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?

• Benches & Chairs (2-4 of each) also 2 window seat benches
• Chests (probably 2 will be enough)
• Scribal desk/table (1)
• Bed  (1)
• Soft furnishings: banners/ tapestries, cushions, etc.

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.)

Here is the list of my Top 10 Toys of 2011!

Counting down to my favorites–beginning with #10

#10 Ishani rebodied on a Hot Toys Female True Type body

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

#9 Tristan

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

#8 Art Nouveau vase in 1:6

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!

#7 Nerissa’s & Mallory’s Quilts

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)

#6 Ezio : Hot Toys head

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).

#5 Volks Excellent Base Bodies

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).

 #4 My 1:6 dorm beds

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

 #3 Chair & table from Carmen

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!

 #2 1:6 Dresser & Desks

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/

And the #1 slot for 2011 goes to…… Astrid  & Nerissa

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?

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.

• It was the first patchwork I completed. The other one I’d started got tossed in the bin as a needless exercise in frustration),
• The first time I made my own bias binding (not as hard as I thought it was)
• The first whole doll blanket that I bothered to quilt by hand. Although I have to admit that it was a pain, and it is part of the reason why Nerissa’s Quilt is only lightly quilted.
• I used a combination of tying & hand stitching to quilt the quilt.

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??

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.

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.

• Continued working on the Insanity Quilt. I’ve begun sewing the hexagons into “flower” shapes. Finally decided that I want to do them in sets of 3 (so 3 red, 3 purple, 3 blue etc) for when I finally construct the thing.
• Painted 6 paintings (on 1:6 scale canvases that I stretched and primed)  for etsy.
• Made 4 new bonsai trees (also for etsy).
• Began the great sort out of doll clothes in an attempt to assign them to specific characters. (I thought that by doing that it might be easier to dress them quickly & make it easier to shoot spur of the moment stories).
• Made a 1:6 random patchwork quilt for one of the girls’ dorm rooms (not sure who it belongs to yet). It might belong to Parker. Maybe.
• Made the comforter for Nerissa’s dorm room.
• Made the comforter for Nik’s dorm room.
• Wrote a bit of Giselle’s backstory & worked on Kendall’s too.
• Worked on developing my ideas and concepts for Marissa (FP Kyori) & Kendall (Perk Collette).
• Had a birthday (it sucked. what more can I say?)
• Modified Kendall & Eugenia so they can sit upright.
• Moved boxes around into some kind of organized chaos–so that I can try to start shooting some photos of the stuff I did do! LOL
• Sourced a replacement worktable for me (since mark needed my other one).
• Baked an apple cobbler *mmmmm cobbler….*
• Worked on the Quinlan-Chronicles Website–still have to upload the updates & changes though.

So it wasn’t a total loss being without the internet. But I’m happy to be online again!

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)

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

• The first project will be to re-make the dorm beds.  I’ve got issues with the ones I have now so that seems like a great place to start (that came up because I’ve been trying to gather the things together that I need for Merrit & Nik’s bedroom as well as Shayna & PK’s).  I have to draw up some plans, and see what wood I have hidden behind my door. (Yes, I have to hide my “special” wood or else it ends up in someone else’s “collection”!) LOL 

• The 2nd project is: Originally it was going to be the class photo. However during my efforts to assign student roommates/etc. I have come to realize I am short a few more girls. So the 2nd project is to paint 3 heads (and re-root them if needed).  a new class photo. Much less demanding.  I need this so that I can have an upto date reference of them. It helps a bunch when I’m sitting in the cafe trying to write about them since some spring to mind more readily than others. Then after that I can take the class photo. It just seems counter productive to take it and then to have to re-take it so soon.

Ok, so! I’d better get started!

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

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?

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/

Yes, things didn’t go exactly as I planned this weekend! But the good news is I got almost everything done—so tomorrow (Monday) I’ll be revealing Astrid & Karly’s Dorm Room (diorama)! Hope you’ll check back and see what I’ve been making!! (it’s been one hell of a lot of work!)

But not so!

The Dorm Room base-set is done.
I’ve got 2 beds, some curtains, & some very kick ass “Ikea-esque” furniture that was my gift for Valentines.  So really, you’d think I was done–ready to go–and start shooting some short (and probably pointless) photostories in them….

Yea, except I’ve got to fill them up with the small details. You know, the personal effects & decor that the particular students would have.  Did I mention that there are a lot of students??

To make the task a bit easier on my self I’ve chosen the 6 students (3 Dorm rooms) I’m most likely to do photostories in first.  They are:

1. Astrid & Karly’s room
2. Nik & Merrit’s room
3. Shayna & PK’s room

And even though it’s not a dorm room, I’m going to include the Student Lounge since that needs further detailing too.

Anyway, back to the “To Do” list:

I’ve been playing around trying to get a better feel for some of my characters. Yes I know something about all of them, but sometimes the small pieces are still unknown/undiscovered.

For example:

Take Karly:

I knew that Karly was a pretty nice person and that she likes pretty things & loves clothes. And she likes turquoise.  But beyond that—not much else. She’s a lesbian, her best friend is Eff, and that was about it.  So I had no idea how to decorate her side of the room. What colors to use, what theme, etc…no clue.

I ran across a link to a site called Polyvore.  It’s a nifty fashion related site where basically they have a fashion editor (It makes me think of a high tech version of Colorforms!) and I had some fun playing with it.  In the process of picking out a few of Karly’s wardrobe choices I realized that she likes Shabby Chic & “romantic victorian” stuff.  So that’s great! I then had to start shuffling through my re-ment box to see what I can find & make for her. (Still not sure if Karly will ever get a Friday Monologue or if we’ll only ever see her in photostories).

Astrid was a different story.

I liked Astrid from the get go (even if I am not overly fond of her name) but trying to work out her exact interests & preferences proved more difficult. I made some headway with it when I started working on the script for her Friday Monologue.  I’ve figured out that she’s not exactly a slob but she’s prone to be messy and not all that fussed with things looking neat (which will probably drive Karly nuts). She’s kind of artistic, and she’s a creature of moods. She likes dark colors punctuated with spots of brights.  Yea, it doesn’t seem like a lot to go on, does it? LOL!

So between these two I need to cobble together a cohesive & working set.

I made Astrid a comforter for her bed, and that was it. Karly didn’t even have that much (though she did, as of today, get a headboard). Wow, lots of stuff to come up with and to make, right? Yep.

I’m stewing over some ideas & things I plan on trying later this week. I’ll update as I manage to take pictures.

First, let’s take a quick look at the 2nd set of  “Fail” curtains. (The 1st pair is so bad I refuse to photograph them!)

Fail Curtains 2.0

These sucked for sooo many different reasons.

1) I under estimated the amount of fabric I’d need to use (mostly because I didn’t want to worry about honks of fabric wadding out)

2)The cotton used was very light weight. I’d used some cotton lawn (which was nice and I may try again with it).  If I end up being less lazy next time I would attempt to line the curtains for a better effect.

The only good point to these curtains are the fact that I got them the length I’d wanted.

White Curtains:

I’m happier with these although I mis-calculated when I did the top & bottom hemming and ended up making them slightly too short.  These are 100% polyester and I found sewing them to be a hassle. Like the previous pair they are unlined. They hang a but nicer and I think that for now they’ll suffice. (like I said, if I feel up to it I’ll try again with the lawn).

Plus side to these is that they are considerably more voluminous than you’d think to look at them.  Therefore they’ll also work to use in both versions of the student lounge. (and replace the other ((fail)) curtains.) 

Black Curtains:

These are probably the pair I am happiest with. (They didn’t photograph too well).

I think they look pretty decent (forget the elastic) although next time I take a photo I’ll make sure to thread the curtain rod through all the hoops (I only did it every-other-one instead of every-single-one like I did with the white ones directly above). As with the previous curtains I’d hemmed them too short and for some reason (also noticeable with the white ones) they seem to hang like the lengths of them are crooked. Eh. Whatever.

However–I promise I will manage some pics of the curtains tomorrow. And then….on Saturday I’ll post some pics of what I managed to chivvy out of Mark for as a Valentine’s Day present. (I bet y’all thought I didn’t get anything, did you?)

Anyway, I’ve been fighting a nasty headache most of the day, and tomorrow is bound to carry it over (some stressful things going on here that’re totally non-doll related so I’m not going to go on about them here).

Catch y’all later–

Well, part of it has to do with organization & cleaning & re-arranging my workspace. The rest of it has to do with all the various projects I want to (and am) working on.

I’m going to give you a list of what I am doing:
(I may or may not post photos & blog about the individual projects at a later date–as they get done.) these are all running concurrently and I’m slowly getting pieces done. Right now it’ll just take more time for me to photograph as I go along and I’d really rather just get stuff done!

• Re-organizing / de-cluttering my space (this takes longest).

• Listing/packing up crap for ebay (this segues into the next item).

• Buying ink cartridges for my printer.  Mark’s printer died & mine takes really expensive ink so there’s been a total-standstill on me making any kind of printable stuff (be it for etsy, or my personal prop use or whatever).

Making (or thinking of ways to make) 1:6 props for the students:

• I am trying to make a 1:6 Blythe (1 or more)
• Art supplies for Shayna
• Shayna’s Insanity Quilt
• Books (that I think these students would read or have in the dorm rooms)
• Posters for the dorm & student lounge walls
• Finding/adjusting the student lounge to use if for PK’s Friday Monologue
• Shooting pics for PK’s Friday Monologue
• Blankets & comforters & pillows for using in the dorm rooms.
• Making curtains (these are from hell. It’s getting close to the point I am going to just hang a piece of tie-dye fabric over the window LOL).
• Painting heads (previously mentioned).
• Sewing clothes for Astrid, Raven, Shayna & Merrit.
• Updating the website with some of the background on how I do my dioramas & stuff.
• Working on making Astrid’s hybrid body. I was going to use it to make the tutorial with but I think I’ll wait and do it with another body. I really just want to get things done & don’t feel like getting bogged down at the moment.
• Going back & editing some of the Friday Monologues for future continuity.

So those are a few of the things I’m working on.

I’m trying to figure out some other sewing related stuff, I want to do some oil painting (but things need to be cleared off so I have someplace to work) and of course I need to go through my belongings again and try to weed out some more stuff to get rid of. I really want to take as little as possible with us when we move (and there IS good news related to that*at least as far as I’m concerned!*)

This has come up for me a few times since I’m working on making college dorm rooms, library space &  1:6 office set-ups.  Invariably in all of these places you find the ubiquitous “office/desk” chair. The problem is that finding them ready to buy isn’t that easy.  And getting them in scale with your figures isn’t always as easy as it seems.

I mean, aside from the ZC ones…the rest of them out there….well. Let’s just say they don’t really fit my notion of an office chair.  (I’d love to drop $200.oo+ on a Vitra one –but hello, broke here!)  The office chair that the ZC dolls made is nice but it’s waaaay oversize for my Volks, Momokos & Blythes.  And yes…I know office/desk chairs come in different sizes.  I do. But this is about my preferences.  If I can’t buy what I want then I’ll make it.

I’m going to work with two particular types for this tutorial.  (I’m calling this a tutorial but it’s more like a bunch of loosely written instructions to kind of run-with.) Mostly because they start off pretty close to what I want and the less I have to do the better, right?

First go out and find the following chairs to work with: They are the chairs from the My Scene So Chic Salon & the chair from the Barbie My House Armoire & Chair set.

The thing that makes me most inclined to work with these is the fact that the bases are pretty sturdy & they bear a pretty good resemblance to the real thing.

The one with the grey wheels is one of the My Scene chair base and the one with the black wheels is from the Armoire Set.

Note: there are actually 2 types used in My Scene doll furniture and both are good with a little work. The thing to be aware is that the My Scene Salon chairs have one type that “clicks” back (apparently for washing hair in the sink) and one that was fixed.  I’m using the fixed ones as an example, but you can use the clickers if you cut down the mechanism and shape the hole to fit them.

Here’s what I came up with: the before & after:

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• Barbie Chair Base(s) *as described above*
• Wood/Plastic/MDF/ Foamex (to make seat parts-use depending on how sturdy you want the finished piece of furniture to be)
• Brass/steel/aluminum/ wire or bar (to make the back-rest post)
• Black aluminum tape OR twine (and paint the twine with acrylics)
• Glue or Contact Cement (I personally prefer cc)
• Batting/Foam (to pad the chair with)
• Fabric & Tyvek (to upholster the chair)
• Stapler
• Needle & Thread (to match fabric)
• Acrylic Paints (for detailing)

First:

• Draw up an approximate size drawing of the seat you want to make, and the size of the back-rest.




• I cut mine out of paper (I like to judge sizes that way) and then cut them out of foamex.  You can use cardboard (not good for long term use) wood (bass, pine etc),  etc. Whatever you use you want it to be fairly sturdy.
  

Next:

• Remove the seat/top from whichever chair you’ve decided to use.

• Drill/dremel/carve out a hole in the seat you’ve made to fit the post at the top of the chair’s base. (This is a good time to also carve out  the slots in the seat back & the back-rest where you’ll be inserting the brass/wire/metal to hold the back rest in place).

• Check the fit (height wise) for the kind of doll you want to use this with.

• I cut out batting (using those paper seat & back drafts) and glued it to the plastic. (Do yourself a favor and rough up the plastic or wood to help it adhere) This helps pad the seat and give it a bit more realism. At some point I’ll really go to town with one of these to see how far I can push them.

• After the glue/contact cement has dried & you feel you’re happy with the amount of “puff” on the seat & back-rest then comes the fun part—you get to try your hand at upholstering it with your chosen fabric. I’d like to offer some how-to on this but I basically took some books out of the library and went from there. I’m not an upholsterer–and I never will be!! Experiment & prepare to do it over a couple of times until you get it to look right.

• While you’re taking a break from upholstery you can cut a couple of thin strips of the black aluminum tape and wrap it around the metal you’re planning on using to support the back-rest. If you’re using twine (make sure it’s a small diameter otherwise it’ll look dorky) layer a light coating of contact cement/glue and then wrap the twine tightly. Once that’s dried then apply the acrylics but do not water them down any more than you absolutely have to.

• Once you’ve upholstered the chair (the seat & the back-rest) insert the metal piece you’re going to use as the support. If you don’t plan on taking the chair apart in the future you can glue them into place.  I like to be able to flat pack my stuff as much as possible so mine aren’t glued in place.

• To finish off the underside of the chair cut some tyvek and staple it into place (cut out the circle where the plastic base attaches). Paint it black (or whatever color you want, most of my office chairs usually had manky black semi-fabric-fiber there and tyvek seems very similar in texture to me)

And pretty much that’s it. Sit some dolls in them:

ANYHOW….. if anyone gets any use out of this tutorial….let me know, eh? I could use the encouragement.

First: I’ve got an idea for a steampunk custom cg cy girl so I’m hoping to get to work on that this week. Found the body & head I think I can use…and now I just need to start thinking up clothing & props for it!

Next:  I’ve chosen the fabrics that I’m planning on using to make the bedspreads for the different students. Not a good pic, and it’s really just so that when I move them out of the way I won’t forget who gets what fabric! 

After that -concurrent with that: I’m working on in conjunction with the bedspreads is that I’m doing up a couple of headboards for the dorm beds.  These are pretty simple and I thought I might do a few with padding (those will be for the particularly fussy girl students).  The others will just be brown and well, headboard-y looking.

Finished: I’ve done a little bit of head rooting (which all need to be have been boil-permed/set now) & I’ve wiped a few painted heads (to re-paint them into something better I hope).  I’ll update with some photos and stuff when I’m more inclined to take pictures (and have boiled them!)

Top 10 Toys of 2010……#4

Description of Toy/Toyline: 1:6 scale Large Sash Window.

Like many of the cool things I have this window was made to my specific request & requirements. Mark was particularly patient and although he hated putting it together (it was very fiddly) it looks great.  It is a working sash window.

So why did it make my list? It’s just cool! It’s very detailed and  I needed a window that would fit in my smaller roomset. I’d pretty much wanted it for use in the various student Dorm rooms but I’ve realized I can also use it for some other rooms in the university set up (provided I change all the decor).

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!) There isn’t a downside to this piece.  It’s been slated onto number 4 simply because I got a few other things that I can get more use out of / expect to get more photo-time with. If I had to find something to complain about I’d say that it took a long time to get the window once I put in the “order”. 

General Comments: I love this window.  Mark does really kick ass work when it comes to making architectural stuff for my dioramas.

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Top Ten Toys of 2010 Number ……3

Description of Toy/Toyline: 1:6 scale Wooden Book Cases

These (of course) were made by Mark.  I bet y’all wonder if there’s anything he can’t make! He made these out of some scrap wood he had in his workshed. I was amazed at how quickly he made them (the longest part of the process was the repeated coats of stain he had to give the wood).

So why did they make my list? Cool factor aside, they’re fantastic. He made them so I could use them in my “University Office”. They’re great and I can totally see them being filled with books & curios.  I can easily envision them in an office where students get into trouble & professors get into political mischief.

Downside to these: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!) Can’t complain about these. The construction (which you can’t tell from my crap photos) is very high spec & really well done. They’re 3rd place only because I liked the other 2 things just a bit more.

General Comments: I think I might be a little insane…I can see a library using these bookcases…more bookcases….

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Top Ten Toys of 2010 Number ……2

Are you ready for these? It was a difficult decision placing these at #2 instead of #1.

Description of Toy/Toyline: White Shelving Units

Once more, something made by uber-cool Mark. Yes, I am seeing a definite up-side to marrying someone who is a professional model maker.

So why did they make my list? These made spot #2 on the list for a couple of reasons.

• The 1st reason is that mark cranked these out at hyper-speed. I usually wait between a few weeks to a few months for an item so the fact that these were done in less than a few days really rocked it for me.
• The 2nd, they’re awesome and completely what I needed for my student lounge.  I’d been struggling to get the furnishings I needed to be able to finish it.

Downside to these: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!) There IS no downside! I love them. I could do with having some more!!!
General Comments: I love these to pieces. They are probably my most favorite pieces of furniture at the moment and for the foreseeable future!

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I’ll see you all tomorrow (unless my dental appointment ends in my death!) with number 1!!

Top Ten Toys of 2010 Number ……5

Description of Toy/Toyline: 1/6 scale Yamaha & Vespa Scooters.

There are 2 different kinds shown. These are the  more “modern” looking Yamaha Vino & the more classic Vespa.  Both types were made by New Ray.

A couple of interesting things to note: that although both were termed die-cast the Vespa version is the one which is substantially heavier & contains considerably more metal. The Yamaha Vino has much less metal and is much lighter in weight.  Out of the two I’d feel more confident about the Vespa surviving being knocked off the table.

Also the Yamaha Vinos also seem to vary from each other insofar as the undercarriage of some of them is all fake chrome-metal looking while the other undersides are all black with a little bit of accent “chrome” in places.

So why did they make my list?

I like any vehicles I can find in 1:6 scale! (Ok provided they look close-ish to the real thing). These are perfect for me to use with the 27cm Volks dollfies who are cast as the students in my photostories.  After all, we can’t have the students driving around in Porsche 911s all the time, riiiight?   These are nice little scooters and have some good detailing on them.

You can find out a little bit more about the Vino here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_Vino_125

Downside to these figures: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!) Well, as cool as they may be they aren’t as fantastic as some of the things out there. I think the build quality on the Vinos makes me mark them down a bit lower.  I’d buy another one but I’d probably wait for a good deal on the Vespa.  All of them need some work on the detailing (the Vinos most notably need some work done with regard to the side mirrors and brake cables).

General Comments: Nice to have them, glad I got them (the Vespa & one of the Vinos  were gifts from Mark.  I think I might get more in the future since they take up less space (considerably less!) than my 1:6 cars! (I could fit 6 scooters in the space my 1:6 mini cooper takes up, or the Porsche, or the Porsche Cayenne (that to me looks like a spiffed up station wagon!)

Anyway tomorrow I’ll post #’s 3 &4!