Welcome to the Renos!

I wanted to post some other pictures of the inside and entry. After the stone work is finished on the side and before I begin on the front porch, I need to cut around the door so the pre-fab door will fit. THAT might be a little bit of a nightmare. I would love to electrify this, but it seems strange to have lights on in the whole house all the time. I would love to have battery lights for each room but I already bought some marvelous lamps at a great discount. I do have 4 electricians in the family, I am thinking it's time to call in some favours!

Entrance on the front porch

Attic Nursery (eventually)

Upstairs bedroom or landing (haven't yet decided)

Closer and Closer

My aching back is totally worth it, and not just because I get to have a nice massage. It's starting to come together. I will still need to do the next 3 steps, colour with pastel chalk, varnish, varnish, varnish (varnish is one step but need at least 3 coats) and then grout. It's going to get messy! I can't wait!

 

 

Before

After the 'stone' is applied

When did my Butt get so old?

Lesson learned from today:

1. Sitting on the floor to play is meant for much younger, fitter and flexible miniaturists!
2. Glue is not delicious.
3. Where my butt has plenty of padding, my elbows do not.

Before

 

After (almost)

Progressing nicely!

Time Marches on........and ran me over!

November 16th already....sheesh. I know, I had planned to finish my Witches shop by Halloween, and nothing...

I am very disappointed in myself, I was doing really well. I was on a roll with the little books and then KABLAM I hit the creative block wall. Gremlins must have been in my things as everything I touched turned crap. I am now putting the little witches house away. Not for good, but for now.

I have a Giant Unfinished Dollhouse in the room that has been waiting for me. It looks like a big, sad, unfinished face. I had started it LONG before I even got the Witches shop.

 So, back to stone work I will go, then varnish, then mortar and.....we shall see what's next. As winter has arrived with a blizzard, I plan on hiding in that room as soon as this coming weekend is over!

Haunted House Online Party!: Join the party!

Haunted House Online Party!: Join the party!: "What do you need to do? All you need to do is to post something Halloween on your blog page between the 30th October to the 2nd November. ..."

BOOO!

Here is a picture of the ghost I am working on for the Witches Shop. I will post more pictures when it's finished.

Excited, Scared.....need a bigger place to live!

Yup, it's official. I have 7 dollhouses!
Yesterday, I picked up the Beaumont Dollhouse by Greenleaf. Holy Moly! I could help myself though, fantastic deal and I would have regretted it if I had not purchased it.
I had gone to this local hobby shop several times before. They carry a fantastic selection of scale trains, model cars and action figures. I have always bought landscaping materials from them as they are close to home and very knowledgeable. A few weeks ago their sign said they had dollhouse miniatures, first time EVER! It turned out, they had renovated their upstairs of the shop to make it into the clearance section and in their off site warehouse they had a bunch of old stock of dollhouse miniatures. As they never carried it before and only really want to get rid of the stock, the prices they put on all the items is nearing Epic Garage Sale proportions. Chrysnbon bits and bobs for $1 - $2 dollars! The dollhouses, about 8 kits in total, were less than half current retail.
I have never bought a kit this big before, I am very excited to start it, but terrified I will screw it up. I have no space to build it, I have no idea where I will put it when I am finished. .... What was I thinking? Was I thinking?


 I know what I am thinking now, I am deliriously happy!

So Relaxed!

I am on a one week vacation. No minis for me this week, away from home and busy, but still very relaxed. I am at the homestead (my parents' little acreage) and I was lucky enough to be able to visit The Craft Store, Lethbridge. Sadly, no website, but the review on the link is true, they have some very unique and interesting items. Not a lot of minis, but ones that you can work with! I found some awesome wizard charms for the Witches shop. I will see how I can work them in somehow!

Surprises in Storage

I have dug out the box of my hoardings for the Witches shop. I have fabrics, felts, painted bat shelves and the little Jack-O-Lantern I made years ago. I am not as happy with it as I was then, I must do it over or make new ones!
It's still cute, but seems very ORANGE to me, I like it lit up though.

Can you feel the Magic?

I have been making mini books to go in my Witches shop, they are turning out better than expected. My fingers are covered in glitter and glue and I couldn't be happier!

Feeling Creative again....finally!

So I have this wonderful little room I can work in, but I wasn't. I was feeling so uninspired and lethargic!
It was another blogger, Grimdeva of Cauldron Craft Miniatures, that helped inspire me. Her stuff is amazing, but it wasn't just her amazing miniatures, it was her comment about my Blue Witch's shop and that I only have a picture of the outside....what IS inside? It really got me wondering, as I haven't a clue. But here is a start. How about a dragon skin spell book for your record keeping?

Thank you!

I have 25 followers! I appreciate you so much for this, even though I have been a slacker in the crafty department.
Dixie (iPod) is fully loaded, but I am stumped creatively.
Where to go next with my little Michael's dollhouse exterior is a mystery to me, so I have started painting the furniture for it.
My weekends for April are busy with the last of Sledge Hockey...and all those regular sized domestic duties won't do themselves, sigh.

I will make time, darn it! I must!

A wonderful but busy week!

Well, my birthday vacation week is almost over. Alas, I didn't mini as much as I could have, but here is what I have done:

Stones glued in place

 

Pastel chalk used to tint them:I also put on a coat of varnish, I recommend 2 coats especially because the polyfill part is messy (or was for me as I added way too much water!)  

Mortar between the stones: I tinted the polyfill with black paint as it dries really pale compared to the rock effect, and because I didn't put enough varnish on, the pastel chalk wasn't protected enough and some of the colours came off.

  

What I have learned from this little experiment:

1. After putting on the "rocks" and painting them gently with pastel chalk, always put on at least 2 coats of varnish to protect them.
2. More is better, the polyfill dries so light thtat if you want a darker effect, use a bit more paint than you think you do.
3. DO NOT ADD TOO MUCH WATER TO THE POLYFILL. Mine was like melted chocolate...not good.
4. I used a bottle with a nipple top, don't cut the hole too big or you will have a mess. If you can get one, use a medicine syringe with a very small hole in the tip.

 The over all effect is what I wanted though. I am pleased, but I have a lot of paint touch ups to do!

Happy Birthday

It's my birthday today. Every year I give myself the same gift, a WEEK to myself, to do nothing but work on miniatures. This year there is one day that will be an exception, Antiquing in Nanton with my lovely Mom!

Clean AND Organized and Audio Books!!

Well, I have finally done it! The Sanctuary is now an actual Sanctuary. Good bye chaos. Now there is space to create and hopefully I will be able to finish projects now. I can even open my sewing cabinet to access the machine!!
This feels great!
The best bit is, I will have a whole WEEK at the beginning of March that will be nothing but Miniature time for me. I have found new audio books to listen too, currently I am listening to  Tana French's "In the Woods"
, while I create. I consider listening to books on my iPod (her name is Dixie LOL) and doing everything else to be joyful multitasking. I feel so guilty when I sit down to actually READ a book. I still love to read, this just makes more sense as a GOLD METAL PROCRASTINATOR, which is obvious if you see the date on my first post regarding the chaos room!

Organized doesn't mean Clean

Well, after hours in the sanctuary (new one/small one) it looks messier and more disastrous than when I started.
BUT
I have separated my mini-project bit'n'pieces into categories and they are on separate shelves, Sculpting, Construction/Woodworking, Dolls, Paint's & Finishes, Decorative Details, Flowers (including kits bought 3 years ago!! YIKES!) and all Sewing is in one area, and Fabrics are neatly binned.
It feels good.

Helps to take the before pictures, then I can remember how far I have actually come and feel like I have accomplished a bit!

Well, it's getting there.

The Micheal's dollhouse is starting to look better and better. Sadly though, the floors are a bit saggy. I should have primed it better. Here are some more photos:

The floors are a real challenge. I think next time, I will use stir sticks for all the floors. The veneer was easy to cut, but curled when I glued them down, curled when I painted/stained them...I have 3 rooms with curly floors.

These pictures are before and after the staining/painting the stir-stick hardwood. The stain was Much darker than I wanted & thought if I washed it down with a white paint, it would age/crackle and finish nicely. WRONG! They look like pickled wood. Guess I will work with what I've got now.

I will get back to more finishing this weekend, while listening to Pirate Latitudes, by the late Michael Crichton!

The Thrill of it all!

I was just perusing the Imagination Mall and I get giddy! All the amazing artisans out there, doing this for a living, I can only dream about it. Perhaps I am too chicken to take the leap. Some day I would love to sell miniatures. For now, I will settle for finishing the houses I have and NOT buy any more, 6 is quite sufficient for a 900 square foot apartment.
I would like to learn to make miniature dolls one day as well.
Please try not to laugh, this is a fairy doll I made in July 1994, she's not to scale, her face is kinda scary, but she was my introduction to the amazing stuff, POLYMER CLAY.

Good Start to the New Year

I have slapped some paint on to the Micheal's dollhouse, when I say "slapped" I mean, very splotchy first coat. But it gives me an idea of the look of the finished product and it looks much better without my glasses on.
Here are some pre & post paint photos.