New Photo: Amber Faerie Doll

"Amber Faerie Doll"
©2014 Debi Cady

The Amber Faerie lives deep in the gemstone forest, cultivating amber in the form of flowers and mushrooms, which she then distributes throughout the world. Amber is the stone of the zodiac signs Taurus and Leo, and is an alternate November birthstone. It represents eternal love, life and youth. It is also said to have many healing properties.

This image is now available on my stores at Cafe Press, Zazzle, Red Bubble, and my deviantArt Print Shop.

If anyone is interested, I wrote a post back in July about the making of this doll, with more photos. you can read that here. ^_^

New Doll: Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

I made this doll in the spring, but wasn’t sure how I wanted to dress her, and over the summer I had a lot of pain in my hands, so I had to set her aside for a while. 

She is made of organic color grown cotton, but her hair, face and nails are bamboo. Her dress is made of organic cotton fabric, and she is stuffed with organic cotton too. She has a steel wire armature, and is approximately 7.25 inches tall.

I decided to make her after reading a very interesting book about Saint Kateri Tekakwitha called "Saint Kateri: Lily of the Mohawks" by Matthew and Margaret Bunson. Her clothing is inspired by the way they said Kateri dressed in the book after she moved to the Sault Mission, in a simple long blue dress. I knitted a shawl, I wanted it to kind of look like deerskin or something like that. They said she usually wore a shawl, sometimes covered her hair with it, but they didn't say what it looked like, so I just made it up to match her boots :P

She is holding a “rosary”, made of a little ball chain and a sterling silver cross (yes, it’s actually an Orthodox cross, but it’s all I had on hand that could work for now!). Eventually I would like to make her a rosary out of glass beads, but I haven’t’ quite figured out how to do it yet…

Anyways, I think she turned out pretty cute, I am happy with my little Kateri ^_^ Here are some photos of her:

Kateri

Kateri arrived on January 25, and I have been so slow about posting her pictures! I apologize, I've had a lot of work and a lot of projects going lately. Like my other girls, she is a porcelain BJD made by JRDolls, and is 35cm tall. I named her after Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, who I admire very much. I think this doll is beautiful and sweet, very loving, just like the real Kateri :) Here is the first picture I took of her when she arrived:

Here are a couple of pics I just took of her today. She is holding pieces that I wove for her, I am still working on this project, but I want to make her a skirt out of them - they all have cute little llamas on them, and are made of 100% colorgrown cotton. I am pretending that she took a trip to Peru ^_^ The first photo shows her holding a piece with llamas at night under the stars. The second piece depicts llamas during the day, with a volcano in the background.

I will post more photos of this llama skirt as they are completed. Of course, Kateri will be modeling them all!

WIP: Snegurochka Costume, Part 2

I finished weaving the second trim for Elena's costume, both of the trims have been finished (i.e. washed), and are now drying. So I will start sewing the dress as soon as I get a chance!

This trim is made of the same yarn as the first, but it's a different snowflake pattern, and is a bit wider than the first. Here are a couple of pics:

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*)

New Illustration: The Wood Maiden

"The Wood Maiden"
Ink on Watercolor Paper
5x7"
©2011 Debi Cady

Betushka spins flax while her nanny goats graze, unaware that the Wood Maiden is approaching to dance with her. Scene from the Czechoslovakian fairy tale "The Wood Maiden".

I actually did this illustration last year, but never posted it because I was thinking of using it as part of a larger project. Since I have decided not to do that particular project, I can now share this illustration with you ^-^ As mentioned above, it is from a Czechoslovakian fairy tale. In this story, the Wood Maiden is a supernatural being. She likes to dance with children. She sometimes rewards little girls with riches and magical things (as happens in this story), but she will dance little boys to death (although in this story that does not happen, thankfully!). It's kind of strange, but still a cool story. Betushka's dress was inspired by a Valachian folk dance costume. I looked into many different Czechoslovakian costumes for her, and there were so many pretty ones! But in the end I felt this one suited her best. It looked like it could be worn by a younger girl, and it didn't look too rich, which was important to me since she was supposed to be a poor girl. 

As always, this illustration is now available at my stores on Cafe Press, Zazzle, Red Bubble, and my deviantArt Print Shop. My Cafe Press and Zazzle shops have added sooooooo many new products in the past couple of months, it's just crazy! But some of them are really cool, and I am still adding to it, so be sure to check them out ^-^

Also, in the next few days, I will be posting my newest illustration, of the Russian fairy tale "Morozko". It's been a long time coming, I actually started it a few months ago, and should've finished it quite some time ago! But I've had some stuff going on in my family that prevented me from working much on any of my projects. Now that things are settling down I should be able to do more again. I have another little knitted dolly almost finished, I just need to do the beadwork on her dress. So sometime in the next month I should have her ready too :)

New Illustration: Knitting Dachshund

Knitting Dachshund
Digital Paint - Mixed Media
©2011 Debi Cady

A mother dachshund knits happily while her puppies play with balls of yarn.

I love dachshunds, and I love knitting, so I thought it would be cute to combine the two! 

This illustration is now available in my stores at Cafe Press, Zazzle, Red Bubble, and my deviantArt Print Shop.