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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Porcelain Doll Assembly

Here's some tips in case you're wanting to do this:

Finger tip to finger tip should equal the distance, less than 1/8", of the height of the doll
Make sure that thumbs and big toes face each other. The easiest way is to hold the doll facing away from you.
Once you're all set, use hot glue to hold the pipe cleaners in place. You could also use regular glue as long as you have the time to wait for it to harden.
Keep a wet cloth nearby to wipe your fingers on.

The instructions say to use quilting batting to fill out the limbs. Of course, I don't have any so I raided the first aid kit.

Now to achieve a realistic pose ...nothing worse than a beautifully dressed doll standing stiff and looking like a mannequin.
You can add clay to your porcelain doll and rebake.
The best way to sculpt is at eye level. I use a turn table sitting on a footed cake stand that way I can turn it easily. When you're claying with warm hands, less handling means less smudging.
It doesn't have to be anatomically correct. As you can tell, his groin is too low. But since my guy will be wearing a robe it doesn't matter. All I'm trying to do is keep the doll holding his pose. The stand that I made for him is removable.

Now comes the hardest part ...costuming!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Procrastination

It's amazing to what lengths you can go to, to procrastinate. For instance, I have the cleanest craft room ...in like 3 years. I've whittled down my to do list:
I even took a leaf out of Nicky's workbook and ran with it
Of course her's was a dragon whereas mine somehow turned into a lizard. Huh! Maybe I should have taken Dragon Anatomy 101.
Tonight I mistakenly thought I was due for an overnight stay at the Sleep Clinic where I'm taking part in a drug trial research study; for as long as I can remember I've had problems shutting my brain down & staying asleep for the entire night.
I took my wizard with me ....and actually started on him!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

New eBay Listings

I have some more Tudor/Medieval items on eBay:

Savonarola chair



Glastonbury chair This is one of my prototypes that was made to look aged. I'll have more delicate ones eventually.


Doll's House Magazine from May 2009 filled with Tudor table & screen DIY as well as 13 pages of Tudor inspiration & projects. I somehow bought it in duplicate >:-{

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

It's D-Day!

No more procrastinating!
No more fooling around with rotten apples!


Did I show you what I found at the last auction I was at?Two display cases each with storage (ignore the apples LOL). How kool is that!

OK enough procrastinating.... the last doll I tried to do ended up in a deep dark bottom drawer, never to be brought out again. Wish me luck!!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Wizards Treasure Chest

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And your pocket endlessly hold a coin or two.




signed this day in the year of our Lord
Amarus Beatrix Matilda
Grand Duchesse de Sainte-Claire
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Flower Swap
Many thanks to Monika, for the lovely flowers, the water hose & reel and the little hearts. They look just right for turning into flower pots.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've been asked to write up some tutorials. I'm thinking I could do the clay treasure chest since it would show how to do faux wood, work with pearl ex & metallic clay and incorporates Christi Friesen's wrap technique. What do you think?
Or is there another one that you'd rather see?

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Castle Roombox

Remember these toes?
They've had a pedicure. I guess you could say she's had an entire make-over. Afterall it's hard work keeping those emerald scales pristine.
Meet Scylla:

...and this is Fafnir, her newborn:

.....who's just discovering the world around him.

Scylla sits 6 inches tall to the top of her horn while little Fafnir is only 2-1/2 inches.
These OOAK guys are my first ever dragons. They're made of Super Sculpy over a wire & apoxie armature and painted with alcohol paints and metallic powders.
I'm quite pleased with them, doubly so considering Ken asked if I had used molds!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Mildred Mahoney Dollhouse Museum


Here's most of the things that were up for auction. I doubt that anything remains of the museum. I'm not sure why the house couldn't have been sold and the museum items themselves donated to one of our larger museums so they could continued to be enjoyed.....

a peddlars stall
a room from the Woburn house
look at the lovely workmanship
the Kensington Kerr House c1809

The Tuesday House 1983 made of redwood and cedar
I took this photo so you can see how large these two actually are
Sea Captain's house
Nuremberg kitchen
shop roombox
Mystery house c1895

this house is entirely made from match sticks
kitchens
the imperial palace of Hawaii
House of Ipswich

Folk Art House
this is a dental cabinet
Each of the bricks on the house facade are made on individual pieces of wood
Belvedere house c1850
This is not actually a dollshouse. It was built as an architect's model and was on display at the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876.
this general store contains more than 5000 items
Castle dining room
A clothes mangle ...I'm not aware of ever having seen a modern miniature mangle

bead and shell furniture
I hope you've enjoyed this last view from the Mildred Mahoney dollhouse museum. These were all items up for auction and will now be in private hands.