The Miniature White House

I finally had the chance to do something I've always wanted - tour the Miniature White House, now on display at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry until Feb. 15.

I discuss the house and some of the rooms today at Fatal Foodies.

** Check out the Chicago Tribune's 36 photos of the miniature White House in this photo gallery.

Doll Collecting Inspires Historical Fiction Novel

I first spotted the book, THE QUEEN'S DOLLMAKER, when The Historically Obsessed blog mentioned it and being a doll collector, too, I thought how cool!

Well, although the majority of my collection involves dollhouse miniatures, I also enjoy large size dolls. I have several Barbies and a Cher doll on the shelf above my computer, along with my favorite Thumbelinas sitting in a chair in the living room. Mostly my dolls are smaller and fit in the dollhouses, a way to save space and enjoy two hobbies in one.

But besides thinking this book was a super idea, it appears that author Christine Trent found a way to make her hobby a tax deduction! Laugh, but 300 dolls is no small collection!

In a recent interview, Trent said she was inspired by her dolls, and after reading about France's queen, came up with an idea to combine both interests.

The book, which is sympathetic to Marie Antoinette, is part romance, but deals mostly with the main character's dollmaking profession, which sounds even more interesting.

And get this--Trent is a debut author, who after receiving dozens of rejections, was signed by Kensington after meeting an editor at a conference. Nice to hear good news for a change amid all the the doom-and-gloom book and publishing news lately.

** Buy:

Miniatures Monday: Greenhouse Additions

I finally got back to finishing up some things on my Witch's Greenhouse. The 1-inch scale project is set in the Bay Window Shop of the Houseworks' Street of Shops. It is 12.5" w, 11" h and 13" d.

The double window shop of the set houses my Teapot Shoppe. The third corner shop will be a Witch's Bakery, which I have been collecting cakes for. (Most made by my talented friend Kitty. See her work at the Minis by Kitty blog.)

It took me a while but I'm pleased with how the greenhouse is turning out. I decided to make the outside a "regular" shop so if I ever change my mind, I can take out the spooky plants and use it as a regular plant/garden shop. I like the wallpaper (scrapbook paper) so all I'd need to do is change the wall art inside.



The back and outside walls are painted with a gray sand paint (sand added to acrylic paint) to give it texture. After painting and gluing the art, I sprayed the sides with Krylon Matte Acrylic Sealer.

I decided to make a stone/stucco lower strip on each side to match the bottom of the front bay window. I glued different vintage seed packet art on each side as posters. (See preview of house front here.


The stucco is lightweight Spackle tinted with Linen color acrylic. The stones are different shapes cut from the gray egg cartons.

The egg carton stones are tinted with shades of brown, green and orange acrylic, dabbed with black and brown for accent.

The stones are then sealed with Delta Ceramcoat Gloss Varnish and set into the stucco. I like to add a thin layer of tacky glue before I put the stucco on. More glue is added to the loose stones.

(Note: Victoria Miniland has a great egg carton tutorial using pastels to tint the "stones.")

The inside floor is also egg carton stone, though I added more browns to make it darker. I added the wall shelf from a Michael's hutch and am using an old cabinet for plants and supplies. I will also will add a table by the front door. The potting table is handmade and is my original design.

Next, I'm gluing a string of green beads to hang in the front window and deciding how to add a small valance to the door and maybe the windows. The green fabric has these colored stripes that remind me of "snakes."

I probably have more than enough odd plants to fill the shelves, but I keep coming up with new ideas! I'll share more pix as I add new items. Thanks for stopping by and looking!

** Have you done a greenhouse project or are you making any plants of your own? Got a favorite plant? Whose kits do you like to use? Please share!

Food and Fiction - sharing favorites

Sharing some favorite mystery books with food today at Fatal Foodies. Check out the questions at the link and share yours!

First Graphs: Undivided, a fantasy-mystery story by Marian Allen from Sword and Sorceress XXIII

Today's First Graphs features "Undivided," a fantasy/mystery story by author Marian Allen from MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY'S SWORD AND SORCERESS XXIII. (Norilana Books, Nov. 2008) (What a gorgeous cover!)

The SWORD AND SORCERESS series focuses on strong female protagonists with physical and magical prowess facing difficulties.

"Undivided" is the story of a warrior who must use these weapons, and her wits, to solve the mystery of her servant's kidnapping.

Excerpt from "Undivided" by Marian Allen:


Pimchan's Female did the unthinkable--she burst through the workout room doorway, knocking over the rosewood filigree screen, and entered her Mistress' practice arena uninvited.

Pimchan, ripped from battle meditation, whirled from her knees to her feet and grasped the girl in a double-handed grip designed to tear soul from body. With a brief quiver of muscle, she stopped herself on the very brink of harm.

Through clenched teeth, she said, softly, "Give thanks, my Female, to Chaos, who has granted me control. Now you know why I must not be interrupted."

"Mistress, come!"

The lack of repentance rang alarms. Pimchan released her gently, registering the panic of her female slave, a dark-haired and dark-eyed child of twelve, padded with baby fat. When the girl turned back toward the doorway, Pimchan grabbed her arm.

****

Allen said she wanted the beginning of the story to paint an image: "the 'seed' was the picture of the girl--called just 'Pimchan's Female'--running to her Mistress for help.

"I wanted to lead with action, communicate who the main character is (Pimchan) and give some flavor of the setting (they have slaves, they use screens instead of doors, they have fighting so they have practice arenas)," she says.

"If the girl has done the 'unthinkable' in interrupting her Mistress, something disastrous must have happened--and it has. Pimchan's reaction to the interruption, and to the news the girl brings, leads directly into the thick of the story. Her punishment of the girl for her action shows what kind of Mistress she is, and foreshadows the resolution."

** Buy:

New Logo and new book

New year, new logo.

If you haven't noticed, or haven't been here before, I decided to change my logo and add a photo of my real dog, Shania.

I thought I'd share her photo as the book I'm now sending around, a mystery set in a diner involving a mother-daughter team, also features a white Malamute based on my real-life dog. I'll be sharing more pix at a later date.

Miniatures Monday: My Namesake

My friend Kitty and I enjoy trading miniatures and sharing gifts at Christmas. I often find dolls or doll kits during the year that I send to her to redo and re-dress. This year's gift resulted in my own namesake! The doll is named Christine. Thanks, Kitty!

Quite a change as the doll had long (bad) brown hair and now has pretty strawberry blonde hair and a matching dress. I love the colors! I have the twin of this doll so I'll show the original at some point when I redo mine.

You can see more of Kitty's work at her blog, Minis by Kitty

Don't Read When You're Hungry!

You know not to shop when you're hungry, right? Did you know not to read when you're hungry? Well, that might be hard to do with some of the latest punny/funny mysteries. See what I mean today at Fatal Foodies.

Be sure to comment and follow us!

First Graphs: Children's Paranormal Mystery, Ghost for Rent by Penny Lockwood

In this week's First Graphs, we welcome Penny Lockwood, author of the Middle Grade novel, GHOST FOR RENT. (Hard Shell Word Factory.)

After her parents' divorce, 11-year old Wendy Wiles leaves her city home for a cheaper home in the country in rural Oregon. She soon learns that her quaint country home is haunted.

Wendy, her brother, Mike, and her new friend, Jennifer, soon discover the truth behind the haunting, uncovering an accidental death, a suicide, and murder.




Excerpt from Ghost for Rent:

CHAPTER 1

With the rain pelting her, Wendy ran from her bus stop to her apartment building. She couldn't wait to get home. Maybe she'd call Darcy and see if she could come swim in the indoor pool.Or, maybe, she'd just go to the exercise room and work out before dinner. She couldn't make up her mind. Her twelve year old brother, Mike, liked to go straight to the arcade room, so she and Darcy would stay away from there.

Karl, the door man, greeted her as she skidded to a stop under the rain awning. “Good afternoon, Ms. Wiles.” He opened the door for her with a theatrical flourish.

“Good afternoon, Karl.” Wendy smiled, careful not to show her braces. She always felt grown-up and elegant when Karl open the door for her.

After entering the foyer, she groaned. Mike, dressed in his usual black jeans and tee-shirt, leaned against the elevator button, banging his head to the awful heavy metal music he enjoyed so much. She heard his Walkman even though he listened through earphones. Life would be almost perfect if it weren't for him, she thought.


** Buy: GHOST FOR RENT

** Visit Penny's blog

Miniatures Monday: Half Scale Dollhouse Rooms

Between writing, I've managed to finally get most of this half-scale shadow box house decorated. (Ignore a few half-finished things in the photos.)

I used some items I've saved from swaps with the Half Scale yahoo group and repainted some plastic furniture like the bed.

I also added some inexpensive wood kit furniture like the living room couch.

I made the fireplaces, and loved trying to make everything match the wallpaper in the blue toile room.

I made all the curtains and the kitchen cabinets. The kitchen table is also a small vintage plastic piece. I painted the top to make it look like an older metal-topped table to go with the wallpaper, and added a matching tablecloth.



As I bought the house already wallpapered, the fun part was adding flooring to divide the lower floor. I wanted to give each section its own look and give the whole floor a shabby chic feel.

Note: Half scale is roughly half the size of 1-inch scale. To give you an idea of size, the refrigerator is just under 3 inches tall; the couch is about 2 1/4 inches wide.