#AtoZ 2016 - Other Miniatures

Welcome to the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April!  

Come back daily for more exciting posts and even some giveaways!

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list! 

 (I think I missed N - so...) 

Today is N-O for New and Other Miniatures

Here are some of the interesting items I saw (and couldn't or didn't buy) at the Spring Chicago-area dollhouse shows this past weekend.

This year there were again 3 shows to go to:

The Bishop International Show

3 Blind Mice

New - The Miniature Show

Some of the fantastic things seen at the shows! (click for larger images)

Thought these were gorgeous!

Cute and made of leather but pricey...

Love the pinball machines! (Wish I'd looked at the price!)

Trivia: Bet you can't guess the price of that painted doghouse...

Nice Harry Potter scene...

Beautiful entryway

#AtoZ 2016 - M is for Mini Mysteries

Welcome to the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April!  

Come back daily for more exciting posts and even some giveaways!

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list! 

Today is M for Mini Mysteries

I'm cheating a bit today as I'm featuring  Camille Minichino, (writing as Margaret Grace), author of my favorite mysteries about dollhouses and miniatures, on my other blog. 


Be sure to go read her post and comment there to enter her giveaway!

  

 Hard to believe she's written eight  books in the series, the latest being Manhattan in Miniature. 

Number 9  - Matrimony in Miniature - will be published in September.  (Can't wait to read it! Yes, I'm biased as I did blurb #8!)

* See all the books at her website or her Amazon page. 

#AtoZ 2016 - I Just Love Minis & #Mysteries + Know You will too!

Today is the Letter I and J for the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April! 

And K-L  - I love minis - and Know you'll love this, too!

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list!  If you like books, etc., I'm also doing the same on my GirlZombieAuthors blog. I may even share a spooky mini or two there!

************

Cheating just a bit today. I'll have a mini mystery coming out soon involving my two favorite things - miniatures and writing short stories!  What's more fun, right????

I had a blast writing this story featuring my part-zombie girl character, Becca from GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie. This times she's solving a little mystery involving miniatures based on friend and fellow writer Joanna Campbell Slan's Big Wave Dave's Surf Shop.

Joanna's cool project took honorable mention in the annual Miniatures. Com contest this year! See all  the contest pix here.

See more of Joanna's project on her Facebook page.

#AtoZ 2016 - H is for Half Scale Miniatures

Today is the Letter H - for the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April! 

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list!  If you like books, etc., I'm also doing the same on my GirlZombieAuthors blog. I may even share a spooky mini or two there!

I love working in half scale (1/24 scale - 1/2 inch = 1 foot). The best part is the annual anniversary swap by members of the Half Scale Yahoo Group. I've been in it at least 7-8 years, I think. This year there were over 30 members. There have been over 60 members in the past.  It always amazes what people make. I have a box full of items to use in my dollhouse projects and get ideas for things to try making myself, too.

Here are the items I got in this year's swap:

Yes those are eyeglasses above!

Was thrilled to get a computer model! I'm going to try making a white wood with a wood case. The tiny dotted bead is a crock pot!

The white straw sewing basket even has teensy sewing items!

I made the glitter picture, cookbook and newspaper (which has my real story and photo on top, even if you can't read it. ha!)

#AtoZ 2016 - G is for Great #Miniatures Reading + Projects

Today is the Letter G for the A to Z Blog Challenge.

Welcome to the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April!  

Come back daily for more exciting posts and even some giveaways!

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list! 

Shared this on my other blog at a later date, so figured I'd share it here, too. 

It's not new but some may not be familiar with my miniatures book, IN MINIATURE STYLE II. See some of the projects and details here.  (print-PDF-ebook)

A secret. Shhh!  I am working on some other projects. Details to come soon!

** CONTEST:  Sign up for my mailing list on the main website page - get entered to win the yellow and black check material to make the cover dress! (US shipping only.)  Comment below that you signed up.

See the contents:

#AtoZ 2016 - F for Half Scale Dollhouse Flowers

Today is the Letter F - for the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April! 

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list!  If you like books, etc., I'm also doing the same on my GirlZombieAuthors blog. I may even share a spooky mini or two there!

I enjoy making half scale miniatures (1/24 scale - 1/2 inch = 1 foot.)

Here's a sample of some flowers I just made... They'll be planted around the half scale garage. I'm planning the yard and driveway now. (Hoping I can get that done, the roof on, and the flowers and gardens finished to share with these posts.)

Sunflowers and Hibiscus... More to come.

#AtoZ 2016 - E for Everything #Miniature!

Today is the Letter E for the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April! 

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list!  If you like books, etc., I'm also doing the same on my GirlZombieAuthors blog. I may even share a spooky mini or two there!


Today I'm talking Everything Mini...

I used to draw and do other crafts like cross-stitch, but I've since concentrated all my crafting efforts on miniatures and dollhouses. This still allows me to make a variety of things or try different crafts.

I've cross-stitched and made Bunka rugs... I've made fabric curtains... I've made different accessories.  I'm a DIYer - I like making things or trying to. And yes, I buy stuff I like or realize I don't have to make! See some of my projects at my website or look through this blog, too. 

The trick is making it look real enough, or making it so I'm happy with how it looks. Sometimes we can be too picky with ourselves. Yes, there are a few mistakes sometimes, that I hope aren't glaring (only to me, you know how that works.)

For fun and as my profession, I also like to write. I do nonfiction -- newspaper and magazine articles -- as my main job. I write fiction as another creative outlet.

A little hint: I will have another mini mystery story coming out soon featuring my Girl Zombie book character, Becca. This time she's helping solve a murder --- and it has miniatures in it! Some may also recognize a friend's project in the story. Stay tuned for more details soon!! Sooner than you think!

** CONTEST: Please sign up for my sporadic newsletter on my website. 

* Sign up and get your name entered to win a Kindle copy of my first miniatures book, IN MINIATURE STYLE or a PDF of my second expanded version, IN MINIATURE STYLE II.   See minis page for all links.  Comment here that you signed up - be sure to leave an email to contact you.

#AtoZ 2016 - D is for Dollhouse Books

Today is Day 4- the Letter D - for the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April! 

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list!  If you like books, etc., I'm also doing the same on my GirlZombieAuthors blog. I may even share a spooky mini or two there!


If you're a new visitor, I wanted to share a little about me. I'm a writer, journalist and collector. You can see more of my miniatures on the blog here or go to my website.

I'm also the author of a In Miniature Style II, (print-ebook-pdf) with expanded how to's, photos and profiles on other collectors.  Book 1 is also on Kindle. (Similar content except for a few different projects.)

I also wrote a kid's mystery, Searching for a Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery, with two kids and their nosy Dachshund, searching for a lost miniature painting (Van Gogh's Starry Night.)

Oh, and check out this previous post to see the actual mini oil painting of Starry Night by Lucie Winsky!

#AtoZ 2016 - C is for Dollhouse Coloring Pages

Today is Day 3 - the Letter C - for the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April! 

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list!  If you like books, etc., I'm also doing the same on my GirlZombieAuthors blog. I may even share a spooky mini or two there!


As much as I love planning my dollhouses, the best part has to be the interior design and the color coordinating. I love working out color schemes!  I loved to color as a kid, so it's fun to see it becoming popular again.  So, today I thought I'd share links to some dollhouse coloring pages...

Hey, this is cool! Did you know Real Good Toys has a page with different dollhouse coloring pages?  (Image, Allison Jr. detail)

More dollhouses to color: 

Color a dollhouse at SheKnows. - Assorted subject coloring pages. 

Color a dollhouse and change the text. 

* TIP: Put the words dollhouse coloring pages in the Google search box and you'll get a bunch of pictures to color. Have fun!

#AtoZ 2016 - B is for Mini Baba Yaga

Today is day 2, the letter B for the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April! 

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list!  If you like books, etc., I'm also doing the same on my GirlZombieAuthors blog. I may even share a spooky mini or two there!

If you don't know who - or what - Baba Yaga is, I wanted to share a unique miniature project made by talented miniaturist Alice Zinn.

I thought this was incredible and so realistic - a mini Baba Yaga, (1" scale, 1" =1', 6 inches tall) - accurate down to the feet! Now I'd heard of the Russian "witch woman" before, but never saw her with chicken feet until I looked it up.   Pretty amazing, huh? 

According to Wikipedia, “in Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga is a supernatural being (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman. Baba Yaga flies around in a mortar, wields a pestle, and dwells deep in the forest in a hut usually described as standing on chicken legs (or sometimes a single chicken leg). Baba Yaga may help or hinder those that encounter or seek her out. She sometimes plays a maternal role, and also has associations with forest wildlife. According to Vladimir Propp's folktale morphology, Baba Yaga commonly appears as either a donor or villain, or may be altogether ambiguous.”

A Mini A Day 2016 - #AtoZ Blog Challenge Begins!

Today is Day 1 - the Letter A - for the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April! 

The idea is to blog daily (except Sunday) from A to Z.  So expect lots of minis, maybe a few guests, maybe even a giveaway or two - you never know! Now I may repeat a pic here and there that I've shown before but there'll be a lot of new visitors this month, so bear with me! 

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list!  If you like books, etc., I'm also doing the same on my GirlZombieAuthors blog. I may even share a spooky mini or two there!

I'm going to share various minis for the month like....

A is for.... Assorted Minis

Don't be put off by today's plain, boring photos. It'll all make sense soon and yes, I'll include the "real " miniature projects. 

For now, I figured, why not? Decided I'd show a bit - just a bit - of the stash I have. And I know I'm not alone....

If you don't know what this is... it's a bit of the things that us collectors save or have on hand to use in that next project.

These containers hold some of the mini gifts I got this past Christmas from my two collecting friends, Gigi and Kitty. I'll show some of the items along the way.

This basket has items I'll be using in other projects. That pink item is a neat woven paper basket made by Alice Zinn that I won a while ago. It'll probably go in one of the Ladies Shoppe projects. 

And this? Well, let's call it chairs in waiting... I seem to have collected quite a few different chairs and tables... they always come in handy. The room is my Teddy Bear room I made a while ago...

Be sure to come on back for the rest of the daily mini tour!

New March 16 AIM Dollhouse Magazine

Read or download it online here. (You may have to sign in to Scribd.)

A to Z Minis in April!

Yes, I'm crazy and going to again enter the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April! 

The idea is to blog daily (except Sunday) from A to Z.  So expect lots of minis, maybe a few guests, maybe even a giveaway or two - you never know!

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list!  If you like books, etc., I'm also doing the same on my GirlZombieAuthors blog. I may even share a spooky mini or two there!

Here is the letter schedule for April:

It's Curtains! Ideas...

Found an interesting book for $1 at the Dollar Tree.... all kinds of images of different curtains.

I keep making the same ones so this will give me some new ideas. It's only images, no instructions, but lots of pictures! Once you have your basic pattern, it provides some inspiration to change things up. 

Half Scale Beach Cottage Dollhouse

(Half scale cottage - Terri Correll photo)

I've been toying with the idea of doing a half scale Sea Captain's House. Originally the idea was to set it in a large boat-shaped shelf. But... I also happened upon this dollhouse kit that was sold as part of a North Carolina NAME project organized by Terri Correll so I might have - probably - changed my mind. 
The half scale cottage by Laser Tech Designs was a good deal (probably a special for the club) with the kitchen kits and a few tote bag favors included. One I couldn't resist. ha!
I asked Terri if I could share some photos of a few of the finished cottages. See below.

I may not get to my own house for a while yet but I keep thinking it would be a cool Witch's Cottage too. Still, I'm leaning toward the Sea Captain's House.

The house likely will have some kind of story connected with it. I have a love story evolving in my head about the sea captain's discovery and love for a mermaid that'll fit into the house plans and design. I wanted to make another half scale mermaid so now I have a reason. Plus, I have some great art and shimmery design ideas in mind. 

Furniture KITS: 
I got the beach house idea as I had this half scale sea captain figurine and then I saw these different kits from Mini Etchers at the Spring Three Blind Mice show in Schaumburg and also at the Online Miniature Show. (Coming up March 17-20). 

 So I have some of Mini Etchers' kits already like the cute boat shelf, sofa and cottage table. I see a few more to get, too.

 I also got the sink, stove and want to add a couple more cabinets to do the cottage-style kitchen. (She has several styles you can mix and match.) And the Eastlake furniture is  something different you never see. I got the settee (so far! ha!0 for the HS Victorian House.  

 So far I did find these two fabrics, also, that I posted earlier and want to use in the Sea Captain's House. I think the color scheme is perfect to fit into one of the rooms. I loved the designs of the fabrics! -- I'll keep you posted on updates!

OTHER FINISHED COTTAGES:

Here are some photos of the interior of Terri's beach cottage: 

House 2 by Donna Deal:

House 3 by Gayle Hansen - barn and farm!

House 4 by Lynn Frank

. 

Latest Miniature Finds

The latest finds...

Saw an interesting set of Victorian-fancy furniture on ebay and decided to check it out.

It's 1/24  - half scale and yes, it's plastic.  But it has nice detailing and thought it'd be interesting to see how it looked painted and covered. And it was only $4.50, free shipping from China. Not bad, I thought.

I also found this fabric on sale at Hobby Lobby and while I have a lot of fabric already,  (you know how that is) I liked it and thought it'd be perfect for a seaside/beach theme. Found the trim and matching ruffled ribbon, too. I'll do another post on the ideas surrounding this and the eventual project...

Winter Fun! Snow Sculpting

Just went to the national championship snow sculpting tournament in Wisconsin. Always such incredible work. Amazed at the detail these artists achieve. Thought I'd share some pix for your enjoyment. 

2nd place winner from Minnesota

Below - the champion entry, from Wisconsin

Third place winner from Illinois