Friday, March 30, 2012

New custom Tattoo Love doll & other doll stuff...













Meet Rose, my newest custom doll. I had been wanting to do another doll with tattoos, since Buck (shown here) was done over a year ago. Shows how much creative dolly time I have if I haven't picked up my paintbrush in over a year and a half- I think Buck was done in 2010! 
Rose is a hybrid doll- I had purchased a Racquelle Fashionista for a body swap with my Mini Lisa who I am working on as well. (I gasped when I looked at my last blog entry- 7 days no dolly pics or entries! cute gasp!) Since racquelle's head was laying about- I figured I would create this doll since this was technically a holiday weekend. I also had bought the LIV doll in bikini from walmart when they went on sale for $6 bucks so I knew I had the perfect body to experiment with her tattoo/punk rock look.
The tattoes consist of roses, on a vine, with leaves that go from her back to the front of the breast. On her back she has LOVE written and a small heart dangling- the vine of roses & leaves goes up and onto her arm, cresting in a rose with 'ROSE' written & shaded with white acrylics. I may do more on her arm later- the rest of her tat goes to the front breast, and has a butterfly at the end of the vine near her breast. Since the LIV doll body has no 'formed' molded breast nipples, I mixed the paints and painted them on- it really makes the front of her tattoo snap! Her eye makeup I darkened with black and did her lips darker and fuller as well.  Her hair was done from a flocking tutorial and I left the front of the Fashionista hair which I then chopped, so it would hang at a edge in the front of her face. I used basic flocking I found in a bright pink at Michael's on sale...
I think she turned out really well. I also did another butterfly on her back calf of one of her legs, perfect girlfriend for Bucky there. She will really look great in Barbietown as I like 'real' looking people, not just model look alikes.
More going on in the One Sixth Scale dollhouse...
I bit the bullet and ordered from Cotswold Collectibles as I had been lusting over their Asia Scale Store chairs! One thing- shipping is high for this baby, understandable- it is made of resin and they come in a variety of colors and finishes. And they are only $19.99!!! I originially wanted the white with silver finish but got the gold with brown and am glad I did. I recommend them and will be ordering more from them. Be aware though- your order has to total $25 before they will process it. They only take credit cards or check cards, or check- no paypal. Don't worry- it is quite easy to spend OVER $25 at this site with 1:6 scale goodies!
Enough talk, onto the pics!
Of course my Anja fell in love with it...






Of course, Anja has a new dress as well- found on Ebay! Just in time for Easter. I am trying to get diorama items together for the dolls to have an Easter egg party in town with baskets, and the dolls wearing hats as well- just like the old fashioned Easter parade I used to attend as a kid after church on Easter sunday, so much fun to walk about in your Easter outfit.
I might have to settle just for the easter bunny /egg hunt part since making all those hats for all those dolls would be mind boggling...
MORE Diorama finds...
I was on my way to UPS & the post office today, and while driving saw a very large yard sale. Hubby was with me and wanted to stop on the way back, so we did. I kept calm when I saw the stuffies and toys and old Barbies but never expected to find this!





It is TWO count 'em TWO store counters that fit together and have a modern cash register with the digital readout- must be from the 1990's I estimate. $1 is all I paid for them. The clear window counter evidently had shelves but they are missing- these can be made with balsa. The stickers are adorable but I do not know yet how to repaint the items without harming the stickers. the display window has a crack in it. My first thought was to make it pristine- then I thought of grunging it up a bit more...it would make such a GREAT donut counter since the stickers sell pretzels and coffee for .99 cents. This will probably go into the stash until I figure out a scene for it. I am so addicted to shops and diners and restuarants for the dolls...my dolls love to eat junk food, lol..
That's all for now- had alot of catchup to do!
~Lisa

Friday, March 23, 2012

Building Barbietown: Boutique finished!

Yes, the boutique storefront is finished! I worked on both today, in between packing orders and when I had a little 'down' time...











There are still some finishing touches I need to do, like finishing the edges of store window. The door was made of foamcore, and the lines in it were carved with my exacto knife- I used a miniwax stain and the same stain was used on the sign. This color stain meshes with the granite speckled foamcore for the storefront- I also used the same foamcore to make the walls of the shop window. The little topiary was made by me of things I had laying about- 2 styrofoam balls, a small dowel, terra cotta pot, and some landscape turf and glue. The sign is done in 3-d scrapbook stickers from Michael;s- I misjudged so used the little squiggle doos on the ends of the sign. For a fake storefront it is really looking like a town now! And walking suit just adores the new shop layout I did. I would like to decorate for Easter, maybe an Easter parade with the dolls in their hats walking their dogs, and the kid dolls with Easter baskets...I wanted to do the store front window in the blue dress I have from the silkstone gift set, but could not find it so used sleepytime gal's outfit. But I am really proud of this storefront, and am already thinking of how to expand the 'town', lol.
Please enjoy the pics!
~Lisa

Thursday, March 22, 2012

IT Direct Exclusive Seasonal Dressed Doll Spring has arrived!

I won the W club's lottery for this doll- she was limited to 250 in the edition. Their new line is a seasonal line, and this one is Spring. She's adorable- and the price was right. I was really pleased to win her.





The only disappointing feature is no purse- but she does come with earrings which match the dress & shoes. Her hair has the goo in it to keep it in place, I will probably wash it out because her hair is a lovely color.
It has been a busy few dolly days as all the dolls I had pre ordered are arriving at once- Will & Kate wedding set, Walking Suit Silkstone- and now Spring! I will have to find a name for her, and character as to her placement in the One Sixth Scale dollhouse- one of the staff that works there for the Baroness such as her administrative department? Maybe an executive assistant..to Lady Agatha, standing nearby. She looks great with the scenery behind in Barbietown...speaking of which- more new pics of some more progress!




My progress so far or work done is replacing the black foamcore with black posterboard- cheaper and a more smoother look, as it covers more pavement area. I also made this cute little topiary for outside the cafe with items I had on hand, a dowel, styrofoam balls, glue and alittle terra cotta pot I spray painted bronze, and sprinkled the little balls with green turf from a railroad/landscaping supplies and voila- topiary. Might make more of these for the boutique when I can ever get the doors in.
Enjoy!
~Lisa

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Walking Suit has arrived!










OOh la la, she has arrived! Silkstone Walking Suit Barbie arrived yesterday and she caused a stir in Barbietown...I purchased her during Barbie's Birthday event at BarbieCollector.com and got her at 25% off with free shipping. Though I hated having to part with some of my  Silkstones earlier in the year, this little lady makes a difference, I believe she will be one of my favorites, besides In the Pink.
Of course, Mad Men Silkstone Pete Draper couldn't keep his eyes off of her...and immediately wanted to help her with that heavy hat box she is carrying. LOL...
I did receive the controversial hat- but to me it is sexy with the veil pulled over her face...I have never found in high fashion the habit of over- exposing of the body that enticing or sexy...There is something in my opinion, of an impeccably fashionably dressed woman that is more 'sexy' or alluring, than the trash conception of Jennifer Lopez, Lindsy Lohan, and the other so-called divas of this day. (OK, off my soap box, LOL...)
As to new doll arrivals, while Walking Suit was making her debut on the town, my Mini-Me (a doll I have purchased that will be my 1:6 scale version of ME...or Mini-Lisa, as I call her, lol) also arrived a few days ago. She was invited to tea by Agnes and Regal Solstice Anja, I will probably have to do something for the Baroness, which means feeding her clothing and shoe habit...I hope she didn't notice that Mini Lisa & Anja were both wearing new sheath dresses.......








Above are the pics of Mini-Lisa having tea with Agnes & Anja. I have only recently redressed Anja and taken off of the packaging material off of her knees! Previously she had just sat around in that lovely evening dress with those incredible shoes on. She is a striking doll with that incredible chignon and red hair. I got Mini-Lisa & Anja's little sheath dresses off of Ebay on a fluke search and they were very well made. They fit Fashion Royalty better, a little loose on Mini Lisa- she has been body swapped with a Fashionista body of Racquelle. I need to do a hairstyle on her and get the goo out and maybe repaint her eyes to look like mine. Then she will be ready for our travels. Stay tuned on the blog for Mini-Lisa and her travels.
Enjoy the pics!~Lisa