The Heather Experiment

Next came one of my favorite dolls so far...Heather. 

I decided to split the front part of the head in two and give this doll a nose! Also I wanted to try a neater way to attach the legs rather than just having them dangle from the side of the body. Oh and her head swivels around too...sort of like that kid in the Exorcist if you are not careful.

So here are my processes in creating Come Hither Heather as her clients...oops...I mean friends call her. She has lots of friends.

As mentioned I split the face into two parts so that I could give her a nose rather than trying to sculpt one in later or to embroider it on.  Her head is separate and sits on a long neck that extends into the head cavity.

Using acrylic paints I created her mischievous eyes and parted lips that show her perfectly straight little teeth.  The better to bite you with my dear.

Below is Heather looking for all the world like a hapless working girl who has fallen victim to a serial killer on a Criminal Minds episode

On the left she is lying on her stomach so you can see the cleft in her buttocks. Still not enough definition for the sculptor in me.

You can see the attachment of her legs this time is from beneath the body not on the sides. It gives a neat look but limits movement somewhat and she does not sit with the same ease as the others.  Note the shapely foot created by adding a heel and arch. On the right is the front view. I made the hands larger so I could get more finger defninition but instead they just came out big and beefy. Perhaps Heather is a transvestite? With that straight as a board physique anything is possible.

In lieu of the disastrous plastic surgery attempt on poor Marijane, Heather was given a shirred bust. It isn't much but it is all hers. I am still working on improving the next girls.

Also the nose looks quite shnozlike here as I have not yet done the face sculpting that will refine it and the eyes.


Originally I envisioned Heather as a gypsy so I parted with some precious locks from a Halloween costume to make what was the first of many wigs.  Not too hard using hot glue and a light piece of fabric which I glued on her head later. What a lovely halo of shiny black curls. 

But look as we might through my extensive stash we just couldn't find any fabrics befitting her gypsy look.

You can do so much with long curly hair. Here she has it tied up with a small scrunchy.

I did find a lovely robin's egg blue wool sweater that made her a nice dress though.

The final version looks like this. A conservatively expensive wool dress, discreet 18 karat gold chain and pendant with matching bracelet as would befit a Mayflower escort.  A girl any out of town business man would be proud to have on his arm. Only her smile and the whimsical little purse suggests her mischievous personality.

But Heather is not a one dimensional personality. She is a girl that enjoys physical exercise so sometimes she strips down to her colorful underwear and goes to the beach where she swims, plays beach volleyball and lounges with a cool drink.  It is a great place to meet clients...um...I mean men....um people.

 

Here Heather reapplies her sun tan lotion. She has learned how to  protect her assets from watching Dr. Oz.

  

Her shades are Dolce and Gabana. Beachbag by Vuitton. Bathing suit/underwear by Cavalli. Towel by Walmart.

Marijane

Warning the following post contains photos of plastic surgery gone wrong. These are intended for educational purposes only and are not suitable for children or the squeamish.

 Marijane had a difficult youth.  She was always teased about her lack of curves and her large mouth. When she got old enough Bertita offered to take her to her favorite clinic in Colombia for some cheap plastic surgery.

I guess it is a case of you get what you pay for.  In order to spare other dolls from this misery she has agreed to share the results with us. Although the scars on her skin have healed, leaving visible stitch lines, the scars on her psyche have not.
Like Bertita and  Latricia she really doesn't like to go to the nudist camp anymore but she looks great in clothes.

Undaunted by her experience she bravely decided to have a "lip"-ectomy while she was there.  In this case it was her lips (not her fat) that they "ectomied". You can see the results below.

She has really pretty green eyes, loves new clothes and experimenting with hair styles.

She is still living at home and trying to decide on whether to continue her education or seek a career in the field of beauty and fashion.

Oh yes, she does occasionally get dressed too. Here she is in what might be loosely terms sixtie's garb. She made her own lace body suit and wool vest and skirt. 

She was shopping with Latricia when she found the shoes. Sigh.

Bertita

Blonde Bertita tells me she comes from Colombia.

In the picture on the right she is showing her friend Latricia her new shoes and purse.

After a few months my quiet village bored her. She said she missed the gunfire she had grown up with in Bogota. Between you and me the closest she has ever been to Colombia is watching documentaries on television. But you didn't hear it from me.

The only time she was really happy here was on Canada Day when the sky was filled with pretty lights and the quiet was torn by sharp explosions.  So I suggested she might be happier in Toronto and my friend Barb graciously gave her a place to live. 

Her trip, which should have taken a day or two, took much longer than expected ...like two weeks....and when she arrived she had her purse on her head.  I know this because Barb sent me a picture of Bertita and it was sitting there like a visor. When I questioned Barb as to why she had put it on her head she said she had arrived that way. Canada Post gremlins?  Or did Bertita travel via Bogota?

Barb tells me that when Bertita isn't dancing she is flirting with another resident of the apartment with the unfortunate nickname of Eunuch.  Guess we wont be seeing any little Bertitas or Eunuchs running around the apartment any time soon. Unless she takes a shine to that Cuban fellow that Barb brought back from her last trip.

She is a lively girl who dresses warmly even in the summer. She has never gotten accustomed to the weather in Canada.


Note: This was my first attempt at shoe and purse making. I should be better at this since my great grandfather was a cobbler.