Mini A Day: Pattern, Texture

 

Today's theme for #MiniJoyMonth: Pattern or Texture

Wasn't sure what I'd share for this, but I love mixing different patterns for wallpaper and fabrics like the black/white sitting room in my half-scale Fairfield. This was fun to figure out. See more photos here. Of course, the house has little touches of Halloween, too. I can't resist!

I had this textured scrapbook paper that I wanted to use for the floor and used contrasting print scrapbook papers for the walls Plus the red, gold, and black patterns for the furniture. Scroll down here for links to other rooms in the Fairfield.

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* Trying to keep up and post here as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram. 

Friend me there @ cwrite12.

Mini A Day: Favorite Color

 

Lunch in the Lavender Cottage.

Posting for #minijoymonth - Today's Theme: Signature Color. 

I do use purple a lot, so I'll share pix from my Lavender Cottage again. More pix: moving day. Lots of purple/lavender, inside and out! My favorite color is also yellow, so I'll say it's two colors.

  ** I'm slightly behind, but thought I'd try to keep up and post here as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram. 

Friend me there @ cwrite12.

Mini A Day: MiniJoyMonth - Halloween Journey

On the way to Halloween....

Was trying to figure out what today's post would be for the theme: On A Journey for the MiniJoyMonth posts on Instagram. (See info below.)

Then I had an idea to show an early miniature. I've been on the miniatures journey for a long time, even longer than what's on the blog, but this is one of the earlier miniatures of mine I shared online from 2009.

This little doll started as one of those cheap dollar store dolls (see beginning pic Links change: find Gina Bellous's witch hat tutorial & pattern here.) 

I loved making her. One thing I learned doing this: take the time and do the proper steps like pressing seams, etc. and you get good results. I have one of those mini irons that's really handy for this stuff. I still have a couple of these dolls set aside as I've been wanting to re-dress another one at some point. 

For a more recent photo: here's a much smaller half-scale doll I redid as a Miss Haversham-inspired figure in my Greenleaf Van Buren turned haunted house. (See the house in progress -  The finished house.)

I know dolls in dollhouses are a love-hate thing. I like dolls, always have since my early Barbies and Thumbelina. I still remember a lot of those dolls, had to re-find a few later in life, and have since added others later like my collection of Cher dolls. 

 * Thanks for visiting! Come back soon for more minis! * 

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* I'm posting here on the blog as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram. 

Friend me there @ cwrite12.

Mini A Day: MiniJoyMonth

 

Today's Theme for #MiniJoyMonth: Close Up

I was on a shoe and bag-making streak a while back. Still love making these. I really should finish the shoe-bag shop I had in mind. The room box is decorated and has shelves. Just have to fill it. Maybe that'll be my next UFO project! Yes, I have done many projects and have many to do yet!

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Trying to keep up and post here as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram. 

Friend me there @ cwrite12.

I'll try to share my posts here as well, though I may miss some days here and there. 

Mini A Day: MiniJoyMonth

How about some Witch's hats?

Today's theme: Retail Therapy

My favorite mini shop: My miniature Halloween store. Lots for the mini people to celebrate Halloween! Click link for more photos.

 I'm slightly behind, but thought I'd try to keep up and post here as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram. 

Friend me there @ cwrite12.

I'll try to share my posts here as well, though I may miss some days here and there. 

Miniature Halloween Skeletons

 

For some reason, I get a kick out of miniature Halloween skeletons! All sizes, clothed, and whatever else. (* See last post, Halloween miniatures. Click photos for full size.)

Another favorite scene I made with the coffin above was a Skellie Funeral Parlor.  I found the coffin (a gag stop-smoking item) at Goodwill some time ago.

* See more skeletons and a Halloween story, "Superstition" by Carola Dunn, here.

I'm not the only one who thinks skellies look even better dressed up. Here's a couple waiting on the fortuneteller and see more skellies here made by miniaturist Patricia Paul.

My half-scale Witch's Cottage also has a mini skellie visitor - and a skellie dog, of course! And the skellie sees something outside!

A while back, I also made another old skeleton lady fortuneteller in her house.

Wait, there's more! Told you I like using these skeletons in rooms and houses. 

Mrs. Skellie also likes acting as hostess during my Halloween in Miniature events. (See links at top tab.)

That's it for now! 

*Thanks for visiting. Come back soon for more spooky and other posts!* 

More Halloween Miniatures!

 

It's September! It's getting cooler at night, the gardens are sputtering out, Pumpkin Spice is here... it looks like Fall is coming! Which means Halloween-time! (Despite stores already pushing Christmas! Hey, Santa, stand back. Wait your turn!) (*Click photos for full size. Follow links for more photos!)

So, changed the theme here to Halloween and I'll start sharing some of my older Halloween creations again. Why not? It's not too early!

Above: One of my favorite projects, an abandoned room in an old photo storage box. See post. I loved doing this and am thinking of turning a smaller Greenleaf house kit into a full abandoned house. Believe it or not, it is harder being messy than being neat. Of course in an abandoned project, you can't really go too far!

Recent small Halloween projects: A Halloween hut and a Spooky Corner.

* More to come. I have plenty of Halloween projects to share and re-share! Plus, coming up:  let's see how many mini skeletons I've included! You can also click the Halloween in Miniature tab at the top for links to plenty of other Halloween posts! * 

* Thanks again for visiting! Come back for more spooky and other posts! *

Lavender Cottage: Halloween is Coming!

The moving boxes are inside now, being unpacked, and the Lavender Cottage residents are already thinking of Halloween. (Me, too!) (See last post - a peek inside. * Click photos for full size.)

Hard to believe August is already gone and wow, it got cool outside last night. But that means pumpkins and Halloween is coming!

So, getting ready, some pumpkins are slowly appearing outside the dollhouse. Why not? (Yes, I'll have to tape those post wires underneath somehow. Things you don't think of right away!)

But, look! Even the dogs are getting ready! This dog "begged" to have their flower costume  on. haa! (I saw this set at Menard's and couldn't resist. The owner will appear soon in her Halloween costume!)

The cooler weather (yes, even in miniature!) means the flowers will last a bit longer until it gets too cold. The flowers look pretty good still! (Clematis trellis kit from SDK Miniatures.)

Just a few photos. I'll be decorating more soon and showing the full inside, so stay tuned!

*Thanks again for visiting. Come back soon for more projects!*

Cool Miniature Inspiration

I've seen photos of his work before and always thought they were interesting and incredibly detailed.

Apparently, Anthony Schmidt was 10 when he started taking photos of model cars, and his photographic skills have only advanced since then. I had to share this as anything miniatures-related is always fun to see.

It's neat to see a young man, now 17, making money at something he loves, along with elevating model-making to an art form. He's self-published several books and has a new publishing project involving his model cars and Route 66 on Kickstarter, which is going strong, with just days to go. Check it out here. Fun is that he also likes restoring real antique cars.

Miniature Book Project Done!

It's done! Jack's Bookery from CuteBee is ready for miniature book shoppers! (*Click photos for full size.)

I received this kit, Jack's Bookery from Cutebee, (see Jack's Bookery/Amazon and check out the Cutebee store; more projects on the Facebook page)  and 'll say that overall, this is a cute project. This the second book nook project I've made and I can see how people get hooked on these!

The project goes together relatively easy though some of the tabs do need to be sanded slightly as they're too snug and some won't go in. But the main pieces all snap together easily.

There are pros and cons:

Nice detail, interesting subject, good quality. Nice that even the back is decorated.

 It goes together fast if you work on it steadily, but the puzzle-aspect of it can get a bit tedious if you work on it for a long period of time. A tip: younger children may not be able to handle some of the smaller pieces and will get frustrated because of that. Even as an adult with small hands, some of the pieces were quite small to work with. 

One side has a printed window, but I like that the other side has a window you can look through.

Note that while some items are directed to be glued, I glued quite a few more to get them to stay in place. I also colored in a couple spots on the tile floor where items are poked through. After having made dozens of books on other projects, the stickers for book covers is a good solution to all that cutting though I did touch up the tops or sides of books with white colored pencil.

Oh, look! A couple animals showed up!

The final project is appealing, though I'm not in favor of things like flat plants or animals, etc. A nice touch would be adding a real lamp post, but I didn't want to add another light. I might see if I have a fake one to use instead. To add some dimension, I added some punched out leaves and a couple miniature plants on the outside as not having any actual 3D miniature accessories in these kits is a minus to me. And I added a dog. Of course, as a bookstore, it has to have a bookstore cat, too! (Yeah, that empty mailbox will need some letters in the slot!)

The big plus is the touch light on the side - it requires barely any pressure to turn it on. For anyone looking to assemble a relatively quick kit, this is a good choice. It will make a nice addition on a bookshelf. Cute!

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 In the meantime, I'm still decorating the Lavender Cottage and figuring out the lawn and garden areas... and thinking of Halloween for sure! (see last post).

* Thanks again for visiting! Come back soon for more projects. *

* Note: Some links are Amazon affiliates, which may provide some compensation to the blog.