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I recently had a custom request for a Phoebe for a little girl with brown hair and freckles who likes baseball and ballet.
When I asked the colors for the baseball clothing, her mother said Houston Astros. So I had two challenges—design a baseball uniform for Phoebe and make it Houston Astros.
This Phoebe is on her way to Texas. But here's how it turned out.
Last week, I posted a sneek preview of my custom Snow Queen doll, better known as Elsa these days. Today I have a few photos of her sister—some know her as Anna, some as Gerda.
Her clothing was so much fun to design. I think Hans Christian Anderson would approve. She still needs shoes and her cape...so watch for more photos later.
I have been asked to do a number of custom storybook dolls—something that I LOVE doing. I knew it was only a matter of time before I had a request for Elsa or Anna or both. Although both of these girls appear in the movie Frozen, they are originally storybook characters (Gerda and the Snow Queen) from the Hans Christian Anderson tale of The Snow Queen.
I am in the midst of creating both Elsa and Anna for someone. And I'm having a lot of fun. Of course their hair is inspiring, but I also like the trims and styles of traditional Northern European clothing.
Here are a few more photos of Elsa.
Please follow along as these two come into their own.
For a brief moment, I have two Fancy Nancies. Tomorrow morning one flies off to her new home. The other I will finish photographing and list on Etsy.
Up until now I have only carried a jointed Fancy Nancy. She is extra fancy and a bit more expensive because a jointed doll takes longer to make.
But I will soon be listing the rag doll version of Fancy Nancy. She will also come with an extra outfit (Fancy Nancy style), I have a few ideas, but haven't decided yet (why hurry such a fun decision?).
Until then.....here are a few photos from today's Fancy Nancy photo shoot.
As a mom, my daughters rarely lack attention. I can't say either of them "flies under the radar". But sons sometimes do. They can be content and independent and suddenly as a mom you feel guilty because you have not given them the attention they deserve but don't demand.
Same with the boy dolls. I spend a lot of my business attention on the girl dolls. Every so often I get a boy doll request and, no offense to the girls, it is refreshing.
This week the boys got some attention. I have a custom boy doll shipping out tomorrow. But while creating him, I went a little boy crazy.
Today's lighting was bad (and no Nikon 5300 yet), so I only took a few photos. Hopefully tomorrow will shed some better light on boy world.
Plaid on plaid: Boy doll clothes
"Gap Kids" for boy dolls
A new boy doll with a bit of bedhead--typical boy
I recently received two custom requests for my African American doll with the fun braids. One request was a for a jointed Baby Egg and one was for a toddler Phoebe doll. They look like sisters who are maybe 18 months apart.
The hair for this doll is done by wrapping wool yarn as though casting on for a knitting project at the end of each braid. Then I take the ends of the yarn and with a needle weave them back through and cut them.
I thought it would be fun to do a photo shoot before the ends were woven in—Medusa style.
Soon they ship off to different homes.
Phoebe doll before her hair is finished.
Sisters dolls!
I've been having fun with a few custom dolls. Here's a sneak peek at one. A pink haired Cuddly Egg doll.
A new Cuddly Egg!
In her Pjs
Cuddly Egg trying to walk
I learned to sew at age eight and started right away making people clothes. I made a dress for my little sister. She was not as appreciative as I hoped she would be and so I moved on to sewing my own clothes. But I spotted this book somewhere, somehow (without an internet) and begged for it. It is called "The Doll Book" and it really was the THE doll book, since I knew of no others. I loved it and made many of the dolls and the clothes. I still have it and I still think it is cool .
It gives you the patterns for a family of dolls--parents, older siblings, younger siblings and a baby. I made them all. The patterns are Barbie sized and I love the way old Barbies are inter-mingled in the photos. It also gives you hundreds of period clothing patterns. You could historically dress your little dolls in outfits from the early 1800s on through to the early 1900s.
The book would be fun for any child who wants to try doll-making. The dolls are simple and flat and the instructions for the clothing are amazing.
Used copies are still available on Amazon. Starting at about a dollar.
After designing Phoebe, the big sister doll, it was not long before she felt lonely without a baby sister. I set out to design a baby doll. I thought we'd have a baby in no time. Babies are smaller, simpler and the 1950s produced many baby doll patterns with a three dimensional head.
Baby Sasha doll
Two months and many iterations later, I had learned that capturing the essence of a baby in a hand made jointed baby doll was more difficult than designing an upright post-toddler girl. I used the Sasha baby dolls as a model. Their arms and legs have a curve to them that beams baby.
The baby's face and hair were the next challenge. I've noticed that the best baby faces are simple and understated. My first baby had large eyes. Babies' eyes are relatively large, but on a doll that looks martian like. My latest crop of babies have small eyes.
Egg's hair is a bit amplified. Babies don't have a lot of hair, but most girls like their dolls to have hair.
Egg now.