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?

Patitadolls is Officially in Print!

I am so excited to announce that Patitadolls has been published in the November issue of Dolls Magazine. I feel truly honored for having such an article done over me and my "girls"!
The digital edition of the magazine is available online at http://www.dollsmagazine.com/ .
This past July, while at the Atlanta Doll Show, I had the opportunity and pleasure of meeting Carie Ferg ,editor-in-chief of Doll Magazine. She surprised me with the request of having a video interview! This video can also be viewed along with the digital magazine.
I was unable to download the pdf. file, so I printed and scanned the article and added it below. It's in an enlarged format, so hopefully it will be easy to read:) Otherwise, I will try to figure out another way to show you the article, and it will be under the "reviews" page of my website: http://www.patitadolls.com/ .

My very first dolls as a child were paper dolls. When Carie asked me if Diana E. Vining (a renowned paper doll artist) cloud design "Isabella" as a paper doll, I was thrilled:) If you are not a subscriber of this magazine, and you are truly into dolls, I would highly recommend subscribing. This magazine is wonderful!

p.s. The pictures below are the three used in the article. The baby face is the cover page.

Juliet.....WIP!

I am so anxious to finish my new molds, I can't hardly wait.*grin*
I will have a new pair of hands, 2 new torsos ( upper and lower bodies), and the new double joints.I also have a new face too and she may be one of my older looking dolls.
While I am loaded with mold making , this work in progress is a special order that I used Isabella's mold and sculpted directly on the face while the porcelain was at leather dry stage. As it was requested, I reduced Isabella's eyes and to my surprise I love her too! She is waiting for her new body . She will be dressed in gorgeous 1700's outfit and includes hat and silk shoes. Ohh yes, I will show her to you !

Steel Articulation Prototype

**Click on the picture to see the other one**

I was hoping to post my horse but I have been so busy pouring dolls, making molds, and turning pottery that I did not have a chance yet to get pictures done but I will soon,I promise!*grin*

I want to share with you my prototype for my steel articulation. I have edited the photographs since my patents are pending.This model has the holes in the body in order that I may see the precision of the movements with the compression of the springs within the body. I know there are other doll makers that like to see how other people do their work . I understand that and of course you understand that I can not share my system but I can tell you some things about it in which will encourage or discourage you.

Patita dolls has a very unique skeleton system that is held together precisely by 5 pins-That was important to me. The amount of tension is what I like to say - perfect! Why ? Because she not only holds the position but also holds it in place even when holding something with some substantial weight and the other parts do not move when one part moves.

This prototype is marked, written , broken and glued back with epoxie, and still has temporary pins because I had take it apart and put together at least 80 times( probably more) during this process. I thought to replace the parts and make a neat looking model but I changed my mind ... this one means a lot to me.... means hard work, many many sleepless nights, tears , blood but at the end much joy . I am so very proud of this because it took a lot determination and an enormous amount of dedication for me to get here. I have so many plans and ideas , it is hard to sleep sometimes but I am very privileged to have a loving family that adores me and supports my work.

If you like my dolls, please keep visiting me ... I am working many hours a day in several different projects ( including different approach to face painting ) and although they all take a long time to get done , I will get there.

I Appreciate each one of you so much and for your lovely and kind emails to me. It has been a wonderful journey.

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!

So many choices....

I will be completing my 40Th summer this weekend. This will be the first time in my life that I won't be with all my family, except for Kate ,as she is going to the show with me. *grin*
Birthdays are always very special occasion and the children are always eager to prepare gifts and to shop for the birthday person.
This year my *wish list* is the most strange one. It starts with fabrics, trims to wood supplies....smiles... and it is all about -Dolls!
I love , love to make Patitadolls and I am finding out that I also enjoy to dress them and to make accessories.
Now that we are in summer vacation , I have more time to spend on my art . Last Spring, I was only able to make one sofa for my dolls but I want to make more furniture. I have already start on one project that will accompany my next doll , in which by the way the mold is ready for pouring but it will be weeks until she be ready to show because the entire process takes a long time .

I Will be experimenting new ways to use china painting too. For years, I have only painted my dolls with oil paintings and it has nothing to do with china painting , in which is done by layers and firings between that . One can only see it progress as it goes and at the end final results . I had a much *careful* attitude about approaching to the china painting only because I was afraid . Once you fire a layer of paint , you can not fix it , but now I am feeling more confident and will try different face ups for Patitadolls. *grin*

I love all costumes for the dolls but my favorites are definitely from the Victorian Era. Any thing from 1830's to early 1900's is superb . I can not leave it out the Marie Antoinette era and even all the way back to the Egyptian times but most of all I like them all to be very practical too. I am not oppose to make some more extravagant costume in which could display the dolls at shows and with that purpose , I may do that some time in the future but I really enjoy to dress up the girls just like when I used to play as a child.

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.

Here comes the bride...

I am pleased to introduce you my new doll - Alexa!
Alexa is dressed as a bride and she one of the six dolls that I will be bringing to the 22nd Annual Doll Festival , on July 11th- 15th In Atlanta -GA.

Alexa is a new sculpt and I just love the way she looks. She is very different than sweet Isabella , don't you agree?*grin*

This bride has green eyes however you will have a chance soon to meet one Alexa with blue eyes and another with brown eyes.

Alexa is a very lovely bride. I mixed a very white porcelain slip with a hint of pink and it turned up a very soft flesh color ... not like most doll flesh and honestly speaking I prefer this skintone than the white one.

Alexa has a long and soft ( real) mohair wig that is removable. She looks lovely with a dark color wig too , but I had to choose ....

I pierced her ears and she can wear earrings....mmmm, I love that!*grin*

One thing about Patitadolls that I like to bring to attention is that all my dolls can stand alone without support. I study their anatomy a lot when I was designing these dolls because I want to make sure my dolls would be proportional, including their feet and hands

Patitadolls has a set of joints that hides the *bulkiness* of the balls. It is inserted in way that not only locks the legs perfectly, but also retain the natural look of a human legs.... if you read my earlier posts from last year , you know how much work I put into these joints . It was very important to me.

(((Thank you))) so much for visiting me and meeting my new doll... if you are interested to see my other dolls, come back next week as I plan to post some more pictures!

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*

Pretty in blue!

This little outfit is very simple , but I like simple too.*grin*.

I sew it last year and saved it for Isabella. It is 100% cotton . I love silk ribbons, always have. If you ever received a hand painted card from me, you know what I mean. *grin*.I can use silk ribbons in so many things and lately I have discovered that one can make flowers and adorn an edge of a dress in a simple but elegant way.

Playing with her.....

Ohhh, Iam having so much fun with Isabella. I *love* the way she poses ....

Innocent Isabella...

Yes, she is here and available to become yours!*grin*

I am pleased to introduce you to my first porcelain Ball- Jointed Doll, Isabella Monet. I started working on this project in June 2008, and after many trials and adjustments, I have been able to create this doll.
She is able to articulate much like a human being, allowing her to be posed in many fun and life-like ways. T o view more pictures, or to order an Isabella doll, please visit my website http://www.patitadolls.com/ . I will be happy to answer questions at patitadoll@msn.com .

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.