My Ebay Charity Auction!

I'm sure you guys have heard of the super typhoon Haiyan that devastated the central Philippines just last week. As a Filipino myself it was really heartbreaking to watch the news with thousands dead and hundreds of thousands more starving and here I am comfortably just sitting in my California home.

So for the past week, I have been working my ass off to create a special furniture set in order to raise more funds to donate. There's only so much my husband and I could monetary spare and I'm not the type to solicit money for free. So I thought why not just put my favorite skills to good use.

Since I made my Chiavari chair prototype last year, a lot of collectors have been asking me to make some to sell. I always say I'll make more one day, but the truth is I've been dreading  to make more. This is because this chair is one of the hardest and most complicated miniature I've made so far. Naturally, I thought it would be the perfect piece to do for a charity drive. At first I was just planning to make 1 chair, but I ended up making a full set. I really poured all my heart into making this set. If I ever make more in the future, there's a big chance it might just stay in my personal collection. 

Before I show the pics, click here to get to the EBAY CHARITY AUCTION.

The auction will run for 7 days. Starting from Nov 19, 2013 and will end on Nov 26, 2013 at 19:30 PST. If you love miniatures or dioramas for your dolls, take this opportunity to own this set and get to help those in need. You will not only make yourself happy, but a lot of people as well!

The set includes the ff:

2 Chiavari looking chairs (measurements are approx. 6.5" backrest height, 3.25" seat/cushion height, 2.35" seat width) 

1 Table (approx. 5" x 5" x 5")

1 Faux floral arrangement

2 Round fake candles

3 Plastic round vases in different heights + plastic pebbles you see in the pics (tallest vase has a mini battery operated LED)

1 Table runner

1 White frame

*Wall, floor, white frames on the wall, wood logs, dolls and other accessories not stated on the list above is not included in the set.

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My IKEA Hack!

I haven't been making any mini furniture lately and I feel bad whenever people asks if I have any available. I would tell them I'll make some next month or the next, but something always comes up, either a personal or a work project. Not to mention I still have carpal tunnel that gets worse when I make miniature furniture, so as much as I like making miniatures I always dread having to start making them again. I thought since I haven't been making any minis for awhile now, why not find easy DIY ideas so other collectors could make it for themselves?

I have always been a fan of the site IKEA Hackers, so whenever I go to IKEA (or even other stores) I'm always on the look out for materials I could repurpose into something else. 

Last week a friend and I went to IKEA to look for materials we could use to make a dollhouse (you read that right ^^). Unfortunately, we didn't find anything that suits the dollhouse design we have in mind. :( We did however found these Blanda Matt bowls that had a really round bottom. Usually bowls are flat underneath to make it more stable, but these Blanda bowls were really round with just a small flat part. I thought this would be perfect for an egg chair! I got one 8" Blanda bowl and one 5". 

Here is my finished product. ^_^

Doesn't it look very mid century? ^_^

The base for the chair is the base for the IKEA Tolsby picture frame. Then I sewed a 7"diameter round cushion and tufted it by sewing mini buttons on it. The legs for the table are ends of round wooden chopsticks.

You can spray paint them too, but I didn't do that coz I like the bamboo finish on the bowls.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Enjoy! If you make one I would love it if you can share it on My Facebook Like Page! Thanks! :D

  

IKEA Huset Living Room Set

I was so glad when I checked Facebook yesterday and saw a friend make a post of her doll pictured with the IKEA Huset. Everyone thought the Huset won't be out until Aug so I was really shocked when I saw my friend's post. Luckily, I live close to an IKEA. I called them to confirm if they had it in stock. Then I went there that afternoon to get a couple of sets.

I've only really read one article about the IKEA Huset before and for some reason I assumed they were going to be 1:12 scale. It was a pleasant surprise for me to learn that they were around the 1:8 scale. Perfect size for my Pure Neemo Dolls, which I'm being obsessed with these days. The quality of the plastic used was pretty impressive. I'm not crazy about the colors, specially with the pink couch, but I do have to remember that these were created for kids and not for adult collectors. ;P With all things considered, for $13, it's a really nice set to add to your collection. I would recommend buying 2 sets though instead of just one.

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When I got home from IKEA I called my doll photographer friend Sharon Wright to come over and play.

...and play we did.

The Huset comes with one Expedit shelf, one Vago chair, one Lack table, one Klippan sofa, a Stockholm rug and a Famnig Hjarta pillow. I combined two sets for this set up (one pink couch and heart pillows not in the pictures).

*All the accessories you see in my pics are from my collection and are not included in the Huset set. 

My New Product Line. Lol!

Presenting my new product line....*drum roll*........Dragondee throw pillows!! Yey! They are not just ordinary throw pillows mind you! They have a special filling that lets you shape the pillows a little and make those designer's crimp or karate chops on top. But wait there's more! They now have miniature tags too!! :) Wooooooooooooooooooooooo~

Ok, enough of my effort in trying to make my pillows sound fantabulous. I apologize for being such a dork. ;P But yes, I did put a different filling in the pillows just to make them a little more pliable compared to my fiber filled stiff pillows before. I also added the small tags to make them look more realistic. I love small details and was just so proud of myself when I thought of making those tags. Lol.

Here's a picture of my first prototypes.

And a picture of the tiny tag I made. You can't barely see the Dragondee written on it, but I think it makes the pillow cute nonetheless. Don't you think? :)

And here's a picture showing how OCD I could get during production.^^

 I love Murakami, Miyazaki and Nara artworks, so I tried making these for my personal collection too.

This is the full product line I have decided on. I will be selling them in sets of 3.

So far my (one man) production has been put on hold, but I do have 5 of these sets made at the moment. I'm gonna try to release the other designs soon. If you want to order you can reach me at lene.dragon@gmail.com or message me through My Facebook Like Page
or check My Etsy Store

Chair and bucket are not included in the set. The set includes just the 3 pillows you see in the picture above.

My First Re-rooted Momokos!

I've always wanted a pink haired and a teal haired doll, but one thing I don't really have the patience to do is to learn how to customize them. Fortunately for me, my dear friend Bobby Taylor recently opened his Pink Bubbles Doll Spa! I was so happy when I found out that he offers re-rooting. So off to the spa my girls went!

They recently just came back home and I was astonished with how pretty they came out. Check out their pics.

Don't they just look so delish? I always crave for cotton candy whenever I look at them. :)

Other than re-roots, Bobby Taylor is a miracle worker too. He has brought back the beauty on many vintage dolls. See more of his amazing dolly makeovers on his blog and check out his other services. :) 

Momoko Beauty Stop Motion Animation

I made this stop motion animation video last year and uploaded it in my Flickr and Facebook Page but forgot to make a post about it here in the blog.

I was so fascinated with the wardrobe chest I got from the 2012 Barbie Convention that I thought it would be perfect to use in a wedding-like video for Momoko. 

You can also view the video here.

I'm no professional in making videos, nor do I have any background in making stop motion animation. So please excuse my not so smooth camera movements and focusing. I did this basically for fun inspired by my friend Tada's Revolution. Check out her site later, she makes way better ones than what I made I promise. ;)

Here are some pictures of the set for you to enjoy too. :)

Chiavari Gold Chair

If you have seen my previous post about the Mattel exhibit during the Barbie Convention, there were these miniature gold Chiavari chairs that my friends and I went crazy for. We fell so in love with it that we thought we should make our own. :)

The Chiavari chair in the Mattel sets were molded and casted. Something I've always wanted to do, but haven't had the budget to do so. My past attempt failed miserably bringing $40 worth of materials down the drain. My pocket is just not ready to try it again when I haven't figured out how to do it properly. So  I decided to just make the chair out of wood as usual. The turnings I got were perfect to create the other type of Chiavari chair design. I used the design that is commonly used now in weddings and special events. Mine came out looking more ornate than the real one because of the turnings I used, but I still love how it turned out.

Here are my pictures

Mattel's chair was smaller than 1:6 scale, but I tried to make mine as 1:6 as possible. I say as "possible", because if I made it a perfect 1:6 it looks too big for the doll.