DollsArtCats

Just an old photo of Rain since I have done nothing doll-related today--I just made two more virtual hatboxes, and while they aren't amazing, I did learn how to make things reflective in Poser, which made me very happy. I can make shiny SF outfits now!

Loooook! SHOES! These particular shoes fit Super Gem girls, the old body's heeled foot, and come in three holiday colors: Temple Gold Ice White: And Mistletoe: And here is the Etsy link! They are cast in resin and are 85.00 USD as an introductory price. I think they are fabulous!!

K has decided to start early on next May's Comicon and do an outfit for her BF Bob. So we are doing Captain Barbossa's outfit, rather modified, for him--partly because I have made this pattern 4 times now with various variations so I feel pretty comfortable making it. I'm sure I will still do something wacky, but at least this time we were super careful to keep the nap of the pattern running all one direction, unlike the Royal Navy Admiral costume I did a couple of years ago. Also this time I refused to pay 60 dollars for buttons, so K sat down with some sculpey, we made a master mold, and then she made 50 "pieces of eight" buttons that we can use on the coat. (I haven't told her yet how many buttons the waistcoat needs). I think they look cool and I just hope the paint can survive being handled a bit--they aren't functional buttons so they won't have to fit through buttonholes, but being on a garment will mean some wear and tear. Here is the movie o...

Here is Corazon (Iplehouse Rexy) doing a small interpretive dance as she models the Rosinetta set, which is a large, magnificent and perfectly fitting skirt, with a matching, slightly too small adorable top. Cora's "L Bust" just..barely..fits in there--a medium bust would be perfect, I think. . As for the lacing in the back, the fabric of the corset is a little stretchy and with some effort I can probably squeeze her into it, but I think instead I will donate the top to my slimmer Souldoll girl and make Cora a less tight top. Corsets will not change the shape of a doll, no matter how hard you pull, so there is no sense in having them be tight at all--they just need to fit and lace or button easily. The wig Cora has on is also from Iplehouse and I love it--it is made by an outside supplier but it is very soft and fits her perfectly--it feels a bit like a rougher mohair and looks very natural and flattering for her. I hope everyone had a very good Thanksgiving, by the ...

Iplehouse has been tinkering with their resin formula and has come up with "Glowskin", which looks a little bit like Dollshe's new Honey line--Iplehouse notes that it is more translucent than the current formula, is a bit more flexible, and while it will yellow in sunlight, it does it slowly and evenly and the color is still pleasing. It looks good in photos, and it's available now for a small extra charge. It makes a huge difference IMO in the attractiveness of the Peach Gold. The sample above is a blank version of Yui. To read more you need to be logged in and go to: the Notice board where there are a lot more photos.

This was sort of a 3 way split, but I took photos of it all in case someone wanted to see non-company photos. The two larger pieces are an NYID dress and a SID "Hippy" dress, the rest are JID sized. Everything was very well made as usual. I was particularily charmed by the hippy outfit--it's quite creative and artsy and I am going to have to look at the sales pages to see how it goes on. The rest are pretty normal: We did have our first snow: I admit to feeding the squirrel who lives in the hollow tree outside our bedroom window: But it's the time of year when it really is better to be a domestic animal:

A Romantic version of the Wolf from Red Riding Hood--he's only just gone up, so I know nothing else about him.

I still need to fix the beading on the photo heart box, but that is for tomorrow!

She is sort of msd sized, but more mature--I think you can really see the "Iplehouse Style" in this girl. I have been able to resist them so far by letting Vermont Chick buy them and admiring them from afar. They are very elegant dolls! Here is the website . Oo, "White Emma" looks like a tiny Iplehouse Grace!

This one took two days because of all the borders, and finding vintage kittens in the public domain to crib off of--though I ended up just painting one kitten out of my head; and George on the side of the box belongs to Andy and is basically a reworked photo. After I did this render, I went back and adjusted the bubble border on the lid so it fit better too. I have a heart-shaped box for today, and some makeup, but otherwise I am hoping for a domestic day as we have our first snow: (I do actually have a pumpkin on the table I want to carve). When I was looking for vintage kittens, I found a lot of silly stuff--here's two by Louis Wain: The second one is called "The bachelor party." Finally, here is the underside of my own cat box:

He's the Soom Monthly Doll for November, and he's a Mega-Gem, and he has a cool wig and outfit, and a lion head and paws. I will make you go look yourself at his story , but he is cute. At the moment I am still waiting (2 months) for 2 wigs, so I think I will give him a pass.

It does fit, but just barely..she can't move her head at all. If I was going to do this for myself I would first get the NP skin (This body is Realskin), and then sand the neck down a bit--I think it's really intended for Iplehouse heads ;) Also I would restring the body--Idols are strung super tight and I think that is hard on a valuable head, not to mention the joints of the body itself. Otherwise the proportions are quite good--Galena, Cuprit and Onyx and Dia are all larger heads of the old Super Gems and should look fine on this body. The female Idol isn't as good a poser as the Male Idol, but I like how tall it is. This particular body has homemade ankle balls, and so far no head. It's kind of handy, but I do keep her put away as I think J is not fond of having the headless bodies out. Headless Laurel has no opinion. :D

Iplehouse has popped out a new doll when I wasn't paying attention, and she is gorgeous--she looks like Asa's shyer, sweeter sister. She's beautifully presented, too--it sort of reminds me of the kind of promos that the old Harin and Freesia had when they were introduced. I think she is EID sized, judging from her price and the style of hands she is wearing. She is not for sale right now, but maybe later today they will change that. Here is her sales page.

Fits OK on the NYID girls, though you might want to take the hands off first.

Andy made a set of hatboxes for Poser, and they are fun--the lids actually open, for one thing! She offered to let me texture them, and since they were simple shapes I thought they would be easy--and mostly they are. The biggest technical challenge was doing the shiny stripes on the side, because on the texture map they vary from quite thin to fairly wide, maybe because the box was made by extruding a cylinder and then stretching it to make an oval, so the mesh is denser on the curved ends. I already had roses from Costco, so I just did an overpaint of a photo in Art Rage: And then did some color correcting in Photoshop.: I ended up adding a couple of ferns as well. The vignette around the side roses is based on this comb by Lucien Gaillard: though my version is a little spikier: (I have a whole folder of jewelry photos I paw over from time to time. You can never have too much jewelry in pixel form ;) )