Prototype Christmas cards photos done! Reluctant Debutant has arrived!

I have been working for the last month on ideas for my shop's custom Christmas cards I do with the dolls each year, and was just not coming up with any ideas at all. Last year was the first year before launching my business as a brick & mortar that I did the custom Christmas cards, and this year as our first year in business, I wanted to surpass last year. My hardest part, has been finding a tree in 1/6 scale that looked somewhat suitable! I finally found one that would fit in with Ricky Santa well, at the Family Dollar store for $3 with fiber optic lights- what I liked most of all was the tree base- it was a resin base made to look like Santa's gift bag with bow. Lights did not work on it, but it worked well in the dollhouse & for this picture.

Each year I do the Christmas card for my own enjoyment, as well as for the customers of King William Miniatures. I send them by mail to those who have ordered, or are on our newsletter mailing, and also include them with orders on our Ebay store Pumpkin Hill Studios http://tinyurl.com/yjvz65 as well. I try to include my favorite dolls, as well as the new dolls from the W club that I purchase, and any new silkstones also; sometimes new dolls just don't have the look or facial expressions I want for that particular scene.

Reluctant Debutante Poppy Parker arrived this week, along with the Wicked witch of the East- a ho-hum purchase, but couldn't spend alot from BBC as I had the BJD payment to make for my Soulkid on Layaway at Denver Doll Emporium. Still haven't de-boxed the witch- that is another diorama I haven't finished yet either.

Poppy looked so awesome- I had no idea the coat was faux fur!!! She was so perfect for Christmas! I remember this was how my aunt used to dress in the 60's with the quarter length gloves, and the bow in the hair. Remember Easter coats? I had one when I was about fifteen, that had belonged to my mother's sister (my aunt was elevent years older than me-) and was preserved and passed on to me when I grew into it- I loved that mustard yellow coat made of a chenille fabric, and lined- this Poppy reminded me of that oh so darling look from the 60's that is classic Hayley Mills/Annette Funicello. Alas, I had to grow up in the 70's hippy era when no one had style.lol.

I used a variety of dolls for this scene, and also our burgundy Bespaq wingchair- which is classic Santa. Santa's list is comprised of names of friends, family, and relatives in my life- my stepdaughter Amanda's name is at the top of Ricky Santa's list- this is the nice list. The scene is meant to represent Santa in the department store, with the lady nearby who gives you your 'gift' in a Christmas gown (Pillow Talk Poppy Parker in Barbie 1988 Christmas dress) with all of the children waiting in line to talk to Santa and tell him their list. Of course, the mothers and happy shoppers are standing nearby with presents and bags, watching the scene. Dolls inthe scene are Ricky Santa, Career girl 2009 Club doll Barbie, Grandma Barbie holding Sunshine Family baby Steven, Highland Fling silkstone dressed in a vintage outfit, Body Double Veronique dressed in one of the Moods collection 20's coat and hat, Reluctant Debutante Poppy Parker, and Agnes Von Weiss Concerto in M wearing Fashion Editor sheath and hat, and carrying Going Public Eugenia's purse. Kelly dolls are: 2008 Christmas Kelly dressed like Santa and the toy soldier, Kelly in Santa's lap is McDonald's Kelly from a giftset on Ebay; little doll in pink was Kelly sized and from Big Lots-a generic doll; and the other Kelly with long hair was another Ebay purchase.

Rails with drape were made from dollhouse fence/balstrade posts, painted with rub n buff florentine gold, and mounted on 1 inch squares of balsa, the trim was glued from post to post, one has an exit sign on it and the other has a sign Line starts here. Toys are a variety of Re-ment, and ornaments that are 1/6 scale size- including the Barbie dream house. Chair and french table are Bespaq and available in my shop or on our website, as is the oriental carpet.

Enjoy the pictures- and let me know if you would like to receive our Christmas card this year- send me an email through the blog!

~Lisa

New doll arrival...

I have a new doll who has arrived, the Wicked Witch of the East from barbiecollector.com I used my $30 award to get her. For some reason I just wasn't attracted by some of the new dolls on the site- I guess because I am patiently waiting for my Reluctant Debutante Poppy Parker's arrival! and yes, she is finally on her way- yeah me! Hopefully she will be here by Monday or Tuesday. So here's a pic of the wicked witch of the east- I just opened her after her arrival earlier this week.

Hopefully I will have some pics of the Christmas decor going on in the dollhouse, I have been somewhat busy for the shop's Christmas decorating, which has taken up dolly time.

Early Christmas decorating; & discovering BJD's...

It has been fun yesterday; I found a Christmas tree with fiber optics at the Dollar General for $3...it was cute with a resin base that resembles a bag. Only disappointing thing about it was that the fiber optics do not work...oh well, it is perfect for the dollhouse parlor, scrapes the ceiling, and will look smashing once I finish getting lights on it (Target has these little battery powered lights; however, I haven't picked them up yet-) and some other decorations. I had purchased some golden ornaments that will match the gilt on the fireplace and the gilt crowns in my Viceroy l blue wingchair, which Francisco immediately sat down in. I also had some little resin santa bears and mrs. santa bear ornaments that went well on it also.At left is Learning to Cook Barbie sitting at the Rement table(trifle too small for these dolls, I was disappointed though I love the set) Luchia and Poppy are inspecting the tree.

The tree ended up looking quite cute, except for Kelly who fell over in a faint at seeing her dreamhouse under the tree so early. I still need to add some pictures on the walls, with china, books, & accessories. Since all of the Bespaq in this room is mostly mahogany or walnut, I want to keep to a rich finish. The drapes and portieres match the fabric on Francisco's wingchair, so I'm thinking I need to take some of this fabric and make coordinating pillows for this room also. Giles is sitting in the prototype leather chair to the left, not in this picture.

Here is Perfectly Pink with Agnes, a closeup of the tree decorating. Forgive the darkness in these pics, they were done as an afterthought at the end of the day at the shop, (my 1:6 scale dollhouse resides at my shop, King William Miniatures.) The dollhouse is so big that my dear husband politely but firmly said I should display it at the shop and let others enjoy seeing it also!lol. It resides in one of our shop windows, and visitors enjoy seeing what I do with the different dolls and so forth. I am still working on the kitchen and the garage, which houses the Bratz remote control car at this moment.

What happened to Barbie & Ken wedding set? Well, they are temporarily enjoying cake and champagne in Skipper's bedroom, or what was Skipper's bedroom. I thought it a totally appropriate room (it has several shades of Barbie Pink going on in here...Ken so reminds me of my poor husband, Chris, who has had to get used to wearing pink polos and a great deal of pink being my favorite color down through the years...but hey, isn't that true love when a man will wear pink for you...and look good at the same time? Ken looks quite at home with this quiet moment with his bride....

Pillow Talk Poppy has made herself quite at home in the dollhouse; I took Summer Magic home with me with the good intentions of dressing her in tennis gear, but that soon fell to the wayside when I ran out of time with family life.lol. These dolls are so very adorable, the innocence in their face reminds me a bit of Sleepytime gal nearby. I love Jason Wu's dolls, buthave become extremely selective as some of these dolls look well, extremely unhappy or in the words of my teenage daughter, 'ticked off'. Daughter's theory is they are hungry, since they are so skinny. lol.

Thoughts on BJD'S.......

I have fell in love with asian ball jointed dolls (Otherwise referred to as 'BJD's') and currently have my first one on layaway at Denver Doll Emporium (http://www.denverdoll.com/ ). The doll I finally decided on was an MSD sized 43 cm Soulkid Katie A. and she is simply delightful looking from the pics...she will be coming with her faceup and wig and eyes. I can hardly wait to make the final payments...because I already have at least three more, of different sizes, I want, such as this DollZone Violetta-

these are the promo pics, she is a 58 cm SD sized doll, and I love the expression on her face. there is another called Clovera, which is equally dreamy. However, Violetta will have to wait until I bring home the Soulkid. I've already started planning Katie's wardrobe with Arcadia dolls, they make fantastic historic clothing with their current Circus collection from the Victorian era.

I also want to get what is referred to as a 'Tiny' a Puki Sugar or Puki Mary, they are so tiny they would fit in the dollhouses! And they are adorable to carry about for photo shoots in the purse.

I have begun to focus my doll collection more, and stop on building dollhouses formyself, as I have quite literally run out of room at home. The display room is currently being cleaned and repaired so I can have a wall that will hold my larger dolls such as the BJD's and the American Girl dolls with scenes, or rooms. I have been currently designing the shelf units and the sizes I need to accomadate my larger dolls, which will be showcased on this blog-

htt://pumpkinhillstudios.blogspot.com Since my garage studio was originally called 'Pumpkin Hill' (my dad called me 'pumpkin' because of my round cheeks as a little girl.) I thought it an appropriate name when sorting through items in the display room I found my old Tasha Tudor book, 'The Dolls' Christmas' where the very large dollhouse made for dolls that are quite tall, is called Pumpkin House. I suppose even Tasha Tudor knew there was something very magical about Pumpkins. My favorite pic of myself is the one in front of the Tasha Tudor dollhouse, located in Williamsburg, Va about 45 minutes away from my home. The Pumpkin Hill Blog has just been started, so not very much except the dolls in my collection right now, and some cute skits with a My Twinn doll. I fell in love with American Girl dolls also, and their props, so those are also on my list to acquire. I have already thought of and wrote out a storyline for the dolls, and they will be dressed in colonial dress -the first American Girl I wish to acquire is Felicity & her friend Elizabeth, since they are dressed in 18th century dress, like I will dress my BJD when she arrives. I want to have a room where they attend 'finishing' school, and the SD will be a lady of the French court. Right now the heavy work of repairing the window in the display room, and cleaning out the clutter is going to take a few months before I can begin on the shelving construction of the large dollhouse for the SD & MSD sized dolls. My inspiration was from the blog of Reddiker Woods on typepad, and her huge doll room/dollhouse was featured in Haute Doll past issue, and also Wendy Wylde's blog, www.mirandawandering.blogspot.com which is essential in cuteness. One of the problems of building in this large scale is space considerations, which will be paramount in the current room. I have already sorted through a ton of books, unused crafty items I gave to my friend Suanne who is building a thrift shop diorama for her Ellowyne dolls, and which is remarkable in its color and detailing; hopefully I can help with her photo ops and post some on PumpkinHill's blog. I am so hoping to be able to pay off my Soulkid by November, so she can be home in time for Christmas...crossing fingers here..lol

All for now, and I will post more pics coming soon!

~Lisa

Catching up on my blogging....

It has been a long time since I posted, and here it is October already! Much has not happened in the One Sixth Scale Dollhouse, except now it seems like it is time to decorate for Christmas....and here it is Halloween.

Since the dollhouse is displayed in all of its glory at the shop, (King William Miniatures & Collectibles, Suite B, 6114 Lakeside Ave, Richmond, Va ) I've decided to somewhat skip decorating for Halloween, and concentrate on Christmas decor. I am still waiting for my Reluctant Debutante Poppy Parker to arrive, so haven't ordered any more dolls. blah.

On a brighter note, I am planning the tree and the Christmas decor for this dollhouse so it will look really nice! Ricky Santa will be sitting in one of the wingchairs, and hopefully we will have some Kellies and Tommys eagerly sitting at his knee with their lists...and lots of toys to put under the tree. The garland for the fireplace I made last year will be used again (refer to tutorial on this blog) and I am still looking for the tree for the dollhouse.

Also currently working on deciding what our Christmas scene will be this year for the shop's Christmas card!

More later-Lisa

Poppy Parker dolls have arrived!

They absolutely love their new home in Maison de la Royale! I cannot say enough about these adorable dolls! Great thanks to Jane at Maddie's Dolls in Canada! I am still waiting on Reluctant Debutante from Marl in Florida, she should be arriving in September.

Summer (red hair) and Patty (Pillow Talk) will reside in the villa here at my shop, King William Miniatures, so everyone can enjoy them!

More upcoming in the blog on new dolls- am hoping to add BJD's to my collection- but more on that later!

More kitchen work accomplished...

I have accomplished much more on the kitchen today. One of my major problems was the floor, since the dimensions were weird, and this is a large room. 24 1/4 inches wide by 23 3/8 inches deep were the dimensions, so I went to Office max which had foamcore larger than 20 x30 , I think I purchased 40 x 60, which was large enough to create a base and cover it with the wood faux shelf paper I had used for the bedrooms and parlor.

I also finished the counter that will run on the right wall next to the garage- with the salesman's sample sink. I had the faucet on hand. Also added some Re-ment from my collection--- Luchia is having fun preparing her 'favorite' breakfast/brunch- sugary donuts, orange juice, coffee, whipped cream, and other items that aren't on a doll's diet!lol. I intend later to add the stove, fridge, and probably purchase that rement set of table and chairs. The toaster oven is a refridgerator magnet.... I wanted to do a July fourth diorama pic, but couldn't manage it. Finally also got the 9 volt battery for the bratz car....still wanting a remote control car for my girls that they can ride about in- only small dolls can ride in the bratz jag! More on the dollhouse later!

~Lisa

Work begun on the kitchen....

After posting my updates on Ken & Barbie bridal giftset arrival, I began work on the kitchen. I have long been collecting items to go into the small kitchen in the dollhouse, but have never figured out my color scheme, etc. The more I looked, I have come to realize I want an old world, country french look, with marble, tiles, etc. in the kitchen of the dollhouse. I began today working with a salesman sample sink I had scooped up on Ebay that was the correct size for 1:6 scale, and began making a long cabinet to hold the sink and also pots, pans, and to be a regular gourmet area to chop veggies, hold appliances, and cookware underneath. (making lots of room for Re-ment!) I have three rolls of the wood like contact shelf paper I used for the floors, so I decided to make the floors match the cabinets in the kitchen, which would be light colored, and to make the top of the counter a faux marble.

This was as far as I was able to get today-- I am hoping to have some time Monday to really spruce up that kitchen and garage area- and make it ready in the shop for all of the Barbie folks who will visit. Luchia is really enjoying the counter, I used the fashion royalty dolls to use as a guide for the dollhouse kitchen - I will probably get a Re-ment table for it with the chairs, and keep this room furnished fully- but the living room area, or parlor, I plan to change around quite a bit- also Skipper's room will be turned into a nursery from time to time, since I discovered my Happy Family dolls and also the Sears baby sitting set that came with a tiny baby for Barbie to babysit- I still have all of the pieces! lol. So rooms may change about a bit depending on the story line.

Lisa