A to Z Blog Challenge: K is for Miniature House Kit

Thanks for coming back for the A to Z Blog Challenge  2013(click link to see the 1,000+ blogs enrolled. yes that many!)

(And if you like horror and all things zombie, I and my co-bloggers will also be blogging daily over at GirlZombieAuthors so be sure to check it out.)

Today's letter is K  for Miniature House Kit

Thought I'd share the before pictures of a miniature house before it's all pretty.

This is a half-scale house I bought partly built. I usually like to build it myself from the beginning - and now I know why as I made several changes! I blocked in some windows and had to remeasure the front windows as I wanted more wall space. I didn't want the house to be colonial but am giving it more of an old stone-stucco house look. I'm adding a base to build a shed with a pantry on the one outside wall and a small greenhouse for plants on the other side. 

The living room was stained dark so I lightened it up by painting the walls and part of the fireplace ivory. The ceiling will be stuccoed after I paint the staircase opening. I also am adding a staircase but had to make a small landing that has to be turned since the stairs enter from the back instead of the front. A lot of planning. You have to keep steps in mind when you're doing a house like this. But in the end it's worth it!  In case you're wondering, the strip on the outside of the wall is electric tape for lighting the house. 

A to Z Blog Challenge: J is for Miniature Jar

Thanks for coming back for the A to Z Blog Challenge 2013 (click link to see the 1,000+ blogs enrolled. yes that many!)

(And if you like horror and all things zombie, I and my co-bloggers will also be blogging daily over at GirlZombieAuthors so be sure to check it out.)

Today's letter is J

I have a couple easy tutorials I want to add yet, and hope I'll find a day to fit them in.

For now, here's a fun tea display stand I made... 

The easy display includes a jar made by gluing two pony beads on top of one another. Top with a gold brad, fitting the prongs inside. Then glue an appropriate label to the front. You can use this method to make food and perfume jars. Use clear, colored or the frosted color beads for perfume jars.    

The square tea jar uses a small square wood block covered with aluminum tape. Add a jump ring on top to simulate the opening. Add a small food or other label to the front. The tea box was purchased.

A to Z Blog Challenge - I is for In Miniature Style II

Thanks for coming back for the A to Z Blog Challenge (click link to see the 1,000+ blogs enrolled. yes that many!)

(And if you like horror and all things zombie, I and my co-bloggers will also be blogging daily over at GirlZombieAuthors so be sure to check it out.)

Today's letter is I 

The most fascinating part of creating in miniature is, done right,

 it can be enough to fool the eye into thinking it is real.

It's a unique experience to enjoy the trappings of real life shrunk down to Lilliputian size.

It's even more fun to do it yourself.

I love decorating in miniature, figuring out the interior design, picking the colors and the items that make a miniature house a home. The top view of my logo includes two room interiors - the left is part of a small scene set in a birthday card. The right is one of the rooms in a half scale shadow box house. Below is my favorite room from my miniature "Dogcatcher's House."

The room is one of the projects featured in my book, IN MINIATURE STYLE II. The book includes profiles of other miniaturists' work, photos and over 40 how-to projets. Available in print, eBook and PDF. 

A to Z Blog Challenge - H is for Miniature Handbags and Purses

Thanks for coming back for the A to Z Blog Challenge (click link to see the 1,000+ blogs enrolled. yes that many!)

(And if you like horror and all things zombie, I and my co-bloggers will also be blogging daily over at GirlZombieAuthors so be sure to check it out.)

Today's letter is H for Miniature Handbags & Purses

Many prefer modern styles in miniature, but Victorian and past decades are always popular in miniature. There's something appealing about making super frilly and feminine items  that you see only in a museum or in old photos. (See more of my miniatures.)

While the thought of corsets doesn't sound too appealing, (though the steampunk crowd has made them look really good,) you have to wonder what it would be like to dress in the silkiest, prettiest, most feminine of Victorian gowns with all the accessories, even if just for a day, right?

A to Z Blog Challenge: G has to be for GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie

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(And if you like horror and all things zombie, I and my co-bloggers will also be blogging daily over at GirlZombieAuthors so be sure to check it out.)

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Today's letter is  G for  Girl Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie!

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my upcoming zombie book, being published in August.

Check the GirlZombieAuthors blog for the cover reveal contest.  
(Last pieces  being shown today; contest ends 4/10 with full cover)

But here is one of the title cover pieces:

For fun, here're the puzzle pieces  of the cover (part of them): 

Here's the synopsis:

Life can suck when you're sixteen. It can suck even worse when you're not-quite-dead.

Sixteen-year-old Rebecca Herrera Hayes faces every teenager's biggest nightmares: bad skin, bad hair, and worse . . . turning into one of the living dead.

   Becca's life changes forever when her cousin Spence comes back to their small Wisconsin town carrying a deadly secret—he's becoming a zombie, a fate he shares with her through an accidental scratch.

   The Z infection, however, has mutated, affecting younger persons like her, or those treated early enough, differently. Now she must cope with weird physical changes and habits no girl wants to be noticed for. Then she meets Gabe, a good-looking part-Z like her, and fears falling for him. After all, how can he, who shows hardly any Z symptoms, be interested in someone like her?

   But time is running out... Becca needs his help as she and her cousin Carm search for their missing mothers and fight off hungry Zs.

   Most of all, she needs to find something, anything, to stop this deadly transformation before it is forever too late...

A to Z Blogging Challenge - F is for fancy miniatures

Thanks for coming back for the A to Z Blog Challenge (click link to see the 1,000+ blogs enrolled. yes that many!)

(And if you like horror and all things zombie, I and my co-bloggers will also be blogging daily over at GirlZombieAuthors so be sure to check it out.)

My friend Kitty has a knack for making all kinds of things, as well as working in clay. Here are a few things she sent me in one of our recent swaps. We're both working on lady's shops which let you indulge in all kinds of fancy and feminine things no longer in style (or you would't be able to afford or maybe wouldn't want to wear!) She, of course, is much further along on it than I am!

A to Z Blogging Challenge - Everything gets made in miniature

Thanks for coming back for the A to Z Blog Challenge (click link to see the 1,000+ blogs enrolled. yes that many!)

(And if you like horror and all things zombie, I and my co-bloggers will also be blogging daily over at GirlZombieAuthors so be sure to check it out.)

Today's letter is  E for Everything Miniature!

Yes, eventually everything gets made in miniature. Honest.
I had to share this: I was watching The Hobbit movie (pretty good, tho too-much-fighting! and again was struck at how amazing that hobbit house is.

Well..... someone actually made it in miniature.

You have to see this!!! 

Miniature Hobbit House 

The cool thing is it will be touring libraries in Australia.
Wow, would be incredible to be able to see this in person!

A to Z Blog Challenge 2013 - D is for Miniature Dresses

Thanks for coming back for the A to Z Blog Challenge (click link to see the 1,000+ blogs enrolled. yes that many!)

(And if you like horror and all things zombie, I and my co-bloggers will also be blogging daily over at GirlZombieAuthors so be sure to check it out.)

Today's letter is D for Miniature Dresses

The fun of miniatures is making things that look real, but are much smaller. There's is something amazing about seeing a fancy ballgown or dress in miniature. Here are some simple sundresses I've made and I hope to try my hand at some fancier dresses yet. 

My dresses below are very simple compared to some work by some other artists,but I had fun making them (and they are for sale - link at website). For fun,  - check out these amazing Miniature Dresses by Felma  (scroll down for more photos in the right column on her blog.)

(See my other miniature dress with links to a few more.)

A to Z Blog Challenge 2013 - C is for Miniature Candy Room

Thanks for coming back for the A to Z Blog Challenge (click link to see the 1,000+ blogs enrolled. yes that many!)

(And if you like horror and all things zombie, I and my co-bloggers will also be blogging daily over at GirlZombieAuthors so be sure to check it out.)

(I feel like the Romper Room lady.  (Holy cow, that's a You Tube clip.... haven't seen her in years!) Remember her?)

Today's letter is C - for candy box. A Miniature Candy Box Room, to be precise. 

My friend Gigi gave me this box one year for Christmas which was great for two reasons, 1. Belgian chocolate! and 2. the box. It made a great room once hubby cut a hole in front. The furniture is half scale (a half inch equals 1 foot so a "person" is about 3 inches tall.)  I made the furniture from a d. Anne Ruff kit for those who know the hobby. The furniture is made of cardboard and fabric. Those are real family pix I shrunk and put on the mantle, too.

See more pix at my website miniatures page (see Candy Box Room link).

A to Z Blog Challenge 2013 - British flavored Miniatures

Thanks for coming back for the A to Z Blog Challenge (click link to see the 1,000+ blogs enrolled. yes that many!)

(And if you like horror and all things zombie, I and my co-bloggers will also be blogging daily over at GirlZombieAuthors so be sure to check it out.)


So today B is for.... British.

Here are some of the miniature albums I made for my Tudor Tea Shoppe. And yes, they also have miniature photos inside. See the tea shop and the other British items I made here.