Small Steps

The shelf I bought two weeks ago is slowly looking like a dollhouse. The main occupants of the shelf/dollhouse are my two male Heidi Ott dolls but the population of my 12th scale dolls has grown courtesy of a friend.

I'm also slowly procuring more 12th scale furniture, most of which are locally bought. They cost a little more than the ones I can get from eBay but eBay shopping is risky and requires a lot of waiting, things I don't want to deal with right now, so I settled for the local store even if the design options are very limited and the stocks lacking.

Toilet fixtures like the bowl and sink are not available locally so I have to rely on eBay for that. I also noted on each picture things I want to do. Of course, other than what I noted, there are more things to make or acquire like the miniature bedside lamp, changing the sheets etc.

I'm trying to make the dollhouse look like a home for an ordinary couple without kids. I'd like to use less opulent looking furniture and the space for each area of the house will seem cramped, like regular people making do of the little spaces they live in.

I initially planned to use the 1st floor as the living room but I later decided to divide the floor into two areas (area not room)--the living area and the study area. I'm thinking that the occupants of this house are not very much into entertaining guest. They do like surfing the net to maybe blog or shop online. One of them likes books so there must be a big bookshelf. They also like to cuddle while watching a good movie at home.

Both of them agreed that take outs are unhealthy so they rely mainly on home cooked dinner. And just like any Filipino family, they bond over food. They keep up to date with each other over dinner. That is why the second floor is just for that.

Did I say Filipino? But Heidi Ott dolls are too pale to look Filipino. So I'm trying different methods of dyeing the dolls. I've tried dyes for clothes, oil pastel and even ink (yes permanent markers) but they weren't so permanent after all. Some of the ideas I tried are really stupid. I should have put more research into it. I tried to use watercolor pencil and it turned out okay. I just need to find a way making the color even.

And I was able to try my hands on making clothes for these small dolls. Their size limits the things I can to with their clothes but with dollhouse dolls, it's not really about the fashion. :)

Blythe Loves Littlest PetShop

I think Blythe dolls are cute but Petite Blythes are so much cuter! I didn't expect the "Blythe Loves Littlest PetShop (LPS)" toy series to be available here since Blythe is not really a popular doll locally. (Heck, I don't even have a Blythe. I settled for a clone!) So imagine my surprise when I saw a couple at the Toy Kingdom. I was thinking it over since I already ordered one from eBay and should be with me by the month's end...but this is a different variant from what I ordered. And she has two cute sunglasses! Forget the pets.

Sold at PhP1200, it a good price compared to those from eBay (including shipping) minus the long wait. Unlike the non-LPS Petite Blythe, these one don't have the sleeping eyes. Good enough for me.

Now Potpot has a littlest sister. I'm gonna call her Petpet.

Heidi Ott dolls and some dolly delights

I have been working for a promotion that's why I have less time for dolls lately but when my Heidi Ott dolls finally arrived, I felt I have to give in to some play time!

Heidi Ott Dolls are high quality 1/12th (dollhouse) scale dolls that can be redressed. The adult dollhouse dolls are made of 34 body parts which are manufactured in Germany, then assembled, and ultra sonically welded together and hand finished in Switzerland. The body has 14 movable joints, the heads are hand-painted and some have mohair wigs. The elderly dolls have a soft cloth pose-able body instead. Some outfits are sold separately.

I got myself two male dolls. The above photo shows the size comparison with other dolls (Takara Compact doll, Britney Spears doll and Aaron Carter doll). The first doll on the left is a mini clone while the jointed lady is unknown to me.

I have plans for my two Ott dolls. I want to tan them, repaint their faces and create new hairstyles for them. I'll sew clothes and make them shoes and build them a small dollhouse or room boxes, and I don't mean the ones made of cardboard like I did for dolls their size before. I want these new ones to be more permanent so I need to plan carefully. I want a rooftop garden, something like Tuesday Taylor's penthouse apartment. Sounds ambitious enough? Oh well, I have to start somewhere. I'll just change my plans as I go along. :)

This of course doesn't mean I'm going to ignore my bigger dolls. In fact, I have an on-going project with Michael and Melinda. I saw from a Flickr pal artworks of different fashion packs for the couple.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/topdollmanagement/5492528393/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/topdollmanagement/5493121068/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/topdollmanagement/5493120996/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/topdollmanagement/5492528221/

I instantly got inspired to make my own. I still have to make the closures for the clothes but then I saw an episode on Glee about sex education. The cast had a number where they sang "Afternoon Delight" and they wore outfits similar to "Party Day Blue" so I was inspired to take a picture of Michael and Melinda having some afternoon delight! :)