2018 #10 Paper Dolls: Talking Dolls with EAB {by Alison Bomber}

2018 Topic 10: Paper Dolls

Instead of talking to herself, like most mad crafters, Alison is talking to her paper dolls, and guess what, they are talking back! A lovely post where Alison shares the process so beautifully! Have fun meeting her friends! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Alison here from Words and Pictures with you today, and I've been talking to my Tim Holtz Paper Dolls again - or at least they've been talking to me.  I usually find, when I'm working with a vintage photo of any sort that my imagination starts to take over and the person in the photo takes on a life and ideas of their own.

As you probably know, I love creating layered backgrounds, and once I'd selected my Paper Dolls, I listened in as I was layering to see which of my Eclectica EAB words they wanted to say, and this is the trio of tags I ended up with.

I love Seth's new paint colours, so they were the other element inspiring me through this creation.  I started with a wash of Glacier Ice over Snowflake in the background, and then enjoyed applying Double Denim with an old credit card.  (Glacier Ice and Double Denim are from the two most recent of Seth's collections,  Set 3 and Set 4 (respectively.)

There's something very satisfying about creating such artsy textures with such a mundane, everyday object.

I like to find out where the dolls want to stand (they're always very certain about which side of a tag they want to go), and once they'd told me, I added some Tim Holtz Design Tape for them to stand on, and an extra bit for the little chap who needs a leaning post.  Once he had an extra bit, both the others wanted more too.

At this point, I added another couple of layers to my background with some Snowflake-stamping of the fabulous alphabet from the Ink & the Dog Words Plate 2, and some brayered Snowflake for texture.

Ink & the Dog: Words Plate 2 (W2)

The real moment of delight, though, came when I added a light brayering of Seth's fabulous new Magic Moss (from paint Set 3) to echo the die-cut wildflowers I'd already made with Magic Moss-painted card.  I just love how those tag rings pop at the top, and how all his colours sing together.

The words being spoken by the dolls are selected from various sets of my quotes...

Eclectica³ Alison Bomber Set 01 (EAB01)

Trees & Flowers

Eclectica³ Alison Bomber Set 03 (EAB03)

 Music & Silence and 

Eclectica³ Alison Bomber Set 08 (EAB08)

Strength and Courage. 

I chose quotes in the first person, spoken with an "I", so that the dolls are speaking very directly to the viewer.  Sometimes I talk to them with the words, but this time they're definitely doing the talking!

This fellow has always seemed to me to be pretty sure of himself, so these words came loud and clear from his mouth.  (They are Anne Frank's words, and go on to talk about being a strong woman, but I've left that bit off!)

The Magic Moss painted flowers are exactly right for what this girl wants, and echo the flower bouquet she's holding, but I really like them paired with the boys too.  Her words are borrowed from Claude Monet... see, we're gender-blind here!

Because the Design Tape has quite a sheen to it, it was easy to wipe away the brayered paint even after it had dried, so she still has a firm earthy foundation to grow her flowers in.

And, unexpectedly, this third chap has turned out to be my favourite.  I'm not sure whether that's just because he happens to be speaking some of my favourite words of all time (by one of my favourite poets, Rainer Maria Rilke)...

... or maybe it's just the expression of mingled hope and wariness in his eyes.  In either case, he makes me want to reach out and take that hand to reassure him that there are exciting secrets to be shared in this life.

Sometimes in the photographing of odd angles, trying to capture background details, you end up with some accidental poetry as the doll's words bump into one another...

I often talk about not really knowing where I'm going when I start, and letting the ideas arise from the materials I'm playing with, so I hope this post gives you some extra insight into how those imaginative processes play out on the craft table.

I hadn't planned to have a completely matching set with flowers on all three, but the Magic Moss die-cuts sort of spread of their own accord.  The die-cut flowers themselves became necessary in response to the words of the girl, and she's the one who told me which words she wanted to say.  Does that sound a little crazy?  No, I'm guessing most of you know exactly what I mean!

I hope you'll be inspired to play with some paper dolls this fortnight, and talk to them too.  Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I'll see you again soon.

Alison x

Blog: Words and Pictures
Pinterest: butterfly crafter

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