Slowly but surely I'm working my way on Daisy's art journal page. Her chosen theme was our childhood dolls. Off I went to the drawing board, after a brief detour to the photo album. At first I thought that I'd use three photos of me as a child with different dolls.
But in the end I liked one photo the best because I had a hot pink haired rag doll. That definitely seems like a type of doll that I would have liked. Here I am as a little toddler/baby with a doll that's about as big as I am.
Before tackling the details of the page I added just another element to the background, a stenciled design in hot pink paint.
Next came the rag doll sketch to tracing paper to a silhouette cut from fusible timtex. I wanted the doll to be a fabric version of a paper doll.
After auditioning quite a few fabrics I settled on this beautiful batik fabric that I used earlier this year for my mermaid doll. I thought that it would give some more texture to the page. Of course how can you have a rag doll without a triangle patch nose or buttons for eyes?
The only drawback to using the timtex was that it left a white edge. That kept bothering me so I tried to cover it with a metallic gold ink but that bled to the edges of the fabric. A sharpie also did the same. That's when I remembered this fantastic set of fine art glitters in bright colors. A hot pink would be the perfect accent plus it'd look great with the two hot pink yarns that I planned to use as hair.
Next I worked on the fantastic quote by Johnny Gruelle, the author/artist of the original Raggedy Ann Stories. That meant some time in Photoshop working out all the kinks before I liked it enough to print out on inkjet cotton fabric. Rather than collage on another layer for the photograph, I just added it in the graphics program. Right now it's just fused to the background page but I'll most likely add some beads and ribbons to it before I'm done.
I found a great rubber stamp about friends that I want to add to everyone's page. Fortunately it stamped rather well on this cotton fabric. The purple plaid ribbon is from a present that someone gave my mother-in-law. She thought that I'd have a use for it someday and she was right. These elements need to be fused to the page and then I'll add some crystals for a bit of sparkle.
So far this is what the entire page looks like. I'll know more of what I want to add to it once the main elements are attached. I still need to add my signature somewhere subtle. It also needs some beads for sparkle and more texture but I'm liking it. What do you think?
