Wolfie Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 was promised? Tonight while I was burning dinner while reading an old book - I realized that the instructions in the book for "Christmas in the Castle" would be perfect for those tubes that I bought last summer....... The book I was reading while the steak was smoking is called "The Wish Booklet Volume XXIII Fashioning Mniatures . . . One more Time" by Susan Bonsall Sirkis - Copyright 1980...... Anyway this castle roombox she puts together here is PURE Romance! Stone walls, archway after archway, circular stairway, stained glass windows, and a Unicorn tapestry combine to produce a medieval feeling. Now I ask you - why can't we take a standard roombox and cut part of that tube in half and put it in a corner, and then decorate the rest of the roombox in grey/brown stone and put a circular staircase in that tube? I ask you this because I have this picture in my mind - no not the burning steaks - but one of pure romance of a fairy tale princess wearing a fairy tale crown while sitting on a throne in this little room...... The place is decked with greens - perhaps a page has a tray of festive beverages to a couple dancing to lute music...... My mind is swimming with this idea! What do you think? Is itfeasible? Would it work? Can you see the picture? I have a blank roombox with a plexi front that lifts up..... It has a wood plank floor already, but it is nekkid! Would a castle scene fit in it?! Inquiring minds want to know! Oh I wish I was a witch and I could just conjure up this whole thing! But wait, I am a witch! At least Doug calls me one when I'm working on something and he keeps interrupting....LOL OK gang, put on your thinking caps and try to picture this scene. Would it work in a roombox? Would the tube be too big? Even cut in half? Would the stairs in the tube be viewed well through an arched doorway? Or should I just go back and finish burning the steaks? Wolfie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_the_haunted Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 I having a hard time envisioning the parts you have for the castle...I think I got lost somewhere between the burning steaks, and the tubes but, If your going to build a castle, YES most definitely do it! You can't go wrong with a castle plus it will give you some practice on the paper clay stone effect! And I must admit, I can't wait to see pics LOL :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friendly Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 was promised? Tonight while I was burning dinner while reading an old book - I realized that the instructions in the book for "Christmas in the Castle" would be perfect for those tubes that I bought last summer....... The book I was reading while the steak was smoking is called "The Wish Booklet Volume XXIII Fashioning Mniatures . . . One more Time" by Susan Bonsall Sirkis - Copyright 1980...... Anyway this castle roombox she puts together here is PURE Romance! Stone walls, archway after archway, circular stairway, stained glass windows, and a Unicorn tapestry combine to produce a medieval feeling. Now I ask you - why can't we take a standard roombox and cut part of that tube in half and put it in a corner, and then decorate the rest of the roombox in grey/brown stone and put a circular staircase in that tube? I ask you this because I have this picture in my mind - no not the burning steaks - but one of pure romance of a fairy tale princess wearing a fairy tale crown while sitting on a throne in this little room...... The place is decked with greens - perhaps a page has a tray of festive beverages to a couple dancing to lute music...... My mind is swimming with this idea! What do you think? Is itfeasible? Would it work? Can you see the picture? I have a blank roombox with a plexi front that lifts up..... It has a wood plank floor already, but it is nekkid! Would a castle scene fit in it?! Inquiring minds want to know! Oh I wish I was a witch and I could just conjure up this whole thing! But wait, I am a witch! At least Doug calls me one when I'm working on something and he keeps interrupting....LOL OK gang, put on your thinking caps and try to picture this scene. Would it work in a roombox? Would the tube be too big? Even cut in half? Would the stairs in the tube be viewed well through an arched doorway? Or should I just go back and finish burning the steaks? Wolfie You need to watch the movie "High Spirits" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted December 2, 2007 Author Share Posted December 2, 2007 Monica, it is still in my mind! I have such a mental picture of this ROOMBOX castle scene it's like I'm there! Living it! High pointy windows in the tower - backlit of course with the light coming in through the stained glass...... Susan's roomboxes always have an empty space in the back for the lighting...... If you can imagine the box divided at the 2/3 mark? And a light installed in the 1/3 blank area which is painted sky blue and maybe has a tree branch across the outside of the window...... The light coming in through that window which is placed over the stairs so you can see it..... and the bend of the tower has a wall and a door in it so the light also comes through the door, which you cannot see out of..... Hard to explain! I dare not scan the book because of copyrights..... But perhaps I can draw a sketch...... I have to think more about this. If you had the book you could see the design. Paperclay or egg shell would make the stones for the tube and the foam core walls...... It would be very interesting. As I said, I think of strange things when I'm cooking! The dog got most of the steaks by the way...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minime Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 I would love to see a sketch of it. I'm very interested. Lucky dog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 The Brooke Tucker roombox I got from my cousin is built this way ... with spaces for back and side lighting through windows. I was wondering what to do with it ... a castle could be very interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shy Spirit Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 I'm not quite sure how you mean to construct the setting - but I would love to see it! This link shows a castle bedroom - I think it's marvellous, but I should warn people that the two figures in the bed are nude. If naked dolls offend you, please don't click on the link. http://www.mapleleafminiatures.ca/gallery/...ragonBedLovers/ I'm sure it's not what you have in mind, Gina - but I think it's inspiring, anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted December 2, 2007 Author Share Posted December 2, 2007 I scanned the book and am attaching a picture of this roombox as Susan Sirkis did it up. I think it can be much better. Note where the staircase is that the concave part of the tower could so. The light would be coming from the windows and the upper part of the staircase, and also through the open door where the Page is standing. I think it can e done up a lot better, but I like the general idea!!!! Whatcha think?! The second picture shows the placement of the roombox itself with all of the items in it numbered. I would leave off the numbered items, but in general I like the way the roombox is formed. I hope you can understand better what the concept that is rattling my brain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redneck princess Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Shy Spirit, that is definitely a new definition of eye candy Wolfie, it sounds like a project you are very excited about...I say go for it! You have so many great ideas already, and I would love to see the results of what you are already invisioning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whippet-gal Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Can't you 'knock it up' in cardboard or thin foamcore to see if it would work, Gina. It sounds brilliant - I'd make the opening to the circular staircase as wide as you possibly can so that you can actually see the stairs winding round & get maximum benefit from the lighting coming from there. Getting quite excited along with you! Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 It sounds like a splendid idea Wolfie, and one that I know would make a fantastic setting for a special doll or two as well Can't wait to see it start to take shape!!!! (Which I hope it will LOL) Hugs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friendly Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 I scanned the book and am attaching a picture of this roombox as Susan Sirkis did it up. I think it can be much better. Note where the staircase is that the concave part of the tower could so. The light would be coming from the windows and the upper part of the staircase, and also through the open door where the Page is standing. I think it can e done up a lot better, but I like the general idea!!!! Whatcha think?! The second picture shows the placement of the roombox itself with all of the items in it numbered. I would leave off the numbered items, but in general I like the way the roombox is formed. I hope you can understand better what the concept that is rattling my brain! Damsel in period dress with long flowing hat and stairs of castle? That's a Star Trek re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-run! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted December 2, 2007 Author Share Posted December 2, 2007 I've decided that IF I do this castle in the roombox, I am rethinking using the tube....it's way too big. Oatmeal box (sans outmeal of course) cut in half will work....... And cardboard/foamcore everywhere else..... Yes, large opening, and the stairs going up and up....lots of light comiing down from the top of the stairs and that back wall between the faux door and the opening. When Ms. Sirkis designed these roomboxes, and there are two books out there, with wonderful themes in them, romantic, fun themes....she also has 6 templates to use for designs for them, all with hidden lights usually coming through windows or doors....there is even an Old Yankee Tea Room at Christmas time in her other book, Fashioning Miniatures..... Her roomboxes are fabulous - the dolls she was using quite primitive at the time. She also made up 15 or 20 other books with costumes ranging from 1600's through the 40's..... She was written up many many times in Nutshell News and Dollhouse Miniatures. I don't know if she is dead or alive as there have been no new books. Anyway some of the other boxes in this book are called Dinner for Two which I am using as the basis for my Tabu room if ever I get time to make it! The Boucher Room which shows a lady from the 1700's being shown laces and trims by a haberdasher. The interior of the box is done up in apple green and dusty rose.... very elegant, like something Marie Antoinette would have loved. Dinner for Two illustrates elegant, romantic dinners we always wanted to share with someone we love. Clear colors of rose, black and white. There is the Wedding Morning - a new bride on her wedding day in her bedroom. Her bags are packed for the wedding journey. It's Victorian in it's presentation. Tiny Bubbles is another roombox Its an escape - very tomantic with tub, Bubbles in the tub (Bubbles is the doll's name), with a fireplace, lounge, etc., very elegant. Then there is "In Concert" which is a beautiful living room with lounge and grand piano. It's more like a Valentine roomsetting with an elegant couple in it.....another possible use is for my "hot" Tabu roombox....I haven't decided on this one or Dinner for two for the inside of THAT box..... Then there is a Cinderella scene, it basically is a garden with part of a vaguely Tudor house...... Cinderella is standing in the doorway watching her fairy godmother. The mice are present and the pumpkin. the lighting is very subdued, more like moonlight. She is waiting for the magic to begin...... Then there is the Bride's Boutique which is a Victorian bridal shop with seamstress making a dress on a manniquin. The last box in this book is called Regency Romance. Like boy meets girl in early Nineteenth Century England. Itg's an ideal setting for the cover of a romantic pRegency Romance...... Very elegant.The couple look very much in love, and the gown and wrap on the lady is simple and elegant. The gentleman too is elegant. This is Book two..... Book one has Princess and the Pea, and many other settings. I haven't looked at these books in a long time...... They are fabulous in their ideas though and can be embellished upon. If you are at a mini store where they have older books, these are worth having in your library. Susan Sirkis is the author, they are called The Wish Booklet - Fashioning Miniatures and Fashioning Miniatures one more time. Fabulous little bookletswith about 50 pages in each! Wolfie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whippet-gal Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Yes, well, to go back to the original question - whatever did happen to the castle tutorial? Are there any photos from the first run through? I'd forgotten all about it. Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted December 2, 2007 Author Share Posted December 2, 2007 Yes, where is the tutorial on the castle! I've got 6 feet of huge tube in my workroom/guestroom closet! I sure would love to use it one day! I cut the oatmeal container in two pieces - one side a dite shorter than the other. I have a roombox that is empty and waiting.....and have some foamcore I've brought up from the basement, but dolls are hollering at me today, so I have to finish what I have started and mail them out this week! then I think I will go with this roombox. The lighting is simple, it uses the larger Christmas tree bulbs - and Doug thinks that two units would be wonderful in there....the light will then flood out of the stairwell and from behind that door from down the hall. Then I'll need to make some medieval type furniture for the main hall. Fortunately there are some patterns for medieval furniture in there. A throne of sorts and a chest. It's simple to make - very straight lines with some decorations on the fronts. The gowns I can do very well along with crowns and such, and steeple hennons as well. I think two ladies, two men and a pageboy. I'll need to try and find a lute for one of the men to be playing while sitting at the foot of one of the ladies. Oh such ideas! If only there was time! But I'm thinking, this can be for other seasons too, so perhaps rather than Christmas which I can't see myself finishing before, perhaps this will be a Valentine's in the castle.....Gueneviere and Sir Lancelot and King Arthur and the lady evil person Mordrid? Wolfie Wolfie biting her claws in anticipation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shy Spirit Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Gina, I can't wait to see these wonderful ideas in action! I'm also hoping to see the castle roombox tutorial sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachie Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 I have a roombox that is empty and waiting..... I do also Gina.....and I'm waiting to finish it....it was going to be a Christmas gift..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 For the original question - what ever did happen to the castle tower tutorial? I thought it was supposed to be open for all of us to see this fall. I know where I can get a tube..... Gina - may I make a suggestion? How about 2 roomboxes stacked on top of each other. Cut your big tube about 3 or 4 inches taller than the height of them. You would make a removable pointy roof for the tower which would house the staircase. Cut a section out of the lower part of the tube the same height as the 2 roomboxes and wide enough to fit over the corner of them. You would cut an opening in the lower roombox at the back for the staircase start and in the side of the upper roombox for the top of the stairs. You would need the larger tube (not the oatmeal box) since the corners of the roomboxes would stick into the tower. Then you would see the stairs going up from the lower room and a view of the stairs coming up from the upper box. You could have a living room and bedroom, or a grand entry and a living room or a kitchen and dining room. Whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallowell Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I also remember that tutorial and the discussions about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 It will not be made public until after it's published Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted December 4, 2007 Author Share Posted December 4, 2007 I will wait impatiently! In the meantime my roombox is still in the planning stage. Doug wants to get involved in this as well. We have a roombox about 15" long by 10" tall and 10" deep.....so there is a lot of fun space there. The other roombox which is identical is going to be the "Tabu" room. In the meantime I'm using oatmeal like crazy! Doug is awash in oatmeal and raisen for breakfast, oatmeal/raisen cookies, etc, etc. I may just use the curves and the rest straight walls, and I'm thinking that straight wall on the right should have a door on it to match the one on the opposite wall. I've got some wonderful faux candle sconces for the walls and left over aluminum cans from Barbie shoe making to make a wonderful chandelair. Since this is a daytime scene, the two lights in behind the stairs and wall will be sufficient coming through the windows. I will paint the back wall pale glue and stick some branches in there so you thnk there are windows with trees outside. The dolls won't come until later - I have too many to do to think about my own.....sigh..... I'm thinking 5 dolls will be suffienct. A couple dancing, a lady on a chair, a lute player at her feet, and a page boy with a tray of drinks and goodies. Furniture simple a chest, the chair, sconces, some cushions...... what else do you recommend? I need to find a lute. What goodies did the medievals have? I will have to look up Mary Ecchor's book again as she had a medieval feast in there, but I don't remember if there were goodies or not. I'm excited about this. The two roomboxes will be one on top of the other OR since my dining area is open to the kitchen, one on each side of the opening. The wiring is simple, two screw down night light fixtures with those larger Chrismas bulbs....the directions in the book for doing those are wonderfully simple and perhaps I can do it myself! What about flooring! What should I use?! One roombox has a marvelous floor of ebony wood - the other is white primer. I'll be doing the egg carton stones, but what about the floor? Any ideas? I can't pay you for the ideas, so freebies please?! Wolfie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyckedWood Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 I'm working on this design now. I did a google search for any other info and Wolfies long ago post came up. Her completed castle room can be seen here http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=browse&album=1501 http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=browse&album=1501 It takes both wish books to get the full instructions because dimensions for the designs are scattered through out both. The books can be found now on eBay or amazon and maybe on Susan's website (yes she's still alive ) Really fun but it took me awhile wrap my mind around the instructions. Looking at Wolfies finished room helped although we did it a little differently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldenrodfarm Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 This looks like a fun project! I may look up her books, I did go and look at Wolfies pictures and they came out really well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyckedWood Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 I have mine almost finished except for painting it, the paperclay has to dry a little more. The faux staircase is my favorite part it's so cute. Can't wait to make the dolls now. The books have clothing patterns too for all of the characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyckedWood Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 These are the two books and I just looked, they're available on her website for 8.50 each, that's less than you'd find them on eBay or amazon. I've ordered from her website in the past and had no problems, order took about 10 days or less. Free shipping https://www.susansirkis.com/wish-booklets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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