Cherub and "Nude" Vertebrata sold out

I am very happy to announce that the Cherub doll LE20 sold out within 12 hours, closely followed by the "Nude" colour variation (LE10) of the Vertebrata gown. The other colour variation has been even more popular, but due to it's larger edition size (LE20) there are still few left in our store. It has been a remarkable sales event and I'd like to thank you all for your patronage and making my dream of my own doll line come through! Every time I release LE items I'm so nervous they won't sell and it'll all be over, but you pulled me through once more and I am so grateful to all of you.

I have also been updating the website and you can now find more information there about Inamorata dolls including a new product archive with a list of every Inamorata creation ever made - both LE and OOAK. The FAQ and commissions info have also been updated, so be sure to check them out although I'm always happy to reply to your emails about anything.

 

Vertebrata "Dust" LE20

*Still few left*

 

Cherub and Vertebrata Unveiled - Get Yours Tomorrow!

Good news! The loooong awaited doll and fashion are finally out tomorrow! So here is all the important info - read carefully.

 

The Cherub LE20 doll and Vertebrata LE30 fashion will be available on Monday the 14th of October at 11pm Paris time. I'm adding a countdown timer to our shop again so you can check it in case you get as boggled with the time zones as I do.

 

The drill is the same as with Inro: the dolls and fashions will be sold through our website on first-come-first-served bases. The checkout options are Paypal and credit card. Please don't forget to add your phone number in the Paypal note as it's needed for the DHL shipping forms. When paying with credit card the checkout will ask for it automatically.

 

And as a back up plan in case the website were to crash I will take orders by email - but only AFTER 11pm and if the website really crashes, so please don't start sending me emails just yet. If it comes to this please include the following info to your order email: mention it's a order in the topic, include your name, address, phone and email (both contact and paypal email if these are not the same). I will then send you a Paypal invoice that can be paid either by Paypal or by creditcard.

 

Like the last time I'm placing a restriction of 2 identical products per purchase so we don't lose the whole patch to ebay scalpers as soon as the shop opens. This means you can still buy 2 Cherubs, 2 Vertebrata gowns in Nude colour variation and 2 in Dust colour variation whether it is to save shipping costs by teaming up with a friend or if you just like doubles.

And now for the big bomb: I'm unveiling you the products now!

Cherub
The LE20 basic doll
475usd

 

The Cherub features the Inamorata Nnaji sculpt in Chocolate skin tone and comes with flocked hair and basic lingerie. She wears a strapless underwire bra in intricate white lace and matching panties. Her shoes are white leatherette between toe sandals featuring the Art Nouveau serpent heels in glossy black. According to her angelic origins Cherub wears a gold leatherette harness with a pair of metal wings.

 

Cherub has brown eyes with with a gentle expression with subtle amusement. Her make up has a black cat's eye eye-liner, warm brown hues on her top lid and smoky hue eye shadow below the eyes, and coffee coloured lips parted to reveal upper teeth. Her applied lashes are medium length and nail polish is coffee black.

 

The flock hair is great with traditional wigs as it gives a good grip to hold the wig firmly in place. However, this means she cannot share Inamorata size hard cap wigs. If you want to wash the flock off email me for a safe tutorial. I have also left 2 Cherubs bald so leave a note at check out if you want a bald one. First 2 buyers with the special note get the bald girls.

 

 

More photos at the flickr set: 
 

Vertebrata
The LE30 fashion
Two colour variants: Dust LE20 and Nude LE10
199usd

 

The Vertebrata gown comes in 2 different colour variations: Dust (LE20) and Nude (LE10). Dust is a 2-tone cross weave silk of powder pink and black making the fabric an elegant dusty grey with a mauve hue. The Dust silk is coarse dupioni with a raw feel to it and the trail of the gown is a matching colour soft netting. The Nude is a luxurious silk satin in toned down shade of pale powder beige. The trail of the gown is a matching colour soft netting with golden hue. The colour variation share accessories in beige leatherette: three strap pumps with golden edgy spine heels and a clutch with metal corners. The focal points of the Vertebrata gowns are the metal ornaments on the shoulders and a pale gold spine snaking down the naked back.

 

If you have hard time deciding which colour to go for here are some tips: both "Dust" and "Nude" do perfectly with Nnaji's usual Chocolate skin tone. If you want the gown for Inro I recommend "Dust" as "Nude" does not compliment the Peach skin tone as well.

 

 

More photos at flirck set.

The Vertebrata also fits Numina Devon and Ajuma.

The Cherub doll and Vertebrata gown are now packed and ready to ship, but I'm still struggling to add a credit card option to our check out. There were so many people who wanted to pay with credits cards when Inro came out that I want to add this option in addition to the Paypal payments before we release the next doll. I hope you enjoy these teasers!
I have also got tons of emails asking about the prices for the upcoming releases and I can now confirm some prices:

First release patch:
The LE20 basic doll, Cherub, will be 475usd
The LE30 fashion, Vertebrata, that is divided into two colour variants: Dust LE20 and Nude LE10, will be 199usd.

Second release patch:
The LE20 premium doll, Seraph will be 699usd
The LE30 fashion, Röntgen is still unconfirmed, as the factory is still having trouble with the trousers and there is an unfortunate possibility that we might have to cancel this item.

Also, emiliacouture now has a page in Facebook. I look forward to seeing you there!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emiliacouture/217414745101233

Inamorata Update and Sneak Peeks of Cherub and Vertebrata

 

I know I've been pretty much MIA for a while, but what I've been doing is waiting for the long delayed LE fashions and designing the next LE project. I am happy to announce that the fashions for Cherub doll and Vertebrata loose fashion set have finally arrived and I'm working on the final quality check now. This means your patience is finally about to be rewarded and these items will be for sale within couple of weeks. I pack each item by myself so it takes a while and I still need to do the proper promo shoot with the new arrivals. However, while you wait for the photoshoot I thought I'd give you a few teasers!

Vertebrata gowns waiting to be packed


One time consuming step is that I try every item on a doll to make sure the fit is right and do something I call "wet sculpting". Wet sculpting is similar to ironing, but it's done on the doll's body to assure a perfect fit and requires no heat. This is how you do it:

1) Dress the garment on the doll and spray it lightly with water

2) Mold the fabric with you fingers into the curves of the doll

3) Let dry on the doll and enjoy!

The results are much better than simply ironing the garment. You can easily do this at home for all your doll fashions to really show off those curves. Just be careful not to wet sculpt dark fashions on light skinned dolls since there might be a risk of staining. It's safer to use a dark skinned girl or a doll dedicated for this process if you are not sure of the fabrics you are dealing with. I always stain test our fabrics before use and stain proof them if I notice any risk of staining.

Cherub bras drying on Inamorata busts after wet sculpting

 
Cherub bra before and after the wet sculpting. See the difference?


And an added note about Wet Sculpting: Lori posted on Prego that "water will watermark silk taffeta, silk satin, silk charmeuse and habotai as well as the chiffons." Both colour variations of the Vertebrata gowns are 100% silk, one dupioni and the other silk satin, and there were no water marks left on them. I think it might have to do with the "hardness" or chalk consistency of the water. In the areas where you have to use water softening agents in laundry and dish washers the water might stain differently. Maybe if one uses bottles drinking water instead of tap water it might be safer? It's hard to say with so different tap waters around the world. Here in China the tap water is so bad I cannot even use it in my iron as it would ruin the machine so I use bottled water for it and for spraying the fabrics too. In Finland the water is so pure I never had any trouble.

I will let you know as soon as I'll have a sales date. Hope you are as exited as I am after all this waiting!

Also, don't forget to support the Metro Dolls Style Evolution charity auction event next Sunday. I have donated a OOAK Inamorata doll called Grès from my Petrographie collection for the event and Metro Dolls accepts bids by proxy in their auction in case you cannot be there in person.

Grès - OOAK Inamorata Nnaji from Petrographie collection

 

Updates on LE Inamorata Dolls and PFDF

It has been a while without newsletters and I get emails daily asking when the LE Nnaji dolls Cherub and Seraph will come out with their separate fashion packs. As you know the dolls and accessories have been ready for couple of months now, but the delays with the fashion factory seem to go on endlessly. I have been waiting all this time to give you some good news, but I'm afraid I still don't have a date. This sort of delays seem to be an every day occurrence in China and even though it drives me nuts all I can do is bare it. When our business grows big enough to provide a steady income we will hire our own seamstress, but for now we are at the mercy of the factories. I know lot of people are asking to reserve or preorder Inamorata dolls, but now you can see the reason why I always refuse. I know you are all anxious to get the long awaited dolls,  but let's just hope good things come to those who wait.

As for brighter news I have registered for next years Paris Fashion Doll Festival 14th-16th of March 2014 so hopefully I get to meet some of you there in person. I am also working on some OOAKs and maybe a LE5 super exclusive doll to present there. There will be some accessory sets and loose fashions to grab as well. The theme for PFDF this year is the 20th anniversary which leaves me with quite free artistic reign so if you want to throw in some ideas this is a great time to get that Inamorata wish-list out.  Tell me what you would like to see at PFDF or future in general!

And not to leave you utterly without a treat here is a sneak peek of the one of the shoes, guess which set it's from.

Gamut & Anemone - OOAK Inamorata Dolls

*My access to blogspot.com was blocked for a while so this is a late update.

I have been working on more OOAKs while waiting for the limited edition production delays. I'm proud to announce two new beauties: super dark Gamut and soft and pale Anemone.

Anemone

Anemone is a commission Inamorata doll featuring the Asian Miao sculpt and a new paler custom order skin tone called Almond. She has brown eyes, beige tone nude lips, smoky brown eye-shadow and brows, applied lower and upper lashes, and French manicure nail polish. She comes with a short 2-tone hard cap wig and OOAK black lace lingerie set featured in the Haute Doll February issue.

Gamut

Gamut is a commission Inamorata doll featuring the African Nnaji sculpt and a custom order dark skin tone Coffee. She has brown eyes, vibrant metallic eye-shadow with gradient effect from yellow through green to blue. The same colours are repeated in her nail polish. Her lips have a ombre effect from burgundy to metallic vermilion and her lashes are black and super long.

Gamut goes to her new home nude and bald, but in the photos she is wearing Sybarite Rock it with Numina belt and surrounded with colourful ZhangYoung shoes. If you are interested in these inexpensive eye-candies look for them on ebay. The ones made for Numina fit Inamorata well and most of the shoes made for Sybarites work too. ZhangYoung should start making shoes especially for Inamorata soon. I am also designing some Inamorata accessory packs for late Autumn.

Click below for more pictures of

Gamut

&

Anemone

Masai - OOAK

*My access to blogspot.com was blocked for a while so this is a late update.

I apologize that I still have no release date for the limited edition Nnaji dolls Seraph and Cherub. The fashion factory is still working on the outfits and I don't know when they will be ready, but the good news is all the shoes have now arrived. Meanwhile, I have taken the opportunity to catch up on my commission schedule and have just finished a super dark OOAK Inamorata called Masai.  This doll uses the Nnaji sculpt and features a new custom skin tone in deep coffee brown. She was made as a commission work and is not for sale.

Masai has brown eyes with some warm tones of amber, nude lips, short black applied lashes and black brows. Her nail polish is a French manicure in beige tones and her palms and the soles of her feet have been painted with a lighter skin tone.

Her outfit consists of a simple dress made of coarsely woven burgundy raw silk with torn edges, hand painted details in the hemline and seashells stitched on the sleeve; 2 traditional Masai necklaces made of yarn weave, glass beads, seashells, buttons and wooden sticks with fur puffs; a Masai bridal headdress with beads, chains, buttons and metal ornaments; 5 bracelets; modern bead corset; shepherding cane and a gourd flask.

More photos at the flickr set.

Petrographie Collection: Craie

*My access to blogspot.com was blocked for a while so this is a late update.

I've had this OOAK collection ready for a while, but was planning to release it only after the Cherub and Seraph were out. However, there seems to be a delay after another from the factories (now the fashion factory told us there will be a delay of 3 weeks at least in the production) so I thought I'd unveil it now to give you something to pass the time while waiting for the LE dolls. The Petrographie collection consist of 3 dressed OOAK dolls: Aimant, Grès and Craie. Aimant is now sold and Grés will part of a charity auction at New York Metrodolls club event "Style evolution 1920 to present" that takes place on October 6th. The club accepts bids by proxy.

Craie is the third doll in the Petrographie collection and features the Asian Miao sculpt.  Her face is hand painted with deep brown eyes, gradient eye shadow from mauve to purple, and her sensually parted lips are nude. Her nail polish is a French manicure with dark purple tips.

Her 20's inspired outfit consists of a under bust brocade corset dress with long pleated silk hem, white netting choker top with asymmetrical rouching,  pale gold Art Nouveau serpent sculpt heels, and a hand beaded skull cap with pale gold glass beads. All items are hand made by em'lia.

Petrographie collection - Grés

*My access to blogspot.com was blocked for a while so this is a late update.

I've had this OOAK collection ready for a while, but was planning to release it only after the Cherub and Seraph were out. However, there seems to be a delay after another from the factories (now the fashion factory told us there will be a delay of 3 weeks at least in the production) so I thought I'd unveil it now to give you something to pass the time while waiting for the LE dolls. The Petrographie collection consist of 3 dressed OOAK dolls: Aimant, Grès and Craie. More photos at the flickr set. 

Grès is the second doll in the Petrographie collection and features the African Nnaji sculpt.  Her face is hand painted with light hazel green eyes, shimmering gold eye shadow and her parted lips have ombre effect with gold and grey. Her nail polish is a French manicure in gold with grey tips. The long applied lashes have golden tips.

Her 20's inspired outfit consists of a under bust brocade corset dress with rouched silk hem, golden netting choker top with asymmetrical rouching, gold and grey Art Nouveau serpent sculpt heels, and a hand beaded skull cap with lavender glass beads. All items are hand made by em'lia.

Grès will be part of a charity auction of New York doll club Metrodolls' (http://metrodolls.blogspot.com/) event "Style evolution 1920 to present" that takes place on October 6th. The club accepts bids by proxy.

Collection Petrographie: Aimant

*My access to blogspot.com was blocked for a while so this is a late update.

I've had this OOAK collection ready for a while, but was planning to release it only after the Cherub and Seraph were out. However, there seems to be a delay after another from the factories (now the fashion factory told us there will be a delay of 3 weeks at least in the production) so I thought I'd unveil it now to give you something to pass the time while waiting for the LE dolls. The Petrographie collection consist of 3 dressed OOAK dolls: Aimant, Grès and Craie. The first 2 feature the African Nnaji sculpt and Craie features the Asian Miao sculpt. All the dolls are hand painted, and all the fashions and shoes hand made by em'lia. More photos at flickr set.

Aimant is the first doll in the Petrographie collection and features the African Nnaji sculpt.  Her face is hand painted with brown eyes, shimmering copper eye shadow and her parted liquorish lips with a flicker of a tongue are metallic lavender with black ombre effect. Her nail polish is a French manicure in metallic grey with black tips.

Her outfit consists of a under bust brocade corset dress with armoured hips, lavender silk panties with garters holding up a pair of net stockings, copper leatherette choker top, oriental platform sandals in copper and lavender Qing dynasty inspired headdress with a cascade of hand applied copper glass beads and threads of torn netting. All items are hand made by em'lia.

Aimant was sold through silent auction via email. 

Seraph and Cherub Teaser - Hairstyles

 

I have now finished the touch ups of the LE20 Seraph and Cherub dolls. The Cherubs have all received their flock hair and the Seraph hard cap wigs from PattaArt have arrived too. The fiery angel rocks a short cropped haircut with sleek burgundy left side and flaming 3-tone right side. Now all we are still waiting for is the fashions production to finish and then we are ready to go! And as promised here are a couple of sneak peeks to help you pick a your heavenly creature. Sultry or innocent? Either exotic girl is pure attitude.

 
As a fun detail the hard cap wigs arrived in an egg carton. Brilliant idea on Patta's part and really brought a smile on my face. I'm all for recycling and this is a great way of storing and transporting wigs. 

On My Desk - Cherub Teaser 2

I have had many emails asking about the process that goes into the dolls after I get them from the factory so I thought I'd cut you in all the action. I personally do the quality check on each and every doll, touch up their face up and tighten the stringing. I also dress and pack all the dolls myself to make sure everything fits well. I promise you a series of little sneak peeks from my desk as the dolls get ready to be launched so you will get to share the excitement along the way.

This first pic from my desk is of five new Inamorata Cherubs waiting for their flock hair to dry before I dust of the extra flock. I was asked on Prego if I have considered leaving some Cherubs unflocked so they can more easily wear hard cap wigs and the new owner wouldn't have to scratch off the flock. I am using water soluble glue for the flock so it is easy to wash off if you soak it in water for an half and hour of so, but if you would prefer to buy your Cherub without flock hair just send me an email. If there are enough "bald is beautiful requests" I'll leave a few unflocked for you. Also the slight increase in head size the flock hair provides makes it possible for Cherub to wear Sybarite wigs as Inamoarta heads are a little smaller than Sybs and closer to Deva and AG.

Feel free to email me with any other feedback as well. I thrive to perfect my doll and your views in both what is good and what bugs you are needed! I have already got request for better knee joints (my girls do buckle down under pressure and I am already working on new Inamorata body) and for ear piercings (the new sculpts will have them). Keep it coming! I couldn't do this without you!

The voting for 2013 DOLLS Awards of Excellence Public's Choice has now begun. 
Don't forget to vote!
Enter the ballot here.

 

Inamorata Teaser - Cherub and Seraph

Here is a long awaited teaser for LE20 Nnaji dolls Cherub and Seraph. Seraph is a premium lingerie doll with PattaArt hard cap wig and her face up is based on a prototype doll featured in Haute Doll article that launched the Inamorata line. Cherub is a basic lingerie doll with flock hair. Cherub will be out first and will be released together with a loose LE30 gown called Vertebrata. Seraph will follow with a LE30 loose casual fashion called Röntgen.

Can't give you the exact release date yet, but I have the dolls at hand now. It will take me a while to flock all the Cherubs and do the touch ups of each dolls make up and a general quality check. The fashions and wigs should arrive within a week.

My website is being updated so don't panic if you can't access it right now.

DOLLS Industry Awards of Excellence for Inamorata Mirrorball

I am very happy (and rather surprised) to announce that the OOAK Inamorata doll Mirrorball that was presented in IDEX charity raffle this year has won a 2013 Industry’s Choice DOLLS Awards of Excellence (DAE) in the category of One-of-a-Kind Doll with value more than $1,250.

The winner were announced April 12 at the Debut of Dolls Banquet held at IDEX in Orlando, Fla. Each entry in this year’s competition was evaluated by a panel of judges: Doll industry consultant Pat Burns, doll writer and historian Penny Herbst, Simon Farnworth of DollObservers.com, author and DOLLS contributor Stephanie Finnegan, DOLLS editor-at-large Jill Jackson, and Modern Doll President Patsy Moyer.

The Industry’s Choice winners become the nominees for the Public’s Choice awards voted on by DOLLS readers. Check out the photos of the nominees, ballot, and online voting instructions in the July 2013 issue of DOLLS magazine. 

Nnaji meets Cho:lo

Since I've been a child customizing my toys (didn't have much dolls as a kid as I was a total tomboy) has been essential part of my life. The bonding ritual of making dolls my own because even more important when I started collecting dolls on 2006. It is a fair estimate to say that less than 5% of dolls in at one point very vast my collection remained untouched. I bought dolls mainly for their repaint potential and was obsessed to get any new doll sculpt that came out. That is, until I got my own doll line - the Inamorata.

Coming for this background I not only accept but embrace the idea of other doll artists repainting my dolls and creating fashions and wigs inspired by and for them. It is wonderful to see all the possible interpretations of theme and to see amazing artists such as Park or Hendra, for example, to reinvent the faces I sculpted. Recently, I was lucky enough to do a trade with my dear friend Cholo Ayuyao better know in doll circles as Cho:lo: the amazing jewellery artist who became a doll fashion designer extraordinaire. Cholo has also developed a repainting look distinctly his own, often characterized by nude lips with golden shimmer and flirtatious smoky eyes. Cholo got an Inamorata doll in African Nnaji sculpt as his new muse and I will become a lucky owner of an original Cho:lo fashion creation for my dolls. 

The good news is that now that Cholo has an Inamorata to play with he can start accepting commissions orders for Inamorata, but be prepared to wait as his waiting list is even longer than mine! But good things come for those who wait and Cholo's ravishing art works are well worth waiting for. If you are not yet familiar with his work, visit his flickr stream.

The photos below as the property of Cholo Ayuya and used with his permission. Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Nnaji reimagined by Cho:lo

Nnaji, stil blank, modelling for Cho:los new Haute Couture collection

And if your Inamorata doll is craving for new wigs, here are some hard cap wig artists who can make customs orders for Inamorata head. I have been told that Inamorata can share wigs from Deva dolls and IT Avant Guards, but if you want to commission a perfect fit contact these ladies:

- PattaArt, hard cap wigs, the official Inamorata wig maker

- Time of Doll by Ilaria Mazzoni, hard cap wigs

I know you are hungry for news about the next Inamorata release and I can reveal that first out will be the basic lingerie doll Cherub and a gown called Vertebrata. The second release will be the premium lingerie doll Seraph with a casual fashion called Röntgen. Can't give you exact dates yet but both will be out this Summer. ;)

Nnaji Update: Seraph and Cherub

*Haute Doll Nnaji prototype, the production dolls 

will use this sculpt but have different make up.

Long time no updates so I thought I'd pop you a note about what I'm working with. As you know the next limited edition Inamorata doll will be the African Nnaji sculpt. This doll was originally suppose to be a limited edition 40 lingerie doll, but when I designed the lingerie I went a little overboard (as I usually tend to do) and the doll came out nothing but basic. I know many are hoping for a more affordable basic doll so I decided to cut the edition in two making LE20 basic lingerie doll and another LE20 premium lingerie doll. The dolls will have the same skin tone , but different make up, hair and fashion.

The first one is called Cherub and she will come with basic lingerie set and sandals. Since everyone is not into hard cap wigs (that constitute a large part of the dolls price) the Cherub will come with flock hair that makes old school wigs stay on better. I love dolls with short hair and think women look fabulous shaved bald.

The second Nnaji doll called Seraph will be the one true to my vision with a more complicated 5 part lingerie set and thigh high boots. She will come with a cool short cut PattaArt hard cap wig with multicolour highlights. Both dolls will have applied upper lashes. Seraph will be in the same price league with Inro (699usd) and we will try to keep Cherub as affordable as possible.

Since these are lingerie dolls and I'm sure there are many Inro dolls out there waiting for new fashions, I'm also working on the first loose Inamorata fashions. The first one will be a long gown called Vertebrata and I also have plans for a more casual jeans and T-shirt look. Both outfits will come with shoes and it's too early to reveal the edition sizes or price level yet.

The release date is not determined yet, but I my best estimate right now is late June or early July. We try to release all the dolls and fashions at the same time so you can save in combined shipping costs.

Picture Request: Inro nude and posing and wig tests

I have been asked for many photos after the Inro release and have posted tons of them on flickr. Here are some of the most popular requests.

Nude front, side and back view of Inro (note that all Inamorata dolls share this body)

Inamorata comparison pics with other 16" dolls (I only had Nuina Devon and Sybarite Raja at hand)
There is also a great set of comparison shots on Prego by Valerie.

Inamorata hip joint aka the "bubble butt", "hump", "rump"and "buns"

Inro with several other wigs besides her own: