1:6 scale Harry Potter Mandrake Spell set

I have a cute new auction up on Ebay right now. 

Harry Potter 1:6 Mandrake spell book set

As I have begun collecting these cool figures by Star Ace studios, aka Big Chief Studios, aka Sideshow Collectibles, (my wallet is not big enough!!) I have come up with countless ideas of accessories for these two. Hermoine still has not come home yet. I really really want Snape and Dumbledore. 

Here are some photos of the set. It includes the open Mandrake book, a blank page book, and a glass jar with peppermint candy made of polymer clay. 

The auction ends in 5 days! 
#harrypotter #harrypotterminiatures #mandrakes #LisaNeault #pumpkinhillstudios #ebayauctions #artisanminiatures #onesixthscale 
#staracestudios #bespaq #playscaleminiatures

Star Ace Studios casual wear Ron Weasley

He arrived from Ebay a couple of days ago and I have been taking pics and editing them. I have made a few props for him and Harry and enjoying myself immensely. Now I just need to get the funds for Hermoine, Sirius and Snape and Mad Eyed Moody and Dumbledore as well as Hagrid. They do have a Hagrid in the making as well as Malfoy and Harry in quidditich costume. Oh my poor wallet. 

Here is a link to the Hagrid that one of my buddies MiskatonicNick on Flicker clued me in on. Click HERE to see the photo link. 
If it doesn't come up- here it is, Below,  photo is not mine. 

And yes, that is Hermoine in her ballgown! SQUEE! I am going to be so broke! 

I made the little mandrake books and am still working on the mandrakes in their little pots. I have made two, one that resembles one in the book being pulled out by the root and one sitting in the pot, I just have to 'pot' it, lol. I am thinking of making these with little potting boards and a mandrake book like a dissecting board, or a potting board, to sell to finance my action figure habit if they are good enough. I found some better pics of mandrakes and that gives me a more better idea of what to sculpt. Especially on their leaves. Those are all over the place. 

Mandrake botany books for Harry....

I have been working on more books, spilled open , designed to lay open, with aged pictures, for Harry and hopefully, Ron and Hermoine when they arrive. I found some stunning pics on google images with mandrakes this past week and printed them off. I also wanted to do some Da Vinci themed books on anatomy, in keeping when Harry loses his bones when one of his inept Professors gets rid of the bones in his arm- remember? so I thought that would be a cool set of books to do as well. Here are the mandrake books.

The only bummer thing I could not make the mandrakes in their pots. I had the pots about in my craft stash but now cannot find them. It has been snowing all day today, so I concentrated on books. Later this week I will get the pots. 

Here is a picture of the closeups of Hogwarts Castle which was 1:12 scale, that was my inspiration for my 1:6 scale project. Click on the greenhouse with the mandrakes!

and now for my pics!

Hope you enjoyed them!~Lisa

Star Ace Studios Harry Potter (Casual Wear) Philospher's Stone in 1:6 scale....

I have been a little awol until today because my new action figure, Star Ace Studios Harry Potter Philospher's Stone casual Wear just arrived today. He comes with Hedgwig, his snowy white owl, his wand, an extra hand, and of course, the philospher's stone. The graphics on the box are really wonderful. In America, the company is known as Star Ace Studios, but in the UK, it is known as Big Chief Studios . Look at the whole lineup of Harry Potter characters HERE

Here are my photos I took. I made some items for the table such as some little aged leather books, the candy sticks in the candy jar. The jar of wishes is an embellishment by Tim Holtz from the scrapbook aisle that I thought would be cool for the scenes I plan to do. 

When I first began getting back into miniatures in 2002-2004, the craze was for Harry Potter miniatures. Anything witchy, or any scenes, to do with the movie were the rage. At that time, I only knew 1:12 scale, standard dollhouse scale and was not collecting dolls, and was into building mainly in the 1:12 scale. I did some scenes in this scale. One site and one collector that was very publicized in the miniature magazines, was Sally Wallace, who engaged many artisans, namely Rik Pierce, to construct a miniature Hogwarts castle and other various roomboxes, in 1:12 scale to help her create her own miniature magical Harry Potter world. This was really inspiring for me. Since then, it has always been on my bucket list, if a company ever created decent action figures in 1:6 scale, I would then begin to collect them for the scenes as I knew i could create the accessories for the Harry Potter scenes.  Here is the link for Sally's site-
Magical Miniatures  as well as her old site- Sal's Site

Another artisan that Sally patronized and who is truly amazing is Erika Van Horn, of EV Miniatures. She creates the most magical, historically accurate visual, period miniature books I have ever seen. A truly wonderful artisan. 
Her site is EV Miniatures and she also has a blog Erika's blog . She also sells on Etsy as well. 

My plan this year is to pull back a little from crazy buying on the fashion dolls, or only on those that I can truly use or really wow! me on their quality. I'm just not buying every fashion doll I see. They have to fit into my needs this year and I am going to be focusing my collection on the action figures a bit more if possible. Especially the Star Ace figures as there are quite a few that I have on my list. I am gunning for Hermoine and Ron next. I wish they would do a Hagrid.  So I have alot of buying to do to play catchup, lol. I also have alot of sketching and building to do as well for the dioramas. 
Enjoy!~Lisa

Hogwarts' classroom in 1:6 scale

I have always enjoyed most of the Harry Potter books and the movies. When I first began into the hobby of dollhouse miniatures in 1;12 scale, magical and witchy roomboxes, castles were 'it' and still are. There are a wide array of miniature collectors such as Sally Wallace and her Hogwarts Castle created by Rik Pierce that are famous in the miniature artisan world. 
I recently have been trolling ebay, and noticed a doll that looked like Hermoine. Upon closer searches, I found Mattel had made in 2001 and 2003 replica dolls of Harry and Hermoine in 8 inches high and 12 inches high. (the 12 inch dolls are very rare and hard to find) She was incredibly cheap, and so I purchased her. I plan to acquire the Harry Potter doll as well, and will probably have to make my own Ron Weasley and Draco. Today going thru my miniature items - some I have made some I had purchased, I put together a classroom scene. Elphaba is stepping in for Professor McGonnall.

The school desks including the teacher's, are all from Ebay. I made the books with leather and snakeskin covers as well as the dead plants near the owl cage. (I may paint that black.) The owl was made by a miniature artisan in the UK several years ago. 

The owl cage is actually a 1:12 scale free standing birdcage but works as a tabletop cage for 1:6 scale. I made the dead plants and weathered the little Lemax gargoyle statues. Hermoine is jointed and has a magnet on her hand which allows the little owl's legs to stay in place on her hand. The hand is originally probably made to hold a wand. There is a little handle on her back that her hair covers up that moves the arm up and down. Her knees are also jointed as are her elbows- a really great 8 inch articulated doll! I can hardly wait to get Harry. This has spurred me on to think of creating mandrakes in 1:6 scale, dead plants, and spooky books like I used to. 
Incoming dolls update- right now Broadway Magic Jem is coming as is Dasha, and Spooky Sooki- the Return as well as yeah me! Haunted Beauty 2 the vampire. I have been so inundated with dolls it is hard to remember what arrives and leaves! BUT I am enjoying my haunted dollies immensely- I just wish I had far more time to do the dioramas I love doing with them!