Joyous Celebration Poppy Parker...

...has arrived, and she is exquisite! This doll is so retro vintage 60's, the era I grew up in, can't get enough of her. Finally got things set up for a photo shoot and instead of the same old same old props, added splash of teal and pink and gold to pick up that dress and fuschia pink crinoline.

Lovely isn't she? I can't get over that braided updo. And the jewelry is glam, and simple- too much jewelry would take away from the gown.

The first set I did with her is the chair is Jim Coates Miniatures/ Bespaq, the hutch is a vintage Pricepessa Italian piece from Ebay, rug is a glitzy little placemat from my stash, and the portraits are from the $1 bins at Michaels, the portraits themselves are pictures of Whistler's women cut out of Victoria magazine.

2nd set shows a walnut Bespaq table with a floral arrangement and the back and sides of her gown. Simply lovely.

** Now a little behind the scenes on 'how I do it!'

My temp diorama sets are on 4 ft tables, side by side. Here is the backdrop with foamcore covered in marble contact paper for the floor. There is another set beside this for another photo shoot with wood grained contact paper on foamcore for flooring for that. My lights are clamped to the side of the dollhouse walls. This room is quite small so I have very limited space on setting up my photo shoots. At the most I can sometimes fit three on these two table surfaces. The dollhouse sits in the middle of the wall to the right, and behind that, the 6 ft table that holds the bakery and LaBelle's and the faux boutique. In another corner is the two shelves filled with props and a close also filled. For this photo shoot I wanted to do a mix of new with old and the 60's were all about those pastel loud colors with antique furniture and modern furniture. Enjoy the pics!~Lisa

Finished haunted hallway diorama....

So yesterday I was premature in posting the photos of the diorama. I found time to finish the curtains I had been wanting to do.  Since I don't have room to do a whole dollhouse in a haunted theme, I have to satisfy my building cravings with 'temp' diorama walls. :( not the same thing..but it will have to do. It is amazing what a difference the curtains/drapes make on those windows.

Really looks great in this perspective. The curtains are done with cheesecloth from Joann's, simply hot glued and molded 'puffs' at the top with my fingers into the hot glue. At strategic points they are hot glued so it appears the wind is 'billowing' them and making them 'float' in the air. It's easy if you try it. I used scissors and split the length into strips so they look a little tattered. I had thought of using chiffon but it is too nylon, and doesn't respond well to hot glue. The cheesecloth stuff holds its shape well and still looks ethereal. 

Some single pics of the props. The statue is a 1:12 scale miniature for a garden that I aged with a acrylic brown wash to simulate dust; the french table is Bespaq; The portrait from the Williamsburg bookstore. 
The book comes with Mistress of the Manor and is fake, it does not open but looks very cool. 
The cat is one of those Schleik figures you can buy in any craft store, the rug is a dollhouse miniature and the victorian table is Bespaq, aged and customized by me. I wanted everything to have a look of abandoned home but cared for by a single caretaker such as the Mistress of the Manor- similar to Mrs. Danvers from the book Rebecca.  One thing that has always grabbed me in B rated horror flicks and old black and white horror flicks from the 30's and 40's is the huge old mansion with all the furniture still intact with webbing in the corners, and only one old housekeeper or caretaker live there. I have a board on Pinterest - look to the left for my link to my Pinterest boards- called Abandoned homes and it is interesting. 

Here are some of the more updated pics of her in her natural surroundings. I am really pleased with this dio, it turned out better than expected. I am hoping to do a series of haunted photos with her- as she is the lone caretaker , stuck in time of a very haunted mansion....but what else or...who else does she care for???  As she glides through the mansion, it is kept in readiness for its owner whenever they choose to visit....

I'm enjoying the creepfest storyline so hope I can keep up!
Lisa

The Baroness throws a party....

Remember when the Baroness was sitting in the parlor attending to her correspondence? Turns out she was sending out invitations for a party and a reception to welcome home her sister, Pepper. Pepper is younger than her and just arrived. The reception was held in the ballroom of Maison de la Royale.

The reception was packed. Of course, Agnes had invited the creme de la creme of society to meet her baby sister. 

Pepper was surpised to greet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the heirs to the throne of England. They left Baby George in England to have a holiday. Kate's baby bump does not show yet!

Princess Grace of Monaco flew in with one of her ladies and Audrey Hepburn was seen talking with one of the models from the Baroness' modeling agency. The attendees were a who's who of celebrities and minor royalty.

The food for the reception was a delight in pastrys, fruit and other delicacies prepared by the Baroness' staff in attendance.  Truly a wonderful party!

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I wanted to get these photos out of the way to welcome home my new High Visibility Agnes to the dollhouse. I am hoping to pair her soon with my Tony Stark. I am attempting to get these kinds of photos wrapped up so I can begin to start the halloween diorama as my mistress of the manor is coming soon. 
Enjoy!~Lisa

Sunday Morning Set building...

Ok, quiet on the set! (muffle, shuffle shuffle shuffle..)

'And.....ACTION!'

You may noticed I started this post as if a movie was being filmed. I have this corner of the diorama table set up with the lights clamped to the edge of the dollhouse ledge shining down. Great part of this is that light and others can be moved about so I don't have to hold them while I take the photos...More and more as I experiment with this scale, I realize the scope of how you can take 1:6 scale to the level of miniature set buildings for movies, film, and videos. 

I have a new board on Pinterest called Miniature Set Building and I encourage you to go to the link pages of the pics on this board-- very fascinating and extremely interesting how they do this. Another link is to Ray Harry Hausen
the creator of special effects in the original sci-fi Godzilla movies of the 40s and 50's. He has passed away but his work is amazing. This type of miniature artistry is generally thought of as Concept Art. We never think of all of the animation needed for those movies such as Trolls, Frozen, and more, but they take miniature creation to a whole new art form. (Personally myself, I would rather work and create with the artists who make it happen than watch the actual movie!!) 
Another artist who inspired me on this journey was Caroline McFarlane-Watts, mainly a 1:12 scale artist. She owns Pixie Dust Miniatures, HummingBird Miniatures and has been featured in American Miniaturist, Dollhouse Miniature Magazine, Dolls House World, and Miniature Collector, too I believe. Her work on her own stop motion movie has been exciting and I encourage you to browse her blog Tall Tales  Scroll back all the way to the beginning, the artistry of her work in building a set for her movie is amazing and useful, because building sets is not about 'one' scale, it is the use of several scales to create depth, life and realism.  

Onto the dollhouse. I did some cleaning and tidying in the bedroom and the salon of Maison de la Royale (the Manor) and I switched out fireplaces in the bedroom. I placed the Jim Coates fireplace and screen and it created more room than the Bespaq one. That is going on the drawing board table to be altered for another diorama. One thing I like about the dollhouse is the ability where I can switch the furniture in the salon and dining room and have a library, kitchen, or ballroom if needed. I want to give the illusion of a huge mansion in the French provinces without having permanent dioramas. 

Here is the bedroom-

I used a long light and it really made the difference in the photos over natural light, which has way too much shading for my liking. But these photos of the cats and the dog, create the lighting when people wake up, the cat stretches on the bed or carpet and also life. Both Natalias are getting up or still sleeping. Both are IT direct lottery dolls. I made the loungerie they are both wearing as well as the bedding and pillows on the bed. 

The Salon-

First, I have a shot of the entire dollhouse. The dining room on the ground floor is not done yet, as that means I have to get on the floor and then get up. That doesn't happen easily and I am going to be working on that room without distractions but the Salon did come off nicely after all the junk and excess dolls were out of it. I want to create the illusion of a large mansion so I will definitely need more dolls in maid and cook and houseman uniforms. I have even thought of having footmen in old fashioned breeches and wigged. That may come later. Right now I have one maid and one butler. The great Oz makes a great butler and That Girl Barbie is the maid. I have long wanted to do a scene with Agnes getting out of the car and the household staff is lined up to greet her like Downtown Abbey's opening scenes. So I will need housemen, or footmen, maids, cook, and housekeeper....
Note- Please check the blogs to the side that I follow, I have added some new ones that I think everyone will enjoy, as well as the links resource box has been revamped as well. More to come, and happy Sunday!~Lisa