I call this a “sorta” mattress tutorial because I have left out some steps picture wise and also this may not necessarily be the best way to make a bed mattress, but it’s how I worked through some construction issues after making my 1:6 scale doll bed and mattress. I thought I would share my experiments just in case they might be helpful to others, as knowledge can always be built upon to create even greater things! If you happen to have some better ideas on mattress construction feel free to comment and share them! Anyway now on with the sorta tutorial!
Chair Refurbishment Project
If you remember from a previous post, I said I was working on rehabbing a couple of pieces of dollhouse furniture. Well today I finally finished up the refurbishment on the chair and I feel I was pretty successful! It took a little experimentation to get it the way it is now, and it has a few flaws, but overall I’m pleased and I also learned a lot about making miniature furniture as well. You can read on behind the cut to see the different phases of construction and how I worked through some issues.
A Very Disappointing Dolly Dealing
After seeing all of the good feedback of the artist Blinkeke (her DoA handle) who is behind MonstroDesigns I decided to make my first commission ever and I commissioned Blinkeke on DoA to make two wigs for my new Brownie. I commissioned the wigs back on January 15th and at that time she informed me that it would be 3-4 weeks before she could get it done. At that time I was in no hurry, and the price was right, so I had no problem waiting.
Around February 20th, it had been a little over a month since I ordered so I PM’d her on DoA to inquire about my order. She got back to me and told me that the wigs were done and she was just waiting for a sunny day to photograph them for me. So again I patiently waited, and now here in the middle of March, I finally hear back, and it’s not that she is requesting payment or preparing to send, but rather that she is ill and she has decided to cancel my order because it was too old!!
Needless to say I PM’d her back and expressed my disappointment in the business dealings, and that I was sorry, but I was going to have to leave her negative feedback on DoA for what I feel is flaking on my commission. I am very disappointed in what has happened, especially after I had only heard good things about her from others on DoA and elsewhere that she made quality wigs for tinies. I was expecting her to be professional and follow through with my order. I have to admit that this whole affair has soured me on commissioning artisans, and I definitely will not order from MonstroDesigns ever. I would also suggest anyone considering to commission her, to give it a second thought, and I certainly would not pay in advance for anything.
Kinoko Juice Kiki Dolls
I had another dollhouse wallpapering catastrophe, so I thought maybe I’d blog about something more fun, the Kinoko Juice dolls! You can tell from the pic that they are just super adorable, sugar-manga overload dollies, and I must admit I love them so. Judging from the trade show pics I’ve seen online of them they appear to be a little shorter than Blythe and seem to be able to wear some of Licca Chan’s clothes. I am just basing this off of what I have seen at a quick glance on her blog though. You can check out the artist’s blog here: http://kinokojuice.blog35.fc2.com/ to find out more about them, or just look at all of the eye candy. The blog is all in Japanese though, so if you don’t read Japanese you’ll need to use a translator or something.
I hear that these dolls sell out very quickly at conventions/doll shows, and that they are rather expensive. Apparently they run around $900+ depending on the exchange rate at the time, which makes them really pricey, though it appears that they are sold as fullsets? If they are sold as fullsets the price is a little more justified. I haven’t really read enough on the blog yet to be able to tell, but I’ll have to scour that thing one day when I’m feeling lackluster.
EDIT: So I found out that the height of these dolls are 23cm, and the yen price is 90,000. They are all made of resin and have custom eyes. When you purchase a doll you get the whole set, the clothes, the make-up, wig, eyes and so on. The artist DOES have a online shop where she announces a very very limited sale period. Don’t get too excited though, because she will not sell or ship overseas to you. The only way you can get a Kinoko Juice doll is to go to Japan and get lucky enough to be able to purchase one at a doll show, or to be living in Japan and get lucky enough to order one off of her website. I suppose there are always deputy services, but considering the very limited web sales, the likelihood of getting one is very slim.
In the end, even as cute as they are, they are probably not terribly worth the trouble. After all, you can get a full-set Mui-chan for less, and she has a nice faceplate system and lots of extra hands and feet options. That’s just my opinion though. Either way the Kiniko Juice girls are still fun to look at, at least.
My Little Brownie Arrived! :D
Yay, she’s finally here! Today I made sure to be awake for the postman, and then much to my dismay, she was not delivered! So I carted off to the post office with my pick-up ticket from yesterday, and thankfully she was there. 😀 I didn’t have much time to take pics since I had to run off and get my hair cut, but I did manage to snap off a few box opening pics.