Papercraft Moths

After the Papercraft bugs were so much fun to make I decided to try my hand on some moths. These took a lot longer than the bugs since they are bigger as well but I did not change anything about the way I crafted them. 

Papercraft Bugs

The last six months were full of changes to my workflow. A lot of time was spend learning and when I had spare time I wanted to create and not write about creating. Today I decided that this had to stop. Here are two small things I worked on in those six months. There are some more bug ideas fluttering through my brain so I might expand on this subject. The bodies are painted paper and the legs are black painted wire.

How to... Heads

The last few weeks I had a lot of questions on different platforms about how I attach the faces to the bodies of my dolls. This was always a very tricky part for me since fabric and clay are two very different materials. But this was also the reason why I was using these two materials, because you can do different things and transport a different feeling with both of them and marrying them in my work just felt like the right thing to do.

For a very long time (which is not that long, I have not worked on dolls that long yet) I was just glueing the dolls faces on. As you can see, in the time frame from Rodrik to Hedwig, the faces are a bit flat and they have ruffles around them to conceal the seam.
Only recently I overcame my fear to ruin a whole doll and tried a different system. Since I am not great when it comes to explaining how this works, I took some pictures while working on my latest dolls.

I always start with the dolls face, since I am arranging the rest of the pattern on how big it turns out in the end. When I start sculpting I always have a plan but nothing is set in stone so things and sizes can always change. When I am done with sculpting I add a ridge around where I want the fabric to start.

When the pattern is made and cut out, but before anything is sewn together, I assemble the parts that go around the head and tightly put a string around them. The string should slide into the ridge around the sides of the head. Sometimes I use glue before that but it is not always needed. This part in general is very tricky and I am still trying to optimize it for myself.

And this is how it should look from the front after everything is sewn together. The string in the back should sit tight and after stuffing the body there should be no way for it to fall off or get torn off. 

And this is it, stuffed and painted. The problem that this new way of adding the face brings is that there should be a similarity in the colours from the paintjob on the face and the fabric. There are no ruffles to conceal differences. Which is a challenge, especially when using a fabric with a pattern. It is a hard choice if you wan to add the fabric pattern or just match the colours of the fabric. This cat lady got parts of the pattern painted on its face. But Cordelia for example has no pattern on her face and I only tried to match the colours. 

I hope this post made the whole process a bit clearer. It is a bit hard to explain.

Tiny Wise Owl Papercraft

This papercraft is only half the size of the normal papercraft boxes. It is very simple but I loved working on it. The wise three-eyed owl perches on a branch, overlooking the world.

"Sacrifice" Papercraft

I love doing Papercrafts, but between university and my dolls there is just not much time for these. Often I have ideas and sketch them out to just forget about them again. I had this one planned for some time and finally found the time to prepare my workspace, which means getting rid of my sewing and sculpting stuff. This piece is still available in my shop.

Cordelia the Unicorn

This is Cordelia. Cordelia is a child of summer, born in the days of the first warm sunbeams. Sometimes the summer heat is too much for her and she hides in the depths of the woods, spending her time swimming in hidden lakes and looking for the perfect caves and crevices to build her home. Her horn is pure crystal and gold, giving her the ability to cleanse and heal the bodies and spirits of critters and plants living in the woods.

I did some things different for Cordelia, and I learned a lot of things. I am still not good at making patterns, the arms and feet always turn out way too slim. It is the same mistake I make with every doll, but one day I will learn! Her face is not simply glued on, which was a real challenge. And I changed her face halfway through but I really like how the crystal horn and the leaf gold accents turned out in the end. I fell in love with this little one, her colours and the lace-y cape and the beautiful fabric I used for her.

Hugo and Hedwig

"Hedwig, the Sower of Stars"

When the sun decides to settle Hedwig awakens in the depths of her cave. She and her sisters and brothers leave their home and start to place the stars while day turns to night. When the last ray of sunlight disappears behind the mountains, Hedwig is done with her work and enjoys the stars while training her whistling skills.

"Hugo, the Bringer of Spring"

Even before the last snow melts, Hugos work begins. He soars through the sky, dipped in moonlight, sprinkling the earth with seeds and dewdrops from his pouch. Even though one might not think of him as the sensitive type, given his grim exterior and sometimes grumpy behavior, he enjoys caring for the fragile seeds and plants and newly blossomed flowers.