Stranger Things

I was fortunate enough to take a few weeks off from painting this year. Didn’t do anything too exciting, just the usual visiting the family and baby-sitting my niece and nephew thing. I’ve never been one to treat children like children so I taught them the art of binge watching Netflix shows. We did nearly an entire season of “PeeWee’s Playhouse” in one sitting. It was a compromise because the kids refused to watch “Stranger Things” with me. They threatened me with tears. Then again, these are the same kids who were freaked out by Pan-Kun and James, the chimp and English bulldog team that went around Japan doing human tasks, so I had to table this highly anticipated show of the summer until they went home.

And boy, they don’t know what they’re missing! Even though I have many many sets to work on when I got back, I stole some time to paint the Stranger Things set…that is how obsessed I am with this show. Hey, once a fangirl, always a fangirl.

There’s Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and of course, Eleven.

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A New Mr. Fox Set

I think I’ve painted about 20 Mr. Fox sets in the past 4 months. It’s gotten to a point that I had to stifle a scream whenever I get a request to paint one, albeit never successfully. To stave off the ennui, I’ve tried out an alternative version to see if that one will be as popular as the original set.

It’s a bit more low key, and the gang’s wearing their nightclothes. The screaming in my head died down a little while painting this set.

Ash in his briefs. Awww…cute!

Introducing Trixie

Trixie came about after I read The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. The story took place in Alaska, a perfect read during the sultry Australian summer months. It’s a fairy tale written for adults about a childless couple thriving in the Alaskan wilderness, a mysterious girl who may or may not have been made out of snow accompanied by a red fox, and unexpectedly, sewing.

I miss my dirndls. That’s right, I owned not one but two dirndls and I used to wear it un-ironically (it also doubled as a Halloween costume—wherein during the day, with a red cape, I was the Little Red Riding Hood as not to offend my students and colleagues. At night, however, I became an Oktoberfest beer wench. Dirndls are marvelous things).

When it’s time to choose an outfit to make for Trixie, I went straight for the Little Red Riding Hood ensemble since it’s a great excuse to make a mini dirndl.

I also made a little button clasp shaped like a pretzel. Perhaps there’s a larger one in the works for myself to wear?

Into the Woods

Retelling fairy tales are all the rage these days, isn’t it? One of my faves is the YA series “Lunar Chronicles” by Marissa Meyer. The first one “Cinder” is loosely based on Cinderella, except in this one she’s a mechanic and a cyborg. I was listening to the audio book of the second one “Scarlet” (loosely based on Little Red Riding Hood) while painting and I have to admit it’s heavily influenced my take on this Steampunk Fairy Tales set.

The thing about these fairy tale remakes is that the heroines tend to be ass-kickers. These gals are tough and not very feminine and their central focus is not to meet Prince Charming and get married but rather to hitch up their skirts and kick more asses. I’ve included two guys in this set because they more or less inserted themselves into it without consulting me, or else it’d be fun to put in Rapunzel and the Little Mermaid. Next time.

The Little Red Riding Hood has got herself a crossbow, some serious arrows, and a lunch bucket filled with goodies for grandma. I’m not going to pretend there’s just bread and cheese in the bucket because for this tough gal, you know her kin would appreciate a small semi automatic more.

Jack got himself a blunderbuss in order to rob the Giant in the Sky of the hen that lays the golden egg. I’ve always find that story a little upsetting because when it comes down to it, Jack’s just a petty thief and he’s got no business stealing from the big boy.

This Cinderella is not a cyborg, obviously, but her stepmother’s evil enough to insist on getting a bionic arm for her—mostly to up her work level.

I wouldn’t mess with this Snow White if I were her stepmother. The girl’s got herself a stun gun, for crying out loud.

Here Rumpelstiltskin is just showing off his ability to spin straw into gold and my very first attempt to paint a spinning wheel.

Now, what’s this I hear about turning Broadway’s “Into the Woods” into a motion picture starring Meryl Streep? What’s wrong with having Bernadette Peters reprise the role of the witch she’s created?

Where the Wild Things Are

This set is going to be in a Where the Wild Things Are themed nursery. I’d love to grow up in a jungle-themed room. Actually, I wouldn’t mind living in one now!

Once again, I had a choice between painting these guys in the likeness of the movie monsters or from the book…the decision was easy!

One of the minor changes I made was to make Max’s crown out of vellum and gold leaf. I still haven’t decided whether or not it should be removable.

This was a great set to revisit. If I didn’t have such a hard time working with faux fur (remember the Muppets debacle?), I’d cheerfully fuzz up these guys!

The Fantastic Mr. Fox Rides Again!

I had to paint two Mr. Fantastic Fox sets all in a space of one week. This gave me a great excuse to watch the movie again and I was able to add a few more details that I missed last time.

Like…

Mr. Fox’s little radio,

the word “blueberries” written on Kylie’s palm so he wouldn’t forget to bring some to feed the rabid dog (but he did forget),

Kristopherson with an acorn,

and Ash holding a Mrs. Bean’s famous nutmeg ginger apple snaps. Oooh, yum! There are recipes out there for this fictional dessert…an absolute perfect treat for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere awaiting the impending autumn!

Mrs. Bean’s Famous Nutmeg Ginger Apple Snaps recipe.

I couldn’t quite make up my mind about which Kylie to paint, so I did both, a different one for each set.

I know, I know, I’ve been hitting you with way too much Wes Anderson-based projects. Rest assured, there’ll be some non-Wes Anderson related sets a-comin’!

 

Flight of the Conchords Rides Again!

Even though I absolutely adore The Flight of the Conchords and was beside myself when they canceled the series after two measly seasons, I didn’t think I’d paint another set featuring the boys and their cohorts again. But one thing I learned from being the only member of Team BoBo Babushka is to never say never (with the exception of anything involving fur. Now that’s just a bad idea altogether). No, Anthony’s not really a member of Team BoBo B, as he’s been known to run off screaming whenever I suggest that he help out a bit around the studio. Perhaps I should really look into getting myself a helper monkey after all. If they can be trained to serve beer at restaurants in Japan, I’m sure they can be taught to prime and varnish my dolls.

But I’m getting a bit off base here. Let’s get back to Flight. This set was for a very sweet woman right here in Oz. Apart from the fact that they’re no longer a double trio set anymore but a more traditional set of 5s, I’ve made a few slight changes…

…namely Brad’s got on a plaid shirt now. It’s not easy painting plaid, but it is fun!

And of course I kept the painting done by Mel of the boys. Have they made a poster sized one for fans like us to possess? Because I’d love to have one, ornately framed and ostentatiously displayed in my bedroom!

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Of course I’m a Wes Anderson fan. What’s not to love about his quirky films? I was, however, a little skeptical when I heard he was going to undertake Fantastic Mr. Fox. But that lasted for about 3 seconds because, hey, it’s Wes Anderson.

I had in mind to paint the Mr. Fox set ever since I saw it but of course, it got wedged on the back burner. But it’s done and I’ll be back painting human beings before long. This set was a bit challenging since all the noses on the critters were all molded right onto the dolls themselves with Sculpey. It’s always a little nerve wrecking putting wood in the oven where I had to obsessively sit by and let my nose be my timer. But it came out of the oven just fine, the wood unshrunken, and my blood pressure back to normal.

There were so many characters to choose from…my favorite was Rat, voiced by Willem Dafoe, with his funky red and white Where’s Waldo sweater. Alas, due to reasons that made sense only to me, he didn’t make it into the set.

Mr. Fox and his bandages after his tail had been removed.

Mrs. Fox and her dress pockets filled with art supplies. She’s my kind of fox!

A close up of all the art making implements.

Badger, with a refreshment in his hand.

Kylie!

Kylie cracks me up because every now and then he’d go into a weird little trance and his eyes would go all…

Ha! That’s surrealism in an animated feature at its best.

Kristofferson, the cousin who came to stay.

And little Ash with his mask.

It was a bit difficult getting this set done on the account of my roly poly Bulldog Bo insisting on getting his back scratched whenever I sat down to paint. But it’s great having my mascot back. In Oz all I got were a few lizards that accidentally made their way into my studio with nothing to contribute. I mean, you can’t really pet a lizard the size of a paper clip, can you?

Look at him! That’s right, this is how he rolls.

Frodo, Don’t Wear the Ring

You might be wondering about the title of this story, well wonder no more. The Flight of the Conchords’ version of Lord of the Rings song kept running through my head while I was painting the Fellowship. I’d say it’s a lot more catchier than Enya’s official LOTR theme!

Here’s the Fellowship. I had a bit of a logistical issue concerning the sizes of the dolls. It’s resolved after I resorted to mixing four sets of threes.

Gandalf the Grey. The best part about making this doll was his hat.

Aragorn, Chief Ranger of the North.

Boromir, Son of Denethor…I know…unless you’re a big LOTR fanatic, like the fan boys who threw popcorn at my friend and me during a screening because we were trying to determine who’s hot and who’s not, this means nothing to you.

Boromir’s weapons and accessories.

Legolas, prince of the elves.

Legolas’ arrows

Gimli, Son of Glóin. Apparently in Middle Earth a dwarf is bigger than a Hobbit.

Gimli’s got an assortment of axes for me to choose from.

…and last but not least, the Hobbits. Frodo, Merry, Sam, and Pippin.

Coincidentally enough, I’m off to New Zealand in a few hours (we all know that New Zealand is really Middle Earth, right?). It’s too bad I’ll just be in Christchurch for the weekend and not touring around the country with the other LOTR enthusiasts. Maybe they’ll sell some LOTR mugs and souvenir shot glasses at the airport.

Gnomania

It’s all about gnomes today!

This is an extra-mini diorama pincushion. For something so small, there is only one creature who can fit in there happily and without complaint: A gnome!

…and he comes with a mini kite…

…as well as three little pins!

And what’s better than a gnome themed pincushion diorama?

TWO gnome themed pincushion dioramas!