Hauntingly...Beautiful.....Luchia....Has Arrived!!

My gorgeous Luchia club doll has arrived! I love, love, love this doll. This is one time when the pictures simply do not do justice to the doll. I was unsure how much I would like her- worried about making dolly connections, I guess. I could not tell from the W club's pictures how beautiful her makeup and hair were- her hair is so soft and romantic. Since today was a 'hauntingly' foggy day, I took her outside as soon she had her gladiator boots on and her jewelry, and the pics I got were lovely..Enjoy! I am planning to re-write her story card- she looks so timeless, like she walked out of the Georgian or Regency era with that lovely coloring and hair! A la Sense and Sensibility!

~Lisa

Beginning work on the floor base for the bathroom...

Today's weather was simply awful.....it began to snow, and sleet, and brrr....get colder along with ice on these country roads I live on, making driving more difficult. So I thought today besides packing packages for shipment, I would work a bit on the floor base I had cut for the small bath off of the girls' bathroom, (Agnes is extremely upset that the work is not done....well, I am too. lol!) I had originally purchased some matboard or artists board from Ben Franklin for this room. One of the problems is the former owner/builder used rubber cement on glueing the carpets in this house, so directly tiling onto the floor wasn't an option. So I decided to do the floors on slide-in pieces, that would slide in and fall into place, for easy removal if I later decide to wire the house for lights. Hence, this is house I came about for tiling this matboard, and glueing the MDF dais and step directly onto it, then building the rest of the tile floor around it, then - there ya go- slide her in when finished.

The bathroom will be small, making the most use of the space as possible. I haven't exactly decided what I will use for a sink or toilet- I like the new Barbie items available now, but they are so pink! So looks like I will be trolling Ebay for accessories for the bathroom, I would love to do puddle drapes at the window- I think that would really add to the simple look of elegance. I have a very pretty mirror, that can be painted gold on the frame, and maybe a pretty vase with peacock feathers also. I have thought of using seashells on the walls, with starfish that I found, giving it a nautical theme since the manor might switch geographical locations and be on the Riveria, Cannes, etc. Still playing with the story line here.

Have made my payment to the W club and yeah! Luchia is on her way! Took me a while to get together some moolah to pay for her after the holidays. I'm hoping to add some serving staff since my girls are so snobby- they still insist they need the French Maid silkstone to wait on them. I know they will definitely need a butler and a chef- my girls can't cook. So far Uncle Giles (Sideshow Giles) will only be reading his books in the library with a spot of tea, and chaperoning his niece and her chums. lol. I think I may end with too many dolls and may need to build another playscale house!lol!

Presently, I have so much going on- and this weather has held me up papering the walls and putting up walls like I would like to. Until the small garage is cleaned out of displays, shop counters, and stock, I won't be able toput the dollhouse in a stable climate controlled environment, so its decoration and construction has been put on severe hold- I'm hoping to open the gallery shop by appointment only at my parents' home, which will be perfect. Hubby will have the garage to turn into his office for his business, and has reluctantly agreed to let me temporarily store the dollhouse there. Since my desk will be there too, I hope so. lol. I have since acquired more furniture for some of the rooms that is simply awesome.

~Lisa

Featured Artisan: Sylvia Rountree, The Dolls' Cobbler

My featured artisan/shop is Sylvia Rountree, who is the owner of The Dolls' Cobbler. Sylvia is a gifted IGMA artisan, who creates the most tiny, complete, realistic shoes! Not satisfied with just 1:12 and 1:24 scale, she also creates in 1:6 scale also- asmy dolls can attest, since they went 'shopping' when her table was across from mine at Tyson's Corner miniature show last year in October. I have always admired Sylvia's work since I was a teenager and read about these marvelous creations in Nutshell News-- what a heady experience it is for me to call her a friend.

I encourage you toshop her link- at the left here on my blog. Whatever she creates in 1/12 scale, she can create in 1/6 scale for your dolls- but you must let her know what doll it is- some of the shoes can fit Silkstones better than the FR gals. She and I talked last week and she is now currently working on shoes for Tonner dolls, which will also fit Gene! Sylvia's shoes are all workable and hand crafted of the thinnest leathers. Here are some pictures above of some of my girls experiencing trying on these shoes ....

Enjoy!

~Lisa

Items arrived....and rethinking those stairs!

Well, I have had alot of items arrive! The chandelier from http://www.unicahome.com/ arrived Fedex, and it is soooooo lovely! I absolutely love this chandelier, and will probably slowly but surely, purchase the others for the house.

Sideshow Giles & Willow have arrived, and they are awesome. A word to the wise on this Willow figure, her face is entirely too pale for her body- so you may want to customize her facial coloring. But the outfit is cute- even down to the dirty white sneakers. I have taken some pics of the beginnings of this diorama in the collection stage, and the desk that Giles will use.

As for those stairs- I have had alot of time to rethink doing the stairs. One of my ideas is to close up the holes in the stair wells and create a fake door in each room at the back, to make it look as though the stairs are in a hallway reached by the fake doors. This would give me loads of room that ordinarily would betaken up by the staircase. Also, I will be able to divide the salon/parlor in half and Giles can have his library, filled with books! (which I'm working on right now.) The next doll in the trio on my list is Prophecy girl Buffy by Sideshow, when I get a little moolah ahead. lol. As of yet, I am liking the idea of the fake doors, and this will really add to the house also. I have made one door for the bedroom for the partition wall that divides the bedroom and bath, and bought the hinges, I am hesitating on putting in the wallpaper and the partition until I have a dry place to keep this dollhouse, since we have had such damp weather. Also, I may be able to put a chandelier in the parlor, through the stairwell hole, and have the adaptor in the bedroom. This helps solve the problem of space, and lights! I made the books, which are blank, the open book of the Da Vinci prints, and the envelopes were made with a scrapper's envelope punch. The wax seals on the envelopes are made with candle wax. I set the items up to see how they looked together, Giles of course is sitting in his leather wingchair looking at the newest communication from the Watcher's Council, and Willow is looking for more books on research.

Enjoy the pictures of the beginning of the Slayer library diorama! Agnes just can't understand why Uncle Giles has such odd letters arrive at the Manor!

~Lisa

Well, I bid on Sideshow Willow on Ebay....

....lol, I know. I'm hooked. But I have a couple more hours to wait to see if I win this auction- Willow is up for $9.99!! What a deal, I couldn't resist. Have no pics as of yet, but am working on Giles' desk (the slant Bespaq desk that I am sold out of on my website, but am expecting in some more this week-) yippee! I kept one back for display in my gallery shop that I will be opening by appointment only soon, stay tuned.
But back to Willow figure- she is so cute- this isn't vampire Willow, but human Willow dressed in the fuzzy pink sweater and skirt with sneakers, she is so cute. I think it will be great to add regular figures that have character next to my snobby FR girls-- I like a mix of faces. The desk I am working on I have completed a large spined book, still making it look aged and worn, the pages are blank. Last evening I made alot of envelopes with parchment paper, some stuffed and closed, all with red wax seals- secret correspondence from the Watcher's Council, you know. I have a small jar that I need to put water and a cross in, for the holy water, and I need to make some Mr. Pointy stakes for Giles to have on hand. I will take pictures when I get the desk stuffed and ready. Will post more when I find out this evening if I win Willow!
I haven't really figured out how I will make the permanent library diorama, I'd like to have an upstairs balconey like the sunnydale library- but creating stairs is difficult. I may limit the library to just one floor with a foamcore mockup to play with, and go from there. Assembling the figures helps, so you can see what size and dimensions are needed. Will post more later!
~Lisa

Sideshow figure Giles is coming soon....

Ever had that favorite character from a movie, tv show, or a book that you love? So do I. One of my favorite all time programs was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then the sequel series, Angel, which wasn't as good as Buffy. All die-hard Buffy fans say that, I know. The show was a fantasy based tv show that came on and was based on the famous movie from the early 80's. Besides Buffy, one of my favorite characters was Rupert Giles, her watcher.
Well, the toy actionfigure company Sideshow (http://www.sideshowtoys.com ) has done many replicas of Buffy and all of the characters, including Giles. I just ordered Giles the other day and received notification today that he is on his way! Don't have any pictures yet, but soon hope to. My next character up for purchase will be Buffy Prophecy girl, (this one is based upon the first season when the 'Master' vampire supposedly does away with Buffy and she drowns, but Zander saves her by mouth to mouth. Steamy! This particular figure wears her white gown and heels that she was wearing on her way to the dance/prom.
I have an awesome slant Bespaq desk that will make for a great desk for Giles. I have always wanted to replicate the school library on my own loose interpretation, and have begun to figure out what I want in the way of a library for the slayer and her watcher and the Scoobies. My library won't be exactly like Sunnydale high's library, but based upon the Watcher's council library in London, England and the Sunnydale high school library- I liked the fact that you went up the stairs for books. I have already begun a host of items for Giles and Buffy- thick old books and papers, stakes, wooden crosses, etc. I will probably create the first scene with foamcore when I get time...this is one of those ideas in the making, and I just couldn't resist buying the Giles figure. I haven't had time to work on the dollhouse, but know that I definitely will have Giles and Buffy residing there- or visiting, probably Giles will be Agnes' younger uncle Giles, the one who carried on the secret watcher family tradition of the Von Weiss Barons. It will make for interesting story lines, that is for sure!
No pictures of the house for now, have been so busy, but hopefully will have some soon when the Giles figure arrives, and hopefully some pics of the dollhouse!
~Lisa