Little Dolls

I have enjoyed creating a little doll inspired by the "Little House" books for a friend's daughter. These were my all time favorite stories as a girl, and I still enjoy these stories as an adult. As I started to work on these, by imagination when a little wild, and the clothing I sewed looks a little more 'Dickenson' then Home on the Prairie. Nevertheless, I am pleased with them and feel my sewing skills are starting to improve a little. Sewing clothing for 5 inch dolls is a bit of challenge. Its seemed my entire fabric stash had prints that were too large and I found out that red is a difficult color to match. I still have quite a bit of handwork left on the clothing, and would like to paint a box for the 'spare' doll to put her clothing in.. Santa might need an extra gift!

Laura doll in procelain

I know its been a while since my last post, but I have been busy trying to finish some of the unfinished dolls. Its actually embarassing how many there are (LOL). This doll I am quite excited about. This is the same sculpt as the papermache doll I posted about last time , only this dear was casted in porcelain and painted in a more traditional way . It took forever to prepare her greenware and to smooth her. I did alot of cleaning and smoothing before I even softfired her head This doll has some soft indentations and suble un-evenness in comparison to a doll made from a commercial mold ( after all the sculpt has not been refined yet), but I actually like the end result - I think it adds more realism to her face. After all most of us don't have completely smooth faces. I apologize for the funny picture of a head in a crock, but I hope to repost a picture once she is finished.

For some technical details - I painted her following Dianna Effner's painting techniques taught in her Doll Dreamers Guild, including china painted eyes ( not glass) in the colors of seafoam and brown. I am very proud of her and am busy getting the rest of her body parts finished so she can become a doll.