Cross-stitch

Hi all. I just want to share a small cross-stitch project I finished this evening. I've been working on it off and on just for fun. I've been in the mood to do needlework lately and decided to start with something simple.

Here it is:

The piece of canvas I used was intended to be a bookmark, but I think it makes a nice dollhouse rug. :) I am going to start on an embroidery project next, I think. I picked up a pattern from Etsy for a vintage PA Dutch distlefink design I have been wanting to do. I'll share it when it's complete!

New items added to shop plus a few more treasures

So I just added some new things to the shop! :)

They include: two cool little crystal balls and the prep board, which includes the tray, a little jar of apple butter, English muffins and a tiny knife.

I've also made a couple things that might go into the shop, but I haven't decided yet.

 This little work table needs a few more touchups on its paint before it goes into the shop, but that won't take long, so expect it to be added pretty soon. :)

These were my first attempt at peanut butter cookies, but I didn't get them in very uniform sizes, but they are cute. I also need to get some clear glitter to better show up as sugar. But these are pretty festive. I am planning a Christmas-themed giveaway so these may be included! :)

These oranges and lemons are going to be part of some colonial Christmas decorations that I am going to be making for the shop soon. :) Can't wait! They were fun to make, too!

And lastly, this crystal ball was my favorite! The bead is a little irregular but it will look great in the herb shop, so this one is for me. ;)

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable day! 

Stuff I've made recently

So the last couple days, I've been busy at my desk just brainstorming ideas and making things. I've just been in the right mood lately and I find it very pleasant to sit and create.

Here are some of the things I've been making since Monday:

This is a sign I made for my desk area. :) I got the idea from watching so many craft videos on Youtube and a lot of the crafters there had made these cute signs. Maybe I'll use it in a future video!

These are some new crystal balls I made. I'll be adding them to Etsy very soon. I like these new bases. :)

This is an experiment I have been playing with. It's a lotus floating in a bowl of water. I found some plastic flowers at A.C. Moore and repainted them to look more lotus-like and I put them in an acorn cap filled with Triple Thick/Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. It seems to work. Perhaps I'll make more and/or do a tutorial.

I finally made a sign for the historical society! I named the little town it is in "Kleinburg" because I needed something that sounded German/PA Dutch and "klein" means "small" so...I think it's pretty obvious. ;) It was fun to make and it even has that aged, weathered look! Here's a pic of the whole front porch. :)

This is a Daisy House Kit bed I put together tonight. I was going to dress it and consider selling it, but I like it a lot and might replace the brass bred in the Glencroft with it. I do need to make a mattress as the ones I had bought do not fit quite right. I will enjoy dressing this, though! I love the blue accents. I am also thinking of painting the unfinished part, but not sure what color, I think I'll go really light or really dark with it.

I hope you enjoyed the eye candy! :) I have a few ideas for Christmas minis as well as some other stuff for the shop, so stay tuned.

Fireplace

I made a fireplace today! Originally I had the intention of finishing a couple wooden fireplaces I picked up to put on Etsy, but this one...well I really like it, and don't have the heart to sell it. At the moment, I have no project that it belongs to, but it's a great prop for Etsy photos to display items. :)

Anyway, here it is:

I painted the mantle to look like marble. This was my first attempt at this art form, but I am pleased with it! (I learned how to do this by watching Youtube videos!)

This is a picture of what the fireplace looked like before I finished it and after. :) 

I do have another unfinished mantle, and might make one to sell. I could also do a custom one if someone out there really likes this. :)

Hope everyone is having a good Halloween! Here on the east coast of the US, we are "battening down the hatches" to prepare for Hurricane Sandy. I live in the part of NY that will get less rain, but may still be in risk of a power outage or flooding in parts of the area. Hope everyone stays safe!

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. :)

Thrifty Thursday 1

Well, here goes my first Thrifty Thursday post! I hope this becomes a fun resource for upcycling ideas, including some fun ideas I’ve figured out, cool things I’ve read, what friends from the blogosphere have done, and inquiries to you about how everyday household objects might be used for minis.

Thrifty on the web: 

So today, I’d like to mention an amazing miniaturist, Tanya, who lives in Georgia. She posts often on the Greenleaf Forum, Small Stuff and the Miniature Collector’s Club Yahoo! Group. The reason she is being mentioned today is that she has a special knack for turning trash to treasure. Her online photo album, chock full of ideas, can be found here: http://www.picturetrail.com/tanyamc123. She finds some great pieces from the Dollar Tree, or around the house, that make great minis, especially those that may be useful in modern scenes! See for yourself!

This week's thrifty idea: 

Do you have a lot of ribbon, still on the cardboard spools? Ever want to know how to easily store them without shelling out money for a ribbon dispenser?  If you have a large wooden disk (or sturdy base larger than the largest hole in your ribbon spools), some glue (Tacky, wood, whatever you have) and an extra dowel lying around (who doesn't?), you can whip together a quick and easy ribbon holder.

This is a super-easy idea for cleaning up your storage space and a lot easier than fishing around in a drawer for just the right ribbon. I think the neatly stacked ribbon is also pleasant to look at as I have it easily accessible in my craft area. :)

What Would You Do With This?

Alright, guys and gals. We've recently cleaned out our pantry and we found that we had a lot of those Crystal Light drinks. I kept the containers because I thought they might work out well in this hobby. Here's what one looks like: 

Now I am too lazy to get up and measure it at the moment, but I think it's about 6.5 inches tall. Can you think of a mini-related use for this? So far, I've thought: storing or packing delicate minis to send in the mail, storing brushes, strip wood, or other tools...what else? Share your ideas in the comments below!

Finally, my own Etsy shop!

I am excited to announce that I now have an Etsy shop!

There are just a few things up there now, including bowls and a decorated hutch. You can see them all in this photo:

Definitely more to come soon!

A few small things... :)

Well it's Friday and I am at home enjoying some creative time, watching shows on Netflix and churning out some minis. I've stopped at the craft store recently and got some good stuff. :)

#1: I found some watch faces on clearance and bought one to hang in the Glencroft.I painted the edges with enamel paint, and soon will hang it on the wall...either in the living room or kitchen.

And yes, you're looking through a magnifying lens there, which is part of my brand new Ott Lite. :-D Michael's had them for 40% off so I picked up the LED magnifying lamp. PERFECT for minis!!

It has interchangeable lenses and the gooseneck piece can be clipped onto a surface.

I also picked up some Modge Podge Dimensional Magic. I am trying it out to see how it works in place of resin so I can make mini drinks and foods that have liquid (stews, etc.).

I made a little cup of coffee by mixing the Dimensional Magic with acrylic paint. I am still waiting for it to set.

I also made another screen...I think I am getting a method down. :)

And last, I started on a rose kit. I made my first rose Wednesday night. It took a while to get the first one done, but I like how it looks.

 That's all for now. I am just waiting for the announcement of the Greenleaf Spring Fling to see what cool stuff they've cooked up for this contest. I do love the additions so far!

Things I've made tonight...

I tried making my first cupcakes tonight. They're not perfect, but not terrible for my first try. :)

I want to try different flavors and add some toppings in the future, but these were fun to do. The "dish" they are sitting on is a jewelry finding from the craft store.

I also made up some plants for the Glencroft. I had bought a few things from Joann's recently that would make some quick and easy plants.

On the left are some dried ferns which I separated, cut and attached to cloth-covered wire to make a smaller fern plant. On the right are some really cool embellishments I found in the scrapbooking aisle. The top one I hung on the herb shop door to decorate for spring. The one on the bottom was placed into a vase I had on hand. You can see the finished plants below.

Here they are in the Glencroft:

Plants do add some life to a scene.

Currently, I am still working on the details and I am going to focus on the bedroom next. I think I am going to repaint and redress the bed and add some stationery to the desk. I just found a little handpainted chest of drawers in my collection that fits the color scheme in the bedroom.

That's all for now. I am going to be quite busy in the next couple of days, so I don't know how much crafty stuff/blogging I'll get to do, but I am glad I had some time over the last few days to do some artsy stuff. It's a nice relaxing break from the usual...

Birdhouse and more landscaping goodies.

So, Jay and I stayed over in NH last night so I could do some sampling for my marine biology research. And BOY was it ever windy!!! I was soaked after that adventure. But what made up for it was stopping at Earth N Tree on the way back to NY. :) I love that place! I had a bit of an agenda while there so I didn't spend as much time wandering about aimlessly looking at every little thing! On the trip back home, I saw a field of birdhouse motels in western NH, which inspired me to design and build one for the herb shop yard. And tonight, that's what I did!

So I've never done anything like this before, and I played it by ear. I researched birdhouse motels online to get some ideas and basic measurements and then opened up my giant Ziploc bag of scrapwood. I found two nice size rectangle pieces and cut the side pieces to fit. For the roof, I cut strips of wood to fit and laid them across. Here's a pic to show the unfinished, unshingled product:

I made the holes first with a thumbtack and then widened them with my pointy clay tool (can't remember what it's called!).

Once that glue dried, I painted the entire thing with Tim Holtz "Picket Fence" Crackle Paint (which I love!!!) to give it that weathered, outdoor look.

I shingled it with some leftover asphalt shingles that I had used on the smaller roof on the herb shop (they match!). I also glued on the pole (which is still a little wobbly and really needs to dry overnight). As you can see in the pic below, I still have some paint touchups to do (on the pole and the holes). In addition, I want to build a base with clay (over which I will glue coffee grounds for soil) that I can attach with Tacky Wax to the base of my scene.

You can see two of the little treats I bought for myself in the background - a log filled with mushrooms and a tiny brass mailbox. :) I also bought a trellis with lovely plants which I attached to the side of the shop. I also plant to fill some window boxes with handmade roses (from a kit I bought today!).

Mini books and a sidewalk

I am starting small (no pun intended!) in getting back to crafting minis, so I made up two books I got in a kit I bought from minikitz.com that I had in my stash for a few years. They are a medieval manuscript and an herbal. Both would fit in my herbal shop, so that's where they shall go.

Speaking of the herb shop, it needed a sidewalk leading up the door. In the picture below, you can see that the line where the two sheets of grass meet and, well, that won't do.

So, I took a thin piece of basswood, cut it to size, glued on some Paperclay and carved in lines between the flagstones. Once that dried, I painted the walkway and added a coat of varnish. Here's the finished product.

The paint and the cracks in the paperclay give it a nice weathered look. I need to go to a craft store and pick up more landscaping materials, so I can fill in the space along the sidewalk. Maybe I'll do that this weekend; we'll see. I really want to do some work on the Glencroft.

Lots of inspiration this evening though, much of which will result in a few blog posts in the very near future: an entry on Dutch Colonial houses (for inspiration) and some book reviews (as inspired by this entry in the Greenleaf forums).

Here's most of the dollhouse/miniature books on my shelf, which I will start with, if I do some reviews...(this will make me sit down and carefully read these instead of just looking at the eyecandy inside. ;) ).

I have a few others (The Big Book of the Dolls' House by Jean Nisbett, to name one) that don't fit on this shelf.