Clothing and Shoes!

Hi , it has been more than a week since I posted here. I have been sick and so some of my children. I am unable to work with my dolls right now until I am completely cured from this sinus infection. This is the second time in less than 3 months that I had this type of infections .I feel terrible because I am so close to finish my molding and yet so far away.....sigh!

Well, meanwhile I have done few little things. I am learning to make shoes! Yes, learning is the real word here. These are such a tiny feet!
I love the look of silk as well as leather, so I have been experimenting with both of them.

First thing I had to do was to create a copy of the dolls feet in wood. The wood one that you see on picture above is the same size of the doll's feet and the white one has a point to it because I want to make some rider's boots and court shoes.

Forgive me my pictures and back grounds.... but here you can see my princess dress... I really love how it turned out and below is my first pair of silk shoes! I will show you close ups later on..... It fits her perfectly.*grin*

This dress is an Jane Austin type of a dress.. I love that era very much and I thing the dress turned up really pretty.

If I have a chance I will add more pictures of some other dresses that I have ready , but perhaps I should wait until they can be worn by the girl?

Isabella and I

For while now I have been wanted to take pictures with my dolls but I was always leaving it for later ;However I want you to see the size comparison . I am here with Isabella. My dolls are quite petite but not too small to make sewing difficult for them.*grin*
When I made Isabella I wanted her to look young and innocent . She is just like that. I am now working on 2 new set of bodies. One is a younger girl and the other is a more fuller ( Brazilian woman is on my mind, grin) body. I have double jointed for them too. I can't wait to have it ready.
It took me some time to develop all the parts to where I felt happy . I don't think I will ever settle to one thing only , because it is not in my nature, I get bored easily and I love a challenge, plus as an artist my work is never done. I love improvements and they don't necessarily means better but ... different.
It will take me some time to show you my new dolls and all the new parts , but I will get there.
I have study the possibility to reduce the dolls to a 10" size but because my steel articulation is so precise with such perfect tension, I am not sure if I can reduce it all , perhaps I can but I have many other ideas before I get to that.
I will leave you with my very natural pictures taken by my daughter -Kate.*smiles*

Doll Show

Hello everyone~ As much fun and excitement I had at the doll show, nothing like getting back home to my family and my farm. *grin*
The show was *wonderful* , so much more than I expected. I meet wonderful people, collectors, and artists. What a experience !!!!!!!!!
My pictures are awful . The lighting was not good and I learn that I need to take my own lighting with me to my next show in which by the way, it will probably be the IDEX in Orlando, FL, in January 2010.
I have a lot to do before that and I can tell you that Monday I will get start working.



There were so many wonderful artists at the show.... here you can see me with Monica Reo. This lady is an incredible doll maker. Her porcelain dolls are large scale and one of the most beautiful and realistic faces I ever seen....Check out her site by clicking her name above.

The show was a busy one however I felt sick during the time I was there. I am not sure what it was and I can tell you that I am doing much better now, but I had a very hard time breathing while I was there.

Over all, I can tell you that I am enjoying the whole business of doll making and I am excited to see what will come next!

Wigs

I just finished taking more pictures of the girls and they are all ready to go. I love to change the wigs because it changes the doll looks so much. I guess it is true when people say that "Your hair is the frame of your face"... well, I kinda translated this saying from Portuguese so it may not make a sense.*grin*
Thank you all of you kind visitors , friends and artists. I really appreciate that you take the time to visit me and see my dolls. It has been a long road but a very enjoyable one in which I have learned so much and I can only say that this is just the beginning .... I am *full* of plans .... smiles to you!

New dolls

Hello there~
I am not particularly fond of taking pictures of my dolls in nude as I rather see them dressed but because I make these dolls for sale, I need to show you as much as possible how they look like and how they can pose. I will start dressing the dolls tomorrow so I thought to take a group picture first however they aren't all here.

Alexa has such a fun face to work with it... I have not written a profile for her but I will soon.

Isabella is so sweet looking .... I am thinking to make a new torso for her with younger body... but first I am working on another doll and Sophia.... Poor Sophia, I had some trouble with her mold ... she is now patiently waiting for me.

Isabella and her lion

Hello everyone~ I want to update you with some new pictures and a little information . My dolls are all ready, including all outfits and accessories. I am working on her stand and tomorrow hopefully I will be able to finish assembling all the dolls. I was only able to do one today, Isabella , as you see here with her pet lion. I would had all dolls done by now but I got sick and last night I end up at the ER because my sinus infection was so bad I could not breathe . I was able to get some x-rays done and one additional medication . Today I rested all day and only got out of the bed to assemble one doll but hopefully tomorrow I will do some more. I plan to take pictures on Monday and hopefully I will do a post before I leave to next week show.

Isabella is a little different.... I did another mold for her and adjusted few things ... I like it a lot.....I am anxious to introduce you to Alexa..... she will be here soon.....

The Bridal Dress

I finished my bridal dress . Although this dress has a very simple and elegant look , this was probably the most time consuming doll outfit I have ever made. I enjoyed doing it from the first point of designing the dress to the final details. The pictures was taken without a body and it is missing the petticoat , therefore is not showing the shape properly however ; it fits my dolls beautifully .

The dress is made from a lovely hand woven Silk Charmeuse in a pearl color ( my picture is not showing the true color ) . The corset was entirely hand applied with ribbon cords, lace, pearls and fluorescent,clear Sequins.

The skirt was made in 2 layers and underneath is suported by a 7 inches wired petticoat .A total of 60 inches is around the hemline that was finished with clear sequins. The entire lower edge of this gown has a Swiss lace applique that I meticulously adorned with glass beads and pearls.

The shoes were made using my doll's feet as pattern , so it fits her perfectly and match the gown very gracefully.

For the bouquet I choose handmade tiny roses, lace , pearls, and fine silk ribbons..

I am assembling the girls on Saturday and have plans to get pictures done Monday and Tuesday, hopefully I can post again soon.

22nd Annual National Doll Festival

I am soooooo excited to announce that I will be participating on my first doll show. It will be NEXT month, July 11 to 15th In Atlanta ,GA at the 22nd Annual National Doll Festival .I was not planning to participate on this one , as I knew it was too late to sign in but , after speaking with the coordinator , he so kindly opened a space for me. Ohhhh, I am so nervous.... I have not slept the past few nights working on the dolls ...there is so much to do !!!!!!!!!!!
My husband and children are just the most wonderful family and they are all helping me by doing my chorus so I can spent as much time as possible preparing the dolls.
I am working on a *very* special doll . She will be the center of my show. She is a new mold and one of the most beautiful doll I have created - she is a bride!
I am in pouring , firing stage and no time for computer or order at this point. All things are in hold right now and my focus is solo in the upcoming show.
I want to thank you all of you , wonderful doll/faerie artist , and your lovely work that has inspired my so much . Your kindness and encouragement has been such a blessing to me. I don't want mention names, but you all know who you are . ((( thank you ))) for visiting me, for your emails, comments in my blog, and so much more. I would *love* to meet each one of you in person one day. For now, if you are planing to attend the show , please look for Patitadolls's booth and come see Kate and I. *grin*

I am looking forward to meet new people and other artists. I have never been in a doll show before so this is very exciting.
I will do my best to post pictures ... I am working on the dolls, wigs , clothing , shoes and accessories.... now I only need to find someone that will milk my cow while during my absence *grin*

Details

I have been working with sculpting and painting dolls for few years. China Panting is a new medium for me and I thought to share few faces I painted differently . These were my first ones . I am now working on new faces painting technique and as I get more more comfortable with china painting , it is becoming easier too. I made several new faces only with the idea to practice my strokes and new colors . I will soon have a green eyes babe,grin!!

Details are very important to me. From the very beginning , I wanted my dolls to look as realistic as possible however maintaining the gentle *doll look*. I am making 2 more new feet molds, one will allow the doll to have the toes a little apart so she can wear sandals the other is a surprise!!!!!!!!

This week is a super busy week for me. the last few weeks I have been busy doing pottery , drawings and Snow White marionettes ; however this week I have a lot of plans for patitadolls and hopefully I will be sharing with you a very special one soon!Smiles!

Exciting news!

I am so excited because Isabella will be soon published in a wonderful magazine. It took a lot time and effort to create her and to be able to share the news with more people makes me so happy.

I took several new pictures and I am placing few here today. I love the black hair, don't you? *grin*

Isabella is so much fun to play with it. Ireally enjoyed dressing her and taking the pictures; although I confess is not my forte!

I will let you know the name of the magazine as soon as I have the information in which issue she will be featuring.

* I plan to fire Sophia next week. yuppieeee!

Isabella in Etsy!!!

Isabella is now available on my new Etsy store !!

If you like to see my new dolls , make you you save me in your favorites when you visit me there!*grin*

Sophia

I have been working many hours every evening ... I am doing so many things at the same time, one would be dizzy to see *me*. grin. My children knows me well and they are always ready to say a kind work to encourage me or to make me coffee at 9:00pm, grin. Yes, I drink strong coffee right before I go to bed too . I grow up in a coffee farm in Brazil and as far I remember I started drinking coffee when I was probably two.

Okay, about Sophia.... I posted her prototype and her plaster mold. Last night I poured porcelain and it is now , what is called leather dry. I will have to wait few days to have it dried and then fire it bisque, in which is a soft fire although the porcelain still very fragile but can be sanded in water . Next , I will fire porcelain then comes china painting. I still have a long way to go but I thought to share as I progress with her.

Pink is pretty too!

While I was making Isabella , my mind was so focus on the mold making that took way any thoughts of afterwards ... well, now I only think about playing with her... can you tell?*grin*

Making Sophia

I am so busy , like a honeybee in spring time!*grin*

I am working with my book, with the marionettes (Snow white) and my BJD's.

I painted Isabella early this morning and I am looking forward to *show* her to you. Although I will have only 2 dolls completed , I will be taking orders then. Also , I am painting 4 different faces to give you more options of lip/eye colors. It has been fun!

Meanwhile, I am working with Sophia's mold. I posted about my troubles when I baked the prototype , but I also told you that I would fix it. So , here you can see her mold and if you take a look inside , there is no defect. All the orange stuff is what I used to fix her . Although she has the visible lines , they were repaired and sanded so smoothly , that if you would hold the head and run your fingers through it you can't feel a thing!*grin*

It is getting close. Isabella will be ready very soon, I am now busy trying to design some outfit for her.

Hands and Feet

Hi this is a little update on my BJD's progress. Isabella has been fired and she is complete!Yeahh!!!

I have done one layer in china paint and I will have to do this 6 more times to active the final colors.I will then have 2 dolls ready.Here is a picture showing her hands and feet... they have one layer of paint , more to come. The greatest thing about this process has been what I have learn from my errors. I have improved in many areas and one that I am most excited about it is that I learned to sculpt directly on the porcelain.

The dolls will be poured into molds, but each doll , when is in *leather dry* stage allows some sculpting to be done. for ex. the picture is showing her feet . Each toe was sculpted , or *carved* out to create the curves. There is a right time to do that. If one does it when the porcelain is too wet, is not good or to dry , it will break it.

Sophia first mold is been poured. For her head, I had to make a 4 piece mold because I like to sculpt detailed ear and if I made 2 parts mold , I have found it out that does not work, at least for me.

I will have to fire Sophia and make another mold to shrink to her petite body size. I found out that I sculpt better faces if they are larger than smaller... I will also show you Sophia prototype after all my repairs so if you are curious , bookmark my page or visit me often. I have 2 other blogs and few websites ... lots work at the same time ,grin, believe me I am most productive this way because I don't spend a lot a time at once so I feel refreshed when I get back to something that I let set for while....

Sophia ~ New doll

I normally don't blog often , but today I am *twice*.
I am excited about my new doll. I have been working on her face for the past 3 months. I love her look and she is so different than Isabella and I think she will be amazing. Isabella is a french doll.... I am not sure yet what Sophia should be... any suggestion would be appreciated.

Do see the lines on her face? Well, I was so sad when I saw but sometimes when I open the oven to soon , it happens. I will add liquid apoxie ... it will be fine. Also I have a lot of sanding to do in her before I make her plaster mold. I plan to take some pictures with all I have done in order to get to the point that I am now... but before I must to have Isabella ready.

Knee Joints mold

Finally the knee molds are done. I am pouring the porcelain slip today. I am crossing my finger to work out. I should be able to fire in couple days , then start what I like to do the best - china painting.

Joints!!!!!!!!

If you are following me , you must be *tired* by now from hearing about my troubles with porcelain. I am tired myself!
So much work , I do plan to post a picture (with Isabella in the center) surrounded by all the PARTS that I was NOT happy with.
The Joints for the elbows turned out great and they fit her perfectly , but the joints for the knees were too small. I need to find a middle between my first joints and the last ones.
Well I , once again, modified the prototype and made another set of joints. I KNOW these will work out because I placed leather on my prototype doll legs and the new joints fits very nicely. A set of molds were made today.
I will have to wait about a week and start pouring again. I have all the other parts ready ... just need this last mold to work and then I will be able to make Isabella for sale.
It has been a long time and waiting but I don't make porcelain dolls only and I never intend to be a doll maker solo. I LOVE dolls and making Isabella was a challenge but I loved all the steps, even the difficulties, because I have learned how to make molds and make porcelain BJDS.
I always hear people saying that they make one porcelain doll at a time .... I wonder about that ... I honestly have to make at least 3 to get one doll perfect. For those that do not know ... when the porcelain is poured into the mold and even after a soft fire , the doll still VERY fragile. Sometimes I am sanding and I THINK I am just about done , then bang!! I see an imperfection... such as a little hole , a line or anything that will show up after I fire to the mature stage ... that leg is no good to me.
I broke several pieces during the learning process and I fired several pieces that I will never use on any of my dolls. Measuring the amount of work and time consuming , when my molds will be ready for doll making , they will be limited for 10 to 12 dolls a year.
Meanwhile, ( and I know this sounds crazy, because I have not finished Isabella yet) , I have sculpted a new doll - Sophia!

Isabella is waiting....

When I first made Isabella prototype , I had an idea in mind. My first mold ( see the brown eyes doll ) had the joints permantely attached to the legs and arms. I did not like it because I found limitations to movements.

I worked out new joints , separated for the legs and arms, in which meant that I had to make new molds for the legs and arms a well.

Nothing ever has come to me easily...sigh... I know better that good things requires time and effort.*grin*

After I re-did all I was very excited however I found out as I added the leather to the joints that the joints were now *showing*. I don't want that at all!

Tomorrow, I will start a new mold for the joints.... it is alright because all I have to do is to use the ones I have to make a new mold. Porcelain shrinks and that is all I need.

I should have the dolls ready in 10 days maximum.

I am a perfectionist... being a professional ballerina in my early years has thaught me a lot. I will confess to you that a full kiln allows me 7 complete dolls however because I have to choose the best parts for my final dolls I will be happy when I consider 3 dolls for sale!

I know the pictures are not the best but I want you to see Isabella and my wood shop where I make my molds and furniture.