The Holidays!

The holidays came up pretty fast but I can say that I am actually ready.  Tree is decorated, presents wrapped and cookies baked.  Now, time to relax and make more minis.  During the last 2 weeks, I have been putting together 4 shadow boxes of some of the things I have either made or received as swaps.  I will be keeping them up all year even though they are seasonal.  The first is my Christmas one and I had lots to put into it.
The second is Fall and Halloween.  Unfortunately, everything I had related to Thanksgiving just didn't fit so I'll be doing something different.  I'll get some pics up of the other 2 in my next post.

Have any of you done something similar?  Or, how do you show off your minis? 

I must have been fairly good this year because Santa came early.  My DH got me the Cheltenham front opening dollhouse from Greenleaf.  I have always wanted a front opening dollhouse so now I'am a very happy camper.  I will be following this blog http://moreminis.blogspot.com/2009/05/gloucester-day-1.html for the help I am sure I will need.
Although this blog is for the Gloucester, it is very similar to the Cheltenham (the difference being the Cheltenham has a double opening, left and right side with the latch in the middle.)  I think this will take me a while.

Well, that's all for now but before I go, I want to say:

To all our families, friends, followers and visitors, A very Merry Christmas!  And here's hoping the New Year is full of blessings and good fortune.

Diane

Matty's Blue Seas Bistro lll

Christmas and Easter are my two favorite times of the year, especially for swapping.  Unfortunately, I have had to cut back on swaps this last year because I am not able to display the swaps like I want.  Rotating them out into various scenes and vignettes isn't working very well.   So, I dug through my stash of shadow boxes and small printers boxes to see what I could come up with.  This is my next project and as soon as they are done, I post some pictures. 

These next pictures are the last showing some of the accessories I made for the Bistro.  The first one is of the palm tree that I really lucked out on.

This is Pampas grass and can be found just about anywhere here in Florida.  The stem is hollow like a reed and the plumes are very fragile and "whispy" like (if whispy is a word).  I cut off a 5" section from the middle and painted it gray and hi-lighted it with a darker gray.  After that, I took some silk flower leaves, cut them to shape, glued to florist wire and put the end into the center of the reed.  Here is what I came up with.  It's not the best photo in the world, but hopefully you'll get the idea.  I  had hoped to be able to preserve the plume but it is so fragile that anything I sprayed it with just made it stick together.

These last two picture show the food I made.  The sushi is different quilling paper rolled into a tight coil while the caviar is sand mixed with either dark blue or dark orange paint.  The raw oysters are real tiny clam shells with a little gray varigated fimo for the oysters.  The clam chowder and pies are all fimo.  But I didn't bake any of the fimo-wasn't going to try and pry it out of the shell or bottle caps just to bake it.

Well, that's it for the Bistro.  I hope you enjoyed it.  Now I'm off to work on some shadow boxes.

As a last note, I want to apologize for not welcoming several new followers.  Along with quite a few other bloggers, we have had trouble with our Followers gadget.  I did get a reply from Google saying they were aware of the problem and are going to fix it.  Soon I hope!

Til next time!

Matty's Blue Seas Bistro II

Matty's Blue Seas Bistro was one of those project that just seem to come together almost on its own.  After staining the gazebo and putting it together, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  But best of all, I had most of the supplies I needed. I had paint, craft sticks, shells, clay, fimo and lots of landscaping material. This is a better picture of the Bistro but looks like I have a little repair to do on one of the chairs!

The only thing I wanted to make was a fisherman's net that is sometimes used as decor in many restaurants.

For that I need an "old fashioned" mesh bag that potatoes and onions used to come in at the grocery store (now most bags are plastic.)  I finally found one and after cutting out an 8 x8 inch piece, I spray painted it with primer and then painted it dark brown using regular acrylic craft paint.  Next, I painted a heavy gauge, cloth covered florist wire and bent it into an irregular shape.  After gluing it to the mesh, I trimmed away the excess and added the shells.  This is what I came up with:

But my favorite "creation" was the water fountain.  The base is white clay, scored like brickwork and then formed around an oval shaped paper mache box.  I used real coral to hold up the seahorse and fan coral as the background. 

All in all, I was very happy.

I'll be adding one more post about the Bistro, showing all the little acessories and how I made them.

I think you'll find it interesting.

Til next time!

Matty's Blue Seas Bistro

I have not given up on my blog but where or where did the time go?  Well, there was no way I was going to give up a wonderful 2 month vacation to northern Illinois, visiting with the kids, grandkids and friends, during the height of fall colors.  I have never had a two month vacation before and probably won't again, so I took full advantage.  Unfortunately, blogging long distance from a guest computer at a local library just didn't work for me.  This last month, I have been helping one of my friends open up a brand new CRAFT SHOP!  A few more weeks to go and then I can help her promote her grand opening.                                               

Before showing you the few mini projects I was able to complete while on vacation, I want to "introduce" you to my last dollhouse (actually a vignette) called "Matty's Blue Seas Bistro" which was named after my third grandson, Matthew.  This is the Garden Party Gazebo (HBS) and I made it into an outdoor eatery, inspired by my grandson, who loves seashells.

 

The first thing I did was to make a solid roof.  I could have used shingles or Spanish tile, but opted to simulate the metal roofs that are quite common here in Florida.  Using thin cardboard, I cut and fitted the roof and trim, added craft sticks to simulate the metal ribbing and then spray painted all of it silver.

The second step was to stain all the wood a medium brown, as well as 60-70 craft sticks for the flooring.  Altho somewhat tedious, I liked the way the floor turned out

By the way, I put this vignette on a 18" square ceramic

floor tile that just happened to be various shades of beige and looks a lot like natural sand.

Next came the table and chairs.  And yes, those are golf tees I used for the pedistals.  This is only temporary, as soon as I come up with something else.  I wanted to use seahorses but ran out.  The table tops are an opaque seashell that. unfortunately, I do not know the name of but come in all sizes are quite unique.  Most of the chair seats are sandollars but since I ran out of those also, I had to make some from Fimo. The chair backs are either starfish, fan coral, flat shells or small sandollars.  As you can tell, I like working with as much natural material as I can. 

For my next entry, which will follow very soon, I will be showing you how I make the other acessories, decorations and food.  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

TTYL!

Trash can lid

So, what is a trash can without a lid?  In real life, it can be a mess. There are 2 ways to make the lid: the hard way or the easy way.  I decided to do the hard way

 So here are the supplies you will need to make a lid.

18-20 strips of quilling paper 1/8" wide

1 strip quilling paper 1/8" wide in a contrasting color
slotted quilling tool
industrial staple -like you used for the trash can handles
white glue
Superglue (sorry, it missed the photo)
toothpick-for gluing
spray paint- the same as used for the can

But before we begin, a little about quilling paper and the slotted tool.  Many, many miniaturist have been using quilling paper for a number of years to make much more than flowers.  Pot and pans, baskets, hanging baskets, pot holders, purses and even...sushi!  So, if you have never experimented with quilling paper, give it a try.  You can probably get most of what you need for under $10.00 and a pack of quilling paper goes a long way.

OK. We will be making a very large coil using 18-20 strips of paper, depending on how tight the tension is. To begin, separate your strips of paper, making sure you tear the strips away from the rest of the pack because you don't want that rubbery connecting stuff to be part of you lid.  Insert your first strip into the slotted tool and start your coil using a firm tension.  When done with the first strip, glue the end and start another strip by "butting" it up to the end of the first strip.  Do not overlap the strips as this will cause an unwanted bulge.  After 4 or 5 strips, stop.  With a firm grip on the coil ( you don't want it to uncoil on you), gently remove it from the slotted tool.  I do this because I find it hard to control the coil any larger while still using the tool.  Finish the rest by hand while maintaining a firm tension. When you get to the 18th strip or so, stop and glue that end.  Lay your coil on a hard surface and with the palm of your hand, press down on the coil to make sure everything is flush.  Take your trash can and turn it upside down on the coil, making sure it is centered.   You want to be sure that the coil is about 1/8" larger than the trash can diameter, all the way around. You may need to add another strip or two.

So now the coil is done.  You will now need to apply a thin layer of glue on the entire lid.  Let dry completely.  At this point you will notice a whole in the middle of the lid.  We'll fix that by making a plug.
Take a 1/8" piece of quilling paper and put it in the palm of your hand.  Add 2-3drops of water and using your finger, start working it into ball.  Then push the ball into the center of the coil. 
Now,place the staple in the center of the coil and push it down about half way.  Secure using superglue.
For the lip of the lid, take the contrasting quilling paper and attach it to your coil, about half way down the width of your last piece.  Kind of off-setting it.  Go around the outside of your coil about 3 times, gluing as you go.  Once dry. you can spray paint.  Now. we're done.

Kind of a long tut for a trash can lid, so here is the easy way.
Cut a circle 1/4" wider than the diameter of you trash. out of cardboard.  Glue staple to center of lid.  Take a narrow strip of paper and glue around the edge of circle several time.  Let dry and paint.

The reason I gave the hard directions is to give first time users a few tips on using quilling paper.  You now know how to make a plug, what a slotted tool is and the characteristic of quilling paper.  I will be having a few more tutorials using coils later on this fall. If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment.

Til Later!

Trash Can

I know its been a while but I'm on vacation and my use of a computer is very limited.  But I did prepare a little HIMI (how I made it) a few days before I left and hope you find this helpful. I'm going to use this as part of my fishing cabin.

Yes, that is a cap from Scope mouthwash that I turned into a small trash can.  It's 2" tall and 1 3/4" across the top.  To make the can part, you will need:

2  heavy duty staples- for the handles
silver spray paint
a sturdy piercing tool ( I used an eyeglass screwdriver from a eyeglass kit, Needles don't work
                                 Or you can use a drill if you have a very tiny drill bit)
tweezers
a  1 1/2 by 7" strip of plastic from any trash can liner
tiny dab of paint, any color
super glue or small amount of epoxy (white craft glue can be used but I really wanted those staples to
                                  stay in place.  Don't want the handles to fall out and then step on the staple.)

 

First, find the 2 spots on the lid that are not corrugated.  The spots where you put your fingers to open the bottle.  Take your tweezers and pick up one staple.  Dip the prongs into a small pool of paint and immediately press the prongs to the cap, leaving 2 little dots.  This will help you with the placement of the trash can handles.  Take your little screwdriver and place it on the dot and just start rotating it back and forth while applying pressure.  Kind of like gouging out a hole.  Do the same for the second hole and then press the staple into the holes.  On the inside of the can, place a drop of glue where the prongs poked through.  Repeat for the second handle on the other side.  Once the glue has dried, spray paint can silver.
Next, take your strip of plastic and glue it into the inside, "gathering" it in a few places to give it a little slack.  That will make it easier to turn the liner down to the outside.

I'll show you the completed project after the lid is done.  We'l be working on that next.



Texturing and Wallpapering

Thanks to Tabitha for leaving her comment on texturing.  It may well be Ron Mummert who first came up with this type of texturing.  He used tissue paper instead of kleenex and since I have a good supply of that, I just might try it. 

Alennka suggested to use wallpaper paste to hang fabric.  I think I will do just that because this fabric is a little on the heavy side.  I was going to use a clear drying gel type glue but it's very thick doesn't spread easily.  Now all I have to do is find paint to compliment this color.  I'll probably end up mixing my own.  I'll take pictures as soon as I can.

Sorry this post is so short but have to get ready for a birthday luncheon.  I just wanted to say thanks for the advice and comments.

Til later!

Update and other things

A big welcome to my newest followers, Mary, Paul, Tabitha and Cris Colas.  I hope you enjoy by blog and find some useful hints and tips. It's a pleasure to meet you!

The picture below shows only a few of the things I received from 2 large group swaps a while back and now reside in the Wizards Tower.  My contribution was an embroidered banner (not shown) but I will do a very short tutorial on that later.  I also made most of the furniture but it was the swaps that really made the tower so special.

By the way, if you plan to do anything along the medieval line, please join Dream Dwelling on Yahoo groups.  The files are loaded with historical information on customs, architecture, foods, etc which I found very useful.

Now, on to other things.  This last week I did very little in the way of miniatures.  We spent 3 day packing up my inlaws things because they moved from a condo to an apartment.  But, since my mother in law no longer sews, I was given some beautiful lace, sewing supplies and some gorgeous fabric.  I have already made plans to use the lace and fabric in a roombox, either a nursery or toddler's bedroom.  Now, this leads to another point.  As long as I have been a miniaturist, there are several things I've never done before.  One is using fabric as wallpaper.  I know there are probably tutorial out there, but this fabric may be on the heavy side.  It's actually a linen napkin and the color is a beautiful pale pink.  What type of glue should I use and should I scotch-guard it first?
Any help or advice you can give is truly appreciated.

Til next time!

Texturing

I like this type of texturing, especially if you want the look of rough hewn rock, like I did for my tower.  It is fast and kind of fun.  (My husband calls it tedious and mindless.)  You'll probably have most of the supplies on hand but you may want to try is out on a scrap piece of wood or cardboard, just to make sure you like the effect.  The biggest drawback is that it does use up a fair amount of paint so have extra on hand.

You will need:

 a stack of kleenex- how many depends on how big of a surface you are covering

paint

scissors

paintbrush- I used a 1" brush but a little larger or smaller is ok.
A stiff stencil brush- do not use the sponge type.  If you don't have a stencil brush, use another paint brush.

First, take a piece of kleenex and separate it.  Take one ply and squeeze it, squish it and wad it into a ball.

Then very carefully, unwad it and shake gently.  What you want is a piece of kleenex with lot of wrinkles, small, medium and large.

You may want to have several pieces ready as this goes fast.  Next, paint a section of  your surface with a medium to heavy coat of paint.  I found that a 5x5 inch section worked best but it depends on your project.

Now, very quickly lay the kleenex on top of the painted surface.  Load your stencil bursh up with paint and start tapping on the kleenex.

 

Now, move on to the next section.  It's ok to overlap.  Once it dries, it may need a little touch up just in case the kleenex didn't stick to your base coat.  If you missed a spot or would like a heavier texture, just repeat the process but with a lighter base coat.   Once your are satisfied, take a scissors and trim the edges.  

It is also easy to texture any seams you have when you join two pieces together.  Take two thin strips of kleenex, place along seam and start tapping.  I was able to texture my tower this way in less than 4 hours.

And there you have it.  Some people may not like this kind of texturing, I just offer it as an alternative.

Well, I'm off to finish up some painting and may do some surfing so ,

Til Next time!

My Wizard's Tower

"Home of the Wizard, Nicholas" is named after one of my grandsons and is something I have wanted to build for several years.  What stopped me from making this sooner was the fact that plywood was not an option.  I had no power tools, very little space, and plywood is very heavy.  While I was mulling this over, I came across and joined a Yahoo group called Dream Dwellings.  This is where I found out about Builders Foam.  It was the perfect solution.  Light weight, inexpensive, easy to paint, fairly easy to cut, and it doesn't warp.  Living in hot, humid Florida, warping is a concern.

As far as dimensions go, I knew I wanted at least 2 stories so it is 3 ft tall.  It is hexagon in shape and at its widest point it is 14 ".  The space between floors is 16". Not a lot of room but everything fit.

 

The above pictures aren't the best but they do show a problem I had with cutting Builders Foam.  If I cut on the horizontal, the edge was fairly smooth.  But cutting on the vertical, the edges tore.  At first I thought it may be me or a dull blade.  I changed out the blade and had my husband try and he got the same results.  However, this was a very minor problem.  I intended to texture the walls and trim out the edges with wood anyhow.  If the tears were to big, I just applied glue and squished them back in place.

(Before I continue, I'm sure you will notice a lot of architectural flaws.  But I used a lot of artistic license and in my mind, this is a fantasy dwelling.)

 

The above pictures are the ground floor and the two pictures below are the second floor.

All in all, I would say the tower is about 70% done.  I still have to make shutters, a trap door and change out the base it's sitting on.  I plan to work on all of that today and tomorrow, along with my fishing cabin.  When I return, I'll have a neat tut on how I textured the tower along with pictures of the furnishings.

Til later!

Thank you!

First of all, I sincerely apologize for not welcoming and thanking all of you who have become followers of my blog.  It is very encouraging to think I have something on my blog that may in some small way contribute to the world of miniatures.  I have visited all of your sites and will be adding the links soon...(that is if Blogger doesn't decide to delete more of my stuff.) Thanks again.

I did get asked a question about using sandpaper as shingles and if it was a dust collector.  The answer is a definite.. yes!  But there are several things I do to minimise that problem.  First, use the finest grit sandpaper you can.  In this case, I had 320 grit but honestly don't know if it comes any finer.  Second, I dust off the roofs, porches, dormers and other exterior parts at least twice a month (honestly) using a very soft bristled paint brush.  This to me is funwork, not housework.  It also allows me to check for any paint touch-ups or repairs I need to do.  The insides of my dollhouses I do less often.  The last thing I do, is cover the houses with saran wrap if we are to be gone for any length of time...like this fall when we will be gone for 2 months.  Every little bit helps.

The poll on my sidebar is now closed and the results are about what I expected.  I go with the majority about half the time, depending on my project.  I had no special reason for asking this question, just curious.  I will be listing a new poll in the next few weeks.

I did very little minis today because I spent most of the morning trying to figure out why Blogger is messing up my blog.  Somehow I lost "Blogs I Follow" list so will have to re-enter it all.  This afternoon, I will be taking some pictures, and re-taking others.  I am not a photographer.  Some of the pictures I have seen on other blogs are a lot better than mine and show all the details.  Hopefully, I'll get better.  If I have time tonight, I will try to introduce you to my second dollhouse that I call "Home of the Wizard, Nicholas"
Til next time!

links and other stuff

Hello!
I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July. We spent the day at the beach doing nothing but relaxing.

Got home, fell asleep and missed the fireworks.. Funny how tiring "relaxing" can be.

I started adding some of my favorite links but still have more to go.  Please check them out when you have time.

This last Saturday and Sunday I did add the dormers to the roof of the Ashley.  Once I began working on them, I remembered how difficult it had been when I made my first Ashley.  Lots of sanding and trimming because nothing fit.  And on the inside, there were gaps where the seams should have gone together better.

So, out came the spackle.  More sanding and touching up the paint but it looks much better now.

While the paint was drying, I decided to start shingling.  Now, my method of shingling will make many miniaturists cringe, but I learned this long ago and have used it several times.  It is fast, inexpensive and I had all the supplies on  hand.   I used fine grit sandpaper.  It's paintable and easy to cut.

First, you will need several sheets of sandpaper, enough paint to cover all of them, pencil, ruler, utility scissors, amd glue.  I had brown sandpaper on hand but it also comes in black so you may not need the paint if that's the color you want.

The first step is to turn the sandpaper with grit side down and using your ruler, draw your cutting lines.  I made mine about 1" wide.  You will also need to make several strips about 2" wide which will be used at the very top of the roof and dormers.  NOTE:  You may need to do a little math or calculations on how many sheets you will need but for the Ashley I used 5.  The roof is very small.

Once the cutting lines are drawn, turn the sandpaper over and paint.  After it dries you can now start cutting it into strips.  On one edge of each strip, make a cut vertically about 3/4".  This will make the shingles more realistic.

 

Before you start measuring, cutting and glueing, there are a few things to remember.  Start from the bottom up.  This will make over-lapping the shingles much easier.  And remember all those little vertical cuts?  Well, the cuts should line up with each other on every other row.  The cuts on rows 1, 3, 5, 7, etc should line up and the cuts on rows 2, 4, 6, 8, should line up.  At this time also, you may want to mark some straight guidelines on your roof to keep every thing straight.  As seen below, the Ashley already came with pre-scored lines to simulate shingles.  You were supposed to outline the scored lines and then add a coat of clear varnish or you could just paint the roof, in which case the scoring would still show through.  I did not like the shingle pattern, just didn't go with my idea of a fishing cabin but I did use them as my guide lines.

As for the wider, 2" strip, do not make any vertical cuts just yet.  These pieces will the last thing you add once the shell is complete and the roof is attached.  It will serve as the top row for both sides of the roof and dormers.

The picture on the right shows how the dormers look now but they will be cleaned up once shell is complete.

I hope this  has given you an alternative to buying shingles or shingle tape and if anyone decides to try this, please leave a comment and let us know how it turned out.

Til later!

Kitbashing

I spent this last week getting my computer fixed and figuring out how to made an Ashley (my second one) into a fishing cabin.  I know this isn't the best dollhouse to make into a fishing cabin (because with all the trim, decorated windows, etc) but I do enjoy kit-bashing.  It's not all that hard nor time consuming and turning out pretty much like I planned.

The picture on the left shows how the front of the Ashley should look if no alterations are made.  The second picture shows my first major change.  I didn't want the large dormer window so I never bothered to punch it out.  I applied a thin line of glue along the punch-out lines for re-enforcement and then added spackle ( for no particular reason).  Since this will be shingled, I didn't need to sand very much.  On the other side, there were very faint punch-out lines but with a little spackle and sanding, they all disappeared.  So far, so good.

Next came the front.  I shortened up the two larger windows and did not punch out the narrow windows next to the door.  I will be making my own "glass" because the imprint on the windows is a little too fancy for a fishing cabin.  I have saved some heavy clear plastic that I will be adding quilling paper to for the individual panes.. This clear plastic is usually found on boxed greeting cards and is perfect for any miniature needing a glass element,  like a table top or maybe a backyard pond.  I'll post pictures soon to show you how it turned out.

Meanwhile, I am planning my next step, which will be adding the two dormers and shingling the roof.  This shingling is an interesting process so as soon as I take pictures, I'll be back.

Take care!

Diane ( in hot, humid Florida!)

My first poll

I just added a poll and hope all of you vote.  It's just something I have been wondering about for some time.  It will be interesting to see the results.  If there isn't an exact answer that fits you, please leave a comment.

Blogging

I'm still working my way thru this whole blogging thing and will be adding a few more features soon,  First, I  will be adding links to all the blogs of the people who are following me (along with a few others). I really enjoy all your blogs and appreciate your support.  The tuts, diys and pictures have been very informative and inspiring,
The second thing I would like to add would be some polls.  I am very curious about how other people do certain things (such as gluing, painting, etc.).  So please stay turned.

More Lighthouse pics

I am adding a few more pictures of my lighthouse along with some accessories I'd like to use.  The bell will become a foghorn once I paint it gray but I'm not sure about the seagulls yet- they may be out of scale.  Also, there is a harpoon that I just had to have.  I am very anti-whaling but since this was a part of American history, I will be using it.

This last picture show a quilt that I will be putting on the bed once I make one that is to scale.  It is from one of the first swaps I ever participated in ( AOL miniatures group) and an international one at that!  Each swapper sent several pieces of fabric to a central point and on one of the pieces, we signed our name, where we were from and the date- 1999.  Three of the swappers were from Australia and another from the U.K.  It is one of my most favorite swaps.

Camper's Coffe Pot

For the camper's coffe pot, you will need a heavy duty staple, a desiccant, a small strip of heavy duty paper, a seed beed, a permanent bonding glue (like superglue), silver spray paint and a sharp piercing tool ( I used an eyeglass screwdriver). 

CAUTION- You may want to try some other way of piercing the desiccant ( for the coffee pot handle).  It may slip out of your hand and give you a nasty little poke and I really don't want that to happen. Please be careful.

A desiccant is a moisture absorber that come in some bulk precription bottles that pharmacies use.  They are very hard to come by.  I doubt that Walgreens or Walmart pharmacies will save them for you but you might try a small "Mom and Pop" pharmacy.  Some come in little pillow shapes while others come in a variety of cylindrical shapes. I use them as as shampoo bottles and canned goods as well as cannisters.

First, you will need to mark the placement of the handle.  I did this by dipping the prongs of the staple into a shallow pool of brown paint. Then I gently touched the prongs to the side of the cylinder to leave two little dots of paint.  This is where I placed my eyeglass screwdriver and began rotating it back and forth applying a steady pressure.  It worked!  Again, please be careful.

Once the staple was in, I applied two dots of superglue.  White glue is not recommended as it is possible that it will not  stick to the plastic desiccant very well.

Next, fold the small piece of paper in half and cut out a small triangle approximately 1/4 " tall and 1/8" wide.

This is just an estimate, you may need to adjust.  Dry fit this spout to the desiccant.  Please refer to the first photo as to the actual shape of the spout.  You will need to trim off the 1/8" side so that it is paralell to the lid. Once you have the correct shape, superglue it to the desiccant opposite the handle.

Once dry, spray paint it silver.  And the final step is to glue the seed bead to the lid.  For a more realistic coffee pot, you can add a little dark brown or black paint to the base for that slighly scorched look.

The last step is to paint the handles black.  And there you go!!