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bloodyrosemccoyFinally!
It’s been a month since I went out and got the doll.
The creation so far has involved some serious research—nine books by Tamora Pierce, all reread FOR RESEARCH OF COURSE.
Also, some hazardous chemicals got involved.
But now, Super Secret Awesome Doll Project FTW is ready to be revealed!
This is Daja Kisubo, a character from Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens series. If you’d like to read the short version of her life’s story they’ve got it here on Wikipedia, or you can read this and get the short-short version:
Daja is from a world where magic is used sort of like technology. Some mages draw their power from certain items, like crafts or nature. Daja draws hers from metal and fire, and is a smith mage. Her magic was discovered when she was adopted by a temple along with three other orphaned mages, after a shipwreck killed her family. The books follow their adventures, and those of their totally badass teachers, after that—learning craft magic, fighting pirates, curing plague, putting out lots and lots of fires, etc..
Daja is originally Lulu, from Karito Kids—an ambitious new company that tries to do for the modern international world what American Girl did for America’s past, They’re beautiful dolls—the face sculpts on every single one are magnificent, though the clothes leave something to be desired. Lulu was a perfect fit for this character.
She is taller than the other dolls, but since she’s supposed to be a tall girl anyway, this works out.
Photo special effects are especially for Bean.
Daja is a Tsaw’ha, or Trader, a cultural/ethnic group of nomads who frown upon craftsmen and craft magic.* They mostly trade others’ goods—surprise! All Traders carry an ebony staff with brass caps with etchings that tell their life story. Daja’s had to be blank for a while, but this one should have those etchings, as soon as I figure out the best way to do it.
This staff is an ordinary dowel I bought at Michael’s and sawed to 20 inches (it’s five feet long in the book). Then I applied a couple of coats of ebony finish to it, after which I cleaned the paintbrush with turpentine per the suggestion of my mom, after which we discovered that turpentine is very … turpentiney. For a few days we were afraid to light a match downstairs. This was followed by a sealant. Then I seriously considered the possibility that I might blow up the house again by baking the stick, since I was going to make the “brass” caps out of metallic-color Sculpey and the best way seemed to be to bake them directly onto the dowel. Sculpey bakes fast at a reasonably low temperature, and as you can see the staff did not catch fire.
Wow, that was an exciting and totally necessary story!
On to what you all were really wondering about! In Daja’s Book, Daja has a bit of an accident with that blank staff I mentioned, a forest fire, and a great big chunk of magic. The upside is that most of the staff was vaporized, but the brass melted all over her hand, and because of her magic it sort of … came alive. It now coats her hand like a second skin, and keeps growing. She has to peel it off and keep it in a jar. The cool thing is that she can use it to make spiffy magic crafts that sell well.
This was done with acrylic and a matte finish, and featured a tremendously entertaining trip to Michael's in which I thrust the doll at one of the employees and said, "I need to make it look like her left hand is coated in brass! How do I do that?" I had a few ideas from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lycheetwist already, but I thought they could help as well. Plus, I have now made it into the Michael's WTF Is This Kid Smoking Hall Of Fame for my crazy request. I had to have Mom along to translate for me: "She is making the doll into a character, you see. From a book."
Tamora Pierce is a really good writer to make characters from, because she’s extremely visual. Not only do you get a clear picture of what everyone looks like; she will also stop and let you know what everyone is wearing at all times. (Some might criticize this; I like it because it’s so nice to get such vivid images.) I got really excited that people in this universe wear over-robes like that red one that my sister got for her Alissa doll years ago. But most of Daja’s clothes aren’t quite so fancy; I already made her that tunic, and I’m working on some others here that would be good for smithing in. (I’m gonna need more leather after I make some shoes here; she needs an apron.) I have yet to find fabric the right shade of scarlet for her mourning arm- and headbands. Her family did die in a shipwreck, you know.
Pierce also gives her characters a lot of fun items that can be made into accessories, like the staff and Daja’s survival box, which kept her alive on her raft until people found her. I have yet to get the things to make her little ancestors-and-gods altar, but I’m off to a good start.
Hey! What’s that other stuff sitting off to the right? That’s not part of the Daja project! What could it be for? Will it come to fruition in time for people to enjoy it? Will it ever come to fruition, for that matter? WE DON’T KNOW! Stay tuned to find out!
And meanwhile, welcome Daja to my huge collection of dolls!
*Yes, Tamora Pierce may be guilty of Random Conlang Syndrome--she includes a lot of words from Tradertalk sprinkled into the books with a somewhat obtuse sound system. Only she can tell us whether the apostrophe in that word has any significance, or whether Daja is actually a member of the Tsawboingha. But since Pierce at least mentions different languages and her books are damn good, I give her a pass.
It’s been a month since I went out and got the doll.
The creation so far has involved some serious research—nine books by Tamora Pierce, all reread FOR RESEARCH OF COURSE.
Also, some hazardous chemicals got involved.
But now, Super Secret Awesome Doll Project FTW is ready to be revealed!
This is Daja Kisubo, a character from Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens series. If you’d like to read the short version of her life’s story they’ve got it here on Wikipedia, or you can read this and get the short-short version:
Daja is from a world where magic is used sort of like technology. Some mages draw their power from certain items, like crafts or nature. Daja draws hers from metal and fire, and is a smith mage. Her magic was discovered when she was adopted by a temple along with three other orphaned mages, after a shipwreck killed her family. The books follow their adventures, and those of their totally badass teachers, after that—learning craft magic, fighting pirates, curing plague, putting out lots and lots of fires, etc..
Daja is originally Lulu, from Karito Kids—an ambitious new company that tries to do for the modern international world what American Girl did for America’s past, They’re beautiful dolls—the face sculpts on every single one are magnificent, though the clothes leave something to be desired. Lulu was a perfect fit for this character.
She is taller than the other dolls, but since she’s supposed to be a tall girl anyway, this works out.
Photo special effects are especially for Bean.
Daja is a Tsaw’ha, or Trader, a cultural/ethnic group of nomads who frown upon craftsmen and craft magic.* They mostly trade others’ goods—surprise! All Traders carry an ebony staff with brass caps with etchings that tell their life story. Daja’s had to be blank for a while, but this one should have those etchings, as soon as I figure out the best way to do it.
This staff is an ordinary dowel I bought at Michael’s and sawed to 20 inches (it’s five feet long in the book). Then I applied a couple of coats of ebony finish to it, after which I cleaned the paintbrush with turpentine per the suggestion of my mom, after which we discovered that turpentine is very … turpentiney. For a few days we were afraid to light a match downstairs. This was followed by a sealant. Then I seriously considered the possibility that I might blow up the house again by baking the stick, since I was going to make the “brass” caps out of metallic-color Sculpey and the best way seemed to be to bake them directly onto the dowel. Sculpey bakes fast at a reasonably low temperature, and as you can see the staff did not catch fire.
Wow, that was an exciting and totally necessary story!
On to what you all were really wondering about! In Daja’s Book, Daja has a bit of an accident with that blank staff I mentioned, a forest fire, and a great big chunk of magic. The upside is that most of the staff was vaporized, but the brass melted all over her hand, and because of her magic it sort of … came alive. It now coats her hand like a second skin, and keeps growing. She has to peel it off and keep it in a jar. The cool thing is that she can use it to make spiffy magic crafts that sell well.
This was done with acrylic and a matte finish, and featured a tremendously entertaining trip to Michael's in which I thrust the doll at one of the employees and said, "I need to make it look like her left hand is coated in brass! How do I do that?" I had a few ideas from
lycheetwist already, but I thought they could help as well. Plus, I have now made it into the Michael's WTF Is This Kid Smoking Hall Of Fame for my crazy request. I had to have Mom along to translate for me: "She is making the doll into a character, you see. From a book."
Tamora Pierce is a really good writer to make characters from, because she’s extremely visual. Not only do you get a clear picture of what everyone looks like; she will also stop and let you know what everyone is wearing at all times. (Some might criticize this; I like it because it’s so nice to get such vivid images.) I got really excited that people in this universe wear over-robes like that red one that my sister got for her Alissa doll years ago. But most of Daja’s clothes aren’t quite so fancy; I already made her that tunic, and I’m working on some others here that would be good for smithing in. (I’m gonna need more leather after I make some shoes here; she needs an apron.) I have yet to find fabric the right shade of scarlet for her mourning arm- and headbands. Her family did die in a shipwreck, you know.
Pierce also gives her characters a lot of fun items that can be made into accessories, like the staff and Daja’s survival box, which kept her alive on her raft until people found her. I have yet to get the things to make her little ancestors-and-gods altar, but I’m off to a good start.
Hey! What’s that other stuff sitting off to the right? That’s not part of the Daja project! What could it be for? Will it come to fruition in time for people to enjoy it? Will it ever come to fruition, for that matter? WE DON’T KNOW! Stay tuned to find out!
And meanwhile, welcome Daja to my huge collection of dolls!
*Yes, Tamora Pierce may be guilty of Random Conlang Syndrome--she includes a lot of words from Tradertalk sprinkled into the books with a somewhat obtuse sound system. Only she can tell us whether the apostrophe in that word has any significance, or whether Daja is actually a member of the Tsawboingha. But since Pierce at least mentions different languages and her books are damn good, I give her a pass.
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no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 10:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 10:52 pm (UTC)I also really want to make Evvy at some point ...
no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 10:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 10:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 12:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 01:54 am (UTC)Hey, how'd you get the staff to stand up in that picture?
no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 02:31 am (UTC). . . please to expand on this word "again". We wish to hear the story of the previous times when you have blown up the house!
(The doll is also gorgeous)
no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 02:32 am (UTC)That sentence is a little tough to diagram ...
no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 03:18 am (UTC):P
no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 02:37 am (UTC)I am very different in the meatspace than on the intarnets I guess.
She was supposed to tell Tamora Pierce that at a signing I couldn't attend but she forgot.
:(
no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 03:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 03:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 08:00 am (UTC)Without question.
You are my daily reminder that dolls don't need pins and needles to provide excitement.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-04 11:18 pm (UTC)The apostrophe in Tsaw'ha is a slight indrawn breath. Not the Swahili glottal stop, which I can't do, but a tiny pause.
What a great doll!!!!!
Tamora Pierce in her private lj identity
no subject
Date: 2008-10-04 11:35 pm (UTC)Your language creation was one of the things that drew me in back when I was a but a wee language creator myself. The fact that a book used other languages was something I had only rarely seen before, and usually in the case of "Elves speaking Elvish, Dwarves speaking Dwarvish, Men speaking Mannish." I was quite happy to get the language here because they added a world that actually seemed big, like you were seeing only a small part of it and other things were happening elsewhere, and elsewhere was a long way off, and that it could take endless exploration to see it all. It's still one of my favorite worldbuilding examples for that reason.
Glad you like it! I was really excited to do this project. It's been loads of fun, so thank you for the character!
Next up: Evvy or Tris?
no subject
Date: 2008-10-06 01:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-06 02:01 am (UTC)Chime could either be really easy or really difficult, depending on the availability of small blown glass dragons ... I'll see what I can come up with!
no subject
Date: 2008-10-06 02:50 am (UTC)