Life gets in the way...

I am blogging from New Hampshire at the moment. I've been here since Tuesday to spend time with my fiance who is on site (he usually works remotely) and also to tend to my own research. I haven't had too much time for mini-ing this week, as I have been focusing my energy on my research. :) It's another thing that the school year doesn't allow too much time for (though I squeeze it in as I do with craft time) ;).
We will be heading back to NY later today and I will be spending time in my office tomorrow. Then off to Vermont!
What's in Vermont, you ask? Well, Real Good Toys is having their Summer Clearance Sale at their Factory Store and we are planning a weekend around it. :) I am going to look for things specific to my already-built
projects and perhaps some materials and supplies useful for some creations for the Etsy shop. I *love* Vermont and am really looking forward to some non-work-related travel time. :)
If you're reading this, I hope you are doing well with whatever is catching your fancy at the moment! :) I will try to post a Feature Friday tomorrow. :-D
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Cute mini find

Yesterday, my fiancé and I drove around the area. We stopped at 10 Thousand Villages, which is a shop that sells fair trade goods from all over the world. They have a lot of locations and are worth checking out! They have great fair trade coffee and chocolates, too!

Anyway, while there, I found a little woven pouch with six tiny dolls inside. They are perfect for mini scale stuff. Here's the pouch:

Here are two of the dolls on the bedroom mantle in the Glencroft:

And the rest in the herb shop:

They are really cute and perfect for both scenes!

And while I was in the herb shop, I pulled out the little chest I had in the center of the shop and put it in the historical society. It fits nicely in there, I think:

Now I just need to add some items on top of it. :)

The postman brought me some goodies today!

Very recently I won a giveaway on Little House at Pine Haven's blog. I won some adorable pajamas and slippers! Gail even threw in some beautiful notecards, too! Check out everything below. I've already placed them in the Glencroft bedroom. :)

 As you can see, she even included the Shoe Box! :)

Here are the lovely cards:

If you haven't yet, do check out Gail's blog. :) She makes some beautifully detailed miniatures!

I received another package too! I had made a small order from L. Delaney's Etsy shop. She has a lot of miniatures that would fit perfect in any historical scene. I bought some leather kid gloves and two Lincoln books. :)

Both are very detailed and lovely! I recommend her shop and she ships really fast! :)

Featured Friday: Upcycled Lantern settings!

New Linda's Minis item! It's a gardening scene (1/12th scale!) in an upcycled metal and glass lantern. :-)

You can hang it or set it on a table or mantel for display! More information and pics can be found @ Etsy here.

Stay tuned for another post later this evening about some goodies I received in the mail today!

Quilt!

So, a non-mini item I have been working on, and finally finished:

Front of the quilt. Lots of African fabrics. :)

Back of the quilts.

I started it last year, but my sewing machine stopped functioning properly. :( I ended up handstitching the binding, but hopefully will get my sewing machine fixed to work on other projects, both mini and life-size. :)

Plain Dress

I cleaned up my work area today from all of the crafting last week. In doing so, I got a bit inspired and whipped up a dress for my dress form. It is a replica of a Plain dress that an Amish or Mennonite woman might wear. I included an  apron (made from some linen napkins) and a cap. I didn't use a pattern or anything, just from what I have been researching on the web. I think it turned okay for my first attempt.

Front view of both the dress and cap.

Back view.

Side view

Placed in the historical society. 

Now, I am trying to figure out what to add next...

Etsy shop coupon code

Oh! I almost forgot...

For those of you who read my blog and do not have a facebook account, I want to show my appreciation for you reading my blog. :) And all of your lovely comments, too.


If you use the coupon code THANKYOU15 by June 30th, you will receive 15% off your order in my etsy shop! :)

THANK YOU!

Happy Saturday!

I picked a winner for my giveaway over on Linda's Minis facebook page! I am all excited to ship it out. :) Here's a pic of everything all wrapped up and ready to go. :)

I am just waiting to get her address (again) to send it out. She did give it to me once and I copied it down into a text file on my computer. Before I could save it right away, my computer suddenly decided to reboot itself and I lost the file. I also deleted the comment on facebook where she left her address for security purposes so I am just waiting for her to return my message. :( Ugh. I think I am due for a new laptop soon anyway. Sudden restarting like that is no good (and maybe I should learn to save things right away...).

Anyway, I thought I'd show you my latest purchase (from eBay) - a wooden dress form.

I am going to try and make a historical costume for it and place the finished object in my historical society. :)

I am also in planning mode for some *cute* projects. I found some items while out shopping the other day which would make fantastic containers for mini scenes. I don't want to give it away but if I whip something up, I will definitely share!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend, whatever you plan to do!

Feature Friday: crystal balls! (and GIVEAWAY reminder)

With building the historical society, things have been quiet in my Etsy shop. I have LOTS of goodies planned for new items! Hopefully we'll get them made and in the shop soon!

Well, as it's Friday, I would like to feature one of my favorite types of items in my etsy shop: crystal balls! If you have a magic shop, a witch's cottage, or a scene from Harry Potter, you will need a crystal ball! (If you reconstruct Professor Trelawney's Divination classroom, you'll need many!)

We have all shapes and sizes and colors, something to suit everyone from the Dark Wizards in your scene, to those practicing fortune-telling.

Here are some examples of what you can find there (with links!):

Small cobalt blue
Small black
Large cobalt blue

 

White gazing ball 

And of course, your classic clear crystal, too. :)

These aren't the only ones! Take some time to check out my etsy shop for more crystal balls (and other goodies)! 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

PS: DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE FACEBOOK GIVEAWAY!!! About 24 hours left until the drawing. Hop on over to Linda's Minis on Facebook and see what we have in store and how to enter. :)

Wow - 3 posts in one day. This must be some kind of record. Anyway, I posted the photos of the giveaway items you could win if you become a fan of Linda's Minis on facebook! Check it out! Follow the instructions in Linda's Minis' most recent status and you could win! Drawing will be done on June 16 (THIS Saturday!) at 1pm US Eastern time.

FACEBOOK GIVEAWAY!

Linda's Minis just hit 50 followers on our facebook page! As promised, I will be hosting a giveaway of goodies over there! Be sure to check out Linda's Minis on facebook and "like" us so you can stay tuned to learn how to participate!

:)

(And if you've already liked Linda's Minis, thanks for your support!)

Wordless Wednesday: more details

Tutorial Tuesday: Quick Books!

I think each miniaturist has their own way of making books. Some skillful artisans craft very realistic books with tiny printed pages and beautiful binding that take a lot of time and effort (and look amazing). Others might buy some of the blank books that are out there in many miniature shops. But many of us, with less time, perhaps, need something quick (and cheap!) to fill up a bookshelf.

Today, that was my goal: to make some books that are quick and easy to fill up space in my historical society bookshelf. This is what I did (and I don't take full credit for this idea, as I am sure I've been inspired by others I've seen online - but can't quite remember who at the moment...). Anyway, here's what you need:

- a piece of scrap wood that you can easily cut to the size of books you need. I used the extra pieces of wood you get with art canvases. I never use them for whatever their intended purpose is...
- some white or off-white paint and brush
- brown Kraft paper (used for wrapping parcels)
- covers of the books you'd like to make shrunk down to size on your computer (I use Gimp photo imaging software - it's free and very easy to use, especially if you know how to use Photoshop)

Hint: If you have a color inkjet printer, you will definitely want to seal your book covers after printing - Mod-podge is a quick and easy solution. I have a color laser printer, so it's probably not completely necessary, but I do it anyway, just in case. (And it looks nice!)

Step 1: Measure the size of your book (using a cut out cover as a guide) onto your piece of wood.

Step 2: Cut the wood! Use what you have in your stash - a miter box and saw, an X-acto knife, or an Easy Cutter (my favorite tool!)

Step 3: Paint the edges of your block of wood. You only need to paint one long edge and both short edges. These are your "pages". :)

Step 4: Cover the book (except for the "pages" of course) with the Kraft paper.

Heck, you could leave it like this for school text books!

Step 5: Glue on your cover!

This tutorial is especially good for books that you plan to display as above, with the front covers facing out. I didn't put any printing on the spine of the books, but you could certainly do so. There are some great book printie sites out there where you can find some modern and antique book covers. :)

I hope this was useful! If you have any questions about something I did, I will be happy to add it in to this tutorial.

Cheers,
Linda

Historical Society Tour

Alright, just got back from a seriously thorough and challenging workout at the gym. *phew* Waiting for dinner so I can share some things with you now. :)

I took some pics of the historical society, so here's a little tour. First of all, this little historical society is set in Amish Country in Pennsylvania. There will be lots of historical stuff in here that deals with the Civil War, Amish and PA Dutch culture.

First, here's the whole thing in my little corner of the living room. (I have a favorite side of the couch, and my fiance has his favorite side of the couch...).

 This is the first room you would walk into when you entered. You can see I have some touchups, but there was also a push toward making this house a little imperfect since it's supposed to be old. I am also going to add a writing desk (kit by Daisy House) in here for the curator (Stanley, who's standing on the porch above). I am also considering purchasing a dress form to make a PA Dutch or Amish cape dress for display in this room.

Hey, it's Honest Abe! And he appears to be glancing over at the PA Dutch trivet hanging on the wall.

The thing on the left is a wooden nickel I found at an antique shop in Cambridge, NY. I couldn't resist. The owner gave me a great deal on this and some tin types. The distelfink on the right came from a brochure I picked up at a rest stop in PA for the Kutztown Folk Festival. I cut out the design and mod-podged it onto a wooden disk.

The design above the door came from the same brochure. This time I mod-podged it under an acrylic square so it looks like a quilted piece under glass.

Okay this is the other room on the ground floor. This is the research room. There is a computer on the desk and I will be adding a screen to it soon. You can kinda see the barrister bookcase on the left side. I filled it with some generic books for now, but will be adding handmade ones soon. The aforementioned tintypes are on the wall on either side of the desk. On the left is a lady (it's too big for any of the frames I currently have; going to have to make one. On the right...

...is a gentleman's picture that I framed. You can see the detail in the crown moulding at the top of the room here. I bought it in the wood aisle at Michael's.

The upstairs in the Canterbury house is very small, as you can see below. I am using it for "storage" and it's nice because I have a lot of "antique" miniatures in my collection which look great up here. 

Closeup of the Lincoln chest and chair in the background.

The other small room. I want to fill this up with more stuff. The rug is a fabric I found in the scrapbook paper section of Michael's It's perfect as a worn-looking carpet.

As I said, I still have touch-ups and lots of details to add, but I am glad I finished the building part. Decorating and detailing is my favorite part. :)

Here are some other pics from my collection: