Presenting the newest addition to my elf mage toothpick doll series is Skybreath, who is by far my favorite. One of the reasons why is because I think and I believe I have outdone myself when making her. Never have I imagined I'll be able to make her style possible. I am always surprised with the outcomes of my dolls. It always felt like first love every time I finish a doll. There's something about making toothpick dolls that makes me happy. Just imagine the feeling you get when you make the things you thought were impossible at first, but in the long run, you made it. That's what I feel when I imagine a challenging design, then after the endless process of doubting myself over and over again, I managed to pull it off just the way I imagined it. But enough with me showing off. Let's talk about Skybreath instead. She came from the Kingdom of High Winds. She would often contradict Rockyfangs into discussions, and she could shush Embertongue...

In case you might have noticed from my previous entries to the elf mage series, every doll element has a relation to my deeper self, or an alter ego in some sense. This is the same for the next member of my toothpick doll elf mage family. I thought a lot about the outfit design for my Earth elf mage, and what attitude do I want her to portray. I've asked myself questions like: Do I want my earth mage to have the fairy-like attitude with a humble personality and subtle features? Or do I want my earth mage to be as tough as rock with a hard-headed personality and shouts attitude from head to toes?  This dilemma urged me to do "research" (which is actually just by watching fantasy anime and observing their costumes). I re-watched Cardcaptor Sakura  for inspiration from her cards The Earthy. The Wood, and The Flower.  Even watched Avatar: The Last Airbender  for inspiration from Toph Beifong , who lives by her name and her element. Until I decide...

Third on the Elf Mage toothpick doll series is the element of water. Remember when I mentioned in my previous entry for the series that I liked Magicknight Rayearth?  For this elf mage toothpick doll, I got inspired again from one of the main characters,  Umi Ryuuzaki's  costume on one of the episodes  when she boarded the battleship of the twins, Tarta and Tatra .  But enough talk about the anime, I might end up talking about it for the length of this post and that's not my goal here.  I have always enjoyed the water element. I had wished I have a water aspect in my personality: being able to fit in on whatever situation or being able to mingle easily with different kinds of people. Just like how water adapts to different container shapes. I have always been the introverted type. Put me in a room with strangers and I would totally freak out inside, thinking about what would be a nice conversation-starter until I end up not talking at ...

Apart from ice, fire is another element close to my heart. Not because of having hot temperament or fierce personality but because of childish reasons. When I was a kid, there were lots of anime cartoons under the fantasy genre, and my favorite among them was  Magicknight Rayearth. Okay, it's still one of my favorites until now. After all, my favorite character there was Hikaru Shidou, and her element was fire. She's not really similar to who I am in person, but she's the one I wish my life was; strong-willed, brave, and can befriend almost anyone. And due to my otaku side, I decided to make her my model for my next Elf Mage doll. Presenting Embertongue, the elf mage of fire. She came from the and of Eternal Crimson Flames. Yep. Obviously I copied Hikaru Shidou's hairstyle. I just added one more pigtail instead of only one. But I really liked her concave bob hairstyle though. Despite all the difficulties of cutting her hair to perfecti...

I can't quite remember what urged me to create an elf mage toothpick dolls series, but I will talk about it anyway. I guess it was because I liked watching shows with elemental abilities like Avatar. Even the Kpop boyband group EXO whose debut single Mama  used 'elemental powers' for each of their members, and I must've listened to the song for God knows how many and I lost count. And it just so happens that my favorite member of the group was Xiumin whose element was the frost. So I guess he inspired me to make a toothpick doll ice mage. While I was brainstorming for design ideas, I thought of consulting old uncle Google for inspiration. The suggestions mostly showed mages with wands or scepters, wearing capes and hoodies, and with details that are geometrical which I believe must be icicles attached to their costumes (if they were actual people, how do they walk so dignified while there are thick icicles sticking out of their backs?) Then I saw on...