"Crystal Snow" on Fire Mountain Gems

My "Crystal Snow" outfit for Elena has been featured on Fire Mountain Gems Gallery of Designs ^-^ You can see it here.

Crystal Snow

I finally finished the outfit that goes with Elena's icicle wig! It was inspired by the Russian fairy tale "Snegurochka" (aka The Snow Maiden). But this is kind of a fantasy version. In my imagination, she is actually made of snow and ice. So her "clothes" are just like a part of her skin. 

The outfit consists of a dress, panties, gloves, boots, and wig. Everything is made from glass beads, and is my own design. This was my first beading project (aside from bead embroidery, which I have been doing for several years), and it was really fun! I will definitely be doing more of it ^_^

Elena's Icicle Wig

I made Elena a new wig - the "hair" and wig cap are made entirely of glass beads. This is sort of related to my "Snegurochka WIP" posts, since I originally bought the beads to do embroidery on the coat for that outfit. But, I have been having some problems breathing when I sew or work with fibers, so I am taking a break on it (might be permanent, might not, I don't know at this point). Anyways, I have all these beads, so I decided to try something new - I've always loved the looks of beaded things! So I am making Elena a beaded dress, and hopefully shoes, to go with this wig. It will be like a fantasy Snow Maiden thing when it's done. Of course, I will post more pictures when it is, but I just finished the wig a few minutes ago, so I wanted to share it with you! ^-^ Be warned, these photos are kind of too bright. I wanted to show how shiny and sparkly the beads are, so I took them in the sunlight…

This wig was really an experiment, to see if I could even make an all-beaded wig for a porcelain BJD. I tried looking up tutorials first, but I could only find beaded wigs for Barbies. I liked the looks of them, but the execution is totally different since Barbie doesn't need a wig cap! So I had to make it up as I went along. I'm pretty happy with the results, and will definitely make more for my other girls! I might tweak things a bit here and there, but basically, I am happy with things as they are, and it wasn't nearly so hard to do as I thought.

Romance

I made Elena a new dress, wig and shoes. They are all made of organic cotton ^-^

WIP: Snegurochka Costume, Part 3

I finished the dress for Elena's Snegurochka costume the other day. It's made of organic cotton, with the two trims that I wove sewn onto it. If I have enough beads left after making the rest of the costume, I may come back and do some light beadwork on this dress, we'll see. Most of it will be covered by the coat. Anyways, here are some pics ^-^

Next up I will be making the coat. Which will probably take a long time, as it is going to have a lot of beadwork....

WIP: Snegurochka Costume, Part 1

As promised, here is Part 1 in my series of posts about Elena's Snegurochka costume. ^-^

This costume is going to consist of a satin dress, a velvet coat, and some accessories. I am weaving two different types of trim for the dress, and I am almost done with the first one. So today I took a few pictures of Elena posing with it while it is still on the loom.

The trim is white with a silver snowflake design. I used Xie yarn, which is 100% bamboo. My loom is the Mirrix Little Guy (12-inch) loom.

I should be done weaving this piece tomorrow, and then I will start on the second style of trim that I need - I can't really start making the costume until the trim is all done.

So, that is all for now. I will post again when I have more done :D

I hope everyone is well, and had a nice Christmas, and I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

~Debi (and Ringo too *woof*)

Elena

It occurred to me that I never posted any pics of my new doll! So I will do it now. She arrived on November 21, and I have named her Elena. She is a 35cm porcelain ball-jointed doll made by JRDolls in Russia. She is different from my other dolls, of course, but the main difference is that she has white skin. Because of her pale coloring and sweet expression, I think of her as Snegurochka (the Snow Maiden, from Russian folklore). I found out that the artist was calling her that too! So, I am making her a special Snegurochka costume. ^_^ It will be a while before it's finished, but I plan on posting pictures of it as a work in progress, so keep an eye out for them - they will be titled something like "WIP: Snegurochka Costume", and of course, will include pics of Elena too. I will be writing the first post very soon. But now, I will just show you some pics of Elena, taken when she first arrived home:

Elena's Homecoming: Top Row: Ishtar, Kisa
Bottom Row: Bu Yong, Elena, Ciara Angelique

Christmas Party: Back Row: Ishtar, Elena, Kisa holding Maria
Bottom Row: Bu Yong, Ciara Angelique