Featured Artisan: Sylvia Rountree, The Dolls' Cobbler

My featured artisan/shop is Sylvia Rountree, who is the owner of The Dolls' Cobbler. Sylvia is a gifted IGMA artisan, who creates the most tiny, complete, realistic shoes! Not satisfied with just 1:12 and 1:24 scale, she also creates in 1:6 scale also- asmy dolls can attest, since they went 'shopping' when her table was across from mine at Tyson's Corner miniature show last year in October. I have always admired Sylvia's work since I was a teenager and read about these marvelous creations in Nutshell News-- what a heady experience it is for me to call her a friend.

I encourage you toshop her link- at the left here on my blog. Whatever she creates in 1/12 scale, she can create in 1/6 scale for your dolls- but you must let her know what doll it is- some of the shoes can fit Silkstones better than the FR gals. She and I talked last week and she is now currently working on shoes for Tonner dolls, which will also fit Gene! Sylvia's shoes are all workable and hand crafted of the thinnest leathers. Here are some pictures above of some of my girls experiencing trying on these shoes ....

Enjoy!

~Lisa

Items arrived....and rethinking those stairs!

Well, I have had alot of items arrive! The chandelier from http://www.unicahome.com/ arrived Fedex, and it is soooooo lovely! I absolutely love this chandelier, and will probably slowly but surely, purchase the others for the house.

Sideshow Giles & Willow have arrived, and they are awesome. A word to the wise on this Willow figure, her face is entirely too pale for her body- so you may want to customize her facial coloring. But the outfit is cute- even down to the dirty white sneakers. I have taken some pics of the beginnings of this diorama in the collection stage, and the desk that Giles will use.

As for those stairs- I have had alot of time to rethink doing the stairs. One of my ideas is to close up the holes in the stair wells and create a fake door in each room at the back, to make it look as though the stairs are in a hallway reached by the fake doors. This would give me loads of room that ordinarily would betaken up by the staircase. Also, I will be able to divide the salon/parlor in half and Giles can have his library, filled with books! (which I'm working on right now.) The next doll in the trio on my list is Prophecy girl Buffy by Sideshow, when I get a little moolah ahead. lol. As of yet, I am liking the idea of the fake doors, and this will really add to the house also. I have made one door for the bedroom for the partition wall that divides the bedroom and bath, and bought the hinges, I am hesitating on putting in the wallpaper and the partition until I have a dry place to keep this dollhouse, since we have had such damp weather. Also, I may be able to put a chandelier in the parlor, through the stairwell hole, and have the adaptor in the bedroom. This helps solve the problem of space, and lights! I made the books, which are blank, the open book of the Da Vinci prints, and the envelopes were made with a scrapper's envelope punch. The wax seals on the envelopes are made with candle wax. I set the items up to see how they looked together, Giles of course is sitting in his leather wingchair looking at the newest communication from the Watcher's Council, and Willow is looking for more books on research.

Enjoy the pictures of the beginning of the Slayer library diorama! Agnes just can't understand why Uncle Giles has such odd letters arrive at the Manor!

~Lisa

Well, I bid on Sideshow Willow on Ebay....

....lol, I know. I'm hooked. But I have a couple more hours to wait to see if I win this auction- Willow is up for $9.99!! What a deal, I couldn't resist. Have no pics as of yet, but am working on Giles' desk (the slant Bespaq desk that I am sold out of on my website, but am expecting in some more this week-) yippee! I kept one back for display in my gallery shop that I will be opening by appointment only soon, stay tuned.
But back to Willow figure- she is so cute- this isn't vampire Willow, but human Willow dressed in the fuzzy pink sweater and skirt with sneakers, she is so cute. I think it will be great to add regular figures that have character next to my snobby FR girls-- I like a mix of faces. The desk I am working on I have completed a large spined book, still making it look aged and worn, the pages are blank. Last evening I made alot of envelopes with parchment paper, some stuffed and closed, all with red wax seals- secret correspondence from the Watcher's Council, you know. I have a small jar that I need to put water and a cross in, for the holy water, and I need to make some Mr. Pointy stakes for Giles to have on hand. I will take pictures when I get the desk stuffed and ready. Will post more when I find out this evening if I win Willow!
I haven't really figured out how I will make the permanent library diorama, I'd like to have an upstairs balconey like the sunnydale library- but creating stairs is difficult. I may limit the library to just one floor with a foamcore mockup to play with, and go from there. Assembling the figures helps, so you can see what size and dimensions are needed. Will post more later!
~Lisa

Sideshow figure Giles is coming soon....

Ever had that favorite character from a movie, tv show, or a book that you love? So do I. One of my favorite all time programs was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then the sequel series, Angel, which wasn't as good as Buffy. All die-hard Buffy fans say that, I know. The show was a fantasy based tv show that came on and was based on the famous movie from the early 80's. Besides Buffy, one of my favorite characters was Rupert Giles, her watcher.
Well, the toy actionfigure company Sideshow (http://www.sideshowtoys.com ) has done many replicas of Buffy and all of the characters, including Giles. I just ordered Giles the other day and received notification today that he is on his way! Don't have any pictures yet, but soon hope to. My next character up for purchase will be Buffy Prophecy girl, (this one is based upon the first season when the 'Master' vampire supposedly does away with Buffy and she drowns, but Zander saves her by mouth to mouth. Steamy! This particular figure wears her white gown and heels that she was wearing on her way to the dance/prom.
I have an awesome slant Bespaq desk that will make for a great desk for Giles. I have always wanted to replicate the school library on my own loose interpretation, and have begun to figure out what I want in the way of a library for the slayer and her watcher and the Scoobies. My library won't be exactly like Sunnydale high's library, but based upon the Watcher's council library in London, England and the Sunnydale high school library- I liked the fact that you went up the stairs for books. I have already begun a host of items for Giles and Buffy- thick old books and papers, stakes, wooden crosses, etc. I will probably create the first scene with foamcore when I get time...this is one of those ideas in the making, and I just couldn't resist buying the Giles figure. I haven't had time to work on the dollhouse, but know that I definitely will have Giles and Buffy residing there- or visiting, probably Giles will be Agnes' younger uncle Giles, the one who carried on the secret watcher family tradition of the Von Weiss Barons. It will make for interesting story lines, that is for sure!
No pictures of the house for now, have been so busy, but hopefully will have some soon when the Giles figure arrives, and hopefully some pics of the dollhouse!
~Lisa

Dollies' favorite store: The DollsFashionShop

Never, never let your dolls around the computer, especially on Ebay....subject today is a featured store- The DollsFashionShop on Ebay! (user id: delightful79) My two outfits I purchased a couple of days ago- and WOWZA! the outfits were outstanding! Shipping was fast, and the clothes were great quality and a BANANAS price!! I bought two outfits that would coordinate with shoes and accessories I already had- one for my Going Public Eugenia in red, that would look perfect from the pics with High Tide's red platforms. Another outfit that was black would go great with the coat fashion on Blonde Ambition Vero. Ta da! They came today- and here are the pics! I loved how the purse of Eugenia went with her outfit. I meant to put her gold belt on, and maybe some gold hoops and gold jewelry, so she would look a la Boca Raton. Blonde Ambition Vero's outfit that was solid black doesn't show the snakeskin faux print on her pants, which are really cool. The strapless tops are little ribbed jersey, that are quite soft and durable and slip on the doll, and can be interchanged with other skirts, pants and outfits, which I really like. Vero's black jewelry went with her outfit perfectly, my hubby has said she needs a Harley now! lol. Her Randall Craig poodle Blondie Boy is by her side, I simply love this poodle.

No work accomplished on the dollhouse today, I've been distracted with some other things and family during the holidays, so hopefully will get focused back on the house later. I will be featuring another artist here later who creates awesome playscale handmade shoes, named Sylvia Rountree. The shoes you see on the bed behind Eugenia and on the floor to the left of her near the vanity chair are shoes that fit Barbie and Fashion Royalty dolls. I found that the strappy slippers will not fit the FR girls as well, at least this pair didn't, so they will fit my silkstones. I will feature her and the shoes here in another post when I have time for some silkies and the new girls to try her shoes on. Her shoes run reasonable, and some like the white pair on the bed have ribbon rosettes and tiny buckles! Enjoy the pics and The DollsFashionShop!

~LISA

To show how pleased I was with the outfits, as soon as I had them on my girls I went back and purchased three more! Plus, shipping was FREE! It couldn't get better than this. Check this seller's store frequently, and look for newly listed, the newly listed items are snapped up quick.

A New Silkstone Beauty IN the House!

"Santa baby, put a Silkstone under the tree...for me...been an awful good girl........."

LOL. Couldn't resist. Blue Soiree was under the tree, for me, courtesy of my sweet hubby. What a beauty. With the delay on the Moods dolls I counted them a very early Christmas present- they arrived this Tuesday right before Christmas! perfect timing! so I had a very wonderful Christmas. Hubby is no good at buying presents so told me to buy what I wanted from him....this way no exchanges as I hate to stand in long lines exchanging gifts that do not fit, etc. I think Blue Soiree is just lovely....one of the members of my Barbie club has this doll in pink I think she was available in both pink and blue, the pink gowned silky has blonde hair. These dolls certainly know how to dress! She will be a very elevated guest for Agnes, who simply adores tiaras. I'm hoping Her Highness the Baroness will not attempt to steal the aigrette in Miss Silky's updo, but we all know Agnes!

Daughter received one of the birthstone beauties, wasn't her month, but this birthstone beauty was lovely. (Agnes loves this dress and dog with the crown, I think she wants the crowned pug and lace dress more!lol.) All in all, not much to open, but a wonderful dolly Christmas!

~Lisa

Yes, Lisa, Chandeliers DO exist in 1:6 scale....

I thought that quote from the famous Christmas letter was appropriate.....for everyone knows how hard it is to find those items that are a given in 1:12 scale... but I stumbled across this novelty item that is a lit chandelier by LED lights on a battery pack. During the Christmas swaps on Doll Divas message board this year, one of the ladies received one. When I saw the picture I knew I had to have one for the dollhouse. Figuring out how I was going to hide the unsightly battery pack was something I would think of later. For a link to the Doll Divas board , see my new links section to the left- I have loads of links that are simply cool for 1/6 scale, and will be adding some more later.

Back to the chandelier. This is a pricey little number, and was designed by a designer for the website http://www.kikkerland.com/ where they are available, just not in the clear color that I wanted. The style that I ordered was available in clear, which resembles crystal like a real chandelier, pink, and black, the last two are much, much cheaper. This particular styles is about 4 1/2 inches or 5 x 3 x 5. Sounds a little large, but it is perfect for the bedroom. I am thinking of getting the black one for the kitchen, but may wait and see, or another one after I receive this one. I ordered my chandelier at http://www.unicahome.com/ type in mini chandelier by Chris Collicott, in a google search or the search engine of Unica Home. Adaptors are also available for these. Even if you don't have a monster dollhouse, these are great for dioramas for the girls.

I have added pics I saved here from Unica Home, which have the catalog numbers of the lights.

These are also available from my google search at a shop called www.Quincyshop.com that is a

little cheaper on shipping, but not much.

I paid for mine today- so will hopefully receive by next week! Enjoy the pictures!

~Lisa