Virtual Room Box

Have you attempted creating a doll room box, starting from the floor, to the walls, to the little furniture only to find out that they don't match, or the room is too small for the furniture? If only you can get an idea of how things will be laid out or if the colors scheme is to your liking, you'd be more confident in starting a room box project. Since not all of us have an experience in interior design, chances are, our room boxes doesn't end up they way we imagined it.

Now, there is a tool that can help us turn the imagination into a plan. By plan, I mean measurements, layout, and tested color scheme. You can try Planner5d and create a virtual room box in both 2D and 3D.

The site is so easy to use. You can use the metric or English measurement system. For my room, I used the English system so it will be easier for me to convert to the right doll size. Although you need a paid account to access all the items you can add into the room, the free account has enough items you can use to stand in for the actual item you intend to use in your room box. Like the window I used here, it won't be how my window will actually look. I just want the frame to be that size and in that color.

The size and color of the items can be modified. You can move in and around the room in 3D mode. The wall can be made invisible if it blocks your view, like the 4th wall here.

I've been learning more about making dollhouse stuff and I really want to make one. After making this virtual room box, I think I'm gonna go ahead and make one. Even if you are not going to make an actual room box, there's a good chance you'll still enjoy creating a virtual room.

Making Your Mark

I wonder how other people mark fabrics for sewing doll clothes. This site has a number of good options: http://www.sugartartcrafts.com/2013/06/tip-of-week-choosing-best-way-to-mark.html I don't know where I can find locally some of the items there.

I have water based pens but the mark they leave on printed fabric is not very visible. Since it's water-based, it seeps through the fabric. I want the mark to stay on top of the fabric and very visible even on a printed  fabric.

The tailor's chalk is too hard. The soft fabrics, like chiffon, move a lot when marking with a tailor's chalk.

The dermatograph makes thick lines. We know how a few millimeters off and it could mean a bad fit. I love these Dong-A Twistable Color Pencil for the job. If only they were sold separately and with neon colors...

Lessons from DVF

Aside from the comedy series 2 Broke Girls, one can get important business lessons from the reality TV show House of DVF. It was where designer Diane von Furstenberg, the woman behind the wrap dress, found a brand ambassador for her line of clothing. I like DVF's style sensibilities and this was a way to learn more about her. I got the chance to see only four episodes and I got these lessons so far:

Dolls in wrap dresses

Stop the Props

At times, this hobby can be time consuming. For somebody with a full-time job and who is technically the head of the family, it can get overwhelming sometimes. My training has taught me that when things get overwhelming, one should learn how to break things down, to keep them simple.

Some of the most time consuming areas of this hobby are (1) storytelling (2) making dresses (3) styling (4) taking pictures and (5) making props and dioramas. After breaking things down, one should prioritize. Storytelling went out the window a long time ago, although it creeps back in from time to time. I had to figure out in which area I really wanted to improve. I decided it's the dress making. Dolls can be beautiful even with a crappy background, right? Making dresses is more fulfilling with the right styling, in my opinion, so styling stays. And don't expect me to let go of taking pictures when I'm willing to spend more on a camera than a smart phone. Making props and dio finally has to be cut to a minimum.

Still, I wanted my doll photos to have an appropriate background and Photoshopping is not an option since it also takes a lot of time. My  interest in action figures lead me to a photo in Flickr that showed how to have an interesting background with minimal set up and clean up time (as cleaning up is also time consuming).

If you know how to display image files on a big enough TV or LCD screen, then it will be easy.  The screen will serve as a digital background, a sort of video wall. Another toy blogger wrote about it here. The solo pictures of my Life in the Dream House dolls in the previous entries all have digital background. All you need is the floor to be installed. The tricky part is lighting the scene such that the camera does not capture unwanted reflections from the screen.

I usually download suitable backgrounds on my phone during a commute or any waiting time or while in bed trying to make myself fall asleep. Not only did this cut down the time I need to take pictures, it also cuts down the toys I wanted to buy. Having less props also means I need less storage space. It's a win-win-win solution, if you asked me.