Vita Plastica

So there's this blog that I like and I went to her ebay site and she's selling all sorts of Barbie things piece by piece for $.99 each. What a great idea! I can't tell you how much Barbie stuff I have laying around just waiting for the day I have time to paint it or when I can make use of it in a diorama. But piece by piece will really not work for me. It costs to list things on ebay! And piece by piece, who wants that? So I think what I'm going to do is gather some things into sets. For instance, I never use Barbie kids. So I'll pack up all the kids, all their clothes, shoes and accessories and sell it via my website: http://vitaplastica.weebly.com/ Then maybe a food bag and a clothing bag and definitely a weapons bag. I'll offer it here, on my site and maybe on a doll forum or two. All this stuff might as well go to a home where they will be appreciated. So this weekend I'll be gathering my unused stuff and taking lot of pictures. That is, if Carmen the g...

My Flight Pattern Kyori arrived yesterday! I just bought her on Friday! I'll have to remember that ebay seller! So now Kyori is reborn as Carmen Kirpachi, tarot reading violinist, the only child of two well respected Romany elders of two different tribes. Carmen was always a rebel, but since they both passed she's become very independent. She does not follow many Romany rules but does keep her ties with both tribes very strong. Despite her independence, like all good gypsy girls, she would like to be married. Coming from such distinguished lineage, she has her pick of suitors. But what man can deal with such a powerful woman? Stay tuned... She put zee gypsy curse on you!!! (Okay sorry, that's totally racist, er cultural-ist?) Tomorrow I'll share the shot of her outside the caravan. She's sooo much taller. Can't wait to have a doll shoot this weekend! smooches, dani

You guys, this summer has brought some very unusual bugs to my home. I can't even identify all the species. It's somewhat expected in the kitchen and maybe the bathroom but once they breech the perimeter of the three bedrooms (ours, baby's and dolls'), I go into some kind of a manic cleaning frenzy. One such incident in the doll room caused not only a cleaning but a much needed reorganization. Since I'm pregnant and had to take momentary breaks, it took all day with frequent breaks. I've eliminated my box-keeping fetish. Now only the fashion royalty boxes are still around. Nearly all the doll rooms are set up, the dolls are dressed for Josephine's dinner party, the men have their own pad which my husband calls the "gay bathhouse" seeing as they're all undressed right now. And as I suspected, purchasing my gypsy doll has revived my interest in my caravan. I've done something I've never done before. I undid work that it took me time and...

I'm so excited! I did it. I bought Flight Pattern Kyori! A thought a very good price at $75. I was considering buying her nude but that would only save me about $20. I'm sure one of my other girls will be very happy with her outfit. So uh, I guess this means I need to get to work on my caravan, huh? I promise some pictures this weekend! Josephine's dining room is nearly done now. I just need to hang the chandelier and decide on a guest list for the dinner party. Hope you all have a great weekend! smooches, dani

As I stare at the unfinished gypsy caravan, I realize that this home belongs to no doll. Okay in my story, it will belong to my yet to be named Male Gypsy doll (Mattel's Fox Mulder doll). In La Vita Plastica, the men do not own homes. Maybe it's sexist but male dolls are only to entertain the females. So anyway, why would I bother finishing a home for a doll that didn't exist? So my friends, it is my goal to obtain a good gypsy doll. I was going to use a Model of the Moment on a Fashionista body (the one showing off her chichis). But since changing her body...Does this ever happen to you? You want to give new life to a doll so you change her body and suddenly her whole person changes? So gypsy 1 was okay on a M of M body but changing her just made her sort of cheap. And the M of M body just won't work for her job as a tarot card reader (with all the sitting involved). Anyway, if you're going to steal a man away from a $100 doll, you better bring it. So after doing...

My husband, the DJ recently showed me this video: He knew I'd love it because of my love of Roma (gypsy) culture, especially the music. But something else inspired me. At about 0:42 you see a bohemian style apartment with huge windows. I'm not sure if this was the direct inspiration, but it immediately made think of La Boheme (or if you're unfamiliar, think of Christian's apartment in Moulin Rouge or maybe the loft apartments in Rent, the movie). As doll people it seems we're all a little in love with Paris. Maybe because of the fashion aspect of dolls or the fantasy aspect. Paris probably has more fantasy attached to it than any other major city. I know when I went I was expecting a perpetual 1920 and was sorely disappointed to see a Domino's Pizza below the flat in which I was staying. I had a point... Oh yes, so I'm going to build a La Boheme set! I'm really excited about it. Maybe I'll get my father to collaborate with me and we can build it out ...

Man, nothing like fabric to really get your mind going on future projects. Like I mentioned earlier, a trip through Mom's sewing room garbage can yielded some really excellent material. I was looking for fabric for Josephine Baker's dining room chairs. I decided a nice tapestry with some light blue in it to match the walls or as I explained to my mom, "You know, something rich people would have." Most of what she had patterns that were too large. So in the trash, I found this orange fabric embroidered with little flowers. Oh this orange is gorgeous. Very Indian looking. Like it's been interwoven with gold so the colors change a bit as it moves. So I figured the Indian flowy fabric mixed with the vaguely British straight lines in the room would be a perfect (mis)match. My finds did not end there. Mom was throwing out loads of this heavy gold and red striped fabric, good for human sized pillows and tablecloths. My husband suggested curtains for the Spanish house. Gr...

This has ended up being a very personal post, but I'm publishing it anyway. You know, I was reading Smidge Girl's blog the other day and I was so excited for her when she got the call to do furniture work for an upcoming HBO project. I daydreamed to myself that someday maybe I'd get that call and how I'd respond. My answer surprised me. I'd say no! I'd say I wasn't good enough yet and pass them on to one of the more talented 1/6th scale furniture makers. (I don't even make furniture, mind you.) It got me thinking about my other artistic talents. My cartoon girls that I refused to market and get out there on purses and tshirts and stuff. Why? Because it wasn't good enough. My writing? I stopped writing novels why? Because they weren't good enough. I'm not into self deprication, but I am honest with myself. My doll work is just plain sloppy and I rush too much to get things done. I put things out on a blog because not doing so is like keeping a...

Hello folks, I had a nice 4 day weekend. (I took an extra day off after the holiday). I was very productive. My husband, on his own birthday no less, took me to the dollhouse shop! It's about a 30 minute journey which doesn't sound long when I'm driving to work but somehow this seemed to take forever. It's a great shop with lots of ridiculously overpriced beautiful things. Here's my haul: A little lantern, ceiling medallions (wait, are they medallions if they are square?), moulding, velvet carpet, ceiling material, wood flooring, white plastic tile and little stickable paper tiles. And I spent like $100. Huh? Anyway, I wasted no time! You guys remember the Versailles sitting room, right? Why on earth did I stick on the panels, THEN paint? I painted them white, then tried to do blue around it. Oh it was just a mess. So I removed the panels and cleaned them up. I was just depressed at all the work, all the measuring, wasted: So anyway I painted it all. Oh god, it look...