Doll of the Month: Sumiko & Satomi

I am starting a new "column" here on the site called "Doll of the Month."  I received an e-mail from a reader that said

Christina, I enjoy your blog but I wish you posted more about your inspiration and your dolls.  These are my favorite items and I want to learn more about them.  Thanks!

I tend to shy away from posting my dolls because I don't want to come across as some kind of plug-whore.  But it is indeed rare to get such valuable feedback (and if you know something you would like to see here, please let me know!)  so I am taking her advice and introducing you to some new members of the UmeOrigami family, Sumiko and Satomi.  These are two new dolls of mine that I have been procrastinating about photographing.

I see these two as a "big sister" and "little sister."  There are certain things that unite them: the sakura with green ribbon in their hair, the green and rust colors in their kimono layers, and of course the black patterned paper.  I totally dig this paper and it really caught my eye when I was shopping.  For some reason the combination of the yellows, reds, pinks, and greens remind me of some kind of island paradise.  Plus, it is rare to find black paper that doesn't come across as manly!!  Satori also has a paper ribbon obi which is something new I have been experimenting with as seen in the Tomodachi family I posted a while ago.  I like it because it has a wrinkled texture and gives them a little more three-dimensionality.

Sumiko was created first and her name comes from the Japanese for 澄 (sumi) "clear" and 子 (ko) "child."  I had a really clear vision when I made her and I knew almost exactly what she was going to look like even before I started physically creating her.  Satomi came afterwards and I have picked the characters for 聡 (sato) "wise" combined with 美 (mi) "beautiful."  I thought it would be a nice pairing since the older sister should be a little bit wiser!  

Every so often I create a doll (or in this case, two) that really stand out to me!  These definitely do the trick.  I am hoping to create a little more regularly so hopefully I can introduce you to a new "member" next month.  Thanks for tuning in! 

Wordless Wednesday #11

It has  been a while Wordless Wednesday!  Showing off my newest creation, Stephanie: a brunette named after my lovely sister.  I would love any and all feedback on the new design!

Available on Zibbet & Etsy (I made 2!)

Custom Order Madness

So as a few of you may have noticed from my twitter, I am down with some kind of nasty cold/flu-like bug.  Usually I am the last person to get sick, but when I do it ends up being a doozy!  J. has been wonderful about taking care of me and Ame the cat is currently at the foot of the bed.  Needless to say, I am pretty much confined to my bed which is not really conducive to getting any sort of work done.  So I am writing this blog with my head propped up by a billion pillows and the lingering taste of Robitussin in my mouth (eew). 

Earlier this week I finished another custom order!  I absolutely love doing them because it gives me a chance to experiment with something new.  This time, the order was for 10 origami dolls from urssika.  (Check out her shop -- her jewelry is to die for!  Also please read this wonderful feature on urssika by Sassmowth Designs)  She plans on using the dolls as tags on some of her jewelry!  I think it is a wonderful idea and I am absolutely thrilled to see them travel to a new international location where other people will be able to see my work.  I was able to use some of the paper that I only had one or two sheets of, so many of these dolls are unique and cannot be receated.  It was a fun project and I am looking forward to working with her in the future!

Since this order, however, I have been contacted by several people about setting up their own custom creations!  It looks like I am going to be one busy bee after I get rid of this cold once and for all.

Building an Army of Paper Dolls!

Well... I posted that first batch of six dolls and I am incredibly pleased to say that five of them have already found happy homes!  This is the largest measure of success I have had on Etsy by far!  So with that, I decided to create more dolls in more colors and styles... and now I present you with the little army who lives in a plastic box on my coffee table.

I went from having dolls in kimono and dolls with kimono and haori jackets to including smaller ones in a style called "hinasama" and then bookmark style "shiori ningyo."  Since I had so much success with the first kit I tried, I bought a different kit to learn how to make the bookmarks that you can purchase here: Amazon.  The instructions are in English and Japanese for those who cannot read Japanese, and it comes with all the supplies you will need to make four bookmarks.  You can see two of the ones I made from the kit in the image above, and I have been applying the diagram to all sorts of paper to make bookmarks in vibrant colors and styles!  The good thing about this is that you can be creative with your background, or add die cuts and all sorts of scrapbooking embellishments to personalize your bookmark.

I have been having a blast folding these between teaching, grading, and researching!  It is such a therapeutic and relaxing process and each one has his or her own little personality. I've even taken to naming each one... Such a geek!