Resfeber

The Traveller

Traditional Nautical tattoo's could be read off the body of a sailor like a symbolic book. Each inked image illustrated a hard earned badge of honour; a swallow for every 5000 miles travelled or a turtle if you'd crossed the equator. For the suspicious, certain symbols represented goodluck talismans; The North Star to keep one on course or guide you home, a spyglass to keep goals in sight, and Marina's lantern serves as a guiding light in dark or uncertain times. Banners and anchors were emblazoned with the names of those who kept you steady, or in this case - words of courage and strength for the lonely traveller. Pinups kept a sailor company, and were sometimes the only companion for months for a sole traveller.

Inspired by Marina's love of vintage illustrated maps and my own shared passion for world travel. "The Traveller" is a fragile being, literally too delicate to live out her namesake, echoing many of our own fears of setting out into the dangerous unknown. She herself becomes an illustrated map: perfect skin engraved with her strengths and fears, her achievements and deepest desires laid out for anyone who meets her on her journey to see.

Further Details

Painted in delicate layers of sealed watercolour on porcelain Enchanted Doll: Fern.

The Madam - Meraki Dolls

It is our pleasure to be joining soon with fantastic Doll Artisan, Meraki Dolls, to collaborate on future OOAK fully costumed porcelain dolls. More information on these collaborative delicacies will be unveiled gradually, watch here for information and of course our Facebook Page.

For this first doll available for adoption from Meraki Dolls, we were given the honour of concocting a delightful back-story for "The Madam". Doll Photography (aka the "other" half of Orchid's Designs!) has captured The Madam through his lens, to showcase this exquisite prize-winning doll. 

The Madam

(Written by Monika Viktoria of Orchid's Designs, for Meraki Dolls)

Reclined on a priceless patterned silken couch (a special gift from the former Sultan himself) the Madam peers up from her reverie to survey her decadent receiving parlour; her private office to discuss meetings and book appointments for her dangerous and wealthy clients, to entertain and delight them with her small, but highly exclusive brood of girls. 

The powerful scent of poppy fumes and hundreds of indistinguishably scented candles heavily cloud the air. Thin trails of smoke from incense burners dotted around the room dance and writhe snakelike in the air. Soft chatter, an occasional stifled giggle and barely audible moaning escapes from the various enclaves hidden by thick velvet curtains dripping with tassels and eastern embroidery, golden threads glinting in the flickering candlelight. The floor is no longer visible, every corner of the dim room filled with expensive rugs and silken cushions neatly arranged into little groups. A majestic portrait graces the wall behind the main dais, the thick golden frame carved intricately with forbidden fruits and rare tropical flowers, lovers hidden amongst ferns and palms, glimpses of ferocious mythological beasts intertwined with masterful scrollwork. The majestic portrait is unmistakably of the Madam herself, porcelain white skin framed by ebony locks piled high on her head, extravagant pins and combs holding the midnight trestles defiantly in place. Arched brows painted high on her forehead, as was in vogue in the courts of emperors, lips rouged like bruised plums in her signature quivering sneer-like pout. Her slanted eyes pierce through even the boldest of brazen visitors, quelling arguments or disagreements, installing her absolute power here. 

Low gilded tables, small shelves and a few heavy wooden chests contain an assortment of miniature glass vials and crystal vessels, gleaming in the dim light. They contain an array of perfumes and specially mixed scents, to enrich the sensory experience of visitors to her establishment, and she plucks one of the tiny glass vials now from her collection, peering through the multicoloured glass at the oily contents swirling within. Her heavily jewelled fingers delicately remove the crystal stopper, golden rings weighed down with swelling jewels clinking together like tiny bells. She has been expecting a new girl to enter into service, rumoured to be a delicate flower, an unsurpassed beauty. The tiny glass vial now freed from it’s topper emits no scent at first, then slowly, unobtrusively, a fragile glimpse of innocence and purity escapes, reminiscent of early lilies and untouched blossoms. She returns the stopper to the vial, and in the quiet and near dark a tiny smile hints at those bruised plums, as the lingering scent from the vial slowly, just as unobtrusively, reveals a deeper, stronger undertone, heavy with musk and dark fruits. 
Perfect.

…

The Madam

Extravagantly costumed in a permanent gown and matching leggings, with a removable fully lined velveteen cloak, complete with working clasps, embellished chains and belts. Her styled hair (finest Suri Alpaca) features a permanent head-dress with tiny adorned pins and jewelled accents.Her makeup and jewellery is permanent fired China paint. The Madam comes complete with her decadent couch, tasselled cushions and an assortment of her tiny perfume vials. Each aspect to this exquisite costumed doll has been hand crafted and finished to perfection by master doll maker and artisan Jayne Mateljan of Meraki Dolls. 

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~AVAILABLE~

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Fine porcelain ball-joint articulated doll, leather lining, permanent china paint, Permanent OOAK costume and props all courtesy and copyright of Meraki Dolls by Jayne Mateljan
All Photography © DollPhotography AKA FourFingerPhoto

Forest Minuet

For picnics in the forest, days dedicated to picking flowers and watching the clouds slowly creep across the sky, listening to the hum of cicadas and the trilling of birds.

This tiny dress for BJTales Alyona dolls is beautifully hand constructed, made from LE designer fabric from Liberty in London, with a fully lined bodice and re-enforced waist. A gathered frill at the hemline, and a tiny button and hidden snap enclosure at the back.

Will fit the darling resin "Alyona" dolls by BJTales, as well as the porcelain beauties with the "Ophelia" body.

**Available**

Ghostly Ballerina Fairy

The ghostly Fairy Ballerina takes her place on the dusty stage each night, though the theatre has stood crumbling and abandoned for years. She twirls and leaps, skips and hops, pirouetting to the empty audience, spiders and rodents appreciating her lonely dance with tiny beady black eyes and inquisitive twitching whiskers. No grand orchestra accompanies her solitary dance, yet the music plays loud in her ears, echoing like the beating of a heart... she takes her bow at the end, to a silent applause alive and grand in her delicate memory. 

Gossamer organza dress in pearlescent oyster shades. Puffs of tulle and silk, shredded lace and threads dotted with tiny glass beads whispering along the hem and neckline. Two miniature eyelets close with a pink cord at the back-waist, leaving a dropped open back to this elegant theatre frock.

To fit the beautiful BJTales dolls by Lidia Snull including: Alyona, Aericia, Phantom.

Ghostly Fairy Ballerina Frock

~available~

Corpse bride - Part Two

The Tragic Tale of the Corpse Bride

PART TWO

(...continued from PART ONE)

Heartbroken and inconsolable, the bride flees to the cemetery, she can think of no other reason her love would not appear but for the worst. She collapses, her energy gone, her spirit crushed and broken, and her life evaporates like morning fog, leaving her translucent thin husk among the sorrows of cold stones spotted in moss and lichen.

Vines and ivy clamber over her tiny abandoned form...

Stone angels cradle her fragile spirit for as long as they can, begging her soul to return...

Time prevails, and her broken frame fades to soft light, a restless spirit who wanders between the graves, waiting for all eternity for her love who never appeared on their wedding day... On foggy mornings and at the melancholy hour of twilight, she is said to appear, softly calling, her frail voice breaking over the words: 

"My life... my love... my love..."

THE END

Photo Story Features
Porcelain OOAk doll Ophelia by BJTales: Ottilia in the role of the Bride
Special commissioned three-piece costume by the House of Orchid's Designs:
   -Wedding gown turned Funeral shift
   -Layered tattered tulle petticoat
   -Tulle veil and floral crown
Set in the East Finchley Cemetery

Corpse Bride - Part One

The Tragic Tale of the Corpse Bride

Part ONE

A dear little bride, dressed in her grandmother's wedding gown, awaits her true love. She feels beautiful in her long antique dress with soft train, lace-topped bodice and delicate vintage lace straps slipping off her frail shoulders, layers of soft white tulle petticoats and the softest double tulle veil complete with floral crown. Her soft strawberry-platinum curls frame her delicate face, hidden beneath the snowy veil.

The minutes tick painfully by, turning to hours. Her heart is like a nervous bird, fluttering against the cage bars bursting to come out. Where could her love be?

But this poor little bride, blushing with anticipation and hope, though she waits and waits, her love does not come. Weakened with despair and fatigue, she is aching through all her tiny bones. Billows of silk and tulle flutter up around her as she collapses to the floor.

Slowly her roses wilt, her dress crumples and wrinkles, dust settles in the room around her... she can barely move she is so weak. Her heart and mind know no console. Her heart is broken.

END OF PART ONE

Photo Story Features:

Porcelain OOAK Ophelia-doll by BJTales - "Ottilia"

Commissioned 3-piece Costume by Orchid's Designs

Raspberry Songbird

Hidden by the raspberry bush leaves, a songbird lets her joyous song raise to greet spring and summer. 

She'll lose her voice if you keep her in a cage, so listen to her golden trilling on sunny days out in the wild.

"Raspberry Songbird" is a fitted corset-frock created for the exquisite Enchanted Dolls. The hand-painted structured skirt is accentuated with layers of frothy pink trims, ribbons and lace - sourced from my travels round the world. A tight lace-up back adds the ability for this corset to fit both the Resin and more elite Porcelain Enchanted Doll sculpts. 

This is the second colour variant in my "Songbird" corsets made for the lovely Enchanted Dolls. The trims were just enough for this one-off piece, so it is truly one-off, not to be repeated.

~available~ 

Midnight Serenade

The Midnight Serenade is a sensitive gown for the doll who likes to gaze at the inky night sky, littered with stars. For the doll who reads poems by moonlight and listens to softly sung ballads in the garden beyond.

The gown is comprised of silky silvery satin with black net and lace, a lace-up back and low drop add sensuality, intensified by the lace-covered bodice with its tantalisingly open neckline.

Will fit both resin and porcelain Enchanted Dolls.

~available~

Please email info@orchidsdesigns.com to purchase or for more information

remember to include "orchid" in the subject title

Little Shell frock for Pearl

For a Pearl of the Sea comes this divine little frock in shades of custard, cream and gold. Layers of organza, satin ribbon, silky lace and shreds of misty fabric are beaded heavily to create this tiny couture piece. 

The backless dress is secured with golden ribbon crossing over and tying tightly at her slim waist. The under-skirt is wired to shape freely into cascading forms reminiscent of shells, waves, and the undulating soft creatures inhabiting the sea floor.

This little frock will fit the resin Pearl and Asrai sculpts by BJTales.

Time of Dolls Exhibition is St Petersburg

We are pleased to announce that thirteen OOAK Orchid's Design creations are off to Russia to show with LightpaintedDoll and BJTales!! 

"Time of Dolls" exhibition in St Petersburg, May- June 2013. 

Участники выставки "Время Кукол №11"

My costumes will be adorning the BJTales dolls exhibited at the show by Lidia Snul, as well as 6 costumes specifically made for a range of OOAK costumed Lightpainted Dolls. It's been very busy in the studio getting so many new designs ready in time!

We also run a small printing business from home, and had the pleasure of working with both artists to produce business cards, fliers, promotional postcards, magnets and glossy photo prints for the exhibition. Here they are all wrapped up, like candy.

We will unveil the new range created for Lightpainted Doll and BJTales soon, in the meantime head to our facebook page for a sneaky peak!