Artie's Reward

I promised Artie some proper clothes and some charming company as a reward for all his hard work in the castle trying things for size and modeling in photos (etc) and he's finally gotten his reward.

Artie seems quite taken with May (in the purple gown) but is less keen on Ana in the green.  I'm sure he'll feel differently once Ana grows some hair.  

It was another week of working on dolls.  I didn't make any new dolls this week, just dressed some pre-bought ones I had on hand.   Like Artie, Ana and May are Heidi Ott dolls and both wear gowns of silk dupion.  Artie has had his old toga/wrap shortened into a tunic and (finally) has some pants on underneath.  No more embarassing moments for him when the wind blows.  Over this Artie is wearing a burgundy velveteen robe fastened by a leather belt. 

None of these three are completely finished off yet and neither are the other dolls I'm about to show you.  Everybody still needs something, be it hair and headdress, shoes, make-up, jewellery or trimming, so if you see something that looks a bit rough, I am probably going to fix it.

 

This is the doll I made last week who through misadventure ended up without a nose or mouth.  By covering his disfigured face and dressing him in a brocade fabric he's ended up looking like a very well-to-do Arabian thief.  He does look a little out of place in the castle dressed this way so at some point in the future I may have to find him a more suitable home.

The kitchen is now fully staffed.  There is the cross-gender head cook who looks convincingly male with "his" padded belly and slightly shaggy beard.  He has a maid and a boy to help him out in the kitchen.  On top of the shelves on the right are some new additions to the kitchen, some hand painted platters from ebay.

Another Heidi Ott doll is Theron.  He is the castle's huntsman, hence his practical tunic and leggings.  His boots are made from real leather, as are his wrist guards and belt.

In the Library the snoozing wizardly type, Almos, from last week has now been sleeping so long his hair has grown long and has also managed to grow a pointy wizard hat.  He still needs his slippers painting and a few accessories though.

Chester the collapsing centaur from last week has covered up in a leather vest and a matching armband covers the crack in his arm.  He still needs some hair, his horse parts still need painting horse colour, but already he has found an admirer in the form of Garnett.  Garnett is a porcelain doll wearing a black under gown with a red silk surcoat trimmed with brown "fur".  Maybe it's just because she's still bald, but Garnett is not (in my opinion) the most sucessfully dressed doll ever.

Finally for the week, Katie is looking better now that she has some hair and has attracted a new friend, young Cailin.

To finish with some good news, the missing package of doll moulds I had been going to use for the women of the castle has finally arrived in Australia.  It's taken it three weeks to travel from Miami to  Australian customs (I presume in Sydney) when it took the other package just one week for the same trip, starting at the same time.  I guess the women just wanted to stop and do some shopping on the way.  They should be arriving here soon, too late for the castle, but I will need some more girls for the Witch Shop later on.