Angelic Inspirations

As a little girl I loved to play with dolls, but not baby in the stroller....no they wanted to play dress up with me. Paper Dolls were sheer delight. Today I'm still playing with dolls and not ashamed to admit it. I call them my, Angelic Inspirations, that are unique individual works of art, one-of-a-kind creations. No two are ever 

alike. The dolls I prefer to use are from the 1930's to the 60's. You know the arms and legs move by rubberbands and the eyes open and close.

 

I am extremely lucky to locate these, they are becoming limited in quantity due to their fragility. I 

sometimes have do a little 'corrective surgery'  and a little 'plastic surgery' on the faces if need be. I hand apply hair to the dolls or re-do the hairdo that is there. I always try to salvage the original dress the doll came with and incorporate it into the design usually as the slip or for embellishment and then its time to create.

Vintage hankies are hand-embroidered, unless they are so fragile they begin to shred...not a good thing, but managable.... I hand-embroidered the floral pattern of this 1940's hankie. Click to enlarge for better view. 

Then the embellishments are added, such as vintage rickrack, bits of jewelry, Sworovski Crystals, etc, then the underskirt of doilies, tulle, or other textile create the slip, and wings are attached. The final step is adding the angels 'voice'. Each angel has a charm which has a word or saying that has a special meaning.

This is how an Angelic Inspiration is born................................
 One day I was in a favorite antique mall when I spied this perfectly pink hat from the 1940's

It has layers of satin petals
with velvet dangle poms...
very remeniecent of tiny pink cherries


                                  

The back had the original net and very thick velvet covered wire supports. I just knew that repurposed this hat was really a perfect pair
of Angel wings! Now, this hat, when flattened was not a petite set of wings.

I knew this angel was to be larger than I was used to. I looked for months, but none of the truely vintage dolls, the size needed was at least 18", were in the price point I needed. So, while strolling thru some dolls one day I saw this face in the crowd........................................

She is definately not old, very modern, but those big baby blues just whispered Angel and she measured 18".

Het little slip was ready for much needed embellishment and her little satin slippers were ideal. On a roll I began my next search for her dress. I already had some vintage eyelet trim for the slip and was so excited when on another foray to the antique mall saw this delightful hand-tatted doily in exact size needed...........

I think these are tulips and I just love the color detail in them. Well, Now that I have the Doll, her dress and wings, it's time to put the creation together..........................................................................

As you can see her 'halo' is made of a wreath I created from latex rose petals and silk leaves. She holds a full bloomed latex rose in the palest shade of pink accented by a satin bow and her little charm that reads, 'Faith'.

See I told you  still love to play with dolls. I can't wait to show you my other Angels again, but for now I need to head off to find other vintage goodies for some other ideas I have. Thanks for stopping by!

'Faith' is available on my website  http://www.brownginghamcreations.com/ or just leave me a comment if you would like more info on her.

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Don't forget it's Pink Saturday with Beverly over at How Sweet The Sound. You can visit all the other links thru HERE  And,  Vintage Love Saturday, over at Southern Lady's  Vintage Love thru        HERE                                    
On Tuesday visit Me and Everyone at Tam's Gypsy Corner for Three Or More Tuesday