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