New Project: Custom Extreme Skateboarder..

Just a few quick pics of my 'Extreme' Skateboarder....these pictures are really not all that clear to the detail that went into this custom. With his 'shades' on you can't see his hoop earring in the right ear. Ever since finding the One Sixth scale Warrior message board I have been amazed at what people do with their customs....especially the dolls ,,oops, 'Action Figures' (ahem) from movies like Indiana Jones. One of my wants is a Sideshow or Hot Toys Indiana Jones, but I may end up making my own, instead of spending the $175+....lol.
My recipe for this custom was an old 'Flavva' doll purchased at a yard sale for $1 years ago, and who I used with my Fashion Model Barbies for a photo group shot long ago. He has languished with other dolls who are headed for the swap a body chop shop (no dolls were harmed in this customization.)The jeans, sneakers and shades are from Fashionista Ken fashion packs, and the skateboard is from Tek Dek? I think. I ripped the knees on the pants, rolled them up, and used jewelry findings for his earring. The tattos were done by me, as is the blushing or shading of his pectorial and abs. His hair was originally flocked , which gave him a rather goofy look, so I took fleece mohair and made him a cool, urbanite hairdo, with a bleached in look, like he's spent too much time in the sun.
I will be taking better pics of him once I get a suitable backdrop for him...he also has a barbed wire tattoo around his left ankle, and also a grease cloth with 'grease' paint on it from fixing his skateboard.
Hopefully, I will finish some prop items for the Indiana Jones figure I want to create...waiting while the paperclay dries!
~Lisa

Skipper bedroom diorama- almost done!

I am pleased that I finally got most of this diorama's major work finished -- today! Nothing like having a holiday weekend to make the creative juices flow and get some hurdles finished! Today, I completed the coverlets and decorative pillows on the bunkbeds, as well as the closet for Skipper's bedroom. This was a real milestone...the only other things left are to add a window and interior door into the bedroom, as well as 70's posters, and other little accessories. This diorama will sit on top of hte One Sixth Scale dollhouses' rooftop, as there isn't enough room to have a really nice bedroom for the younger dolls.
First, the bed- I chose two coordinating quilt square fabric pieces from Ben Franklin, and made reversible coverlets.

As you can see, the patterns are basically the same color coordination as the wallpaper. The bedroom will have posters of Donny Osmond and the Osmonds, the Partidge family, perhaps the Brady bunch, and maybe Scooby Doo, since those were some of my favorite pop culture things when I was small and played with Barbie & Skipper in the early 70's. This diorama will hold a mixture of today's SKipper, Stacie, and Chelsea- ugh, I don't like that they did away with Kelly- as well as Tutti, Buffy, Kelly and Scooter and Todd.
The closet doors were from Ebay, from a vintage Barbie dreamhouse, and they were perfect for the closet I had planned. I made the closet a removeable box/structure so if I wished, I could alter the placement of the room. Usually in homes back in the 70's, the closet was stuck near the door to the room, in a corner so it was not taking up most of the room.
I have finished or made so much headway- not just on the Skipper bedroom but I am currently still working on my custom Shriner dolls, in two larger scales, as well as a custom male figure with tattoos. I worked on him yesterday-- this is the first time I have ever fully customized a doll, so will have more pictures together when he has his outfit and accessories finished. More later!
~Lisa

More progress on the 1:6 scale dollhouse...

....as far as the bedroom suite goes. Today I took some pictures of it, with some of my Fashion Royalty divas- Concerto in M Agnes Von Weiss - I simply love this doll, I won her by chance on the W club forum in a answer/question contest they have sometimes. Also with Moods Veronique and High Tide Vanessa, and of course, Regal Solstice Anja, who is the newest W club gal. So here are some more furniture placement pics of the bedroom, I am liking what I see so far. Still needs the plasterwork moldings and pictures, I am searching for the right pics to resize and frame for the bedroom.

I used to really not like this Bespaq fireplace I had repaired and repainted, but now, with the bedroom suite, I really really am. I am wondering if the fireplace couldn't be made in white with ormalu which would be simply stunning. I hope to make this bedroom a la Marie Antoinette - like it was her bedroom at the Petite Trianon, which was done in pastels and light airy colors with the gold trimwork.After all, the Baroness' villa is called Maison de la Royale, (the name of the dollhouse, owned by my Agnes Von Weiss, sitting regally in the pink wingchair. Only the best for her Highness...)lol.
Enjoy the pictures!~Lisa

Re-decorating The One Sixth Scale Dollhouse...

Actually, re-furbishing the One Sixth Scale dollhouse is more like it. Storing the dollhouse in our large barn, which is partially unfinished, had me shudder. the most damage happened to the bedroom, so the wallpapers and partition were damaged, the wallpaper buckled and also had to be removed. So I started from scratch with that room, and decided to do away with the windows-and the partition- they make the lovely Bespaq furniture look cluttered. I decided on a new look and making the top floor just the bedroom in the French Louis XV style.

I used foamcore for the faux walls, alot more will be done to them- but here it is with furniture placement and Anja modeling for us.

In the midst of items that were packed, and unpacked, I decided to add a few items such as the faux marble painted Bespaq fireplace and the fabulous Jim Coates mirrors. (Jim sells on Ebay as Jim Coates Miniatures and also carries the large scale Bespaq- we are the only two sellers of the large scale items.I highly recommend Jim's mirrors, he does lovely plasterwork as well.) I thought his mirrors would make an excellent focal point on the bed by hanging a long mirror on each side. I am going to stick to this placement, and Anja loves it as well.

The Bespaq fireplace was originally mahogany finish, but was so broken I decided to play with a faux finish on it to see if it was possible. It was spray painted white and then marbelized and gilded. I may add a darker gilding to this later. I still have the chest, the vanity and chair, and the white embroidered Louis XV chair to add as well.

The living room/salon/dining room was unharmed, the curtains were intact! I set up what furniture was in the box, here it is.

I still have some work to do on this room as well. The lower room will be the kitchen with the Sindy furniture in it.
Enjoy the pics!Lisa

Moving the Playscale dollhouse....

I had alot of fun today.....most of you know the One Sixth Scale dollhouse originally resided at my shop when it was open, but because we closed the shop, the dollhouse had to come home. Temporarily, it was housed on its back in our large barn/garage....since March. Working my way through boxes of stock, I have finally cleared out a space in my small doll/dollhouse room for the dollhouse! Yeah! Cleaning out and downsizing your collection makes room for more!lol...the lament of all doll collectors!
However, storage in the garage caused a little bit of repair work that is needed. The room most in need of repair is the bedroom and small room that was Luchia's office. I had to rip out some of the wallpaper since it bubbled badly due to the heat and humidity in the barn and also rip out the partition wall. I will probably leave out the partition wall and just have this whole room a bedroom...it will give for better photography and able to store or display more of the W club girls....and the Silkstones as well. Skipper's bedroom diorama can go on top of the dollhouse, or I might find another space if possible for it to reside. Still downsizing the collection- so some roomboxes may go up on Ebay...lol to make shelf space.
I had some great wins on Ebay....amongst them was this wonderful rare set on Ebay from 2005 that usually goes for alot more than my small bid!

Also won on Ebay were these two barbie McDonald's happy meal trays...I'm still collecting items from Ebay for the resturarant/diner called-- what else? 'Mac Donald's Restuarant'  (rhymes with Alice's Restuarant....remember that cool song on the radio at Thanksgiving??...so 80's!)
I did some prop placements with what I have collected so far-- and here are the pics...

I know I have more items, but was using the skipper bedroom scene box to look at placement. This placement won't work- I need to incorporate a kitchen with grill for the burgers, and also a cafe/dining room area. I have one counter that needs to have its picture cardboard insert replaced....this might be bashed to be a countertop space in the kitchen with take out bags on it.I am figuring my dimensions will have to be at least 24-28 inches deep, it will be rough to find a place for a permanet roomscene set up like I want. I am going to be focusing more on my 1:6 scale collection than my 1:12 -- which is why I am downsizing so many things such as magazines, etc. I have already got rid of three dollhouses in that scale so far. I will keep Strawberry Hill Manor, Tara, of course and Minnie's Little Sweet shop. And of course my very first dollhouse I am also refurbishing for the tiny bjd's....so many big dollhouses, so little time...lol...
Hopefully tomorrow will have more pictures to put up, I am going to try and work on both dollhouses depending on weather and time...
~Lisa

McDonald's diorama....

For a while, off and on, I have been collecting with the intention of doing a 1:6 scale resturant or diner, and not able to afford to win one of the cool Coca-Cola diners made in the 1990's for Barbie, I decided to do a fast food resturant such as McDonald's. Barbie playsets abound on Ebay, and I collected two at different auctions on Ebay. I was also able to acquire McDonald's Kelly and Barbies, with the aprons and hats. Last night I began going thru the items to see what I had and playing with them. I had thought of putting them on auction since I haven't used them much, but no such luck on me parting with these!
One backdrop has all of the stations on it, the fry station, the food cooler/warmer, the drink machine. My other one does have teh golden arches, and the fry station, but not any of the others, I was thinking of space constraints that one could be used for the back cook/kitchen set up. I do have two counters, one does not have the cardboard insert but I can copy that from the other more complete. I do have two registers and a couple of trays of foods. I have two? chairs and one of the tables. I am thinking if space is limited for this to just make it small or the same dimensions as the Skipper bedroom, which is where I haveit set up now. Some of the Rement tables could be used, I could probably find more of the tables that goes with this set on Ebay...and of course, plenty of rement food. One of the things I was thinking of doing was making this my own diner- such as calling it McDuffy's or something like that...so it could be a diner or cafe.....similar to what Hershey did with her City Circlez Coca-Cola diner on her Flicker album. Hershey has a website but couldn't find the link. Since I collect so much Rement and other 1:6 scale items I thought this would be neat for the storylines. Right now I was just doing placement to figure out the scene box dimensions. I have thought I could make the front small and concentrate on the serving counters and kitchen area, and use the same dimensions as I did with SKipper's roombox. Enjoy the pics!
~Lisa

The mini body snatcher...

I had some fun this weekend with my 'Grandma' Barbie. For a long time I haven't done much with her except use her in diorams with the Kellys and family themes. One frustration with this doll was her mature body- hello Mattel, older chubby lady here make clothes for her! So this weekend after looking at some pics of friends on Flicker, I swapped out her body for one of the new LIV dolls.

Grandma Barbie received LIV Sophie's articulated body, shown here. I was so amazed at how easy it is to pop off their heads and do this, just with a little heat from the blowdryer, no special tools involved were used to harm these dolls..........lol!  I also stole Sophie's bathing suit and her wig. Here are some more photos of Grandma with her new articulated body and with the kids....Kelly and the Mini American Girl dolls, Emily & Kit.

Here she is sitting and standing with Kelly and a cup of coffee. Pretty amazing. Grandma likes her new body.
I am thinking of looking for a head for Grandma's old body, and experimenting with re-rooting. I would like another older lady doll as there would be some neat dioramas I could do with Grandma- also, she reminds me alot with the slimmer body of one of the characters from the Good Wife, I can't remember her name, the other lawyer who heads the firm. (love that show.) It would be cool to put her in a suit. I have long wanted to do my own custom dolls and repaints. Looking at all of the amazing artists on the web, I think I am going to start. '
Enjoy the pics!
~Lisa