The Herald of Spring is complete!

He's painted, he's primed, he's grinning & he's ready for Spring! Too bad winter is just starting!

The Herald of Spring was a Round Robin Collaboration with doll artist KyEliza, from Etsy. She made the Herald himself, on his vintage spice tin. I made the Herald's mechanical insides, & the three little elves. We are both so proud of our little guy!


Here's a close-up of the three elves. Their job is to fix up the Herald after the long winter so he's ready to announce the Coming of Spring. Unfortunately, only one of them is actually working! Green Hat on the left here takes his job very seriously. He's found a gear that has popped off & lugging it back to its spot. Pink Hat over on the right tries, but he's rather clumsy! He was trying to fix a spring, & it popped off! So now he's stuck, dangling until someone can help him. That someone won't be little miss Yellow Hat in the center - there's a certain question she's been asking the daisies, & I'm afraid we're not going to get any work out of her for awhile!

So what happens to the Herald now? Well, he was only one of many collaborations going on this fall, in a challenge held by the Etsy Dolls & Miniatures Team. The other sets of partners have been busy combining their styles into one doll as well. As the challenge is wrapping up, I'll round up some photos of the other pieces. There are some creative partnerships going on! Stay tuned!

Miniatures on Martha Stewart!

If you like dollhouse miniatures & Martha Stewart, have I got a good thing for you! Today (Tuesday, Nov. 11), Betsy Niederer of Custom Dolls, Houses, & Miniatures (CDHM) was featured on Martha. She had a teeny tiny Thanksgiving Dinner layout that perfectly matched the cover of Martha's latest magazine.
She showed how to make a Christmas Tree Ornament that looked like a miniature ceramic plate of Christmas cookies!
I am a member of CDHM, along with many very talented doll & miniature artists. Got coffee & some free time? Come check us out! Here's my gallery, or stop by the CDHM homepage.

Elf 3's Grand Entrance

For Round Robin Collaboration: All 3 elves are here!

Here's the third member of the worker elves' party. The prince has stepped out of the shot for this one & no wonder - her hat isn't finished yet! It still looks a little odd, & the prince is a little too worried about bad press to be seen with her quite yet.

There! Hat done, shoes tipped, she's ready for work, if you can convince her to leave her flowers for a moment. There's a certain question she's been asking the daisies for a while now, & I'm afraid we're not going to get any work out of her just yet! Oh, look - the Prince has come back. You may want to cover your ears, though - as he may begin to serenade, as he's heard that all princes are supposed to do.

Next up: all three elves in place around the Herald's mechanical innards.

Day 2 of Elf-making

For Round Robin Collaboration with KyEliza:

The final day (hopefully!) of Elf-making begins. I'm all set with my tools, a huge stack of candy corn (the kind with the pumpkins) & a massive Beijing Starbucks mug of Awake Tea (yes, it's legal!).

Well, the Princess & Jester have wandered off (so hard to keep their interest), but the Prince has hopped over to watch. Probably because this third little elf is a she - and a very opinionated she, too. I was going to dress her all in pink, but apparently this is not a pink sort of elf. I think I've convinced her to have a pink collar & belt, but we'll see.