This is Décia from her "teddybear" side. The small teddy in the lower left-hand corner amuses itself by dancing in a whirl of stardust, beating the rhythm on the gift parcel it is carrying.
Below Décia grants you a look at her "starry" side:
She won't let me do all the talking, but makes it a point to introduce herself in her own words:
I'm DÉCIA, the December Belle.
Don't you think my outfit swell?
Can you hear the "dingeling"
when my shiny brass bells ring?
The season's symbols, as you see,
make me look quite christmassy.
However, Ms. Sabine says:
"I could do without these days
and will be happy when this formal
time at last returns to normal,
life runs smoothly day by day
in the good, old, comfy way."
Décia's face was a little too black and grey for this design, so I coloured it a little with wax pens: Rouge on her cheeks, lipstick and green eye shadow. You don't really see much of it in the photograph, but still, here is a detail picture of the doll's upper half:
Her hairdo was the least work-intensive one yet. I only had to fix a little curly christmas-tree decocration with a few stitches. That's the kind of hair I would love to have - a profusion of curls, whereas my own hair is spaghetti-straight.
Before I show you the back view, here is a picture of the fabric I used throughout, i.e. for body, arms and legs:
On her back, Décia carries the usual pouch to show off her name and hold her poem.
What's a ladybug doing on a December doll? Well, it was this way: When I had finished embellishing Dècia's front at about two o'clock one morning, I leafed through Robin's book "One Bead at a Time" in order to unwind before retiring. Suddenly - in the middle of cold winter - a ladybug materialized and decided to tour the page I was reading. I wonder what appealed to it most? Maybe seed stitch, as that best resembles its dots?
I used a beetle button I had in my stash for the documentation of this little incident. Here's a closer look at it:
By the way, do you know what ladybugs taste like? I found out about half an hour ago: Bitter. Just before starting on this post I wanted to take a sip of coffee. My cup being red, I did not see the ladybug sitting on the rim, got it on my lips and spat it out instantly because of the taste. Obviously, these little critters have very effective defence tools. (Must be a cousin of the a.m. ladybug, because it is another shade of red and has more dots.)
This is the promised bonus picture of the now four sisters. It hasn't come out very well, but it will have to do for now. Next time I will take a better group photo.
From left to right, you see the following ladies: Décia (December), Nova (November), Octa (October) and Sepia (September).
Décia has a guitar on her lap that is actually a pendant of a necklace. I found that supposed hippie necklace when visiting a Christmas bazar in November. It cost next to nothing, and of course I knew at once that the guitar would be Décia's. This is the complete necklace:
Alright, that's all for today, or rather tonight. It's two o'clock a.m. again, and I want to get some sleep now.
Keep well,
Sabine
