Hi, gang,

Today I’m going to talk about what I included in my diorama for the FR Convention. (After trying to post this darn Discussion three times, I've finally got it to work - sheesh!) As is my custom, I couldn’t invest too much time and I needed something that I could travel with on a plane. It’s not the construction that was really anything special, but I thought I’d talk about where all the little details came from. As a diorama junkie, I always want to know about the details. Hope you have fun looking. Special thanks to Michael Williams and Karen Kolkman for these photos.

The idea was to create a diorama of what was going on with the FR characters before the masked ball at London’s Club Royale. I chose to have sisters Vero and Vanessa Perrin getting ready at W Cosmetics London studio as they did a publicity shoot before the limo whisked them away to Les Bal des Masque.

The sticking point was that it could only be 21 inches square, so I had a tough time figuring how to fit both a photo studio and the dressing area in such a small space. I decided to do a “split” diorama with one side the studio and one side the dressing area. After much thought and a bit of laziness, I decided to make use of my Spectacular, Spectacular Eugenia box as the divider.

The backdrop behind the doll box is just foam core covered with scrapbook paper. I used the curtains from Bella Productions’ Room with a View behind Vero for a bit of stage drama. She’s wearing Barbie’s Gala Illusion Masquerage costume.

Francisco’s (Adre’s) trunk is from Generation Girl Blaine with a rement cosmetics case, and the trunk with the masks/props is from the Bratz ski lodge.

The lighting umbrella is also Bratz. I decorated the dividing wall with a fashion poster in a clip frame from Fashion Fever’s Build a room kit. However, I felt no need to cover up the Jason Wu graphics on the box (Hey, I told you I was lazy). Francisco’s camera is from Generation Girl Barbie.

On the dressing room side, I nestled Randall Craig’s dining room buffet inside the box to serve as the stylists area. Then I added Style in Scale’s beveled mirror behind it. I used the channel outside the box opening to house a small string of Xmas lights and the battery pack was hidden by that teeny basket of rollers (all My Scene stuff). Although it doesn’t really come through in the photos, it did look neat all lit up. The hanging shelf is also from Fashion Fever's Build a Room kit.

I made the shelf above the mirror from foam core and covered it with cardstock. I attached it through the box with T-pins and glue dots. I dismantled some Bratz Dress forms and used the busts for decoration with other Bratz cosmetic bottles and I used the base of the dress forms for the lighting stands for the photo studio (with the addition of dollar store clip-on lights).

Vanessa’s stool is from the Barbie Shopping Mall, as are some of the little accessories. Many of them, however, have been accumulated through lots of playline fashions and playsets. I made labels for the jars and bottles by photocopying the little coasters that came with the FR Loft Collection furniture. Then I made them into stickers and placed them all on the teeny bottles. I even made a pocket protector patch for Natalia’s (Stylist Mia’s) white coat so she’d be an “official” W staffer. There are cosmetics, tissues, a blow dryer, curling iron and curling brush, nail care tools, and even an eyelash curler. A lot of the little things are from Rement’s cosmetic case.]

You can see a white Rement cosmetic case on a repainted Miss Cool tea cart. I have it stuffed with more little cosmetics. Beside it is a Lucite table with Rement donuts, tongs and assorted beverages, all from Barbie playline. Above this, I used the slot occupied by the FR storycard as a mini magazine holder for Integrity magazines and paperwork.

Vanessa is wearing the lingerie from BFMC’s Continental Holiday and her gown (displayed on a BFMC dress form) is from Secret of the Three Teardrops Barbie.

Again, it was fun to put together and I hope you enjoyed going behind the scenes at W Cosmetics.

Til next time,
DeeinNJ