Toy Theater with Wooden Fashion Figures

Today I wanted to share an assembled toy theater using images from the last post 

and some fun wooden fashion figures as characters for my stage.

I chose my "Onyx" version of the Cherub Theater for this project.

Assembled Toy Theater by EKDuncan with wooden ballerina figures by PorkChopShow via Etsy

I printed and assembled the "Onyx" theater from the previous Toy Theater post; which I mounted to heavy cardboard and attached it to a theater base I constructed from black foam core board. 

I then used these fun wooden cutouts as characters as players on the stage.

I've been wanting to do a project with these great miniature wooded figures from PorkChopShow via Etsy and thought they would be great in a toy theater; so I sized down my theater just a bit (to approx 5 inches tall) to accommodate the pretty ladies which are approximately 2.5 inches in height.  Of the figures I received I've chosen to use these adorable vintage ballerinas and a nice selection of Regency Fashion ladies from my 2011 Ackermann's Collection that are now available in wood thanks to the creative energy of PorkChopShow. 

My altered version of a vintage Toy Theater with Regency Ladies laser cut from wood by PorkChopShow via Etsy

Normally I would use paper cutouts as characters in a Paper Theater; however, it was so much fun to have these heavier woodcuts to use for a change.  I chose to get my ladies to "stand" by attaching some flat head tacks from the hardware store as a base.  

View of 3 Ballerinas by PorkChopShow on Etsy

 For the most part the flat bottom tacks woke grate as stand for the wooden cutouts; however depending on the weight distribution or surface area some modification of use was necessary as with the ballerina to the right.  In her case with just one narrow toe on point I was not able to insert the tack into the piece without "splitting" it, so I opted to glue her on the tack.  I also needed to glue the tack to a coin to help stabilize her since her weight was not evenly distributed and she kept wanting to tip over.  Normally I would have painted the coin black to disguise if from view but in this instance I wanted it to show up for the camera so you could see what I'd done.

Collection of Regency Ladies in Wood by PorkChopShow on Etsy

I know the ladies are a bit hard to see on the dark background but they are 1/8 inch thick and between 2.25 and 2.50 inches tall.  They are great for using on projects where you want something more substantial than a paper cutout and since they are laser cut the edges are smooth and clean.

In the above photo you can see the the bottom of the flat thumb tacks 

I chose to use as "stands" for some of the ladies.

various views of the woodcuts.

Again, I realize the background in these are dark but I believe you can still see 

how smoothly they are cut, the thickness and how the backs are finished off in black.

I believe that most of the images sold are smaller in scale approx 2.25 - 2.50 inches tall; however

Scott did make me a larger set of My Regency Ladies and since I'm not sure if the larger size of 4 inch ladies is normally on offer I didn't what to tease you too badly by crafting with that size.

I wanted some for Christmas Tree decorations and that's what I'll be doing with my larger set.  

However, I did want you to at lease see one of them so here she is with the theater.

One of the "special" made ladies in the larger size in front of my 5 inch tall Toy Theater

 Once again, I'm not sure if the larger 4" ladies will be on offer or if you can 

special order that size but you can currently see what can be purchased as follows.

All the specifics on the ballerina figures can be seen HERE

and the specifics for the Regency ladies can be seen HERE

The wooden figures seem to be quite popular and sell well so if the links provided already show these sets as "sold" just go back to his main page HERE to see what's currently in his shop or to contact him regarding a set you would like to have.

*****

I had a lot of fun working with the wooden ladies and look forward to "playing" with them again at a later time.  I'll let you see what else I create with them when the time comes and hope you give them a try yourselves.  

A special thanks to Scott of PorkChopShow for supplying the wooden ladies used in this project.

 I hope you drop by his site on Etsy and check out all the fun and interesting wooden figures and collections he has available for your crafting pleasure.

Till Next Time...

Cherub Toy Theater - Part 2

Today "My Fanciful Muse" is presenting Part 2 of the the Cherub Toy Theater; 

which are my altered versions based on a vintage German Toy/Paper Theater sheet.

Part 1 can be seen HERE, if you need to catch up first.

One of my EKDuncan versions of the Cherub Theater with a fun scene and a few characters

I love creating little "theatrical" scenes digitally and could not resist making one for this post.

For the above scene I used my Rose version of the theater which will appear farther down 

in the post along with a nice color selection of other.  

But first I'd like to show you what changes I made to get to this new look.

The Process of altering the old theater and coming up with something new

I started with an unassembled theater sheet, did a bit of clean up and then assembled it digitally. I did a small bit of color clean up but not much; since for Part 1 of the post I wanted to present a fairly vintage authentic version of the theater.  There are still some fun "adds" in Part 1 but the real magic for me takes place on this post and I hope you thing so too.

The two bottom images show how the alteration progressed for this new post. I started off by reworking the details and colors on the entire theater and I chose to give the theater a base rather then leaving it open.  I like having the addition to "anchor" it; however if the base is not needed for whatever reason it could easily be removed.  Once this was done I removed the original curtain topper and installed a different Joseph Scholz theater curtain in its place.

Sample Sheet showing the different looks for the altered theater

 I made a several different color versions of the altered theater and 

included a coordinating full curtain as a fun little bonus to use with it.

Enjoy using the images for your crafting pleasure!

See Downloading Instructions and Terms of Use Policy - HERE

Cherub Theater - My Fanciful Muse by EKDuncan adaptation of a vintage paper theater from Germany - Red

 This version of the theater is the closest to the original color scheme.

For a different look you can also cut out the above inset curtain in whole or 

you can cut out the long part of the drapes and leave only the upper swag and cords.

Full Theater Curtain - My Fanciful Muse by EKDuncan adaptation of a vintage paper curtain - Ruby

 This full curtain can be used in addition to the above theater or if you have chosen to cut out the curtain portion on the theater you could use just the upper swag portion of this curtain as a topper curtain on the theater.  It's fun to get creative and try different looks on these theaters.

Cherub Theater - My Fanciful Muse by EKDuncan adaptation of a vintage paper theater from Germany - Blue

  This version of the theater is is more of a "Fairy Tale" blue and pink color scheme.

The theater parts can be used as you see them here or you can get a bit creative by 

cutting out the above inset curtain in whole or by leaving only the upper swag and cords.

Full Theater Curtain - My Fanciful Muse by EKDuncan adaptation of a vintage paper curtain -Teal

 This full curtain can be used in addition to the above theater or if you have chosen to cut out the curtain portion on the theater you could use just the upper swag portion of this curtain as a topper curtain on the theater.  It's fun to get creative and try different looks on these theaters.

Cherub Theater - My Fanciful Muse by EKDuncan adaptation of a vintage paper theater from Germany - Green

  This is my Green and Teal version of the theater .

The theater parts can be used as you see them here or you can get a bit creative by 

cutting out the above inset curtain in whole or by leaving only the upper swag and cords.

Full Theater Curtain - My Fanciful Muse by EKDuncan adaptation of a vintage paper curtain - Moss

 This full curtain can be used in addition to the above theater or if you have chosen to cut out the curtain portion on the theater you could use just the upper swag portion of this curtain as a topper curtain on the theater.  It's fun to get creative and try different looks on these theaters.

Cherub Theater - My Fanciful Muse by EKDuncan adaptation of a vintage paper theater from Germany - Onyx

I love classic black and could not resist Creating this Onyx color scheme.

The theater parts can be used as you see them here or you can get a bit creative by 

cutting out the above inset curtain in whole or by leaving only the upper swag and cords.

Full Theater Curtain - My Fanciful Muse by EKDuncan adaptation of a vintage paper curtain - Black

 This full curtain can be used in addition to the above theater or if you have chosen to cut out the curtain portion on the theater you could use just the upper swag portion of this curtain as a topper curtain on the theater.  It's fun to get creative and try different looks on these theaters.

Cherub Theater - My Fanciful Muse by EKDuncan adaptation of a vintage paper theater from Germany - Plum

 This is my Plum and Moss version of the theater .

The theater parts can be used as you see them here or you can get a bit creative by 

cutting out the above inset curtain in whole or by leaving only the upper swag and cords.

Full Theater Curtain - My Fanciful Muse by EKDuncan adaptation of a vintage paper curtain - Plum

 This full curtain can be used in addition to the above theater or if you have chosen to cut out the curtain portion on the theater you could use just the upper swag portion of this curtain as a topper curtain on the theater.  It's fun to get creative and try different looks on these theaters.

Cherub Theater - My Fanciful Muse by EKDuncan adaptation of a vintage paper theater from Germany - Rose

 This is my Pink and Green version; it's also the one I used for the opening image in this post.

The theater parts can be used as you see them here or you can get a bit creative by 

cutting out the above inset curtain in whole or by leaving only the upper swag and cords.

Full Theater Curtain - My Fanciful Muse by EKDuncan adaptation of a vintage paper curtain - Rose

 This full curtain can be used in addition to the above theater or if you have chosen to cut out the curtain portion on the theater you could use just the upper swag portion of this curtain as a topper curtain on the theater.  It's fun to get creative and try different looks on these theaters.

I create most of my art digitally but also intent to make several "real" theaters using a variety of vintage images I've altered.  This digital scene gives you an idea of how you can add in backgrounds and characters to get a "theater" look.

digital Theater scene using altered theater and some fun add-ins

For my digital scene - I used the Rose colored theater, two fashion plate 

images from 1822 and a beautiful architectural painting for the background.

The background I used is by Carlo Zucchi the Younger (1728-1796)
and is a design for and opera set, the Congress of Cupids.  
The original image can be seen and downloaded from the Metropolitan Museum - HERE


The Regency Couple

1822 French Fashion Plate Figures

 This sweet Regency couple graced the pages of an 1822 issue of
Journal des Dames et des Modes (Costume Parisien) 1797-1839

 I'm in the process of creating a theater diorama that I hope will tickle your fancy using one of these theaters and some fun wooden cutouts, so check back later on to see how it came out.

Till Next Time...

Cherub Toy Theater - Part 1

Hi all - I'm back with another vintage paper theater.

This time I've chosen to alter a sweet little German Theater with cute cherubs on it.

It seemed like I nice little theater to share around Valentine's so I hope you like it too.

Today I'm bring you Part 1 of the Cherub Theater and then next time 

I'll share a nice assortment of my altered and colored versions of it.

Enjoy using the images for your crafting pleasure!

See Downloading Instructions and Terms of Use Policy - HERE

My Digitally assembled version of the vintage paper theater

Once again the original paper theater came as an unassembled paper sheet which needed to assembled into a toy theater.  I've done it digitally; however back in the 1800's this would have been done on a wooden or heavy cardboard base and turned into a dimensional and working theater.

An assembled version of the theater located - HERE - part of an exhibition at the Museum of Performance & Design

This photo gives you an idea of what the "working" toy theater looks like.

 And here is what the original uncut paper theater sheet looked like.

The original Toy Theater sheet - from Pilllpat on Flickr - HERE

This item is attributed to publisher Joseph Scholz and is listed as Proscenium 301.

Note the image at the side of the sheet to show users how the parts should be assembled.


update 2/13/13 - I was informed that this particular theater is called the "Putti Theatre". 
"Putti" being those little winged angel heads on the left and right base of the theater. 
A special thanks to Harry Oudekerk for this informative gem.

Harry Oudekerk has a Toy Theater website at 
http://www.vischmarktpapierentheater.nl 
and more can be seen on his archived page at  
http://www.toytheatre.info/Archives/VoorGigi/Index.html

I started with the vintage un-cut image, brightened it up a bit and then assembled it digitally. 

Then I began making alterations to change the look moderately. Next I added in a few curtain options to see how it changed the look of the theater; and these are the results I got.

Digital EKD version of a Joseph Scholz paper theater and curtain

In this version I removed the top drape on the theater and then I added in a full 

Joesph Scholz paper curtain into the opening.  It's a busy look but it works.

EKD Digital version of a Vintage Paper Theater and Curtain

Next I left in the original red curtain topper on the theater and popped in this fun vintage paper curtain. I do not know the maker of this paper curtain but I love the way it looks with the theater.

EKD Digital version of a Vintage Paper Theater and Curtain

 And for another different look  - I removed the theater curtain topper 

and replaced it with this open 1880's Jos. Scholz curtain.

Curtain Sheet - unassembled

 The curtain starts off in this stage and then you have to assemble it for use. 

EKD Print and Play sheet with Paper Theater parts

 This is a quick print sheet with all the individual parts used to create the different theater looks.

Most of the items are by the Publisher Joseph Scholz.

 Since Toy Theaters are more of a European hobby and you may never have heard of Joseph Sholz, I thought I'd put in a little blurb with the information I had on this publisher.

*****

 A bit about the German publisher Jos. Scholz.

The company was started by Joseph Carl Scholz (1768-1813) and passed to his sons after his death. They expanded into Lithographic printing in 1820 and by 1829 the company was split between 3 bothers. The two eldest settled in Mainz and started producing Penny Prints, Paper Toys, Board Games and later expanded into Illustrated Children's books.

At the height of their success they had twenty large presses that had a hard time keeping up with the demand and as many as 350 colorist, usually women, working on the prints. Though located in Germany they produced items for other countries as well, which explains why on some of their prints you may see instructions or notations in multiple languages. It was not uncommon for there to be between 2-5 multi-language notation, depending on how many countries a sheet would be sold.

German,Italian, French, English, Danish, Swedish, Dutch and sometimes even Latin would appear on a Jos. Scholz sheet.

*****

Those of you who follow my blog know I love to digitally alter and change images.  This "Cupid's Theater" is no exception and here is a little sneak peek of what's coming up next time in Part 2.

Additional changes continue on the theater to give a new look

 I decided to add in a base for the theater, remove the original curtain topper, 

add in the alternate open curtain and modify the theater's coloration.

Once I had this format the way I wanted I then made some significant color changes 

and brought in one more JS curtain option for when it's "curtain down" time.

EKD Altered Versions on the Cupid Theater

 This preview sheet gives you a glimpse of the images I'll be posting in Part 2;

 so check back in to see all the pretty color combinations I've come up with.

Click HERE for Part 2

Till Next Time...