Finch Express office...

I am finally back home and am sharing with you some photos I have meant to take but had time to do the scene. This little aged greenhouse from Hallmark I created about 8? years ago, when Hallmark sold these little greenhouse structures in their stores. I took one and aged it into a witches greenhouse but when my Felix Brownie and my Realpuki bjd's came along, it now has become my little Wren & Marigold's Finch Express office. Here Wren has her pumpkin briefcase, her mailbox that is an in/out box - a pumpkin of course, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin blotter for her desk and so on. All of these items were made by Tori West of MiniMotion, wonderful artist in paperclay.
I did all of the exterior and interior stonework and made all of the books and the book easel, a friend made the potion cabinet which Wren uses when she needs a potion to make the mail travel faster and pixie dust won't work! I am also working on the pumpkin house for her and Marigold, it is coming along slowly.
On this structure, I aged it completely with paints, and also used transparency and glass paints with liquid lead to create the stained glass effect on the windows. Enjoy the pictures!
Lisa

Pumpkin House progress..what I'm working on...

I am currently working on Wren's little pumpkin House, and have been sketching and figuring out how I wish this to look. So I've started with a circular floor, made of paperclay.

The floor will look like a stone floor in the pumpkin house, and be round. This will be the place where Finch Express is located, and where Wren and Marigold take care of all the mail for the dolls in the Pumpkin patch at Pumpkin Hill. So I was thinking of a cross between a Tudor cottage with vines, thatch roof, timbers, crumbling stone but with full size shrubs/flowers about as it is a fairy house dwelling. Perhaps a lookout finch, or little finches with baskets on their sides strapped carrying rolls of mail and packages to the inhabitants of Pumpkin Hill. As well as mice mail carriers. 
I am working on one of the birds, and he is coming along nicely. He is going to be made of paperclay as well as the floor and exposed stonework on the pumpkin house. 

I was especially surprised at how well his features came out in the paperclay. His feet will be made of wire. Hopefully big enough for one of the mice postal workers to ride on his back. 
On another note, Wren has been sewing rose petals for a new dress for herself.

I am hoping to bring home a companion Realpuki from Denver Doll soon for Wren, she is very lonely and has been telling me about a friend she wishes to come and live with her. Also, she has become demanding of late and said she needs a pair of wings. 
Back to the drawing board to see if I can keep up with the ideas I need to create!
~Lisa

Marigold & Wren...& in search of fairy dwellings...

Today since the day was so beautiful, I thought some pictures of Wren and Marigold having a day off from the mailroom of Finch Express would be in order. I have been doing alot of thinking of how I would like to use them, and have been doing some sketching , creating, and basically dreaming about my next project. 

It isn't often they get to wonder in the fields and swing on tree branches and have fun! Honestly I wish I were sometimes small enough to enjoy the tree branches with them, lol. The next project I want to do that is part of a much larger one, is finish the pumpkin house I started for Wren a long time ago. I got no farther than cutting the foam pumpkin. Yesterday I cut the back of it out, and cut a cardboard floor in it that will soon be stone. This will be the 'hub' of Finch Express with a Tudor style feel to it. I have alot of ideas to sketch out on this one, so hopefully it will come together with the story soon.
Speaking of Magical places, I have begun to notice I 'look' for them now...places of Wren and Marigold, I like to say. Where a small Hagrid or Hobbitt would come out and greet me and pour me a cup of tea. In my travels, I found these marvelous tree roots growing in an embankment on a country road I sometimes go up as a shortcut. It looks like Arietty, Pod, and Homily just need a shoe to wedge into these roots and they would be comfortable.
Enjoy the pictures!

Enjoy the pictures! ~Lisa

Cake & Candy for Pixies & Mice...

Above is a photo of what I have been working on- candy and cake for my fantasy characters at Pumpkin Hill. The cake is pink, with a slice cut out with candy striped candles that Wren, my little Pixie fairy, is pulling out after celebrating her birthday with Minuette Mouse- who of course, loves to dance.

This cake is done in a smaller scale of 1:12 scale, my tiny bjd's are just the correct size to fit in a dollhouse and enjoy these treats! (For those unfamiliar with tiny ball jointed dolls, Wren is a Realpuki doll and Minuette is made by Dollfactory. Both were purchased at

 Denver Doll Emporium.

More pictures are following-

These are not yet available on Etsy, as I am still perfecting the candy and candles. I went for a sort of fantasical type of cake like a fairy would have, or a very pink loving mouse would want. I am back on the creating wagon and have more ideas than my hands can sculpt! Enjoy!

What I've been up to the past few months....

First, I would like to apologize to those following this blog on being awol for so very long. When I looked at my last blog entry and the goals I had set myself, it is little wonder. An artist dealing with the frustration of not having time to create needs to get serious goals in order, or else, as I have found myself in this situation, your life runs you! lol...so with alot of organizing with hubby and I on board, we have achieved some of those goals or the beginnings.
Above is the result of some of that time management. I was able in the last two or three months to sit down and create. And yes, I threw away alot before I was satisfied, but it felt good. I first created just for myself. There are so many projects and scenes I want to do in 1:6 scale! As a result of this- I began listing items on Etsy in my Etsy shop since I found that there were many doll people who wanted the type of items I was creating.
This blog itself as well as my other blogs- The One Sixth Scale Dollhouse and King William Miniatures blog
will be going thru a transformation too. As I get more organized and have more photos taken, I will be going from there and tweaking my sites a bit too. This blog will become more of a representation of updates on my work, handcrafted, for 1:12 scale as well as 1:6 and possibly the larger doll scales as well, depending on how well received it is.
If you have a miniature commission you wish me to work on for your diorama or dollhouse, please email me at pumpkinhillstudios@msn.com

By the way, don't forget our site on Ebay at our Ebay store Pumpkin Hill Studios as well as our HUGE list of
eBAY Auctions ! Currently I have 24+ listed of damaged, flawed large scale Bespaq doll furniture items as well as the curios, and various vintage items as well on auction. I will also be adding more!

Don't forget to visit our Pumpkin Hill Studios FACEBOOK PAGE  and follow us!
~Lisa

Felicity in the morning....

I haven't been posting very much lately with the dolls, but yesterday, early in the morning as the sun was beginning to come up, I found Felicity in the parlor, attending to her correspondence, with Marigold Finch, waiting to fly her tiny missives to Finch Express to the dolls they were intended for.

It was early morning, and the sun had not yet risen, so Felicity had lit the candles on the desk and had just finished writing and sealing her letters when I came in. After that, it appeared she had gathered up her basket and was going to go check on the hens and gather eggs.

Enjoy the photos!

Artist frustrations...& Miniature bird book pendant

I recently finished this miniature bird book pendant, with wire wrapped hook, and listed it on Etsy in my Etsy shop . The link will take you directly to the item. It came upon me as a whimsical type of idea, with things I had previously made but did not have a use for- such as the too large miniature book above. Made with black leather, aging techniques, and with blank pages, it measures about 1 1 /2 inches high. I created the webbed pendant attachment from golden wire, and added the tiny handmade tassel for interest. I modeled in the picture with the pendant on a leather cord necklace. I am really pleased with my first try at altering some wire wrapping techniques and creating this little piece...currently on sale now for $15 with free shipping in the USA, $5 for shipping internationally. I have begun to create jewelry pieces and add them to my Etsy shop Pumpkin Hill Studios, with a few items specially done for dolls as well, under the moniker Atelier Lisa....

NEWS; Pumpkin Hill Studios now has its own Fanpage . Sign on and LIKE US!
You can also shop our Ebay store Pumpkin Hill Studios, right from our Facebook Shop ! Your transactions will be completed thru Paypal/Ebay when you press the Buy/Bid button.


I have really become enthralled with Pinterest and I was surprised to see how much time I spend on it- I have about 36 boards right now. I love looking at other's pictures and work, and love to share them. I have laughed because Pinterest has been referred to as 'electronic hoarding'...I don't know about that concept, but I find it a wonderful place to relax in the early morning with my cupof morning coffee, browsing beautiful pictures. Because of the heat, I have been looking at gorgeous pictures of Autumn and fall....If you haven't browsed Pinterest and are having an artist's block, I encourage you to browse, it is quite easy to get signed up or get an invite.

My artist frustrations have come about because ultimately, we all get to that place where we feel like we are on a creating treadmill...gotta make the ...whatever, to bring in the greenbacks. Though I love the dolls, the doll furniture I work with, eventually there is so much one person can do over and over before they are wanting to spread their wings...My biggest problem in this vent is time, to experiment, perfect and contemplate new art techniques and ideas. They do not happen overnight, and many times I am overwhelmed with my time limitations. At this point, my feelings of being trapped and stifled creatively come to a head, and I have to constantly find myself pulling back from things I enjoy doing, to regroup, and think more clearly, and focus.

I decided that a list was in order of how to manage my time and creativity, and put soem perspective on what it is exactly what I would like to do- and a changing of habits seemed to be in order. So here are the goals- such as they are for now!

1- Go back to my 'grass-roots'. Use materials on hand to create, instead of buying new to create something you are displeased with. (I am famous for this with craft supplies that end up never used.)

2- Get visually inspired. This means I am going to start taking my camera with me even though I have a camera phone. See the beauty in the everyday and ordinary, whether it is a ramshackle barn or a bird in flight, or puddles of water on the sidewalk.

3- SLOW DOWN........and begin to notice the art and the beauty in the world around myself. I did this today, and was amazed at how many gorgeous photos I could have taken. New inspiration came to me and new ideas for projects and pieces came to me.

4- Write it down...an idea may not be able to come about to be immediately put on the table and begun, but if I begin to write the ideas down, they all might evolve into a GREAT idea.

5- Practice practice practice....which is going to be my hardest goal. Practising is not my strongest suit, and I hate to waste product just to get displeased with it and throw the item out.

...right now this is what I have come up with to organize myself and loose this feeling of inertia and artistic frustration.  I came to wonder if other artists had this same feeling as I do, so I hope I am not the only one here experiencing this sense of intertia....the extreme temperatures of summer here in Virginia haven't made it easy- even in air conditioning my hands sweat so it is next to impossible to work with clay, metal, or paper because of sweat stains. sigh....

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~Lisa