Young Ian

My first impression of the Venitu sculpt by Fifth Motif was, my gosh he would make a terrific young Ian from the Outlander series. I had fallen in love with the books by the time Venitu was introduced, and had decided that I was going to shell Jamie and Claire in resin form.  It didn't take me long to decide, since Venitu was limited and there was no guarantee he would be offered again, to bite the bullet and order Venitu to be my young Ian. My friend Lyn agreed to paint him for me and I decided I wanted to shell him with his Mohawk tattoo's. He and Jamie actually arrived home from Lyn's "spa" at about the same time, September 2014. Below is one of the first shots I took of him wearing his Dollshe khaki urethane eyes and the Monique Paris wig. Lyn did an awesome job on his face up.

I have tried several wigs on him over the course of his time with me. Below is another early effort that didn't stick.

He has also worn a mohair wig when dressing up.

I always seem to come back to the Monique Paris wig though, so a year or so ago I decided to put a few braids in it. While it isn't the perfect representation of how I see him wearing his hair, it works for now.

Next to Jamie and Claire, Young Ian (and now Rachel) are probably my next  favorite characters followed closely by Lord John. When I shelled Young Ian, they hadn't come close to casting him in the TV show yet, so I cast him in my resin world based solely how young Ian looks in my head. The sculpt probably comes closest to what I see in my head when I read the character of all my Outlander dolls.  I based all the dolls on my internal representations of the characters more than the actors on the TV show though. 

 I have been able to acquire a couple of pieces of clothing that work perfectly for his character (in my mind as well). I was walking around JoAnn Fabrics one day when I came across some calico fabric that immediately made me think of Ian.  There are several passages in the books that mention Ian's love of calico fabric. In  "My Own Heart's Blood" book 8 in the Outlander series Rachel muses in chapter 131,

 “Are you all right, Rachel?” I asked, [. . .]

“I am,” she answered, her voice slightly muffled behind her not-quite-sterile-but-at-least-boiled mask. She’d used one of Ian’s handkerchiefs for the purpose; it was an incongruously cheerful calico in dark-pink-and-white checks. Ian’s taste in clothing was strongly Mohawk.

Earlier in Chapter 94, his fashion sense and love of calico fabric was mentioned again : both curiosity and conversation rose to a much higher pitch when Ian walked in. He wore a new shirt, white calico printed with blue and purple tulips, his buckskins and breechclout, moccasins--and an armlet made of blue and white wampum shells, which I was reasonably sure that his Mohawk wife, Works With Her Hands, had made for him.

So, it only seemed fitting that the piece of calico fabric I found should be bought to make something for Ian. I bought it and sent it off to Robyn and she made the shirt he is wearing below, along with the vest, which also seems to suit him.  I have another piece of calico in reserve with a white background, that has Ian's name all over it...……….especially after rediscovering the quote from Chapter 94 above. I love finding little details, like the calico fabric,  that just add to the authenticity of the characters. 

The Completist in Me

I guess it is just the completist in my that spurred me on to add the final piece to the Tonner Outlander collection. As I was photographing the rest of my Tonner Outlander dolls I looked on Ebay to see what the prices were for the one remaining Claire doll I didn't have...…………………….and saw I had an Ebay coupon, so in a moment of weakness I hit the buy button. She arrived today.  She being the final "Basic" Claire in the 40's dress she was wearing when she went through the stones.

I like that this version has her hair down, as the other 3 Claire's have her hair up. I need to rinse the "product" out of her hair to make it softer and help the curls fall more naturally, but I'm happy to have a version with her hair down. I'd like to eventually have some of the costumes she wore in the first season made for her.

The outfit does come with a belt as well, but I left it off here as I was photographing her outside reminiscent of when she "fell" through the stones and woke up in the 1740's. The jersey knit of the dress is so soft. The shoes were a bear to get on, but I finally did manage to wiggle them enough to where they went over the heel.

All in all I'm glad I went ahead and added her. I'm afraid I would have regretted it down the line if I skipped her, as she is a little different from the other versions and will lend herself well to the Highland fashions if/when I decide to commission some in the future. While I wish the collection had gone on longer to encompass more of the fabulous fashions represented in the show, I'm glad to have the 5 dolls we got (4 Claire, 1 Jamie).  I'm REALLY surprised that Mattel hasn't gotten the license to do their own versions of Jamie and Claire in Barbie scale. 

Father Daughter

Just a few pictures of mini Jamie with Bree. As I said in the "Mother Daughter" blog segment I have gone back and forth about shelling Bree for a while. She has never been my favorite character in the books, but I do like Iple's Grace sculpt and thought she would suit the character well if I ever did decide to go that route. As noted previously I actually ordered FID Grace with the intent for another floating head to use the body most of the time, but that plan didn't work out as I felt the Iplehouse FID neck was just a little too long for the Raccoon Doll head to sit how I wanted it too. Luckily, I love how "Bree's" face up turned out, and love the eyes Iple sent with her, so am happy to have her to use as Brianna when the mood strikes me.  She is currently playing "Aya" in my In the Glade blog as well, so getting double duty out of her is fun.  Father and Daughter in profile below.

I should have added Claire to the mix for at least one of these shots, but I guess that can be a photo op for another day.

Just one more to end with for the day. I think I'm going to order the carrot colored wig in this style to see what I think. When I put Bree with Claire, you can see a red cast to the wig, but here with Jamie you can barely see the red tint to it at all.

Jamie's Hair

When Jamie #1 arrived home in September 2014 one of my first dilemmas was finding the perfect wig. I had 2 choices for him originally, an Iplehouse wig in the Sienna color that I had ordered specifically with him in mind, and a curly mohair wig that had been in my wig bin a while, and was used by another doll occasionally. The first picture here is in the Iplehouse wig. While I liked it, it just didn't feel 100% right.

 Below is the second choice, the curly mohair that I had on hand. This one worked a bit better for what I had in mind, and I have used it quite a lot for Jamie, and still do on occasion, but it still wasn't exactly what I wanted.

In late 2015, when I received the wedding outfit for Jamie I wanted something a little closer to how Sam Heughan's hair appeared in the Wedding episode of the TV show, so I sent the picture below to Chewin, who is not only a superb tailor (he actually made the vest and coat in the second wig choice  pic above here, and the coat in the first picture as well), but he makes awesome wigs. I had commissioned him on a wig for one of my dolls in the Brotherhood series, and I knew he had the Iple Leonard sculpt (which is what Jamie is) so I sent him the picture and asked if he would do something similar for me, for Jamie.

The result is below. I couldn't have been more pleased.

See from the sides and back below. It really pulled together his whole "wedding" look.

It is an amazing work of art. I was so pleased with how this wig turned out that as I had asked Chewin to recreate something similar to Jamie's Paris clothing, I also asked him to add a Paris inspired wig. I sent the picture below as one of my inspiration photos.

And below was the resulting wig and suit.

At this point I was so pleased by how the first 2 "Jamie" commissioned wigs had turned out that I asked Chewin to do yet one more wig for my EID Jamie, a casual curly style more reminiscent of how Jamie wore his hair in S1 of the show.

The result, a little curlier than show Jamie maybe, but I still like it.

In 2017 when I decided to shell Jamie in the smaller FID size, Chewin was one of my first emails to set up a commission for his wig. Result below. It is a little fuller than the larger one, but I like the look of it on mini Jamie a lot. I may just have to add a Paris style wig for mini Jamie as well...……………….and I also see the promos for S5 of the show picture Jamie with no bangs and a queued style. Hmmmm………...

Outlander Tonner Style

Before I started with the Asian ball jointed dolls, I collected Tonner dolls. I still have a lot of Tonner dolls, and several of them are the licensed doll lines such as Gone with the Wind and Harry Potter. When I first learned Tonner had gotten the license to do Outlander dolls, to say I was excited would have been an understatement. I was SO looking forward to seeing this line. The costuming on the Gone with the Wind line is fabulous, and I expected nothing less for the Outlander series. I put my name on the waiting lists for the first dolls that were due to come out, Claire in her red dress she wore to Versailles, and Jamie  in his Paris duds as well and waited.  The first doll in this line to actually be produced was a Metrodolls exclusive, Garden Encounter Claire, who was a limited edition of 200. I believe the event happened in the fall of 2017. I didn't attend the event, but there were a few leftover dolls after the event that went up FS on the Metrodolls website.  I went back and forth about purchasing her for a couple of weeks before I finally hit the buy button. As much as I love Outlander I was afraid if I didn't get her I would regret it later. I also knew the fabric for this outfit would be VERY hard to find in order to recreate something similar for my Iplehouse Claire. First impressions...………...the dress was lovely, the sculpt...………was a bit disappointing.

Catriona Balfe is such a beautiful woman, I had really high hopes for the sculpt, but while I don't "hate" the sculpt...…...I don't "love" it either. You can see the resemblance, but there is just something "off" about the jawline I think. . Pic of Catriona Balfe as Claire in the outfit below.

The dress however I think they did an excellent job on. Below is an almost full length shot of Tonner's version of the gown.

In January of 2018 my " Red Dress" Claire arrived. A limited edition of 300. The lip color is red on this version of Claire as opposed to her predecessor, who had pink lips. I like the darker lip color on her. This version is my favorite of the actual Claire dolls.

Once again, the dress is amazing, the earrings are beautiful as well. I think it would have been a wonderful touch for them to include her fan, but I was really pleased with her overall.  I found when photographing this version I saw a bit more of the actress (although I realize it is the same sculpt). Makeup really can make a difference. A full length shot of the dress below. Really an amazing work of art.

The last version of Claire that I purchased was the Dior dress replica Claire. Tonner called her New Look Claire, and she was also a LE300. Once again, the dress is wonderful. She comes with her purse and of course her hat, earrings and gloves.

The lip color on New Look Claire is in between that of Garden Encounter and Red Dress versions of Claire.

The last of the Outlander collection dolls to arrive was Jamie in his Paris outfit that matches with Claire in the red dress. I have read several reviews where other collectors were disappointed in his beard. I have to say, overall I really like Jamie, and the beard doesn't bother me over much. Below is a picture of Sam Heughan in the outfit that the doll outfit was modeled after.

Below is the doll. Tonner upped his edition size to LE500 due to demand (he was originally supposed to be limited to 300). While not a perfect likeness I can definitely see "Jamie" when photographed from some angles. The outfit is pretty much spot on, or as least as much as you can do when recreating in doll scale.

Below a shot of the Frasers together.

There were a total of 4 Claire dolls done in the line and only one Jamie. Unfortunately, Tonner Doll Company decided to close its doors as of December 31, 2018,  an announcement was made in early January 2019, meaning no more Outlander licensed dolls. We never got to see a Highlander Jamie or Claire for that matter, which is a disappointment as I would have loved to have seen each of them in one of their "Highland" outfits from season 1.  I guess technically, the swan song was Claire in an outfit from Season 1, her 1940's dress she is wearing as she goes through the stones for the first time. She is the only doll in the series I'm  missing at present. See a promotional pic of the doll from Tonner below.

The Little Details

As a child I remember sitting in the floor with my sister building stables for our Johnny Marx horses out of carboard. I've loved horses from an early age and dolls and their horses took up quite a bit of mine and my sisters playtime in our early years. I remember trying to get the little details right, writing the horses names on the stall doors, making them leg wraps and blankets out of materials discarded from mom's sewing basket. Making lead ropes and halters out of yarn, you get the picture.
As I got older, dolls came back into my life when I sold my horse to start a family, and when digital cameras became more prevalent, I became interested in photographing my dolls. At first, it was mainly about selling some of the dolls I wanted to move on to other homes, as I figured out the better the "for sale" photographs were, the better chance of making a sale. At some point though, it turned more into creating little miniature doll worlds with the dolls being the main subject of  the photograph. I took it as a challenge to try and make my dolls appear as realistic in the photos as I could and try to tell a bit of a story with each photo. There are several ways to add realism to the photos, perspective is certainly important, as is lighting. Posing the dolls in a realistic manner is important as well. Finding in scale props to add interest and detail is another way to aid in having your subject appear more "realistic".  So, for this blog post I thought it might be fun to highlight some of the "details" I use in my Outlander doll world to help add interest and a layer of realism to my play.
 When shelling Claire, I knew right away that her rings are such an important part of her character that I wanted to try and find something that would represent the silver and gold rings she wears in the book. The newer Iplehouse hands luckily have separate fingers, so the trick was finding an artist that did jewelry in this size, in the form of rings. Etsy came through for me again, in the form of a shop called BJDouterie. Both of my larger Claire's have their appropriate rings, while not identical replicas, they work for me. I have not however found someone that does rings in the scale of my FID dolls for mini Claire. If anyone out there reading knows of a source, please comment or send a message to me letting me know.

Claire's fan is another fun detail that just adds another layer of interest and realism to the Paris red dress outfit. As mentioned a couple of days ago, I happened across the fan on Etsy as well. Robyn (Period Threads) made Claire's earrings, yet another important detail in recreating the whole feel of the ensemble from the show.

The next fun prop I picked up along the way is a spyglass in 1/3 scale. This was offered by Iplehouse when they did their Carved Heritage line, and I knew it could come in handy for Jamie or Ian in their adventures, eventually. Here it is with Ian using it. I really should have taken him outside, but maybe that's a photoshoot opportunity for another day.

From a front on view, in this shot you can see part of Ian's facial tattoo's that my friend Lyn gave him. I wanted him to have them to add another layer of authenticity to his character.

Hobby Lobby is a very good resource when scouting props in 1/3 scale. In the photo below,  the "bookshelves" in the background of Claire's surgery were found at Hobby Lobby, along with the little "table" in the center of the bookshelves and the background behind the table as well. The basket on the "table", bottles on the shelves and small trunk on the shelf were all Hobby Lobby finds. The rug on the floor was knitted by me.

Claire's mortal and pestle were a wonderful gift from a friend. They were found on Amazon I believe, along with an Outlander mini book that is perfect scale for the FID sized dolls.  The pestle might be slightly large, and the mortar slightly small for 1/3 scale, but bowls come in all sizes, right? It works for me!

And lastly I'll finish with Lord John. This one really helped to drive home the importance of details for me. When first commissioned, Robyn and I didn't think about the hat for Lord John's uniform. Below is the first picture I took of John when the uniform first arrived, sans hat, belt and sword. Something was definitely missing, or a few somethings actually.

Below, see John after the accents of hat, sword belt and sword were added. Quite the difference, right? The whole look is just pulled together. Hat by Period Threads, sword and sword belt by Iplehouse.

Inspiration to Execution- Part 2

Continuing on with my theme from yesterday, Inspiration to Execution, another seamstress who made some fabulous pieces for my Claire and Jamie early on was Sherry  at Sisen Designs. I had admired Sherry's work on various items she had posted on the doll boards over the years. I contacted her to ask if she took commissions and would be interested in creating a couple of "inspired by" pieces for my dolls based on outfits I loved in the TV show.  Below is the outfit she did for Claire, which was a favorite of mine from S1 of the show. Sherry knitted the arm warmers as well. You can't tell from the photos's but there is even a bum roll under her dress to make it lay properly.

Jamie's brown vest from S1 was another piece that I ordered from Sherry. Below is a photo I did, trying to recreate one of the "promo" shots Starz did to promote S1 of the show. Jamie is wearing the vest Sherry did for me, along with his kilt Becky made (see yesterday's post). Resin dolls DO NOT move like people, so took me a while to get the dolls exactly the way I wanted them, but in the end I was fairly pleased with the shot.

Lastly I REALLY wanted Jamie's vest and coat that he wore in the wedding episode of S1. Like probably everyone else that watches the show, the wedding episode is one of my very favorites. I already had his kilt and the plaid he wears over his shoulders, so Sherry made the coat and vest for me. Jamie's wig in this shot was done by Chewin, who has done 4 different wigs for me for Jamie. I'll spotlight him in a later installment. I love how this outfit turned out.  The colors aren't exactly perfect, but close enough for me!

Inspiration to Execution

One of the wonderful things about the internet is the connections you can make with others that have the same interests. Through my love of dolls and Outlander, I have had the pleasure of connecting with some truly wonderful, talented people, quite a few of them have become very good friends over the years.  My wonderful friend Lyn is a fabulously talented artist, who has painted many of my dolls faces (she did all of my Jamie's, Young Ian, Fergus and Rachel as well).  Robyn at Period Threads is another supremely talented artist, her art expressed through fabric and thread, who I have had the pleasure to meet and work with through our love of dolls, period fashion and Outlander. I first came across Robyn's work in 2015 when I was searching for someone who could create some miniature works of art for my Outlander dolls to wear. I found Robyn's website "Period Threads" and contacted her about doing Jamie's wedding shirt and a shift for Claire. Since that time she has not only become my "go to" person for any period fashion pieces I  am inspired to see recreated in dolly form, she has become a wonderful friend as well.
In this blog installment I thought it might be fun to share some photos of several of the pieces Robyn has made for me over the years. The first 2 pieces I received were Jamie's wedding shirt and Claire's shift seen below in one of my favorite pictures of my larger Jamie and Claire dolls. I don't have a collage of them with the inspiration photos, but I found screen shots of the clothing items from the show and sent them to Robyn, and she recreated them perfectly in doll size.

I think two of the next pieces we began talking about were Claire's red Paris dress, and the gold robe she wears in Paris in S2. I sent Robyn still shots of the inspiration pieces from the show, and she was able to create wonderful miniature versions for my dolls. It isn't always easy to find comparable fabric to match your inspiration that will work in dolly scale, so for Claire's robe I found something close that we both thought would work. Robyn also made her silk long sleeve chemise that goes under the robe. I've paired the screen shots of Catriona Balfe as Claire in the robe that inspired the piece, along with my dolly version of Claire in the finished shift and robe by Robyn below.

The Paris gown took a little longer to come to fruition, but was well worth the wait. The cartridge pleats that Robyn did on the skirt are works of art within themselves as are the under clothes not pictured here. Robyn even did the earrings. I was lucky to find the fan in an Etsy store, and thought based on measurements it might work for dolly scale. It was the perfect added touch.

One of the next big projects I approached Robyn with was a British Army uniform for Lord John. While I don't know if it was at the top of her list of projects she wanted to tackle, once again, I sent her inspiration photos and she agreed to try. Result, she hit it out of the ballpark. Poor John hasn't had his clothes changed since the uniform arrived and he put it on. The details are amazing.

One of our collaborations that wasn't actually inspired by a "show" piece of clothing is the jerkin I asked Robyn to make for Young Ian. At the time, Ian hadn't shown up in the TV show yet. I found a picture of this jerkin while researching other period fashion pieces and thought it would be something well suited to Young Ian. The calico shirt was inspired by a passage I remembered from the books where Claire was thinking about Ian's fashion sense ever since he returned from the Mohawk and it was mentioned he sometimes wore calico prints.

I'll finish up with one of the last pieces Robyn did  for Jamie. I had found this fabric in a scrap bin while shopping at JoAnn Fabrics and thought of Jamie's coat he wears in the Versailles Gardens in S2. I bought the fabric and once again sent pictures of both the fabric and the inspiration pics of the jacket and asked Robyn what she thought. The result is below. Robyn also made his waistcoat. His kilt however was made by another very talented seamstress, Becky Unger, also an Outlander lover. Back when I first got Jamie I had seen a post on a doll board where Becky mentioned the Fraser plaid fabric she had found. I contacted her and asked her about making a kilt for Jamie. Even though she didn't even have a doll his size, I sent her the measurements and she did the kilt for me, which is a perfect fit.