empress lulu of the space bees

"one night performance only! be amazed at the refined ferocity of the empress of that fantastic and opulent race of beings; the space bees! be enthralled by the daring, the beauty, the ravishing of the senses that leads ones very being to the brink of utter ecstasy! get your tickets now! this artistic endeavor of only a few hours will not be repeated again in a lifetime, don't miss out!"

wigs are fun

awhile ago i had purchased a bag of dyed wool wefts at my local knitting store. at the time i had a half-formed idea of using them for a doll wig, but eh, i never got around to it.
while going through the plethora of stuff in my newly cleaned closet i came across the baggie and put it to the side. well, the time came to use some of those brilliantly dyed pieces, and scrounging around till i found a nylon stocking, use them i did. pulling, stitching, and forming as i went this weft of wool became hair. it's reminiscent of a finger wave styled 'do from the twenties; and i especially like the random green section.

dolly couture

i was going through my narae's wardrobe last night and wanted to change her outfit. one of the few (two) items that i bought rather than made is a white 3/4 sleeve top. it doesn't really go with anything else, as the majority of pieces are super girly. so i decided to make a bottom to go with it.
at first i really wanted to make shorts that are ballooned, but i struggled with them for too long. taking a look at what fabric bits were available from my left over shirt project, i thought about doing a high-waisted skirt; something that was gathered. i created a circle and then started to sew a ruffled edge to it, then sewed on a waistband and connected it to a back. it came out rather well and only took a few hours from conception to hand sewing.
the outfit ends up looking mature, and somewhat funky business-like.

pouf

a little detail from the skirts covering the derriere of my narae. she's got such a nice pouf to her skirts.

not just for me

my narae also has a new pair of shoes. it took much longer to find her a pair. you would think that making such small shoes would lend itself to a world of creativity; stuff that's just not possible, or plausible for flesh and blood feet. sadly, that is not the case.

most shoes available to the abjd connoisseur are usually clunky, gothic, boring, and/or limited to a palette of black, white, red, and brown. one that fits the narrower feet of the narae, is above average, and not having a trace of black or white (sole not counting), would seem to be in the realm of impossible. therefore, having found the beautiful shoes she is now wearing is very exciting! her first pair, wow. only took me two years. this awe-inspiring article of essentiality came from the wonderful cobbler at dale rae designs. there will be more purchases in the future.

pretty!

because she is, ya know.

this is not just a post showing you my anea, it is also a happy post about my new digital camera! i am so happy to finally have one after so many months. it's weird how you become so reliant on something. it's a canon powershot a590is. i loves it.

the great marshmallow puff

so i decided to change echo's outfit, well actually, make her a new one. during the unclothing i figured it would be a good time to finish her body blushing; mainly the nipples, belly button, vagina and buttock region. it turned out well and she looks finished.

the dress i made for her is cream and very pouffy, i was inspired by the dresses of erin fetherston from a few seasons ago. i like her work, both girly and so very deliciously wearable.

perhaps not a fool

echo did a wee bit of posing today in front of a lovely vintage printed textile i discovered while antiquing. it is covered in blueberries and strawberries.

on other fronts, the gluten free thing isn't going half so bad as initially imagined. so far i have baked a delicious sweet cornbread, a lavender honey cake, dark chocolate brownies, and a dutch chocolate zucchini cake. there are plans on the horizon to make blueberry oat muffins and an irish soda bread. amazingly the most glorious thing about all of these scrumptious baked goods is that they are made from scratch and gluten free.

something soft

after receiving a 2/3 closed eye head from narae last month, i put her on my desk and all but forgot about the little dear. in a fit of boredom, and seeing that the weather was nice, i took her out to my studio. i really wanted a soft, wisp-like face up, something a bit ethereal. i think she came out rather nice.

i suppose that the only question about changing just the face plate is, "is it now a different personality, or just a different expression of the same personality?". as her face is different, should she no longer be echo but another? hmm, perhaps a new name for this face.

in some cultures there are several names for the different aspects of a certain goddess; the crone, the maiden, the mother. perhaps echo has many aspects. or maybe she is just a nymph who appears differently when away from her source. this could be a tree dryad. lots to ponder!
there are more images of her in my flickr account.

chloe in a whimsy

chloe decided enough was enough and that she would not wear anymore tea party outfits, ever, well maybe not forever. so today we changed her into something more relaxing, nothing fussy. but perhaps just one flower.

good hair day

echo felt like taking a stroll, and changing outfits. she has so few of them.

seen through new eyes

i received new eyes for echo. they are from Masterpiece Eyes. several months ago i got an idea into my head to replicate my eyes for my doll. so i sent a photo of my orbs to Gayle, and now several weeks later, here are the results.

like a moth towards a flame...

some of my favorite artists, both new and old. there is a lot of beautiful skill and talent out there. i love the colors used by all of these artists; it's what drew me. there is a theme running through the works that i like; the female form, each artists view of it, either of themselves or their voices represented visually.

audrey kawasaki:

naisho, 2006

aya takano:
the summer sea, a beach of crying sand 2004

barbara canepa:
skydoll, narae doll artists own

jennifer davis:
upsidedown

kanako sasaki:
wanderlust outcast

morning photos

so here are photos of echo in the morning. the light is great, you can see the softness of her face, and the french resin is so ethereal. i am going to work on her manicure and pedicure today, and perhaps do a little blushing around the nipples and belly button tomorrow. i'll post photos when i'm done.

my first face-up

this is my first ever attempt at a face-up. it seems to have gone well. i used pastels and Zoukeimura Finishing Powder. pastels take forever to build up color, especially on her lips and face. very different than working with paints.
i'll take another photo in the daylight tomorrow, as she has a very light face-up and white eyebrows. the lights in my room are very warm.

she looks like a sad little clown; luckily, as i was thinking space girl when i bought her. her name is echo.