The Embroidery Art of Gabriela

I am just about finished with this latest block of projects. I tried to post the pictures in chronological order but I guess it's just going to do what it wants...but they are all here! Libelle, a project by Sherry Goshon, was a really fun project to do, and since I am always trying to incorporate things I love to do I added two butterflies carved out of a rhea egg shell and adorned with glitter, crystals, and organza fabric. The three tiny little butterflies are made of paper and attached with wire. She has Swarovski crystals in her hair; her hair is made of some exquisite yarn I bought at Magpie Yarns. I added some blending filament and some gold yarn I had previously purchased also. I really recommend yarns from, for example, Tilli Tomas for art doll hair. They are beautifully dyed, and many have beads or sequins. Libelle's sleeves are silk rose petals, and the dragonfly wings were made by me following the design by Judy Serresseque; the basic wings can be purchased at OOAK Emporium and you can also download the tutorial there for creating these beautifully embellished wings. This was a time consuming and challenging project, but I had a blast.

So now that Libelle and Monika are finished, I moved on to finish my little polymer clay fairy. She is equivalent to an eight inch high sculpt. I have wanted to undertake an ambitious project like this one for a long time but the timing and inspiration was never right. She is a fairy sitting in an opened ostrich egg shell, with the insides of the shell adorned with ribbon embroidery. The doll herself also has a detachable silk ribbon embroidered train. The skirt lining and the folded ribbon rose are silk velvet that I hand dyed in shades of teal, olive, sage, and aqua. I used Fimo gel for the wings and embellished them with Pearlies. The ostrich egg took me a week to cut, and I had to use a flexible beading needle to achieve the ribbon embroidery on the concave surface. As of now I have covered the back (or the outside of the shell) first with paper clay then with modeling paste to cover the embroidery thread and ribbon ends and I am attempting to restore the outside so I can decorate it as well. The panels will then be re-hinged, the egg placed on a stand, and her pedestal made and then with a lot of help from Above she will be finished.

The tassel web site is getting ready to go. We will be in the video studio all day tomorrow, in between ostrich egg panel sanding.

Here are some photos of the progress of the doll, along with finished photos of Libelle. As with any project I create, I welcome "how'd you do that?" questions!

Cheers!