Lily's Magical Marketplace

Lily here.  So we're all packing for the annual Great Summer Adventure (tm) in which the humans drive up to Maine for a weekend and pretend they're living in the Middle Ages.  And this time, the four of us are getting drafted to be the booth models.

But first, we set up a little fair of our own, to show off all the things that will be on display this weekend.

First there's the food.  It's not a fair without food.

We've got bread and cheese and sausage and pickles and eggs and gingerbread and pasties.  The pasties even come in two flavors, and they definitely look good enough to eat.  All the food was made with polymer clay, except the display tower in the back.  Those are erasers on the Wellie Wisher snack stand that the human repainted.

Then there's my magical emporium booth stocked with potions and wands and potions ingredients.  And journals and pens to take notes on potion brewing.  I have a little workstation set up so I can brew things on demand.  

Polymer clay wands

44 bottles of various potions ingredients, made from little glass vials and scraps of floral arrangments

The open book is actually a miniature version of the Voynich manuscript.  No one really knows what it says, but there's a theory that it's a New World herbal written in an extinct language.  So I'm using it as one.

Obligatory photobomb

Handkerchief Dresses

A while ago, I started working on some dresses accented with vintage handkerchiefs.  I normally never use yellow, but in this case, both the gingham and the calico worked extremely well with the handkerchief I had.  Both dresses are made with Simplicity 1179.

Sam's dress is view A, thought without the added gathers in the front.  I thought it would make the dress look too busy.  I used handkerchief fabric for the cuffs and the mock vest.  Nellie's dress is view D with the shorter sleeves.  The pintucks on the sleeves had to be done by hand because my sewing machine kept eating the fabric.  The handkerchief fabric was used for the mock apron, collar, and the tiny little bit of panel in front.  Between these two dresses, I used almost the entire handkerchief.

Obligatory cat picture

This was going to be a more elaborate photoshoot, but someone kept getting in the way.

Doll Blog Award Answers (and new spring suits)

Yes, the human is still alive.  We swear.  She's just been way too busy with real life to update regularly.  Also, trying to get her to actually take pictures of things takes forever.  Take these new suits, for example.  We've had them for almost a month now.

And while we're here, thanks so much to the people who've nominated us for the Great Doll Blog award!  We're hoping the human makes enough time in her life to keep this going.

From Callie, Wrennie, Penny, and Chloe

1. What is your least favorite outfit that AG has ever released?

Samantha's purple bridesmaid dress.  That thing is a horror.

2. Which AG doll is your grail doll?  

I don't really have one.  I think I have all the dolls I need or want right now.

3. Do any of your dolls have a common, shared personality trait? 

Every last one of them is geeky in some way, shape, or form.

4. What's your favorite pet/companion?

The dolls don't really have pets.  I guess Shep has a hamster...

5. What is your favorite piece of AG furniture? 

Caroline's parlor.  I use it all the time as a backdrop when I'm too lazy to do a big photoshoot.

From BethE

1. What styles do your dolls prefer to wear?

Cauth and Shep are the tomboys.  Nora likes preppy or elegant outfits.  The others will wear whatever I've made without complaining too much.

2. Do your dolls have favorite colors to wear?

No.  What they wear is entirely dependent on what's in the sewing room at the moment.

3. What is the most adventurous thing you have done with a doll?

I take Samantha LARPing with me regularly.  She actually plays two characters of her own, with costumes to match mine.  Which means she has also been involved in LARP combat and thrown around a field...

4. What accessory would you love to have for your doll, whether already in existence or not?

I still need more bookshelves...

5. What is your favorite picture of your dolls?

Working lightsabers.  Need I say more?

And now, back to the new clothes!

It's a six piece (seven if you include the tie) mix-and-match ensemble.  The button down shirt, pants, and suit jacket are from Simplicity 8111.  The pleated skirt is from the LJ pleated skirt pattern.  The tank top is from Simplicity 1087.  The vest is a free pattern here.

We can get 8 different looks from these pieces, from a super tomboy look to a really preppy school uniform.

In their natural habitat

Lily's Lab:  21st Century Potions

Lily is generally in her designated lab space when not being pressed into service as a model.  Right now she's enjoying having both a laptop and a potion brewing setup.  Tucked back against the wall is a first aid kit for any mishaps.  And yes, she realizes that coffee (that small blue cup) and potions do not quite mix.  That said, no one else here quite has the nerve to cut off her coffee supply.

Shepard's Cabin:  Designated Geek Space

Shepard's room got massively refurbished in the last month and a half, starting with the inclusion of the old 1990s school desk and mini Mac.  Eventually, the Mac will work like a real computer, but not yet.  The old acrylic shelves and drawer sets were condensed and reorganized and turned into the hutch setup around the desk (with the aid of a few foam core scraps to make up the height difference between the stack of drawers and the desk).

The hutch setup has the old Blasto (the first Hanar Spectre) comic book, the Lord of the Rings collection (with a model of the One Ring tucked in a drawer), assorted wargaming miniatures, and a mini martini set.  Also included are a hamster (of the miniature giant space variety) and a fish tank (no feeding necessary).  The white shelves were a foam core project meant to replicate IKEA shelving for dolls.  It currently still has 5 empty blocks, but it's only a matter of time...

The empty shelves are dedicated to a set of doll-sized science books that are slowly being made.  There will be 100 total when the set is complete, and the current status is 41/100.  And the other set of tiny books?  The complete 1950s New Basic Readers.

Nellie's Study:  Currently Taken Over by Cats

Nellie's room used to be one of the nicer rooms before several furniture shuffles and decorating sprees.  Sadly, it's been neglected lately and is next on the list for redecorating.  The giant wingback chair, while nice for floor displays and photoshoots, is too big and unwieldily for a shelf display.  It is, however, perfect for the cats.  Her desk has a few scattered school supplies (crayons, pencils, textbooks), but there's no fancy display shelf that all the other rooms have.  That will have to be remedied.

Samantha's Creativity Corner: Full of Curios and Droids

A good part of the space in Sam's room has been taken up by the resident droid and a curio cabinet of odds and ends.  There's also a desk with materials for writing stories or letters or what have you.

The curio cabinet is really rather full of things.  All sorts of things.  There's the Egyptian hand mirror, the Japanese fan, the antique Japanese fan, the music box, kokeshi dolls, a stereoscope, assorted pewter miniatures, assorted books, tarot cards, a few lanterns, an incense burner, etc etc etc.  Just the sort of random curio cabinet you need for 'I need something to write a story about.'

Cauthrien and Nora's Library:  Quiet Elegance

This is the only shared room, but Nora and Cauth are besties who don't mind the cramped space.  This room will always be the library, even if another room (*cough* Shepard's *cough*) has more books.  The majority of the fiction collection (except the Tolkien) are in this room, along with the fancy glass lamp and vase.  And the old clunky phone.  The big green vase will have flowers in it someday.

The bookshelf is so out of space.  There's the collection of Japanese fairy tales, a few Nancy Drew books, the Anne of Green Gables series, a handful of Little Golden Books, some Wizard of Oz books, assorted novels (A Little Princess, Little Women, etc).  The table (formerly a bistro table) also has a card game and a few sci-fi magazines in addition to the aforementioned lamp and phone.

Kana's Parlor:  Pretending to be an Antique Shop

Kana's room is another room with a real theme.  If it were up to her, it would look like a girl's bedroom out of an anime.  Instead, it's a hodgepodge of styles and items, with a few glass bottles and a ship-in-a-bottle on the mantle.  The little gardening-shelf-turned-sideboard has two different tea sets and the fancy candles.  On the cabinet is her laptop and her manga collection.

An Astronomy Textbook Collection

A new project:  make 100 science books