Ella - A doll and a story

"When the hour of the ball arrived everything was ready. Ella set out alone in a carriage Lady Aurelia had ordered for her, since Ella had refused to travel together on the grounds that it would destroy her anonymity. She felt somewhat foolish taking a carriage at all, since Lady Aurelia’s lived within a short walk of the palace, but no one walked to a ball, and so the carriage it was."

- Excerpt from Ella Markan - or The Grass Slipper

Design sketch for Ella

The inspiration for this doll began with the fabric. My mother had given me some gorgeous blue satin brocade, and I had yards of blue tulle left over from another project. Combined they just screamed Cinderella, and with the recent release of the new film the story was one my mind anyway. The problem was, I have never been a big fan of Cinderella as a character, she seems a little spineless, and the fairy godmother is a bit deus ex machina to me. I like to like my dolls, and so I decided to rewrite Cinderella as a short story loosely based on the style of Georgette Heyer. It is not a true Regency period story like hers, and I don't claim a fraction of her skill, but I think it put a fun spin on the story.

With the story and the sketch in place I began to work. I tried out some needle sculpting on her face for the first time, and I love the technique, but I definitely need to practice. It was quite a process getting her face to where it is now, and if you saw my earlier post on her you will notice how much changed.  Her dress also changed quite a bit from the original sketch, but it was a great jumping off point.

Ella's full story is available here or you can access it in the side bar of the blog under the "Stories" heading. I had a lot of fun writing it and creating Ella, it was great to get back into doll making, so much so that I already have the idea for another one that I will hopefully work on soon. Until then I hope you enjoy Ella's improbably epic adventures.