My 2014 "Must Have" Calendars!

If you are not already following The Art Of The Doll - Photography By Sharon Wright on Facebook, it is totally worth the occasional headaches of being Facebook's advertising audience and marketing reaseach pool to do so.  :D  She creates magic with her photos, bringing dolls to life in a way other photographers don't match.   She has a unique eye, and you will swear the dolls in her photos are strolling down the street shopping, skipping rope, or performing ballet.

And this year she is making some of her fantastic prints available in a calender for 2014.  One she is devoting entirely to the Integrity doll line, including photos of one of my favorites, Poppy Parker.

Preview image of back cover for Integrity doll-devoted 2014 calendar.

However, the one I must have is her "Toys" version.  It features the first picture of hers I saw, showing Monster High dolls playing "keep away" with one of their heads.  That photo started me following her, and is still one of my favorites.

But you need to check out January and November.  A little blue fox Binky Boo she purchased from me a few months ago is featured on those months.  I still find myself grinning when I see the little guy "in action"!

 Preview image of back cover for Toys 2014 Calendar.

For $17.00 plus shipping ($6-$17 depending on the method you choose), I think either of these calendars (or both!) would be the perfect gift for the doll and toy lover in your life.  I already shamelessly pleaded for the Toys version for Xmas.  If you order today (Dec 11, 2013), you could still use the least expensive shipping and get it in time for Xmas.  *hint! hint!* :D

I'll admit I did a lot of jumping up and down in excitement when I got the message from the artist herself about the Toys calendar yesterday evening!  (Fortunately the curtains were drawn, so only my cats had to bear witness.  :D )

Thank you so much to Sharon Marie Wright for featuring my work in your Toys calendar!  I'm thrilled beyond words, honored, and very grateful for all your support.  I can't wait to see what you come up with in 2014 and beyond!

New Dress For Victoire Roux

Doll Photography By Sharon Wright gave me some motivation to finally make my Fashion Royalty Victoire Roux doll a new dress.  She put out an "all call" for designers to send her a dress that she may be able to use in an upcoming photo shoot she landed for a fashion magazine.

Now, there's definitely no guarantee this will be used by her for that photo shoot, or any she has in mind.  But the possibility, and the theme she suggested of "Fantasy Princess" (on the dark side of things!) got the creative juices going.

I have a ton of doll clothes patterns, but typically I purchase them for inspiration and instruction more than actually planning to make those specific clothes.  The few fashion doll outfits I've made over the last year or two have been done on a whim.  I've had a piece of fabric I liked, started draping it on a doll, and then started hand sewing.

That's definitely the case with this one.  I had a red fabric that feels like upholstery weight, with a light pattern.  In general I knew I wanted a big, voluminous skirt and a corset style bodice, so I started folding and stitching.  It took me roughly four hours by my estimation, over two days.  I finished up hand sewing the skirt into shape/place this afternoon.

I had a few props I added for interest, including the sword, funky "belt", and a necklace intended for an American Model or Super Dollfie sized doll.  The boots I've had for years.

Sharon Wright is a busy lady, but extremely nice, too.  She sounded excited to see the dress and props, and even if she can't use them in her upcoming shoot, she offered to still take a picture of the dress for me to use.  Definitely a class act!

I'm excited to see how she photographs the dress, no matter the use.  If you're not already following her page on Facebook, if you're a fan of dolls, or photography, you really need to!

So here are my pics, including one using Sharon Wright's nifty doll suspension stand.  It was nice to not have to have my doll constantly leaning against the wall for a photo.  :D

And now my favorite one of the set I took-where I added some lighting effects in Photoshop: