I took the time to finish up on the last 2 works, the fairy and BJD.  I really didn’t do much with the fairy, I decided she looked pretty good and just went with photographing her.  Her name has yet to reveal itself to me, I’m hoping it will come to me soon.

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The BJD on the other hand, had a lot of fine tuning to do.  First up was finishing her dress.  I gathered the skirt and sewed it onto the top.  I then played with how to get it on and off of her and figuring out how I wanted the arm straps to lay.  I decided on a cris-cross back.  Sewed up the hem and called it good.  I am really oversimplifying here…

After the dress I worked on making her some shoes.  This meant researching and finding possible solutions and patterns.  I found a couple patterns and saved them.  I traced around the foot of the doll to create a basic outline for a sole.  Then, using Super Sculpey, I flattened out the clay, and pressed my design into the clay, leaving behind a faint pencil outline.  I cut these out and adjusted them a bit.  For the sandals, I imprinted the dolls foot (which made a huge difference in them fitting snugly, by the way).  I made a second pair for another set of shoes using the first set of soles as a pattern.  I baked these up, and then waited for them to cool.  Once they were cool, I wet sanded them, just enough to smooth out the edges.  Then, using acrylic paint, I painted both sets with a wash.

Now, the sandals, I used a little bit of Fabri-Tac on a toothpick to place the strap on one side of the sole.  I allowed that to dry for a while, and did the same to the second shoe.  Using the same technique, I wrapped the fabric around to form a strap and secured it in place.  I had to add a little bit of Fabi-Tac to hold the edges down, but I have to say I really like this pair.

The black flats were not as easy.  I had cut out a piece of material and secured it to the sole with a fine line of Fabri-Tac, only to discover that the material sat funny and would not go completely onto the sole.  So I tore it off.  Using the existing pattern piece, I cut and adjusted where there was a discrepancy.  The second try was much better.  I used a thin line of Fabri-tac around the edge of the fabric, then carefully pressed it in place on the sole.  After the shoes were constructed, I tried them on the doll.  This pair does not fit as well and there was a definite bump where her toes ended.  Solution?  Add a small bow of the same material onto the shoes.  While I’m not totally thrilled with the shoes, I am happy enough to call it done.

So then I thought I was finished, and as I was getting her dressed for her photo shoot, I realized she still had no eyebrows.  So out came the paints again.  I got to use my 2 new tools from Apryl, a rubber ended tool and a teeny-tiny paintbrush.  I decided to give her a little eyeliner using the teeny-tiny paintbrush and some black.  Then I mixed a magenta and a brown to get her eyebrow color close enough to her hair color.  Using the rubber tipped tool, I carefully “drew” eyebrows onto her face.  Her left (my right) came out great the first time.  However, I had to redo her right (my left) several times.  I used acetone to clean the paint off when I didn’t like the results.  Eventually, i was satisfied with the way it looked.  The I also decided to add eyelashes.  I had tried on the fairy and destroyed an entire strip.  But I really wanted to put eyelashes on this one.  So I took the strip and using a q-tip and some acetone, gently swabbed the sticky stuff off the eyelash.  Then with a pair of fine tip tweezers, a toothpick, scissors, Gorilla Glue and a lot of patience, I attached eyelashes to the upper lids of the doll.  Then I touched up the china paint a bit on her cheeks and lips, as I felt that they were a little too light after adding all of that detail to her face.  She looks kinds funny without her hair though…

Then it was time for her photo shoot.  She has interchangeable outfits, so I tried to get all of them photographed the best I could.  She has, also, yet to reveal her name.  But she is done.

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