Since people seem to think my odd hobby has some coolness to it, I’m about to throw caution and my shyness to the wind and share my first project. Here’s a couple of pics of the Yule gift I gave to our local cougar:

The OOAK Morrighan Barbie wears a hand-made black linen skirt with two full-length slits in the front, laced shut at the front of the hips with copper floss. Her hand-dyed black halter top with mesh sleeves ties at the back. Woven into her left front braid is a pewter feather; another pewter feather is laced with copper floss to her hand-painted spear, along with a black crow feather. On her right hand lands a hand-made raven, wings held wide. Around her waist is tied a hand-tinted miniature of the recipient’s Craft tradition third-degree cords.

And a decent look at the feather cloak which rests on the Morrighan’s shoulders, designed to look like two folded raven wings:

I was really pleased with how the whole doll presents an air of alert motion and activity. For any OOAK fans who stumble across this post as a result of a search engine and who need to know, the Morrighan was created from a Kayla Secret Spells doll, and her face was not repainted: I managed to find one off the shelf who had a perfect disdainful yet amused I-can-see-into-your-soul look on her face that I wanted, without any touch-ups required.

The next doll I’m customising is very different from the active and alert Morrighan, however; I’m trying for a softer, dreamier look. And then there are the three dolls I have sitting to the left of my desk, who are destined to become a shadowbox scene of the three aspects of the goddess Brid: muse, smith, and healer. None of them require repainting, thank goodness, only creating original costumes from the sketches and colour notes I have in my notebook. (Yes, yes, fine: the dolls are Batik Princess, TRU Charity Ball 1997, and Grand Entrance 2 respectively. Happy, fellow OOAKers?)

There. More than I ever thought I’d let anyone know about this hobby. Hey, it’s costuming in miniature: saves money, saves time, and the result isn’t just worn once then hung in a closet.