I think I'm in love...

... with Marina Bychkova, doll artist extraordinaire.

Her porcelain ball-jointed dolls are simply exquisite, and all the costumes and jewelry and accessories are amazingly crafted. Nearly all the costumes are encrusted with beading, and all metal pieces (crowns, corsets, shoes, etc.) are carved and cast individually.

I stumbled upon her work the other day when browsing through the Coilpress blog, and followed a link to her website. Be still my heart.


If anything could make me want to attempt ball-jointed dolls myself, this would be it. As it is, I'm already itching to break out my wax and bronze and silver and start casting again... unfortunately I no longer have access to the metals studio, so no matter how much I want to, I can't.

Sometimes I think there are altogether too many wonderful and inspiring things in the world.