Sewing and Bridges

I started sewing again, which I haven't done so in a long while. I wanted to make a body suit for my Hunter Huntsman but it seems I have forgotten to make patterns, lol. I traced around his body on black fabric that has been folded so that there are two layers underneath him, then when I was already sewing the two layers of fabric together, I was thinking about how I'm gonna get the doll to fit in the suit. Then I realized that there should be two pieces of fabric for his back instead of one, because the velcro strips will be added in later. So I just stopped sewing all together, lol. I need to start over and cut pieces of fabric again. Sorry, no pictures. It's just a sewing project gone wrong, which happens a lot. Nothing wrong with it, haha. That's how we learn and improve anyway.

I was thinking about miniature bridges a while back, but it was only yesterday that I looked up samples. On Amazon, I found these two that look easy to make:

Bridge #1:

 Bridge #2:

Cardboard, popsicle sticks, wooden dowels, toothpicks, glue and some brown and black paint... 

And then I found this miniature river, which would be perfect under those bridges:

Cardboard, small stones, perhaps blue play dough for the water and something to stick in between those stones to look like grass or moss... maybe fake moss or green paper strips..

Gosh I want to make Lottie stand on the bridge, overlooking the river and greenery around her. That would be a fun diorama to make. Soon!!!

Lottie's World: Pet Horse

I put Lottie back in her riding outfit. In this photo, I finally included a pet horse for her, but it's actually too small for her so she can't ride on it. Haha. But it looks cute as her companion. I don't have a name for the horse yet.

I think this one is my favourite shot out of the bunch I took because I can see the pathway I made with the tiny stones. I laid each stone on the fake grass one by one!

I had to take photos of the cats. They were curious about the "rock mountain" on the wheelbarrow.

Just a behind the scenes pic. The light on the left is too bright, I actually covered it with a white cloth to soften the light. All the pics except this BTS one have been filtered on Instagram.

Doll Impulsions (Part 1)

I really haven't been a good blogger lately, lol, mainly because I'm having difficulty transferring photos from my phone to the computer. So in the mean time, I will do a lot of writing. I still look at dolls online, and sometimes I find things I want to buy but couldn't because I just can't afford to spend at the moment. So I'm starting a series of posts called Doll Impulsions, as a way to curb my spending, hahaha!

Aah! I'm looking at that Hasbro Pocahontas doll, and that tiny Novi Stars doll with multiple arms. I don't want to buy them even though I know that Pocahontas doll is already cheap, and that Novi Stars doll is hard to come by.

This MiWorld OPI set with the tiny nail polish and stuff!! These things would look cute in a diorama, but the rest of the accessories are too tiny for 1:6 scale.

Pinkie Cooper's pet, Li'l Pinkie!! I already have one but it's missing its ears and her scarf. 

I don't want to buy this doll, but oh my, look at how big Jessie's eyes are. They are looking into your soul! Haha.

This proud poodle! I like collecting pets, but she's too pricey for me.

This other dog is so cute. She even has a skirt!

This photo is from the seller I transacted with, and I purchased the tall doll from her. It's a Hi:Glamm doll and her name is Kit! I've always been curious with Hi:Glamm dolls and even Leggy dolls from the 70s, so I was glad I found one online for a cheap price.

My friend and I went to this place where there are lot of gardening stuff sold. She bought some tiny stones for her garden, and gave me a small bag of stones for free. It's gonna be perfect for my diorama making!

Lottie's World: New Year's Eve

Ah! This is like two weeks late, but better late than never!

Muddy Puddles and Spring Ballet celebrating the new year!

I actually have more shots from this shoot, but they're all stuck in my stupid iPhone that won't connect to my iPhoto. So I posted some of my photos to Instagram (heh, I couldn't access Facebook at the time), then saved them to my computer. The quality might have been altered because of this process, but for the time being, I will settle, lol.

Some behind the scenes photos, haha. Look at that mess.

And here's a photo from an old shoot. I wish I did something fancy to the panel behind her, like some kind of architecture going on in the background, but I was just winging this one. I didn't really plan what I wanted to do, so... I'll improve next time.

Lottie's World: Happy New Year!

I took photos of my two Lottie dolls for this project, but I've encountered a technical difficulty. Turns out that my iPhone won't connect to my computer, so I can't transfer my photos just yet, until I activate iCloud, and that might take a while because... reasons. 

Anyway, I used a different phone for this photo. I'm still getting used to this phone.

This is Good Fortune Lottie, here to make your 2018 prosperous, LOL!!!

This is my first time to spend New Year's Eve alone. I have a lot of things to keep me busy, so it's all good.

Lottie's World: My Comeback?

Wow, I wrote my last post two months ago! That's crazy!

I haven't really done anything doll-related that I could consider blog-worthy, I guess. I've taken some photos of toys during my strolls but I haven't found time and the effort to post them all. I will get around to it!

Here's something I came up with. I'm just out of it, for the most part, but I've been thinking about this scene because I found another Breyer doll that I could steal clothes from, lol. But too bad, I don't have a toy horse. That would have been a great prop. I found a toy horse at the mall, but it was too expensive, and I haven't really been looking out for a suitable horse at the thrift store either. Anyway...

I'm not really proud of this. I think I could do better because the backdrop looks dull, and the photo doesn't tell a story. Lottie's just standing here, hanging out, but what's the point? I guess the idea was far better in my head than when I executed it. Oh well. I'm going to be more forgiving because I'm rusty.

Oh and I finally was able to use that miniature wheelbarrow I found! It's too small for Lottie, but I don't care. I have to use it!

And I received a notice from the post office a week ago. I think the mail I've been waiting for for months has finally arrived. I'll pick it up soon, I promise!

I will come back!!! I can do this!

Dolly Finds and Lottie's World: Forest Friend Lottie

I swear, when I'm out by myself, I look for miniature items or things that I can use for my dolls. In this blog post, I found three things.

This display case with a clock! I thought it would be a nice backdrop for a fashion or tourist photo shoot. It was really heavy, and quite pricey for my budget so I didn't get it. But if I get motivated, I could totally craft one.

A laptop spotlight! It would probably look great on a photo shoot doll scenario. It's something you have to plug to a computer though so I don't think I could use it for my own shoots, and I decided not to get it. I don't need my laptop to occupy my desk just so I could turn this thing on.

This one, I did get though. It's a fairy door set! I didn't even know such thing exists until I looked it up online. There are actually people who purchase this stuff so they could decorate their house with a fairy door. Amazing!

The box is heavy, and the door is actually made of concrete or something. It sure is solid!

I later found out that the door is too short for Lottie, boo!! But I just had to use it as a prop so I just made adjustments for the photo shoot!

Here is my new Lottie doll, Forest Friend! She's a gift I received from the Lottie team for joining their Instagram takeover! Thank you, Lottie Dolls! She's so cute!

I found a white polka-dotted hard green felt, and I thought it would look nice together with the pink door! It totally worked!

This is the first time I used the orange plastic flowers I bought from the department store. They are cheap and just the right size for my doll photos!

I was experimenting with the light, by the way, so I have similar photos but the shadows and lighting are quite different!

I had a miniature cactus, which I thought would look cute on Lottie's lap!

Here's how my set looked like. On the photos you couldn't see the grass on the ground. That's because I didn't want to show the box I used to raise the door higher so that it would fit Lottie. It would have been really nice if the door's size was a perfect fit. I would have had more fun taking photos.

In other news, I got a new secondhand doll, by the way, lol. It's Mrs. Heart from the Barbie Heart family. She has a unique looking face mould! I still have to work on her hair, and her lip paint has been scratched off so I have to do some repaint as well.

And I'm not sure if it's pushing through but a relative coming home from Canada bought me a gift: it's Lucky from the Spirit Riding Free doll line! I'm so excited to get her, if I do get her, lol, because she's articulated and we don't have Spirit Riding Free here in the Philippines!! Fingers crossed!

Lottie's World: Extreme Skateboarding

Aha! My first Lottie's World post in such a long while! I finally came up with something! 

I was experimenting with the light, so I took more than one shot for this pose.

This is short and sweet, but it took me more than an hour to set this up! It was challenging, but I learned a lot!

Asha's Half Boat Pose

Remember this post I made about Asha's fifteen minutes of fame? I mentioned a manager. Well, I met the manager of my favourite band, and had the chance to show Asha to him. He liked her! He immediately tried to manipulate Asha's body to do a certain yoga pose, but she kept tipping to one side when he puts her down on the table, lol. I kept telling him that wire or some kind of support would keep her balanced.

Anyway, I wanted to work on the pose he tried on Asha, so I made this.

She did a half boat pose, but for some reason, her hip joints won't let her bend even more to create that tight V-shape with her body. Instead we have this. It's all right... I mean, yoga is a journey and an internal dialogue with oneself in real life anyway. You're not expected to do a certain yoga pose properly on the first take. There will be times when you'll keep falling or tipping to the side, but repetition is the key and you will be able to do a pose properly at one point. It takes time for muscle memory to kick in, anyway.

I didn't use wire to stabilise her; I used a long paint brush, haha! And I finally made a yoga mat for Asha. It's just a piece of foam I cut to size.

Hope I can take more photos of Asha! And of course, Lottie. I haven't updated my Lottie's World project recently. I've just been really busy, that's why.

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.