Elfin Challenge doll

The voting is over and the challenge is done, so I can share my Elfin here at last. I didn't win anything, but that's OK, because this is easily one of the most charming dolls I have ever made and she's all MINE. Here's the little story I had to include to enter her in the Challenge:

May I introduce you to “Levaine”? She is a Sourdough Elf, though she prefers to
be known as a “Tamer of Wild Yeast” instead. I like to humor her because she is
a nice little creature and it’s a small thing to make her happy. She lives
behind the baking books on my kitchen bookshelf, and as long as I keep her
supplied with plenty of fresh butter and aged cheddar cheese, my bread bakes up
light, fragrant, and delicious.

If I have forgotten the proper offerings however, my dough won’t rise and my bread is flat and heavy. Needless to say, she has me well-trained!

It's too bad I didn't take any photos of her "in progress". I modified the pattern to create what I think is a really wonderful 3D body with "mature" breasts, a poochy tummy, and a very cute round bottom. I was shocked by the shape her face took on as I stuffed the 4-piece head, as it is NOT what I thought I was drafting at all. I kept it though, because it turned out to be one of those Happy Accidents that keep things interesting while creating.

My favorite part was doing her skin coloring. I don't know what made me do it... on a whim I grabbed a brush and my watercolors and just started painting her as if she were a piece of paper. The colors flowed into eachother beautifully and created a different kind of subtly mottled shading that made a very interesting skin texture. Pretty cool, and I look forward to playing with that technique again.

This weekend I'm working on a round robin cookbook, and then I have another round robin doll to contribute to. It's always something around here. Thank goodness!