What a lovely week it has been. There is a certain calmness that I haven't felt for much too long. All of the illness and residual lethargy that follows has evaporated, outside has been touched by gentle warmth, and all of the charcoal & oatmeal mimics will be flying the nest. I have been busy packing up all the dolls for their journey to the post this weekend while finding time for outdoor romping with my lit'le. 

Excitingly all of this cheer (and getting a few consecutive full nights sleep) has boosted my energy levels and I have jumped right into starting the next batch of mimics. With the last group being rather dark and having quite a bit of avocado and cranberry dyed fabric piled up, I want to give the new batch a bit of color (faded color, but color nonetheless!). I am going to have a go at dyeing more fabric this weekend with turmeric. As of now, I am calling the batch Vermilion and Honey based on the threads I am using for the embroidery. I have completed a set of vermilion arms and legs and am working on a set of honey limbs. The shop update for these will be in early June. I will have a table at Awesome Con in Washington DC the first weekend in June and will be debuting this group there, the online shop update will be immediately after that weekend. 

One last thing, I want to try adding something a little new to my weekly updates. From time to time I am asked about what my influences are. While I sometimes have images I reference for when I have specific ideas (for instance, fungi pictures when I made Humi and images of Great Depression era children for the charcoal & oatmeal mimics), always my biggest influence is music. I like to think I have a fairly diverse musical palette. Anyway, I figured I would post the music I am currently playing while working to help give a better look at what is actively influencing the dolls being created. 
This week I've been playing the soundtrack from The Wicker Man (the original, not the laughable Nicholas Cage remake). Specifically, Willow's Song has been on repeat quite a bit. It's such a feminine and beautiful song (although fairly naughty), one that just screams out "Spring" to me. 

Because everything has been going so smoothly these past few weeks (insert sarcasm filter), almost down to the moment I finished up the mimics and started to take photographs my daughter came down with a fever. I was able to capture a few shots of the oatmeal mimic before illness struck. So, while I had announced the shop update for this Friday, I am going to push it back to Sunday the 20th. 
Photographs of the others will be trickling in over the next couple of days. 

I am finally nearing the finish line for this batch of mimics. I have the third one mostly wrapped up; I still need to finish her apron/over dress tonight. Oh, and of course the wig. I should be able to finish the fourth and final mimic over the weekend. So, stayed tuned as next week I will announce the shop update. The pricing will vary for each doll, but will range from $500 to $600 USD. 
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My daughter helped me take these photographs this morning. The dried beans were her edition. She is amazingly sweet with the dolls. She understands they are fragile and "mommy's work"; so while she is fascinated by them, she doesn't touch them. Instead she just hovers around them and soothingly coos at them as if they needed to be reassured. It warms my heart.