Higher Delights

Fairy brother and sister!

2012-02-08T10:49:00.000-08:00

So- these little friends have been in the works for a long, long time. Finally- I have a girl and a boy finished!

Of course I already know I need improvements- I'm a super-perfectionist- their ears don't show thru the mohair! As I was making the wigs I thought to myself, "How did I NOT know the ears wouldn't be long enough, what was I thinking???" I'm very happy with the chubby bellies, feet, and hands. I can't wait to make a few more and try different skin and hair colors. Next project- rainbow-haired centaur girl... no- I swore my next project wouldn't be so cutesy. I'm good at doing cute- and to my dismay that's the thing I'm best at. My art is cute whether I like it or not. I can manage an elegant style, but "edgy," dark, or scary is beyond my abilities. Do not ask me to do abstract.

Anyway- I am looking forward to getting more work done.

---Kelly

New doll!

2012-01-23T07:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a pic of my new little elf boy! He is still a work -in-progress. I am going to try some different hair colors, make him some clothes, and his sister is in the works as well. I think I will be resculpting his upper legs- I'm not satisfied with the way the joints fit I am such a perfectionist. Any way- keep an eye out, I am going to be updating more. Thanks for looking!

---Kelly

Redhead on ebay now til Sunday Dec. 18th

2011-12-13T19:48:00.000-08:00

This girl is on ebay until Dec 18th. She comes with a dress and stand. Check it out:

Higher Delights ebay auction

Thanks!!!
Kelly

Redhead girl up on ebay soon

2011-12-01T19:34:00.000-08:00

This girl is going up on ebay soon , hopefully this week. I'm working on better photography right now. She wi;ll come with a dress and a stand. If anyone has any good ebay advice I am open to suggestions. I haven't put up an auction in a while.

2011-08-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd add this larger- these girls are available, $1100 USD shipping included.

2011-08-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

Photo shoot! I am so very please with how these girls turned out. The redhead surprised me. I wasn't happy with her face until I assembled her and put her wig together, but now I adore her. She and the black haired girl are available. The white haired girl is spoken for. All three have painted designs on their backs and I just realized I forgot to photograph those! I am thinking about dressing these friends now. Feedback? Thanks!

---Kelly

2011-08-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

This girl is finished! She is available for $1100 USD including shipping. She comes in the black wig and another of your color choice. Better photos coming soon.

2011-08-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

These are work-in-progress photos of a girl I'm finishing up. She will be finished soon if all goes well! Her back has a painted tatoo deign, photos coming soon. Please leave me comments! Thanks!

--Kelly

2011-07-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry no photos for the moment- I'm in a hurry! My life has been a bit topsy-turvy lately- to put it mildly- but I'm working again. I have two dolls about ready to paint and they will be for sale soon. Let me know if you are interested. They will be $1200 USD each, nude. Thanks for keeping an eye on my blog. I hope better things are to come soon, as I will be launching my efforts into working at this full time now. Please post a comment here or contact me at kellymariesalchli@gmail.com.

Thanks again for everyone's comments and support!

2011-05-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

Here's the newest girl in her final hair color. I am still working, slowly as ever!

2011-04-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

As usual, work has been slow. But this little girl is nearly done, and another will be done shortly. She will actually be a blonde, as this wig is borrowed. I attempted another of the "Destiny" faces this time, and it was coming out much better than the first, but as I was removing it from the kiln it rolled of the kiln brick and broke. I had forgotten to peg it in place with a wire. Then I dropped and broke one of my upper arm parts when I was applying the last layer of paint. Frustrating!

I am working on some new doll designs. No promises on progress -- only time will tell. I will have a free week in about a month when my children will be visiting family, and I hope to work the whole week on dolls- when I'm not on my horse :)

Thanks to all who visit my blog and who have bought my dolls. It means so much to me!

2011-04-03T16:04:00.001-07:00

My kiln was NOT (!!!!) damaged by the water in the basement incident- WHEW! So expect to see some new things here soon! I have lots of new projects in the sculpting stages, but thy won't see porcelain for a while yet. Watch for new posts!

The two girls pictured have gone to their new homes. I miss them!

2011-04-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

The two girls pictured have gone to their new homes. I miss them!

Spring

2011-03-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally decided to stick around here for a few days in a row! I brought one of my girls out for photos. She was much more cooperative than my two-year-old boy, who wouldn't sit near the pretty flowers because there were roly-poly bugs in the mulch.

I was bored recently and went look at mohair on etsy. I couldn't decide which of the pretty bright colors I wanted, so my husband, Scott, decided to order them all (almost -he nearly bought out that person's etsy store). I really can't wait to do something with these. I will need some more dolls to wear the new wigs. Unfortunately, my kiln got wet this last week due to too much rain and a failed basement pump! It was unplugged, but I'm not sure how high the water was so I don't know if it's damaged yet. I do have several sets of parts about ready for their final firing. I have an alternate kiln I can use if I can't use mine. We'll see how things go! I'm also working on some improvements to this doll, two new dolls, and I can't wait to start on a centaur body- I need more time to work!
So my thought was a rainbow striped wig and a rainbow-haired centaur. Scott tried to forbid me to from making anything "My Little Pony-like," but I just giggled maniacally at him. I don't know what I'm going to do next.

2011-02-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

This girl had taken me so long to finish! Whew! Work time is so limited, I'm not letting myself stay up late to work, and it's been cold here. I don't work well in the cold, and our furnace is dying. I'm so ready for spring.

I've had people contacting me about buying dolls. I realized I haven't put any info here about that. I hope to have some dolls for sale this spring. The next few are spoken for, and I have to re-mold some parts. Send me a message, and I'll let you know when I have a doll for available.

I am hoping to finish some new dolls before too long. I have a a bigger girl and a toddler boy in the works. My son has been bothering me to make a boy! It may be summer before I mold those, but it took me all last year to make this one girl, so... who knows!

Thanks for everyone's awesome support!

2011-01-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a wig I made just for fun, as a test, just to see if I could. My inspiration was a hair style from a Jane Austen-type mini-series, Wives and Daughters. The hair style had a piece of silk hanging around the back and a silver arrow piercing the braids like Cupid had shot an arrow strait through. I used some mohair I bought that is very over-processed. It's incurably frizzy. I didn't mind playing around with it. I may try this again, this time adjusting the wig cap a bit and using better mohair. Smoother mohair would lay a bit flatter, I think. Fun fun.

2011-01-24T05:54:00.000-08:00

This is my new girl, Hyacinth. I pretty much love her. She turned out just the way I was hoping!

Th necklace is a gift from Paige over at the Enchanted forum. Thanks a bunch, Paige, it's beautiful. I have another girl close to being finished. She'll be on here hopefully next week.

2011-01-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

This little lady made it to her new home right before Christmas. By the way, it's summer in Australia, hence the beautiful green grass in the photo! Let me just say that I was absolutely thrilled to see my little girl, now "Blossom," with her new big sister, Fern, an enchanted Doll by Marina Bychkova. I think Fern's probably one of the prettiest dolls made- EVER. I hope to one day get my little girls a big sister like Fern!

I am working on two dolls right now. One is a new skin tone. She's in the kiln tonight for her full firing. I hope to have them both done within a few weeks, so stay tuned.

2010-12-10T20:37:00.000-08:00

I caught this little fairy mid-flight! She is actually the first set of parts I strung together and painted with watercolor just to see how everything looked. I wanted to paint her very very pale. The results please me very much! China painting is becoming easier, and stringing is getting easier. My next doll is a new skin tone, a more yellow tone that I'm going to try blushing it with a warm brown, paint dark eyes, black hair- totally different direction. This little lady has found a home! My first little one to leave the nest!

Please leave me feedback, comments, I love comments! I am still learning this process, learning blogging, photography, etc. I hope to improve on both as much as I can. Tell me who are your favorite doll artists, or just artists. I love to see what others are doing.

Thanks for following!

2010-12-03T15:23:00.000-08:00

Belle and Destiny finished. They are both from a pink/Dresden (Ultras Chic) slip. The Belle doll is the same one below and above with a different wig.

2010-11-25T18:53:00.000-08:00

Destiny, finished. I finally got springs that are just right for stringing my doll. They had to be custom made to be strong enough to hold but narrow enough to fit in the tiny forearm. I am delighted to see this girl finished. She's wearing a pretty vintage handkerchief that I'll ake into a dress when I get the time. The second pink/ peach (Dresden) doll will be finished this week, and she may be for sale. Two white dolls are in the works and will be ready in December.

2010-11-19T20:55:00.000-08:00

New girls: new slip color (Dresden), new face (in the white hair). The top unpainted head is white, the lower dresden. The left body is painted, the right is unpainted. I'm tried to keep a light and natural complexion on these faces. These girls are based on my beautiful daughter (right) and niece (left). What do you think? Honest feedback is fine with me.

I have my new springs!!!! They are just right--after searching for months and then having to place a custom order. Hopefully there will be some progress this weekend. I'm hoping to have a few girls ready to sell by December. This has been such a learning experience. Every step has had multiple setbacks, and there have been so many steps in the process! Keep watching for updates, they will be more often now. Thanks for following! -----Kelly

2010-11-11T06:37:00.000-08:00

I am not currently able to put photos on my computer so I haven't bothered to update in a while! I will have a new doll finished in a week or two, depending on when my new springs arrive. I am hoping to have a few dolls ready to sell. I am going to put one on ebay at some point, too, just for fun. That will be after the first 5 people who are on my list have their dolls. It is exciting to get to this point! So stay tuned, new photos soon!

2010-10-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping to really pull together some nice dolls soon. I'm still looking for the right materials and working out the finer points of the techniques involved. It's all getting easier. New face! I think this face will be cute. It's based on my niece, who is an absolutely beautiful child. I love her dearly. I can't wait to get a few painted.

2010-09-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

So... not much new to show, life happens. I built some new molds, including a new face, this weekend. Monday I went to an overnight conservation camp with my daughter and our home schooling group. We had great fun. In 32 hours we practiced archery, went canoeing, kayaking, fishing, stargazing (with a professional astronomer), told "scar stories," went on a nature hike, and did a craft project... I won an award for best craft project! Parents were considered campers too so we got to participate in everything.

So I expected to come back and make a hand mold but I spent yesterday in the ER with my son who was hit in the face with a baseball bat by his cousin while I was at camp. Today was spent at doctor's offices. He's fine, the worst of the damage is a few teeth knocked out of place that should heal, and a busted lip. I am not sure when more doll work will happen! I need to catch up on school work with my girl, then maybe I can justify some china painting. The molds should be dry enough to cast some new parts soon. The I'll have some new things to work with. Thanks for following my work, feedback and friendly words keep me motivated!

2010-09-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

The other head. A few words about mohair and sewing machines... bad, naughty, evil... not really being fair to the mohair, it';s the sewing machine I dislike... or it dislikes me. As usual, the first bit I tried to weft came out fine. The machine likes to lure me into a false sense of success. Then it gets ugly, it jams, the thread snaps, and 45 minutes later I give up and do it by hand. Never fails.

I have to say that the face looks remarkably like an older version of my little girl. I held it up to her and noticed one thing with the eyes that would make a big difference in the likeness. I want to make a younger proportioned body on day, one that could work for a little boy or girl. My son asks me often, Where is the doll of me?" He would be soooo cute. i also want to make a little 5 year-ish faun doll, a young lady centaur, a dryad, an older young woman, a man... augh! No time! One day...

I will take a better photo outside tomorrow. When I have more to photo I will get a better camera to use. I use a snapshot Canon, and with poor light the photos are pretty crappy. But I can't wait to share! Please comment, friends! Am I gonna hafta have a contest to lure people into my blog?

My second doll

2010-09-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Here are my two finished girls together, having a chat. The darker body was actually made for a different head, which needed more paint touch-ups, so I put this head on , that's why its a little lighter than the body. I learned more, need to still iron out some issues. Mostly I need more sizes of springs. Feedback is appreciated. My family, children included, have given me lots already. Xavier, 5, does not like the head that looks like his sister (not shown). More photos on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ksalchli/

2010-09-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

Doll #2 and an extra head, paint layer 2. The 3rd layer of paint is on, and it is in the kiln. I'm working out my issues with china paint, we're learning to get along.

Ordering springs today did not go well. The man on the phone, Bob from Kentucky, treated me like I was stupid. I probably sounded stupid, maybe because I'm from Kentucky, and also because I had no idea what to ask for, and also because I was yelling at my five-year-old. I started to explain what I needed them for and he interrupted with, "I don't care what they're for." I hate people like that. He wants me to mail him the springs I have ( which are too small) so he can determine what I need, even though he doesn't know what they're for. Sigh.

Molding the new parts... another sigh. More work needed there. I also can't keep the cat out of my mohair, I'm back to one wig.

Thanks for kind words and support from everyone. I showed my first doll to a lady and she exclaimed with delight that it was like a little fairy. That's exactly what I want to hear!

ambrotype

2010-09-10T20:13:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I took my family to a working historical farm where they were having an 1850's county fair "interpretation." A man was set up taking ambrotypes so I had my daughter, Belle, photographed. I LOVE this image. It was taken with a big camera on wooden legs, the accordion-shaped body, the black cape and all, and was developed on glass with a silver solution. Belle was playing cricket and the photographer had the idea to include a cricket bat and ball in the picture. She enjoyed the whole thing, the attention mostly, and she stood very still for so the photo didn't blur. The actual exposure was four seconds, but she stood still for a good while waiting for the set up. I will always treasure this!

I have been so happy how many people who know my daughter have seen my doll and told me immediately that it looks just like Belle. I must have got it right! Even with the extremely different coloring the features are right. My next set of parts will be painted to look like Belle. With the first doll I was afraid to do much with the paint so I left it very pale. I will start a new one this weekend. Watch for new posts soon!

2010-09-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

New Hands in Wax

Just slightly different, mostly the right one. I straitened the fingers and spread them a bit. I am working on new legs. They're almost finished but progress is slow, not much time to work on them with so much else to do. I moved the thumbs in a bit after this photo was taken. I looked at my doll last night and realized that her hands reminded me of C3PO, with his oddly protruding thumbs. They will be easier to get through a dress sleeve too.

2010-08-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

New wig! see more photos on my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ksalchli/

2010-08-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

It took all summer to order a kiln, get it here, and get it up and running. I'm so glad to be able to fire things when I want to now!

I opened the box when the kiln arrived, but I left it in the box until the electrical hookup was ready. It then took a few weeks to get an electrician to come. I read the instruction manual, the control box manual, loaded the kiln, hit the buttons to get to cone firing mode, and... there is no cone firing mode. Crap. I had noticed that the controller didn't look like the one I thought I was getting, but I figured it would work. Without cone firing mode, I would have to figure out how to program ramp/hold programs, and I'm not going to begin to try and explain that here, but I'll say it's a bit more difficult to a person with no prior kiln or porcelain firing experience. So I call the distributor, they call the kiln company, I got a call back saying they sent me the wrong controller and they're going to send me a new controller. Don't worry, the man said, it will be easy to re-wire. In sets the panic... anything involving wires and electricity terrify me! But really, it wasn't bad. It was like pulling plugs and reconnecting them, and the support guy talked me through the whole thing. The worst part was that some of the connections were really hard to get off, I ended up prying them off with a butter knife, and it took a half hour. But then I was able to hit a few buttons and start firing doll parts. All's well that ends well, but everything I do has a few road blocks along the way.

My kiln's name is Calcifer, BTW. I always name pets after characters from books or movies, so my kiln too gets a literary name. Calcifer is a "fire demon" from Howl's moving Castle. Fun book. Good movie too

More coming later. I am still trying to figure out the finer points of blogging, getting things laid out the way I want and such.

2010-08-23T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a view of my girl that shows her legs. I'm working on re-sculpting the legs, they just don't pose right. The joints don't lock and they slide around. They should be just right before I make any more. Hopefully I will re-mold them this week.

2010-08-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

So now that I've finished my first porcelain ball-jointed-doll, I decided to start a blog about it... I know it's about time, everything takes me a long time. It took me a month to decide on a blog name. "Higher Delights" are some words I plucked from a Jane Austen quote. I liked it. Clever is not my strong point. But hopefully doll making is... thanks to all who have followed me in my doll making thread on Enchanted, Marina Bychkova's fan forum. Thanks for the encouragement and kind words. I would love to own and Enchanted Doll one day, I envy those of you who do. But my own creations will have to do for me for now. I will be changing the look of the blog as I go- computer skills are not my strong point either, I'm proud of my progress thus far... stay with me, better things are to come.