Friday, September 9, 2016

The Crows Muse

 Halloween is just around the corner...oh how I love Halloween!
Leslie, over at Alpha Stamps, let me play a bit off the reservation this month (I love her almost as much as I love Halloween).  I have been wanting to make a doll similar to the one in the photo below.
I found it on pinterest and it has no link, just a photo, sorry.  Clearly mine is much different, but that is the difference between being inspired and learning by copying.
I started with a floral cone and a deconstructed barbie.  I cut the floral cone to size and then hollowed it out so that the body of the barbie would slip inside.   I decoupaged the cone with old newspaper.  You can't put hot glue directly on the Styrofoam cone, it will melt it. And then I painted it black so you can't see any of the newspaper bits through her rather sheer skirt (Oh the scandal!).
The barbie body is covered with book print (alas nothing by Poe, just some old scifi novel that fell apart on me).  For a head I used a relic and artifacts cast - figurehead.  
From the front it looks like these small feathered crows are single wings.  
From the back you can see that they are two separate crows.  I like to think that they are holding her up as well as helping her fly. 
The spot where her head meets her body is hidden with a black seam binding bow.
 Her bodice is black seam binding.  Black roses in various sizes cascade down her skirt.  Interspersed with lustrous rhinestones.  
 In the folds of her gown she conceals a fabulous chipboard chandelier complete with crows! 
 Her skirt is layers and layer of Tulle.  There is also Tulle wound in and out of the chandelier. To me it almost looks like a spider web or all that stuff they hang from furniture bits in haunted houses.   
And of course it wouldn't be complete without a sparkly spider.   Liquid pearls form the beading work on the chandelier.  
I hope you enjoy my Crows Muse.  She was fun to make
Thanks for stopping by.
I wrote this post while under the influence of decongestants and running noses, sorry if it is a little scattered.  

9 comments:

dyeandpigment said...

Are you kidding me??? I love this better than the one you used as your inspiration. Thanks for sharing your talents.

sheilaAR said...

She is marvelous Caroline!! Ditto to Linda's words. Great gorgeously spooky lady! Feel better soon xo.

Diana said...

What a fab piece of art. Just love the chandelier hanging on the gown. Thanks for sharing your talent.

Unknown said...

She is beautiful + love the crow wings!

robin dudley-howes said...

Carolyn this is so well executed and stunning! I have seen a lot of work done with the heads from R&A and never has anyone done it the way you did. Mostly the illusion of the head being apart of the body, there is no comparison. Love her!

Marilyn F said...

This piece really caught my eye. You did a fabulous job of making her both beautiful and creepy at the same time. Can't stop looking at all the details. Thanks for sharing,Caroline. I also agree that she is more interesting than the inspiration piece.

L Mahaffey said...

Really love what you did! Great idea and the skirt is gorgeous.

Betsy Skagen said...

This is great! love to see I am not the only one taking poor Barbies apart. Lol

Kitty said...

Your muse is MUCH better than the inspiration. Thanks for the wonderful tutorial. My head is brimming with ideas!