Tiny Ballerinas

The Nutcracker dancers always put me in the holiday mood. I can't help it...I'm a sucker for a tiny ballerina. Last year Paola (http://www.paolazakimi.com) made this beautiful little ballerina for me and I love her! This year I was determined to make my own. I've been working on her in my spare time and she is finally finished!

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

A Nutcracker moment

Wet cleaning soft fired greenware

Soft fired greenware is fired in the kiln to cone 018. The porcelain becomes hard enough to clean the seams and polish the parts to a smooth as glass finish. I like to soak the parts in room temperature distilled water and clean while wet to avoid breathing the porcelain dust.
Once every part is smooth I let them dry for 2 - 3 days before the hard fire.
The last photo shows the difference between leather hard porcelain and sfgw that has been cleaned and polished. What a difference!

Opening molds

Just poured the second doll. I begin by opening the smallest parts first and quickly work my way through all the molds. Each part is carefully removed from the mold and the openings are cut and the holes are drilled. Before they dry I like to double check all parts and make sure they fit together perfectly. It's my little porcelain puzzle.

Success so far!

Begining the new collection!

The calm before the storm

The white wig gives Simoon a very different look...the calm before the storm.

Wig complete

Feels like cotton.

White wig

Working on a new wig!

I want a more natural look with this one so I'm using alpaca hair because it's soft and fine, almost cotton like. Alpaca can be knotted and still come out looking smooth and natural. I'm trying a new knot or a locked loop for the part so the knots don't show. For the rest of the wig I'm using a single knot. Once all the knots are in place I like to go through and tighten any knots that may have come loose. Then I turn the wig inside out and apply a thin layer of glue to keep the knots in place.

A true labor of love!

Welcome to a Paper White world...

Where the wild winds have finally calmed to reveal Simoon (red head), Leveche (white blond hair), Calima (blond).

Daughters of the wind.

The first Paper White collection!

little white dress

Just finishing the tiny couture.

In the making

Just finished the 3rd paint firing!

I finished it!

Now I need to style it...or not...hmmm.

Wig making

For my second wig I'm following Martha's wig making process and hand knotting each hair strand to the wig cap. I want a tight fitting wig that sits flush with the head and is a bit tamer than my last wig. It's very time consuming but I'm happy with the result so far...

Feels like glass!

I wish you could feel this! It's like glass!

I decided to add another step to my finishing method, torturing myself in the process, but the smooth glass like finish is worth the extra work. After soft firing to 018, sanding, polishing and drying for two days, I fired again to cone 06 for one more round of sanding. The parts feel very close to fully fired porcelain (no shrinkage) and you can see imperfections very well. I soak and sand with a fine grit sanding sponge and the result is amazing!

I need a massage!

Smooth as silk

After sanding the sfgw, I polish every part for a silky smooth finish.

The Awkward Acrobat!

The spring test is a success...but I think I'll keep testing a little longer.

All the King's horses and all the Kings men couldn't...

...but I can!

Red Palette

Porcelian in White!