I was surprised to discover that the Danish interior design brand Ferm Living has made a dollhouse. It’s designed by Trine Andersen and its easy to move since you can fold it.
Measurements
42×30 cm
11.5h x 16.5w x 16.5d inches
Meet Slackajack Bunny by Jellycat. This bunny is from Smallable in France. It’s 33 cm tall and is suitable for anyone, whether you’re a baby, puppy or adult. It’s super soft and cute.
Price: €20, $27, £17
Dimensions : 33 cm
Material : Contient des mico-billes
Slackjack is wearing an Unoa sized tee from Ajumapama and is holding a Sophie Giraffe keychain.
There are new Kuma’s in town! I’m thrilled to announce that there’s a third version of Kuma’s being released in April 2011. The colors are Milk Cream, Chocolate Black and Cinnamon Beige. I’m very fond of the black one.
The price for one of these sweetie pies at Toy & Goods Trading is 10,500 Yen which is about €97 and US$126 at the moment.
I’d love to get a black one, but I still haven’t received my Usagi, so… no pre-order for me this time.
Here are my KUMA set on Flickr. I wish I had my Usagi…
Yoshitomo Nara has made his take on a classic pull-along dog that is produced by the almost hundred year old toy company Vilac. It’s made for children from 12 to 4 years, but I’m sure that this toy will find lovely homes among toy collectors around the world.
I’m a big fan of Yoshitomo Nara and I think that the pull-along dog just hit my wishlist, since I recently had a little son.
Size: 32 cm long
Price: €76
Buy Yoshitomo Nara’s pull-along dog at Smallble
I love miniature photography and I love 1:1 photography that looks just like the real (miniature) thing. If this was me, I’d keep this photo as a profile picture for the rest of my life, that’s how great I think it is!
Nappy Choo is a chubby ball jointed resin doll that looks just like a Kewpie doll. He reaches 12 cm tall and has molded hair just like the original, but he can wear 4-5 inches wigs.
He comes with 12 mm Soom eyes in a random color, a diaper and swaddling clothes. Faceup and body blushing are optional and cost $70 extra which makes the doll pretty pricy. There have been some complaints about faceplates that don’t fit very well, so the mold might not be as perfect as you could hope for the price you’re paying for him, but most of the Nappy Choo owners love him to bits and don’t mind his flaws.
There’s no other BJD with his proportions and measurements out there at the moment so he’ll definitely stand out in your doll collection unless you’re a pure kewpie doll collector.
I think that Nappy Cho is very appealing because of his proportions and similarities to Kewpie. I’ll use him as a model when sketching chibi characters in my job as an illustrator. But I do find his long arms incredible annoying, but understand that they’re necessary to create a good crawling pose.
The price for this darling is $148, and if you want extra faceup and body blushing he’ll end up snatching $218 from your bank account. You can also buy clothes for him in the shop, but I think he’s cute naked.
He poses very well, and can sit, crawl, stand and wave with his freakishly long arms.
This beautiful Ooak kitchen made by Keera will be on eBay until the 6th of September. The starting bid is $150 and everything in the photographs such as furniture, food and all the little items are included (except for the dolls).
It’s very hard to find items that work perfect with 16 cm dolls such as Lati Yellow (renewal body) and Puki Fee, so this is a rare opportunity.
Secretdoll released a new tiny Baby Fairy BJD called “Dazzle”. There are three versions with the same face mold and body, being:
Type 1) Normal skin, black curly hair and brown eyes
Type 2) Normal skin, blonde, bobbed hair and blue eyes
Type 3) Tanned skin, black curly hair, blue eyes
They are only 10 cm tall and fits great with 1:12 scaled items. The price tag is quite high and the waiting time is quite long. Type 1 and 2 cost $300 and if you want the tanned version you have to add another $30. It takes 6 weeks for them to be made but I’m sure they’re worth both the money and the wait. The outfits are not included, but are available in the store.
Secretdoll are known for making dolls with a lot of personality, attitude and illusion of emotion. They’re a blast to photograph! The double Dazzle owner Suzanne Schmidt says “I have both of these. They pose really well, and I think they are very photogenic”.
Ixdoll released two new dolls to their shop this month. Their names are Mika and Pika and are two vintage looking rabbits. They are 16 cm tall and the head can be detached from the body, and the head, hair, ears and palms are designed to be changeable. The cost for one doll is HKD$1800 and they’re available in the Ixdoll online store for you to order.
I was honored to receive this doll in mid June this year. I painted him and took some photos to upload to my photostream on Flickr. The photo to the left belongs to Tanya and her faceup on her white rabbit is so sweet. I’d never made a faceup before but I did my best using what I had a home.
Mika & Pika Pool on Flickr
Buy Mika & Pika
Story about Mika & Pika
Molly is a character based on a real little girl. She’s designed by Kenny Wong who’s vice president of the Hong Kong Illustrator Society. Some of his works are displayed at the Hong Kong Arts Center, the Hong Kong Cultural Center and the University of Hong Kong Museum. He also attends at the Taipei Toy Festival every year.
The Molly character is very popular in Tai Wan, Malaysia and Singapore. Its still hard to get a hold of Molly merchandize if you don’t live in Asia, but if you do you can visit the shows and be able to get your hands on anything from a pair of Molly Monster Jeans to a Molly Volkswagen.
There is a chance that Molly could become a BJD in the future because Kenny and IXTEE are friends. Lets hope and pray that it will become a reality!
There are only four online shops so far that I found where you can buy a Molly figures and those are; 1) Kidrobot USA. They have one 2,5-Inches tall Mollympic figure skating figure for sale. 2) Earth Nest has Molly Qee’s in the same size. 3) You can also find them at Kuso Vinyl. 4) The Italian shop Atom Plastic has Molly figures in various sizes.
These incredibly cute keychain KUMA’s are available at Mimiwoo in five new autumn colors.
They are about 10 cm tall (4 inches) and cost $33.88.
I’m thrilled to inform you that USAGI rabbits are being released in three colors (Darjeeling Orange, Strawberry Red and Lavender purple) in the end of October. The rabbits in these pictures are just prototypes so they will look slightly different and richer in color in person.
They are about the same size as the previous line of ToyField’s KUMA bears with a price tag of 11,550 Yen. For more info please visit the Toyfield blog. They are available for pre-order at Toy & Goods Trading.
Lene Dragon is an industrial designer from the Philippines that makes modern play scaled (1:6) miniatures on her free time. I came across Dragondee’s work when I was browsing the miniature groups photographs on Flickr and I was so impressed that I had to ask her to participate in this blog. And I’m really glad I asked because her words are truly inspiring!
Where do you live and what do you do for a living?
I’m currently a freelancing graphic artist specializing in packaging design and a part time miniaturist during most weekends. I currently live in sunny Southern California with my loving husband. ^^
Tell us a little bit about your current miniature projects.
I make 1:6 modern miniature furniture and furnishings. Right now I am working on a new living room set.
Can you tell us a little about your family and their relation to your hobby?
My family has always been supportive of any hobby I get into. They are creative and crafty people as well, so I am lucky to get a lot of opinions, tips and encouragement from them.
When did you start collecting miniatures and what triggered your interest? When did you start making your own miniatures and what made you finally start?
I have always been fascinated with classic dollhouse miniatures as a child, but it was only during a visit to Japan in 2007 that I discovered the wonderful world of Re-ment. That ignited my love for modern miniatures. Sometime last year, I wanted to create dioramas to showcase my growing collection. I searched for other miniatures that would work with the Re-ment kitchen set I had but couldn’t find any (other than Barbie furniture). Finally, I decided to just try making my own! I was an Industrial Design major in college and have always wanted to do furniture design, but never did get into it (I did graphic design instead). So making my own miniatures was also a way for me to fulfill a ‘mini’ part of that dream.^^
Where do you usually buy your supplies?
I get it everywhere! Normally in craft stores like Michaels, but I also roam around hardware stores, thrift shops and yard sales to look for materials I could potentially use.
What’s the biggest challenge when making miniatures?
For me it’s more physical. My hands get tired and hurt easily even with the use of some power tools. Making miniatures involve a lot of time, patience and energy. No matter how much I enjoy making them I just can’t do it continuously.
What other toys are you collecting?
Through making 1:6 scale miniatures I also got introduced to Blythe and Momoko dolls. I now have a small collection of them too. They are my quality control team. They test out all my creations first to make sure other dolls will like them too. ^^
What’s on your wish list for this year?
Oh my, a lot. It’s my dream to own a Marina Bychkova Enchanted Doll, but I think I would have to wait a lifetime to get one of those! I’d probably just settle for a Dollfie doll or a Brinca Dada Bennett house for my birthday this year.
What’s your main source of inspiration?
I guess my number one inspirational source would be my family and friends. They are always the most excited whenever I make something new. Next would be other crafters and enthusiasts like me who just enjoy miniatures. I love meeting great happy people in this miniature world who appreciates the time and skill devoted in every creation.
Which are your favorite miniature artists?
Every miniature artist I know has their own individual style. It’s really hard to choose a favorite since each one is unique. I love and enjoy all of them.
Do you take commissions and do you have your own shop where you sell your work?
I list my creations in my Dragondee Etsy Shop from time to time. I currently don’t take commissions but I am open to requests. Interested collectors can also send me their email address through my shop for listing notifications.
Do you have any encouraging words for miniature collectors that wants to start making their own miniatures?
Passion is all you need. Patience comes with passion. Skills and techniques can be honed and learned through patience. As long as you have passion you’ll be able to create any miniature you want.
If anyone has any questions or would just like to share ideas or chitchat about miniatures they can send me a message via my Flickr account. I always try to respond as soon as I can. To those who are Facebook addicts like me, I also have a Like Page you can Like and get updates from.
Brinja Bastholm, a miniature hobbyist that lives in Frederiksberg (Copenhagen), is making a 1:12 scaled version of her home and has quite the attention for it. It’s both very impressive and inspiring to see the photographs of the real/miniature versions of the decor. This is something I’d like to do if I ever finish decorating my own home.
You can follow the progress of her work in her blog brinja.dk
Sze Ning contacted me a few days ago to tell me about her new blog Chiqclicks and she asked if I wanted to take part in an interview about doll photography. I hope you’ll enjoy the article.