Stop Motion Animation

I came to 1:6 scale furniture building in a very circuitous  way.  When I started I had no idea what I was doing and no one to ask how to do it and although it seems simple, shipping these items without having them break is an art in and of itself and I wasn't that good at it yet.  So when I got an email from a man in Hollywood asking me to make furniture for his stop motion film I didn't believe it was real.  I decided to check the guy out and to my complete surprise he was real.  He was involved in the animation for Katey Perry's 'California Girls' video and commercials that were run on prime time TV and he wanted props from my shop, MiniPlacesStudio Etsy, for a stop motion film 'Onward' he was trying to fund through Kickstarter. 

 Not sure what to make of the guy I sent him my usual short 'Hi what can I do for you email' and receive a very long animated email about his stop motion movie and what he wanted from my shop.  Like many of my custom orders he wanted something in my shop with a few tweaks,. He wanted the sofa below, but not exactly:

The first thing that had to go was the leopard print.  The sofa above turned into this:

The sofa is similar but the rest was a whole new frontier for me.  Those are the first bookcases, books, and coffee table I ever made.  As you can see I hadn't figured out photo shop to well either because my photo is a bit cockeyed.  My bookcases are much better now as you can see below.

Next he wanted a desk and chair:

 

This was the end of the jobs I could do well, but he kept asking for things and I didn't know how to say no.  Story of my life. He would sometimes ask how to put together an item that arrived broken.  He was very nice about it, but I felt terrible.  A year later and I finally feel confident with my shipping.

Then he wanted a room, three walls, that could be put together and taken apart.  The wall paper just wouldn't stick the way I wanted it to.

 I am kind of proud of this wood panel wall.  Made of coffee stir stick and plywood. 

 He also need a 1:6 scale tombstone that he could us CGI to make words on

 and airline seats.

Onward didn't fund in Kickstarter, so my items never made it to film, but I made some money and learned a lot of new skills.  I guess the take home lesson was to take opportunities when they come.  The skills I acquired from doing this assignment made me a better builder and designer.  It has been close to two years since I did this project and I have sold the same furniture to several new clients who were thrilled with the furniture ...  and it all arrived in one piece.  

Frankie Stien Repaint

 Hello all!  This is my first repaint.  She was a Frankie Stein Doll and now she is a ... I guess softer version of herself.  I used nail polish remover to remove all the paint from her face and body and removed the 'bolts' in her neck with a razor blade and light sanding.  Then I used oil paint and oil pastels to create the facial features and then sealed it.  She is wearing Bratz doll jacket and skirt, socks that I re-purposed from a sweater my daughter no longer fits in and monster high shoes.  I am thinking about painting the shoes.  For a first try she isn't too bad.  I think when I do it again I will make the eye lids bigger.  Her eyes are a bit too big.  Oh, then there is the hair.  If anyone know how to get it laying flat again I would love to know.  Her hair is beginning to look a bit like mine (grey streaks and messy).  Maybe dolls are like dogs they look like their owners after a while ;)

The furniture is available at MiniPlaceStudio