Goodbye Xavier, hello Gabrielle!

The fun thing about the one-touch system used by Luts and Fairyland is that you can swap heads.

Like this:


In the process I found that Luspira makes a very effective little werewolf boy (pay no heed to the gold lame trousers; they're for a commission) - and Xavier makes a very cute little girl! So Luspira has now become Lupin (still tempted by the thought of calling him Lucien, though that's the "real" name of 's Hound, Corpselight...), and Xavier has become Gabrielle - and much happier they both seem to be as a result!

Anyway, having a pretty little girl to sew for (and three hours with no internet last night!) inspired me to complete this little outfit up for her - corset is dusky pink raw Thai silk, lined with pink satin and topstitched in silver. Skirt is actually a tutu, with underpants of burgundy cotton jersey and ruffles of burgundy organza, with a top layer of organza trimmed with dark rose satin ribbon.

Her over-the-knee socks were also handstitched by me, and I made the necklace too. Shoes are from Luts. :-)













When the weather isn't quite so humid, I'll be redoing her face-up to give her a softer, more feminine look. :-)

In the Garden III: Luspira

Shiwoo Crew!

Who guards whom?

Luspira and her guardian, Satin.
Or should that be the other way around?

A few changes

If you've reached this blog via the "arkadiandreams LJ" button on the Arkadian Dreams website, you might be wondering what's going on.

The arkadiandreams LJ is still online; it hasn't been deleted. However following recent developments with regards to LJ and SixApart (including, but not limited to, the flagging journals issue and the sale of LJ), I decided that I'd prefer to have the arkadiandreams journal more directly under my control - so from now on news and events from Arkadian Dreams (including photoshoots etc) will be posted primarily here on the Arkadian Dreams blog and mirrored over on the LJ.

The other change you might have noticed on the site is the appearance of Google ads. I've endeavoured to make these as unobtrusive as possible however, so I hope they won't prove too annoying to regular visitors. :-)

In other news, the Juri B head is still available for sale, and I've just started customising a BW CP Nanuri 07 head to be Kynaston "Satin" Dane, Luspira's guardian - and a figure from Eric's mysterious past!

Also up for a new face-up is Galhaia, my Juri 05 girl. Expect progress pics of both Galhaia and Satin soon!

At last!

So, the Luts parcel finally arrived today; I think we must have been the last address on the delivery guy's round!

Well worth the wait though - Luspira finally has her body; my little werewolf girl is complete!











Xavier's not entirely sure what to make of her....


Two Minifee Shiwoos together surely spells trouble...!
















Yes, she really is standing on one leg.

A Work In Progress: Luspira (modded MNF vampire elf Shiwoo girl)

Yesterday I opened up the eyes of the sleeping MNF vampire elf Shiwoo head that I received as a Christmas gift, and today I did the face-up - the next stage in bringing to life Luspira, my little werewolf girl.

I took photos at each stage so you can see how I currently do face-ups.

This is how the head looked before I started work on the face-up:

I discovered whilst opening up the eyes that the left eye socket on a sleeping MNF vamp elf Shiwoo head is ever so slightly lower than the right - which means that even when you've got the eyes opened up evenly (confirmed by comparing the apertures from inside the head), the eyes will still look slightly uneven because the right eye will have more upper eyelid than the left eye. It is more obvious due to the small size of the head, but will be far less obvious once the face-up is finished. Opening the eyes is made a little more tricky due to how thin the resin is behind the eyes on this particular head mold - slowly and carefully does it.

Blank head with eyes in


Base blushing:

After spraying with a base coat of Testors Dullcote, I apply chalk pastel blushing, including the basic shape of the eyebrows (I use a blend of Inscribe chalk pastels and I Kan Dee metallic chalks). Here, I've used a size 4 flat filbert brush to apply blushing to lips and eyes; I then used a small cosmetic sponge applicator to apply light brown pastel in the rough shape of the eyebrows before neatening up lines by tapping with a kneadable putty eraser to lift away excess blushing. Then I spray with Testors to fix this layer of blushing.

Eyebrows and lower lashes:

Next I define the eyebrows and draw on lower lashes with light, fine strokes using watercolour pencils (here, I've used three shades of brown). Luspira is going to be a werewolf, so I've applied dark eyeliner extending down below the inner corners of her eyes with soft dark Derwent Graphitint watercolour graphite pencils in Cocoa and Black. I've also applied light lip lines with a dusky rose watercolour pencil before fixing with another layer of Testors.

Highlights and glossing:

Here, I've applied further liplines with a white watercolour pencil, picked out the little fangs with white acrylic paint using a 6/0 brush, and added silvery highlights to the upper eyelids and inner corners of the eyes with Windsor & Newton Iridescent Medium before a final coat of Testors. The face-up is completed with a layer of acrylic gloss on the lips.

Finished result:

The head completed, with eyes and eyelashes.


Wearing a Tinybear mohair wig in Midnight and Black.







Now all she needs is her body...!