Late Start to 2015!!

Oops, a belated Happy New Year to everyone!! 

January is always my favourite month, and it is already almost over! I feel this year will fly by as well, just like last year.

Unfortunately I am noticing many of my older blog posts are having the images disconnected, and not able to be viewed. I think this is a problem with the varying hosting sites I use, whether it's flickr, facebook or tumblr. Sincerest apologies, I am trying to find a better solution to being able to continue blogging in 2015 - and have my images stay up here for many more years to be enjoyed!!

In the meantime, you can always visit me on these sites where I post frequently my newest work and glimpses of progress pieces:

facebook - www.facebook.com/orchidsdesigns
instagram - @monikaviktoriaart

flickr - www.flickr.com/photos/orchidsdesigns


In other news, we are preparing for a great Blythe themed exhibition next month here in Australia (more info in a future post very soon) and will be attending Blythefest AU in October, held in QLD, which I am very excited about!

Garden of Delights - Custom Blythe

Garden of Delights

First Prize Winner - BlytheFest 2014 Australia

For Adoption

Garden of Delights - my very special custom Blythe who made her extravagant debut at Blythefest AU in Sydney, winning first prize in her category. She is an exquisite art-custom, her body and head fully covered in intricate hand painted floral vine motifs. She wears a large floral crown atop her spring green hair. She has been given "sleep eyes" and gaze adjustment, and has two of my crystal-resin glazed illustrated cameo pull-rings.

Front and Back face-plates feature a bouquet of beautifully painted garden flowers, roses, leaves and hydrangea blooms. Her entire body is encircled with vines and blooming roses, wrapping around her arms, torso and legs.

Her eyelids also feature floral continuation of her facial design, so that when she closes her eyes she can merge into her floral background... a wallflower, a perfectly camouflaged nature spirit. Eye-chips include 4 custom sets: one pair Takara pink, one pair Takara forest green, one pair hand-painted metallic silvery green, and one pair human-iris prints.

She has been meticulously sealed between each layer to protect her extensive painted designs. None the less, I would recommend she is handled minimally, and displayed in a clean dust-free environment, preferably enclosed within a glass dome or show cabinet to ensure her everlasting beauty. 

Garden of Delights

First Prize Winner - BlytheFest 2014 Australia

Diorama Competition

OOAK fully hand-painted art custom by Orchid's Designs #005

~AVAILABLE~

Flower Dye - Blythe Dress Collection

Dyed with Hibiscus, Camellia and Wild Rose blooms

For BlytheFest AU's "Flower Power" theme I created a limited collection of delicate one-off dresses for Neo Blythe Dolls. Each dress has been dyed naturally using flowers and entirely hand sewn. The delicate varying shades in each fabric get their colouring from such flowers as camellia, hibiscus, morning glory, avocado and wild rose.

The "Flower Fantasia" series made it's debut at BlytheFest AU in Sydney for the "Flower Power" themed con. The collection was limited to just 8 individual dresses. 6 fit Takara Blythe, 1 for Pure-Neemo bodies only, and one for Makies.

The available dresses are now listed in the "Blythe" section of my Etsy Shop.

Dyed with Avocado and Morning Glory

Dyed with fragrant Camellia blooms

Find your favourite here...

Orchid's Designs Shop

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Added behind the scenes peek... the origin of the beautiful and delicately varying shades glimpsed in this collection, the dye bath of camellia's, rose, hibiscus and morning glory:

BlytheFest 2014

Blythefest AU was wonderful! I've had a few days to recover, come to terms with all that happened and calm down! I was simply buzzing with excitement on the day, and have to say it was an absolutely fantastic event! I'm sorry I have to wait a whole other year until the next one! 

I had less than a month to prepare, so it's been hectic leading up to the day. Not only were we still reeling from our huge move back to Australia, but then I spent every day frantically sewing and customising to be ready in time. It's been stressful, but I feel it was all definitely worth it!

The Dolly Fashion Sketchbook had a whirlwind day! All our physical copies sold outBlytheFest! 

I am so excited that so many wonderful creative people will be filling up their sketchbooks with gorgeous designs soon! Hopefully our flickr group will soon be abundant with snapshots of the books in use! If you grabbed a copy on the day, feel free to upload your pictures to our group!

We have a few back-up copies left in our Etsy Shop, so if you'd like to grab a copy before the next pre-order, hurry over!

Our beautiful custom Blythe diorama "Garden of Delights" made her debut on the day, and to my immense delight she placed first in the competition! I owe a HUGE thank you to everyone on the day who voted for her, and who admired her, and came and complimented her, it meant so very very much for me! As a reward, she will be available for adoption soon to a lucky home!

I had an utterly fabulous day. I met SO MANY wonderful people, it was so lovely to put faces to names I already loved. It was amazing to get to meet everyone in person!

Of course, I came home with plenty of fantastic goodies!

For more photo's of the day and of course, all the dolls, here are our photo albums:

Facebook - Doll Photography 

Flickr - Orchid's Designs
Flickr - Doll Photography

BlytheFest AU: We're Vending!

After fearing we'd missed out on this years Sydney BlytheFest (we mixed up the date) I'm absolutely delighted to have been able to squeeze myself in as a vendor at the last possible minute! 

Now with less than a month to prepare (and we're still reeling from our huge move from London to Sydney just a week ago!) it's frenzied here.... flowers everywhere, laces and silks being dyed with camellia's, roses, avocado's and all sorts of beautiful vividly coloured blooms. We're going to try and get  diorama together for the day, and frantically working on a few very special Blythe customs to fit the floral theme. Rather than go for a retro 70's vibe, we're laying focus on the "flower" part, it'll be all about extravagant floral decadence for us at BlytheFest AU 2014!

Blythefest AU and We-Love-Blythe have been publishing a feature on each of their vendors leading up the event, and here's ours! Enjoy reading, let me know if you're excited, and see you there!

Vendor showcase no.4.

Monika from Orchidsdesigns.

www.facebook.com/orchidsdesigns

1. Hi can you introduce yourself?

Hello! My name is Monika Viktoria and I run my Haute Doll Couture brand as "Orchid's Designs". I create OOAK gowns and one-off designs for such artist made BJD like Enchanted Dolls, Popovy, & BJTales. I am an illustrator and Fine Artist, and my custom Blythe Doll's are embodiments of my romantic vision and quirky style. Rare fabrics and antique trims sourced from my travels around the world are synonymous with my creations, making sure each piece is spectacular and completely singular. 

After three years abroad in Europe, Africa, Paris and London I have now moved permanently to the Blue Mountains, and I can't wait to meet the Australian Blythe community at the 2014 BlytheFest! See you there!

2. Can you tell us what it is you make and what you will be selling on the day at Blythe Fest?

For this years BlytheFest, Orchid's Designs will be offering a floral fantasia, inspired by blushing blooms and budding gardens, fantasy floral wonderlands. 

Our beautiful fabrics have been dyed naturally with vibrantly coloured flowers, resulting in delicate, softly rosy silks and laces. Vintage velvet millinery flowers and handmade paper roses embellish our designs, which will be exclusively unveiled at the Flower Power BlytheFest in Sydney!

As a special treat, we will be bringing a small LE print run of our popular "Dolly Fashion Sketchbook" for Blythe designers and fashionistas.