my rat girls on Etsy, so perhaps the sitting back and being chill is going to have to happen later. Ah well, the life of a country doll maker :)

I have 5 new rats done for the week. It actually takes a lot longer to make each one than I imagined would be the case, but I am still having fun, so it's my little labor of love. I have continued to find little furniture pieces for them, and can now switch things in and out and change it up a bit. At least the rats can relax, as they have some furniture that fits them, a room to sit in, and they haven't much to do for the day other than look pretty and sit.

I seem to have gone a little miniature crazy. Besides a few more pieces of furniture, I have gone onto Amazon (usually a big mistake) and found some books on miniatures. I almost can't resist. Everything is just so darned cute! I hope I can find others who are interested in doing little 1/12 scale things. It's really quite fun.

If you don't require umpteen million books to satisfy your curiosity, a lot of the stuff can be had for cheap. There are little furniture kits and also used furniture available out there for in the $10 range, so that as a weekend project you could paint a little chair and have something to add to your scene without feeling like you spent all your hard earned money.

Hopefully you will find a bit of charm in my rats and rabbits and other tinies and see potential for your own scenes and room settings. The stuffed things also go nicely in Blythe scenes if you aren't for the teeny tiny miniature stuff.

My plan for the weekend is to make a few dresses for the rat girls and maybe look into some things for the walls of my little room box. I haven't worked on putting together any faux paintings yet, and I think that might be fun.

I am inspired a little by the old-timey children's books with their illustrations of animals in little jackets and trousers. I want my little rat girls to be a little less countrified, and more city fancy, but the works of Beatrix Potter and Tasha Tudor certainly come to mind.

We are running into a cold snap here for the week, so staying inside seems again the thing to do. It won't be long before winter hits here, and even this morning we had a tiny dusting of snow, and still there are little flakes flitting around outside my window. Nothing sticking yet, but it won't be long.  I hope this is a good weekend for you.  Stay warm.  Stay creative and always find time to play.

The Hare Sisters are Dining Out

 I have set up my little rat dressmaker's shop now and it's time to have some clients.  The 3 hare sisters came in over the weekend and wanted similar dresses in different colors, as they will be dining out, and love to look the same, but prefer different colors.  The hares are a lovely shade of nut brown and they have long ears, making them a bit more stately than the rats.  They fit the same dresses and can sit in the same chairs, but their ears take up more space than the little mouse ears.

The 3 hare sisters, Rita Mae, Claudine and Katrine have decided that they will choose cream, blue and pink as their dress colors.  The rats worked hard and gave each girl a lovely elegant dining out dress, made from a satin devore of rayon and silk.  The bodice of the dresses have a layer of cream colored cotton lace and a bit of white silk gauze at the neck, for a bit of fluffy frou-frou.  The dresses have an underlayer of the same silk gauze as a bit of petticoat.

Each girl was given a head wrap to complement their lovely ears.  No good French hare would like to be out on the town without one.  Keeps the breeze out of the ears, and adds a lovely festive element.

The hare sisters seem happy with their dresses.  They are ready to go.  The rats had a busy day and the shop can be swept and the lights dimmed.

I trust you are finding creative things to do as well!

XOXO

Cindy