Sunday, October 18, 2009

Early Christmas decorating; & discovering BJD's...





















It has been fun yesterday; I found a Christmas tree with fiber optics at the Dollar General for $3...it was cute with a resin base that resembles a bag. Only disappointing thing about it was that the fiber optics do not work...oh well, it is perfect for the dollhouse parlor, scrapes the ceiling, and will look smashing once I finish getting lights on it (Target has these little battery powered lights; however, I haven't picked them up yet-) and some other decorations. I had purchased some golden ornaments that will match the gilt on the fireplace and the gilt crowns in my Viceroy l blue wingchair, which Francisco immediately sat down in. I also had some little resin santa bears and mrs. santa bear ornaments that went well on it also.At left is Learning to Cook Barbie sitting at the Rement table(trifle too small for these dolls, I was disappointed though I love the set) Luchia and Poppy are inspecting the tree.





The tree ended up looking quite cute, except for Kelly who fell over in a faint at seeing her dreamhouse under the tree so early. I still need to add some pictures on the walls, with china, books, & accessories. Since all of the Bespaq in this room is mostly mahogany or walnut, I want to keep to a rich finish. The drapes and portieres match the fabric on Francisco's wingchair, so I'm thinking I need to take some of this fabric and make coordinating pillows for this room also. Giles is sitting in the prototype leather chair to the left, not in this picture.




Here is Perfectly Pink with Agnes, a closeup of the tree decorating. Forgive the darkness in these pics, they were done as an afterthought at the end of the day at the shop, (my 1:6 scale dollhouse resides at my shop, King William Miniatures.) The dollhouse is so big that my dear husband politely but firmly said I should display it at the shop and let others enjoy seeing it also!lol. It resides in one of our shop windows, and visitors enjoy seeing what I do with the different dolls and so forth. I am still working on the kitchen and the garage, which houses the Bratz remote control car at this moment.









What happened to Barbie & Ken wedding set? Well, they are temporarily enjoying cake and champagne in Skipper's bedroom, or what was Skipper's bedroom. I thought it a totally appropriate room (it has several shades of Barbie Pink going on in here...Ken so reminds me of my poor husband, Chris, who has had to get used to wearing pink polos and a great deal of pink being my favorite color down through the years...but hey, isn't that true love when a man will wear pink for you...and look good at the same time? Ken looks quite at home with this quiet moment with his bride....




Pillow Talk Poppy has made herself quite at home in the dollhouse; I took Summer Magic home with me with the good intentions of dressing her in tennis gear, but that soon fell to the wayside when I ran out of time with family life.lol. These dolls are so very adorable, the innocence in their face reminds me a bit of Sleepytime gal nearby. I love Jason Wu's dolls, buthave become extremely selective as some of these dolls look well, extremely unhappy or in the words of my teenage daughter, 'ticked off'. Daughter's theory is they are hungry, since they are so skinny. lol.

Thoughts on BJD'S.......
I have fell in love with asian ball jointed dolls (Otherwise referred to as 'BJD's') and currently have my first one on layaway at Denver Doll Emporium (http://www.denverdoll.com/ ). The doll I finally decided on was an MSD sized 43 cm Soulkid Katie A. and she is simply delightful looking from the pics...she will be coming with her faceup and wig and eyes. I can hardly wait to make the final payments...because I already have at least three more, of different sizes, I want, such as this DollZone Violetta-
these are the promo pics, she is a 58 cm SD sized doll, and I love the expression on her face. there is another called Clovera, which is equally dreamy. However, Violetta will have to wait until I bring home the Soulkid. I've already started planning Katie's wardrobe with Arcadia dolls, they make fantastic historic clothing with their current Circus collection from the Victorian era.
I also want to get what is referred to as a 'Tiny' a Puki Sugar or Puki Mary, they are so tiny they would fit in the dollhouses! And they are adorable to carry about for photo shoots in the purse.
I have begun to focus my doll collection more, and stop on building dollhouses formyself, as I have quite literally run out of room at home. The display room is currently being cleaned and repaired so I can have a wall that will hold my larger dolls such as the BJD's and the American Girl dolls with scenes, or rooms. I have been currently designing the shelf units and the sizes I need to accomadate my larger dolls, which will be showcased on this blog-
htt://pumpkinhillstudios.blogspot.com Since my garage studio was originally called 'Pumpkin Hill' (my dad called me 'pumpkin' because of my round cheeks as a little girl.) I thought it an appropriate name when sorting through items in the display room I found my old Tasha Tudor book, 'The Dolls' Christmas' where the very large dollhouse made for dolls that are quite tall, is called Pumpkin House. I suppose even Tasha Tudor knew there was something very magical about Pumpkins. My favorite pic of myself is the one in front of the Tasha Tudor dollhouse, located in Williamsburg, Va about 45 minutes away from my home. The Pumpkin Hill Blog has just been started, so not very much except the dolls in my collection right now, and some cute skits with a My Twinn doll. I fell in love with American Girl dolls also, and their props, so those are also on my list to acquire. I have already thought of and wrote out a storyline for the dolls, and they will be dressed in colonial dress -the first American Girl I wish to acquire is Felicity & her friend Elizabeth, since they are dressed in 18th century dress, like I will dress my BJD when she arrives. I want to have a room where they attend 'finishing' school, and the SD will be a lady of the French court. Right now the heavy work of repairing the window in the display room, and cleaning out the clutter is going to take a few months before I can begin on the shelving construction of the large dollhouse for the SD & MSD sized dolls. My inspiration was from the blog of Reddiker Woods on typepad, and her huge doll room/dollhouse was featured in Haute Doll past issue, and also Wendy Wylde's blog, www.mirandawandering.blogspot.com which is essential in cuteness. One of the problems of building in this large scale is space considerations, which will be paramount in the current room. I have already sorted through a ton of books, unused crafty items I gave to my friend Suanne who is building a thrift shop diorama for her Ellowyne dolls, and which is remarkable in its color and detailing; hopefully I can help with her photo ops and post some on PumpkinHill's blog. I am so hoping to be able to pay off my Soulkid by November, so she can be home in time for Christmas...crossing fingers here..lol
All for now, and I will post more pics coming soon!
~Lisa

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Catching up on my blogging....



It has been a long time since I posted, and here it is October already! Much has not happened in the One Sixth Scale Dollhouse, except now it seems like it is time to decorate for Christmas....and here it is Halloween.
Since the dollhouse is displayed in all of its glory at the shop, (King William Miniatures & Collectibles, Suite B, 6114 Lakeside Ave, Richmond, Va ) I've decided to somewhat skip decorating for Halloween, and concentrate on Christmas decor. I am still waiting for my Reluctant Debutante Poppy Parker to arrive, so haven't ordered any more dolls. blah.
On a brighter note, I am planning the tree and the Christmas decor for this dollhouse so it will look really nice! Ricky Santa will be sitting in one of the wingchairs, and hopefully we will have some Kellies and Tommys eagerly sitting at his knee with their lists...and lots of toys to put under the tree. The garland for the fireplace I made last year will be used again (refer to tutorial on this blog) and I am still looking for the tree for the dollhouse.
Also currently working on deciding what our Christmas scene will be this year for the shop's Christmas card!
More later-Lisa