Isabella: The Paper Doll

OK, if I were a paper doll this is what I would look like! Tall, very thin and carrying my paints around with me at all times. Oh yes, I would have very long, multi-colored hair and my ever present jester hat. Ha! This one was fun to do. This is the last of three paper dolls I made for the paper doll swap at Artella. You can click on the photo to get a larger view. The other two dolls are shown on previous posts.

I don't know which one is my favorite. I like them all. This one is made of very cool Harlequin fabric glued to a doll template made of heavy watercolor paper. The most trying part of the whole doll was getting those pom poms and tassels to stick (I used heavy duty adhesive). I think they are on pretty good now. She's a little over 10" tall and I really hated to see her go (just like the other two). :( I'll post the dolls I receive in the swap when they arrive. I mailed all three of my babies off today. The deadline is tomorrow, but we'll see if everyone sticks to it.

Now I must finish (start) the ATC's for the November Art Doll Swap in one of the Yahoo Groups I belong to and the Holiday Memories ATC Swap at Artella. The mailing deadlines for both of these are very soon (two weeks) but there are other projects that need to be in the works asap. Stay tuned...

Woodland Fairy Bride

Here is the second doll that I made for the paper doll swap at Artella. I call her the woodland fairy bride. You can click on the image for a larger view. She will be my doll made for the "anything you want to make" category. The other two categories are: your muse, and yourself. She came about after I saw this book...

This is an awesome book if you are really into fairies. Of course, anyone who knows me knows I love these little creatures. This book is a collection of fairy clothes put forth by the House of Elwand. It's so creative! There are beautiful little creations in there made from leaves, flowers, beads, feathers, you name it. The ultimate creation, in my opinion, was the bridal gown. Here is their version:

I took their lead and filled this in with a base of white feathers like the ones shown here. Then I glued more curly, fluffy feathers on top of the base feathers and really liked the outcome. For the waistband I had some glue on pearls that matched the colors pretty well. I just left the bodice as is after many tries to embellish it. Nothing looked as good as the original. So, all that was left was to find a suitable face and make her hair. She is really special. Yes, I will hate to see her go.... such is the price you pay for a swap. Speaking of swaps...I received my box of zines in the mail! They are awesome and I will post a picture of them tomorrow. Now I must finish my third paper doll; the one that is supposed to represent me. This will be interesting...

Mod Paper Doll

I have been busy working on the paper dolls for the latest swap I'm participating in. The last post showed some clay molds that I planned to use for faces. I'm still using those, but not for every doll. Plus, I'm making extra dolls for my own stash! The swap requirements were to make three paper dolls: one will be your Muse; one will be YOU; and the third can be anything you wish. Here is my first one:

I'm not sure which category I want to put her into yet. Well, she's definitely not ME! :) So that leaves two to choose from. Here is a closeup of her face and bodice:

Her bodice is made from a sheer fabric that has been glued over red scrapbook paper and then adhered to a heavy cardstock doll template. Her skirt is black crepe paper and I got her belt from an old Barbie doll that I picked up at the Goodwill to use for spare doll "parts". I made her sleeves from striped scrapbook paper and some old lace cut from another doll's clothes. Her boots are made from a scrap of faux suede material. I drew on the boot details with a Sharpie. The boot template was provided courtesy of Valerie Brincheck in my ATC art doll swaps.

If you aren't familiar with the artist Teesha Moore and her "Zettiology" series of art and rubber stamps, check out the link at the end of this post. If you click on "New Zettiology" you'll see her line of rubber stamps devoted to quirky costumed girls. My little doll is pretty tame compared to Teesha's cool stamps. And, yes, I had to order some of those stamps! Who could resist? I'll post them when they come in.

These are based on the Japanese street fashion called "Fruits" that the Japanese teens wear. If you search the web under "Japanese fashion and fruits fashion" you'll see the types of outfits I'm talking about. Some of them can be pretty wild get-ups. Anyway, Teesha's Zetti girls were the inspiration for my toned down version of a "fruits" fashion doll.

******************

Other news: The '60's Flashback ATC's have been swapped out and are in the mail. I should be receiving mine any day. Also, the ephemera swap has been mailed to us and that is now on the way. Plus, my art doll Halloween ATC's should be put into the mail within the next couple of days. And finally, the zines will be put into the mail next Friday. Someone completely missed the deadline and we all had to wait for that person to finish theirs. Lots of things in transit now and I am anxiously awaiting them all. I'll post them as they arrive.

Now back to working on my next paper doll. I'll post her when she's finished. And here is the link to Teesha's catalog of cool stamps:

http://www.teeshamoore.com/zettiology_april_05_supplement.htm