Barbie's 'used' Volkswagon....

I have been working so hard this week in my husband's office with his boiler business,Leo Paul and Associates , invoicing, picking up parts, delivering them to him, faxing, plus wrapping orders from my own business Pumpkin Hill Studios on Ebay  I have had literally no doll time. I have worked a little this week in the evenings on the Nativity - currently am working on one of the Wise Men's costume. Still have two more to do, plus possibly another shepherd and finding a good doll for the angel.
But today I could breath a bit, so I stopped by a large yard sale at the nearby Firestation in Hanover and found Barbie a used volkswagon. It is in a peach colored pink, but not too puke pepto-Bismol pink. I gave the man $2 and brought it home, and pivatol Barbie loves it- so its' her 'new' car.

 

I have missed being able to take pics and pay attention to Barbietown, this is the first time in quite a while I have been able to enjoy the dolls and start thinking of the holidays on how to decorate Barbietown for Christmas. I have wanted to do alot of different scenes- which call for MORE PROPS. lol....but I will try to restrain myself. Since Hurricane Sandy is due to hit tomorrow here in Va. and on the East Coast, I thought loading luggage for evacuation would be appropriate with the new car. After the yard sale I went to Walmart and the Dollar tree for supplies- water, matches, candles, flashlights, batteries- you know, the regular stuff.

Every time we have a threat of a natural disaster- I always wonder- what doll would I grab? This is hard to think about, since I have so many. And with the Barbie Collector sale ending on 10/29, I might possibly have more!

Here is some more pics of Barbietown...just because.

 

 

Lucky thrifting finds today...

As I have begun to do alot recently, I went antiquing near my favorite haunts, as I am unbeknown to the doll world, a passionate china and crystal collector. (this is why you see part of my collection being moved on Ebay to make more room for dolls!lol)

So today I was in the antique mall near my home, and found this little guy. PERFECT for the Nativity I am planning. He is obviously vintage, but the weird thing is I have been watching two or three similar auctions onthis same figure- I believe even though he has yellowed, he is a Breyer mule/donkey made in Hong Kong. My lucky find was only $4

I could be mistaken about the Breyer part, but he is just nifty. I don't mind the yellowing either, because this little guy is just going to stand around the stable in the Nativity. The one I was watching on Ebay was on a BIN for $21!! So I saved a ton of money and time.
So I took a few pics of him standing about the Stable scene.

I think he looks great in this scene. He is not really tall enough for Mary to ride on, but that is ok, the price is right for the look I want with this setup.
I also am working on the first of the Wise men with a doll that just arrived from EvilKaren on Doll Divas! Since I was about today picking up items hubby needed, I treated myself to a quick Hancock fabrics visit and found some great fabric remnants. I could go nuts with their upholstery fabrics- but I controlled myself with the under $5 bin. Hopefully I will  have that Wise man finished soon, this week I am probably going to have very little dolly time. Enjoy the pics!

Nativity diorama Progress...part 2

Progress has continued on the Nativity diorama, and I have finished turning the vintage Todd doll I had into either a shepherd boy or little drummer boy. I thought he has turned out well. Part of the problem with Biblical clothing is if I keep to historical accurate, Todd would not be wearing very much. So I went with rough trousers /bloomers made of grey felt, and a blouse tied with cord that also ties his hood. He is barefoot. I haven't decided if I should make a drum or buy it- right now he looks quite adorable as a little shepherd boy, so this will call for more sheep.
More progress has also been made on the Stable/manger structure itself. I took a piece of pink builder's foam and roughly cut it to fit the side, then cut the arch into it. With grey and black coats of spray paint - it has that decrepit look of crumbling stone. I also have almost finished the front door, with its cardboard hinges, also made of cardboard. I have been meaning to sculpt a handle off putty/clay, but haven't had time. But the scene does look good with the little shepherd boy peeking thru the stable door to see what is going on inside.
The basket and pottery urn, and wooden bucket are items I had in my props- the urn is made by a miniature artisan Alex Mechiljohn- don't know if I spelled that correctly- and he only sells at shows. One of the other clay pots with decorative carving on it next the tall urn is from Handley House.

Here are some more shots of the exterior of the stable, I will need to re-do these pics but it shows the stonework carved into the builder's foam. I used those dollar tree clamp lights for the light shining down on Joseph & Mary, clamped into the roof of the structure and then aimed down at the dolls.

Enjoy! I have one more shepherd to work on his costume before I begin on the 3 kings and their costumes.

Progress of the Nativity Diorama

Yesterday evening, I made a great deal of progress on the costumes of some of the dolls for the Nativity diorama. I have to say this is the most in depth scene I have every done, as I am literally creating everything from scratch. I was fussing about the dimensions of the Stable/manger for the scene and my husband said- why not use what you have already created from that box? You already have the broken door, and the stone, and it's open on the side. He hit on what I had been musing over in my mind with sketches for over a week! As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here is the progress thus far.

The stable/manger was made from a bubble wrap box and foam insulation  carved into stonework. This was supposed to originally be used as the Abbey ruins for my Sideshow Buffy figures and a Halloween/cemetary scene. It will probably double as that as well, but for now, staging what my work has done so far on the Nativity dolls helps me figure out the next figures/costumes I need to work on, and props such as animals I should start looking for/collecting for finishing this scene.

I did the finishing work on Mary's mantel, and Joseph and the shepherd's costumes as well. All of the remnants for the men's clothing came from Hobby Lobby except for Mary's costume, which I had in my fabric stash.

Mary's costume is a tafetta white underdress, quite simple, with a sheer overlay of chiffon. Her 'belt' is made of DMC floss braided like a friendship bracelet. Her mantel or hood is blue satin. I have to admit that I sewed to the camera, so to speak, and these clothing pieces are not the most finished or the best, as I sew by 'eye' and used a very straightforward one piece pattern. I have to admit I love the effect.
Baby Steven is from the Sunshine family and he may remain the Baby Jesus. I at first wanted the Baby Jesus to have brown hair to match Mary & Joseph, but have re-thought that for 2 reasons- most children are born with blonde downy hair that quickly turns, 2- I am on a budget and have not found any 1:6 scale infants that please me as to their expressions, and the Sunshine family infant has a serene expression on his little face. He is quite old- my Sunshine family dolls are some of my favorites and were my most played with dolls as a child.

Joseph I used a Barbie Basics Ken, and I am really glad, because he has the right expression on his face and the right body/stance for posing. I used unbleached muslin for his robe, but for his mantel I used a dark purple cloth. I thought this a discreet way to denote Joseph's descant from King David, and purple is a color of royalty.

Fashionista Ken Ryan was used for one of the shepherds. His arms are articulated, but his legs are not. This is not that big of deal since he will be standing and holding a sheep and a staff, or shepherd's crook, as I have  several of those to make. The other shepherd I decide on will have to have the ability to kneel. This shepherd was alot of fun to work on his costume- again, unbleached muslin for the basic robe, and this wonderful striped fabric for his hood and mantel. I used burgundy felt for his hood. His belt and the ties on his hood are made of knotted black DMC floss. As with everything in a Biblical costume, it depends on how you drape the fabrics to make it look natural.
The lamb is a 1:12 scale lamb from Hobby Lobby that I bought to see if it would work. I will have to probably give in and buy some Breyer 1:6 scale animals off of Ebay or comb yard sales and flea markets. I have been hesitant to do this, since they are expensive, but the Nativity Fontanini animals are hugely expensive. I think a bunch of these full grown ewes in 1:12 scale will work great for lambs to scatter about the stable. I could really use a cow, donkey and camel.
Here is the total scene of the stable. More pictures can be found in my Flicker

When the diorama is complete, it will probably be about 10-11 dolls. I will be using this scene for my Christmas card scene I will be sending out to my friends, family and my customers too. If you would like to be on the card list you can always contact me via Email with name and address. I usually begin creating/gathering my list together starting in October/November, and after Thanksgiving the Christmas cards are mailed out each year. I usually have my cards made with my pictures at either Sam's club, Costco or Walmart, it is so easy to pick out the card template and upload, then have them picked up at the store when I'm running my errands. I have been doing this for about 4-5 years now, and sometimes send out over 100 cards each year.
Enjoy the pictures! More to come as I work slowly on the rest of the dolls.

Holiday Diorama preparations...

I noticed I did not have any posts for October! Which means I have been busy with other things...and have had very little doll time.
October is when I begin to decide what I would like to do for my Christmas cards, as I use the dolls and their props to create a Christmas card setting that I send to family friends and my customers with their orders during the Christmas season.
Here are a couple of photos from Christmas past:

Last year, I did the top card scene -'I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus' and the 2nd scene was done for our friends who belong to the Acca Shriners, my husband is a Mason and a Noble of Acca Temple here in Va and belongs to the motor patrol unit - he rides a go-cart in the Shriner parades. It is a great organization where money is raised to support the Shriner's Children's hospitals. Our friends simply loved the card.

This year, I have a couple of holiday projects in the works...one is the abandoned Abbey with cemetary for the Buffy the Vampire slayer dolls, where Giles has his secret library. I was hoping to have it finished. Here is the work thus far-

Sorry for the bad pictures...which brings me to my recent purchase of Hunger Games Katniss, that I purchased at Target with this Fashionista Ken, Ryan. I was disappointed with him- his legs are not jointed, but he will do for the project I have coming up.
The door is almost finished on the Abbey. I need to finish the door and decide to finish the door, put the hinges on it and create the doorknob/handle. I also need to finish the roof. I have the tombstones for the graveyard, so that just needs to be landscaped.
My 2nd holiday project in the works is to do a Nativity scene using the dolls. That means I will have to make everything- the robes, clothing, manger for the Baby Jesus, the stable, and find animals that will be 1:6 comparable. It is ambitious, I admit. Usually when I embark on a diorama of this type I google search for images or photos but found none where someone had used Barbie or action figures in 1:6 scale for a nativity. The closest I have found is the Fontanini Store which sells remarkable nativity accessories and figures in all scales- even full size. Their 12 inch sizes I had seen at the Yankee Candle outlet in the Christmas section in Williamsburg, Va. I love the animals, but cannot afford $25 for one sheep. I have searched on Ebay for Breyer animals, may have better luck there or at Hobby Lobby.
So I picked up the above two dolls and I think Katniss will make a great Mary. I knew I did not want that cheesy smile on their faces, but a serene look, and the doll who plays Joseph must also have a similar look too. Fashionista Ken will probably end up as a shepherd, but I have decided to use the Basics Ken with dark hair for Joseph, simply because he is taller than the Fashionista Ken and looks better beside Katniss.

Here they are and they look great in this pose. Imagine the manger in front of her, with a white robe and blue mantel, with the infant and straw, and so on.
So far I have in the lineup the Holy Family- Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus; the Three Kings or the Magi; I have earmarked my Pirates of the Carribean Johnny Depp as one  the Three Kings. I will probably have 2 or 3 shepherds and I also have a Todd doll that I can dress as the Little Drummer Boy.

The hardest part is the clothing for this project. I have already begun on Mary's robe, which I thought should be in keeping with the Nativity Christmas cards I have always received from time to time, and I had some beautiful white filmy fabric as well as satin. Here is what I finished a couple of days ago after bringing home Katniss-

I went to Hobby Lobby and found in the felt section this powder blue fleece for .50 cents- they had pink as well. I figured this would be good for part of Joseph's mantel as well as under the Baby Jesus in the manger.
Her robe or overlay is still unfinished on the sleeves and neck. I have to admit on this project I might be sewing 'to the camera' so those sleeves might be finished with ribbon or tucked up under so they drape. I have some beautiful blue satin that will look wonderful for her mantel & hood.

I have several infants in my collection, but will have to look for a new one. Ross has the babysitter Barbie which has a very realistic looking infant in the playset- all for 14.99 and it has some cute toddler furniture..I may go back and get it when I have more moolah. Target's price on Katniss is reasonable and this is one of the times when their clothing and doll far exceeded my expections. Katniss has an articulated body, much like the first Fashionista body, and the clothing and props exceeded what I expected. Go figure. I have thought of buying another one of this doll simply because I love her face!

So back to my trip at Hobby Lobby. I found a small sheep, but do not know if it will work- here it is beside Fashionista Ken. It might work standing next to Todd as a shepherd boy.

I was thinking it might work as a lamb in 1:6 scale. The lambs that went with this particular animal were quite small. I did find a camel in wood seated, at Hobby Lobby, but did not get it. They did have 1:6 scale animals, but they were all dinosaurs, dragons, lions, bears, everything but cows, donkeys, and sheep! sigh...back to Ebay. I would really love to have a 1:6 scale cow or sheep, but may have to forego the cow- there are a few on ebay and they want $35 & up for them.

But my Hobby Lobby score was in the fabric department. I have been searching for scraps of brocade, satin, broadcloth, muslin and did not want to have to buy alot of yardage to get the miniscule amount I would need. Hobby Lobby had lots and lots of gorgeous remnants that were a jackpot- I got a large roll of unfinished muslin for the mens's robes in an off white, and lots of subdued colors for their mantels, overblouses, and all. I have some purple velvet too, and I think creating the Kings' ensembles will be quite fun.
Reading back thru the passages of the Bible for clues in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John was also enlightning- the details are few and far between, so it leaves the way open for imagination. I am hoping to pick up last year's Angel Barbie so I have put it on my list to cruise Tuesday Mornings in my area because at one time she was there. She would be perfect for the Angel of the Lord above the stable, or nearby. One clue I found was in the time of Casear Agustus, so that should give me an idea of fashions from Rome, Judea, and Egypt as well. I think in the end, I will stick with a basic robe pattern I have made and make it to fit the different sized male dolls.
The only thing left on my list is what to use for the gifts, Gold, Frankincense and myhr. Forgive me if I have misspelled these- I always remember at Church or Mass when the Nativity is re-enacted elaborate boxes and perfume bottles decorated with paste gems were used, I may have something suitable in my stash of minis.
So far, this is the mish mash of progression! I hope to finish Mary's ensemble then work my way thru Joseph, the shepherds and then embark on the Kings ensembles since they will have the most detailed ornamentations.