Happy Valetine's day!

I decided to do some risque pics with some new dolls and some new props. One of the dolls is a Color Infusion guy Callum Winsor I think his name is, or he is Ace McFly, I can't remember- he's the one with long black hair and sideburns. He looks like a Scottish type of guy. Anyhow, he does not have any clothes or shoes and I purchased him at convention with another guy. Of all things, I also purchased from Denise Travers with Azone handcuffs! (Like all of our dolls would need handcuffs!) I think I was thinking of doing a bank robbery scene diorama. 

My Mademoiselle Jolie came in and she has that wonderful Lingerie, and I have this wonderful Bespaq french bed that is dying for a bigger bedroom off of the french dressing room I made, so I created a quick bedroom. So she and Callum are having an afternoon delight on Valentine's day and I hope you enjoy the pictures. It has everything delightfully sinful and sexy in it- handcuffs, cigarettes, booze, black lingerie, and a naked man, and french furniture. All miniaturized. Oh, and in case you're not into bondage (I'm not into the 50 shades of grey type of junk ) Mademoiselle Jolie just used them for a party prop. No Callums were harmed in this 1/6 scale sex scene without his plastic consent. 
Happy Valentine's day! 

I made the cigarettes, and they look really good and make this scene look so realistic...the only thing that could make it better is if Callum's body was blushed. I thought it added to it to tuck the handcuffs underneath her pillow. The CI guys are surprisingingly easy to stage and so is Jolie. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

LaBelle's windows at Valentine's day...

The windows for LaBelle's boutique in the doll town are done in pink and red and the shoppers are dressed in pink, rose red, black and it's all about the color of love.... Some of my lovelies are shopping and I wanted them all to match. Ever watch TV and wonder on some of these shows how they get the actress, the star, to just stand out from everybody else and it dawns on you, she's wearing a white dress while everyone else is wearing blue, black or some other drab color and her hair is angel blonde ??? Like, even the architecture is stone washed so it doesn't clash with the color of her eyes? That has always amazed me. I think it is wonders what photo shop can do, snicker. Especially in film, it draws our eyes and emotions even more to the storyline. So with these photos I tried to get the colors to tone and see if that played together just right. In the first photos, I made all of the French pastries, the St. Honore, the Religious pastries on the plate, the three tiered pink cake, I wanted to do a chocolate theme but it did not turn out like I wanted to, so I went with a pink theme which matched the clothing I had on hand. The chair and table are Bespaq. In the other window, I made the dress on the Barbie basics model, the end table is also Bespaq. The little felt hearts were so hard to find, they were at ACMoore. Nothing in the way of decoration fit and this is why it was so hard to decorate in a timely manner the way I wished. 

I hope to do some more 'romantic' type of scenes with the guys and have them up by tomorrow here. The cottage interior walls got more coats of white paint which I had to go out and pick up in my travels as I ran out. Won't bore you with more photos on the Extreme Kitbash until further along with more to see.

Hope you enjoyed the photos, and Happy Valentine's day!

Extreme Kitbash: the stone walls...

I haven't been feeling that sporty lately, and hubby has had a touch of the flu. I think I have been trying to get it or a very bad cold but my body is fighting it off. I've been very tired and had a scratchy sore throat and had body aches. Today after I got some rest and pried hubby to give me his industrial dremel - mine is a wussy dremel, I wore out the carving tool on it, lol. I needed to finish the stone part on the front and do the two lower side walls.  The two upper mdf walls will be timbered and stucco-ed to give it the ye olde tudor - fairy look .
But let's look and see how I did the walls. 
First, I marked lines in one inch increments with my ruler and then marked them with the dremel. Then, I did random lines with the dremel, to resemble stones that had been laid, like a stone wall. 

Here's what it looks like with the 'stones' carved into the dremel. To make it look more realistic, take a blade or an exacto knife, and carve out little knicks of the stones, or sand it with a sanding block to make the stone look aged. When you spray paint it, the spray paint will 'eat' the foam in the insulation a bit and resemble the porous nature of stone and it will look like stone so do not spray too heavily as you will want to spray in light coats. This pink foam is quite heavy in color and it can be quite tempting, My pics are dark and not that clear, I was working in the afternoon and the light was not good inside or outside.

My last pic with Katniss showing off the stone looks the best. This had a good coat of grey spray paint and is one of the lower stone side walls. I am going to have to do something about the front door and building up the windows. 
See what I mean about the spray paint being porous?

Here is the front pinned together with the sides, and here you can see the part spray painted grey where the stones are. The lower parts and the upper part will be timbered and stuccoed . I have alot of more spray painting and work to do on these walls before that can happen.
I also attempted to spray paint the interior walls white, but that had to stop as it would be too much for the foam to take and it would dry.
Here it is, it's still pink. Might wait for a really hot day in a few weeks and/or use regular house paint. Like I said, spray paint really eats the foam

In the second pic, you can really see the foam sizzling. That is not such a bad thing, because it resembles the waub and dabble nature of those medieval cottages in England with the Thatch roofs and such. So I might just get out a big brush and use acrylic paint on this and spread it out on newspaper on a table outside if we have a sunny day. This week that won't happen as the temperatures are down in the teens and single digits. 

***One Tip...and this is from experience. I know some of my pics look bad. But remember- and this comes from my own experiences- when it looks bad- it will look amazing when you're done. I have had some of the worst pieces look awful=LaBelle's is an example,  and they turn out amazing if you have patience. Your diorama, room, or structure will have flaws but the flaws are what make the realism.  Don't freak when the foam begins to disintegrate- say hey that looks like crumbling plaster, stone, wood! I can throw some moss on that!( which is what I intend to do!) and some vines. voila! and aged fairy forest masterpiece made out of crap. The best part of the picture above me is all I now have to do is paint over it and the effects will stay there with my paint, crumbling plaster, and shade it a bit with paints and chalk if I want to for the look of a leaky cottage or white plaster. 

So hopefully I will be further along next time on another blog post. I haven't been posting pictures on my flicker as I am only going to be posting finished photos there when this project is done, so follow the blog to know more of how I progress here. ~Lisa

Extreme Kitbash: Progress & a Tutorial on Slate floors

Today is Saturday and I have made alot of progress, plus a little tutorial on how I am making realistic flagstone slate floors in my little Tudor cottage.

First materials I used. 

You will need-
Peel and stick tiles from Home Depot or Lowe's- mine cost .99 cents
an exacto knife sharp
ruler
pen
glue tacky or liquid nail
your base cardboard, or wood for your floor
and your mortar - this can be anything- caulk, drywall joint compound
damp cloth or rag
spreader tool- helps get mortar in the cracks
scissors

First, take your tile and measure off in 2 inch spaces on all four sides on the back

Then make a graph of 2 inch squares all over the back like the 2nd picture above. Now, score them with your blade, going over each line carefully, scoring, then 'breaking' the score

You will want to take your scissors and cut off the strips or use your exacto which may be more precise but be careful of cutting into the vinyl of the tile.You will then have a series of strips.

Now it is time to take your graphed strips and cut with the exacto blade along the lines and you will then have your slate squares for your floor.

Now you are ready to peel the backs and lay your tiles in a pattern on your base. You can add a dab of glue if you need to. Your base may be too wide or too small for the tiles, so the tiles may have to be cut down. This will give you an oppurtunity to make an interesting pattern for the floor.

Here are the photos of me looking at what it would be widely spaced, closely space and then done awaiting grouting. Kat is helping!Onto grouting or mortar!

At first, I chose a tub and tile grout/caulk. I didn't like how it shrunk. So I broke out the trusty sheetrock joint compound. This stuff is my favorite stuff besides paperclay to sculpt with. Right now I'll show you the pics I have.

It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. It will look better after it dries. When rubbing it across the tiles with your spreader, keep a damp cloth nearby to wipe up the excess off of the tiles like you see. you want to get alot of fill into those cracks and crevices. 

I managed to get the walls even today and do another better dry fit, with the finished floor. The windows and door have been cut out of the front wall. 

Not the best photos but I am really pleased how the walls came about when the floor was done. It really made this little cottage pop. It will be cramped but it is meant to be a prop and a magical place. The floor will probably get a weak dirty paint wash to make the mortar look worn and aged. I am really liking how it is coming together so quickly, but maybe that is because I have the finished product in my head!