Monaco Royale Vanessa....

Monaco Royale Vanessa from the W club arrived a few days ago, but haven't de-boxed her until today. This doll is exquisite, the draping and bead and sequin detailing is amazing on the gown, especially with the kick panel to the side. Her jewelry, I am envious for the first time of a doll who has more elegant jewelry than I! She also comes with interchangeable hands to hold the 'Bloody Mary' cocktail! Totally well worth the money. I try to keep my dolly budget under control, so with the W club dolls I do not always buy them...but this Vanessa reminds me a bit of the royal photographer Cecil Beaton from the early 50's & 60's who photographed the Queen and Princess Ann, and Princess Margaret in thos stylish, eau de soie evening gowns, with over the top heavy chic buns and high hair do's. Her look here is timeless and classic, and chic...

Plus- this doll poses quite well seated, which surprised me given the dress is supposed to be form fitting. The shoes are a little loose, but they work..I love the gold with this salmon color, very glitzy, very glamorous.

Enjoy the photos!

~Lisa

Tonner Harry Potter is in the house!

Ok, I gave in and ordered the new 12 inch Harry Potter by Robert Tonner when they had their sale with free shipping this past Friday -- I could not resist. The new smaller scales of the Harry Potter line is amazing, Dumbledore is about 16 inches high. I hope to add Hermoine and Ron as well as their house robes too. Harry is so adorable, they have really added so much detail in his shoes, socks, wand, and clothing! He has an extra hand that is interchangeable if you do not wish him to have his wand hand displayed. I spent some time making some little magical blank books, and have not yet finished their embellishment on the covers, more are coming with a Bespaq round table that will be filled to the brim with crystal ball, dragon eggs, potion bottles, spooky books, etc and all the Potter accessories of Hogwarts. Tonner has nailed this one! What a great little doll- and just in time for Halloween!
Lisa

More photos of Daria....

More photos of Daria again....I finally upacked this gown from Dressmaker Details I had purchased thru the W club's lottery when it came up for bid. It is gorgeous, I love the delicate beading and netting onit, but the shoes are SOO sucky. Clearly made for the Silkstone Barbie foot, not my extravagant Fashion Royalty divas.
Before I go into too much more- yes, that's a photo of Daria Smoking...my dolls aren't politically correct...lol....and yes, I made the cigarette with excessive smoke...it just looks like an old Cecil Beaton photo since that dress harkens back to that time.
Shoes were from Sylvia, a miniature artist under the name of the Dolls' Cobbler. Originally, she started out making doll shoes for dolls, such as antique Kestners, fashion dolls, etc. but then went smaller to dollhouse scale. Her booth at a miniature show is one of my favorite places and I cannot go past it without purchasing tiny shoes....I am a shoe fanatic in real life, and have boxes of Colin Stuart, Stuart Weitzmans, Peter Fox in my closet though I do not wear them often....miniature shoes are even more addicting because they do not take up room in MY closet but in the dollhouse closet.
I have been so busy this week that these are great photos for on the fly, Daria is gearing up to compete on the Flicker group International Fashion Royalty Jetset Diva as a jetset diva. Some of the prizes are so cool, I am hoping my photos can make the cut, and it is always fun to challenge yourself. This gown really compliments my Bespaq wingchair I designed, I am trying to think up a set for a more better photo since the lighting is so poor in the One Sixth Scale dollhouse, some of these photos are so grainy. Enjoy!
~Lisa

Some photos of Daria Zarr...

Since receiving Daria some months ago- she was one of the W club dolls, I have not had much time to photograph her. Here at the One Sixth Scale dollhouse I have been somewhat going thru a few disasters, natural and unexpected, such as Hurricanes- we are still going thru the tropical storm depression 'Lee' and now Katia looks like she may hit as well. I have been ill since Thursday, and unable to go full throttle like I usually do each day, which is frustrating to my nature, since I am basically a work aholic.

My purpose in posting photos of Daria in my premiere design Red Dragon wingchair, designed by me & manufactured in conjunction with Pit Ginsburg's help of  Bespaq International Corporation was twofold....the world lost Pit on September 4th. Pit Ginsburg was one of the most forward thinking people in the industry of dollhouse miniatures, and he will be missed. I worked with both he & his nephew who now runs the company, Shawn Flading, on the design and manufacture of my wingchairs- of which Red Dragon was the first. Most of the work was in choosing the proper chair to manufacture in 1:6 scale, as well as fabric suppliers and unique finishes. I have to say, without Pit's input and advice, the line of the six wingchairs would never have come about. Daria epitomizes the elegance of the line, and simplicity of East meets West that I was going for. I will take more updated photos of the other five chairs for the blog as I feel better, since I am supposed to be on bedrest.

More of my Flicker photos. As everyone knows, most of the furniture in the One Sixth Scale Dollhouse is the large scale Bespaq, manufactured in the 1990's, and no longer manufactured. As I gaze on the dollhouse, I remember my great friend and most of all, my mentor in the miniature world, and mourn his loss.

~Lisa

Waiting for Autumn and Halloween....

We are surviving the aftermath of Hurricane Irene...no real damage- the roof perhaps needs a few shingles, but everything else is intact. Just no power for several days, almost a week is the estimate. At night,  it is quiet and we use candlelight to sit in the den. I was bored so I pulled out some items on hand to use to get some ideas for Autumn./fall or Halloween decor. I had pulled out last year's Martha Stewart Halloween magazine- I simply love her take on 'elegant' halloween, which is timeless in a way. I also pulled out my Wizard of Oz Wicked Witch- I have Dorothy from 1997, and willprobably do more photos if I have time to find the props. The table is a Bespaq victorian tea table, that was broken and I repaired it- painted black and decorated with spiderwebs. Now she just needs some spooky books, an hourglass, etc. I loved how she looked next to the fireplace mantel, the white kind of washes her out, but the checker board placemat is from Pier 1, and is made of some sort of shell , but looks like a 1:6 scale marble floor....
Enjoy!
~Lisa

IFDC 2011 Convention doll Go Home! For sale-

Edited 9/14/11 doll has been SOLD
Up for sale is my new IFDC Go Home! convention doll by Integrity Toys- I love her and Wizard of Oz, but simply do not have room with other dolls. She is cute, adorable, but am limited on space! I have her listed on Ebay for a Buy It Now of $185 with free shipping in the 48 continental states of the USA, until she is sold. So please let Dorothy find her way to your home...where she can be enjoyed. She will be sent in her box, w/ all items included. She has never been removed from the box, still tied in with her ribbons, just to check that everything was there and for these pictures. I will also ship her in the original shipper, and box she came in from Integrity toys as well. International customers- email me for a shipping quote, I do ship worldwide. Doll will be shipped Priority international mail- due to her limited edition, I will only ship that way internationally.
Thank you!
Lisa

More updates on the dollhouse restorationi....

Haven't been doing too much lately with the dollhouse....other than finishing Kit's attic, that is when I last did anything, I have been so busy. The house is moved in to the display room and is on the dresser, where I can reach it easily. Today I started moving in the tinies, and seeing what furniture would go where. Most of the furniture is from Olde Shelby Cottage, which I sold to a customer as I didn't have room for the house at home. Some other items may have to go as well, since I do want to do another tiny shop for the dolls next to Minuette's sweet shop and also the 1:6 scale McDonald's diner for the diva dolls.
The tinies moved alot of items into the rooms that were finished- the windows haven't yet been put on this house, so right now I'm looking at placement

Minuette loved the shopping cart, just the thing for carrying the groceries and the mail home! Wren loved the regridgerator, (a Hallmark ornament that really lights up when you open the door) and Maizie loves sitting in the kitchen. April Mae was sitting on the steps and Dixie, well Dixie isn't happy because there is no place for her computer yet. The mini American Girl dolls have not yet moved in, (they spend alot of time in Skipper's bedroom diorama or the 1:6 scale Sindy kitchen) but once Kit's bedroom gets started, I imagine we will see more of them.

All for now- enjoy the pics!

Lisa