Welllllllllllllllll….just in case I didn’t mention it wherever you’ve been hanging out, I did update my etsy shop: CK Workshop with some more 1:6 furniture!
This set is all white washed and like the other set it took an awful lot of nails! (If I keep making these I’d need to buy stock in a nail co! LOL!)
See the pretty stuff? 
Yea this post is a shameless (or shameful depending on how you look at it) plug for my etsy shop! See? I wasn’t kidding when I said the last few posts that I was busy–making stuff (see above) for etsy, and also in working on a paid commission. (More on the commission piece later this week)
Here are a couple more shots of the furniture — please feel free to browse the shop! 
You have no idea how many hundreds of freaking little nails are in this set of furniture….Suffice to say I gave myself the beginnings of carpal tunnel. So I need to be a little more careful in the future about my time spent on making stuff. More breaks for my wrists. Poor wrists! :S
Yea I have a lot of different projects on the burners right now –in fact I’d have to be a professional stove with double the normal amount of burners to handle all the pots I’ve got a’boilin! 
One of those was making a brick wall to use for backdrop image when I’m shooting photos of stuff—-for Etsy & for using in Friday Monologues. It took me a good week or so to get the wall done. It wasn’t fun.
I’m not that happy with it because there were too many places I made mistakes and it shows.
However, it’ll do the job and that for now is what counts.
I have to say here and now that I am not, never have been and never will be a fan of foamcore.
Please don’t try to stone me you folks who love the stuff. I know it’s manna from heaven for a lot of people, and it’s the greatest stuff ever. For you.
It remains burned into my consciousness as the crap that professors made you use for pointless art projects (when in the day a piece of foamcore cost 6 bucks instead of 1 buck at the dollar store!) Anyway. I still think it is the stuff of the devil.
It’s flimsy, flaky and just too prone to damage. Ok, that last bit is probably just down to me being a klutz and needing sturdy, break resistant stuff around me!
Anyway, I persevered through and made this: (in the 2nd one down Giselle is modelling in the pics just for the hell of it!).
See, this is where the nit-picky thing really rears it’s ugly head.
A lot of people just use bricks that the y print off of photos or they use scrap-booking paper (or fabric). I’d like to be happy with that for my use, but I … well. I just couldn’t. And I have heard that me putting all this detail in doesn’t make any difference at the end, so why bother with it?
But, I just had to. Really.
Anything else would have felt half-assed. And I really do my damnedest to make sure I don’t do anything that way. Why bother if you’re not going to do it right, you know?
Yes, it meant I spent more than a week scribing in all those blasted bricks. And then more experimenting (and failing spectacularly with different options for mortar!) I’ve kind of got the mortar thing sorted so the next wall will be better (and it won’t be foamcore).
And just a few shots of Giselle because, well….she’s a fave!
I’ll be updating again as soon as I have some more photos (of stuff) to share! 
Something I haven’t discussed very much is that I’m suffering some anxiety about starting from scratch again.
Having made the move meant losing a lot of my set pieces, props and pieces of furniture that I’d have liked to have kept…but couldn’t. And of course some of the pieces and props have been left behind in the UK but if I’ll ever have possession of them again is another question (they’re in storage at my inlaws — but it’s a complicated situation there and I’ll count myself lucky if my stuff doesn’t end up in the trash)…You know, stuff like the 1:6 quilts I made, my 1:6 bikes, my 1:6 vespa and vino scooters :S (not to mention things like my 1:1 diplomas, and papers)
So where does that leave me?
When we knew we were really leaving the UK I sold off my roomset bases & walls (which ok, would have been crazy to ship/take over with me) and a LOT of my props and furniture pieces. And supplies. And tools. And …well, you get the idea, right?
I know it sounds like it should be easy.
Go out. Buy supplies. Buy materials. Make stuff.
Do it on an extreme budget.
Take photos.
Get busy.
Yea. Ok. It _should_ be that easy. But it’s not.
Sometimes the idea of rebuilding every roomset from scratch totally makes me cringe.
Ok, yes.
I managed to save the windows and doors from most of the older sets…but they’ll still need work. And there’s always the fact hanging over me that whatever house we end up with — because of our budget is going to be a major fixer-upper. Which means time for making diorama/prop stuff is going to be minimal. *sigh* and of course job hunting will have to take priority over that stuff too.
I know I’m whining a lot.
Please just bear with me–I really need to vent about this.
Room-sets I want to make once we get settled:
Those are the main “university related” ones. The ones not directly related to the university include:
Ok, and if you’ve read my blog at all you can probably guess that there are about 10 more that I’d like to make….if time, space and finances ever permit! 
That doesn’t even take on board props I need to replace, furniture I need to make (for the above and others).
The plus side on the furniture re-making is that at least I will design specific pieces with one room/set in mind. I know I need to take it one diorama at a time. And not set unreasonable / unrealistic deadlines.
MUST NOT set unreasonable expectations…….
Yeah. right.
Maybe.
Thanks for letting me vent!
A friend of mine and I were having a conversation the other day about levels of effort, and attention to detail in 1:6 scale. Discussing our experiences and views about various forums, boards and gathering places of 1:6 goodness on the web.
Said friend told me that I (we, since friend is too!) an Elitist. When it comes to the hobby anyway. That we want to see better quality work being done, that we want to see people putting more effort into things than propping your doll up against a cereal box.
But I made the argument that we’re not elitists.
What we are is perfectionists!
I say this because while I know I don’t do anywhere near the best that can be done, I do keep trying to improve myself and my skill levels. I’m embarrassed by some of the photos or things that I put out there but I continually keep trying to do a better job. I guess that’s where the perfectionist comes in though–since I expect other people to keep striving to improve their skills and I guess…well, they just don’t want to.
The important thing for them (and me too!) is just that we’re all enjoying the hobby–whichever part of it we’re into, and however we go around it. Yes, it does frustrate me to some extent (ok, a LOT) but life is full of things like that and although I do my best I can’t really see myself as being the sort to inspire other people to think about or change the way they do their hobbycraft.
Things I know I need to work on include my construction skills, my photography (which pretty much sucks) and developing more patience to allow me to do more of the first two items!
Of course, you could actually argue the fact that I am a 1:6 elitist since I am only interested in dolls and action figures that are in 1:6 scale. Anything else is “nice” or “interesting” but not enough to make me bother switching or juggling scales.
Anyway, just food for thought.
Ok everything is sold! Thanks everyone!
After all the hemming & hawing has been done here’s the first of the clear out sales posts: (lot of photos so please be patient!)
Please be aware of the fact I am located in the UK so all shipping is going to be from there (and consequently more expensive for those who live elsewhere!). Prices of items are open to reasonable offers/negotiation (and reasonable timescale–I can hold onto a piece for a little while ie next paycheck–but not a couple of months)
Prices are in GBP & payment is ok via paypal (in GBP) or if you’re in the UK via bankdraft, check or paypal. You can check the current exchange rate here
All items will stay on here (the blog) until March 7th *unless sold* that gives y’all 10 days to figure out if you want any of it. After that I’ll be putting it on feebay *hence the watermarking* (If I lose all patience I might just set all on fire in the backyard. It really depends on how I feel… ) I’ll be posting the 2nd batch in another couple of weeks when I’ve completed some more culling/sorting.
IF you want something or have a question: Email me! (I don’t want to clog the blog with that stuff) corsetkitten AT gmail.com
***ALL items are in played with/used condition. Most of these were bought second-hand and or pre-owned. They’ve all got dings, dents, scratches and the like.***
My scene vanity set seats:
Art Nouveau style cabinet (resin & mirror=Heavy):
Barbie my house armoires :
Set of 2 My scene customized beside/end tables :
Barbie butcher block table set :
Student Dorm Black couch :
Bust up Sindy sink :
Vintage Sindy Dressers (all drawers open) :
My Scene couches :
Set of 4 My scene tables :
My scene magazine rack/table
Barbie my house bathtub:
Barbie tables & chairs :
Barbie Camping Set :
My scene claw-foot bathtub:
Re-Ment Bakery Counter (scuffs on plastic) :
Bratz arm chair, Sindy chair, Re-ment & blanket :
Vintage Sindy table & Chair set (one chair was repaired) :
Barbie coffee and end tables (set):
Obnoxious Pink Bathroom Set:
Barbie cabinet :
Chests :
7-11 Coca Cola rack, Icee Machine & Pretzel rack:
Re-Ment Grocery Store Shelf Unit (NIB) :
Vintage Sindy China Cabinets :
Misc Barbie Purses & Bags:
Maroon Couch:
Misc Barbie props & Bags:
Misc Barbie radios & props:
That’s the end of the first lot. As I said above, if you’re interested in something please email me at corsetkittenATgmail.com
And I apologize for the crummy pics and watermarking (due to the last bad experience I had on ebay I now have to watermark everything I want to put on there due to phototheft).
Ok, so I’m pretty stressed these days. Lots of hoops to jump through with planning the international move, visa applications, general health and of course trying to sort through all my stuff and getting everything all in a row!
In my clearing out stuff I realized that while I don’t have much in the way of 100% cotton Fat Quarters or yardage, I did have an entire box (like a copy paper box) filled with strips that I had bought over the last couple of years with the intention of making 1:6 quilts…mostly ticker tape quilts since those were the only ones I knew how to make. Of course, I ended up making a patchwork quilt too….and then for X-mas for my friend Carmen I made a 1:6 string quilt. I hadn’t blogged any pics of it at the time (wanting her to have gotten it and it being a surprise and all that…).
So here are a few photos: (this was my first time making a string quilt) I’m still learning (and fumbling with making bindings and stuff but I’m getting a bit better with every quilt I make.
here’s a detail: It is hand quilted but you can’t really tell in the photos.
At the moment I just can’t seem to work on anything 1:6 related. I’m too stressed out and on edge. But…I don’t want to just give away (or try to sell) my scrap pieces. So what am I supposed to do? (I don’t want to use valuable suitcase space for it either!) I decided that I’d take all the scraps I’ve got and see if I can cobble them together into a 1:1 scale lap quilt (more or less in size anyway). That way I can just do it without thinking so much, I can get away from my desk and all the paperwork and phone calls I have to keep juggling (now that the internet is working again), and hell, actually make my first human scale quilt.
It probably sounds a bit insane (especially after I spent all of last night ironing the scraps LOL). But I’ll share as I go along (although I’m sure it’s not going to turn out as nicely as the miniature version—since I’m using random slices and remnants of fabric!)
Ok, that’s it for now (and Saturday AM I will update with the furniture and stuff for sale. I forgot I need to take a photo of the Kenmore Kitchen set for it).
So, you know if you want to make a medieval themed/ fantasy themed diorama in 1/12 scale you can easily pick up the pieces—from furniture to props to lighting. It’s out there and–if you have the money–you can buy it. Sadly, the same isn’t really true about 1/6 scale.
The closest you can get within 1:6 is to buy the various action figures from the Ignite line of figures, or possibly the ones from that other series (Timeline? I forget what it’s called except there’s a girl in it?And I think time-travel?)
Of course, you’re still left hanging on a lot of things. Occasionally you’re lucky and can find small bits & pieces that could be worked into it because scale on some things is varied. But I haven’t exactly got much on hand that will make the crossover from modern day use to fantasy/ medieval use.
If you can’t beg, borrow or steal it–that leaves you with Making it! So that’s what I’m left to do! (Darn it!) Ideally I’d like to be able to switch pieces between the two sets *partially so I don’t have to make more than the minimum right now; and because I really want to get these stories off the ground ASAP and not get too held up by making furniture and props!*
What’s on my list of things to make?
Of course I still need to make things like the doors & windows that go into the sets themselves. *sigh* so much work but I really do think it’ll be worthwhile when I’m done.
Anyway this weekend I’ll take some time and photograph how the roomsets (bases & walls have come along so far.)
Yesterday was a write-off due to migraine. But today…
Counting down to my favorites–beginning with #10
Description of Toy/Toyline: Ishani’s got a Fashion Royalty Isha head that I repainted, but I’d been struggling to find a body that was going to match her skintone and give her a better range of motion than the default FR body. Will was kind enough to send me the True Type body to see if it would work (he’s a great guy!). I did some operating on the HT body to make it workable with the FR head.
So why did she make my list? Ishani (rebodied) made the list because she’s now got a much more posable body with an increased range of motion. That is a very good thing!
Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): Well the truth is that I have a few issues with the Hot toys body. While it is IMO a vast improvement over the Fashion Royalty default body, I can’t say that I love it. For one thing, nothing I have fits it with the exception of some Ken clothes! I had foolishly thought that the clothes I made for my Takara CG female action figures would fit. I was wrong. 
So Ishani has moved up into the ranks of “needy” dolls. Meaning I need to sew a mini wardrobe for her before I can start using her in photostories and shoots. The other thing that makes it rank low for me is that the torso is vinyl and is prone to staining, and it’s kind of a pain to wrestle into and out of clothing.
Here is the original post dealing with Ishani: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4540
Description of Toy/Toyline: Tristan is a Neo Goh Guy body & head made by volks. I re-rooted him with a mix of restoredoll hair and NDR hair.
So why did he make my list? Strangely enough Tristan has made the list because I think he’s my best “guy” custom this year. I don’t do so well when it comes to painting guy faces and his is one that I didn’t get the immediate urge to wipe off! Also I have a serious shortage of guys and Tristan helps lessen it a bit.
Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): He’s still pretty girly and there are some flaws with his face-up. My rooting skills are only so-so and it shows.
Here is the original post dealing with Tristan: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4575
Description of Toy/Toyline: Who made it is a mystery although it does have “Germany” stamped on the backside of it. It’s made of metal–possibly tin or lead/or an alloy. It’s a hefty little vase for its size–which makes me think it could be lead. It was an ebay find that was listed under 1/12 dollhouse stuff. It may be 1/12 but I find that it works perfectly well for 1:6. It’s 1 3/4 inches tall (about 43.5mm)
So why did it make my list?: Come on! It’s art nouveau and 1:6? What could be better? You’re bound to see it making various “background” appearances. I love the cattail design! (see it in the background pic of Tirrem?)
Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): Frankly it’s in pretty poor condition (although not so bad when you assume it’s probably more than 15 years old, right?). When I move and have a proper workshop I may try to determine what it’s made out of and what the chances of me applying enamel to it. Depending on what I find out I might try to sculpt and cast something similar that I can then enamel. It’s certainly a nice excuse to get into metal enameling!
Description of Toy/Toyline: Err..I am the toyline, I guess? They were all made out of 100% cotton fabric, sewn and quilted by myself.
So why did they make my list? Two reasons: 1) They are needed pieces to complete other dorm room set ups and 2) They’re just nifty. I learned a lot in the process of making them and I like it when i manage to do that.
Downside to it: (aka why they aren’t #1 toy on the list!): There were a lot of mistakes I made on both of them, especially Mallory’s quilt. Because of those mistakes they really aren’t up to the quality I expected of myself.
Here are the original posts dealing with the quilts: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4826 (nerissa’s) and http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4843 (mallory’s)
Description of Toy/Toyline: Ezio is the head from one of Hot Toys action figure releases. I’m not too clear on what he is except that he’s a video game character. He was a great gift from Will when things were going spectacularly crap (and even if the head had been a flaming piece of crap I’d have appreciated it for the intention behind it). His sculpt makes him look like a moody bastard.
So why did he make my list? As I mentioned earlier there’s a chronic shortage of the male species in my 1:6 collection. Ezio (I keep wanting to refer to him as Enzio LOL) is slated to be a rival of Cass’s and a sometime lover. He might come to a bad end I don’t know yet. I do know he’ll be getting a new name.
Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): The head is nicely sculpted but the coloring was way off to use on one of my regular HT true type bodies (did I mention he looks like a linebacker with those shoulders?) so I had to give him one of my 2 Hot Toys True Type Asian bodies. It was a much, much better match (although that now means that Gill’s only got one body–but he’d be ok with that since it means one less rival for Viv’s attention).
Description of Toy/Toyline: Volks 27cm/1:6 scale dollfie bodies. These are old bodies made pre-2005. These 2 bodies in particular are gifts from the IFDC convention. For more information about the bodies (volks) check out The Volks Perfect File.
So why did they make my list?
They made the list for 2 reasons — 1) they’re more bodies for me to make customs out of, and 2) they have the bust types that I have been trying to get for a long, long time. The busts on them are smaller than the Volks EB-J and have a more natural look to them (you can’t tell from these photos, sorry!)
Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): These are the old version of Volks excellent base bodies. That means that they have big gaps around their hip/thigh area (where the joint-age is). They’re shiny (which means I will have to sandmatte them) and chances are that if they are going to one of my more beloved figures that they’re going to need thigh/torso surgery. But that’s down to my personal preference. Of course the biggest downside to these excellent body volks is that volks has discontinued their production! Which means I scoop them up whenever I find them (and can afford to. These were my xmas gift for this year).
Description of Toy/Toyline: Set of 2 flat-pack able 1:6 beds that I made for my dorm room sets. Pretty Basic and meant to be a stop-gap until I get back home and can make proper ones.
So why did they make my list? Like the quilts they were needed for the Dorm room sets. The best thing about them is that they’re flat-packable so I won’t have a hard time packing them up.
Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): The biggest gripe I have with them is that I made the bottom out of wood…I wanted to make them with metal and springs but didn’t have the $$ at the time to buy the supplies I needed so I went with the wood. They work as they are, but they’re not exactly how I want them so they’ll get re-vamped in the future. Also, my application of varnish wasn’t so even and I’d consider sanding them down (eh, maybe) in the future.
Here is the original post dealing with the beds: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4565
Description of Toy/Toyline: A lovely arm chair & table set from Carmen. From the get-go she knew that I really loved the colors used in the armchair and it was among my faves. We periodically swap and make stuff for each other and these were just perfect! (there were also some 1:6 sheep pillows for Raven but I didn’t pull them out in time for this post)
So why did they make my list? Durr! They’re great stuff! I love the fact that they’re nicely made and I didn’t have to make it myself, or beg Mark to make it for me!
Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): There isn’t really a downside to the pieces–only the fact that I had a few other things that edged them out of 1st place!
Description of Toy/Toyline: Custom made Desks & Dressers made by Mark of MHModelmaking .Yes that’s his blog but it’s mostly about airplanes–I’m trying to convince him he needs to start a 1:6 blog for making stuff! He doesn’t think anyone would read it or comment…IF you folks who read this blog would be interested in him writing about 1:6 stuff please leave a comment on his most recent post on his blog!
He made them all out of wood and spent a lot of time on them (they were my Valentines Day gift for 2011–they do indeed last longer than a box of tasty, delicious chocolate!)
So why did they make my list? I’d think it’d be pretty obvious that the build quality, the detailing and the overall usefulness made them hit really high in the rankings. All the drawers open and close, and the desk can be reconfigured 2 different ways. I might complain about how hard it is to get Mark to see how much I neeeeed something –but once he decides to do it he does a freakin fantastic job. I mean amazing. The guy could be building 1:1 furniture with the care and precision that he puts in. I just wish I could clone him!
Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): Hmm, if I told you that I might have to kill you! No, seriously, the only reason they’re not #1 is that I fell in love with 2 of the customs I did this year. They beat everything. Anyway, here is the original post dealing with the dorm room: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4262
and you can check out the website for more info about the process: http://www.corsetkitten.com/dioramas/
Description of Toy/Toyline: Both Astrid and Nerissa are custom volks dollfies. Astrid is an Old Type C head on a hybrid Neo-Excellent J body. Nerissa is a pale Neo volks head on a volks pale excellent A body. She was rooted with restoredoll Black Orchid saran.
So why did they make my list? They made it to number one on the list because there’s something about the way they’re painted that just speaks to me. I get a lot of joy out of posing them and planning storylines for them. They’re usually located somewhere in my desk-workspace.
Downside to it: (yes even at #1 there’s a downside!): I think I could have painted both of them better/more cleanly. I don’t however want to wipe their faces and try again since I might lose that little spark that makes them so special!
Here is the original post dealing with Astrid: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/3971
Here is the original post dealing with Nerissa: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4677
There you have it. My Top 10 for 2011.Comments anyone?
I started this quilt in the middle of the great internet blackout of 2011 mostly as a way to try to keep sane and not constantly be thinking bout talking to my friends online. I’ll say here and now that the photos for this post suck. I switched over all our bulbs to the energy efficient ones and I haven’t been able to get them quite right yet. Even with the custom wb & post processing.
It is pretty bright. Nothing wrong with vibrant colors — but wow, huh?
The patches all started out as individual squares. And no, before you start thinking I’m an absolute masochist–there was a reason for this: I had already had a number of them cut (to the wrong size for my Insanity quilt) and this seemed like the perfect way to use them and not end up wasting the fabric. I didn’t know if it was going to work but I gave it a try and I’m pretty pleased with the overall look. Next time I’ll try to do it as a Nine Patch rather than just random placements.
This quilt marks a lot of firsts for me.
So I sewed all the patches together, quilted it, washed it and now comes the really hard part–deciding which character gets it! After sticking them on it I came to 3 conclusions. Shayna could have it (but since I’m working on the insanity quilt for her it doesn’t seem right she should have two. Does it??Nope.) So….either Mallory or Parker will get it.
Maybe you folks can help me decide? Who do you think owns this quilt? I’ve snapped a few pics of each with the patchwork quilt so you can help me decide! There’s a poll at the end of this post–please vote!
Sooo..what do you think??
Do you remember Nerissa at all? She’s one of the heads I painted back in August. She’s surprised me by becoming one of my favorite dolls. So when it came time to think about what kind of blanket she’d get for her dorm room I wanted to give her something that was a little bit special and somehow reflected a bit of her personality too.
This is what I came out with.
Yes, it IS considered a quilt (albeit not a patchwork). It’s a wholecloth quilt which means that the top consists of one whole piece of fabric. I did hand quilt it with some nice variegated thread in pinks.
She got a fitted sheet, a pillow & a pillowcase. (needs a flat sheet still)
There you have it. I’m gonna ask you all to forgive my pics. I’m still working out the new set up here and the lighting.
First, I want to admit that being without the internet made me be more productive with my time. Although I tried I didn’t come away with something for every day. I’ve been struggling with the new space/work area and the new place in general. It’s ok, but it’s taking a lot of adjustment from me, the cats & mark. For me, my workroom/living-room is what is giving me the most agita. Living out of boxes, boxes piled on boxes and well, trying to get any one particular box = exercise in frustration.
The room’s temporarily set up. I set it up initially based on where the sun was going to be most of the day (I didn’t want it getting in my re-ment boxes, or on my dolls). But now, I’m finding that if I want to do anything in the room I really need to re-think where my table is going (I had to give mark one of my work tables so he’d have something to put his computer on, so I’m sort of at a loss). In spite of all that I DID GET STUFF DONE!!! I’ll give you the basics here but soon I’ll do individual posts about some of these things.
So it wasn’t a total loss being without the internet. But I’m happy to be online again!
The beds! The beeeeeeeeeeeds!
Making the beds was (for me) the more difficult of the two projects from the challenge. (I should stop and say here, that my simple plan was critiqued and overseen by Mark. Mostly because this was the only way I was allowed in the shed and to use his power-tools–the things you gotta do, you know?) When we move though–I will have tools!
I don’t know if I’d mentioned it in the previous post, but I only had 2 real requirements for my beds:
1) that they be flat-packable. I didn’t want to go through the bother and hassle of making them (and bedding for them) only to have to ditch them when we finally move.
2)That they be slightly shorter & narrower than the original (make shift) dorm beds so I have a few mm extra space to jiggle things around for room set-ups.
I tend to be pretty flexible insofar as what I want my finished pieces to look like. This is because I have a habit of wanting to change it as I go along, to make it more …better. This, however did not go down well with Mark, who again was vetting everything I was doing. Ever take a shop class with that teacher who would stare at you when you said something incredibly retarded?
Yep. Mark is that teacher and I’m that student (when it comes to drawn plans). We had a disagreement about why I had to draw scale drawings (I knew the sizes of the pieces of wood, I knew where the wood went & how it connected—-so why bother with plans?)
The answer to that is that you can use it to make sure everything is “right”. Ok, maybe if I were planning on making a crap load of beds I’d bother. Otherwise—nah. Stuff for me (it’s totally different if I’m making it for someone else though) just isn’t that finicky. I kept my sheet of paper with the rough drawing I’d done and the min & max dimensions I wanted the bed to be, along with what pieces I needed to cut etc.
Anyway, in the process I did learn some stuff I hadn’t known.
Like: if you are trying to drill into pine (or spruce) and you have the sap rings/banding (See Pic) then you will have to force the drill to go through it otherwise the sap bands cause the drill to veer off to either side.
I actually got all the wood sourced, cut and ready to go in one day. As you can see Bree had to help with the wood cutting!
As you can see it takes quite a bit more wood than is apparent at first glance.
Here’s one tip–if you’re going to cut a bunch of pieces that need to be the same size (on the band saw) tape them together (provided they’re small/thin enough). It helps to make certain they all end up the same.
The next day I started gluing & drilling. I had to clamp the side rails.
Glue always ends up stuck on my clothes and stuff and this time was no different.
Merrit & Verity helping with the headboards:
This is the place where I should say that when I finally move home (and want to make a new set of beds (and bunk beds, where you’ll see the underside) I’ll buy some good wire & make the faux springs & metal bottoms like the should have had. Buuuuut—they work (and will work if I choose to re-make the bottoms at a later date!) Or hell, they do work as bunk beds as long as I don’t focus on the undersides of them. LOL
Anyway I don’t want to bore you all with the way I put it together. Suffice that I did (at that point I just couldn’t be bothered to take any more pics. It was just easier to do than to document!), and then I had to stain it. I wanted them to match the existing dorm furniture which is stained a dark color. It’s boring (you have to do a coat, let it dry, do another, let it dry etc…repeat. repeat.) I used some water-based varnish from B&Q. Only problem I had was that I would keep forgetting how many layers I’d already applied….oh well. Live and learn.
While the various coats of stain were drying I had to work on the mattresses. After all, I can’t use the old ones (wrong sizes) and I wanted to do them better anyway. Besides, I don’t remember any dorm bed having super cushy & thick mattresses!
Karly & Eff are showing off the new beds. One is partly stained and the other needed to get stained.
You can see my attempts at mattresses. I wanted them to look a bit more like the industrial /old ones we had when I was at Caz, but I didn’t quite succeed. Part of this was because I only had a little bit of the fabric to make them out of and I tried to scrape by to get it to work. (thus one is actually a bit smaller than the other, and wouldn’t you know that they both shrank in size after I “quilted” them? D’oh!
And one of the other projects I started was trying to get the bedding done (the blankets, sheets & pillows for Nik & Merrit’s room. So far all I’ve gotten done was Merrit’s comforter. He get’s plaid. I still need to wash it to get it that crinkled/used look. I did give it a few rows of wavy “quilting” like you sometimes see on older comforters/sleeping bags. I took this pic to see how well that size blanket would work if in the future I want to use them as bunk beds:
Anyway, that’s last week’s projects done & dusted.
I’d like to say I’m going to take on 2 more projects but the situation with the house (trying to sell it), trying to research some options for us (just suffice to say some plans fell through) & some of the other joys of life means that nothing is stable enough for me to plan “hobby” time. Heck — at this point I’m just fighting migraines and trying not to let acid gnaw a hole in my stomach. Ugh
Wish us good luck with the house stuff and I’ll try to keep updating the blog with something doll or hobby related (since I’m pretty sure no one wants to hear about the house! LOL)
There are a lot of things going on here these days. In an attempt to better harness my anxiety & stress I’ve decided that I am setting some fixed goals for me for the month of August (and probably on into September). Fact of the matter is that I believe if I push myself with the small projects I won’t stress quite so much for the big ones (home/move related).
So this is going to be similar to the sewing challenge I set myself for last year. I want a MINIMUM of TWO new projects completed each week. Ideally I would like to push to have Three projects each week. I’m not at a loss for projects to take on and do, so I think this will be a great way to work through the backlog. For weeks that I get more than two projects done I’ll figure out some kind of reward for myself (maybe-depends on $).
So. There you have it.
Projects will be due on Fridays since that’s easiest for me. And yes, it IS all about me!
First pair of projects is August 5th
Ok, so! I’d better get started!
Yes, I’m still working on the Insanity quilt. Not everyday (although I should) but at least I’m still doing it! anyway, I thought I’d share a few photos of how it’s going so far. I couldn’t decide how to arrange them so I ended up taking them out of their containers and trying a couple of different things.
I thought briefly about making them randomized–whatever color I pulled out etc. But I decided I didn’t want my quilt to look like a bag of jellybeans! SO things got re-arranged. For those that are curious, the hex-paper beneath is the rough size & shape I need to over-all quilt to be when done (including binding etc). It’s just there to keep me on-track.
Anyway, here are my first attempts at sewing some of the hexes together:
They’re not perfect by any means but considering it’s my first time doing them (and am actually surprised I got this far) I’m pleased. I’ll update about them again soon!
Onto other news: I’m also back to updating my Quinlan Chronicles website. This weekend I want to get a few more profiles up, and re-arrange the way the profiles are listed on the site
So I did the first part of this month’s shop update. (more babbling after the mini showcase below)
I have more books to list, but frankly I’m still not back to where I should be regarding patience+shooting photos. So the rest I’ll photograph this week and hopefully list next Sunday. Until then, feel free to browse, and I’m going to relax a bit and work some more on my Insanity quilt! The quilt is moving forward (albeit slowly) and I’ll try to snap some pics tomorrow of it.
Ok, so I guess the title gives it all away–what I’ve been making! You know how re-ment made that great pencil set? (the Re-Ment Favorite Stationary secret set) and how much it’s now going for online? (sick money, I tell you, siiiiiiick!)
Anyway, I’ve been slaving away making some. It’s taken me about a month and I gotta say that they are severely labor intensive….but I think they look pretty damned good.
I made 1 set so far for my dolls and two sets to put on etsy in case anyone else out there wants some for their dolls. So if you want to check em out (they ain’t cheap) you can find them here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ckworkshop
What do you think?
For the most part I’ve been kind of quiet about how making stuff for the dorm room was going. I didn’t bother much with photos & stuff. I took a while off from the computer (more or less) and just concentrated on getting stuff done.
The main goal for me was that the different sides of the dorm room reflect the different personalities of the characters. I think (IMO at least) that I’ve been successful in that.
The Desks & Dressers are via Mark and were My Valentines Day gift (no chocolate, but I can handle furniture instead!! LOL). I gave him the details I wanted and made him paper models–and they came out really well. All the drawers work (and the desks were designed so that the side drawers could be taken out and use the area as book shelves instead). PS Mark made the window & doors– email him if you’re interested in some (mhmodelmakingATgmail.com).
If you want more info on anything just comment (I’m sorry I’d give you a detailed, blow bly blow item list but it’s late and I’m utterly knackered!)
So here it is: (As usual—click on the white “X” to see full sized image)
First: Looking at Karly’s side of the room: Karly is a neat girl, with a love of shabby Chic.
Karly’s Dresser and a view of her desk set up. Her desk is the same basic model as Astrid’s except that I’ve taken out one of the drawers and used that as a bookshelf area instead.
I made her comforter (and there are matching sheets & pillowcases underneath made of blue-aqua fabric).
Karly’s tie-quilt/comforter and you can see her “jewelry board”. One of the necklaces came from Nat at Milkshake Melody & the rest are either my creations or faff from mattel.
Would you believe how long it took to pull this set together? And then once I had most of the pieces….how long to actually set it all up??!! Just say it took a while LOL (it’s less depressing that way when I knock into it and things fall)!
Can you tell that two completely different people live in this room?
Looking at Astrid’s side of the dorm room (from Karly’s)
I realized along the way that Astrid is learning to play guitar. That’s a 1/8th scale takamine guitar made by F-toys which I can get away with calling 1:6 scale (because, hehe, there are 3/4 scale & 1/2 scale ones made in real life for musicians)
View of Astrid’s dresser & desk-top stuff.
The bast/Cat statue is an old piece of Yujin, the Ankh is from the Hot Toys Wong Ka Kui figure, misc bottles are re-ment & Barbie stuff.
Here you can see a close up of her “desk junk” (not complete since I need to add some papers). Re-ment coffee cup, bratz mugs (white ones), re-ment office stuff, colored pencils I made (you’ll see more of those soon), books (I made) and 2 more wonderful little egyptian statues from Yujin.
Please comment!
*edit: I’ve added the diorama page to the main website with some further details about the roomset. You can find it here: http://www.corsetkitten.com/dioramas/
follow: RSS