Crafting, Jacqueline and Letting Go

I haven't been making a lot of crafts lately; just a few things I could do here and there with the amount of time and motivation I had at the moment...

I finally made a miniature laptop! But this laptop is pretty funny because the screen is obviously Windows and the keyboard is a Mac! The things you can do with crafting, haha! It's just made of advertising pages that I cut out and stuck on card stock and black foam sheet.

For reference, here's Lottie with the laptop!

This kid is spoiled, I swear. She has iPads, cellular phones... now a laptop. LOL.

And I finally got around to working on this Takara kitchen counter that I bought at a thrift store like 2 or 3 years ago. It was so cheap because the chrome paint job on the counter has chipped, and it has missing drawers and doors. I don't mind though. Anyway I painted a first coat of silver paint on it. I didn't finish painting it in one sitting because I didn't use a primer so the paint don't really adhere to the plastic unless I wait for the coat to dry first. It could have used some sanding, definitely, but at the time I began working on it, I couldn't find my sandpaper, haha.

It's a good size for Lottie. I'll think of something for a photo shoot. Besides, I do have a lot of miniature food and dining items that I can use for this counter.

And oh my gosh, I found a Fresh Doll while thrifting! She's Jacqueline from The Fresh Dolls, and she's missing a hair plug on her hairline, which is entirely my fault because I'm such an intense doll hair brusher, lol. And it's not noticeable because have you seen her hair? Look it's huge!

I love finding black dolls that I like for my collection. Maybe next time I can make a post about all the black dolls I have. It's not a huge collection, but it's growing and I find these dolls more interesting than blonde/white Barbie dolls, sorry.

Oh and I'm thinking of pronouncing her name "Jay-Quell-in" like in that Substitute Teacher video from Key and Peele. If you haven't seen it, you should!

Lately I've been trimming down my collection and sold a few of them on Facebook. I guess you can say that I'm using the KonMari method, somewhat. I mean, there was a time in the past that I really enjoyed these dolls, but I don't feel the same way now anymore. It's rather time to appreciate the good times and let another person enjoy the dolls I'm letting go. An example is this set of Spice Girls figures I've had for so long. 

OK, they're not dolls, but this is actually a good example because I've had these figures for a decade, I think. And I've asked myself so many times why I've held on to these figures.

Well first of all, it took me a while to complete them. I didn't even know I would be able to, so this set reminds me of how luck was on my side in finding all of them for a very good price. I know they're collectibles, but I'm not really a big Spice Girls fan, to begin with, so collecting Spice Girls memorabilia isn't really in my agenda. Sure, I like Victoria Beckham (nee Adams) and enjoyed Spice Girls songs back in the day, but I don't feel the same amount of adoration for them as I would feel for, say, the Backstreet Boys, which I really really loved when I was younger. So if the memory of me finding them all is the only thing that's sparking joy (Haha, very KonMari), then would a photograph of this figure set be enough? And I told myself, yes it would be enough. At the moment, someone I know has reserved this set and I'm waiting to be paid. I'm so ready to move on.

I hope to be able to blog more. I want to even talk about those dolls I've sold but those would be for a different blog post. Cheers!

DIY Doll Hanging Egg Chair

I finally made a hanging egg chair for my doll!

The seat is just a clear plastic bowl I found at the store. I hand drilled a hole on one side and attached a jump ring and a short chain to it, then I hung it up on...

... a banana holder! The shape of this banana holder is perfect!

Now I have to make a cushion with pits on it to make this chair more comfortable.

Here's a video for making a hanging egg chair using yarn!

I really did want to use a clear plastic bowl and a banana holder though so I didn't follow the instructions (except for attaching chains to the chair). The good thing about that project above is it fits 1:6 dolls.

I also made the pants Lottie is wearing in the photo. The fabric is from an old sewing project that I abandoned years ago.

In other news, I can't find the set of tiny plastic easter eggs that I wanted to buy anymore. They're now out of stock! I shouldn't have hesitated the first time I saw them, ugh. Oh well, I think I can just come up with another idea on how to make doll balloons. I mean, I could totally use regular sized eggs, but Lottie is small. I want something that's more in scale for her size.

The idea about doll balloons came from here, btw:

Lottie's World: Skater Girl

I found this cool gift wrapper with a brick design and graffiti that looks wholesome for my project. I thought it would be cool if I make a simple street or alley diorama.

Cute Toffee the dog trying to skate.

Here's how I set up the scene: just a square piece of cardboard covered with the graffiti gift wrapper for the wall, and grainy sand paper for the concrete floor. The lights are not stationary. I move them around to eliminate most, if not all, annoying shadows, just enough not to produce glare on Lottie's eyes.

Lottie's World: Tea Time and Bird Watching

I was finally able to make two pallets from popsicle sticks, and on a different occasion, I bought small artificial greens. I put them together and here they are.

A tea time scene with accidental bird watching on the side, lol. 

My sister told me that the dog in the photo reminds her of her old dog named Toffee. So I told her I will name this dog Toffee then.

I really like how the artificial plants and the pallet came together. The pallets look like actual plant boxes.

That's the hummingbird from Pocahontas, haha.

I don't mind my diorama looking boxy or isolated. This is Lottie's world, after all.

A New Paper Craft, and Lottie's World: I'm Just Really Tired Edition

Last week or so, I found this gift wrapping paper with Japanese paper fans as the design. It was quite worn out compared to the other gift wrapping paper on sale, but I chose this because I thought I could cut them out into tiny paper fans.

They're doll sized paper fans! Lots of them! My dolls could use these as accessories, or I could use them for doll wall decor. Awesome.

Also I was going through some doll clothes and found this sweater I made for Honey Swamp using an old sock. It was pretty worn out but I thought that Lottie might still be able to use it, even for one last time.

I don't know what came over me when I made this scene, lol. I think I wanted Lottie to shovel snow, hahaha.

I changed the back panel, just because.

The yellow lamp is from Mattel. The shovel is from a Pocahontas boating set, I believe. The hat and the watch are probably Licca's, I'm not sure. The black socks are cut-off legs from this failed sewing project of a custom Violet Parr doll. The shoes are actually generic bootleg sneakers that I've modified with a crafting knife to fit Lottie's feet. The soles have been removed, the back of the shoes have been cut off, and the inside has been carved to accommodate's her feet. I stabbed my thumb in the process, ouch. Also I have removed the factory paint with nail polish remover. I was thinking about painting it, but white sneakers look cool. I'll keep them that way.

The dog's hat is from a chocolate dispenser. The dog's scarf is a fabric I dyed with purple stamp ink. It's actually the prototype skirt of my custom Hit Girl doll. It was a bit loose, so I secured it at the back with a small clothes pin. See, you shouldn't really throw away your old failed projects. They might come in handy again someday.

Here's another diorama I did afterwards. I have no idea what I'm going for here either, lol. I'm just really tired, OK.

Lottie's hat is from Paddington Bear. The suitcase is from a gashapon capsule. The tiny crab, watermelon, rainbow heart, and white maryjanes are actually rubber erasers. I forgot which company made that pink chair. The figure on top of it is the pet (?) of Mini Cure Black. The cactus is from a key chain. The cat is made of clay or ceramic, and the pet carrier is made by Mattel. 

I'm exhausted, not from making these simple dioramas, but because of this day. Thank goodness it will be over soon. I'll go back to regular Lottie's World posts soon, where Lottie is actually doing something in my photos, lol.

Lottie's World: Relax Friday

I got home last Firday and was really tired, but I managed to come up with this diorama quickly. I didn't really think things through, though. I just wanted a living room setup.

I actually had a full picture of the room with Lottie sitting down like this, but it didn't turn out well. It was blurry, so I didn't share it anymore. :-/

This leg lamp! It's the Christmas ornament I talked about here. Finally I was able to use it in a doll photo.

A record player I made, based on instructions from Froggy's video. I still have to make vinyl records. Oh that's probably another paper craft I'm going to be crazy about, lol. Jamie, you don't need to make 50 doll vinyl records, OK??!

The dog is a key chain I thrifted. Aww, there's a glare on one of its eyes.

Probably one of my favourite shots, if not for the fallen panel on the side, lol!!

Lottie looks like she's thinking a lot from this angle.

A full shot of the set up.

Ah the panels! Three of them are carpet vinyl tiles, while the back panel is a wood vinyl tile! Pretty cheap and very handy! I bought them at Wilcon depot, and I think I want to get more with solid colours.

The wall art pieces are cutouts from a quilting magazine. I intentionally positioned one of them higher than the other.

The table is thrifted and made by Mattel.

The green figure on the left is a faux grass reindeer I got at Daiso (Buy One, Take One with this Christmas tree). Lottie could actually ride on it, haha.

The white dog is from a local seller and its head can actually move from side to side. It's pretty cute, and quite heavy, too.

The chair is from Daiso.  The toy car near Lottie's feet is from Kinder Surprise egg. I'm not lucky with those eggs because I normally get lousy toys, so I'm glad that I was able to use one of the Kinder toys I got for this purpose.

The cat is made of clay, I think, and I feel bad that its tail is a bit broken. The pet bed is from a lot of toys, and the "pillows" are actually foam flowers that would grow in water.

The lamp stand is actually a vintage TV made by Bandai.

Oh Lottie's hair piece. It's just a Licca hair band, and a pink crown clip attached to it. 

I took a photo of one of my toys afterwards.

It's a 5-sies Quintuplet doll by MGA

Anyway, I made her wear this Hello Kitty dress that came from a lot of toys I bought. I also positioned the cat to be climbing on her arm, and the flowers that were turned upside down in the pet bed earlier are now positioned the right way here.

Lottie's World: Picnic

I was feeling motivated last night so I cut my chat time last night with my doll collecting friend, lol, and told her I'd be sewing Lottie some pants... which turned into overalls.

My, my, I somewhat dislike sewing doll pants because I have a tough time cutting the denim in the right shape. I don't use a pattern, that's why. I just rely on measuring as I go. My third attempt was the successful one, as the first and second cuts of fabric I made were too small for Lottie's waist.

Along the process of sewing, I thought of turning the pants into overalls. The heart outline on the flap of the overalls was just a last minute addition, and I thought that it gives the outfit a nice touch.

I used my artificial grass again because I think it's so cool, then I thought of doing a picnic diorama. The blue mat is actually cleaning cloth for my glasses so it's a bit dirty, sorry. The heart shaped case of sweets, which I just realised goes so well with the stitched heart on Lottie's overalls, is an accessory from my La Dee Da doll.

The plate, fork, cake slice and drink are probably Barbie accessories, I'm not sure. The green figure mugging the camera is a micro figure of Om Nom from Cut The Rope. The pink keyboard is an eraser! So cute! It matches with this pink carrying case with the checkered design in the background.

The watch is pretty cute and so tiny; I think it is actually a Licca-chan watch. Licca's pink hair band fits Lottie's head just right. I got Lottie's yellow shirt from the toy seller at Vivo Citi, and the black shoes are from another seller.

I think I want Lottie to wear this outfit for a while. I really like how it looks, and I still have to wash her white long socks because it looks filthy now. I also forgot to mend the red skirt I made for her back then so she can't wear it yet.

I haven't done anything else to my other dolls, lol, but I will get to them later. I have two more second hand dolls coming in soon, so I'll become even busier with more things to do. Sigh. But I will try my best to make time for Lottie and doll photography because it makes the hobby more fun, and it distracts me from looking up dolls that I want to buy, hahahaha!