Astrid

Astrid is a wealthy, spoilt young woman from Nevermore. She's wearing a matching vest and french knicker combination with luxurious stockings and removable bustle cage. Her outfit is completely handsewn featuring intricate detail such as miniature bows, tassels and beautiful lace.

There are many more photos of Astrid on the Nevermore Facebook Page

Astrid is for sale Here

Day 20 - New Faces

So, I have been working incredibly hard behind scenes for Nevermore. As those close to me know I've had a very clear vision for the dolls since day one and have been working non-stop until the dolls I make resemble that which I see. Up until now I have never been happy with the faces, I always knew I could do better. I sculpted a new master head which I am finally delighted with. There will be variants, but until then, say hello to the new Nevermore face.

 These are some very very candid photos from the worktop, I just really wanted to show you the new faces. These dolls aren't finished, there will be lots more depth and tone on their bodies and faces and they will have eyebrows.

So yes, sorry for the quiet, but don't worry, I've a lot on the way :)

The Steampunk Fairy

Here are a few shots of the Sarah Trickler Photography fairy.

I also created this fairytale video of the life and death of a steampunk fairy. I made up the story as I built the doll, so once she was finished she really deserved her story to be told.

Here are a few stills from the video...

A lot of people have shown interest in having steampunk fairies of their own, so I will be revisiting the concept and improving the design at some point in the future.

Day 19 (eventually!!)

 My lord it's been a long break on the blog. To be honest I've been pretty busy and have just fallen behind with updating. I've been working on new heads, bodies and characters behind the scenes. I have made a steampunk fairy doll for Sarah Trickler Photography. She is an American photographer who creates wonderful stories and worlds with steampunk and apocalypse styles. I can't wait to see what she does with the fairy. 

Hopefully soon I will bring you more costumed dolls, it is not my intention to produce only elf dolls. However, I must admit I've got a particularly soft spot for this one, her delicate colours and moss remind me of Brian Froud's wonderful work.

I've added the tag "mori" on her etsy listing because she reminds me of that fashion/lifestyle movement, it means girl of the forest. Mori girls are often seen in layered lace clothing, drinking tea or reading and generally enjoying quiet time out in nature. I thought that suited this elf's personality.

She is avaliable to buy now here

I promise I will get back to updating more regularly!!!

Simple Brogue Shoe Makeover

I've had a pair of brogues for a while now but never really liked their pale tan colour so I decided to give them a little makeover. It was very simple to do:

Step 1. 

Take out the laces from the brogues. Mix up in a little pot water, brown paint and black paint. I used acryllic as I've found it a wonderful paint to work with and its effects to be permanent. I've stained a belt with it before and the results were lovely. I used some felt as a sponge to simply wipe the paint and water solution over the shoes. 

Step 2. 

The solution will be quite thin, the idea is to keep coating the shoes in the solution to build it up, the paint will gradually soak in and begin to darken the leather. These are fake leather shoes and it was working just as well. Let the paint soak into everything on the outside of the shoes, even the string. Don't forget the tongue of the shoes. 

There we go, much darker than when I began. The paint has soaked right into the fake leather and stained it.

Step 3.

I use clear lacquer to seal paintwork. So spray the shoes the shoes with a layer of lacquer.

I used tea dyed lace trim for the shoelaces.

And there we go!

The shoes will lighten a little once they've dried and fully soaked in the paint. So you may want to stain them a few shades darker than your intended results.

<3

Day 18 {and now for something completely different!}

Let me start at the start, my brain goes at a million miles an hour and is never satisfied, I like to master new things. 

A while ago a friend and I got chatting about projects we wanted to do but never had time for. I mentioned felt teddies. You see for a while there's been a little seed growing in the back of my brain that wanted to give teddy making a go. There we are, and my first character I was interested in making was a fox in a tweed suit.

Tonight, while my boyfriend was playing computer games I got pretty bored and fidgety. I sat down with some printer paper, scissors, a pen and some pins and started something I'd had in mind for a while. 

I've never ever done any pattern making before, and I've got a pretty rubbish track record with dressmaking so I was worried I would really struggle. But surprisingly it came together really quickly!

And look! A fox! He's quite big, but I wanted it that way. So yes, Nevermore will be conducting business as usual but in the evenings I might be dabbling with making foxes in suits and see where it goes.

<3

Day 17.

I've ordered 2kg of resin and these new hair colours so a lot of new dolls are on their way.

<3

Maud and Luscius

Maud was never good with people, she was always quietly disinterested in everyone around her. One day, however, in her garden she found someone who seemed to truly understand her. She named him Luscius and they have been firm, yet quiet, friends ever since.

Wild Meadow Elf

A new elf doll. A delicate, shy, meadow elf.

<3

Day 16.

I trialled a new hair method today and am really pleased with the results! 

Onward!!

<3

Day 15.

A new hair colour arrived in the post today, I'm really excited to make dolls with more varied hair colours.

So far I've used larrycraft for all my doll's hair and I'm incredibly happy with this shop. The wool is wonderful quality, the postage is very fast and there's always a hand written note with the product. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/larrycrafts/m.html?_nkw&_armrs=1&_from&_ipg=25&_trksid=p3686

It's another busy weekend this weekend so there probably won't be anymore doll updates until the middle of next week. But shortly I will be bringing you two custom creations, a bride and a steampunk fairy.

The Albino Elf

I will be making many elf races based on various seasons, flora and fauna. But the first one is an albino :)

Day 14.

New race for Nevermore Dolls, elves. I will soon be sculpting new lower legs to create faun dolls as well.

Day 13.

I've now listed Cora in the Nevermore shop:

Cora Mellingdew - OOAK resin jointed art doll wearing tea dyed night dress from Nevermore Dolls

I'm visiting family over the weekend so there won't be any Nevermore updates until the middle of next week. Have a lovely weekend.

<3

Day 12.

I've had a lovely day photoing Cora, the first Nevermore doll. I'm really pleased with the finalized style, character and dimensions of the Nevermore dolls and am really excited about creating more characters.

The First Nevermore Doll : Cora

The first Nevermore Doll is here!! She is called Cora, she's wearing a night dress and she is a very delicate soul. More photos and information soon.

<3

The Final Hurdle : Hair

Well now, perfecting the doll making method has been a pretty long journey so far (8 months). With many different trial and errors to find the best method and style for me. And the final and most bitter battle has been hair.

I have researched and tried a LOT of different hair techniques, each time returning to the same method - gluing hair on strand by strand. While this creates a sturdy head of hair it always results in visible glue. I'm a perfectionist, I want hair that can be brushed and played with, and if the customer looks underneath the hair they won't find ugly glue patches. For this reason I've found many hair making methods not to my liking. 

I've come to the conclusion there's only one solution, which is this:

http://www.antiquelilac.com/tibetan-lambskin-wigs---tutorial.html

Now that my dolls are uniform in size I could make numerous wig caps safe in the knowledge they will be suitable for all my dolls. I'm a little concerned the dolls are a tad too small for this method but it feels like it's the only way I'll be safisfied quality wise. With these wig caps the hair will be able to be brushed and styled and played with. Also for me as a maker it'll make doll construction a lot less stressful.


Phew.

Day 11.

I am just about to start painting and wigging and clothing these two, however the sun's going down so I had to take a photo at this stage. As you can see there are two faces so far. I will be sculpting many different interchangable faces for a vast array of characters.

The World Of Nevermore

Despite having created the Nevermore facebook page, shop and this blog some time ago and showing doll development I never felt that I was ready to launch my shop. I have been on an incredibly steep and fast learning curve since christmas - learning new techniques and discovering the best doll making method for me through trial and error. 

I now feel that I have reached the point where I can open the doors to my secret garden, to my world. You see I don't want to just make dolls, I want to create a world for you to explore and play in and discover. A world full of people, towns, forests, creatures and culture.

The World Of Nevermore. 

<3

Day 10.

Very busy day yesterday, I had a big sculpting session, I've got thighs and lower arms with hands done as well. I'm working as fast as I can to have complete dolls and more exciting things to show very soon!

<3

Day 9.

The first Nevermore doll body in the finalized style. 

<3

Day 8.

Gooooood morning! Today I am having a huge sculpt and mould fest, soon I'll be uploading much more interesting pictures than just blank doll parts.

Day 7.

After having my realisation about the doll's designs I brought all my sculpting tools to the livingroom and sat up base camp on the sofa. I've been happily sculpting all day and here is the bulk of my work. This is the first female torso in the new style. Yes it is very slender and very exaggerated, if you look back at the previous post you will see the relation to my doll concept drawings. I will very soon be making a more veluptuous and curvey torso.

It's not quite there yet, there still needs to be collar bone definition and she has no navel yet but we're very nearly there. I am certain this will give the dolls the fluidity and animation I've been craving. I will get on to sculpting new faces as soon as I'm finished and mould straight away as I am very keen to sprint towards the launch of a new shop full of dolls very very soon. 

<3

Continued Doll Development...

It really is coming to be now in waves how much development doll style takes. To put it quite simply my dolls have always had a rather slender, spindly quality to them. For the swap to ball jointed dolls this needed to be padded out to house the joints. 

Yesterday was a very frustrated and very unproductive day for me, consisting of sanding doll necks, painting and re-painting the same set of eyes and a lot of work avoidance tactics and it put me in one hell of a mood. I knew that something was wrong, that dolls are my passion, it should be easy and fun, so why did it feel like a brick wall.

Today the realisation has come, now I am returning to passive jointed dolls I can return to my old doll style, more slender, more exaggerated. 

Also my faces need to hold a hell of a lot more personality. 

This shouldn't be too hard as I've had a huge delivery of fast cure rubber which means I can get these new designs done surprisingly fast. 

It all makes sense when you look at my doll idea sketches....

I understand that this must be pretty annoying for anyone watching my doll making with the intent to buy, I have been developing them for far too long now, and at times I have given the impression I am all but ready to launch. And I myself have felt the same peaks of excitement, only for the bubble to burst with a realisation something is wrong. 

I have had in my mind, for a very long time, a world, hazy in paces and crystaline in others. I can see thousands of characters, again some in vivid detail and others only a feeling in the corner of my mind. I only want to fully open those doors and invite people in when I feel my dolls are actually a representation of this world, only when I feel these characters are laying in resin on my work top will I feel happy. 

Believe me, I can do a lot in a day.

Waiting at the door.

......

Day 5 & 6.

Day 5 was pretty quiet, lots of pouring and sanding doll parts. I got too tired and fell asleep before I uploaded this photo, hence today's double post :)

Aaaaaand day 6! I made the decision recently to return to passive posable wire link joints as opposed to ball joints. There are many personal reasons behind this decision, in short form it means I can ensure better quality dolls, cheaper dolls and a less stressful doll making process for me. Also I've always loved how a wire loop jointed doll conforms to your hand when you hold it, they will actually lay on you, curl into the crook of your palm, etc, which I feel is interaction you can't get with a ball jointed doll. 

I plan on having a weekend completely devoted to the wigging and dressing of the first few dolls. Hopefully early next week I will be updating the shop to get the vision of Nevermore that I've been holding in my chest for years into reality.

Day 4.

There's been a slight gap between day 3 and day 4 because there's been a heat wave in England! It's been 30 degrees since last Saturday, the hottest its been in roughly ten years. As much as I've tried I just couldn't get any doll work done, it was far too hot for me. 

But today's been a little cooler and I've been assembling dolls. It's my aim to have the first three dolls for the shop assembled and wigged by the end of tomorrow. So apologies for the boring picture today, hopefully tomorrow I'll have all sorts of lovely doll protraits to show. 

<3