Christmas in the China Cabinet

I was not going to do it...I was going to do no more to the China Cabinet than add Granny's vintage glass ball and the ceramic pieces from my childhood...

But then today I was in the storage closet in my studio getting out something else, before I knew it 5 dolls had escaped and invaded the china cabinet for Christmas.

Actually it all started with these 3 trouble makers from the Barbie and the Nutcracker Collectors Editions.

Left to Right.
Barbie as The Sugar Plum Fairy
Barbie as Flower Ballerina (my favorite)
Barbie as Marzipan

Middle shelf was left Barbie free, but has Family Treasures such as my Grandmothers Cats, More of Granny's antique glass balls, a ceramic train my mother made me when I was a child.

and an English/Dutch copy of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens printed in 1931 that belonged to my father when he was a wee little lad at school.

And lastly we have the only 2 Holiday Barbies I own...Why?...Because I am a design snob and hate most of the Holiday Barbies gowns...But these 2 I love and were both gifts from Farmer Brown...Hope I get this yrs doll also since it is stunning and Designed by none other than the Fabulous Robert Best (Subtle Hint or what)

Good thing I can close the door on these treasures because I an not sure Lil Sara could be trusted around mummy's Barbies.

Blessings Kelsie

Sharing For

WOW Us Wednesday @ http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com

Buckle Up...More doll art...

This weekend got a little crazy around here...On top of my tooth being pulled Wednesday afternoon, hubby got sick Thursday, then lil Sara got sick too...Sick enough for us to cancel her birthday party and spend 5hrs in the ER Saturday night trying to get her fever down...it has been a challenge all day to keep it somewhat under control still...

So needless to say nothing to very little has happened around the house...So instead I am sharing with you the doll fashion I completed at the beginning of the week...It is called

Buckle-up

If you enjoyed seeing this creation, you can view more of my doll fashions at www.mutantgoldfishdesigns.com

Blessings Kelsie

Sharing for Mosaic Monday @ http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com

New look for my doll website

Because I don't have enough to keep me busy I decided to completely change the format of my doll website into a blog...Actually that statement is only a little bit sarcastic...By switching to a blog it will be much quicker and easier to edit and keep updated...Anyway if you would like to take a peek the link is http://www.mutantgoldfishdesigns.com/

Blessings Kelsie

Antique German Doll Redressed

On the weekend I shared a before photo with yall of an antique German doll that I had been asked to re-dress for a dear sweet neighbor...Today I am sharing the end result...

On the back of her head I found the stamp "Germany - 136 5"
This would indicate she was made in Germany, using head model number 136 and is a mold size 5...My research tells me that this doll head was in production during the 1890's and early 1900's...making her close to 120yrs old...This doll has had 3 companions over the years and is been well loved for many decades by her current companion who named her Suzy.

Aunt Audry and her beloved Suzy...Suzy is now wearing a dress resembling one that would have been typical of this kind of doll originally..

This is how she arrived at my studio...Somewhere along the line someone had added a "poof" to her and made her a bed doll...

I carefully removed the poof to discover that Suzy still has the cloth part of her legs...But we are still not seeing the original dolls body...The lace top and satin pants are most definitely machine stitched and my guess was done in the 80's from what I was told of her history.

I removed that layer to find the original suede body...I did not remove the satin on the arms and legs as the integrity of the suede under them did not feel like it was still fully intact...
Which brings up the point...why are her arms and legs so stumpy?...She would have originally had porcelain hands and feet but over the last 100+ yrs are no longer with her...

Here she is today...

Click Image to enlarge to view the details of the garment...

We chose a lovely soft antique inspired patterned cotton that brings out the blue of her eyes...I accented it with white lace and a small amount of blue ribbon...The style as I mentioned is in keeping with the time period of the dolls production...I also made Suzy a set of fabric hands, which I did attach to the doll...The dress and petticoats however are fully removable.

It was such a delight and honor to work on such a loved antique doll...

Blessings Kelsie

Joining the following parties this week:
Wow us Wednesday @ http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/
Show and Tell Friday @ http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

Antique German Doll

Meet Suzy - She is from Germany and was born in somewhere between 1890 to the 1900's...She has spent most of her life living within about a 3 mile radius of here and has been a companion to 3 little girls, who grew up and passed her along to the next one...

This is how she arrived at my studio earlier this week
Markings at the back of her head - Germany 136 5

I have been given the honor of redressing her for her current companion, my 85+yr old neighbor who is the "3rd little girl" to have her...

Yesterday I finished the foundation of her new dress, now just have to add the hand detailing and make her under skirts...If I am lucky I will get a little time this weekend, if not, Monday for sure...Then I will be back to share photos of the end result, as well as those I have taken along the way...My goal..To make an old lady cry *grin*

Blessings Kelsie

Spent today at the sewing machine....

With lil Sara at Day Care and the Musical over, I finally had a day to get back into the studio to get some work done...

Was so happy inspiration finally hit for a new fashion for the 16inch Fashion Dolls...70's Icon now on eBay in the next 5 days...Hope it sells well...
Auction Link Here

Then a little something for Alex, lil Sara's 18inch girl doll...I still need to make a T-shirt to go under the dress but I only promised "a new dress for Alex" when you get home from Day Care...Plus I ran out of time for the T-shirt today...Maybe Wednesday I can squeeze it in...

Talking of Wednesday, I am so excited, I will be working on a new gown for an antique doll that belongs to my 80+ yr old neighbor, it had belonged to her mother before her...I feel very flattered she would trust me with her...Promise to share photos along the way...

Blessings Kelsie

Sharing today for:

Wow Us Wednesday @ http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

Grabbing a little time at the sewing machine...

What do you get when you combine Gray Pin Strips, Tulle and Faux Snake Skin?

My gorgeous 16inch Sybarite Doll Trapeze models my newest creation "Maria"

A Haute Couture Fashion by Mutant Goldfish Designs.

I still have to do the full photoshoot so I can put it on ebay...But I wanted to share with yall what I have been up to this week while I was so quiet on the blog...We have had day after day of yucky stormy weather to contend with but today the sunshine is back, so I promise more garden and farmish time photos again soon.

Have a wonderful weekend
Kelsie

All about me and my dollwork....

I know a couple of ppl have commented on my work with doll fashions...If you would like to know just a little more about it, I was featured as a guest poster on the
Liquid Sunshine Online Blog today.

A Special thank you to Kari for making me feel so special and welcomed back to work.

Blessings Kelsie

Vintage Romance

Yet another blogging inspired fashion has escaped from my doll studio...
This one is called Vintage Romance and is the first of my 2011 Spring line which as you can see is a lovely soft smokey pink and vintage whites and tans...But in true Mutant Goldfish Style it features scrap quilted embellishment, along with deconstructed seams and hems...and of course a gals best friend TULLE...I *heart* Tulle.

The stunning model is the lovely 16inch Sybarite Doll Trapeze from English company Super Frock

If you would like to see more photos you can visit the auction on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=22075565788

And don't forget to check out my Mutant Goldfish Designs Face Book Fan Page

Blessings Kelsie

PS: I could not wait so am sharing today but will also be linking up come Pink Saturday to Beverly's Party @ http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com

Black & White Photo Party

Tracy @ Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures is hosting another fun photography party...This week Black and White photos....I had hoped to have a few photos to share but once again time seems to have gotten away from me...I need to get it a leash and collar or something.

I did manage to snap a couple of photos of one of my favorite 16 inch dolls Soto, she is wearing one of my prototype fashions from the 2009 "Edge of Blue" collection.

I took the photo in color with my Nikon 990, I used my light box and a plan white background. After editing was done using Fireworks MX by Macromedia (my preferred software) I used the default "Creative - Black and White" setting, then tweaked the Brightness and Contrast settings to get it where I wanted it...An edge effect was added and my watermark since I was also using this photo on my Mutant Goldfish Designs Facebook account.

This one I obviously pulled from the archives since it is a Christmas photo...But it is one of my favorites so I just had to share...I am pretty sure I took the original photo using my Nikon 990 but it could also have been my Kodak C813 (a cheap point and shoot, fits in my pocket and is PINK camera)...But either way the after editing was done with Fireworks MX by Macromedia...

I have always loved seeing advertising images that are mainly B&W and then a single pop of color and what better color than red..right?...To create this effect, I made two layers of the image, made the top layer B&W with the default "Creative - Black and White" setting...I then took my eraser tool and very carefully erased the parts of the B&W layer to expose the color red in the layer underneath....Now I do not know how the "professionals" achieve this result but that is how I do it.

Hope you are having a wonderful week so far.
Blessings Kelsie

Macro Linky Party

I am so excited to see Tracy is hosting a Macro Linky Party this week...As a doll artist and designer, my journey into photography started with the Macro lens...

Here is one of my favorite photos of a 16inch Ball Jointed Resin Sybarite doll from England, she is wearing a one of a kind fashion from my 2009 fashion collection.
(fashion has been sold and is now part of a private collection.)

Check out the other macro photography posts at Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures...

Blessings Kelsie

A Royal Tea Party....

Today we are watching a young Princess in her natural habitat as she prepare to engage in ritual older than the Queen Mother herself....

Peeking thru the window, we can see the final preparations are being made....

Let's get a closer look inside shall we...

Seems Snow White is using the good china from the tea chest for this gathering...

The guests are beginning to arrive...

Belle is already here and look Cinderella is just now coming thru the front door...

Last cup is put in place for this royal occasion

Snow White finally notices she is being watched and politely asks us to leave so the her guests, the Princesses from the Disney Kingdom can have a little privacy...

One last glance thru the window as the Royal Tea Party gets underway....


Sharing this rarely seen event at the following tea parties.

Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations - Tea Time Tuesday

Lady Katherine Tea Parlor - Tea Time Tuesday

Wander Lee and Pam's - Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday

and party Co-hosts:

Martha's Favorites - Tea Cup Tuesday
&
Terri, Artful Afirmations - Tea Cup Tuesday

Tea in the Parlor

I wanted to share a wonderful verse that jumped out at me last night...

It seems a perfect prayer to start a new year.

Psalms 51 v:10 -12
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

I did not get time for tea again this week, just quick cups of instant coffee between Dr's visits for lil Sara...So instead I am sharing a doll diorama photo from my archives...This photo contains 3 Silkstone Barbie dolls enjoying a lovely afternoon tea in the parlor...

I hope to stop in and enjoy some of the lovely tea post out there in blog land this week, I hope you will visit some of our lovely hostess' below also.

Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations - Tea Time Tuesday

Lady Katherine Tea Parlor - Tea Time Tuesday

Wander Lee and Pam's - Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday

and party Co-hosts:

Martha's Favorites - Tea Cup Tuesday
&
Terri, Artful Afirmations - Tea Cup Tuesday

And lastly

Marty, A Stroll Thru Life - Table Top Tuesday

Pink Fashions for Saturday

Now and again I manage to work a little pink into my doll fashion creations...Something you have to be very careful about because you do not want high end collectible fashion dolls coming out looking like a 80's Barbie doll....

The following creations are all 100% original Mutant Goldfish Designs.
Each is an One Of A Kind fashion and are now all sold and in private doll collections.

Project Dollway Entry - Challenge - Funwear

Country Garden

Pink Tutu - Lace Body Suit

Tulip

And just to prove every girl loves pink, even the Undead ones...Moribund...Doll repainted and styled into our lovely Fashion Zombie by Dawn Anderson of OneSixthSence...Fashion of course by me...This was one of the hardest to see sell because I wanted it for myself so dang bad...I love Dawns work.

So that is my pink sampling for the Pink Saturday...Don't forget to stop by and visit How Sweet the Sound and see all the other delicious pink posts.

Late for Tea...

This week I do not have time for a tea party and I think I have pretty much shared all my human size teacups...So I wanted to share my favorite TeaParty related doll....I encourage you to click the images to enlarge them so you can enjoy all the little details on this creation...The description that follows with the images was written to accompany the doll to the auction block...

IFDC Artist Doll Collaboration
by OneSixthSense and Mutant Goldfish Designs

Each artist received Integrity's Natalie Fatale BACK TO BLACK (nude) for a special auction in support of the IFDC at the 2010 convention. 40 dolls in total were sent out to the many different artists.

I had the honor of with Dawn of OneSixthSense, who created a gorgeous Natalia repaint for me to dress in my Avant Garde take on Tea Time...

My Inspiration:
We LOVE tea parties at my house and host them ever chance we get, whether it is just me and my girls or having guests over to enjoy true English Tea and home made scones made from scratch just like my mum taught me. So no surprise we are also big fans of the story of Alice in Wonderland...

When I read there was going to be a Tim Burton Alice movie coming out, images of Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd) meets the Mad Hatter entered my head..This is what inspired me to create this fun Avant Garde gown in deeper jewel tones rather than the softer pastels most ppl would associate with a garden tea party..With the darker color pallet and Natalia's black hair, it gave the design an evening feel, making it much to late in the day for proper tea time....meaning our girl is more than just a little "Late for Tea".....

A closer look at all the hand done Details

Before and After...Image courtesy of Dawn

The transformation began with the amazing repaint by Dawn...She removed the original factory paint and created the most unbelievable gorgeous new look for our doll...For those of you not familiar with the Fashion Royalty brand of dolls, these dolls are the same scale as Barbie.

The dolls own hair, a wild afro was tamed and then restyled to resemble an Elizabethan Wig...A little blue bird nesting on one side, black roses in back and a teacup that is spilling over, add a touch of whimsy to the design.

This fob watch was created by hand just for our girl,

but alas it does not seem to help, she is still more than a little "Late for Tea"

I will be sharing my Tea Party inspired Doll today at the following parties...Though I might be a little "Late For Tea" to some of them...

Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations - Tea Time Tuesday

Lady Katherine Tea Parlor - Tea Time Tuesday

Wander Lee and Pam's - Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday

and party Co-hosts:

Martha's Favorites - Tea Cup Tuesday
&
Terri, Artful Afirmations - Tea Cup Tuesday

And lastly

Marty, A Stroll Thru Life - Table Top Tuesday

Pretty Dolls On Ebay...

I just listed a couple of very pretty Silkstone Barbie Dolls on ebay, along with a Silkstone Barbie Waitress Fashion...Sometimes downsizing hurts *sad face*

Red Hot Reviews

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220706521509

Hollywood Bound

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220706525278

Waitress - Fashion Only

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220706529479

I also listed my OOAK Gown for the 16inch dolls Orionids

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220706441119

I just have to keep telling myself it is for the greater good lol.
Kelsie

Easy to Make Paper Dolls - Updated

With the weather turning colder the need for new interesting indoor activities for the kiddies is now at hand...And lets face it, the more we can do that is FREE is the better...Lil Sara is too young to make her own, so I made these ones for her, but this is such a quick easy project that kids as young as 5 or 6 could easily do it themselves with just a little guidance.

Now go turn off the TV, gather the kids around the kitchen table and grab these few supplies.

Scissors

Spray Adhesive works best but a stick of glue would work in a pinch.
Cardboard for backing - I used black cardstock I had on hand, but you could use the cardboard from cereal boxes too.
And lastly...A magazine, Doll catalog (you can sign up for these online free I will list a couple of links at the bottom this post) or even photos printed from your computer...For the boys you could do farm animals or even machinary, trucks and cars, maybe if you have not thrown out those halloween costum catalogs yet you could find them some pirates or superheros.


Simply cut out the "dolls" spray the back of the images with adhesive (please use old newspaper under them to prevent making a big mess) then gently smooth them on to your cardboard backing...This will make them nice and stiff for hours of play...Make sure you get all the bubbles out...Then Carefully cut around figures leaving a 1/8th boarder and VIOLA paper dolls.

Paper Dolls

But where will these lovely dollies live I hear you ask??..Well that is easy.
Got an old decor magazine laying around??

Instant Doll House

You could take it one step father and cut out some of the funiture and repeat the glue/cutting step and make the dolls their own paper furnishings too.

But for now Sara is happy to just use my old magazines.

Sara's Dolls are all from the Ellowyne Wilde Collection...

You can visit the website and request a catalog here http://www.wildeimagination.com

I also love the Tonner Doll Company catalog but you do have to purchase those if not ordering a doll from them http://www.tonnerdirect.com/c-175-catalogs.aspx

And of course there is always Barbie...This site is for the Collector Dolls rather than your playline Barbies, but you can order a free catalog to enjoy these high end dolls too
http://www.barbiecollector.com

I made these smaller versions to fit into an envelope so that it will be easy to mail for a very special little girl in Australia..Shhhhh Don't tell her.

Kelsie...

PS: Please share pix of your dolls with me if you do make some. *grin*