Collectibles, Costuming, Fan Spotlight, Sherlock

The making of a young Detective!

September 20, 2017 Screamers Leave a comment

Young Alicia dressed up as the Great Detective.. Sherlock Holmes! Recently I had the opportunity of meeting another talented fan and her young inspiring daughter/detective!

I was so impressed by the costume, I had to spotlight Alicia and her mom Carolina! Carolina’s not only a huge Sherlock fan, she’s a talented fan!! First I’ll share a fun interview with Carolina and then show some of her amazing crafts!

Skulls And Deductions Carolina’s Etsy page, a must see!

The Birth of a Adorable Detective!

Sherlock Fans USA: Can you tell us how you were first introduced to Sherlock, and what inspired your daughter’s costume?

Carolina: The first time I heard of Sherlock, I think, was after s2. It didn’t really catch my interest then, and I didn’t actually watch it until after s3 ended (yes, I’m one of those people ). It was a friend who recommended it, and I had it in the back of my mind for some time before I actually looked it up on Netflix. I watched ASIP and I. Was. Hooked. I think I binged like one and a half season in an evening, haha. When I finally got to the end of s3, I was so into it that I started to look it up online. Would there be more episodes? When? It was about that time I got into the fandom. I found Tumblr, read some interviews, looked at fantastic art and gifs, and then came fanfic. My obsession was established.

And that’s how my daughter got interested too. She asked questions about it and I taught her the characters names, what their relations to each other was, what they did for a living and things like that. She found it very cool how Sherlock could work all those things out from just looking at people and searching for clues. She started to play detective, asked for a magnifying glass and started to sneak around and look for clues everywhere. Around that time I also bought John and Sherlock Funkos, which she started to play with. She also played with my clay figurines and played out all kinds of scenarios. Everything from Farmer! Lock to Wedding! Lock (John and Sherlock got married), to scenes she had seen from the actual show. She was still only five, so I hadn’t let her watch the show too much back then.

Then came Halloween and she asked me if she could dress up as Sherlock, and I thought; “Sure”. Since we don’t go trick or treating here in Sweden, she was only going to wear the costume indoors, so we didn’t have to find a coat. The first thing we went looking for was the iconic blue scarf. We were so lucky to find this fantastic scarf in a thrift shop, the first shop we went looking in. It was barely used and cost almost nothing at all. Then came the hunt for a purple shirt. Not as easy. We went to all stores we could think of but found nothing even resembling purple, so, I bought a white one and dyed it myself. Finding a suit for such a tiny girl wasn’t the easiest of tasks either. But we found one about two or three sizes too big that I altered somewhat to make it fit. As for her hair, which was quite light and long, I gathered it into sections and then pinned them with bobby pins. I then used a large blush brush and dusted some dark brown eye shadow on it to get it a tiny bit darker. I also filled in her brows with the same color. Make it work, right? Her shoes was a par of black, low boots that she already had in her closet and the magnifying glass was the one she always played with. Then, she was good to go. We took some pictures of some of the iconic Sherlock poses and she was really proud of her costume.

Sherlock Fans USA: I just looked up your Etsy account and these figures are brilliant! Were these originally designed for your daughter to play with? In other words.. Was that your inspiration to design these? I love that you’ve designed almost every character! And you have a selection of Sherlock jewelry too! Can you tell fans how that first came about?

Carolina: Thank you so much! It actually happened the other way around I designed them for my Sherlock shelf, and the first drafts is the ones she played with. I altered and improved the first ones into the ones in my shop now. I started out with making the characters out of hama beads, but I wanted something that would look better on display. That’s how the clay came into play. It started out with just John and Sherlock, then came Sheet! Lock and the rest followed. I also made Major Sholto, but he’s so detailed that I didn’t put him in my shop, haha. I actually got feedback from Alistair Petrie about that one and he asked me if I could make him one! So I did, and he now has it at his place.

The jewelry came after since I wanted Sherlock merch to wear in my everyday life. But since I live in Sweden, we don’t have that many options except ordering from the US or UK, with crazy shipping prices. So I decided to try making my own stuff, and that way, I could get what ever I wanted I think I made the carnations first and then it all sort of came naturally as I thought of Sherlock related things. The bees are great cuz they’re subtle but full of meaning for Sherlockians.

I have made two different Sherlock cakes too, for our Swedish fandom meetups. You can say that Sherlock has been a great inspiration for my crafts lately

Major Sholto one of many figurines designed by Carolina!

Sherlock Fans USA: Have you been to any of the Sherlocked conventions? Major Sholto is so cute! All of your crafts are amazing.. But I really love the figures!

Carolina: I haven’t, unfortunately. Too far away and too expensive And thank you! I like them too ^^

Sherlock Fans USA: This may sound like a geeky question.. But how did you hear from Alistair Petrie? I would love to hear the story behind that! That’s why I thought you went to a Sherlocked convention!

Carolina: Geeky questions are the best questions I actually tagged him on Twitter, after several people on Tumblr told me I totally should, haha I asked him what he thought about the tiny him, and he said he loved it I geeked out! He then sent me a pm on Twitter and asked me if he could buy one from me. I told him I would send him one but I didn’t want to charge him for it. I was just honored that he asked me and that he liked it!

Love these Sherlock characters hama beads, all designed by Carolina!

Sherlock Fans USA: Sweet! That would have been so cool! I’d love to get a set off you sometime too! After Sherlocked though. I’m going to London soon.. So I’m pinching money until after it’s over.

How many different characters have you made, and do you have a favorite? Do you have a favorite from the series?

Carolina: I’ve made Sherlock, John, Mycroft, Lestrade, Irene, Moriarty, Mrs Hudson, Molly, Mary, Major Sholto and Stamford. Although, I can’t get Stamford’s glasses right so I haven’t been able to show him off yet The favorites are John and Sherlock, but I also like how Irene turned out.

From the series…hm. I’m quite the John supporter I think, but it’s how Sherlock and John play off each other that make them interesting. They wouldn’t really work without each other, in my opinion.

One more photo of this Brilliant Little Detective!

A Collection of Carolina figurines and necklaces, all found on Carolina’s Esty page: Skulls And Deductions! You can also follow Carolina at: johntheantivirus.tumblr.com

Some of my personal favorites!