Back to School

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind, and as usual I am annoyed with myself for letting my blog fall by the wayside when life gets crazy.  Another school years has begun and my schedule is intense: I'm teaching a undergraduate composition course, and having sixty eyes stare at me for an hour-and-a-half twice a week is certainly a powerful impetus to work hard.  It's also a huge amount of marking, as the students are supposed to hand in multiple drafts of several different essays.  Then I have my thesis and my own courses to contend with; fascinating but demanding (more on those later).  So.  All aplologies... My blog has suffered but I will keep trying to do better!  Here are a few ladies I finished this week:

Voilá Bebe. (Hmm...can't get that accent to go the right way.)  Some of you might remember way back when I went to labcab and found this lovely black and white poster:

It inspired me to make a doll using only black, white and shades thereof, and Bebe is the result.  She is another of my 'deconstructed' dolls, as she has no legs; she is supported by a wooden stand, which is covered by her skirt.

Like Agatha's, her bodice is made from decoupaged paper; the rest of her clothing is fabric.  Her head. arms and torso are paperclay, and her eyes are handmade.  I guess I cheated a little, because there is a hint of pink in her skirt and eyes (doesn't every girl need just a little pink in their lives?)  She will go in the shop this week, along with sweet little Olive:

I think she must be visiting us from the Edwardian era (but left her body behind?)  She is made from polymer clay with handmade eyes,  raw wool for  hair and  pretty bits of lace to suggest clothing.  But Hallowe'en approacheth, so the soft, pretty girls will have to step aside and make room   for their ghoulish, decaying sisters!