The book is actually just a touch too big, even for the big dolls like my Dollmore Mettaa from their Glamour Model line, which they list as 75cm (although he's really only 73cm). Still, since I did have a uniform in his size (although not quite of the right vintage), I thought it was worth using in an anachronistic and not quite in-scale photo shoot.
I was going to try to make him a miniature poppy as well, but my attempts were even more off-scale than the book, so that will have to be a project for another year. And in a way, that works for where we're living. Although it's not Remembrance Day here in the US, Americans do mark a military-themed holiday today (Veteran's Day), but they don't wear poppies. I suppose because their involvement in the First World War was so short (when I was living in DC, during one of my mother's visits we walked through Arlington National Cemetery - she pointed to a First World War grave with a birth date of 1899 and wondered if he'd lied about his age to enlist. I had to remind her that by the time the US joined the war he'd have been 18.), so it seems to be less of a cultural touchstone that it is in so many other countries.
In any case, on with the photos!
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Today we celebrate here The Day of the Armistice (I hope the translation is right :-) ). The mini book is a great accessory, books can be that big, so it can be in scale :-). The uniform is awesome! Great photographs, especially the last one!
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
DeleteEven if you feel that the book is a bit too big for him, the photos are still very very good and so is his uniform. I think it is easy not to notice the book being slightly out of scale. Well done!!
ReplyDeleteAs for making a poppy, I made some once for my dolls house and what I did in that case was using a hole punch, I punched out quite a few circles from red paper card (not too thick) and then I folded the tiny circles into four and then just snipped the outer edge of the 'triangle' of paper into the slightest curves. Then just unfolded and they looked like tiny poppies. I think to make them bigger for your doll's scale, maybe you could use three or four of the circles without folding them and just stick them together in a flower shape, then a dap of black marker in the middle to make the centre of the poppy. I think they'd probably be quite effective as poppies!
Hugs xxx
That's a good trick for poppy-making, I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the tip! :)
DeleteI agree with Sharon, the book and suit photographs well and appears to be in scale. Very nice props!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I think my opinion of the book is increasing now. :)
DeleteVeteran's Day is to celebrate living veterans. Memorial Day in May in May is to honor those who died in service to their country. I believe Memorial Day has been around since our Civil War, which is why it wouldn't line up with Europe's. It also explains the no poppies thing here on Veteran's Day. Poppies are a reference to the poem from the first World War, In Flander's Fields. (You probably already knew that part.)
ReplyDeleteMemorial Day honoring the dead is why I get annoyed with people talking about "celebrating" the day or wishing one a "Happy Memorial Day."
Yup, I think across the commonwealth you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't have to recite "In Flanders Fields" (especially in Canada - since John McCrae was Canadian, it's even more of a cultural touchstone). It's actually one of the things that people point to as a starting point for Anglo-Canadian culture separating from Anglo-British culture (although that could be said for the war itself and it's role in Canada's history - I know my Belgian relatives are always amused when they visit Canada and see all the streets with names like Ypres and Passchendaele and so on).
DeleteStill, Remembrance day is actually a cross-war marker these days, regardless of originally being focused on the First World War.
On the US side, I went to a basketball game (Rockets/Nets - entertaining!) on Wednesday, and between quarters they had military facts up on the screen - one of them was that Veteran's Day was actually called Armistice Day until the mid-1950s, which was interesting to know.
Hi jSarie, I think the photos look great as well! The book looks like it could be a "coffee table" book so I think the scale is fine. That is interesting to hear that you are a WW1 buff. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! And that's a good point about coffee table books! :)
DeleteThat doll is soooo photogenic! Excellent photos.
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
DeleteAnd he is, isn't he? I think it's the sculpting of his hands and face...