You are currently browsing the archives for May 2011.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 entries.

banff/lake louise trip day 5 afternoon

  • Posted on May 31, 2011 at 9:32 am

we left lake louise and went to johnson’s canyon for a great winter hike.  the lower falls were frozen over and all we could see was the water flowing out beneath the ice.

frozen waterfall

hiking up to the upper falls we found a bench buried so deeply in the snow that it was the perfect size for me.

buried bench

because it was cooler hiking through the trees i wore my new owl hat to keep my ears from freezing

owl hat

i thought you might like to see a closeup of the lace edging and crocheted features.

on the cliff wall

across the canyon was a brave tree clinging to a tiny ledge and reaching for the sky.  of course i had to take a picture!

banff/lake louise trip day 5 morning

  • Posted on May 27, 2011 at 6:52 am

this was our last day at lake louise so we decided to take advantage of the hotel for some atmosphere shots.

gazing out the window
i love the light in this one

loved these stained glass windows
there were some great stained glass windows.  unfortunately my photography skills weren’t good enough to capture most of them.

elegant stairs
the stairs were covered with luxurious carpet

my first (and second) faceup part 5

  • Posted on May 26, 2011 at 7:43 am

here are the sister’s together, all done and ready to try on new clothes,  so that’s my next project.  🙂
ananda and ellyce

and just because i think the girls are truly adorable here are pictures of them separately:

ellyce
ellyce

and ananda
ananda
her new hair color is reddish blonde. it was supposed to be carrot colored, but has just a hint of red.   it looks both redder and darker in the picture than it really is.

banff/lake louise trip day 4 evening

  • Posted on May 25, 2011 at 8:06 am

after dinner we went up to the lounge to relax

relaxing in the lounge

the chairs were really comfortable and had a kind of old world feel to them.

chair in the foyer

black and white seemed to somehow fit the age of the hotel

by the fire

there was a cozy fire burning,  so i sat on the hearth  for a while to luxuriate in the warmth

my first (and second) faceup part 4

  • Posted on May 23, 2011 at 12:07 pm

now they have lashes and eyes.

ananda wigless
ananda has lovely new glass eyes.

ellyce wigless
ellyce has to wait for her new eyecolor. she was supposed to fit either 12mm or 14mm but the 14’s were much to big for the socket and i didn’t have another pair of 12’s, so they are now on order.

banff/lake louise trip day 4

  • Posted on May 22, 2011 at 6:16 pm

today our luck with the weather was still holding. it continues to be clear and just around 0 centigrade. another great day for exploring.
the fence makes a great seat
we crossed a creek on a rustic wood bridge and couldn’t miss the opportunity for a good photo op.
admiring the lake view
today i’m wearing a slim fitting, textured wool jacket in madelinetosh lace mourning dove, a blue gray variegated yarn. the front edge is trimmed in cream lace to add to  its feminine appeal.  i gave up my lace skirts in favor of a light blue tunic-dress over my leggings.  you’ll see more of that later.

bridge across the creek

behind me you can see a bit of the creek that still flows unfrozen and undaunted

a cool stone wall

farther on we found a great stone wall that makes a perfect backdrop for more pictures.  i love the rustic look.  can i take it home, please?

lanterns in perspective

higher up were cool lanterns glowing even though it was still only mid- afternoon.

i love this background

it was warm enough to take my jacket off and give you a glimpse of my tunic-dress. it is knit in madelinetosh lace denim color,  a very subtle blend of light blues. i love how the variegated yarn softens the texture slightly, almost like a soft focus photo.

my first (and second) faceup part 3

  • Posted on May 22, 2011 at 3:29 pm

the faceups continue, many layers of paint later the girls are done and waiting for the varnish to dry around the eyes so that they can get lashes, eyes and wigs.
i used mostly pastels to color them, rubbing the pastels on sandpaper to get my pallet then applying it with a variety of brushes and q-tips. the eyebrows were done with pastels and watercolor pencils and the lashes with thinned down acrylic paint.

here is ananda
ananda eyeless

and ellyce
ellyce eyeless 2

ellyce eyeless

i’m surprised at how different they look even though i used similar painting schemes and the sculpt is identical for both. ellyce’s shorter neck makes her face look chubbier.

my first (and second) faceup part 2: mr super clear and the paint hood

  • Posted on May 22, 2011 at 12:07 am

i decided to do ananda’s little sister ellyce at the same time as ananada.  it allows me to work on one while the paint/sealant dries on the other.

so to give ellyce equal time, here she is as she first arrived with default eyes and wig,

deardoll shabee panda suit

here she is ready for her first coat of mr super clear. her body is adorable and very posable but desperately needs heavier string!

deardoll in paintbox

and here is the fume hood she is sitting in.

the paint hood
the hood was built for michael by his dad, for painting his guitars. the white rectangle in the back is a filter/fan which leads to a long vent hose that we put up in the window when the hood is on. the vent is attached to a piece of wood that blocks the rest of the window opening so the fumes don’t blow back in. the box is just that, a box. the front flap folds up to close after painting to “seal” it. and is held closed by moving the tool box (seen on the left) in front. simple, but effective. it doesn’t block 100% of the fumes. we still paint with a respirator on, but it keeps most of them out of the basement where michael lives. there is also a light inside at the top, so you can see what you are painting.

my first faceup: part1

  • Posted on May 11, 2011 at 4:16 pm

my cans of mr superclear finally arrived – by sea all the way from  hong kong, no less –  so i’m ready to try my first face-up ever.  my first victim – er i mean subject – is my cousin ananda, a dollmore, narsha friend shabee. she’s been looking very pale and ghostlike ever since she came to live with us, and begged to be the first to get a facial.

in the spirit of true makeover articles, i will start with the before shots.   this will show what she looked for to start with.  i apologize in advance for the crummy lighting.  they were taken in the bedroom and the light through the curtains makes her look very greenish.  i assure you she is not normally green!

ananda pre-faceup here she is looking as she did when she first arrived.

ananda pre-faceup this is a closer look at her face.

even without makeup she is very cute!

ananda pre-faceup with her wig and eyes removed for protection from the first spray coat.  she will be getting a new hair color and changing her eye color as well, but that’s no reason to muck them up with spray 🙂

ananda pre-faceup another angle.

she is trying to be patient with all these photos but is really ready to start!

thread crocheted owls

  • Posted on May 3, 2011 at 10:14 pm

crochet owls

i’ve been having fun lately making little crocheted owls for my small cousins.  this is a rather odd line up of them, ’cause i used them in an assignment for my photography course.  we were learning how angles and aperture size affects depth of field. i love how the reflections showed up so clearly on the table in this photo.

crochet owls with books

here’s another shot against some textbooks, also part of the assignment, but it gives a better idea of the size.  we had to line the objects up against a flat background for the second part of the assignment, and i couldn’t resist the juxtaposition of cute little crocheted things against serious math texts.

on top is another of my all time favorite books ” a wrinkle in time” by madeleine l’engle.  i’m re-reading the series for the umpteenth time.