Nowhere to go but up, honey, nowhere to go but up.

   Making Tavio was very satisfying, and eventually I couldn't restrain myself--I had to do another.  The character of Cherry, from Sween Norverber, was not among the most obvious choices; when I reported that this was my next inspiration, the response was mostly one of dismay.  But in fact, the first individually-produced figure (that is, not the mass-produced Lord Felton) of Jason Isaacs I'd ever seen, several years ago, was of this character--I think the maker, who offered it on eBay, had started with a Ken doll.  Somewhere, perhaps in one of his Graham Norton appearances, Mr. Isaacs made laughing reference to it himself.

  Partly because the rooting of Tavio's hair had been so challenging and downright painful and partly because it turned out that a Cherry-esque wig was a hella lot easier to find, Cherrio's hair is purchased.  There was no way I could figure out to leave the character "convertible" back to Chaz, so the hair and makeup are non-removable.

  The shoes may have started out as Bratz shoes--I cut off the rubbery tops with an X-acto knife and made new leather uppers.  I had to reshape the insole as Cherrio's foot from ankle to toe is a solid unbendable unit.  I think Jason actually wears mules in the movie...  Astonishingly, these shoes are stable enough for the figure to stand in independently:

  Work it, girlfriend.

  Cherrio has tiny fishnet stockings with seams up the back.  Her breasts are Fimo, molded to her chest and then boiled to harden.  (That doesn't sound very nice, does it...)

  I think her purse came with the shoes, and I painted it to match.  I had a tough time with the fabric for the dress:  Cherry sports what is famously referred to as a "sequinned sensation", but obviously regular sequins would have been wildly out of scale.  I made Cherrio's dress out of a fun lycra knit with hologram foil dots, which I think conveys the impression nicely.  Some time after completing it, I did run across a dress made for an 18" fashion doll (Gene or one of her ilk) made of "micro-sequins", but like most things Gene, it was hideously expensive, whereas this was just kind of a lot.  It was also some demure shade of peach.

  The star of Sween Norverber was purportedly Keanu Reeves (or as we like to refer to him, Little Wooden Boy).  Continuing with a theme introduced with Tavio, we included a Keanu figure (well at least that's what it said on the box) with several of our tableaux...

  Sorry, couldn't help it.  Isn't that a swish coffee table??  A Japanese paper box from the thrift store.  I don't know who looks dappier, Keanu or that stupid dog...

  Yet another question that movie evoked.  Cherrio's wearing a dress; his friend is in a silk scarf (I never have been any good at arranging those damned things), while our Charlize Theron representative actually wears one of Sprog's socks.  I love Cherrio's fabulously retro chair--it came with a square of plastic on the front, into which the purchaser was intended to slide a small photo for display.  This is a lot more fun if you ask me.  The Keanu doll does have great boots, and I bet they'd go over a treat at a gay bar, but I can't for the life of me get them off.  Figures.

     It's not all party in the backyard though...

  Jim Dine and Keith Haring prints on her walls.  Isn't that a great Scrabble set??  At the time of acquisition, scrapbooking/attaching doodads to greeting cards was still all the rage, and somebody somewhere apparently felt there was enough of a demand to produce that...  Seems like a kind of limited-use item to me, but what do I know.  ("Honey, I lack the letters to tell you true/After 10 years of marriage, I still love you.  Happy Anniversary".)  Is it cheating that Sarah can see Cherrio's letters?  Maybe she's already given up in frustration at trying to play anything requiring verbal acuity with the likes of Keanu Reeves.  Depending on who she's giving it to, that glass probably contains straight gin--or arsenic.

  We had a message board member who loved Napoleon Dynamite and who found the notion of including llamas in Jason Isaacs projects vastly whimsical.  So this is a Red-handed Jill tribute.  The silver thermal coffee cup is a pen cap; the llama          is a llama.

  At last!  My friend Pat sent me--is suite the right word?--the jewelry she'd cunningly wrought for Cherrio, and she's ready for the off.  But first, a brief detour to London--Cherrio's a big fan of the theatre: