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Masquerade Gown with Black Velvet Bodice, White Lace, Purple Skirt and Glittering Strands

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A masquerade gown with a black velvet bodice with a damask pattern. The neckline is off the shoulders and slightly V-shaped, and is trimmed with a line of light purple ribbon. There is a decoration of rhinestones at the bust. The sleeves are three-quarter, and their edges are trimmed with more purple ribbon. There are long ruffles attached to the edges of the sleeves, and they are purple and decorated with strands of glowing rhinestones. The bodice extends over the top of the skirt and is gathered at one hip, decorated with a light purple bow. From the bow, four rows of ruffles fall towards the base of the skirt like a waterfall. Each one is made of white lace. The skirt is purple, and falls to the floor. It is decorated with looped strands of delicate rhinestones.Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

Another masquerade gown! I must confess I’m getting a little bored of recoloring but I’m learning a great deal. I think, though, that I’ll start doing new things next week. I’ll try for a Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedule. The lace and the sparklies are from Obsidian Dawn and the damask pattern is from sofi01.

The contest I had going has already been won… Sarah, tell me how you’d like me to color this one, please!

Masquerade Gown in White Lace and Blue Sequins with Light Blue Ruffles and Coral Ribbon

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A masquerade gown with a bodice patterned with white lace. The neckline is off the shoulders and slightly V-shaped, and is trimmed with a line of sparkling blue ribbon. The sleeves are three-quarter, and their edges are trimmed with more sparkling blue ribbon. There are long ruffles attached to the edges of the sleeves, and they are colored in a gradient from dark blue to light blue, nearly white, at the edges. They are decorated with a light water pattern. The bodice extends over the top of the skirt and is gathered at one hip, decorated with a bright coral-colored bow. From the bow, four rows of ruffles fall towards the base of the skirt like a waterfall. Each one is colored from dark blue to light blue at the edge, and each one is decorated with a light water pattern. The skirt is royal blue, deeply pleated, and patterned with sequins, so that at the top of each pleat they catch the light and sparkle vividly. The skirt is long, and falls to the floor.Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

When I selected this gown and started working on it, the purple sparkly dress was ahead in the poll, so I thought, sure, I can take a hint. This week is now Sparkle Week, because I’d like to practice making things sparkle. I really like how the skirt turned out on this one, but hey, there’s always room for improvement. It is all a matter of getting the brushes right… I have a lot of sparkly brushes to play with thanks to Obsidian Dawn, and the lace pattern is also one of theirs.

Let’s have a new contest!
Milo has received so many beautiful, handmade blankets from family members and friends that I probably could have started a baby blanket shop. Recently, though, one of them has become the favorite blankie. He likes to have it in his crib with him at night, and he wraps it around his shoulders and walks around with it like he’s the emperor of the house. (Which he is, but…) It has three colors in it. What are those three colors? The winner gets to tell me how to color this week’s gown!
Hint: I’m not being picky about color names. It’s not like you have to say royal blue, crimson and lemon yellow (for example), I just want the basic color names here.
One entry per new post per day, please. Update: Sarah guessed. I thought that would take longer than it did! It’s white, blue and green.

Also, I’ve set up a Facebook fan page and a separate Twitter account. I’ll use both of these for announcing new posts, but also I’ll try to put up some new content, like special recolored dresses and contests, and I’ll also post some links to paperdoll and fashion related things I like. So please like my page or follow me, depending on your choice of social media!

White Princess Dress with Rainbow Skirt

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A white gown with a sweetheart neckline and off-the-shoulder poofed sleeves. The bodice is covered with a lacy pattern, and different colors of gemstones scattered along the edge and trailing down towards the waist. The full skirt is covered with seven layers, one for each color of the rainbow, with red near the waist, then orange underneath it, then yellow, green, blue and finally purple. Each layer is longer than the one before, and they split at the front of the gown to reveal the white underskirt, with its lacy pattern, which reaches to the floor.Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

Hello, everyone who’s still reading! You’ll be glad to know I’m doing well and really enjoy being a mom. Milo is a good-natured, active, curious little boy and every day with him brings something new and wonderful. There are frustrating days too, of course, and around here my suggesting to Brian “Why don’t you take Milo for a walk?” is essentially code for “Please please please let me have a baby break.” So Brian takes baby to the cafe and gets some iced coffee. Daddy gets coffee, a walk and baby time, mommy gets some breathing room and a chance to relax, and Milo gets fussed over by everyone Brian encounters. It’s win-win!

Milo has been a little high-maintenance, especially from around his third month, when he always wanted mommy there to play with him or at least look at him constantly. But in the last week or two, he’s become more able to play by himself as long as I’m nearby. He sleeps better sometimes, too, and then I get all hopeful about life again, and then he goes back to waking up three times a night… but I can see a future where I routinely sleep for an uninterrupted five, six, maybe even seven hours a night! The upshot is that I’m starting to have a little time and energy to think about amusing myself with non-baby related pursuits.

I’ve said it before, but I want to improve my drawing skills, especially drawing people; I’ve been practicing with a book RLC of Paper Thin Personas recommended, and for the first time in my life I can draw ears properly! I also want to keep drawing for this blog — I don’t think a goal of one post a week is too much? My dad has offered to watch Milo on Thursdays when he can, and our first time trying that out was a smashing success.

I’ve got a lot I want to do, as I always do, but for now I’ll start small. Though this dress can’t be described as small, can it? No, this dress says “Hurrah for new shades of Prismacolors! Hurrah for rainbows and poofy gowns! Hurrah for daddy holding Milo while he sleeps so I can draw! Hurrah for enough rest that I’m drawing instead of curling up and falling fast asleep!”

Wondering how Milo’s turning out? Well, enjoy some pictures! We have Milo wearing a shark outfit (never fails to amuse me, because he has the same approach to food as a shark does), Milo playing with his favorite green ball, and Milo smiling in his sleep.

Black Velvet and Chartreuse Gown with Spiderweb Lace

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A black ballgown with a flared, full skirt and long sleeves. The skirt is made of black velvet, with triangular cutouts that start near the waist which reveal a underskirt made of swirled green and chartreuse fabric and covered with lace that looks like spiderwebs. There are two flies trapped in the webs. There's a wide V-shaped copper belt at the waist, set with orange, green and yellow jewels. The bodice is made of black velvet and has a feathery pattern near the top. There are more copper accents near the shoulders, and the green sleeves are straight, fall to the wrist, and are overlaid with more spiderweb lace.Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

It’s almost Halloween, the paperdoll-friendly holiday, and I’ve been thinking about what would make a dress scary. The things that scare me don’t generally translate well to dresses, though, since they are too intangible. But there’s a couple of fears that aren’t…

My pride causes me to say I’m not scared of spiders, I just don’t like looking at them. If I put it that way, it’s perfectly reasonable to do things like cover up a picture of a spider when I’m reading a book, or avoid the tarantula exhibit at the zoo.

But it’s never reasonable, really, to wake up my husband at 4 AM when there’s a spider in the bathroom. It’s not reasonable that I have to use paper or my phone to cover up a spider picture in a book, and not my hand. And it’s not really reasonable to move as quickly as I do when there’s one close to me. Before I know it I’m halfway across the room, denying that anything’s wrong at all, I’m just fine, it’s not like I’m scared of such a little spider, because that would be ridiculous. (It’s gone now, right?)

When I was a little kid, I was scared of black holes, and I feel like I’ve gone down in the world since I stopped fearing the random indifference of the universe and picked up such a pathetically obvious, stupid, gendered weakness. I know perfectly well they’re more afraid of me than I am of them. I know they eat lots of annoying bugs and that they’ve only got two more legs than ants (which I don’t mind at all). I know I can kill them perfectly well myself, and I do, if there’s no other option. I put on my heaviest shoes and make a lot of noise, cursing each stupid spider leg and shouting warnings to all the other spiders that they’d better stay well out of my sight, or they’re gonna get it too. I calm myself down by calling up my husband and telling him “I killed a spider!” just like a normal person might say “I got a promotion!” or “I won a new car!” Kind man that he is, he indulges me.

If you were to stalk me over my various online activities, you’d notice I almost never mention this fear, because I’m just paranoid enough to consider how people could use it against me. There’s no real reason to share with the world how to yank this particular chain. But oh well — it’s Halloween, and while I amuse myself with ghosts, vampires and sorceresses, I don’t believe in the supernatural. I’m mostly just frightened of the quirks and instability of the human mind… and spiders.

What do spiders have to do with this gown, do you wonder? Well, there’s the spiderweb lace, and a couple of twitchy, fat flies caught in it. There must be a spider around somewhere, don’t you think? Ah, yes. A gigantic one, four feet long, with spindly long legs and a full set of eyes.

It’s on the petticoat.

Does that make the whole dress different for you? It does for me. I’ve drawn nothing, but all the same it’s still there, just like those spiders that disappear behind furniture while I’m still dithering about looking for my shoes. Now, is it merely embroidered or painted on? Or does it cling to the thin lace on the petticoat, waiting for its host to lure some prey away from the party and into the shadows? Dance with the lady in black and green at the Halloween ball this year, if you like, but I hope you will have the sense to leave that particular mystery well alone.

I’m never going to talk about spiders on this blog again, so let’s have a poll…

poll by twiigs.com