Props Homes for Fairies

Ages ago, back in the early days of Soom's MD releases, I was absolutely smitten with the first of their Teenie Gem releases and ordered a Glati for myself, with very little plan of what I was going to do with him. As their releases went on, I also went after Yrie, still with no solid plans. I had some idea that I'd do them as dark, semi-punk little things, but it just wasn't working for me. After a hobby break, I came back refreshed with a new idea for them--they were spirits, each associated with a classical element (or variation on it), and I already had my earth and air ones! I'll be continuing to fill out the elements with other TGs, and so far have FCE Dolomi for my fire spirit, and FCE Picro on the way to be water.

As we all know, though, things in life change. My original plan with the group was to get them styled up and pose them on an open shelf somewhere in a group, because my cat was never a problem around my dolls. Sadly, he passed away shortly after we relocated, and the new kittens are not as trustworthy. All the dolls have to be enclosed now, and for this group, inspiration struck on a trip to Ikea--their giant BORRBY lantern would be a perfect fairy house! A few measurements later, and I decided to go ahead and start with the easiest of the group, the "earth" home for Imaginos...


The original sketch, done at work without any actual reference of how the lantern looks. Not that it's really needed, since the sketches are more of a guideline for the "feel" I'm after than an actual blueprint of any sort.


As a satyr/faun sort of creature, I see Imaginos as having domain over the green and growing side of the earth domain, so I'll likely get another sculpt (I'm currently thinking Yarn/Silky) for the mineral side of it. A trip to JoAnn's yielded a big box of mosses and a bunch of greenery, as well as some moss paint I ended up not using, since the moss box had far more in it than I expected. I tried Michaels for a doll stand, and ended up with that pale blue wisteria from their clearance section, and ultimately found the stand at Hobby Lobby.


Since I want the dolls to be standing (or, at least, not sitting) in their houses, the first step was to attach the stand to the lantern. As luck would have it, the stand I got is a perfect fit for the candle indentation, and just needed a little heavy-duty mounting tape to be stuck very, very well.


Next up was filling out the base with the moss. The big box had a moss mat that, sadly, was not quite wide enough to cover the base in one pass, but after piecing it together, I still have some left over for another project. Since I wanted to add greenery to the back, and not have a fully flat base, I cut down some floral foam left over from a previous project and glued the mat down over it.


The edges were less than pretty when I was done, but a few moss clumps glued down took care of that! I wanted to make sure the rough edges wouldn't be seen even after the sides were attached, so I covered the edges first before adding the panels.


Working my way around (and not following the assembly instructions at all), I kept adding moss tufts inside and adding the side pieces.


The edges definitely aren't very stable without the top... I'll need to address this better with my plans for one of the others. For this one, a little tape is sufficient to hold it upright while all the glue dries!


Originally I'd been planning to paint moss on the top, but I had more than enough left and the glue was doing the trick, so a few clumps made their way up there, as well as more around the outer edges of the base.


Not bad for an evening of work, right? Now the glue just needs to dry before I can move on...

 

This morning, everything was sufficiently dry (the only benefit to nasty dry winter air!), so I was able to complete Imaginos's house!


The reason I left the top unattached last night was for better access to everything inside today. I could both reach in from the top to anchor the inner branches, and thread the protruding ones through the top more easily. The ivy around the edges is shoved into the gaps on the sides, and tucked under the moss mat to hold it in place.


The right side...


The left...


And the back!

13_imaginos-complete by vicemage, on Flickr
And with Imaginos tucked into his nice new home! Now he just needs a makeover to match. I do have some new fur on its way for a more thematically appropriate wig for him, and some ideas for new blushing and clothes as well, but for now he's safe from interfering kittens!

Next up will be planning out either the Air one for Mystere, or the Fire one for Samedi. If anyone has any thoughts on what to do with them, I'd love to hear them! (I only know where I'm going with the Water one, but Del Rio is still on layaway and that will be the most technically challenging of them...)

 

I've been thinking of doing some things suspended from the top, and now that I know how the lantern assembles it wouldn't be too tough to do! I was also thinking of light, airy fabrics draped in it; maybe I could use watered down paint to "spraypaint" a nebula on some white lace to drape through the back. That would keep the light "air" look, but add the nebula, since I do like the sound of that.

I'll probably stick to more durable things (fabric vs tissue) for constructing everything, I've been toying with something similar to a Fire Fairy costume I made a few years back, using red sheer ribbon to create "flames."

 

Thank you! It'll only work for some of them, of course, since the lanterns aren't big enough for more than a single tiny. I do plan to post the others in here as I work on them, and likely will show the aesthetics changes each doll gets in turn, too. It'll be a little while before I build the next house, since I need to plan out both the look and how I'm going to construct it, then get all the supplies and the lantern.

Ooh, that could be fun! I'm hoping to put a couple of battery candles into the fire one, and was thinking of ways I could tuck some lights into Imaginos's (I couldn't find a set I liked for him, but it's still a possibility).

 

It's definitely just for a few of them; I'm doing it partly to kill time while waiting for some large room boxes to be constructed. Once those are done, these will be set on top for display.

 

Thankfully, Artemis (the bigger troublemaker) is more obsessed with my real plant and hasn't tried going after Imaginos' box. She hasn't shown much interest in silk plants, thankfully, which is why I felt comfortable decorating the outside of the lantern with them. I've been doing my best to see what does and doesn't draw their attention, and trying to focus on keeping the outsides minimally tempting.

 

Del Rio (Picro/Sammi) is actually all paid off now, so it's officially three more. I at least know what I'm doing for his, but I'm still working out the ideas for the other two.

 

It is, but it's fun to work on them, too. And I think most of them, at least, will go fairly quickly! The water based one will likely take the longest, since I'm planning to do some clearcast resin in it to represent the water, and that's going to create a number of challenges and take some extra time to set.

 

You're welcome, @lkayet, glad you liked it, and I hope it does inspire you for your project! Luckily, we're getting into the time of year when all that great gardening stuff starts to appear again, so hopefully an even better terrarium (or lantern, or even something else) will show up for you soon. And if/when you do find something, I hope you'll do your own project thread for it, because I'd love to see it.

 

So it's been a little while, but while I was having some computer trouble at work today I sketched up the next two concepts for my fairy homes. (I also finally scanned the original concept, so it's been added to the first post)



First off is the basic concept for Del Rio, my water fairy (Soom FCE Picro/Sammi axolotl). This was honestly the one where I had the best idea of what I wanted, next to Imaginos--I'll be turning the lantern into a watery beach scene! The base will be coated with a mix of sand and natural aquarium stone, with some teeny-tiny starfish, sand dollars, and seashells I have stashed away added into it. I shouldn't have to worry too much about gluing them all in place, as I'll be pouring some clear-cast resin "water" over it all. (I've done a little research, and found that I should be able to use tape to build up a wall around the edge to hold the "water" in place.)

Once the outer resin has set, then I'll tape up the gaps in the sides of the lantern and across the door, and pour a deeper secondary layer inside; that area may not get the aquarium stone (just the sand), and I'm hoping to find some small realistic-looking fish I can add into it to make it a little more "alive." Naturally, some of the tiny starfish will also end up in there. (I have so many tiny starfish.) I'm also hoping to get a fake garden pond lily pad to be a place for Del Rio to stand on top of the water.

In the back, I'll add some fake aquarium plants (and possibly a couple of other things around the sides, though of course I've drawn the edges much wider than they actually are); if I can find some faux kelp, I'd like to have that coming from the top. And I'm hoping I can find some flexible octopus tentacles, too, though with that I'll have the option of making them, too. (Those may become something else, as well; jellyfish, larger starfish, really a lot of the final design ends up falling into "what can I find?") With the exception of the top items, pretty much everything will be anchored into the resin "water," so other than gluing the sand base, this should be pretty glue-free in general.

(I may also find some teeny fairy lights I can weave through, with the power pack at the back, if I feel like I can reliably seal it off with tape. A little light coming up through the "water" could look very nice! And with this amount of clear cast resin, I'll have to do some experimenting before I actually go through with it... there may be some Altoids tin ponds in my future.)

 

I've struggled a bit with this one; this is the one for Mystere, my air fairy (Soom Yrie). Air isn't the easiest thing in the world to represent in a diorama! For this one, I've settled on things that are light in appearance.

It's a little tough to sketch lace in ballpoint, but that's my concept for the base; I'll glue a layer of white lace over the whole thing, giving it a lighter look. I've also got some lace draped across two of the sides, which I may mix with some tiny lights. I'm also hoping to find some tiny lace fans to add to the back, as well, and plan for a lace drape around the center stand. I'm still a little undecided about the inner area, though it may be batting or white fleece with lace bunched across the top to keep the light and airy look going.

Around the outside, I'll be getting some sheer wire-edged ribbon that I can twist into very "active" shapes, to look more like they're moving around in an air current. I'm still debating whether or not I want to also suspend anything from inside (maybe some tiny butterflies on monofilament?) or if there's anything I might want to add to the outer areas besides the lace. I'd certainly welcome some feedback on this concept!

Meanwhile, I'm still thinking about what I might do for Samedi (Soom FCE Taco/Dolomi)... I've got a bit of a concept forming, so we'll see when I have a chance again to sketch something out.

 

While I haven't started on any more of the enclosures, things are still happening with the fairies...

Work in progress by vicemage, on Flickr

 

Poor Imaginos got stuck in pieces for quite a while... I got some more work done after my last update, and then the one-two punch of "super busy" and "bad weather" hit and I wasn't able to do anything on him.

That got followed up by "Looks like I'm moving sometime in the spring again," and that meant that I needed to do something about all those resin bits on the table, so when the weather lifted for a couple of days this week, I took the time to give him the last couple of coats of sealant he needed and get him restrung. I also replaced his old, stretched-out Soom elastic with some fresh stuff from my dolly toolbox and sueded him, so he's super-tight and much more poseable than before.



Here he is all finished up (except for lashes, which I'll need to get), with his new, more nature-driven palette! It doesn't show very well in photos, unfortunately, but his horns, hooves and wings are all coated in a layer of holo powder. I'll probably try a paste/pigment on the next doll I try to holo (I'm testing ideas for a later doll who needs a very solid layer of it), since large areas were a little hard to coat evenly.



His wings, after getting him into some temporary clothes. Fortunately I have exactly one pair of YoSD sized pants that his hooves will fit through, so until I get his new clothes made up, he'll be wearing these. If I can finish my upcoming cosplay before I move, I'll likely go ahead and start on his outfit, which I'm aiming to be mori-inspired.



And back in his lantern home. I've since decided that these will all need lighting of some sort, so in the future I'll be taking a shot at getting a small spotlight fixed into the top so it's not quite so dark in there.

I've also been collecting various bits and pieces for Del Rio's watery lantern, and now that Spring stuff is back on the shelves in so many stores I'll be looking for the lilypad for him too. I did pick up part of the resin on sale just recently, so I'm ready to test that out somewhere. I won't be able to do any of the resin work until post-moving, I don't think, but we'll see what happens...

 

@Bowhead, thanks! They're elementally themed rather than seasonally themed, but I do have plans for a different diorama for my Autumn fairy Acorn.

 

I wonder what time it is...



Oh. It looks like it's time for another lantern!

 

@TheDoctor and @Medusahere, thank you! I'm excited to see it too!

Because of the resin pouring aspect of this one (and that I'll be pouring it in layers) it's going to take a lot longer than the single day of just going crazy that I did on the original, but I did do some initial laying out of the pieces I bought and tacking them down. I've decided I do need a couple more plants (and that I'm going to do some kind of water on the top, which is an area I'd been trying to figure out).

Luckily, my roommate seems to be needing a betta tomorrow so I have an excuse already to go to the pet store and pick up a couple more plants.

I do have the edges taped for the initial pours, and the corners sealed on the bottom; once I get the last plants tacked down I'll start settling in the base layer of rocks and do the first pour to start sealing things in place. But that's a project for tomorrow. For now, there's this:

 

Be warned that there's a hazard of buying your supplies at a pet store. Your impulse buys might be a little more involved than a candy bar at the register...

This basically means I didn't get a start as early as I was hoping, but I did get the remaining plants and get things settled in!




The bit of blue tape on the inside of the glass is holding one of the little starfish in place until the resin can reach it, and I do plan to pour resin up fairly high... which means this is going to be kind of a slow and not particularly cheap process.



And there's the initial pour. I knew it wasn't going to go far, but man, that's disappointing. I've got more resin coming in, but apparently I should have ordered even larger containers than I did... after everything's cured and I can clean the mixing cups, I'll do a double-batch to try to lock the stones fully in place.

(For reference, I'm using Art N Glow resin because it's very low VOC and I'm doing this indoors, the tank is 15 gallons, and the fish is a butterfly betta.)

 

I figured even though it hadn't been 24 hours yet, it was long enough to clean up the mixing cups a bit, so I tackled a second pour today... and it turns out the initial pour (60 mL) went a lot further than I thought! This time I did 80 mL (too much to do with this in one shot at this time, next round will be back down to 60), and used some pipettes to push it into some of the smaller areas, and the results are quite a bit more impressive than yesterday's:



Look at that! The "deep pooling" effect is starting to show! I worked my way around the outer rim, and as much of the inside as I can. Unfortunately, it's just a little too crowded with the plants to get everything on the inside through the door, even with the pipettes, so after I let this get nice and hard, I'll be heavily taping the side panels so I can remove the top and go in from above to get the rest. With this pour, most of the small pieces other than the gravel should be starting to "lock" in place, including the actual lantern sides, which hopefully will help with removing the top piece without disturbing everything else too much. (Or, it might mean I can't remove it at all, we'll just have to see!)

 

@TheDoctor it's tinted with someblue alcohol ink to give it more depth I'll lighten it up as I go until it's just clear (and blends with the UV resin I'll use to secure the fish and jellyfish). There's also a glow in the dark iridescent glitter for a deep water bioluminescent effect, but it's not really showing in that photo, and the one I took to try to show it was badly blurred...

 

Forgot to throw these up last night, but here's the last of the dark blue resin poured! I did open up the top to do this, so I could make sure to both get the stones properly arranged at the back, and to get some of the resin down into the back and the center of that larger mass of plants. It's still really hard to get specific spots targeted (I had to wipe a lot of resin off the glass), but I got it good enough! The next layer will be lighter, moving up to clear for the rest, and it should self-level itself from here out.



I also filled in around the outer rim a fair bit more, and finally got a photo showing the sparkle in it



Next up will be putting the top back in place and adding the pale blue layer!

 

Thank you, @Booksandtea ! I'm hoping to get some more work in soon, though I'm back to work full time so I have a little less time on my hands now