I constructed Little Day magicked some Venus flytraps, and they’re so proud of themself!
The Elder Witches and family in…Potion of Grossness!
Little Night [with long red hair] and Little Day [with short brownish hair] are the Elder Witches’ kids. They did some creative cooking, but they forgot about the Magister’s sensitive stomach. Fortunately they find a way around it. They’re all so sweet!
Featuring some MGA Make It Mini Miniverse drinks that I made this weekend!
Continue reading The Elder Witches and family in…Potion of Grossness!The Elder Witches and family in…The Magister’s Canned Goods III!
I put some of the miniature herbs and their labels in appropriate containers this morning. I also decided to change the label on the cilantro because I’m part of that genetic minority to whom the herb tastes like soap. The following photostory resulted. Featuring dorklets Night and Day!
Continue reading The Elder Witches and family in…The Magister’s Canned Goods III!The Elder Witches in…The Magister’s Canned Goods II!
One silly pun deserves another. The Magister responds in kind.
The paper plates are from another MGA Make It Mini Miniverse set, this one in the Happy Birthday series.
Continue reading The Elder Witches in…The Magister’s Canned Goods II!The Elder Witches in…The Magister’s Canned Goods I!
MGA puts out many cute little food packages in their Make It Mini Miniverse line of approximately 1:6 scale miniatures. Recently they came out with the Nature II series which included herbs that could be potted in miniature cans. As much as I like 1:6 scale fudz in general, I am a sucker for 1:6 scale canned goods, so I immediately got those sets with herbs and their tin can planters.
Continue reading The Elder Witches in…The Magister’s Canned Goods I!Toon Hardshippers in…Too Much [?] Chocolate!
Toon Silence tries to use magic to create a Valentine’s gift for Toon Ethan. The results are unexpected, but she has a solution.
This photostory is brought to you by Valentine’s Day, the locally made Snowflake Chocolates, and my parents, who gave me the chocolates. [They were the perfect size for ME!]
Continue reading Toon Hardshippers in…Too Much [?] Chocolate!A Hardshippers photostory: Being Gay and That Witch
I rediscovered some miniature adhesive patches I commissioned about two years ago. One says BE GAY DO CRIMES. The other says 100% THAT WITCH. A photostory with all my favorite characters ensued. Technically no dorklets appeared. [Big Silence and Big Ethan are no longer dorklets.]
Continue reading A Hardshippers photostory: Being Gay and That WitchBack at Tech Park: The Spymaster, Xeni, and the Butt Tree — also some majestic shots of the Magister
Later we three returned to Tech Park. The Spymaster, owned by @natalunasans, discovered a tree root that looked like a butt [hur hur hur] and pointed it out to his student Xeni, also owned by @natalunasans. She overplayed her shock and accusations that he was being cringe because…well…it really did look like a butt.
Continue reading Back at Tech Park: The Spymaster, Xeni, and the Butt Tree — also some majestic shots of the MagisterA dorklet encounters an Elder Witch!!
Emily, a Petworks Ruruko [redressed, with inner thigh sockets carved out for better sitting], meets the Toon Magister on @natalunasans dining table [guest starring my water bottle in the background]. [With @natalunasans and @roseinthelibrary, I use “dorklet” to refer to a kidsy who embodies the qualities of a dorklet–in this case, unabashed curiosity.] Emily feels somewhat intimidated by the Magister’s august reputation, but not so intimidated that she stops staring. The Magister tries to engage her with his usual combination of courtesy and straightforward respect. Emily isn’t sure how to take this.
Continue reading A dorklet encounters an Elder Witch!!At natalunasans house: Lizzie and others hiking in Tech Park
Today, the last day of the year, we went to Tech Park near @natalunasans house and took pictures of our dolls rock climbing. Yes, it was about 55 degrees F that day.
Lizzie [with greenish hair] is my doll. The Spymaster [in purple, with cane] and Ruth Doctor [in polka dots, with locs] are @natalunasans dolls. [@natalunasans is obscured by an emoji because she did not want her face online.] The Jakks Pacific Disney ILY4ever Nightmare Before Christmas fan doll [with reddish hair, in patchwork skirt] belongs to Rose.
Includes a closeup of the Spymaster because that’s a combination of my digital headsculpt [with cheeks made fuller by @natalunasans] and @natalunasans addition of hair and paint job. I love how she painted him!
Includes behind-the-scenes photos taken by me and @natalunasans showing us taking pictures of our dolls.
EDIT: I just realized that all the pictures are watermarked with January 1, 2025, but I don’t feel like going back and altering all the panels.
Continue reading At natalunasans house: Lizzie and others hiking in Tech ParkDoll sets before moving
Today, while in the midst of packing up to move, I took pictures of my doll sets without small populations in them, just so I could have record of how I arranged things. Then, when I set things up in my new place, I will have reference shots.
EDIT: I notice that I didn’t get pictures of sets in the living room, but I’m still posting these here for posterity.
Continue reading Doll sets before movingVegetarian chili permutation 7
This is how I prepared the latest permutation of my vegetarian chili.
Prepare 1 lb carrots by slicing. Put into food processor 0.25 lb at a time. Pulse for 1-2 sec until grated, not liquefied.
Prepare 1 large white onion in the same way.
Put carrots and onion in large flat-bottomed pot along with 1-2 tbsp [?] vegetable oil, 2 tsp [?] salt, 2 tsp [?] cumin, 1 tbsp [?] chili powder, 1-2 tbsp [?] minced garlic from jar.
All measurements are approximate because I’ve given up measuring. The oil keeps the veggies from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Putting some spices in the veggies at this point allows the flavors of the spices to penetrate the veggies.
Turn heat on to a bit less than medium. My current stove’s burners are measured in the following increments: low, 2, 3, 4, med, 6, 7, 8, hi. I set the burner on 4.
Start cooking. Stir with spatula or wooden spoon so as not to scrape pot’s bottom.
Meanwhile, dice 2 peppers. I like yellow or orange because they are sweeter. Add to the cooking veggies.
Cook veggies. Stir semifrequently. Watch larger pieces of carrot and onion from imperfect food processing. Cooking is done when larger pieces of carrot are tender and larger pieces of onion are translucent. This takes 15-20 min.
Remove pot from heat when done. Let cool. Refrigerate overnight. I do this because I dislike cooking and am very impatient; I would rather do two shorter stints of cooking than one extended one. Also refrigeration overnight allows the flavors to mingle.
The next day, take out the pot and put it back on the stove. Again I put the burner on 4. Add some vegetable oil to keep things from sticking. Stir semifrequently until simmering.
Add 6 tsp minced garlic from jar, 2 tbsp chili powder, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp dried oregano. Cook for about 1 min.
Add 2 cans diced salsa style tomatoes with garlic. Stir.
Add 2 cans reduced sodium black beans, drained. Stir.
Add 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained. Stir.
Add 2 regular cans corn, drained. Stir.
Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30-60 min.
Meanwhile, heat 3.5 cups water to boiling in another pot. Add 2 cups uncooked jasmine rice. Cook until rice is all cooked and all water is absorbed. With a burner set on 4, this takes about 15 min.
Put all the rice in with all the chili. Mix it in with spatula.
This makes a whole honkin’ lot of food, about 15 days of lunches at 1 cup of food per lunch.
The Elder Witches and their octopus tequila shots
MGA’s Make It Mini Miniverse recently issued a set of miniature alcoholic drinks, and @natalunasans surprised me with three of them. Among others, I got the set that I was most excited about: the set with four tequila shots and a golden octopus to hold the glasses. I added red rhinestones to the octopus’ eyes and invented my own multicolor drinks with my various resins. Then I took pictures of [from left], the Hippie, the Magister, and the Stylist with their drinks.
Continue reading The Elder Witches and their octopus tequila shotsAll my dolls, 11/23/2024
I decided to update some of my census photos because some small populations have left and some have updated or rearranged. This is probably the last census for 2024 because I hope to be moving soon! No particular order. Dolls in each pic are named from left to right. Click on any pic to enlarge.
Continue reading All my dolls, 11/23/2024Vegetarian chili permutation 5 [?]
It’s based on this vegetarian chili recipe by Cookie and Kate, from which I then concocted this recipe.
In a big flat-bottomed pot, heat oil on medium with lid on.
Then add one diced yellow pepper, [I forgot it this time] a diced white onion, 1 lb. diced carrots [I measured this time]. I added 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp chili powder, and 1 tsp cumin at this stage so they could soak into the veggies. Cook until veggies are tender and onion translucent, 15 to 20 min.
Add 6 tsp minced garlic from jar, 2 tbsp chili powder, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp dried oregano. Cook for about 1 min.
Add 2 cans reduced sodium black beans in juice, 1 can reduced sodium dark kidney beans in juice, 1 small can jalapenos, 2 regular cans corn without juice, 1 can diced salsa style tomatoes with garlic. Stir.
Wait till the chili comes to a low simmer [blorp blorp] on medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for at least 30 min, but up to 60 min if you want.
Otakuthon 2024: People in costume!
I always love people watching at Otakuthon because I see people of all shapes, sizes, ages, colors, and abilities decked out in unusual clothes and showing themselves off. The creativity and confidence on display astounded me. Click on any photo to enlarge.
Continue reading Otakuthon 2024: People in costume!Otakuthon, 08/03/2024: BJD sales room
We began Saturday with a panel reviewing the last two decades of Japanese street fashion. Like the presenter on Harajuku, the street fashion expert had way more material and photos than she could reasonably cram into 45 minutes. However, with her more relaxed, informal delivery and asides, she engaged the audience and entertained us a lot more than the presenter on Harajuku did.
Because the Dollfest meetup was not until Sunday afternoon, at which point we would be gone, we looked at the 1:00 PM Saturday BJD marketplace/salesroom as an alternative to the meetup. It really wasn’t. Sellers [including Lyra] laid items out on tables and watched as curious crowds filed through. Some sellers talked a bit to each other, but not a lot.
I picked up a dress for Toon Ethan from a seller’s free pile, so I got some shots of Toon Silence admiring him below. Click on pics to enlarge. I also got shots of a ball-jointed raven doll, a doll made by French dollmaker Mouton en Sucre and owned by Quebecois BJD fan Dejected Raven. The raven had four swappable heads, only two of which are shown here. I also got a shot of Lyra’s Smartdoll Infinity [in lime green at left] and Volks Lorina [in dark green dress at right]. There was also a beautiful Smartdoll Reflection owned by Caroline.
Continue reading Otakuthon, 08/03/2024: BJD sales roomOtakuthon, 08/02/2024: Dolls being silly, Chinatown, hordes, and art purchases!!
We had to pick up our Otakuthon badges in person on Friday morning because the US Postal Service changed regulations for items in bubble mailers containing badges with RFID chips, so the badges could not be mailed as planned. [Also Otakuthon did not get its shit together to mail the badges early enough.]
Continue reading Otakuthon, 08/02/2024: Dolls being silly, Chinatown, hordes, and art purchases!!Otakuthon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 08/01/2024: “Warning: Canada ahead!”
On the morning of August 1, Lyra drove from her side of the state to mine, arriving at my parents’ house at about 10:30 AM. From there we departed in the FLE car for Montreal!
The Travelodge, our cheap hotel of choice, required a three-night reservation. We decided to travel down on Thursday, August 1, and pass Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, departing Sunday morning. We anticipated arriving on Montreal by lunchtime, early enough for us to go to a museum that afternoon. We also thought that we would do shabu shabu at Kagayaki on Thursday night before the anime hordes descended on Friday, the first day of the con.
I got smart this year and brought clothes hangers [to dry sweaty clothes before putting them in laundry], a garbage bag [to separate dirty clothes from clean], extras of everything [because I sweat a lot around this time of year], and my own towels. For dolls, I brought two 1:6 scale Hardshippers, Toon Silence and Toon Ethan. I was considering bringing just one, but I started to feel guilty. Because they are partners, I didn’t want to bring one without the other and make them unhappy to be separated!
I also got smart this year by checking beforehand how long the border crossing might take. The US customs and border patrol’s website conveniently lists each border crossing, how many of each lane [passenger, commercial, pedestrian] are open, how long the wait is, and if there are any warnings. When we left my parents’ house, I saw a ten-minute delay [i.e., a ten-minute wait at the border] for the Highgate Springs crossing, where we have always gone into Canada. We hoped that our luck would hold and that we would not have to wait long to cross.
As we got within yards of the border, we saw one of those portable highway signs that forms digital text with each letter made of different formations. It said WARNING: CANADA AHEAD! We thought that was hilarious, as to me it implies that Canada is a surprise or toxic or both.
We were also highly entertained by an infographic sign of a speed bump because Lyra had seen a Norwegian version online. Apparently the Norse word for speed bump is “fartshumper,” which is naturally funny to us Anglophones because it contains “farts,” a scatological term. We were just saying “fartshumper” and snickering.
Anyway, we cleared the border in 10 minutes, which was the quickest weekday border crossing I’ve ever experienced! Once in Canada, we experienced bumpier local routes and highways, but no problems entering Montreal, parking the car in the usual garage a block away [$30.00 Canadian a day], and checking into the hotel [room 201, right by the elevator].
We identified a new favorite food shop in Chinatown for lunch and all other snacks. Coco, a chain of patisseries [sometimes in conjunction with bubble tea shops], offers delicious Japanese and Chinese pastries and other sweets.
For lunch we got sesame buns with red bean paste in them, which are crunchy because of the sesame seeds, dense, chewy, and fatty because of the doughy bun parts, and sweet [but not too sweet] on the inside because of the red bean paste. We consider them the perfect blend of sugar, fat, and protein, the perfect addition to a meal. We also got onigiri, which is kind of a Japanese equivalent of a sandwich with a filling [I had spicy beef], rice for the equivalent of bread, and a seafood wrapper to keep the whole thing together.
Continue reading Otakuthon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 08/01/2024: “Warning: Canada ahead!”Mini dorklets Mini Silencitx and Mini Truthlet in… Mr. Yuk I!
Mini Silencitx and Mini Truthlet’s parents try to teach them about Mr. Yuk stickers, which were stickers popular in the 1980s to denote poisonous household items. The dorklets have their own uses for Mr. Yuk stickers, however….
Continue reading Mini dorklets Mini Silencitx and Mini Truthlet in… Mr. Yuk I!Made some more miniature gelatin salads today
Used some leftovers from various MGA Make It Mini Miniverse kits as well as some polymer clay decorations sold for nail art.
Continue reading Made some more miniature gelatin salads todayVegetarian chili again again
It’s based on this vegetarian chili recipe by Cookie and Kate, from which I then concocted this recipe.
In a big flat-bottomed pot, heat oil on medium with lid on.
Then add one diced yellow pepper, a WHOLE diced white onion, A BUNCH OF diced carrots [2 CUPS?]. Cook until veggies are tender and onion translucent, 7 to 10 min.
Add 6 tsp minced garlic from jar, 2 tbsp chili powder, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp dried oregano. Cook for about 1 min.
Add 2 CANS reduced sodium black beans in juice, 1 can reduced sodium dark kidney beans in juice, 2 CANS jalapenos, 1 REGULAR CAN corn, 1 can diced SALSA STYLE tomatoes with garlic, and SALT. Stir.
Wait till the chili comes to a low simmer [blorp blorp] on medium. Simmer for 30 min.
Modifications from last time: Added a whole onion instead of half. Added more carrots. +2 tsp minced garlic. 1 tbsp smoked paprika instead of 1.5 tsp. +1 can black beans. 1 regular size can corn, not small can. Salsa style diced tomatoes because they’re cut smaller. Added salt at the simmering stage.
Results: I mixed half of this with rice and immediately took it for a week’s lunches. I froze the other half. As of July 15th, I just finished the first half after 6 days of lunches. It had a satisfyingly thick mouthfeel, robust flavors, and plenty of burn from the chili powder.
This evening, I thawed the other half, cooked rice, and mixed it in. Then I sampled the second half. Hooo-whee! The heat of the chili has intensified over time, and all flavors have coagulated, creating a thicker, more umami chili. It’s definitely going to be better the second week!!
Mini dorklets in…Roller Skating at the Park!
Mini Truthlet tries to get away from it all with a little roller skating. Then Mini Silencitx shows up and wants to be just like her big brother.
Continue reading Mini dorklets in…Roller Skating at the Park!Another attempt at chili
It’s based on this vegetarian chili recipe by Cookie and Kate.
In a big flat-bottomed pot, heat oil on medium for at least 10 minutes.
Then add one diced yellow pepper, half a diced white onion, about 2 diced carrots, and 1/4 tsp salt. Cook until veggies are tender and onion translucent, 7 to 10 min.
Add 4 tsp minced garlic from jar, 2 tbsp chili powder, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp dried oregano. Cook for about 1 min.
Add 1 can reduced sodium black beans in juice, 1 can reduced sodium dark kidney beans in juice, 1 large can green chiles, 1 small can jalapenos, 1 small can corn, 1 can diced tomatoes with garlic. Stir.
Wait till the chili comes to a low simmer [blorp blorp]. This is probably halfway between medium and low heat. Simmer for 30 min.
Modifications: Used white onion instead of red. Left out celery because I hate it. Probably added more than 2 carrots’ worth of carrots. Left out bay leaf. Added green chiles, jalapenos, and corn. Used only 1 can diced tomatoes because that’s all I had.
Results: I like the smoky notes from the paprika, the juicy crunch from the peppers, and the burn from the jalapenos. Add entire white onion and another can of beans.
All my dolls, 06/08/2024
Time for another census! For expediency’s sake, some of the the small populations are grouping in twos and threes for photos. They are not in any particular order. I just took them from the sets they were hanging out in and plopped them in front of a neutral background for photos. All photos list the dolls from left to right.
Total dolls out and about at home and work: 110.
Dolls of Hardshippers: Elder Witches x3, dorklets x7, Elva, Memory, Solace, Harry, Missy, Bell, big dorklets x7, mini dorklets x4, toon Hardshippers x9. Total: 34.
Fraction of my dolls that are Hardshippers: 34/110 = 30.9%.
Continue reading All my dolls, 06/08/2024Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures VII!
Is the moon pie mystery solved?
Yes, I did complete this installment before the actual adventures on the moon [pie].
Continue reading Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures VII!Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures VI
Dorklets Silencitx and Ethancitx see someone familiar on the moon [pie]!
The hearse is a digital model; the person driving was composited into a render of the hearse’s interior.
Continue reading Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures VIDorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures V!
Little Allison [in yellow jacket] and Little Theo [in sweatshirt] try to get a bird’s-eye view of things.
Continue reading Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures V!Toon Clarity is finally finished!
She is a Disney ILY4ever Snow White Evil Queen fan doll headsculpt on a Mattel Made to Move Barbie body. Hands are from the original Disney ILY4ever doll too.
I had a big fight with her hair. First of all, there was too much of it, making her head lean back when I put her hair in a ponytail. I cut down, but did not remove, a lot of hair around the crown of her head, thus reducing the bulk of the ponytail.
I also rooted a streak of neon green into her hair, which is the first and probably last time I have ever rerooted a doll. I also melted some of her blond hair when I was heating her head with a hair dryer, so I had to reroot some blond hair at the nape of her neck.
She’s wearing the Evil Queen fan’s stock dress turned into a shirt and all her stock jewelry [key earrings and knife bracelet]. Her glasses are from the Disney ILY4ever Mirabel fan fashion pack. Her shorts are from the Disney ILY4ever Sleeping Beauty Maleficent fan. There are MGA Rainbow High fishnets under her black fishnets. She’s wearing MGA Rainbow High boots too.
Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures IV!
Little Night goes on an adventure. Little Day worries. Everything ends happily!
Continue reading Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures IV!Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures III!
Exploring the moon [pie]!
These pictures took a lot of compositing. First I took pictures of a Moon Pie from different angles. Then I used Daz Studio to render a sky from deep space. Then I took pictures of dorklets in various poses. Then I took each layer into Adobe Photoshop Elements and pasted them together, with the help of motion blur and Gaussian blur to imply motion and distance.
Note dorklets’ body language in the first shots. Little Allison [with sun and moon on her jacket] and Little Theo [in white sweatshirt] are holding hands because they are BESTEST friends. Little Meghna [in rainbow-striped shirt] has her arm around Ethancitx [in Hello Kitty shirt] because she’s keeping an eye on her younger b[r]other. Little Night [with long red hair] is reassuring her little sibling Little Day [in polka-dotted sweatshirt]. Silencitx is out in front blazing a trail!
In the next pictures Little Meghna is doing cartwheels because she likes gymnastics and other full-body sports.
Continue reading Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures III!Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures II!
The Magister makes homemade maple moon pies, which are very popular.
The homemade moon pies are played by small, individually wrapped mochi, which is why they don’t look much like moon pies. Just imagine the maple glaze, okay? :p
Continue reading Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures II!Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures I!
Because @natalunasans sent me some Moon Pies, I made a silly little photostory of two mini dorklets diving right into them. Then I started thinking about dorklets playing in a whole set made of Moon Pies, and this adventure was born…
For those of you who have trouble keeping track of these things, Silencitx and Ethancitx are the primary dorklets. Silencitx has short brown hair and a button-up shirt. Ethancitx has long black hair and a Hello Kitty shirt. Little Meghna, with curly black hair, is Ethancitx’s older sister. Little Allison [with headband] and Little Theo [with skirt] are some other neighbors of Silencitx’s. Little Day [in polka-dotted sweatshirt] and Little Night [with moons on her pants] are kids of the Elder Witches, which includes the Magister.
Continue reading Dorklets in…Moon Pie Adventures I!Mini dorklets in…Hardship Trayf and Chametz Inspectors!
@natalunasans sent me her chametz in the form of Moon Pies, and she addressed the package to “Hardship Trayf and Chametz Inspectors,” which inspired me to enlist mini dorklets Mini Silencitx [blond] and Mini Ethancitx [black hair] for help. They dove right in…literally!
Continue reading Mini dorklets in…Hardship Trayf and Chametz Inspectors!New lab of dubious science set!
I filled in a blank shelf on a bookshelf in the doll room toy with some of my favorite set pieces, including an electrical experimentation board, various robots, and a dangerous pile of junk. The 1:12 scale denizens of House Rainbow Barf found new purpose in life as well. They had been lying around because I had banished them from the ~1:12 scale set in favor of putting mini dorklets there. Then I decided that Jujube, Honorine, and Ishi would enjoy pulling shenanigans in the lab of dubious science.
Continue reading New lab of dubious science set!Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover VII!
Can’t go to sleep without a teddy bear…
Continue reading Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover VII!Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover VI!
Stolen ice cream tastes best!!
Continue reading Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover VI!Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover V!
Did Mini Silencitx get new PJs…or did she just raid her older brother’s dresser?!
Continue reading Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover V!Nata’s Neologisms #8
@natalunasans in chat with an online friend:
i wonder if they’re just coagulators
no what’s the word
it does have to do with sticking things together
like the news sites that don’t actually make new news stories, they collect up news stories from other news sites?
AGGREGATOR
omfg
Aggregator. Coagulator. Same difference!
Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover IV!
The mini dorklets make a big mess and talk about the prizes they got in their fast food meals.
Continue reading Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover IV!Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover III!
Mini Silencitx, Mini Ethancitx, Mini Meghna, and Mini Truthlet debate what to eat. That’s Harry, Mini Silencitx and Mini Truthlet’s dad, coming in to ask what they want.
Burger Queen is a fast-food place local to Hardship. Her Majesty’s Surprise is a kid’s meal with a toy in it.
Continue reading Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover III!Updated Toon Hardshippers
Certain toon Hardshippers were updated this weekend with items from a recent shipment of Disney ILY4ever dolls and fashion packs.
Continue reading Updated Toon HardshippersMini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover II!
The guests arrive!
Continue reading Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover II!Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover I!
Now that I have two mini dorklet sibling pairs [Mini Silencitx & Mini Truthlet and Mini Ethancitx & Mini Meghna], they demanded a sleepover…even though Mini Silencitx and Mini Ethancitx don’t always get along.
Mini Silencitx may be a little asshole, but she’s right about gumdrops. They’re very waxy. :C
That’s Mini SIlencitx with the blond braid and the Hardship shirt, Mini Truthlet in yellow, Mini Ethancitx in silver and rainbow stripes, and Mini Meghna with the braid and jean jacket.
The set is one that I’ve never used for photostories before. It’s the sweet and snack shop that lives on one of my bookshelves in the living room.
Continue reading Mini dorklets in…Mini Dorklets Sleepover I!New body for Mini Ethancitx!
I was displeased with Mini Silencitx and Mini Ethancitx being the same height. Ethan is two years older than Silence, so, at such a young age, the difference in height between the two would be noticeable.
To that end, I spliced the top half of the Mr. Z toddler body onto the lower part of an MGA Rainbow High Junior Karma body. I’m ignoring the double navels as well as the difference in color between upper and lower parts because the results work well enough for me. I’ve retained some necessary torso flexion and made Mini Ethancitx when clothed look like a pudgy kid who’s older than Mini Silencitx.
In the first pic of him dressed, Mini Ethancitx wears the pajamas from the rescently released MGA Rainbow High Junior Skyler. He also wears her slippers and carries her cosmetics case with some nail files and nail polishes in it. He looks adorable!!
Continue reading New body for Mini Ethancitx!Big Day and Big Night in…Day’s New Plants!
Day makes some new plants with their magic. The new plants attract new friends. Hey, where did that tortoise come from??
Continue reading Big Day and Big Night in…Day’s New Plants!Two little dorklets and how they grew
It has come to my attention that my doll photostories confuse some people because I have several dolls representing the same characters. Forthwith, an overview of Silence and Ethan, the two Hardshippers with the most 1:6 scale representations at four each.
Continue reading Two little dorklets and how they grewToon Hardshipper Day updated…plus all the toon Hardshippers together!
Today I finally finished my Toon Day 2.0. They now have their fur wig in the proper color for their long messy hair.
Continue reading Toon Hardshipper Day updated…plus all the toon Hardshippers together!The Magister’s gelatins, part III!
I think I just leveled up in disgustingness of gelatins. The one on the left is Veggie Medley according to the Magister and Barf on a Plate according to Little Night. The one on the right is Spicy Volcano according to the Magister and Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should according to the Stylist. Even the Magister looks a little dubious about their edibility!
I think Veggie Medley is lumpy and slippery in a bad way that no one likes, while the Hippie figured out that Spicy Volcano goes nicely in tacos.
Veggie Medley is made of 1) clear resin containing chives, mustard seeds, and red pepper flakes, 2) translucent red resin containing whole cherry tomatoes, and 3) clear resin containing boiled egg slices and carrot slices, garnished with 5) boiled egg slices on top and 6) pickle slices around the base. Spicy Volcano is made of 1) orange “hot sauce” resin mixed with translucent red and translucent yellow resin with 2) layers of yellow “cheese sauce” resin, “hot sauce” resin, and translucent yellow resin for sauce and garnished with 6) grated cheese, 7) chives, and 8) red pepper flakes.
Continue reading The Magister’s gelatins, part III!The Magister’s gelatins, part II!
My most recent forays into miniature things made with resin have been greatly enhanced by the baker’s dozen of colored UV resin bottles that @natalunasans sent me!
Continue reading The Magister’s gelatins, part II!“Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair — for I am the Master of Gelatin!”
Are they standing in awe or staging an intervention?
Continue reading “Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair — for I am the Master of Gelatin!”The Magister and his many mini gelatin salads!
The Magister has a fondness for gelatinizing things. He has at least one cookbook all about encasing things in gelatin. In May, I even got him a mini gelatin salad all his own!
I unironically love the creative things people were doing with gelatin and aspic and jellied things, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. Ever since I made the Magister his own cookbook and got him his own gelatin salad, I wished that I could make my own mini gelatins.
MGA has been issuing an extremely popular line of Make It Mini miniature food craft kits that include little bottles of resin, little ingredients in little packaging, and little utensils. From previous sets, I have amassed at least 20 mini bottles of resin [meant to serve as cream cheese, soda, maple syrup, hot sauce, etc.], many cut fruits [including bananas, strawberries, and pineapple], and some vegetables and spices. I have been saving them to make veggie salads, fruit salads, desserts, and, of course, gelatin fudz. When MGA released Blue Razz Jelly, a mini reusable silicone mold for a blue raspberry gelatin dessert containing raspberries, I ordered my own small silicone molds, suitable for chocolates, as well as Blue Razz Jelly. I organized all my bottles of resin and all my inclusions [things to put in the resin] and waited eagerly for my vacation, when I planned to make many gelatin salads.
I started off on December 19th with one of the chocolate silicone molds. Unlike the MGA Make It Mini silicone mold, the chocolate molds are…well…chocolate-colored and opaque, which makes curing the resin a challenge. MGA uses UV-activated resin in the Make It Mini fudz, and anything that blocks the penetration of UV light, such as the opaque silicone of the chocolate molds, inhibits the resin setting. Putting in too many inclusions can also complicate the curing, as I discovered when my first experiment came out uncured on top because too many mini marshmallows blocked the UV rays. My first result did not look sophisticated and exciting at all, but it did look like a remarkably realistic culinary experiment performed by dorklets who cared more about stuffing it full of sweet ingredients and less about making something aesthetically pleasing.
Continue reading The Magister and his many mini gelatin salads!Toon Hardshipper 9 completed: The Toon Magister!
I’m disturbed by his pants, which impugn his old-fashioned sense of modesty by showing off the body parts underneath. I might have to add a floor-length skirt. Nevertheless, I’m very pleased with the simple paint job on the head and the ease with which the paint stuck to the resin and followed my directions. I thought I hated painting. Turns out I just really hated painting slippery [probably unwashed] resin prints.
Behold the Toon Magister! And Toon Silence! Help I wuvs dem!
Continue reading Toon Hardshipper 9 completed: The Toon Magister!More work on the Toon Magister
Even in unfinished form, he looks so happy and gentle! HELP I WUVS HIM.
Continue reading More work on the Toon MagisterToon Hardshipper 8 completed: Toon Truth!
Toon Truth has been completed! He is a Disney ILY 4ever Christmas male doll head, repainted and rehaired, on an Obitsu Slender Male body with neck and forearms painted to match, and action figure hands. His glasses are from a Mattel fat Fashionista Ken a few years ago, his shirt from Mattel Ken in the 1960s [?] from my friend Lyra, and his pants from Mattel Ken Fashionista fashion pack.
Continue reading Toon Hardshipper 8 completed: Toon Truth!The Toon Magister redux!
Ever since HeroForge, an online character customizer specializing in tabletop gaming miniatures, introduced the ability to sculpt the miniatures’ faces, I’ve been making my favorite characters in the system. Naturally I improved my earlier versions of various Hardshippers, and I came up with a stylized Magister who looked both old and also very sweet and avuncular.
Continue reading The Toon Magister redux!Dorklets Little Night and Little Day in…Gingerbread Architecture!
I’ve been working since yesterday on two gingerbread houses. Both are miniature kits from MGA’s Make It Mini series of resin crafts holiday series. @natalunasans gave me three gingerbread houses, so I felt free to go wild with at least two of them. Each gingerbread house kit came with a snap-together house, gumdrops, white cream squirts, and white resin icing. I used ingredients from other kits to enhance my houses.
I thought that Night and Day would each decorate their gingerbread house according to their interests. Night would make a Gothy haunted Halloween house. Day would make a nursery — or “nrsre,” as they spell it creatively.
After I finished Day’s “nrsre” and got about halfway through Night’s haunted house, I decided to do a photostory of them making at least one of the houses. I had to use my extra gingerbread house, toppings, and mini shoebox [the brown-painted base for each house] to fill in for some of the earlier steps in construction.
Someone can’t be trusted around all the candy!! :O
Continue reading Dorklets Little Night and Little Day in…Gingerbread Architecture!Dorklets Mini Silencitx and Mini Truthlet in…My Older Bother I!
Mini Silencitx is a smartass…
Continue reading Dorklets Mini Silencitx and Mini Truthlet in…My Older Bother I!Lizzie the unimpressed witch
I bought a lovely little limited edition Little Witch Doll, Seattle Grunge version, made by dollmaker Isabel Anderson. Down to $95.00 from $115.00 for a Black Friday sale, she ended up being $115.00 with free shipping. I loved her thick eyebrows, sculpted eyelids, and terminally unimpressed expression.
Continue reading Lizzie the unimpressed witchToon Dorklet 7 of 7 FINISHED: Toon Theo!
The last dorklet to have a first version of her completed, Toon Theo is here!
Toon Theo originally started out as a Jakks Pacific Disney ILY Mickey and Minnie fan head on the same body. I swapped her lower body for an MGA Rainbow High one to represent the fact that Theo is shorter and fatter than, say, Allison.
Along the way, I grew dissatisfied with the similarity of all the Disney ILY 4ever headsculpts, so I changed Toon Theo’s head to a Mattel singing Asha head. [Asha is the main character of Disney’s most recent animated musical Wish.] With an erasure of her freckles, a repaint of her eyebrows, and a gloss of her eyes, she was ready to join her bestest friend and love Allison!
Now I’ve just got to do Toon Day 3.0, the Toon Magister, and Toon Truth!
That’s two more toon Hardshippers than I ever planned on… :/
Continue reading Toon Dorklet 7 of 7 FINISHED: Toon Theo!Sweet Sue got a new wig!
Sweet Sue got a new wig off Ruby Lane, an online marketplace, after years of looking frazzled and neglected. Her new wig may look frazzled, but that’s just because it’s as old as she is. The style looks much better!
Now I just have to do something about her bloomers always falling down…
Continue reading Sweet Sue got a new wig!Mini dorklets Mini Silencitx and Mini Truthlet in…Chekhov’s Squirt Gun II!
The riveting drama continues!
Continue reading Mini dorklets Mini Silencitx and Mini Truthlet in…Chekhov’s Squirt Gun II!Mini dorklets Mini Silencitx and Mini Truthlet in…Chekhov’s Squirt Gun I!
Silence has an older brother Truth. Because he’s six years older, he’s not usually part of the dorklets’ adventures. He is, however, very much like them in spirit.
I didn’t have any versions of Silence’s older brother in doll form up until now, but then I got an adorable Mattel Ricky head from Lyrajean. Ricky was a short-lived boy doll created as a friend for Mattel Barbie’s younger sister Skipper. He was only made for two years, and he looks like Mattel Allan, only younger.
Well, I moved the head onto a hybrid body made from the torso and arms of a Mattel Creatable World doll with hands from an unknown child action figure, pelvis, upper thighs, and feets from an Obitsu 24 body, and legs from a Spin Master Liv doll. I painted the hair gold to approximate a blond color and the eyes sort of hazel and dressed him in a Creatable World shirt, a pair of Barbie leggings that Lyrajean gave me, and Creatable World boots. I really wish that he bent better at the elbows, so I might work on that later, but he’s done for now. I did not intend to make any other Hardshippers to accompany Mini Silencitx and Mini Ethancitx, but I now have Mini Truthlet, who’s somewhere between 10 and 14 years old.
Truth in all his forms is a huge computer nerd, so Mini Truthlet shows off his computing magazines, which I made this week from scans of actual vintage computing periodicals from the late 1970s and early 1980s, reduced to 1:6 scale. He also shows off his computer [played by a Mattel Barbie Magic Moves windup toy, just like the camcorder], his various TVs, robots, and his other electronics…and, because he’s kind of a weird kid, his favorite snacks.
Most of this set accurately represents what might be in a kid’s room in the early to mid 1980s…with one exception. The pump-action squirt gun that Mini Silencitx is sneaking around with is inspired by the Super Soaker, which didn’t hit the market until 1990. I don’t care. It’s instantly recognizable as a squirt gun, unlike some of my other 1:6 scale weapons.
Continue reading Mini dorklets Mini Silencitx and Mini Truthlet in…Chekhov’s Squirt Gun I!Working on Toon Day again…
I took some pictures of the latest iteration of Toon Day with the rest of the finished Toon Dorklets…
Continue reading Working on Toon Day again…Toon Dorklet Day updated!
I bought the Jakks Pacific Disney ILY Bambi fan doll because I thought that the rooted blond hair and the smirk would be good for Toon Day.
Continue reading Toon Dorklet Day updated!Big Night and Big Day [and a guest] in…The Plant Room 03!
“Do you know this guy?”
“Nah, I thought he was your friend.”
I finished potting all of the plants from MGA Make It Mini Lifestyle series. I had an extra hanging planter so I added a totally tentacular vine made of pipe cleaners. The sneaky hungry capybara is accurately scaled and a gift from @natalunasans.
Continue reading Big Night and Big Day [and a guest] in…The Plant Room 03!Mini dorklets in…Sweet Pizza III!
Mini Silencitx and Mini Ethancitx make and eat their sweet pizzas.
Continue reading Mini dorklets in…Sweet Pizza III!Mini dorklets in…Sweet Pizza II!
Mini Silencitx and Mini Ethancitx clean up.
Continue reading Mini dorklets in…Sweet Pizza II!Mini dorklets in…Sweet Pizza I!
Mini dorklets Silencitx [blond] and Ethancitx [black hair] get a brilliant idea!
Continue reading Mini dorklets in…Sweet Pizza I!Two dorklets and the Elder Witches in…Caramel Apples!
The Stylist offers to help Little Night and Little Day make caramel apples. The suggestion is dramatically vetoed. Everyone acts sarcastic and silly. Then they eat caramel.
This pointless story is brought to you by MGA Make It Mini Halloween series 1 minis and my deep antipathy against Granny Smith apples.
Continue reading Two dorklets and the Elder Witches in…Caramel Apples!Big Day in…The Plant Room 02!
Big Day prepares a pot and magics a plant into it. [Day has plant powers!]
Continue reading Big Day in…The Plant Room 02!Big Day in…The Plant Room 01!
This is the grownup version of Day the dorklet in their plant room. [They have plant powers.] Check out the details!
I arranged this set in the righthand side of my desk. The lefthand side of the desk, as you can see in the first photo, has my much-used sales counter, but it’s not part of Day’s plant room.
Continue reading Big Day in…The Plant Room 01!Mini dorklets Mini Silencitx and Mini Ethancitx in…RC Kitty Car!
Mini Silencitx is reading when a kitty car drives past! It’s Mini Ethancitx’s latest toy!
RC kitty car is played by a Polly Pocket car with a mini articulated figure and accompanying pet cat. Thanks for the car, @natalunasans! The human figure is articulated at shoulders and hips, and both it and the cat wedge perfectly into the car. I love the kitty details on the car, especially the ears forming the rear-view mirrors…and the little tail in back. The antenna on the RC car is played by a sewing pin.
Continue reading Mini dorklets Mini Silencitx and Mini Ethancitx in…RC Kitty Car!The Elder Witches in…The Magister’s Sundae V!
The Magister finally does what he originally intended to do and makes a sundae for him and his spouses.
Continue reading The Elder Witches in…The Magister’s Sundae V!Little Day and the Magister in…The Magister’s Sundae IV!
Little Day picks flowers and doesn’t want any ice cream.
Little Night and the Magister in…The Magister’s Sundae III!
Little Night experiences the natural consequences of her actions: cleaning up the mess and…getting a bowl of ice cream?!
Continue reading Little Night and the Magister in…The Magister’s Sundae III!Little Night in…The Magister’s Sundae II!
Okay, well, it’s not the Magister’s sundae yet because Little Night wants some ice cream. Unfortunately it gets away from her…
Continue reading Little Night in…The Magister’s Sundae II!The Elder Witches in…The Magister’s Sundae I!
I’ve got all of the ingredients for the Magister to make a sundae for his spouses the Stylist and the Hippie, so here he goes. We start with a detailed look at his kitchen.
The Elder Witches are over 375 years old, so I figure that the Magister has accumulated his favorite kitchen tools and appliances over time. My enthusiasm for tin lithographed toys coincides with the Magister’s affection for certain antique cooking tools. His stove is a child’s toy electric stove from the 1930s by Pretty Maid. The main kitchen unit is a Marx Toys child’s toy kitchen from the 1950s or 1960s. The chest freezer is an Ohio Art recipe card holder from the 1950s. Mini vintage appliances, an antique radio, and canned goods made with antique labels add to a sense of anachronism.
Continue reading The Elder Witches in…The Magister’s Sundae I!Toon Silence and Toon Ethan in…Walking on the Waterfront!
Toon Silence [who recently got a Mattel Made To Move Curvy body with great articulation] and Toon Ethan went for a walk this afternoon. Enjoying the low humidity [after days of gross air-moisture levels, interspersed with gross amounts of rain], they sauntered along the edge of Lake Champlain on the Burlington Bike Path. They were going to pull snacks out of their ridiculous bags and eat them, but I decided against it.
Continue reading Toon Silence and Toon Ethan in…Walking on the Waterfront!All my dolls, 07/07/2023
All the small populations out and about as of today. Most pictures are recycled from last time, except for new additions, pictures of people that changed significantly, and pictures that were bad last time so I retook them.
Continue reading All my dolls, 07/07/2023Innovna, Mattel Signature Yara Shahidi head on Mattel Made To Move body!
I’m just writing down her name somewhere so I’m less likely to forget it.
Continue reading Innovna, Mattel Signature Yara Shahidi head on Mattel Made To Move body!Fay, a Kenner Bride of Frankenstein head on an action figure body!!
I moved the Kenner Bride head from @natalunasans over to a TB League/Phicen Lady Death action figure body for greater articulation. She’s wearing a Mezco Living Dead Fashion Victims dress, Mattel Barbie leggings with breakfast foods, a Mattel Barbie Extra motorcycle jacket, and bootfeet from an unknown action figure.
Even though she’s in Bride of Frankenstein makeup here, Fay Pompion is actually a regular person. She’s a voice actor and self-proclaimed “scream queen” known for screaming with great emotion a la Fay Wray.
Continue reading Fay, a Kenner Bride of Frankenstein head on an action figure body!!Johanna, a Mattel Princess of South Africa head on a Mattel Made To Move body!!
The only articulated body matching the Mattel Princess of South Africa head is a tall Mattel Made To Move body with freakishly elongated torso and legs. To reduce this doll to a more realistic height, first I set her next to a standard Made To Move body. As you can see, most of the extra height comes from the torso and the legs. I took 0.5 cm from the ankles and the wrists and about 1.5 to 2 cm from the middle of the torso.
Continue reading Johanna, a Mattel Princess of South Africa head on a Mattel Made To Move body!!At @natalunasans house, July 5: Lunch and Douglas International Airport
We got up early and had a leisurely morning, leaving very early for lunch at Spice in Fort Mill, a pan-Asian place. We shared kimchi fries [crispy French fries with kimchi and spicy mayonnaise on top] for an appetizer. I had a bulgogi burger, which was a cheeseburger with kimchi and spicy mayonnaise. I could have used more kimchi on the top, as the cheese overpowered it, but it was still decent. Nata had drunken noodles with tofu.
Continue reading At @natalunasans house, July 5: Lunch and Douglas International AirportAt @natalunasans house, July 4: The Spymaster and Ruth Doctor eating bentos [with a special guest appearance from the mini citxs!]
In the semi-sequel to my earlier bento box photostory featuring Toon Silence and Toon Ethan, two of @natalunasans dolls eat the other two bentos I have. Her characters are custom 1:6 scale figures of two Doctor Who characters, Ruth Doctor [with red and black locs] and the Spymaster [with cane].
The cat is a gachapon miniature of a cat posed as the subject in Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream. I just put it in there to be silly and puzzle the characters.
Continue reading At @natalunasans house, July 4: The Spymaster and Ruth Doctor eating bentos [with a special guest appearance from the mini citxs!]At @natalunasans house, July 4: The dining room and projects
I had some travel troubles last night. I was originally supposed to fly to @natalunasans house on July 3, but I received an alert on the afternoon of July 1 from American Airline, warning that my flights could be cancelled because of “severe weather.” As a result, I booked a one-way ticket from Burlington to Charlotte in the evening of July 1. I didn’t use my originally purchased ticket, so both parts of the round trip were cancelled.
I thought that both parts of my originally purchased ticket were cancelled due to the ambiguous “severe weather,” so I booked a one-way ticket from Charlotte to Burlington on Friday. After figuring out that my original ticket was cancelled because I hadn’t used the first part, I cancelled the Friday trip back and bought a one-way ticket back on Thursday.
This morning I talked to customer service and got a credit for the originally booked ticket that I didn’t use. Then I used part of that credit to purchase a flight from Charlotte to Burlington tomorrow, July 5. All other tickets that I had purchased from Charlotte to Burlington were cancelled.
Now I know that I can get “store credit” with airlines. I’ve never rescheduled flights before, and I probably should have turned my original itinerary into credit to purchase my July 1 flight from Burlington to Charlotte, but I did not know that I could. At least I used some credit on my July 5 flight from Charlotte to Burlington, so I didn’t waste that money. I also didn’t spend as much extra as I originally worried that I would.
All of this is to say that I really dislike air travel. I scheduled my return for July 5 instead of July 6 because I had arrived earlier. I didn’t want to overstay my welcome at @natalunasans house. All my flight changes and uncertainty worried me, and I felt a desire to return home as quickly as possible. Hopefully no “severe weather” fucks up my travel plans tomorrow!!
I took some pictures of @natalunasans dining room to illustrate what a comfortable, friendly house she has. There are lots of Colombian things around [as that’s her husband’s country of origin], Jewish things [as she’s Jewish], and cat things [because one-third of their family is Gatin!].
Continue reading At @natalunasans house, July 4: The dining room and projectsAt @natalunasans house, July 3: Toon Silence and Toon Ethan eating bentos
Probably the most extensive treatment of these Rement bento box lunches that I will ever produce, this photostory features Toon Silence and Toon Ethan having lunch. I imagine that this scene takes place in the courtyard of Hardship High. Weird plants are played by a plastic landscaping piece for use in an aquarium.
Continue reading At @natalunasans house, July 3: Toon Silence and Toon Ethan eating bentosAt @natalunasans house, July 3: Projects [and bonus miaou!]
We hit a few stores that I don’t have up in Vermont, including Books A Million, Five Below, and Big Lots, this morning. At Big Lots, I picked up one set of Super Impulse Sugar Buzz minis in minis. Surprisingly, I got two options that will look great in my snack and sweet shop, even if I think Necco wafers are repulsive: Necco wafers and Mentos, both decently detailed and scaled for 1:6 scale.
At Five Below, I picked up a Mattel BTS Jimin doll for $5.00 just for the outfit. I have a Mattel Barbie Princess of South Africa doll on an articulated Mattel Barbie Looks body that @natalunasans assures me will look striking in that suit!
@natalunasans gave me a Kenner Bride of Frankenstein [on left in first pic] and a ThreeZero Michonne [character from The Walking Dead, on right in third pic. I hope to move the Bride onto a matching body and make her Fay Pompion, an original character who’s a voice actor and self-styled scream queen. The ThreeZero Michonne got a dress, yarn wig, and bright orange slides from @natalunasans stash. I think her name is Petra.
Continue reading At @natalunasans house, July 3: Projects [and bonus miaou!]At @natalunasans house, July 3: The doll room
The dolls have multiplied since the last time I visited, and they have taked over @natalunasans doll room! Proof below.
Continue reading At @natalunasans house, July 3: The doll roomAt @natalunasans house, July 2: MGA Make It Mini Cafe series 2
We didn’t do a lot because I was recovering from my exhausting travel. I slept late, wrote peacefully in the morning, and napped in the mid-afternoon.
Continue reading At @natalunasans house, July 2: MGA Make It Mini Cafe series 2At @natalunasans house, July 1: Guest bedroom
Trying to avoid bad weather projected for July 3 [my original arrival date], I hopped on a plane a few days early and arrived at @natalunasans house on July 1st. My flight left Burlington International Airport at 7:30 PM and arrived in Charlotte at 9:50 PM. With lots of traffic in the passenger pickup lanes, @natalunasans took a while to find me and rescue me from the airport, so I didn’t get to bed until about midnight.
Continue reading At @natalunasans house, July 1: Guest bedroomDorklets Mini Silencitx and Mini Ethancitx in…Ginny’s Gym 04!
Two recently finished mini dorklets, Mini Silencitx and Mini Ethancitx, go to the playground with Missy, Mini Silencitx’s mom, accompanying them. Oh no! Traffic jam on the slide!
Continue reading Dorklets Mini Silencitx and Mini Ethancitx in…Ginny’s Gym 04!Finished another dorklet: Mini Ethancitx!
My two youngest dorklets are finished: Mini Silencitx, aged approximately 5, and Mini Ethancitx, aged approximately 7. Mini Ethancitx was finished yesterday, but not posted about till today.
Mini Ethancitx is an Elfdoll Doona Ryung [?] faceplate and headback on a Mr. Z. 7″ action figure body. I painted the resin to match and sealed it with some very diluted Aves Apoxie Sculpt. I made eyeballs out of painted spheres of Aves Apoxie Sculpt, which I mounted in the eyewells with hot glue and then painted irises on. Wig is faux fur. Outfit is a teeshirt made for 12″ fashion dolls, a skirt [and undershorts] from Mattel Creatable World doll, and shuz from Jakks Pacific Juku Couture dolls.
Despite some carving out of the eyes, the doll does not really look like Ethan, but it sure feels like Ethan.
Continue reading Finished another dorklet: Mini Ethancitx!Toon dorklet 6 of 7 FINISHED: Toon Allison!
Repainted her eyebrows and gave her some shuz. Now she’s done!
Continue reading Toon dorklet 6 of 7 FINISHED: Toon Allison!Put together Bell over the weekend!
Bell is an unusual doll, being a stylized, but not idealized, elderly woman. She’s a JPT X POP JPT-003 Hunter figure that I bought nude with heads. Head sculpt, torso, and hands are all sculpted to detail her loss of subcutaneous fat, prominent bones, and age spots. Unfortunately she arrived with a split down the front of her neck, so her head is kind of balancing precariously on her neck. She’s really amazing. I love her watchful expression.
Continue reading Put together Bell over the weekend!Aphanarit and Reeve have new hair from ZielaHime!
I finally got around to putting back together Aphanarit and Reeve, who were beautifully rehaired from their default states by Trini doll fan ZielaHime!
Continue reading Aphanarit and Reeve have new hair from ZielaHime!Finished another dorklet: Mini Silencitx!
Today I finished my fourth doll of Silence: Mini Silencitx! This is when she’s just a very little dorklet, maybe about five.
Continue reading Finished another dorklet: Mini Silencitx!Dorklets Silencitx and Ethancitx in…Ginny’s Gym 03!
In the second part of today’s Ginny’s Gym photostory, Ginny’s Gym barely makes an appearance. Instead Silencitx and Ethancitx take a walk, have a drink of water, and [for once!] cooperate reasonably well.
The highly detailed water bottle would work better as a small water bottle for 1:4 scale, but it also functions as a large water bottle for a 1:6 scale kidsy. I have three with similar cartoony characters — Japanese gachapon, of course! — on display in my toy store. Ethancitx’s doll is a figure that I used to play with [and chew on the legs of] when I was a kid. Fun fact: At one point I had a hairstyle, shirt, pants, and shoes that matched this doll pretty well.
Continue reading Dorklets Silencitx and Ethancitx in…Ginny’s Gym 03!Dorklets Little Allison and Little Theo in…Ginny’s Gym 02!
Little Allison [left] and Little Theo [right] went out to my front porch today and played on Ginny’s Gym, which I got from the Sturbridge doll show last weekend. This story also features Torie [reading], Zenaidion [drinking], Henrietta [swinging], and Bell [pushing swing].
Sadly, the glider swing does not fit Little Theo’s butt. It accommodates the narrow thighs of an Obitsu 24 [source of Little Allison’s hips], but not those of a Rainbow High doll [source of Little Theo’s body].
Continue reading Dorklets Little Allison and Little Theo in…Ginny’s Gym 02!Dorklets Silencitx and Ethancitx in…Ginny’s Gym 01!
Dorklets Silencitx and Ethancitx explore Ginny’s Gym.
I picked up this fabulous swingset from the Sturbridge doll show I mentioned earlier. It was $75.00 and in perfect condition, with original packaging and instructions! It’s made for 8″ Ginny dolls, and it’s from 1955 [!]. The dorklets are between 8 and 10″, but they’re determined to have fun with it anyway. I mean — how often do you find a decent 1:6 scale playground?!
Continue reading Dorklets Silencitx and Ethancitx in…Ginny’s Gym 01!Sturbridge Doll, Bear, and Miniature Show 06/03-06/05/2023
Drove across the state to Lyrajean’s new condo on Saturday, June 3rd, and spent the night. We left very early on the 4th for Sturbridge, MA, and the doll/teddy/miniature show at the Sturbridge Host Hotel. We took about two and a half hours to get there. We turned around and had a late lunch on the way back and arrive around dinner time back at Lyrajean’s house.
Continue reading Sturbridge Doll, Bear, and Miniature Show 06/03-06/05/2023The Magister got a gelatin salad!
The Magister, an aficionado of all kinds of foodstuffs, has an affection for gelatin salads. I even made a miniature cookbook, Gelatinize It!, to satisfy his interest. I just got him a 1:6 scale savory gelatin salad, including hard-boiled eggs, grapefruit, and other ingredients that do not go together :p , made by Harnett Studio. It was a charm to fit in the holes of ventilated foam clogs, but I removed the part that went into the base, so it is now a small platter with a flat bottom. Perfect for the Magister’s old-fashioned heteronormative kitchen!
Continue reading The Magister got a gelatin salad!The Stylist, Ketch, Brocedony, and Missy in…Goblin Market Adventures 03!
The odd customer comes back to the deli counter of the Goblin Market, puzzling everyone.
For those of you who haven’t memorized everyone’s names, Ketch is reading Lettuce Do It! The Stylist is wearing rainbow stripes. Brocedony is pushing a shopping cart. Missy is holding a shopping basket.
I made Lettuce Do It! with a graphic from an old produce crate for lettuce. The woman looked WAY too excited just to be thinking about leaves…
Continue reading The Stylist, Ketch, Brocedony, and Missy in…Goblin Market Adventures 03!The grocery store has more shelves and boxes!
I improved the grocery store a bit in the past week. I made some more boxes of produce to add to the bottom shelves. From @natalunasans, I also got some cauliflower and a farmer’s market stand, which I boosted on a riser and used to display all my berries.
It’s all coming together! I still need some more labels [and to put up the ones on the floor], but I’m proud that my set with the most pieces nears completion!
Continue reading The grocery store has more shelves and boxes!The heteronormative kitchen has a freezer!
I finally turned my midcentury modern Ohio Art recipe card tin into a chest freezer for the heteronormative kitchen. The recipe card tin has been playing a chest freezer for months, ever since the photostory The Chest Freezer, but I’ve wanted to improve it. So I lined it with white paper and bubble wrap on top to simulate built-up ice. I also covered the RECIPES label with one that said FREEZER. The bubble wrap reduces the amount of storage space, but it adds much-needed insulation and realism.
Continue reading The heteronormative kitchen has a freezer!Missy and Ketch in…Goblin Market Adventures 02!
Ketch has a surreal experience behind the deli counter of the Goblin Market with a weird customer. Missy witnesses.
The grocery store set continues to improve, this time with more posters behind the deli counter and magnets that are better scaled for 1:6 scale.
I made all the cookbook covers myself using graphics from vintage/antique canned food labels and fruit/vegetable crate labels.
Continue reading Missy and Ketch in…Goblin Market Adventures 02!The heteronormative kitchen is up!
I finally got around to upgrading the heteronormative kitchen today. NMI [my “plastic friends” according to @natalunasans] printed me some risers for the kitchen unit and my Pretty Maid stove so that they’re the right height for my dolls. I hot glued the risers to the kitchen and the stove. Then I added some significant shims to the front edge of the kitchen unit risers. Finally I cleared off the table and set everything up. The Magister shows off his kitchen!!
Continue reading The heteronormative kitchen is up!The grocery store has more signs and better magnets!
Latest improvements to the grocery store set include more signs for the deli counter and magnets that are better scaled for 1:6 scale and holding up signs.
Continue reading The grocery store has more signs and better magnets!Toon dorklet 6 of 7: Toon Allison!
Modded Toon Allison’s wrists and forearms to allow greater flexion, cut her hair, and dressed her up. She still needs shuz and repainted eyebrows, but she is close to done!
Continue reading Toon dorklet 6 of 7: Toon Allison!More labels and posters for the grocery story
I printed out vintage fruit crate, vegetable crate, or seed packet labels for almost all of my produce section, laminated the pictures with tape, and then put them by the appropriate fudz.
Continue reading More labels and posters for the grocery storyToon Silence and Toon Ethan in…Goblin Market Adventures 01!
Couldn’t wait to show off my grocery store in progress, so I incorporated the mess into a photostory. Sadly the mess thwarts Silence and Ethan, who are 16 and 18, respectively, but still interested in mischief!
Continue reading Toon Silence and Toon Ethan in…Goblin Market Adventures 01!Workin’ on the grocery store and produce section again
I’ve always wanted to have a 1:6 scale grocery store set, but I’ve always been daunted by the amount of tiny packages needed to create a realistic market. Therefore I started with a produce section, thinking that I could leave all the other sections to the imagination. [Funnily enough, I said pretty much the same thing, in much the same words, when I first started this set.]
Continue reading Workin’ on the grocery store and produce section againAll my dolls, 03/15/2023
I did a quick and dirty photo census of the hordes, with in situ shots of everyone.
Continue reading All my dolls, 03/15/2023The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover IX!
Little Night, Ethancitx, and Little Allison show off their sticker albums and make some swaps. This is just an excuse to show off the sticker albums that I designed [front and back covers and inner covers], constructed, and filled with stickers according to the owners’ personalities. It’s also an excuse to show off some adorable stickers [the sheets that the dorklets are trading] in my small collection.
Continue reading The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover IX!The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover VIII!
Little Night and Little Day arrive with their sticker book! [They share one.] Little Allison and Ethancitx whip out their sticker books too! We get to see Little Night and Little Day’s sticker collections.
Continue reading The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover VIII!The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover VII!
Ethancitx and Little Meghna show up with their luggage and 847 gallons of nail polish. Nail polish time!!
Continue reading The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover VII!The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover VI!
Little Allison and Little Theo prepare Little Theo’s sleeping bag and then read. Then Silencitx shows up with a huge amount of luggage and candy! I made the Headbones packages myself. The Headbones candy is played by beads.
Continue reading The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover VI!It’s Toon Magister time!!!
My favorite adult Hardshipper will eventually be joining the Toon Dorklets. Yes, folks, it’s TOON MAGISTER TIME!! Continue reading It’s Toon Magister time!!!
Toon Day has been completed!
Today I made Toon Day a fur wig, stripped most of original lip paint, and redid their eyebrows. Yup, that’s Day all right! Continue reading Toon Day has been completed!
Toon dorklet 5 of 7: Toon Meghna!
I finished Toon Meghna today! Originally I planned for her to be Toon Ethancitx, but that didn’t work out. Continue reading Toon dorklet 5 of 7: Toon Meghna!
New sets for dolls!
I recently got a new bookshelf and put up several sets for my dolls.
Continue reading New sets for dolls!Toon dorklet 4 of 7: Toon Ethancitx!
Toon Ethancitx was originally going to be a Disney ILY 4ever Cinderella fan, but that turned out to be Toon Night. Then he was going to be a Disney ILY 4ever Ariel fan, but that turned out to be Toon Meghna, who’s still in progress. Then Nata reminded me that I had a toon Spymaster doll and, since both the Spymaster and Ethan are based on Sacha Dhawan, I decided to convert my toon Spymaster into Toon Ethancitx.
I trimmed off the sculpted hair and gave him a blank forehead instead. Then I repainted him, removing a lot of the shading and eyebags that the toon Spymaster had. I made him a wig of faux fur and dressed him in a comfy outfit with sparkles and purple and rainbows, and he was done!
Toon dorklet 3 of 7: Toon Silencitx!
Finally I finished Toon Silencitx! Continue reading Toon dorklet 3 of 7: Toon Silencitx!
Toon dorklet 2 of 7: Toon Day!
I knew that I wanted to use a Disney ILY 4ever Jasmine fan [same sculpt as for Toon Silencitx] for Toon Day, but I didn’t expect to finish Toon Day first!
Originally I wanted to shorten Toon Silencitx’s body, so I took about 1.5cm of height out of the torso and 0.75cm out of the ankles. This made the body too short for her, but a perfect height for the youngest dorklet. I removed the tits and used the body for Toon Day.
Toon dorklet 1 of 7: Toon Night!
Disney came out with some ILY 4ever 12″ fashion dolls early this month. They are teenage girls in Disney cartoon style wearing outfits inspired by various Disney princesses. I have very little attachment to Disney princesses and a generally critical view of the Disney entertainment conglomerate, but I immediately started seeing toon dorklets in the various headsculpts. Result: I am now making toon versions of all seven. I bought the Disney ILY 4ever Cinderella fan and Jasmine fan, intending to make Toon Ethancitx and Toon Silencitx first, but, unexpectedly, Toon Night was the one I finished first. Continue reading Toon dorklet 1 of 7: Toon Night!
New hair for Big Night!
Like Pippilotta, Big Night is a Takara Cy Girl CG02 head…now with the same vivid orange mohair hairs! Continue reading New hair for Big Night!
Pippilotta gets new hair!
After hanging out bald for a while, Pippilotta finally got some new hairs recently. I used hot glue to stick small bunches of mohair to her head. Continue reading Pippilotta gets new hair!
The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover V!
The sleepover series continues into a new year as Little Allison and Little Theo clean up Little Allison’s room in prep for the sleepover. Whoops! They get distracted by a comic book! Continue reading The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover V!
The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover IV!
Little Meghna and Ethancitx go shopping.
Mannequins are played by MGA Rainbow High and Shadow High dolls. Store clerk is played by Novella, a Soom Uyoo romantic head on a hybrid resin body with bad articulation.
Continue reading The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover IV!
The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover III!
Little Allison calls Ethancitx, who has some trouble finding the phone. He goes to get some cosmetics from his older sister Little Meghna’s room, but is caught by Little Meghna. Oh no, where is Little Meghna taking Ethancitx?!
Ethancitx is a custom 3D sculpted, painted, and haired sculpt by me on an extremely hybridized body. Little Meghna is a Mattel Barbie Fashionista partially repainted by me and rehaired with a wig, on a Spin Master Liv body.
Little Meghna likes team sports and particularly likes to run. She is, however, very sarcastic, and she doesn’t think much of motivational quotes and inspirational sayings. I made her posters with free Canva templates. Continue reading The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover III!
Attempting to make chili #1
Vaguely inspired by Love and Lemons’ Easy Vegetarian Chili.
1 white onion
2 tbsp minced garlic
oil
1 can 14.5 oz Signature Select diced tomatoes with chiles
1 can 14.5 oz Signature Select fire roasted salsa style tomatoes
1 can 15 oz Signature Select low sodium dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can 15 oz Signature Select low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can 4 oz Signature Select diced mild diced green chiles
1 jar 16 oz Green Mountain Gringo medium salsa
salt
a lot of steamed veggies [~1 lb.?]
Dice onion. Add oil to pan. Put in onion and garlic. Saute until onion is translucent. Add 1 tbsp [?] salt and 4 tbsp salsa.
Put all the other ingredients in a pot. Put the sauteed stuff in same pot. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Eat over rice with freshly squeezed lime juice and plain yogurt.
Results: A bit soupy. Drain salsa next time? Very good with plain yogurt. Cleans out the sinuses. Tastes really good even without lime juice, but the plain yogurt really boosts the flavor. Good, but not hearty.
Changes to make: Use 2 cans of diced green chiles. Use 2 cans black beans. Add 1 can corn. Omit salsa style tomatoes.
The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover II!
Silencitx has an idea for the sleepover. She calls Little Allison and then goes to buy candy at the Body Shop.
Silencitx is a Mattel Nutcracker and Four Realms Clara head, repainted and rehaired by me, on an Obitsu 24 body. Store clerk is played by Hot Toys Princess Leia from Star Wars A New Hope or whatever it’s called these days.
The Body Shop is played by two roomboxes made by Bitty House. Most of the furniture is from Mattel Monster High Coffin Bean sets, either G1 or G3. Most of the drinks and snacks are either from Mattel Monster High G3 dolls or G3 Coffin Bean.
A shot of the entire Body Shop set shows that the roomboxes have walls of different heights, much to my distress. I have to extend upward the walls on the left.
Continue reading The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover II!
The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover I!
Little Allison feels overwhelmed by the mess in her room. She calls her friend Little Theo for help. Continue reading The dorklets in…Little Allison’s Sleepover I!
Dolls all over my new place!
I’m moving in to my new place, a two-bedroom apartment. Dolls are going everywhere!! Continue reading Dolls all over my new place!
A new room set / room box / set and some G3 Monster High props
I love my new Dia de los Muertos roombox by Springfield-based Vermont carpenters and Etsy sellers Bitty House. Copying and pasting from my review on the site: “Bitty House’s 3/8″ plywood walls and floors ensure a durable product, and their expertise in regular carpentry translates into a meticulous attention to small-scale detail. This wonderfully designed three-piece set has a floor with faux boards, a long wall, and a short wall with a window. The floor piece has tongues that fit into grooves on the wall pieces. This tongue-in-groove mechanism works smoothly and allows the set to stand sturdily without adhesive or nails [though of course you could use these to put the set together permanently. Besides being cleverly designed, the set boasts exceptional finishing. Vibrant, playful, versatile, and worth your money!”
I would change just one thing about the roombox, however. The walls aren’t high enough. I’ve already ordered a second roombox in the same pattern, but with walls 20″ high.
The core Hardshippers are using props that come with the dolls from Mattel’s G3 reboot of Monster High: Draculaura’s bat-winged pretzels and cherry juice, Toralei’s cat food and milk, Lagoona’s Kelp Krisps and goldfish crackers, Clawdeen’s Howl Puffs, and Ghoulia’s Brain Puffs. Not a great fan of the dolls themselves, but I think the clothes and accessories are great, especially these spooky snacks. I suppose I could have made my own, but buying them already completed was easier.
Some furniture in this set, such as the purple couch with fangs, the clawed table, and the coffin-shaped bar table, come from the new Mattel Monster High Coffin Bean cafe playset. Amazing stuff and perfect for a ghoulish cafe in a town like Hardship, where Halloween is an official holiday!
Continue reading A new room set / room box / set and some G3 Monster High props
The Elder Witches annoying each other with party blowers
I made some party blowers / noisemakers for my dolls today.
I did this by cutting a plastic-covered paper clip into a short straight length for the core. I wrapped a short strip of origami paper around the core and pulled the core so that it stuck out one end to be the mouthpiece. For the other end, I took a twist ties off my bags of bagels and flattened it. [Fortunately it came with a party-like diagonal striped design.] I cut one end of the twist tie to make it tapered and hot glued it into the open end of the roll of origami paper. I then used the wire in the twist tie to pose the streamer end in the middle of uncoiling. BLAAAAAAAAAAT! SQUAAAWK!Continue reading The Elder Witches annoying each other with party blowers
Because I am temporarily feeling a normal amount of feelings for the Spymaster…
…on the occasion of The Power of the Doctor, the Spymaster’s last DW episode, airing Sunday, I am taking the opportunity to remind myself of my extensive Tumblr paeans to Sacha Dhawan as the Master. They are all conveniently grouped under the HELP I WUVS HIM tag [and therefore impossible to find with Tumblr’s horrible search feature].
I know what the Spymaster wants.
Originally posted on Tumblr, but Tumblr’s search function is shit, so I’m just posting it here in case I ever want to easily find it again.
I know what the Spymaster wants, part I
I know what the Spymaster wants.
All Masters have always been defined by their desires for the Doctor. [No, I will not justify my choices of verb, nor will I explain the nuances. If you really want to know, PM me.]
Delgado wants to BEST the Doctor.
Pratt/Beevers wants to DESTROY the Doctor.
Ainley wants to BEAT the Doctor.
Roberts wants to POSSESS the Doctor.
Jacobi wants to FOLLOW the Doctor [before being clocked, that is].
Simm wants to HURT the Doctor.
Gomez wants to BEFRIEND the Doctor.
But what about Dhawan?
Dhawan seems to want a little bit of what each of his previous selves does. Some besting, some destroying, some possession, some befriending… His rather incoherent, throwing-spaghetti-against-the-walls-to-see-what-sticks plans seem to do a little bit of everything.
Ultimately, though, Dhawan wants MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING. Continue reading I know what the Spymaster wants.
Customized Very Gay Bratz!
@natalunasans got me the MGA Bratz x Jimmy Paul Pride dolls Nevra and Roxxie. I customized them by giving them haircuts, removing their [fabulous but too bulky] rainbow faux fur items, and taking off some accessories so I could better see their VERY GAY details. The groovalicious 1970s swirly designs on the packaging will be used as backdrops for my sets. Continue reading Customized Very Gay Bratz!
All in a day’s work: Various doll projects from today
Besides writing and shooting a doll photostory about the Stupid Bags Collection [part I], I also worked on a few other things.
I tried to use Obitsu 24 knee joints to articulate the elbows of an MGA Rainbow Poopsie Surprise 14″ doll. It did not work as planned, so no pics.
Continue reading All in a day’s work: Various doll projects from today
Hardshippers Daisy Bee and Marie in…Stupid Bags I!
The Shuz Store debuts its annual Stupid Bags Collection, much to Marie’s consternation.
The Stupid Bag Collection is inspired by the padlock, basketball, and THIS IS NOT A DESIGNER BAG bags from the recent MGA Rainbow High Mini Accessories Studio release. After inventing the Stupid Bag Collection, I found other stupid bags from some MGA LOL OMG dolls [the TV and the folded newspaper]. Then I supplemented then with some hilarious transparent backpacks from MGA Rainbow High Junior dolls. Behold — the Stupid Bag Collection!
Just to make it clear — I do not think that any of these bags are actually stupid. They’re weird, tacky, unusual, largely impractical, and amusing, but calling them Stupid Bags accurately transmits the Shuz Store’s sarcastic sense of humor.
Working in the Shuz Store today is Daisy Bee, a slightly repainted Mattel Barbie Fashionista 91 head on a modded MGA Rainbow High Delilah Fields body. Patronizing the Shuz Store today is Marie, a Mattel Generation Girl Dance Party Mari head on a Spin Master Liv body with Mattel WWE hands.
Continue reading Hardshippers Daisy Bee and Marie in…Stupid Bags I!
Stuff from West Lebanon area thrift stores!
I visited LyraJean yesterday, and we hit two independent thrift stores run by the nonprofit Listen in the White River Junction / West Lebanon area. She keeps telling me about all the great doll stuff that she finds in the Listen stores, so I had hopes of scoring big. Continue reading Stuff from West Lebanon area thrift stores!
Making a short, fat kidsy: Little Theo on a modded RH body
I’ve always envisioned Little Theo as a short, fat kidsy, kind of like Little Night, although pubescing earlier. Therefore an MGA Rainbow High body [from Mila Berrymore] seemed the best choice. Now that I have finally completed the mods today with the addition of a torso joint, I can show off comparison pics between a standard RH and Little Theo. Continue reading Making a short, fat kidsy: Little Theo on a modded RH body
Big dorks Silence, Night, and the Magister in…Dressing Up III!
In a sequel to the earlier dressing up stories, Silence and Night head to the Shuz Store before Halloween some 30 or 40 years later…
The “big dorks” of Hardship don’t appear in a lot of photostories, so I decided to invite them in. Silence is a custom sculpted, painted, and haired head on a BCS Clara body. Night is a Takara Cy Girl Blaze head, repainted by me, on a Hoy Toys female action figure body in “Cuban” skintone. Brocedony is a ThreeZero King Ezekiel head on a Hot Toys narrow shoulder male body. The Magister is…well, the Magister.
Yes, Night is missing her right eye. She showed up in Hardship under mysterious circumstances without it, and no one has ever learned what they were. Little Night has an empty eye socket to represent her lack of an eye. Big Night has a custom glass eye that’s entirely black, with a white skull where the pupil should be. I can’t paint such a minuscule skull, so just imagine one. :p
Continue reading Big dorks Silence, Night, and the Magister in…Dressing Up III!
Dorklets Silencitx and Little Night in…Dressing Up II!
Silencitx and Little Night discuss Halloween costumes.
In case it’s not obvious, the Elder Witches [the Magister, the Stylist, and the Hippie] are parents of Little Night and her younger sibling Little Day.
Continue reading Dorklets Silencitx and Little Night in…Dressing Up II!
Dorklets Silencitx and Little Night in…Dressing Up I!
The Shuz Store is ready for Halloween, and so are Silencitx and Little Night!
If you’ve seen any of the stories taking place in Hardship, Vermont, you’ve probably seen much of this stuff before. Masks are mostly J Dream gachapon. Vintage ad posters are graphics I made for some 1:6 scale pulp magazines a while back.
Continue reading Dorklets Silencitx and Little Night in…Dressing Up I!
Stylist 3.0 — finally!!!
The Stylist has proved very challenging to make a doll of, much like the Magister and Ethan/the Spymaster. Continue reading Stylist 3.0 — finally!!!
Megan the astronaut princess!!
Megan Meehan, a character from Zombieville, has been through several bodies and styles over the years. The only constant remains her head, a Mattel Barbie Hispanic Sterling Silver Rose with a magnificent purple and white cone of hair and some facepaint enhanced by me. Here she is in her current form. Continue reading Megan the astronaut princess!!
Some gifts from a fellow doll lover!
Madam Violet, who contributed a story to my first charity anthology Master Works, also goes by queen-of-meows on Tumblr. A year or two ago, I gave her my 1:9 scale Thirteen, Missy, and Bill dolls because I wasn’t playing with them anymore. She was so thrilled that she vowed to return the favor with some equally wonderful things for dolls. She too customizes dolls, repaints them, and makes clothes for them. The package arrived from France earlier this week, but I did not get a chance to admire its contents until today. Photos of the choicest items follow. Continue reading Some gifts from a fellow doll lover!
Dolls with MGA RH bodies updated
Bubbles [mannequin] is a Shadow High Naomi.
Daisy Bee is on a Rainbow High Delilah Fields body.
Delilah Fields [mannequin] is on an RH Poppy Rowan body.
Emeraud is on an RH Sunny Madison body.
Leila is on an RH Robin Sterling body.
Ghoulia is on an SH Nicole Steele body.
Mirabel is on an RH Kia Hart body.
PJ is on an RH Jett Dawson body.
Rosie is on an RH Vanessa Tempo body.
Little Theo is on an RH Mila Berrymore body.
RH Delilah Fields inspires a new character, Daisy Bee!
Wave 4 of Rainbow High characters introduces my mostest favoritest character, Delilah Fields, a diffident creative writing major. She is an albino Black girl with a pale yellow palette. The spectacular shirtdress on the doll, as well as the cute daisies and bees in her accessories, attracted me. The character’s personality on the show [which is surprisingly cute for an extended doll advertisement] and her focus also got me. Continue reading RH Delilah Fields inspires a new character, Daisy Bee!
Dolls at my office
My latest job has an actual office that I go to everyday. It has no windows, so lots of white walls to decorate. I am slowly making it doll-themed… Continue reading Dolls at my office
Dorklets Little Night and Little Day in…Roller Skating II!
Little Night tries to help Little Day roller skate. It doesn’t go so well. Finally they decide to do something else. Continue reading Dorklets Little Night and Little Day in…Roller Skating II!
Dorklet Little Allison in…Roller Skating I!
When Moose Toys came out with Real Little shuz wave 2, there were funky roller skates as part of the offerings! I immediately became obsessed with kitting out all seven dorklets in roller skates. They’ve been sitting on my shelf, waiting for an opportunity to skate, for about a month, however. Today one of the dorklets, Little Allison, and her mom Elva got a chance.
Little Allison [who grows up to be the Allison in my recent Allison in Wonderland photoshoot] is a Jakks Pacific Juku Couture Kana head, repainted and rehaired by me, on a body that is Spin Master Liv from neck to waist, Obitsu 24 from waist to upper thigh swivels, and Spin Master Liv from mid-thighs to feets. This seems to be the best compromise I have found for kid bodies in other colors besides extremely white and slightly peach. Unfortunately, the Liv arms only have single-jointed elbows, but the tight, flexible Obitsu abdomen/pelvis allows for very expressive bending, curling, and crouching poses. This hybrid body can also wear shorts and teeshirts without showing any mismatching skintones. Plus the double-jointed knees are pretty decent.
Elva, Little Allison’s mom, is the black Curvy BMR 1959 head, aged, de-glammed, and given locs by me, on a Mattel Made to Move body that doesn’t fully match but I don’t care. She used to be the standard height, but I shortened her. I’ve finally found the secret to shortening MTMs. Instead of hacking through the thighs [which are solid and therefore composed of the thickest plastic on the doll], I now remove excess length from the hollow middle section of the abdomen and then from the ankles. You can significantly reduce the doll’s height this way with no harm to general proportions. In fact, the shortened waist helps the elbows and the hands to fall at more realistic places.
Continue reading Dorklet Little Allison in…Roller Skating I!
Otakuthon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 08/06/2022: Doll tea party and the rest
Next we went to the doll tea party, where we met up with some BJD lovers that we had seen at previous Otakuthons. Dolls are identified according to the order in which their photos appear in this post. Continue reading Otakuthon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 08/06/2022: Doll tea party and the rest
Otakuthon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 08/06/2022: Chinatown and Otakuthon dealer room again
On the morning of the 6th, we encountered low humidity and perfect temperatures [low 80s F] with sunshine again. We got up really honkin’ early at 6:00 AM and waited for the hotel breakfast to be served, where I ate hardboiled eggs, chocolate mini croissants, and melon. I organized the previous day’s photos until about 9:45 AM.
Thereupon I wandered into Chinatown. Continue reading Otakuthon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 08/06/2022: Chinatown and Otakuthon dealer room again
Otakuthon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 08/05/2022: Kagayaki and Nanami
Right at 5 PM, we made our traditional pilgrimage to Kagayaki Shabu Shabu. I had the kombu and dashi essence broth, ponzu sauce [a citrus-flavored sauce], and lamb for my shabu shabu. Continue reading Otakuthon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 08/05/2022: Kagayaki and Nanami
Otakuthon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 08/05/2022: Hotel and dealer room
Lyra and I left Essex, VT for Otakuthon early on Friday, August 5th. After a quick stop at West Meadow Farm for gluten-free bakery treats, I drove northward. With cloudy and occasional misty weather in Vermont, we encountered little traffic and made good time, crossing the border in a startling 35 minutes. From the border to Montreal, the clouds cleared, and the sun shone. Southern Quebec seems strangely flat in comparison to the rippling valleys of New England, and there are many more active farms with silos and grain elevators, neither of which are seen much in my state.
We arrived in Montreal around lunch time, checked in to our favorite hotel, the Travelodge on Boulevard Rene Levesque West, very early, and dropped our stuff in room 411. I think that, with the pandemic, people have temporarily curtailed their activities, so we saw few crowds, even in the city.
Usually we have arrived at Otakuthon in mid-afternoon on Friday, starting our days much later. This time, we enjoyed a leisurely start with a partial circuit of the vendor/dealer room. As usual, I spent most of my time in artist’s alley, chatting with artists whose work I was especially interested in. Pictures follow, mostly from booths where I bought stuff. Vendors show up in booth pics unless otherwise noted.Continue reading Otakuthon, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 08/05/2022: Hotel and dealer room
Touching up Real Littles shuz
Finally finished touching up some Violet Flyer Real Littles shuz.
Hardshippers in…Red Queen V: “Success”
Despite Ebru’s dramatics, the Red Queen Serial Killer rampages after Allison Wonderland. Allison Wonderland defeats her foe, however. Huzzah! The Red Queen series ends. Continue reading Hardshippers in…Red Queen V: “Success”
Hardshippers in…Red Queen IV: “Ebru Finds Out”
There is some confusion between the characters of the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts. Allison and Carnelian don’t really have problems with it, but Ebru does. Continue reading Hardshippers in…Red Queen IV: “Ebru Finds Out”
Hardshippers in…Red Queen III: “Carnelian Is Prepared”
Carnelian is all set for her role as the Red Queen in the Alice in Wonderland photoshoot. Or is she?
Carnelian’s case of bloody tools comes from Ringdoll’s Jack the Ripper Misty Midnight figure. Continue reading Hardshippers in…Red Queen III: “Carnelian Is Prepared”
Repainting a Laura Art x Toycity figure
Laura Art x Toycity produces some highly stylized blind box figures of little kids with different themes. I got a few from the Passion Fruit series and the Pool Fight series, with the goal of repainting at least one and putting the head on a more articulated body. Results below. Continue reading Repainting a Laura Art x Toycity figure
Hardshippers in…Mystery Shoot II: “Who Planned This?”
Allison figures out who the Magister is playing, despite his best attempts at obfuscation. Ebru reveals her plan. The contents of the Magister’s hookah are left to your imagination. Given that he’s an Elder Witch, though, it’s probably something magical and trippy…Continue reading Hardshippers in…Mystery Shoot II: “Who Planned This?”
Hardshippers in…Mystery Shoot I: “Groovy Shrooms”
Allison fumbles with the electricity on set and discovers the Magister hanging out with some lightup shrooms. They have an elliptical conversation in which he acts just as mysterious and frustrating as the Wonderland character he’s [probably] playing. If you remember which character sat on a mushroom and said to Alice, “Who are you?”, then you’ll know who the Magister is playing. The hookah might also give it away.
Yeah, I said hookah. I made him one with a glass paperweight as the water reservoir, a brass candle holder as the neck, the platter from the Battat Glitter Girls Sweet Shop that holds the candied apples, and a 1:12 scale TV antenna. A mini lava lamp would have probably finished off the stack of things more realistically, but I think a TV antenna on a hookah is funnier. The nozzle off the side and the mouthpiece are pieces of colored dowels. The tube connecting the nozzle and the mouthpiece is string hot glued to the nozzle and the mouthpiece. You’ll have to wait till next time to see what comes out of it! Sure, the whole thing looks out of scale, but this is Wonderland, so weirdness is standard.
Background mushrooms are just 2D decorations quickly made from scrapbook paper with colored pencil embellishments. If you’ve been following my doll photostories, you may have seen the lightup shrooms here and there. They’re Japanese gachapon that I got off Ebay, and they’re remarkably useful for adding a little strangeness to any scene.
Continue reading Hardshippers in…Mystery Shoot I: “Groovy Shrooms”
Hardshippers in…Mad Tea Party V: “Silliness Breaks Out”
Allison and Marvin get together and cause mayhem, much to Ebru’s consternation.Continue reading Hardshippers in…Mad Tea Party V: “Silliness Breaks Out”
Hardshippers in…Red Queen II: “Ebru Finds a Red Queen”
Ebru finds the perfect Red Queen in Carnelian!!
!!!Action!!! juice is played by J Dream gachapon.
P.S. Carnelian is actually a witch, which makes the pun even better. >:)
Continue reading Hardshippers in…Red Queen II: “Ebru Finds a Red Queen”
Hardshippers in…Red Queen I: “Carnelian’s Finds”
Ebru goes scooting and helps Carnelian.
Ebru is a Mattel Barbie Extra #1 head with makeup enhanced and hair adjusted by me. Dress is from Mattel Barbie Fashionista 90 [aka the gay Barbie]. Her sunglasses are from the Mattel Star Wars C3PO Barbie. Ebru’s scooter is a Vespa with sidecar. Cool, right?!
Carnelian is a Coomodel/Ouzhixiang Monster Files No. 4 Witch head and outfit on Takara Cy Girl 1.0 body. Shoefeetz are from MGA Bratz. Giant gummy bear is from a Mattel Barbie Extra playset. Luggage on wheels is from MGA Rainbow High Rainbow Vision Sabrina St. Cloud. Continue reading Hardshippers in…Red Queen I: “Carnelian’s Finds”
Hardshippers in…Mad Tea Party IV: “Prop Problems”
Allison and Marvin are not listening to Ebru, who is increasingly exasperated.
Leaning Tower of Pisa burger is from Rement. Mug with pan flag design [and many more Pride designs] can be found at PrintedByStovall.
Continue reading Hardshippers in…Mad Tea Party IV: “Prop Problems”
Hardshippers in…Mad Tea Party III: “Very Sensitive”
Felix has to deal with Marvin, who is having some problems with his character.
Marvin is a BCS Baron Samedi with facepaint removed. [He had half his face painted white because he’s a likeness of the character in Live and Let Die.] I love the headsculpt. Though it’s meant to portray a very energetic and unhinged character, the wide open mouth is surprisingly versatile, especially when combined with the wonderfully sculpted hands. When he’s not playing the Mad Hatter, Marvin sings for Hardship’s rock band Flaming Hot Pussy because, with that face, how can he not?!
Mirror is played by some MGA LOL OMG Surprise packaging.
Continue reading Hardshippers in…Mad Tea Party III: “Very Sensitive”
Hardshippers in…Mad Tea Party II: “Poofy Sleeves”!
Felix, who does lights, goes to see where the missing stars are of Ebru’s photoshoot. He fixes Allison’s problem.
Felix is some action figure dude, probably by Dragon/DML. Shirt is a dress from a Mattel Barbie Fashionista. Loafers are from a Mattel BTS doll.
Allison is a custom sculpted action figure head by Eric Barclay, painted by me. Wig is by Culte de Paris. Outfit is by Peppermint Circus.
Dressing room is LOL OMG Surprise Rocker Boi packaging that I added a curtain and curtain rod too. I also modded the interior art.
Continue reading Hardshippers in…Mad Tea Party II: “Poofy Sleeves”!
Hardshippers in…Mad Tea Party I: “Where Are the Stars?”
Ebru plans a super awesome Alice in Wonderland photoshot…at least it would be awesome if the stars showed up!
Ebru is a Mattel Barbie Extra #1 head with makeup enhanced and hair adjusted by me. Dress is from Mattel Barbie Fashionista 90 [aka the gay Barbie]. Coat is from MGA Shadow High Storm Twins.
Backdrop is a Mattel Ever After High Way Too Wonderland playset. Isn’t it freakin’ awesome?! Most of the mini tea party stuff comes from Rement. The Cheshire Cat is needle felted by WoolMiniatureOK.
Continue reading Hardshippers in…Mad Tea Party I: “Where Are the Stars?”
RH bodies updated
Elva is on a Rainbow High Robin Sterling body. But she needs a darker, cooler colored body.
Emeraud is on an RH Vanessa Tempo body. But I recently ordered an RH Sunny Madison body for her because I dislike the floppy knees that her current body has.
Ghoulia is on a Shadow High Nicole Steele body.
Mirabel is on an RH Kia Hart body.
Leila is on an RH Robin Sterling body.
PJ is on an RH Jett Dawson body.
Rosie is on an RH Vanessa Tempo body.
Dolls with MGA Rainbow High bodies
Elva is on a Rainbow High Robin Sterling body.
Emeraud is on an RH Vanessa Tempo body. But I recently ordered an RH Sunny Madison body for her because I dislike the floppy knees that her current body has.
Ghoulia is on a Shadow High Nicole Steele body.
Mirabel is on an RH Kia Hart body.
PJ is on an RH Jett Dawson body.
Rosie is on an RH Vanessa Tempo body.
Modding the Motorwagen
I acquired a 1:8 scale model of a Benz Motorwagen recently, and it looks so damn cool. However, 1:8 scale is too small for my 1:6 scale dolls, so I decided to enlarge the seat and extend the tiller so that Silence could drive it and Ethan could be passenger. Continue reading Modding the Motorwagen
THE SPYMASTER LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES…updated!
I had some extra hands from BCS Baron Samedi that I knew would be perfect for the Spymaster 8.0. The only problem was that they were covered with rings. Recently I hacked the rings off, filled in the divots with Aves Apoxie Sculpt, painted, then sealed the damn things. The sculpting is neither 100% meticulous nor 100% anatomically correct, but it looks pretty good. The Spymaster thinks so too!
Much to my annoyance, his original reddish pants leaked dye on EVERYTHING, so I replaced them with a pair of paints that @natalunasans originally sent me for my Third Doctor. Continue reading THE SPYMASTER LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES…updated!
DW characters in…Sweater Sale X!
The Master is back! The Third Doctor is bothering the Master about sweaters [“jumpers” across the pond]. So is Jo. As I may have mentioned, Three is a Titans 3″ vinyl Third Doctor head with repainted face on a BCS body with mostly BCS clothes, but Integrity FR Homme blazer. The Master is being played by the Magister, a Roger Delgado likeness that I resculpted and repainted, and a Hot Toys short, narrow body. Jo is a custom sculpted, painted, and wigged action figure head by me on a Mattel Made to Move petite body with BCS Solitaire hands. Continue reading DW characters in…Sweater Sale X!
Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale IX!
Brocedony finds the sweater of his dreams. And it’s on sale! It’s an overwhelming moment.
I must admit that I love taking stern, armor-wearing figures, like the Threezero King Ezekiel that Brocedony used to be, and turning them into casual characters with a sense of humor.
Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale VIII!
Nychthemeron finally exits the dressing room. IT’S VERY LOUD IN THERE, OKAY? We see why. Like I said earlier, the dressing room and mirror props come from LOL OMG Surprise packages. They look cool in person and even cooler in photos! Continue reading Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale VIII!
Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale VII!
A new side of the Shuz Store appears — the dressing rooms! They’re played by MGA LOL OMG packaging, which is very clever and cute and complementary to the LOL OMG dolls’ style. The style also feels perfectly at home in a tacky clothing store like the Shuz Store.
Frossinaffe is waiting and reading. She’s a recent Mattel Barbie Fashionista Mattel Big City Big Dreams Lyla head on a Mattel Barbie Made to Move body. Brocedony is a Threezero King Ezekiel [The Walking Dead] action figure head on a non-matching [and thus covered] Hot Toys short narrow body. Hands are from a Takara Cy Girl! Nychthemeron, in the last frame, is a Mattel WWE Superstar head on a Takara Cy Girl body.
Shuz, as usual, are played by Moose Toys Real Littles shuz. I had to stick in the roller skates from wave 2 because they’re just so cool. They’re the glittery ones with a lightup feature. I can’t remove the tabs to get the lights to work, which is fine. They’re quite fabulous as it is.Continue reading Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale VII!
Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale VI!
Aphanarit wants another cute sweater. Reeve tries to help. Aphanarit is a Mattel Barbie Looks #10. Reeve is a Prettie Girl made by the One World Doll Project with shortened torso and added double-jointed elbows from Obitsu 24. She’s wearing a coat from one of the Mattel Barbie Cutie Reveals over a dress from a Mattel WWE fashion doll and some MGA Rainbow High shoes. Continue reading Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale VI!
Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale V!
Dom is hiding from the Magister, certain that the Magister will smite him with powers of magical mental manipulation. Will he? Continue reading Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale V!
Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale IV!
A miracle has occurred, and the Magister has taken a break from playing the Master to terrorize Dom visit the Shuz Store.
All my dolls, 06/30/2022
Updated from the one two months ago with those small populations who have significantly changed and been added. Continue reading All my dolls, 06/30/2022
Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale III!
The Hippie acquires a sweater. Dom is shocked. There is more discussion about Elder Witches. Then the OTHER one shows up. Continue reading Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale III!
Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale II!
Caveat’s comment about Hardshippers having no sense of style comes back to bite him. The Elder Witch known only as the Stylist appears!! She is a repainted/resculpted/rewigged head from some collector doll on a Mattel Made To Move body with action figure hands. Her sock sweater says, appropriately enough, HAIR STYLIST.
Then the Elder Witch known only as the Hippie shows up! They’re a custom sculpted/painted/wigged head on an Obitsu Slender Male body with BCS action figure hands.
The third Elder Witch, the Magister, is busy playing Delgado Master and will not be appearing unless some miracle occurs. Continue reading Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale II!
Hardshippers in…Sweater Sale I!
I have made many 1:6 scale sweaters out of socks over the years, so this miniseries shows how hilariously tacky they are.
Caveat is the store clerk. He finally got some ungloved hands! The first shopper is Dom, some DML action figure dude rerooted and repainted by @dollsahoy in the previous millennium. The shopper who can hear colors is Ghoulia, a repainted Mattel Claudette [?] head on an MGA Shadow High body. Sock sweaters are played by actual socks for 1:1 scale human beings that I used to make doll sweaters.
The Spymaster LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!
After struggling for YEARS to get the Spymaster right and eventually turning my Spymaster likeness doll into Ethan, I thought I was done with dolls of that guy. Continue reading The Spymaster LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!
Hardshipper meets Doctor Who character in…The TCE!
Yeah yeah, you all know the guy in black as the Magister, but here he’s playing Roger Delgado as the Master in Doctor Who for comedic effect. Ethan is playing himself. Both the Magister and Ethan are custom sculpted and painted [and, in Ethan’s case, wigged] resin heads on Hot Toys small narrow shoulder male action figure bodies.
Continue reading Hardshipper meets Doctor Who character in…The TCE!
Dorklets Night and Day in…The Chest Freezer!
Don’t worry — they’re not inside the chest freezer. They’re just excavating in it. What will they find?? Chest freezer is played by an Ohio Arts tin lithographed recipe card holder from the 1950s or the 1960s. The bright, lovely graphics will go well with my tin lithographed stove! Dessert packages and desserts themselves are played by Moose Toy Shopkins, some of which are pretty useful, if you can disguise the fact that they have cartoony faces. Continue reading Dorklets Night and Day in…The Chest Freezer!
Hardshippers in…The Shuz Store IV!
Shuz Store drama continues. Salesperson of dubious skill is Caveat. Customer is Aphanarit, one of the recent Mattel Barbie Looks metallic series. Shuz are played by Moose Toys Real Littles Shoes. Caveat’s opinion does not correspond with my own because I think Real Littles shuz look good on everyone! Caveat is just being a jerk. Continue reading Hardshippers in…The Shuz Store IV!
Hardshippers in…The Shuz Store III!
The Shuz Store is only nominally involved here. The real star is one of the many sweaters I’ve made out of novelty socks. It’s time for a parade of dubiously sewn fashion! Stay tuned! Purchaser of the sweater is Evan, a Mattel Wizarding World H**** P***** Luna Lovegood head, dehaired and slightly repainted, on a generic fashion doll body from Aliexpress with legs shortened and feet replaced. Interlocutor is Terra, a Mattel Barbie head, slightly repainted, on a Mattel Creatable World body, covered up because it doesn’t really match her head and also because I added non-matching double elbow joints from an Obitsu 21. Continue reading Hardshippers in…The Shuz Store III!
Hardshippers in…The Shuz Store II!
The Shuz Store strikes again. Megan is clerking, along with Caveat. Customer is Priscilla, a Mattel Wizarding World H**** P***** Bellatrix Lestrange with slightly customized face paint and restyled hair. Shuz are played by Moose Toys Real Littles Shoes, which are all amazingly tacky, and I love them. Priscilla is obviously looking in the wrong store.
Continue reading Hardshippers in…The Shuz Store II!
Hardshippers in…The Shuz Store I!
You wouldn’t know it from the comic below, but I have developed an elaborate shoestore set — named the Shuz Store — on my set desk. The first of several Shuz Store adventures features Missy and Megan. Missy is a custom sculpted/painted/wigged head on a Playmates Toys Billie Eilish body with added upper arm swivels. Megan is a Mattel Sterling Silver Rose Barbie [Hispanic version] head with faceup enhanced by me on a Spin Master Liv body. Continue reading Hardshippers in…The Shuz Store I!
Three and the Master dispute over fashion
The Master has been rummaging in the Third Doctor’s closet! …At least for the first shot. They’ve also been shoe shopping together… Continue reading Three and the Master dispute over fashion
At long last, the Third Doctor!!
I finally got motivated recently to finish a project that has been in the works for several years: the Third Doctor in 1:6 scale! Continue reading At long last, the Third Doctor!!
Garden gnome shopping at the candy store?!
Another tale from Hardship, this one features Harry and Missy shopping for…a garden gnome?! Continue reading Garden gnome shopping at the candy store?!
Dorklets visit a shoe store!
Jyll got me a Glitter Girls Sweet Shop for my birthday, and it made its debut as a shoe store in today’s photostory.
Starring Saba, an American Girl Girls of Many Lands Saba head on a Spin Master Liv body with custom wig, as shopkeeper.
Also starring Ethancitx [the dorklet in shorts] and Meghna, his older sister. Ethancitx is a custom sculpted/painted/wigged head with a body made from at least 5 separate bodies [including Obitsu 24 pelvis/upper thighs, unnamed AliExpress action figure arms, and Spin Master Liv legs]. Meghna is a Mattel Barbie Fashionista head with custom wig and faceup.
And introducing Battat Glitter Girls Sweet Shop as the shoe store! The shoes on the outside rack labeled Shoezies are, surprisingly enough, Hasbro Shoezies from the early 2000s. The rest of the footwear is Moose Toys Real Littles shoes, which fits with the playful aesthetic of the store.
Continue reading Dorklets visit a shoe store!
Dorklets outside at the concession stand!
I went outside in the shade for about two hours and took pics of the dorklets having snacks at an outdoor concession stand. Why is Sharmila, the concessionaire, wearing a 1700s French court dress? Why not?! Continue reading Dorklets outside at the concession stand!
Vintage industrial size canned goods in 1:6 scale!!!
Last month I designed some labels for miniature canned goods. The labels themselves are public domain images from the early days of canned foods, around the 1880s to the early 1900s. I merely fiddled with the image size and color to prepare them for printing. “My plastic friends” [as @natalunasans calls them], NMI Plastics in Kewadin, MI, printed plastic cans to my specs for me to put the labels on. Pics below. Continue reading Vintage industrial size canned goods in 1:6 scale!!!
Hardship Toy Adventures V — another fortune telling machine!
For those of you unfamiliar with Hardship, it’s a small town in Vermont populated by your average small-town weirdos, some of whom are witches. Magic is real, and so is time travel and teleportation, and we even see a little bit of magic at work in this episode.
Continue reading Hardship Toy Adventures V — another fortune telling machine!
Steampunk airship cabin: mocking up
Did some more work on the airship cabin this evening… Continue reading Steampunk airship cabin: mocking up
All my dolls, 04/20/2022
Took a census of all my dolls that are out and about. Because the Hardship Toy Shop set has the best light, I decided to photo my small populations in front of my Liebig trade cards showing a kid playing with her doll. Well, at least until I got tired of taking everyone off the shelves and photoing them. Some photos are taken from my previous census of those dolls who haven’t changed since then. Continue reading All my dolls, 04/20/2022
Steampunk airship cabin: deco, levers, curtains
I have acquired some stuff for interior deco for the steampunk airship cabin. Continue reading Steampunk airship cabin: deco, levers, curtains
Hardship Toy Shop Adventures IV — toy shop mysteries!
For those of you unfamiliar with Hardship, it’s a small town in Vermont populated by your average small-town weirdos, some of whom are witches. Magic is real, and so is time travel and teleportation, though none of these are really relevant to the Toy Shop Adventures.
All of these dolls are customized 1:6 scale action figures, about 12″ (30 cm) tall or less. Qingting, with the skateboard and historical Chinese clothing, is a Pleasant Company/American Girl Girls of Many Lands Spring Pearl. GOMLs were a line of 9″ dolls, sculpted by Helen Kish, wearing detailed, high-quality, accurate historical outfits and wigged hairstyles. They were each accompanied by a book that centered around the character and her experience in her country during historically significant times. Characters hailed from Ethiopia, China, India, Yupik territory [in present-day Alaska], etc., but the most popular [and therefore expensive] of them is the step-dancing Irish redhead. I have the kid from India and the kid from France coming, so you may see them in future installments, although probably redressed.
The very creatively named PJ [in pajamas] is a recent Mattel Barbie Looks head on an MGA Rainbow High body. She’s wearing Robin Sterling’s amazing pajamas!
I was trying to come up with hilarious reasons that Qingting would need three dogbots and PJ would be in her pjs, but then I decided it was funnier if the reasons were left to the imagination. I do have an answer, however, for the reason that the mini figure in the gravy boat [actually a curry boat] appears: because she and her friends amuse me.
Remember how I said that lots of the stuff in the toy shop is gachapon, or miniatures from Japanese vending machines? The dogbots are a perfect example. If they look familiar, it’s because they are small plastic representations of Sony AIBOs, or robotic toy dogs, produced between 1999 and 2006.
Continue reading Hardship Toy Shop Adventures IV — toy shop mysteries!
Hardship Toy Shop Adventures III — the tasty potion!
For those of you unfamiliar with Hardship, it’s a small town in Vermont populated by your average small-town weirdos, some of whom are witches. Magic is real, and so is time travel and teleportation, though none of these are really relevant to the Toy Shop Adventures.
All of these dolls are customized 1:6 scale action figures, about 12″ (30 cm) tall or less. The Hippie, who likes plants and sparkly things, is a gender-optional Elder Witch and spouse of the Magister and the Stylist. They are on an Obitsu slender male body. I sculpted their head in a digital rendering program, painted it, and made the wig myself. They have plant powers and extensive gardens.
Continue reading Hardship Toy Shop Adventures III — the tasty potion!
Hardship Toy Shop Adventures II — the scary [?] witch!
For those of you unfamiliar with Hardship, it’s a small town in Vermont populated by your average small-town weirdos, some of whom are witches. Magic is real, and so is time travel and teleportation, though none of these are really relevant to the Toy Shop Adventures.
All of these dolls are customized 1:6 scale action figures, about 12″ (30 cm) tall or less. The Magister started off life as a very frowny likeness of Roger Delgado as the Master from Doctor Who. He eventually developed into his own character, a nearly-400-year-old witch who loves the whole classic villain aesthetic and has the power of forcing people to do what he wants, though he strenuously avoids using it these days. He is married to the other two Elder Witches, the Stylist and the Hippie.
The set pieces are a little bit of this and that, with a lot of World’s Smallest/World’s Tiniest products, as well as a significant amount of gachapon (miniatures from Japanese vending machines). I made many of the books on the bookshelf, either from printables by others or my own designs. The Magister’s cookbook, Gelatinize It! [“Turn every dish into a quivering masterpiece!”], is one of my own creations, but based on actual promotional cookbooks from the 1950s. I just had so much fun writing the cover copy that I decided to show it off.
Continue reading Hardship Toy Shop Adventures II — the scary [?] witch!
Hardship Toy Shop Adventures I — the rude fortune teller!
I have the time and the props, so here is the first in an occasional series of inconsequential events occurring in the Hardship Toy Shop!!
For those of you unfamiliar with Hardship, it’s a small town in Vermont populated by your average small-town weirdos, some of whom are witches. Magic is real, and so is time travel and teleportation, though none of these are really relevant to the Toy Shop Adventures.
All of these dolls are customized 1:6 scale action figures, about 12″ (30 cm) tall or less. Rosie, who’s trying to get her fortune told, is a recent Mattel Barbie Looks head on an MGA Rainbow High Vanessa Tempo body. Bailey, the clerk, is a Medicom Bambi that I redressed. Farrier, who is looking at a book, is a Big Chief Tenth Doctor that I redressed and repainted the hair on. The Cactus Kid, petting the stuffed sheep, is a Mattel Kelly Club head on an Obitsu 11cm knockoff body. Pammy, holding the dogbot upside down, is a Medicom Pampy head (from the same set as Bailey) spliced with Obitsu 22cm parts for more articulation. She is Bailey’s younger sister.
The set pieces are a little bit of this and that, with a lot of World’s Smallest/World’s Tiniest, as well as a significant amount of gachapon (miniatures from Japanese vending machines). Zoltar is a cheap miniature for sale from Running Press. He lights up and talks (in a fake Russian accent) with the help of 2 AAA batteries. To my knowledge, he does not actually say anything about his butt.
Continue reading Hardship Toy Shop Adventures I — the rude fortune teller!
Steampunk airship: removed center floor and kitchen unit
I unscrewed a lot of screws and removed the kitchen unit and the center floor. Cleaning and modding will now be easier. The space is much larger than I expected! I wonder if I can put a bathroom in there somewhere… Continue reading Steampunk airship: removed center floor and kitchen unit
Steampunk airship base
This weekend I got in the mail an Our Generation RV Seeing You camper. Though made for 18″ dolls, the camper is undersize for them. With slight modification, it can be made suitable for 1:6ers and turned into a steampunk airship cabin!! There are some pics below of its current state.Continue reading Steampunk airship base
Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza XI!
The pizza party begins with a nap and ends with revenge.
Continue reading Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza XI!
Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza X!
Time to work on the pizzas with tomato sauce… Continue reading Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza X!
Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza IX!
With the first round of pizzas finished, the dorklets have run out of cheese. Night sends Day to the store. What could possibly go wrong?
The grocery store is played by the other part of my 1959 Wolverine tin lithographed set, the deli counter of which we saw earlier in Cooking Pizza IV. Because the backdrop is just 11″ high, I chose a shorter customer to appear with Day in the store.
Continue reading Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza IX!
Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza VIII!
Day takes over pizza making. How will Night and Ethancitx react?! Continue reading Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza VIII!
Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza VII!
While the pizza crust is pre-baking, Day comes in to help!
Continue reading Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza VII!
Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza VI!
Night and Ethancitx actually settle down to make their crust and let it rise. Continue reading Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza VI!
Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza V!
Night returns from shopping and discovers a table with absolutely no snacks on it whatsoever!!! But she recovers, and she and Ethancitx gather ingredients for tomatoless pizzas [because I do not have a mini pizza sauce in my possession yet]. Continue reading Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza V!
Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza IV!
Night runs out to purchase some ingredients.
The deli counter just came in the mail today. It’s part of a lithographed tin grocery store set made by Wolverine Toys in 1959. There’s also a folding backdrop including an illustration of a grocery store and shelves where mini foods can be stocked, but that will show up later. Originally the set came with a scale, a phone, and mini food packages, but I just got the deli counter and the folding backdrop.
The deli counter has a colorful illustration of salads, pickles, and very red meats — still vibrant after all these years! It originally stands just about 2 or 3 inches high, so I washed it with some warm water and dish soap and then mounted it on the counter of my Mattel Barbie Coca Cola Soda Fountain. I covered the scratched, stained countertop with white paper. The red on the deli counter matches the red trim of the counter set, creating a convincing deli. I added some silly signs, a few of my many kitchen appliances, and Sappho the Lesbian Love Bot [played by a 13″ Mego Jamie Sommers Bionic Woman doll with new wig and outfit] for the clerk. Then I was ready to play!
Continue reading Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza IV!
Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza III!
Ethancitx arrives ready to cook, but finds no one, so he cleans up until a toy robot distracts him. [Happens to the best of us.]
Continue reading Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza III!
Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza II!
Day replaces the snacks that they ate, but the replacements are intercepted by the Hippie… Continue reading Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza II!
Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza I!
Night is preparing snacks for Ethancitx, who’s coming over to cook with her. But Night’s little sibling Day finds the snacks first! Continue reading Dorklets Night, Day, and Ethancitx in…Cooking Pizza I!
Rainbow of potions achieved!
Got some more 1:6 scale potions [as well as a wonderful shelf for them!] from TinyNaturals to complete my rainbow. Continue reading Rainbow of potions achieved!
Mini magnetic spice rack for Pretty Maid tin litho stove
Found a way to organize all my Zuru 5 Surprise Mini spices and increase kitchen storage space at the same time. Continue reading Mini magnetic spice rack for Pretty Maid tin litho stove
New shelves for toy store!
Improved my toy store’s shelves. I used to have a shot glass display shelf for the toys, but that was too dark, with deep shelves. Unfinished wood mini bookcases work much better. Less wasted space. They take up less room too. Continue reading New shelves for toy store!
Dorklets Silencitx and Ethancitx in…The Roller Rink!
Ethancitx watches people roller skating and finally gets up enough nerve to do it himself. He keeps falling down, though, until Silencitx and Harry arrive with a solution!
Continue reading Dorklets Silencitx and Ethancitx in…The Roller Rink!
Nata’s Neologisms #7
Nata sent me a picture of some toy meerkats and said:
my brain lost the name for these creatures
i went through groundhogs, standyuppies, merpeople….
then as soon as i posted it here to ask you, my brain chilled out and said prairie dogs
I said: Meerkats.
New potions and notions for the Elder Witches!
I’ve collected a variety of charming miniature glass bottles from Michelle Currie at TinyNaturals Gift Shop on Etsy. The Elder Witches love them! Continue reading New potions and notions for the Elder Witches!
Miniature Masters
Warlord Games has made pewter 28mm scale gaming minis of almost all the Masters: Delgado, Ainley, Pratt/Beevers, Yana, Simm, and Missy. I’m collecting them all and having them professionally painted so I can have a chronological set of mini Masters through Missy. Also Warlord Games didn’t make a Roberts Master, so I’m using a hooded cobra mini to represent that incarnation, as he looks like a blue ghost snake before he possesses Roberts’ character. Continue reading Miniature Masters
New sock sweaters
I made some more sock sweaters recently: one for the Stylist, two for the dorklets. Continue reading New sock sweaters
Emeraud, customized new Mattel Barbie Looks
My newest custom got the steampunk power chair! Continue reading Emeraud, customized new Mattel Barbie Looks
One horse open sleigh!!
The dorklets now have one. Continue reading One horse open sleigh!!
Makin’ sock sweaters, du ti du ti du
I got on a sock-sweater-making kick in the past few days. After wearing out my obsession about 5 years ago, I resumed it recently. I made 4 sock sweaters for the dorklets for an upcoming photostory. Continue reading Makin’ sock sweaters, du ti du ti du
The dorklets in…Playing in the Snow part V!!
In the final installment, the snow witch is completed and snacks are snacked upon. Continue reading The dorklets in…Playing in the Snow part V!!
The dorklets in…Playing in the Snow part IV
In this installment, a snow individual is constructed. Continue reading The dorklets in…Playing in the Snow part IV
The dorklets in…Playing in the Snow part III
In this installment, snow construction begins.Continue reading The dorklets in…Playing in the Snow part III
The dorklets in…Playing in the Snow part II
The dorklets are playing in the snow. In this installment, there is a snowball fight. Continue reading The dorklets in…Playing in the Snow part II
The dorklets in…Playing in the Snow part I
The lining of my fleece blanket and 100 cotton balls serve as a playground for everyone’s favorite kidsies… In this installment, Day hides in the snow. Continue reading The dorklets in…Playing in the Snow part I
Improving poseability of MGA Rainbow High dolls
I love the MGA Rainbow High fashions, but the bodies leave a few things to be desired. I’m not a fan of the short torsos and small hands, but I can deal with that. I have much more of a problem with the limited articulation. Out of the box, the body can’t sit up straight. Elbows only bend 90 degrees, as do legs. Also, I put Barbie heads on the necks, but the neck range of motion for a smaller head is very limited. Modding to the rescue! Continue reading Improving poseability of MGA Rainbow High dolls
Dried herbs for the Elder Witches
I bought some bunches of miniature dried plants from Etsy, and the seller threw in a lot of extras, so I made several bunches of dried herbs for the Elder Witches. Continue reading Dried herbs for the Elder Witches
At long last, Big Allison is complete!
Finally, Allison 3.0 has her final headsculpt with final hair! Her Afro puff wig came [much later than expected], and she’s now complete! Thus I have achieved one of my goals for this year — to finish updating all the Big Dorklets! Continue reading At long last, Big Allison is complete!
Shelf of witchy supplies
I pulled out my magic supplies that I’ve been collecting and glued them all to a shelf. Now I can easily add witchy supplies to any scene. Continue reading Shelf of witchy supplies
The dorklets and the Elder Witches in…Candy for Breakfast part V!
In the final chapter of our drama, the Elder Witches discover what the dorklets have been doing instead of getting ready for breakfast. Continue reading The dorklets and the Elder Witches in…Candy for Breakfast part V!
The black cat has a kidsy, Catrine!
I got an 11cm doll body and plopped a mini vinyl figure’s head on it. The relative scale to the black cat and the happy expression on the vinyl fig’s face made me think that this character was clearly a perky lil kid. Continue reading The black cat has a kidsy, Catrine!
The Elder Witches in…Candy for Breakfast part IV!
While the dorklets are eating candy in Day’s bedroom, the Magister makes breakfast in the kitchen. Continue reading The Elder Witches in…Candy for Breakfast part IV!
Come4Arts 1:9 scale Pet Hospital figures
At the end of October, @natalunasans and I recently split a purchase of 6 blind boxed 1:9 scale figures by Come4Arts. Their bulky default outfits, single-jointed female bodies [versus double-jointed male bodies], and weird distribution of accessories among figures made them a real disappointment, not at all worth $350.00.
I worked hard to improve the figures. I’ve gotten them to an acceptable point of poseability, but I’m still not sure what I’m going to do with them. Right now they’re just hanging out on a shelf in the living room, chatting.
Continue reading Come4Arts 1:9 scale Pet Hospital figures
The Dorklets in…Candy for Breakfast part III!
Night and Day return triumphant. There is a celebratory feast. Continue reading The Dorklets in…Candy for Breakfast part III!
The dorklets in…Candy for Breakfast part II!
The other dorklets wake up to discover that Night and Day have mysteriously disappeared… Meghna tries to entertain herself by dancing, but there is a surprise pillow attack.
Continue reading The dorklets in…Candy for Breakfast part II!
Doll-adjacent ephemera
I’ve developed a little interest in doll-adjacent ephemera in the past month or two. Continue reading Doll-adjacent ephemera
The dorklets in…Candy for Breakfast part I!
The post-Halloween sleepover… Continue reading The dorklets in…Candy for Breakfast part I!
The dorklets in…The Halloween Store Part II!
Being silly in the store…
Continue reading The dorklets in…The Halloween Store Part II!