First Miniatures Project & Writing

 

Yes, I've been busy so that's why I haven't posted as haven't really had anything to show yet.

I've been writing, too; re-editing a few stories so have three sent out for this month and still waiting for others that were out previously. Also have two other stories I'm finishing up, including an odd one I rather like. Been busy! Fingers crossed!

* Also heard that the cover will be revealed - soon! - on the upcoming anthology with my story, "Some Kind of Friend," based on the song of the same name. To be published soon in, A Killing at the Copa: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Barry Manilow. (So looking forward to this one!!)

Between that, I have been working on the Miniature Book Nook and doing some more painting on the Lavender Cottage.

TA DAH! The book nook (called The Magic Library on Amazon) is done and even got the outside papers glued on. I had a hard time as one of the bottom pieces was cut wrong, but new holes were cut, and thanks to my "building team" of friend Gigi and "Don's Electric," everything was fixed, glued, and wired! So, it lights! Interesting as it has a sensor, so it stays on for a bit and then goes off; motion will turn it back on. There's a door in back for the battery box (2 AAA batteries. (Click photos for full size.) 

It's actually a pretty cool project though I'm not sure I'd do another, but I do like how it came out.

The Cottage (so far):

* And... yes, I changed my mind again (don't be surprised. ha!) and with the input from my friend, decided the exterior colors will work for the Lavender Cottage. Once I see it together, I think it works well.

I tinted the lightweight spackle with Lavender acrylic paint; the trim (and windows) are light Hauser Green with antique white and African Violet. There's a design piece that goes on top of the door plus there are filigree rails and posts that go in front and around the house. A lot of painting, so not much progress yet.

 I sorted out some furniture for it, still figuring it out. I am thinking of using quite a few plants in this one. Have to see which purple plants I already made, too.

I am looking at all that painting on the outside railings... wondering if I should cut the side railings down as the porch is too closed in. I hate to do that but... thinking on it. We'll see.

That's it for now. Not a lot, but getting there! 

Thanks again for visiting. Stop back soon for more updates!

Top 10 Fiction in Readers Poll

Finished in the Top 10 for the annual Critters-Workshop Readers Poll! 

My entries in the Top 10 Include: 

* Anthologies: (Includes my story, "Wildfire," based on the song of the same name.

8. (I Just) Died in Your Arms: Crime Fiction Inspired by One-Hit Wonders, White City Press

 (I Just) Died in Your Arms: Crime Fiction Inspired by One-Hit Wonders 

* Horror Short Stories: (My Story, "Blink!")

 4. Blink! in Behind the Shadows II, C.A. Verstraete, Inkd Publishing

Behind the Shadows II. 

* Other Genre Short Stories:

3. Secrets of the Last Mine in Noncorporeal II, C.A. Verstraete, Inkd Publishing (They didn't have a ghost category and it really didn't fit Sci Fi)

 "Secrets of the Last Mine," in Noncorporeal II 

Just for fun, but be sure to check out the great stories in the entries!

The Miniature After Christmas House

Quite an improvement!

 It's January (already!) but I wanted to share photos of the small Christmas House I finished last month.

It came out pretty cute even if I'm done with it now and it's in a box. ha! Figured I'd better share it!

The outside is vastly different This is how it started. Above: how it ended.

I'd say it's much better now!

 I used a Milk Chocolate color acrylic paint on the roof to resemble gingerbread. The lines were painted with glue, then glittered. Everything was painted and covered with something!

All the poinsettias were punched out from painted paper.

First floor:

 

Second floor:

Easy enough! All made using plastic furniture I covered and stuff I already had lying around.

Next: 

Work on the Lavender Cottage is underway. The first floor front is stuccoed and I do like the color. The inside is electric taped. Nothing more can be done as certain pieces have to be added and painted first - the door and the railings to put the second floor on - and it's a ton of painting! 

And... the more I think on it, first time I've had to do this - I painted the windows green and I really don't like the color contrast. So.... I painted a few over for the inside - probably going to do the rest - all antique white. Maybe. We'll see. The contrast on that plant (below) does look good. What do you think? Ugh!! Stay tuned for updates!

Maybe if I change my mind and piece a print (still looking) for the porch it will bring the colors together more. Or do green flooring... (There are some great vintage linoleum rugs and mats here.)

* Will think on it. That's it for now! Thanks again for visiting!

First 2025 Miniature Projects

 

What's on the worktable this year?

Made some new furniture (above). (*Click photos for full size.)

Awfully cute pieces so far. The empty shelves will have books, lots of books. It's all part of this Magic Library book nook kit I got for myself and my friend for Christmas. I have to say, it's a nice kit. Cute stuff, goes together well. No maker name on it but I got it on Amazon.

Then this got started:

I mentioned in November that I got the half-scale Abriana Country Cottage from Laser Dollhouse Designs, which I'm calling the Lavender Cottage. (website photo).

So far, all the windows are painted (22 larger, 2 small, what a chore!) though I still have to fill in the line around the window. Was trying to decide what color would look better? Leaning toward a darker green (marker).

Here's the base and first floor level  - so far. I know... real exciting. ha! This is a much smaller house (14" w x 10" d x 19" h) and funny as I didn't realize it doesn't have the exterior scribing for siding like the Witch Cottage has.

 I don't want to glue on siding, so I'm going to try something different - I'm thinking of using stucco (lightweight spackle from the hardware store) - in Lavender to match the theme idea. It can be tinted with acrylic paint. I'll share how that goes when I get to that point. I stuccoed a small house, the bakery, previously, which turned out fine. 

 I might have to change the name of the cottage as I am hoping to add a lot of wisteria vines to the outside. We'll see if I can do Lavender plants, too. Some plant ideas: SDK Miniatures has an ageratum plant kit, which could look nice in clumps for a border; 

I could also add purple pansies, some delphinium (but in purple), (website photos) and I've made some African violets before. We'll see what I have on hand and what I find at the Spring shows. I also have a lot of punches if I can figure out some other flowers.

There are always lots of decorative things to make when doing a house, so I'll be working on various kits and other things as well.

I shared earlier about the first two pieces I made for the Lavender Cottage, this chair and a plant, along with the clematis trellis, which really came out pretty. There are other pieces set aside as well.

An interesting find:

Found these nice 1/24 LED lights on ebay. Reasonable too ($6.49 pair) and they have a bright yellowish tone light to them. Ordered some more in black and a coach-style light. Going to use these on the front of the cottage. They come with a 3-volt battery pack (2 AAA batteries) but will probably run an electric tape line and use a small 3-volt transformer as you can go through a lot of batteries over time.

Just a small update. That's it for the moment! What are you working on?

Here's to more miniature fun this year! Thanks for visiting and your interest in my projects!

Miniatures 2024 Year-End Round-Up

Happy Miniatures New Year!

(Image: pixabay.com Free license)

 Can't believe it! Where did 2024 go???

At the end of the year, I like to share and link the projects I've finished. It's a good way to see what I've actually done for the year! haa!

January:

I was finishing up the trim and other things on the half-scale Park Avenue Mansion. * Here's the tour part 1, with link to part 2. (Yes, that's a gargoyle on the roof!)

February:

Diner counter

The real fun of working on the mansion was doing something different - making a diner in the bottom floor of the house. I'd always wanted to do a diner so this was fun making one in half-scale. * Here's the finished diner tour.

March - April - May:

Besides working on flowers for the mansion in March, I shared a bunch of my miniatures projects for the A to Z Blog Challenge in April. (See archives list in left column for posts.)

May - June:

I began working on a Tiki Bar in a former photo box. See the finished project in June. I loved doing this one. The drinks and food were a lot of fun to make!

July:

It was back to making Halloween items for the Van Buren dollhouse I finally got back to finishing. * Tour the finished Halloween Van Buren Dollhouse. Part 1 - Part 2.

August:

Between finishing the Halloween house, I got it in my mind to do an abandoned room in another former photo box I had on hand. This was fun to do as I'd seen similar rooms and thought it would be fun to "wreck" a room. I might, just might, do a small house kit I have this way eventually. It can be a lot of fun being intentionally messy!

September:

Did some early Halloween posts this month using the tag "Spooky Season." See other posts in the left column archives.

October:

Different accessories I've done - even a "haunted" garbage can. (Look for the eye!) 

November:

For variety, I finished this half-scale Clematis trellis. I'd been putting it off, but the results were worth doing it! I'll be making more purple colored flowers for the latest project listed below.

I also started painting parts for the next much-smaller half-scale project, which I'm calling the Lavender Cottage.  * Update: the base and first floor are assembled and glued. All windows painted. The door has to be painted next. Then there's lots of tiny trim to paint on the arches, plus the exterior walls.

Set up for Halloween.

Also worked on the camper kit, that I turned into the Coffee Camper for a Christmas Campground display at my friend's house.

December:

I did the Halloween-themed house on the right. (Of course!)

Did several Christmas projects. First, making a tiny Gingerbread House turned into a cute Gingerbread House Decorating Contest as part of the Christmas Campground.

Outside flowers (before finishing)

I started repainting a toy plastic house as a Christmas house. * Finished house post to come and will be linked here.

It was fun this year opening our own Advent Calendars for a Miniature Christmas. Fun gifts like the new addition to my Halloween house lawn. (See right side.) Made different assorted items for that and for some gifts.

It was a really fun miniatures year! Here's to more creativity in 2025!

* Thanks for visiting and sharing minis all year! The best to you and more fun next year! *

A Miniature Christmas

Christmas in front of the Halloween House. But... what is that on the side???

It's Mini Christmastime! 

My friend Gigi and I celebrate our own miniatures Christmas ahead of the 24th so it's always a great time for new projects and new miniature gifts!  Yes, I'm behind on this post! I didn't pay attention to the date so the year-end round-up will have to be up tomorrow on the first. (*Click photos for full size.)

This year we got together and sat around our mini Christmas campground to share some snacks, Egg Nog, do a mini Christmas project, and open gifts. * Click link to see the amazing campground. It really came out great!

A fun fact is that she's also a Santa collector - a real collector. They're everywhere! Big, small, tall... if my count is accurate, I counted around 60 Santas! Definitely feels festive and Christmasy seeing them all set out!

We do a mini Christmas project each year, so this time the surprise was those MiniVerse Holiday balls: a tree, a charcuterie board, and a yule log. They're close to 12th scale (the tree is the closest) so I'll probably set up a Christmas snack table for next year, too. Cute results. Love the tree. Will have to put some lights on it.

Gift-wise, this was fun as we did a miniatures Advent Calendar for each other for the first time. Made and bought all kinds of little minis! I made this little garden basket for her greenhouse project. Found these funny little garden signs so had to include them!

I got several cute little Raggedy Ann items like tiny pillows and books, and she made this adorable trunk from a Dragonfly Intl. kit. Always admired it but never got it! The bench was a kit for a later Tudor project I plan to do. Yes, many projects! haa!

One of the gifts was some of the MiniBrands Home items I know I'll never get, ha! Hooked on these! I'm looking to buy a few others outright as you can buy these balls forever and never get the pieces you want!

  Love the lips sofa and the hand chair. The lips will probably go in the eventual Raggedy Ann house (the half-scale Colonial house I mentioned waaay back in 2020 and need to get back to). The hand chair (my favorite I think) and the pillow chair will likely be painted purple to go in what I'm calling the Lavender Cottage. I'm stuck on that house for the moment as I got tired of painting. (22 windows!) But! The windows are now painted. Yay! And progress: the base and first floor are built. Photos soon.

I have an idea for a semi-modern look for the cottage. Just made this chair and plant for it, which gives me a better feel for how it should look. The chair is from the Gothic furniture set, ( SDK Miniatures) which I did before in the usual walnut with velvet upholstery in the Halloween House. I decided to try something different so I painted it. The antique white color and lighter print gives it a whole new look. It's a nice kit. This is my favorite set and it really has a different style when you paint it.

And that Christmas photo at the top of this post? Well, the figure on the right is one of those lit "Ghost" Dogs. (MforMiniatures) It's lit with one of those tiny "fairy light" balls. (See example on the Gingerbread house post.)  I almost, almost bought the dog so this was really a surprise. SOOOO cute! I also got the ghost figures  (Miniatures.com) to add to the outside scene. 

Another fun (It's always) Halloween item, is this shadow zombie. (Not sure if this is the same site but there are lot of wood cut-out figures here on Etsy to paint yourself.)

Friend and fellow writer Jean Rabe also sent me some cute miniatures as a Christmas surprise. Cute little dressers and other items for the half-scale house/s. Lots of books. Fun! (Send your prayers and well-wishes her way as she's been ill and was just taken to the hospital again for more tests.)

 (And I have to add: if you like to read, check out her Piper Maxwell mystery series. Book six, The Dead of Sled Run, is a good mystery set around the holidays. There's a continuing storyline in the series, but they can be read alone also.)

So, lots to add to collections and projects! Now off to do some more painting!!

Thanks again for visiting! Stay tuned for more Christmas projects. 

Update: The miniature Christmas house is done! Finished gluing in all the wallpaper, ceilings, and put curtains in. I'll share that soon.  

With that done, I started working on part of the annual half-scale swap items as they'll need to be mailed by early February! So far this part will work, I think, then have to try this other small project. The theme this time is holidays so I have a couple easy ideas. Glad I post these as I forgot how cute the items were last time (see link above)! Always look forward to this. I love doing the swap every year and glad people are still participating in it. Nice to get some little presents after Christmas, too!