Varnish Thoughts

I really have some trouble figuring out what to use for varnish, if any.  It's the final step, and it's the moment when you say, do I want to risk all the work I did on this doll face.  Do I dare maybe wrecking my work.  

Matte is flat, and I do enjoy seeing a little gleam on the cheek of a doll.  I suppose I should just let them be matte and flat.  They mostly pre-date varnish. 

I recently worked some more on this Queen Anne-style doll of mine and then varnished it.  I think I was telling myself, "this doll is finished.  Now varnish it."  But now she's pretty shiny. 

I know I could put matte over the satin varnish in spots, I have done that before to tone down shine.  I just wish I could find a finish with an even, somewhat dull shine.....  like dolls of yore.  I am thinking if she is paperclay trying to look like wood, wax is the answer.  I must try wax over paperclay.

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a great day. 

Old Yeller

When I saw that Gail Wilson carries a special paint to make white fabrics look yellowed with age, I thought ah, now we are getting to the nitty gritty!  Special products to make white fabrics look stiff and yellow and old.  Yay! 

I have aged fabric before using tea, coffee, spray starch, bleach, and sometimes turn the fabric around to use the backside.  

Here is a picture showing white eyelet before and after using Gail Wilson's yellowing product:

 

The sample above, I left to soak in the solution for five minutes.  The shirt on the Tam O'Shanter boy, I soaked for less time.  You can always soak it again, for longer, so best to start with only a minute or two. 

It doesn't have an odor to use, but it does smell somewhat if you iron the dry fabric later.  Nothing bad though.  it does change the texture of fabric to be stiffer. 

When the fabric is all dry, it has no odor. 

Applications with Beeswax

That's a pretty prosaic title, but the whole "wax application" I tried turned out to make not a very dramatic change.

I had a paper bag book I'd finished, and wanted to try putting beeswax over it, as a kind of sealant-texture.

 My book is Christmas-themed.  I was afraid if I put wax on the cover, which is mostly felt, it might wreck it; so I didn't.

Cover of book -- has a lot of tea stain, but no wax on it. 

First page I tried putting beeswax on, had this result.  I melted wax pellets in an electric melting pot, and then brushed over the page: 

It made the finish dull, but I sort of liked it... it kind of unified it.... probably the wax surface can be seen better by clicking on the image....

Second try: I brushed wax (equal parts clear pellets and natural) over a photo.

On a photo, wax just looks like crusty wax!  The surface of the photo repells it, so it doesn't sink in.... Even so, I kinda liked the look after while.

The third try was on paper with mica glitter glued to it.  I brushed wax over it.

I will put another photo that shows more of the shine.....The wax did not totally block the mica shine, so that was interesting. 

And the last try, was on embossed white paper -- I brushed wax heavily on some areas leaving others free of wax.

It adds something; and I didn't like that page much to begin with anyway, so it didn't hurt it.

So, that was my humble experiment putting wax on a couple paper surfaces.  Although at first it didn't seem like much,  after awhile I liked the effect -- on a few pages of the book, not a whole book.    And, it makes the pages waterproof.  If not fire-safe.   

The Lure of Ribbons

I've been reading about early Quakers, and learning that ribbons were garnishments that the early Quakers disapproved of.  Ribbons ties on bonnets were acceptable, but no ribbons elsewhere.

 This doll head is being intoxicated by the ribbons floating around her.

I wonder what it is about ribbons?

Hair Supply

Stocking up the Hair Department...

I've been in the mood to get mohair. (ha) I looked around Ebay but then ended up at -- Etsy!  There I  found a half ounce of beautifully clean locks of Suri alpaca, from a young Suri alpaca.  People are selling the locks off of their baby alpacas, in rural California.

The locks I bought turned out to be more reddish in person than I anticipated from the picture.  They are so soft.  At another site, I bought mohair roving, liking the flaxen color.  The Suri alpaca is a lot softer and silkier than the mohair roving (right). 

Then I bought a huge amount of human hair at a doll show.  Probably at least twenty ounces.  It would make very special dolls I am sure.  One of the samples I had to weigh as I was curious.  It is dark brown and so much heavier than the others.  It weighs almost five ounces; an equivalent amount of other hair types weighs 1.8 ounces.  I wonder what the lady (or man) was eating. 

Hm, well,  I guess it's like using mohair off another living creature, right???   So far I have only put it into separate bags.  And stowed it in a dry area.