I received an email from a web visitor (Pauline) about some work she is doing with Monster High Dolls.

She repaints and customizes the dolls to transform them into different characters including a Dragon Priestess and a Spriggan from the Elder Scrolls. And these are terrific.

But she also has built an amazing little diorama scene for them. It is an alchemical lab.

She tells us how she made this diorama and explains some of the techniques including how the stained glass windows are made:

The alchemy lab itself is part of a cereal box opened, covered with papers...The stainglass is just tracing paper and "felt pen" I borrowed from my little daughter. For more colour, I colored both faces of the paper, then included it on my wall. The manuscript is one of my favourite things to do when I have time..It's a plain sheet of paper that I bend in accordion style to make a grid for the pages. I covered the edges of each pages with watercolor pencils (three different tones of brown), after that, I draw in my pages and cut them by strips that I glue together...I will try to find a picture too... The rest of the lab is furnitures I made with cardboard and paint, some miniatures I made in dought with cornstach and baking soda, and some miniatures I collect for a long time...
The purpose is to make a guild with my girls I customize in the spirit of the Elder Scrolls, so your templates for the weapons shall be very interesting for me, even if they should be a little tinier ^_^ .

The tiny manuscript book is one of Will's favorite parts of this project. Pauline shows us how she made this.

She creates the manuscript.

It is done on a regular sheet of paper. She first draws the borders with three shades of brown then fills in the pages with the text and images.

And then cuts it and folds it accordian style into the shape of a book. Note that the arrows show how to fold it and the straight lines show how to cut it.

The stained glass windows that she makes are quite remarkable.

She uses tracing paper and felt pens to draw it out. And for extra vibrant color she uses the felt pen on both sides of the paper.

Here are some more pictures including pictures of the modified Monster High figures:

Materials, Tools and More

Amazon.com has lots of Monster High Dolls and products here

150pc Kids Art Supplies Set Gift Tin Case Stationary Art and Craft Kit Organizer Drawing Monster High

Want to Make Some Stained Glass Windows like in the Alchemy lab? Here are some supplies:

Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens, Medium Point, Assorted Colors, 12-Count

Aunt Martha's 8.5-Inch by 12-Inch Tracing Paper, 50-Sheet