"Danielle"

Hello everyone!  We are in the middle of another "project" in our antebellum home, but that doesn't stop me from making dolls!  Just when I think all work is done and we can just relax and enjoy the house, we think of something else.  This WILL be it. We decided to enclose a big porch off our kitchen and make a larger family room. Doug is painting the woodwork now and we should be able to move the furniture in within a couple of weeks. Of course this means I have to now make drapes for the room.  I love sewing and picking out the fabrics, but it will have to wait until after July when I am home from the New Orleans National Doll Festival.   Here are some pics of my latest French Jumeau reproduction, "Danielle" .  She is 24" tall and dressed in icy mauve dupionni silk,  plum velvet and vintage lace.  It's been a while since I did the French dolls, but researching those delicious costumes and then making them is a real pleasure.  I have a "stash" of antique laces that I love going through, and finding just the perfect piece for each costume!

                      I have gone to a new home!!

Mademoiselle Lilliane

Another glorious spring day, although here it seem more like summer already!  I am scurrying around putting the finishing touches on the dolls I will be selling at the Bagwell Antiques Show in Jackson, Mississippi this weekend.  We had a small catastrophe yesterday; my cat Bella jumped up on the counter and knocked our digital camera to the floor.  It bent the case, and now we can't turn it on.  Doug was totally upset until I told him he needed a new one anyhow, right?  So today he is happily off to check out a replacement!  I need one by Friday to take pictures of my booth at the show.  I also take pics of all my dolls for sale.  Since this is an antique show, I have chosen to showcase my porcelain antique repro dolls and some of my sculpted dolls that look like the antique cloth dolls.  I had to dust off my porcelain doll making skills!!  It's been a while since I poured greenware, fired and painted from scratch, but it's like riding a bike; it all comes back to you.  The French repros are the most difficult to paint, but I LOVE making the elaborate costumes.  Mademoiselle Lilliane is 24" tall, and is dressed in the height of fashion for her time, in the 1890's.  She is dressed in a yummy celery green dupionni silk Victorian garden party dress with hand sewn appliques of re-embroidered lace, and a fabulous big picture hat trimmed in silk florals, ribbons and even a tiny bird!  Her underwear is blush colored pure fine silk trimmed in vintage laces, and her shoes are handmade as well.  Sorry, I didn't get pics of the shoes and underwear before the camera catastrophe!

Her hair is in the typical "Gibson Girl" style, and she carries a lace parasol.  Don't you wish we could still dress like this????  Although it today's world it surely would be impractical!  So, I can do the next best thing and create the outfits for my dolls.  More pics later of the show; wish me luck!!
                                                     
                            Gone to a new home!!!