Blue Kitty Miniatures

February and Winter arrives

2012-02-05T11:28:00.000Z

After an unusually mild winter with only light frosts and one thin dusting of snow which didn't last we now have sub-zero temperatures and snow over-night. The plants were coming into new growth, snowdrops have been in flower since the beginning of January and crocus are showing colour and now the winter weather has damaged all the plants and will have set everything back.

This snowman, or snowbear greeted me this morning. He took away all the misery of the cold and bought a big smile to my face so I wanted to share him.

Quick Make - Dollhouse Wall Clock

2012-01-20T19:07:00.000Z

All you need is a button and a printed clock face.

The button can be painted with gloss enamel paint of the type sold in small tins for models if it isn't the colour required.

Print the clock face to size so it fits exactly into the button recess and glue in using suitable glue for paper, I use Tacky Glue.

Clock faces can be found in catalogues, you might even find one just the right size to cut out for use.

There are some you can print out and use on this printy site page.

http://www.printmini.com/printables/furn/clocks1.shtml

Make clocks for different rooms or even different buildings all showing the same time.

Dollhouses Everywhere

2012-01-14T14:56:00.000Z

I collect Lilliput Lane cottages so when I saw this one and noticed the tiny dollhouse outside - of course I had to buy it this week.

Representations of dollhouses appear in many places, jigsaws, embroideries, pictures, greeting cards come to mind and I am sure there are others. It could form the basis of a whole collection.

Caravan Project 2012

2012-01-01T12:12:00.002Z

I cheated......

I purchased the caravan kit as my New Year project, I put the box out of sight in the garage because it was so enticing.

However as soon as Christmas was over I made a start on it. It was simply too difficult to resist it any longer.

As I expected the pieces all fit together perfectly and the instructions, although brief, are easy to follow - maybe because they are brief and concise.

The intention of "I will just make a start" quickly turned into a desire to continue building as each piece went into place so perfectly and the caravan began to take shape on the table. The only thing that slowed progress was the agonising wait for glue and paint to dry.

First task was to paint the inner walls as once assembled this job becomes difficult. Likewise I painted the door and added floral transfers before fitting the front of the caravan in place so I could work flat.

The only change I have made is to add an interior door frame which wasn't supplied with the kit and I think it makes a doorway look better, there is a frame supplied for the exterior. The only problem I had was with the tiny hinges and nails for the door. After a great deal of time and care I successfully completed them, opened and shut the two halves of the door - great. Opened them again and they fell off, I ended up making long hinges from very fine leather. To prevent the door flapping around during construction I am holding it closed with a small piece of masking tape.

There is a lot of sanding needed to shape and complete the roof, a job I normally hate doing. However with the problems I was having with my phone and internet connections yesterday sanding was a perfect occupation for the bad mood I was in LOL.

The wheels are not glued on yet so they can be removed to make painting easier.

There is still plenty to do throughtout the rest of this year.

Happy New Year - 2012

2011-12-31T20:52:00.001Z

I am wishing everyone a Happy New Year now while I still have internet access as my phone and broadband line has been faulty today and much of the time I cannot get on line and it could get worse

I have de-activated my shop items in case the worst happens and I have no internet for a while. I wouldn't want anyone to buy and wonder why they hadn't heard from me for several days.

Now I'm hoping this isn't an omen for the New Year.

Happy Mini New Year Everyone

Edited 1st Jan - Internet problems no worse, running slowly but less intermittent so re-opened Etsy shop (the library will soon be open again if there is an emergency)

Wonderful Miniature Crochet

2011-12-04T21:31:00.000Z

Since I was young I have been able to crochet and always preferred it to knitting. I can even crochet in miniature to a degree but my efforts are nothing compared to the work of Frieda who sells her incredible work on Etsy as BlackLeopardCreation.

My first purchase - a doily table topper 3" (75mm) diameter

Good as the photos of her work are they still fail to do it justice, every stitch looks perfect, the work is very fine and fits in well with scale, its beautifully neat with no loose ends.

What I find most amazing is Frieda's black crochet - black yarn of any size is something I always think to be the most difficult challenge to work with yet this artist in miniature crochet appears to take it in her stride and uses black in a lot of her pieces.

I am the happy owner of a very striking black and white Afghan which I have hung on the wall of what I plan will be the art gallery in the top floor of "The Packet". Also a pretty cushion (pillow) in shaded yellow and white.

Recently I purchased a pair of cushions in perfect bright colours to use inside my gypsy caravan when I build it (next year if things go to plan)

Last but not least - this week the Postman delivered this fabulous Afghan blanket which is also destined for the caravan. The size is 4.5" (118mm) x 3.5" (92mm). I wish you could feel how fine it is (you will just have to buy your own LOL). Maybe I appreciate the work more because I crochet myself and know the skill and hours of work that must go into it.

When I think of all those different colours with joining on and off ends to tuck in I admire Frieda more and more.

If you want to see more crochet dollhouse miniatures by Frieda check out the BlackLeopardCreation shop - click on any of the pictures below to go straight to the item and then browse the shop..... Better buy before I do :)

P.S. For anyone wondering about the other items in the photo, I made the sofa seat, painted the flower picture and the cat was a white metal one I painted in the same markings as the cat I had at the time.

"The Packet" progress

2011-11-22T09:50:00.001Z

At last the front is fitted and the cat cannot get in if I forget to barricade the shop with boards and boxes. I removed all the printed on over-sized bright red brickwork, painted round the inner window frames to match the blue downstairs rooms and added panels of cream coloured stonework either side of the door which has a hand-written "open" sign hanging in the window..

No glazing was supplied with the kit but glazed widows not only look a lot better as the light reflects on them but they help to keep dust out so I have added clear glazing material purchased from the local model shop.

The name was added to the signboard with gold lettering.

The interior is finished and ready for shop fittings and contents. A narrow shelf is already fitted on the back wall of the seconnd floor.

I am undecided about the roof, at present it is just as it was supplied but at a later date I might add slates or tiles over the printed and embossed finish it came with.

2012 Project

2011-11-17T13:52:00.001Z

O.K. so I am aware its like an illness but I know so many miniaturists who suffer the same malady. That feeling when you just MUST have another kit to build.

I am trying to control this addiction by allowing myself just one a year as a New Year present to myself to work on throughout the year.

This year it was "The Packet", my antique/second-hand shop. It was a very low cost kit which needed much in the way of alterations. All that remains to do are the front and roof. I could merely screw them on and be finished in less than an hour but I want to make some changes so finishing will take longer - but I'm sure I can manage it before the end of the year and be able to achieve the target of buying a kit and then build it throughout the year before starting another.

Furniture, shop fittings and stock are, of course, an ongoing task once a building is complete and taking time adding and adjusting over the years is one of the things that makes this hobby so enjoyable. To my mind a totally completed dollhouse is a sad event, no fun anymore. That's my excuse for UFOs (UnFinished Objects) and I am sticking to it. :)

My kit for 2012 has just been delivered by the postman. I opened the box and was delighted. This kit looks superb quality at first glance and I do not anticipate having to make alterations. Not that it will be a quick job. Its highly detailed and includes kits for all the furniture as well.

It is the 1/12th scale gypsy caravan (vardo) which McQueenie Miniatures in the UK make and supply direct from their web site http://www.mcqueenieminiatures.co.uk/ they have also recently begun listing in a shop at Etsy and have the caravan for sale there click here for their Etsy shop

McQueenie do a range of exquisite furniture kits in 1/12th and 1/24th scales. The caravan is also available in 1/24th, in fact I have had my eye on it for some time but it was difficult to decide which size to buy. I can recommend them for quality and speed of delivery.

I confess I am itching to get the kit out and start it but instead I will be encouraged to finish "The Packet".

Meanwhile I am already enjoying the research into these beautiful caravans and have found some interesting web sites to study the colour and patterns of painting etc. as well as learning more about the traditional Romany life and their crafts and culture.

All part of this wonderful hobby which leads down many roads of learning about history and other cultures and craftsman trades, fashions etc..

New miniature cookie jars

2011-11-13T16:08:00.000Z

Our weather has been unusually mild and I have been able to spend some time working in the garden getting it tidied ready for winter which is sure to come before long.

Building work on my new garage has finished and I have been moving things into it and sorting "stuff" (nobody keeps cars in garages do they?), trying to get rid of some of it. Freegle has so far helped find homes for a large box of old 78 rpm records, two large carrier bags full of knitting patterns and a couple of very big bags of wool plus some knitting needles and accessories and I have a considerable quantity of bits and pieces to box up for charity shops. Gradually I hope to WIN and get everything sorted and know where everything is when I need it.

This has been keeping me busy making the most of the weather before it is too cold to be outside.

However I have still found time for making miniatures although I haven't felt like settling to my own large projects (including The Packet).

This past week I have been making miniature cookie jars. I find it fun designing and making these so that they can be totally hollow with a lid. The sizes range from around one inch (25mm) to one and a quarter inches (32mm).

The little Tuxedo kitten is wearing a Christmas hat which has holes for its ears so it can still hear. The hat (with ears) is the lid and lifts off. My own design.

I have made poodles before in cream colour, one of my favourite designs that I came up with myself (some designs are based on real full size jars), but I think I like these brown ones even more than the cream ones.

Most years around this time my thoughts turn to snowmen and I try to do a different type each year. This year's design carries a bessom broom and wears an old brown hat with a sprig of holly on it. The hat forms the lid.

Check out my Etsy shop for these and other regular new listings.

Wee Round Thing

2011-10-23T14:21:00.000+01:00

My newest addition to my collection arrived from Canada this week.

Made by Tom, one of my favourite miniaturists, who is a very talented turner of wood and stone and is now trading as Wee Round Things on Etsy. Formerly Tom was known as Turningsin and he recently returned to Etsy with a new name after a break during which he had an ArtFire shop.

This Wassail bowl has been turned from black walnut wood. It would be suitable for serving Wassail or as a fruit bowl.

What is Wassail?

I believe the easiest way to explain it is the first paragraph from Wikki.

"The word Wassail refers to several related traditions; first and foremost wassailing is an ancient southern English tradition that is performed with the intention of ensuring a good crop of cider apples for the next year's harvest. It also refers to both the salute 'Waes Hail', the term itself is a contraction of the Middle English phrase wæs hæil, meaning literally 'good health' or 'be you healthy' and to the drink of wassail which is a hot mulled cider traditionally drunk as an integral part of the wassail ceremony."

I now have several turned pieces in wood and stone that Tom has made and they are far superior than any photograph can show them.

Don't take my word for it, visit Wee Round Things yourself, click on the pictures below.

Progress of a Fish named Bunny

2011-10-07T15:29:00.000+01:00

23 weeks ago I made a post about my goldfish eggs laid on Easter Day hatching.

Since then I have updated progress occasionally on the one surviving little fish that I named Bunny (as in Easter Bunny). Here at three weeks old. starting to be recognisable as a fish

This is her today.

She has developed into a proper little fish now and is showing some signs of the golden colour that she will eventually be. She has not grown very much longer since her last photo but is 'filling out'.

The adult fish spawned again early in September and I retrieved some eggs intending to obtain one or two little companions for Bunny as fishes don't like being alone. I now have a shoal of tiny fry.

N.B, I do not know if Bunny is a female but for some reason always think of 'it' as 'her' .

Miniature crafting with acorn cups

2011-10-01T13:38:00.000+01:00

In Autumn as trees shed their seeds the miniaturist, especially anyone who is interested in fairy and witchy homes, can find acorn cups that seem designed to be intended to be used by fairies, elves etc. Different species of oaks have different acorn cups in different sizes, one of the most unusual is that from the Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris) shown here. The cups from one tree will vary in size. The largest I collected were one inch (25mm) diameter.

Use acorn cups as hats or even as hair with this type, bowls or add handles to make shopping baskets, for smaller scales they can be used as cribs for fairy babies.

Take a look around to see what types you can find and look at them with a view to what they can be used for - you will probably have ideas I haven't mentioned here.

30th September - Walk in the Park in pictures

2011-10-01T13:20:00.001+01:00

Friday 30th September 2011 entered the record books as the hottest 30th September in England for over 100 years. After the coldest summer for 20 years this was an unexpected treat.

I had business near where I used to live and grew up and went for a walk in the nearby park. The trees are starting to turn into their autumn colours and some are losing their leaves. Many conkers and acorns were scattered on the grass giving the squirrels a feast to fatten them up before the winter.

The wildfowl on the lake were getting plenty of food from the extra visitors enjoying the weather.

Pigeons were hanging around on the path by the lake hoping for a few breadcrumbs to be dropped or thrown in their direction.

The atmospere amongst the mature trees was tranquil and peaceful promoting a great sense of well being.

The only sadness for me was that this was my Mum's favourite time of the year and we always went for a walk, shuffling through the dry leaves and by tradition taking a few conkers home with us.

I stuffed some conkers and acorns from Turkey Oak into the pockets of my waistcoat plus some of the curiously formed acorn cups to bring home.

Miniature bear for Halloween - Witchypoo Bear

2011-09-18T13:05:00.000+01:00

With the disruption and noise of having builders working on my garage I've not felt like settling to miniatures but this week-end (they don't work week-ends) I have dedicated to making a one-of-a-kind miniature teddy bear from a scrap of greenish miniature bear fabric I bought in a job lot on Ebay.

Finding the black felt to make her hat was a "challenge", my large bag of felt was beneath and behind many bags of fabric and wool stored temporarily in the summerhouse. I eventually managed to dig through to it only to find every colour of felt under the sun except black. About on the point of giving up and opened a box in my spare room (which is used for storage) and there it was.

Without her hat she is between 2 1/8" and 2 1/4" tall standing (55mm) her hat and cobweb cloak can be taken off.

I enjoy making miniature bears for a change - encouraged by my friend BassomBear who views this size of bear as LARGE!

Lighting "The Packet" antique shop model

2011-09-09T18:05:00.001+01:00

There has been a long period of doing no work on "The Packet". Partly due to Summer activities outdoors but mainly due to indecision about the lighting.

Early thoughts of lengthening wires involving soldering etc. were given up in favour of buying commercially made lights with a good length of flex attached - this also worked out cost effective when considering the equipment needed to make my own lights.

The ceiling height is not very great so lighting could not hang down low, it also needed to be appropriate to the shop setting.

This week I made the choice and purchased six lights for the two lower floors.

Today I installed them, they are not very bright as they have very small single bulbs but I feel they are adequate. So far I have only tested them using a battery which also might not be giving full power.

For the top floor I made the lights using a simple method to make shades slipped over bulbs.

To make shades like this take a strip of cotton fabric to suit room furnishings, soak in fabric stiffener and pleat on a rubber pleater. When dry and set overlap pleats and use tacky glue to make a ring then run thread through the pleats at one end and gather up over the bulb.

This is an economical way to provide lighting, including table lamps, which match fabric used for curtains etc.

Tip - when purchasing dollhouse lights buy replacement bulbs of the correct type at the same time and put these in a small poly bag taped somewhere on the house (out of sight) so you can quickly find them should a bulb fail.

Here comes Santa

2011-08-27T12:32:00.000+01:00

My favourite miniature bear maker Bassom Bear has a new Christmas Santa bear in her Etsy shop today.

I love him so much I wanted to share him. He is fully jointed and incredibly only 2 3/4 inches tall without his hat. Click the photo above to see more details.

Real life stops play

2011-08-16T20:53:00.000+01:00

For a couple of months Ive been enjoying myself far too much having fun making miniatures and my Etsy shop is well stocked but now 'real life' is going to get in the way of the play for a while.

Summer has flown by.

The garden will soon need its tidy-up ready for winter, I began today by removing the sweet peas which had almost finished flowering and were scruffy and the dry weather has caused them to get covered in powdery mildew. The spring bulbs and bedding plants will soon be available at the garden centre if they aren't already there.

For the last two days I've been sawing up large trellis fence panels to make them into useful smaller pieces of trellis to use in the garden.

Soon I should have builders arrive to build a garage extension on the side of my house which I hope will solve my storage problems. Then I will be moving "stuff" and organising it to reclaim my summerhouse which is packed to overflowing as all my materials, yarn etc. that was stored in an old caravan had to be re-housed and the caravan given away via Freegle at the week-end as it was standing where the garage will be.

Not a great deal of time left for miniatures (I always make some) but the ideas keep forming in my head for new things to make when I can find sufficient time. I'm already looking forward to more play time.

Selling venues

2011-08-01T22:35:00.000+01:00

With the closure of ArtFire basic accounts due on 15th August I spent July re-stocking my Etsy shop.

I've also been making new miniature items as the garden is virtually taking care of itself other than routine watering and some weeding and I've hit a hold-up with my own major project "The Packet".

One batch of light bulbs I had already do not seem suitable and although I bought some specially for "The Packet" I haven't enough for all the lights and the wires are too short for the way I have chosen (round wire system) so I need to purchase more lights and do some "serious" electrical work soldering wires to lengthen them.

I've decided this is a task better suited to later in the year when I have uninterrupted time to devote to it as I have never soldered anything in my life.

July sales on Etsy were better than I expected as its traditionally the "off season" for spending on indoor hobbies and as I hadn't been listing there for a few months had probably lost my following.

At last Etsy also seems to be working on their notoriously useless search so buyers can actually have a good chance to find what they are interested in.

I think ArtFire's decision to close the basic accounts is leading to many sellers returning to Etsy or exploring other sites, I have put a few items into my shop at Zibbet but haven't devoted any time to it - maybe later on I will.

For now if you want to check out what I have for sale you will find the majority of items in my Etsy shop

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlueKittyMiniatures

A Fish Called Bunny

2011-07-27T16:32:00.001+01:00

I know its a silly name for a fish however I chose Bunny as the name for the sole survivor of the fry that hatched from the few goldfish eggs I took from the pond on Easter Sunday (Easter eggs = Easter Bunny).

For some time I thought I would have two but it became apparent that one wasn't growing even though it appeared healthy and was active and feeding just as well as the other one. Eventually it died, I suspect it probably had a genetic growth problem.

Now the surviving baby fish is almost three months old and approximately one inch long including the tail (Its very hard to tell the accurate size as its always on the move). It seemed time to choose a name. Bunny is a real little fish now rather than the transparent fry. With each week that passes I feel the chances of Bunny growing up increase, feeding is becoming easier as the little mouth gets bigger as well. Still not guaranteed of course as fish are strange creatures, they can withstand things you think would kill them and then seem to keel over and die at the slightest thing but I am quite hopeful.

Night visitors

2011-07-23T18:34:00.000+01:00

European Hedgehog - Erinaceus europaeus

Every summer I am visited by hedgehogs. They are charming little creatures although they give the impression of being quite grumpy, the way they trundle along making chuntering noises to themselves at times and the arguments they have with other hedgehogs they meet. Despite their appearance they have quite reasonable length legs and can run very fast when they want to.

Their natural food makes them a friend to the gardener as they are very fond of snails, they also eat a variety of other food including worms, beetles and some wild fruits and nuts. I find they enjoy peanuts and any left over cat food. Many people think they should have bread and milk but this is very bad food for them although they eat it. It shouldn't be put out for them.

Water is essential so a bowl of water will guarantee visits in dry weather if there are hedgehogs living nearby.

They display amazing agility and can climb quite well.

If you have a garden pond you should ensure there is a way for any creature who falls in to scramble out, they can swim but if they can't get out of a pond because it has steep sides, overhanging edge slabs etc. then they will drown.

Care should be taken with bonfires as hedgehogs see these as nice places to sleep and to hibernate in the winter and if a pile has been built in advance it should be checked before lighting.

Sadly their natural defence of rolling up with their prickles raised which is so effective against natural predators is their downfall on our roads when a vehicle is heading towards them and many meet a premature death in this way.

Man is the number one enemy of hedgehogs but by taking care and providing water and food we can help them survive.

The hedgehog in the photo eating some left over cat food wasn't at all bothered by me watering my containers and hanging baskets nearby, didn't even stop mid munch as the flash gun fired and I took photographs. They get used to me being about and watching them, not to mention the free meals.

I make hedgehogs in 1/12th scale for the dollhouse, they can be used to represent the real animals or as dollhouse toys as they are a little less than one inch long, real adult hedgehogs are from nine inches to one foot long.

My miniatures have polymer clay bodies and feet with yarn 'prickles'.

Christmas is coming

2011-07-08T12:21:00.000+01:00

I'm sorry but we are past the longest day now and for dollhouse enthusiasts planning to make Christmas scenes its time to start. I made my first Christmas cake this week and listed it for sale today. The weather here is miserable so it didn't feel too strange.

Its quite a large cake for a party celebration in the dollhouse. Shaped like a bell decorated with traditional Christmas flowers in all the Christmassy colours. The size - Cake board approx 1 1/4” (33mm) diameter. Cake total height approx 1 1/2" (40mm)

The Duck's out of the bag -

2011-07-04T10:39:00.001+01:00

Diva Ducks is open today

Click here to visit the shop

The magical journey of a group of ducks

The shop is filled with photos of the extraordinary and magical adventures of a group of duck friends.

Rubber duckies are the next craze, Diva Ducks is one of the first specialist shops supplying fun photos to collect. Make a montage or keep them in an album, turn them into greeting cards for your friends. Cute and funny duckies to make you smile.

Diva Ducks began in North Carolina, volunteers adopted the duckies and they were sent out as far as Canada, Australia and England as well as around the USA to new homes where they were given names and identities and photographed.

Follow their adventures in the listings, more will be added regularly.

Begin a collection today - be among the first Duckie fans.

Ssssh ....ITS A SECRET

2011-07-01T15:23:00.000+01:00

My Lips are sealed

(Diva Ducks are coming)

4th July

Introducing the Dancing Ballet Bears

2011-06-30T10:19:00.002+01:00

Meet my newest creations - the Ballet Bears. Standing at only 2 3/4" (70mm) and sitting 1 3/4" (44mm) they may appeal to dollhouse collectors and artist bear enthusiasts alike.

Five-way thread jointing allows the bears to be posed in various ways as wished.

The pattern, including the crochet leotard, is entirely my own design.

This is a return for me to one of my first craft loves. Even before I left school I was making soft toys and exhibiting them at the local shows (often winning). Mainly I enjoyed making toys from felt with embroidery, beads and sequins trimming them so they were nearer soft sculpture or adult mascots than toys for children. I also made fur fabric toys and even knitted one although I am not a natural knitter and much prefer to crochet.

About 14 years ago I made my first miniature bear, he is approximately 3" tall and of conventional bear appearance with thread jointing, since then I made a few more of the same size for my miniature toy shop but the Ballet Bears mark a new departure in their pattern and they are the first I have offered for sale to collectors.

Despite, or maybe because of, my background in toy making I am in awe of miniature bear makers like BassomBears. It takes longer and is more difficult to create in miniature than it does in full size.

I don't anticipate ever making many bears and plush toys for sale, its just a nice change for me to make them occasionally. As with all the miniatures I sell I spend many hours working on the pattern and method of construction and after making one or two for myself it seems a waste not to do a few extras to offer for sale to others. Of course the nature of handmade items means no two will ever be identical.

In these photos you can see how happily they pose and how they like to show off their agility.

Grow a miniature bouquet

2011-06-24T17:25:00.000+01:00

Still on the subject of flowers to decorate your dollhouse today I have the easiest of all. Real flowers you can grow in your garden.

The flowers of Helichrysum are commonly called paper flowers or strawflowers because of their naturally dry nature. Some species have very small flowers, if you can find one of these plants for your garden or know someone with one you only need to pick a cluster of flowers before they open, tie cotton round the stem and hang them up to dry. The flowers hardly need any drying but this ensures the stalk dries out as well before you place the bunch of flowers in your dollhouse.

Look out for Helichrysum amorginum 'Ruby Cluster' or 'Pink Sapphire' .

These flowers are totally dry, they are shown displayed in a beautiful Cranberry glass vase by Glasscraft. I have a collection of Glasscraft glassware. Its very fine quality and perfectly to twelfth scale and the price is reasonable for such work. This vase is 26mm high (approximately one inch).

I think the flowers look like miniature Dahlias, Chrysanthemums or maybe Proteas.

Freshly picked flowers showing their size

The plant growing in my garden

You sell miniatures, why do tutorials?

2011-06-17T16:33:00.000+01:00

Some quick answers to this question.

Miniatures are my hobby, a passion.

I enjoy making them but can’t keep everything I have made so I sell some and get a huge “kick” out of selling them and sending them off to new homes all over the World.

It also pleases me if I can help others make their own miniatures.

Someone who enjoys making their own isn’t so likely to buy ready made anyway.

If someone makes something I make for sale from my tutorial (the succulent plant for example) and offer it for sale - well there’s no way I can supply all the collectors in the World myself LOL

Quick links to tutorials and tips so far.

Peony Flowers

Daffodil flowers

Succulent plant

Easy way to make a tree

Quick crisps

Fitting dollhouse carpet

Decorative plasterwork for dollhouses

Ceiling roses from embossed wallpaper

Preparing to add round wire system lighting

Wicker furniture (book review)

Packing miniatures to survive posting

Others - Not Dollhouse related -

Woolly Bumblebee

Woolly Octopus

Butterfly greeting card

Fungi spore prints

Gooseberry Crumble (cooking tip)

Repeat flowering of Phalaenopsis orchids (gardening tip)

By following this blog you will not miss any new tutorials I post.

Tutorial - Very easy paper Peony type flowers

2011-06-11T14:44:00.003+01:00

These flowers are probably the easiest you could possibly make for your dollhouse.

Peony flowers are large showy blooms of around six inches diameter, they are variable in their construction being fully double through to single and come in many shades of pink, red and white. Occasionally they are two toned. Photos will help you decide on the colours to make yours, you can find many on line if you use Google images search. My example here is all made with one shade of pink for simplicity. A darker pink for the outer petals would look even better.

You will need:-

Good quality crepe paper in the colour selected for your flowers.
Dark green crepe paper for leaves.
Green paper covered wire (sold for sugar flower making (try cake decorating suppliers)
Tacky Glue.

Sharp scissors.
Needle nose pliers or tweezers

Method:-

Cut a quantity of half inch (12mm) diameter circles from your chosen petal crepe paper, they don't need to be perfect circles.
Cut a short length of wire and using pliers (or tweezers) turn one end to make a small loop.
Add tacky glue to the wire loop.
Push up a circle of crepe and gather up round the loop.
Add a very small spot of glue below this circle and add another circle.
Continue adding circles in this way until your flower reaches the desired size.

Cut into the outer circle(s) to form large petal shapes then snip into the other circles to finely fringe them.
Cut some leaf shapes from dark green crepe and glue round stem below the flower.

Arrange in your chosen container.

My real Peony flower which inspired me to make these miniatures. The plant is very old, it was given to my Father by a workmate before I was born, I remember it growing in my grand-parents' garden then it was moved into my Parents' garden and I moved it to my garden last Autumn when I inherited it. They often don't flower for a few years after being moved but to my delight it presented me with one beautiful strongly perfumed flower.

Have fun making your own paper miniature flowers, with practice and by studying photos of flowers you will be able to make them very realistic in a range of varieties.

Teddy Bears make Daffodils

2011-06-06T21:40:00.000+01:00

The teddies of Bassom Bear have been making daffodils from my tutorial.

Haven't they done well?

Visit Bassom Bear and see more of her bears' antics

http://bassombear.blogspot.com/

Frogs, Fishes and Crafty Things

2011-06-02T21:50:00.001+01:00

For years I have had frogs living in my garden, even before I added a small pond last Autumn but that is raised and netted so they don't use it. They hop around amongst the plants and surprise me when I am weeding and when its very dry they sit in saucers of water I keep in the garden for hedgehogs and birds to drink from.

A couple of evenings ago I caught them both sitting together in one dish, the slightly smaller one likes to sit in the hollow under a brick and has made that its home, the larger one was visiting.

They look friendly and they are

We had record breaking weather all Spring, record low rainfall and record high temperatures so gardening has taken up most of my time. At last I have the whole garden looking reasonable. Usually I get part done and then the weather is bad and by the time I get back outside the part I had worked on is overgrown again.

Progress of the baby goldfish. The little one that was causing concern died but the two surviving fishes will be five weeks old tomorrow and are growing well and seem to be quite tame, getting in the way while I'm cleaning them out.

I have had very little time or inclination for craft work but have finished off this wedding cake in the past week and listed it on ArtFire.

Click here to see the listing

Today I visited HobbyCraft store. I really needed white Fimo but while there stocked up with many goodies - nothing like new tools and materials to set off the creative urge, I think shopping for craft supplies must be my Muse. With only routine maintenance work outside now I'm hoping to get more new items made to offer for sale and also make progress with my shop project "The Packet".

Three weeks old today

2011-05-20T11:18:00.002+01:00

The baby goldfish are three weeks old today.

Initially I only harvested a few eggs and of those that hatched I unfortunately lost several within a few days leaving only four. Sadly one died a week ago leaving three, two are growing well while one is lively but smaller. I estimate them to be about 8mm long including the tail.

The photo shows one of the larger goldfish fry, growing so fast into recognisable fish now.

Busy cake making

2011-05-08T20:33:00.001+01:00

Seeing the article in "Dollshouse World" magazine made me get busy making some more miniature cakes, especially some wedding cakes similar to those in the article.

Today I have listed them in my Artfire Studio. Unfortunately I have had to slightly increase the postage on the heavier cakes as the UK post prices all went up in April but I still do not make any additional charge for extra items purchased and paid for at the same time and am trying to hold the post cost on lighter items for the time being.

Now I think is is time to add the lighting to "The Packet". Some holders and pea bulbs I ordered from Hobby's arrived on Friday so there is no excuse not to do it now my Artfire Studio is well stocked.

New canine cushions/pillows

2011-05-08T16:48:00.002+01:00

No cat-dog prejudice from the Blue Kitty. Today I launched a range of really cute puppy pillows for a twelfth (one inch) scale dollhouse.

(I made the sofa myself to my own design but it isn't for sale it is just to display the cushions on a twelfth scale seat.)

Featured in "Dollshouse World" magazine

2011-05-05T10:01:00.001+01:00

I had a surprise to discover some of my cakes have been featured in the June issue of "Dollshouse World" magazine currently on sale.

I didn't know about this feature, its basically a repeat of the feature in "American Miniaturist" last year.

http://bluekittyminiatures.blogspot.com/2010/05/american-miniaturist-magazine.html

New arrivals born today

2011-04-29T12:40:00.000+01:00

On Easter Sunday the goldfish in my pond presented me with some Easter Eggs. I picked off two small water lily leaves with eggs stuck on them and put them in a jar of pond water.

Today they have hatched.

This little fish fry is no more than 4mm long. Isn't he just cute?

I bought a new compact camera this week hoping for good close up capability. After testing it on minute fish fry in a glass jar of pond water and seeing the result I'm pretty pleased with it.

Before anyone asks - no I am not going to build a miniature dollhouse garden pond for them to live in, I did see pictures of someone who built a dollhouse fish tank and put a fry in it but I thought that was horrible to do to the poor little thing. I hope it was only done for the photo and not kept like it.

newly laid eggs on Sunday

Eggs close to hatching yesterday

Fitting Dollhouse Carpet

2011-04-25T13:44:00.001+01:00

For 'The Packet' I am using the flocked paper with self-adhesive backing sold as dollhouse carpet. It can be awkward to handle at the best of times but when laying it on the floor of an assembled building with odd shaped areas its very difficult. I also like my carpets to be easy to remove in order to replace them should they become damaged in any way and to lift to allow access to the wiring if there are ever any problems.

Before laying the carpet I had to drill holes through the back panel for the electric wiring to exit. I also added skirting board to all rooms. As this is a shop it only needed to be simple basic skirting board and I made it from strips cut from mount board painted white.

First step is to make an accurate pattern of the floor. To do this I use oddments of paper stuck together with sellotape. In the photograph I have used different colours so you can see how I use lots of pieces pushed up to the edges and overlapping.

The pattern is lifted out and laid onto a sheet of thin card, I prefer to use a colour close to that of the carpet if possible. Either tape the pattern onto the card or carefully draw round it with pencil then cut round, erring on the slightly large side if anything.

Check the card for fit and make any small adjustments necessary. Remove the card shape and place on a flat board, Start to peel the backing from the carpet and stick the edge down onto the board alongside one edge of the card shape then carefully roll the carpet onto the card removing the backing with one hand and smoothing down with the other. Peel from the board and cut all the surplus carpet off. (If using a carpet without a sticky back apply glue to the card and smooth on the carpet then cut off surplus in the same way).

The finished carpet in the room, at this point it is laying loose, when the building and wiring is complete the carpet can be lightly glued down with small spots of glue or pieces of double-sided tape if necessary but the furniture will hold most of it down, I usually find it only necessary to stick the front edge down in a few places and possibly the corners at the back.

All the carpets are finished, note the painted edge of the floor to tone with the carpet. At this stage the carpet is not totally flat as it is only laying loose.

(In the picture the top floor carpet looks grey but its actually cream).

Completed Staircase

2011-04-23T11:56:00.001+01:00

The staircase is complete and fitted into the shop. Looking at it now I wish I had changed the spindles in the way suggested in the comments of the previous post.

I confess that as I have never used a glue gun I forget that some of these items are stuck with glue that would easily be removed with applying heat. Unfortunately when I read the comment I had already added some filler and paint and felt it might not be so easy to do at that stage.

All things considered otherwise I am fairly satisfied with the completed staircase.

I did a dry run before really getting to work on the sanding and painting and realised something was wrong, very wrong. I grew up in a house with a similar staircase and know there shouldn't be two newel posts at the top of the stairs on the landing.

Out came the saw and minutes later the handrail section had a piece removed. This was a stroke of luck as it gave me two good newel posts and caps to replace the strangely flattened ones at the bottom of the stairs. The flattened newel posts were the feature that I found most annoying and noticeable. I cut off the bad ones and glued on the good ones. More filling, sanding and painting resulted in a passable staircase despite the wonky spindles. The kit provided for screwing the staircase together but I filled the screw holes and glued the parts instead.

The removal resulted in repositioning so that the assembly fitted under the ceiling and this gave a gap against the wall which enabled the addition of another vital part of a staircase - the stringer. I cut them from balsa wood. The original staircase did not include a stringer.

When all staircase and landing pieces were glued in place I screwed on the two back panels which I had already painted and papered. Leaving these off was a great help in building the staircase and fitting it into position.

The next task is adding a skirting board and the carpeting.

Staircase of "The Packet"

2011-04-20T12:05:00.002+01:00

There has been no progress on making my antique shop kit for some time. Real life issues combined with good weather for gardening are mainly responsible for the hold up but so is the extremely poor quality of the staircase.

I have already reported on problems with the scale size of various elements.

When I came to the staircase I was quite tempted to throw it away and buy components to make a new one but then decided that defeated the whole idea of making this kit up as best as possible as a low-cost home for my odds and ends to be kept in.

Notice here the spacing of the spindles (also known as balusters)

The spindles have large holes around the base in some instances and big blobs of glue oozing out in others, the tops are just in a slot running the length of the hand rail.

The end of the newel post and newel cap on both staircases are flattened off.

Here is a typical example of the poor fit, This is one of the landing pieces, they fit via locating pegs in one piece going into a hole in the other piece, in this case the bottom rail and handrail pegs were correctly spaced for the holes, the bottom fitting perfectly and this is the result at the top.

Rubbing down, filling in gaps and carefully painting can only do so much and in this case that isn't a lot towards hiding the major flaws.

Faced with discarding the pieces supplied and making new staircases or doing the best I could I have decided to do the best I can and then hide much of the staircase behind furniture and hang blankets, quilts, clothing etc. that the shop has for sale over the worst areas to hide them.

The wood on one handrail was particularly rough and splintering and even after gluing and sanding it still looks worse for wear but its an old shop with a lot of wear and tear so maybe I can get away with that as well.

My next job is sitting with sandpaper mumbling and muttering trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

Tulips

2011-04-16T19:35:00.001+01:00

On 17th November last year I blogged...

"Looking forward to Spring already
The weather has turned very cold this week. Wish I could hibernate for a couple of months now and miss Christmas and the cold weather and wake up in Spring. I have planted over 300 bulbs during the last few weeks, I bought a few extra tulips today and planted them - that makes 150 tulips in various varieties"

Now it is April and those bulbs are living up to my hopes for them.

A patch of tulips in front of my summer-house today

The crocus have finished their flowering and the daffodils and hyacinths are fading fast but the tulips are just coming into their full beauty and providing my own personal Tulip Festival.

The town of Spalding in Lincolnshire is famous for the annual Tulip Festival early in May. With the unusually warm weather we have experienced since the end of March I feel sure my tulips will be over by then.

Each day more begin to show their colour while others open fully. The lovely weather has ensured that I can fully enjoy them, no beating rain or gale force winds to damage them and of course I have also been able to spend a lot of time in the garden admiring them.

I have never grown double tulips before, they don't really look like tulips but the nearly white ones I have tried this year do look very beautiful, almost like water lilies.

I didn't stop with the borders in my garden, I also planted some bulbs in a couple of tubs on the drive, during the summer they had bedding plants in them and I 'recycled' the potting compost, these add a lovely bright splash of colour when I come home and park in front of them.

I still have more varieties in tight bud in areas that I planted later or that are a little more shady so my own small Tulip Festival will last a while longer yet, I hope the weather doesn't change so I can enjoy it to the full.

If you want to beat the Winter Blues and have something wonderful to look forward to next year make a note somewhere to buy bulbs and make sure you plant them, all too often I have found bulbs still in bags the following year but I diligently planted all bulbs as I purchased them and then bought more last year.

The show they give is quite spectacular and worth every penny spent on them. I hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse of some of my tulips if you haven't any of your own.

Buyers Beware of Etsy

2011-04-08T21:16:00.005+01:00

I wonder if buyers realise that when they see something in an Etsy shop they want and sign up for a buyer account in order to purchase it that if they use their real name it will be searchable within Etsy and picked up by Google so anyone searching that name will find you are a buyer on Etsy.

Etsy does not consider your name to be a private matter.

After a major issue covered by a number of websites and online media when it was realised that this also lead to a person's purchases being easy to find Etsy made an instant panic reaction of damage control by hiding purchases and feedback details. Rendering the feedback system virtually useless.

They also have a system of sharing your email address with people searching for it unless you find the page where you can opt out of it. Please note you are automatically opted IN, you have to opt out yourself.

Please bear this in mind and use a nom de plume ID, don't use your real name. Find the page where you can opt out of sharing your email address.

To do this select "settings" then "privacy" as shown in the screen shot here.

England in Spring

2011-03-24T15:53:00.004Z

Spring is not only officially here on the calendar, it is here in its full glory. We have been enjoying days of sunshine and warmth this week.

I wouldn't want to live in a country near the Equator where seasons don't happen. Despite our Winters being horrible, cold, wet and miserable and our Summers often being hot in a nasty humid tiring way the dramatic seasonal changes give us Spring and Autumn.

Many people have a preference for one or the other, my Mum tended to like Autumn best. However I enjoy both seasons equally for their natural gifts and beauty and could never choose one as a favourite.

Yesterday I decided to walk to the Post Office to take my ArtFire orders instead of going in my car so I could fully appreciate the sunshine and flowers. I took my compact camera with me so I could share a little of an English Spring with my readers from around the World.

Overhead were pink and white blossoms beginning to open on cherry and almond trees set off by the newly unfurling copper coloured leaves and clear blue sky gently touched with fluffy white clouds.

The air was filled with birds singing to mark their nesting territories, bees flew between the flowers and I saw my first butterfly of the year, a yellow Brimstone.

Yellow is the dominant colour of Spring with forsythia hedges forming gold ribbons round garden boundaries and drifts of daffodils along the verges and covering roundabouts. The daffodils are not all open yet, a few more days of warm weather and they will be solid drifts of gold. Even the new buds beginning to touch the trees with colour are a yellowy shade of green.

At the moment the trees are still bare with tiny touches of colour and catkins on some but soon the sudden transformation from brown twigs to leafy trees will happen, I always think its like an artist building up washes of colour, a gentle touch at first then another coat of paint and another until its filled in and changes from lime green to rich emerald.

Daffodils on a bank by the roadside

Daffodils and catkins on a roundabout

Part of the route to the Post Office is more like countryside than town and wide grass verges are speckled with blue, violet, white and yellow from the carpets of small low growing wild flowers including masses of celandines which are bright butter yellow with a wonderful sheen to their petals.

Speedwell, daisy and violet

Celandines

Where there are houses there are neat front gardens filled with Spring flowers, daffodils, crocus, hyacinths and heathers being most numerous

Part of a border of crocus in my own garden

On a lovely warm Spring day walking in the sun enjoying Nature's awakening its good to be alive and think how lucky I am to live in a peaceful prosperous Country not prone to natural disasters.

Miniature Succulent Plant Tutorial

2011-03-20T16:58:00.010Z

A tutorial in which I give away some of my 'trade secrets' and tell you how to make a miniature succulent plant to add to your dollhouse cacti and succulent plant collection or garden.

Don’t want to make your own?
Check my sales sites - I occasionally have them on offer.

Want to make your own?

N.B. - * denotes not essential or optional throughout instructions.

You will need -
Materials
Polymer clay in colour and make of choice (I use Fimo Classic and Soft)
Talcum powder or other preferred powder to prevent sticking
*Fimo Deko Gel or other translucent liquid clay
* Artists’ pastels

Tools

Working surface- I use a glazed tile
Flower cutter (for this I used a small daisy, other flowers and sizes produce different plants)
Cutting blade (scalpel, tissue blade etc.)
Ball ended tool or blunt pointed tool.
Paintbrush with fairly short stiff bristles
Pasta machine or clay rolling pin, bottle etc.

1) Mix colours and thoroughly knead clay to condition it

2) Roll clay out to desired thickness, if using a pasta machine this is very easy, for this plant I used setting number 5. (Different thicknesses produce different looking plants and may require different numbers of flower shapes).

3) Lay clay on tile and use flower cutter to make five flower shapes.

4) Using paintbrush dipped into your non-stick powder work round petal shapes to smooth them and lightly coat with powder, then brush top of petals (which will become leaves in the finished plant) avoiding the centre. This prevents the leaves of your plant from sticking together. *If you want shaded colour, i.e. red tips to leaves use artist pastel instead of the non-stick powder and only use the non-stick power on surfaces to remain base colour. To obtain a slight surface bloom or slightly furry look press more white powder on, for a clean shiny plant use less and clean off after curing. If using liquid clay add a very tiny touch to centre of each shape to help adhesion.

5) Using blade carefully slice all but one flower shape loose from tile. Stack four of the flower shapes, the first being the flower you didn’t release from the tile, placing them so each layer of petals falls between the gaps of the one beneath it.

6) Taking ball tool and holding upright placed in the centre press right down. The leaves will spring up into your plant shape. This is the magic moment.

7) * Add a small amount of liquid clay in centre hole

8) Cut off one or two petals from your remaining flower shape.

9) Gather up petals and pinch together at base.

10) Using a small ball tool or blunt pointed tool insert this into the centre of the plant and gently press in.

Your plant is made and ready to cure in the oven.

Using fingers gently shape plant if necessary.

Cure in oven according to clay manufacturer’s instructions.

Plant by gluing in pot, bowl or garden as required using clay or dried tea leaf soil etc.

Indoor gardening miniaturist style

2011-03-12T16:56:00.005Z

The weather is still not good enough to spend a lot of time in the garden but new signs of Spring appear each day with another plant coming into flower or more shoots appearing above the ground and buds greening shrubs.

This put me in the mood to make miniature plants and I have spent the week working on a collection of cacti and other succulent plants, sculpting from polymer clay and adding painted paper flowers. The bowl garden bowl is one inch diameter and the small pots just half an inch across the top.

A Packet in the Post Today

2011-03-07T20:05:00.005Z

Today's post bought me this beautiful pottery miniature vase inspired by the Arts and Craft movement and made by MostlyArt.

As is so often the case with miniatures the photo doesn't really do it justice. Seeing a miniature vastly enlarged robs it of the WOW factor of seeing something so tiny yet so perfect in the palm of your hand.

From MostlyArt's description of the item -

"I sculpted this vase from porcelain clay and glazed with an experimental combination I've been trying to perfect lately. The color is a dark matte green with hints of blue and nice texture. The design is repeating leaves in relief.

The vase stands 3/4" tall and 5/8" across the widest view. I made the yellow Roses from paper, thin wire, and a bit of watercolor. They are just loose in the vase and can be posed or removed depending on how you want to display your vase."

This talented potter works in full size and in miniature. Her greatest influence is the Arts and Crafts era.

She recently transferred her dollhouse miniatures to her Artfire studio as many miniature artisans are forming a community there now.

To see items currently offered for sale visit MostlyArt's studio by clicking here

'Symphony' Miniature Wedding Cake

2011-03-05T19:31:00.007Z

This week I have been busy 'playing with clay' as the weather has been miserable and chilly and not encouraging to go out. This wedding cake is one of the miniatures I have made, I named it Symphony as it is a blend of many elements that I feel work well together. The total height is less than two and half inches.

As with many of my cakes, especially the wedding cakes, it was inspired by a real life cake. The real cake was all in white with black grapes and I made a version of it, then went on to try it in different colour combinations.

I have listed it for sale but I was very tempted to put it straight into my own miniature bakery shop window.

Thank you Team MIDS

2011-02-28T19:11:00.002Z

Thank you for making my "Fall Wedding Cake" Mini of the Week on the team blog.

New Miniature Wedding Cakes

2011-02-27T12:34:00.005Z

I listed three new wedding cakes in my ArtFire shop today. Two brand new designs and one a repeat of a popular combination of peach, orange, yellow, red plus grapes. Cakes range between 2" and 2 5/8" in height.

Roses, Rain and New Horizons

2011-02-19T18:20:00.002Z

Its been horrible today, raining, chilly and miserable but at least it didn't snow like it did further North.

The weather kept me indoors and now my work table looks like mid-summer sunshine as I have been making dozens of roses for decorating miniature cakes in shades of red, orange and yellow. Making miniatures is the perfect antidote to winter blues.

I also worked on photographs and listings to add to my new ArtFire shop which is starting to fill up nicely.

Moving The President

2011-02-18T14:56:00.006Z

Last year in the middle of our Summer (June/July) I had to clear some garden for the Summerhouse to be erected. One of the plants affected was my clematis The President, one of my favourites and I didn't want to dispose of it, of course mid-summer is definitely not the 'right time' to move such a plant but with nothing to lose I cut it right down, dug it up and cleaned up the roots then planted it very deeply in a large tub.

The plant had never been strong, only managing one stem with a few flowers each year, I knew it didn't like the soil or position which was far from ideal for clematis.

Look at it now, it has survived and is sending up four strong looking new shoots. The dead stalk on the left is its original stem.

Its always worth giving things a try in the garden, often the results will surprise you.

Building Progress

2011-02-13T11:36:00.002Z

Bodgeit & Scarper (decorators) and Wibbly-Wobbly Builders have been working on the shop.

The back panels haven't been fixed in position yet to enable better access to work on the staircase and carpeting.

A name for the shop has been chosen "The Packet". Anything miniature can arrive in packets and its always exciting opening one to see what it contains and as the shop will stock almost anything it seemed appropriate.

Adding Ceiling Roses

2011-02-12T14:02:00.003Z

The latest stage of my new shop has been preparing the three ceilings, each will eventually have three lights and I cut out motifs from embossed wallpaper to make ceiling roses, each floor having a different one.

The motifs were glued in position where the lights will go, to ensure they were correctly placed I used a pin through the centre of the motif to drop it into place over the hole.

Several coats of white paint were applied and the ceiling/floor pieces are ready.

Wicker Furniture

2011-02-03T14:59:00.004Z

"Making 1/12th scale Wicker Furniture for the dolls' house"

by Sheila Smith

Publisher - Guild of Master Craftsman Publications

ISBN - 1-86108-284-3

I have owned this book for a while but have only recently purchased some of the wire used in the projects to have a go at making something.

There is an extensive range of furniture for every room of the dollhouse. They are all made using the same technique of weaving thread round wires. The only materials used are mount card, Twilley's Lysordet cotton, No. 22 cake wires (white paper wrapped), glue, masking tape to hold the wires in position while working and occasionally fabric or ribbon to trim. Tools are basic, scissors and wire cutters.

Unfortunately it seems that Lyscordet is now discontinued but other similar soft cotton thread could easily be used instead.

I chose to make the chair as my first project rather than begin with one of the more simple items.

This was the first time I attempted anything like this, you can see the result in the photos. I didn't have any 'failed efforts' along the way and now have a presentable chair to add to my Antiques shop when it is built. I made it over two days allowing plenty of time for glue to dry between stages.

I can recommend this book to add to the Miniaturist's bookshelf. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow guiding you through every step needed for each project without having to refer back to other projects. It made creating the chair a very enjoyable experience.

Preparing to wire and add lighting

2011-01-28T17:33:00.003Z

Although my new shop is a budget priced kit and I am only doing quite basic decoration and assembly as the prime aim is effectively a cupboard to store my collection of homeless miniatures in for me lighting is essential. Nothing makes a dollhouse building look more special than tiny lights in all the rooms.

I much prefer the round wire system to the copper wire system for lighting a dollhouse.

1) Its more like the way a real house is wired.

2) If carefully installed it enables easy access to remove and replace wiring/lighting that fails.

3) I find it easier and it probably costs less.

First stage is to decide where the lights are required and mark the position.

Then drill holes large enough to easily pass the wire through. I find using a mini drill mounted on a stand makes this a quick and simple task.

Next plan the route of the wires on each floor and decide where they will emerge at the back of the building and mark the lines with a marker pen.

My method is to form channels for the wire to run in, the wire is run along the channel and adhesive tape used to keep it in position, the floor covering will then lie flat on top. I usually stick my floor covering to card cut exactly to the floor plan, this enables it to be put in place without being glued permanently. This allows for a change of floor covering should the original be damaged in any way and it can also easily be lifted to allow access should a light need to be exchanged or wiring repaired. At times it may be desirable to have wiring on walls and the same method can be employed, this time sticking the wall paper to thin card and lightly glueing in place at the sides so it can be removed if necessary.

I worked outdoors despite it being very cold as I knew I would be making a great deal of dust. Using a mini-drill with flexible drive shaft and a grinding disk made quick work of making the channels. The flexible drive shaft makes control easier than having to hold the drill itself. I confess to not knowing the correct term for the disk I used and other attachments could be used, I work on the basis of "that looks like it will do what I want" I am anything but an expert so if I can tackle jobs like this anyone can.

When finished the remaining dust is brushed from the channels and the floor is ready for wiring.

The use of power tools made the whole task much quicker and easier, however hand tools can achieve the same result.

WARNING: When using power tools tie back hair to prevent it becoming caught in moving parts resulting in scalping and ALWAYS wear eye protection, safety glasses or goggles, even if you wear ordinary glasses use protective glasses over them. A tool may break and a piece fly into your eye - never risk this.

New Shop Progress

2011-01-27T20:31:00.004Z

I have made a start on the new shop kit.

First I had to find out whether the laminated surface would be a problem so a small test piece of paper was glued on and appeared to be stuck in place except it easily peeled off leaving no trace behind. Next step was to try sanding the shine off the surface and this worked, the paper remained well glued in place.

I decorated the inside of the side walls with paper and paint, at this point I noticed the outside is not printed with the brick pattern as in the photo but is plain white. No problem to me but thought I should mention this.

Next step (and next problem) was the internal doorways. I already commented that they are plastic and not a nice colour so the doors themselves were due to be removed. They also looked a bit small and when measured proved to only be 5 1/2" high, the archway in the top floor dividing wall was only 5" high. Overall the building does have low ceilings at only 7 1/2" but this is acceptable as old buildings do tend to have very low ceilings whereas such low doors were not, although I have been in old shops with "Mind Your Head" signs above the low doorways I wanted my building to be more safety conscious so no dolls end up with sore heads. For a moment I wondered if the kit is actually 1/16th although sold as 1/12th. Then I realised the doors would be too big then and the width and depth of the building are as is expected for a 1/12th scale building.

The solution was to cut out the entire door and frame and raise the height forming an archway. The type of shop I am planning has no need for internal doors.

After cutting out the doors and enlarging all the openings I used thin card to neaten up the edges, painted each one according to the colour scheme planned and added wallpaper.

I prefer to decorate before assembly as working inside small box shapes is difficult, the only drawback is a need to be careful not to damage the decoration while assembling.

Next step is to prepare for the lighting and decorate the ceilings.

Cat avis unite!

2011-01-22T15:04:00.005Z

I was invited to a fascinating Etsy team for people with cats in their avatars. Despite having no intention of joining any Etsy teams except my "Miniatures in Dollhouse Scales" (MIDS) team I was so intrigued by this fun idea I accepted the invitation and found myself amongst a lot of Etsy sellers who love kitties.

Check out their feline avatars and their shops -

http://www.etsy.com/teams/7389/cat-avis-unite

New Valentine or Wedding cake

2011-01-09T11:36:00.006Z

New cake and new listing in my Etsy shop. Height slightly less than
2 inches (48mm)

New Dolls House Shop Kit

2011-01-05T17:25:00.007Z

My new kit arrived today.

It is a shop kit supplied by Sue Ryder Care, a charity with shops throughout the UK and an online mail order business. They carry a range of different house/shop kits and dolls house furniture and accessories, renowned for being good value for money. I was very fortunate to purchase while the kit was on special offer at only 2/3 the usual price. I also purchased two shop counters as the price was so reasonable and the style suited to my plans and it didn't seem worth making them myself.

Pictures of the exterior and interior from the Sue Ryder Care online catalogue.

The kit was delivered by carrier (no additional charge) and came well packed and protected inside its box.

The contents were well wrapped individually so none were damaged.

The parts unpacked.

Initial Impressions:

The kit is heavy and of strong construction. The MDF parts are laminated on both sides with printed vinyl/plastic, the exterior walls being white and brick and the interior a pale wood effect. The roof is covered with a matt slightly embossed shingle tiled effect.

The finish would make the kit ideal for someone who wants a basic building to begin the hobby or a dolls house for a child as once assembled (screws provided) it would be finished. However for the serious hobbyist who wants to customise with a better looking finish I am concerned this might be a problem if the surface is difficult to apply paint to or glue paper on.

I intend to paper and paint and will be needing to do some trials on a part that will not show or matter too much and if necessary will have to rub it down with sandpaper - something I really want to avoid if possible.

The two interior doors are fitted in position and are plastic in a rather vile colour, these could of course be painted but as the nature of the shop premises I plan does not call for doors I will probably simply remove them.

No glazing material was supplied, once again this is a minor thing as suitable sheets are sold in the local model shop.

I will, of course, drill holes and make channels to add lighting.

PLANS FOR THE SHOP

I intend it to be an antique and second-hand shop which will enable me to use it to store and display a wide variety of miniatures which I buy and make of any period, colour, style etc. Should I have a house or room box that requires any items in the future then the dolls can go to the shop and buy what they want for their home.

2011

2011-01-01T11:35:00.004Z

So that's it then, another new year, I'm hoping its not going to be as bad as last year was.

The weather was calm, dry and not too cold last night and there was a good display of fireworks and a steady stream of miniature lantern hot air balloons going across the sky for almost an hour.

I don't 'do' the resolution thing, its great fun to watch others and see just how long they manage to last though :). Even to have little bets with myself, a day, a week, a whole month?

Hopefully my life will settle down and I can get back to spending some serious time on craft work especially making miniatures both for sale and for myself. I might even go and reaquaint myself with some polymer clay this weekend if I can remember what to do with it after so long, my stock has probably dried out and will be difficult to work with by now knowing my luck. During the week my magnifying light gave up and the tubes are out of stock at the company that supplies them at the moment, not a good sign.

Before Christmas I posted an order for a new dollhouse shop kit. In the tradition of miniaturists everywhere it doesn't matter that I already have five houses/shops in various stages, none finished of course. Nothing quite like getting a brand new one to dream over and I think its just the thing I need at the moment, a friend suggested it to me and she should know as she has many more unfinished houses than I have.

Assuming the kit is in stock I will post more about it when it arrives.

Happy Hogmanay - Happy New Year

2010-12-31T16:03:00.005Z

Hogmanay is Scottish for New Year's eve, a time to reflect on the old year passing and look forward to the New Year.

As always I will drink a toast of malt whisky to my friends at midnight from my traditional Highland Quaich (pictured).

This year has been one of my worst and definitely the saddest of my life, tonight I will remember the loved ones I have lost and be thankful for the friends who have supported me.

To all my friends around the World I wish you health, wealth and happiness throughout 2011.

Here's to all those that I love
Here's to all those that love me.
And here's to all those that love those that I love,
And all those that love those that love me.

Spring is on its way

2010-12-30T16:44:00.002Z

Yes really, it must be despite the horrible weather.

While shopping today I was astonished to see the chocolate Easter eggs and bunnies out on display in Tesco Store. Other customers were exchanging comments and smiles so I wasn't the only one who had to look twice to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

A more realistic and hopeful sign is that snowdrops, crocus and daffodils are starting to poke through the soil in my garden.

1/12th scale Paper Daffodils tutorial

2010-12-21T17:01:00.004Z

This is a basic way to make paper daffodils for your dolls house without purchasing expensive specialist paper punches or paper.

You could cut the shapes with scissors but for speed and simplicity I used two basic paper punches which are inexpensive and widely available from general craft supply stores. One cuts a circle 16mm (5/8 inch) diameter (1) and the other a daisy flower (2) the same size.

I used normal typing paper, paper wrapped wire, tacky glue and green acrylic paint plus a small piece of light beige tissue type paper.

(3) Cut the circle as shown, discard the bottom section leaving two shapes which will form daffodil trumpets. One edge is longer than the other.

(4) Cut off the individual petals, you will only need 6 for each daffodil

(5) Place a spot of tacky glue on the longer edge of the trumpet piece and form a cone shape, I use a knitting needle to help form this shape.

(6) Make a tight little loop at one end of your wire stem, put a spot of glue on the looped end and pull the wire into the cone so the loop and glue is inside the base of the trumpet shape.

(7) Pinch the bottom end tightly together.

(8) With a very small amount of glue on the base of each petal arrange 3 equally spaced round the base of the cone.

(9) Add 3 more petals between and over the first 3. Pinching the base together before the glue dries to make a point around the wire stem.

(10) Bend the stem over at a right angle at the base of the trumpet and petals. For the sheath behind the flower I use the paper from a used and dried out tea bag. alternatively you can colour a piece of white tissue paper with cold tea, coffee or very dilute brown paint. Cut a petal shape, glue the base and wrap around the stalk as shown. Gently turn the petals back into a realistic flower shape.

(11) Paint the stem with green acrylic paint covering the surplus of the sheath.

Add leaf shapes cut from green paper or painted paper. Make daffodils in other natural colours, arrange in a flower vase or 'plant' in a flower pot or bowl.

For soil in plant pots I use old dry tea leaves mixed with a little water and PVA glue. Pack into your pot then insert the flower stems and leave to dry.

Quilled figure

2010-12-17T11:33:00.005Z

Quilling is an old decorative craft practised for hundreds of years. When it was re-introduced as a modern-day craft I discovered it and enjoyed making the basic coiled and scrolled shapes to create greeting cards and tags.

I haven't really done very much since then and over the years it has grown into a very modern craft with extra techniques of manipulating the paper strips to make little figures and models.

As a craft it is very enjoyable and costs very little, the only tools and materials that are needed are quilling tool to hold the paper as its rolled, scissors, tweezers, tacky glue and coloured paper strips that are sold in a range of sizes from 2mm - 10mm and many colours. You can even manage without the quilling tool and tweezers as its possible to roll and manipulate the paper just using fingers. Craft stores sell a range of other aids for coiling, shaping etc. but these are really not necessary especially not when starting.

There is a fringing machine available to fringe one edge of a strip of paper. I recently purchased one and it didn't work very well, it may have been faulty but I thought even a better one might not last long enough to make the cost worthwhile (they are expensive) especially as its just as easy and faster to use a small pair of sharp scissors. Fortunately the store agreed the machine was faulty or at least didn't work well and refunded the cost.

Instructions, designs and videos of techniques can be found on-line, there are a number of excellent books available to learn from or you can purchase kits for specific projects which contain instructions and materials needed.

Once you learn the basic shape making techniques its quite easy to build your own designs. It would even be possible to create a dollhouse full of quilled furniture and inhabitants, while this would not strictly be scale miniatures they could be made to the correct sizes and be a fun project to work on.

Yesterday I practised the techniques of forming coils to create figures and made my first little girl wearing a fancy hat decorated with roses made from the same paper strip. Strips used were 3mm and 10mm wide and for the roses I cut a 10mm strip in half to make 5mm strips.

She is approximately 3 1/2" (9 cm) tall.

Close up detail of the hat.

Teddy Bear decorations

2010-12-15T19:15:00.003Z

I took a few photos of the Teddy themed decorations at the shopping centre I usually go to today.

Frosted Birch Leaves

2010-12-07T14:31:00.003Z

Today I noticed the sun shining through these beautiful birch leaves that are edged with frost and wanted to share them.

Winter Jewels

2010-12-06T12:20:00.008Z

I don't like winter, I don't like the short daylight hours or being cold but there are some compensations. Last night it was slightly foggy and freezing so I knew if it cleared and was sunny this morning there would be frosty gems sparkling on the leaves and dead stems and flowers.

The faded hydrangea flowers were transformed to be almost as beautiful as they were during late summer proving that a garden is something to enjoy throughout the year whatever the weather.

Is Ignorance Bliss?

2010-12-03T11:25:00.006Z

"Nightfall Over Loch Leven"

Four weeks of spending much less time on line especially in the Etsy forum. Not been following all the multitude of changes and the long and many threads discussing them all gives me the feeling I don't know what is going on there now but I really don't care either. I did notice the circles idea but really don't know (or bother) much of what it is all about. Should I ever decide to list some items for sale on Etsy again I think I am going to have to learn what does what like a brand new seller.

I have made some progress with my 'real life' re-organisation and with our weather turning unusually cold and snowy for the time of year have been spending more time in the house sorting out my craft materials and tools and adding to them.

Now I cannot work in the garden I felt a need to do something else creative and got my easel out and dusted it off and turned to painting. It is many years since I painted anything other than a miniature and using large brushes and sweeping strokes with lots of paint was more enjoyable than I remembered. Working constantly on tiny scale miniature items requiring concentration and up-close work, often with a magnifying lens, is not relaxing in the same way full size crafts are.

To combat the winter I chose to do a warm rich sunset.

The size is 24" x 18".

Looking forward to Spring already

2010-11-17T17:51:00.002Z

The weather has turned very cold this week. Wish I could hibernate for a couple of months now and miss Christmas and the cold weather and wake up in Spring. I have planted over 300 bulbs during the last few weeks, I bought a few extra tulips today and planted them - that makes 150 tulips in various varieties.

Planting bulbs is a great way to beat the winter blues, there is still time to plant tulips although its getting too late for other types now. You might even find them reduced in price to clear in some garden centres.

We will remember them

2010-11-11T14:09:00.004Z

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them".

- Laurence Binyon "The Fallen" 1914

Postcard sent during The Great War from somewhere in France by my Grandfather to his Mother (my Great-Grandmother). My Grandfather was a Cavalry Officer, having joined the Army before the outbreak of war, he survived and served during WWII as a Homeguard officer (Dad's Army) and an Administrator during and after the war.

He was one of the fortunate ones.

On this day we remember all those who have given everything for our freedom and those who are still fighting tyranny so we may live in peace.

WOOLY BUMBLEBEE

2010-11-01T14:22:00.005Z

This little bumblebee can hang anywhere as a mascot or use him to decorate the Christmas tree. Make in any size you want by using different sized cardboard circles.

You will need:-

Wool (can be synthetic yarn) in yellow and black.
Strong thread such as button thread.
Scrap of net fabric or lace.
Pair of eyes, could be google eyes, beads or made from felt circles.
Two identical circles cut from scrap cardboard with holes in the middle as shown.
Tacky glue.
Needle with large eye, preferably not sharp, i.e. tapestry or darning needle.
Scissors.

1) Place the cardboard circles together and wrap a small quantity of black round each side. This will form the nose and tail.
2) Wrap with yellow each side of the black and over it.
3) Wrap yellow on each side between the sections with black and yellow
4) Fill in with black.

With practice a neater stripe effect will be obtained by using two needles and both colours working round and round in this pattern evenly until the centre hole is filled.

Carefully snip at edge until the card is reached then cut right through all loops separating the card discs.
Make a hanging loop in the strong thread then use the two tails to tie VERY tightly round the wool between the two card discs. Ensure the loop is at the top of your bee.
Remove the card, easiest way is to cut and tear it rather than trying to pull it off to use again.

At this point you will have a very untidy ball, set to work to groom it and snip back until you have a neat tight ball of wool - take care to avoid cutting your hanging loop (its easily done).
Cut some wing shapes from your net or lace and part the wool where you want them, add a little tacky glue and push the wings into place.
Glue the eyes into place.
Add feelers if wished. These can be made by stiffening some of the black wool with fabric stiffener, glue or varnish (including nail polish).

The finished bee

Oddments of wool can be used to make a range of pompom pets by winding the colours carefully and joining several pompoms, adding felt feet, wings, tails etc.

I hope this gives you ideas.

I have no objections to you copying these - including for sale.

Pair of Mallard Ducks

Speckled Owl

Fungi Fun

2010-10-21T12:19:00.007+01:00

I admit I find the shapes and patterns within the myriad of species of fungi fascinating and a great inspiration for arts and crafts.

The humble toadstool is, itself, capable of producing a pattern print.

Take a toadstool and remove the stalk, place it gills down on a piece of card and put a glass over the top. Leave for several hours or overnight. Remove the bowl, carefully lift the fungus cap and there you have a beautiful spore print. You can make more than one from the same toadstool as it will release spores for quite a long time. .

Try overlapping the images making one more intense and one fainter, shorter time will produce different results than longer times.

Different species have different colours of spores, if in doubt do a short test using dark and white card pieces joined together with the cap half over each. If the spores are light choose a dark card, if dark choose a light colour. Card is better than paper as the moisture seeps in while the print is being made.

Dry your print and you can seal it permanently with the fixative spray artists use for charcoal and pastel work if you want to keep it.

You can of course use the print as the starting point for other works, use the pattern as the inspiration for embroidery for example. Or photograph it and manipulate the result in Photoshop to produce abstract images.

Have fun with fungi..

The toadstool used to make the spore print shown above.

Etsy Tin Foil Hat challenge entries

2010-08-29T15:40:00.000+01:00

http://www.flickr.com/groups/tinfoil/

View all the creations here.

Tin foil hat challenge

2010-08-29T13:17:00.007+01:00

More crazy crafting fun, suggested in an Etsy forum thread to make a hat from aluminium foil. As my craft work is mostly small scale and doll based I made this hat which is being modelled by one of my Tonner Wizard of Oz witch dolls, her slightly green skin and silvery hair seemed to suit the style of the hat.

This made a welcome (short) break from the real life tasks that fill my time recently. Thanks for suggesting it Eclipse.

Is it a bird - Is it a plane ?

2010-08-22T12:31:00.003+01:00

Art and craft can be FUN. While tidying I came across this creation that I made years ago after I visited an art exhibition. The artist created strange creatures and scenes, part animal and part machine, using quite basic materials. I loved the work so much when I got home I wanted to play around and make my own animal-machine.

Is it a bird - Is it a plane? is created from polystyrene egg shapes plus polystyrene sheet, card, paper, a plastic model propeller, google eyes and metallic effect paint with pink holographic paper shapes stuck on.

Don't be serious - let your hair down and do something crazy occasionally.

Decorative 'plaster' work for dollhouses

2010-08-19T16:48:00.010+01:00

While in the D.I.Y. store today I was reminded of a recent MIDS forum conversation about ways to add decorative plasterwork finishes to ceilings etc. in dollhouses.

One very easy way which costs nothing is to use cut out shapes from embossed wallpaper. You can pick up sample pieces which are large enough to provide enough motifs for a dollhouse at most D.I.Y. stores (you can always get another sample next visit if you need more). I collected the two samples shown today.

Simply cut out the motif you want and glue it to the ceiling then paint over it.

In England there is a traditional method of decorating the outside of houses in Suffolk and North Essex called pargeting and I added motifs in this style to the front of one of my dollhouse shops using embossed wallpaper cut-outs.

You can also paint these motifs and use them on greeting cards.

CLARICE CLIFF Sugar shaker/sifter

2010-08-15T15:05:00.012+01:00

Size: Height 5 1/2" (140mm). Base diameter 2 7/8" (73mm)

A challenge to the painter of miniatures. The crocus design is repeated on both sides with very slight differences as is to be expected with hand-painted pieces.

During my childhood visits to my grandparents I slept in the front room and this sugar shaker was on the mantelpiece as an ornament.

I loved it and would examine it and admire it whenever I stayed there, the sleek shape and the brightly coloured stylised crocus flowers appealed to me, but I had no idea what it was, in fact I thought it was one half of a pair of salt and pepper pots.

When my grandmother died and her house was cleared I carefully wrapped it in newspaper and put it in a box that was being taken to my parents' house. That was the last I saw of it for 24 years.

My Mother couldn't find it and it became a mystery where it had gone.

During this time I discovered that it was a Clarice Cliff "Bizarre Ware" sugar shaker/sifter of the "Autumn Crocus" design first produced in 1928.

I had read the biography of Clarice Cliff and learned about her work and her Art Deco designs and become an admirer and realised what my missing treasure was - these pieces can fetch hundreds of pounds in perfect condition (which this one is) so it was indeed a small treasure that was lost.

Clarice Cliff has become so popular reproductions are now made but of course I knew mine was an original by the years it had stood at my grandparents' house.

My old bedroom had been left as a storage room, some of my own things were still there including craft items not in use that I hadn't really got space for when I moved to my present house which I took there to store "temporarily" and other oddments had been put in there out of the way by my parents. Last week I finally got round to emptying it and behind the box with my enamelling kiln in was another old tatty cardboard box full of oddments in old yellowed newspaper and there at the bottom was my sugar shaker, it was grubby but washed up well revealing its beautifully hand-painted design in all its brilliance.

Of course I'm not going to sell it, I treasure this link with a woman who was a truly innovative and successful artist and the days of Art Deco which still look startlingly 'modern'. It also brings back childhood memories of staying in the cottage in a sandy lane with woodland in front, waking to the dawn chorus and seeing the bright crocuses on the shelf.

Maybe one day I will have an Art Deco dollhouse or room-box and attempt to paint a tiny crocus sugar shaker just less than 1/2" high to go in it

Old Oil Lamp

2010-08-06T13:01:00.007+01:00

While cleaning this old oil lamp that has been in the family for many years and several generations I thought what a great miniature it would make. These photos and measurements are provided for anyone wishing to create a scale miniature. Findings and beads, polymer clay, wood/plastic turning or any combination may be used to create a likeness to add to a Victorian or Edwardian dollhouse scene. Working from book photos usually has a drawback in not providing the necessary detailed shots or measurements.

Selling Again ?

2010-08-04T13:35:00.005+01:00

It seems hard to believe its two months now since I had anything listed for sale in my Etsy shop.

No sign in the foreseeable future of me adding any listings either.

There has been no time for any art or craft work, in fact I'm not sure I can even find half my things now. Sorting, moving "stuff" and tidying have become a daily way of life for me, I have spent a small fortune on clear plastic storage boxes to re-pack everything neatly into, I'm sure I could open a wool shop in my summerhouse, I thought I would never get it all rounded up, sorted and bagged up. Now I am going through books and model railway rolling stock - much more fun than big bags of wool.

Model railways were my early love, I've always wanted a proper layout and yet have never had the space for such a permanent large structure. Boxes of buildings, vehicles, animals, people and scenery (trees etc.) have been gathered over the years with the aim one day of having a miniature village with steam trains running past. Now I find myself with not just the one train I have owned for years but a large box full of locos and rolling stock plus track and controller that I have acquired and my thoughts are returning to my ambition I had thought was dead and seriously considering having an extension built on the side of my house to accommodate a large layout.

Unfortunately it will never be anything like Pendon.

If you get a chance its a wonderful place to visit even if you don't care for trains the buildings are incredible and despite being small they will give much inspiration for ways to improve the realism of dollhouses. They also publish a range of useful books on building modelling techniques.

Dollhouses actually replaced my model village idea.

Although a collection of a few dollhouses are individually much bigger than oo gauge buildings they take up less space and are more portable than an entire village layout even in a small scale. Like a railway layout they offer the interest of being able to make small individual items which are eventually combined into something much bigger overall.

My garden is also keeping me very busy as I prepare it for a major make-over in the autumn and spring. The alstroemerias I had to move to clear the space for the summerhouse have settled into large pots and are making good growth, three plants have been given away to friends and it seems I will have more extras to share. I also purchased five new varieties by mail order and these are growing well in tubs ready to plant out next year.

I have realised that dollhouse miniatures were taking over my life and now I am spending time on other things I'm really enjoying myself, I know I will never give up dollhouse miniatures completely but like any addiction you can become far too preoccupied without even realising its happening until your life is taken over and instead of being a real pleasure its something you just "do" every day.

Its a good thing to take a total break, feels strange at first but after a few weeks you re-adjust and get used to living a more varied and interesting life.

There's no doubt I would have struggled on keeping my shop on Etsy running and tried to fit in sorting and gardening as well and would probably have become depressed and miserable when the shop became a chore. However when somebody maliciously "purchased" every item in my shop without paying (of course) and immediately left a string of negative feedbacks it created a convenient stopping point. Admin restored everything within a few hours and I opted to not have them relist everything for me but to leave the shop empty and the refunded listing fees as a credit balance for me to use should I find time in future to begin selling again.

I'm sorry to those who collect my miniatures and those who have asked for specific items to be made for them but I can't see any listings being made until winter sets in and I can't enjoy my garden and summerhouse without being soaking wet and freezing cold.

I might even have to make and list some crocheted items to make a dent in that wool mountain.

Paula the Octopus

2010-07-20T17:02:00.010+01:00

Make your own woolly Octopus mascot or toy.

While sorting a very large quantity of yarn my thoughts began to wander off to a desire to make something instead of sitting sorting and with the media fuss about Paul the psychic octopus who predicted the World Cup football results Paula the Octopus was the result.

Here are the basic instructions for you to make similar mascot toys in any yarn and size you wish.

Decide the size you want to make and cut some stiff card to the total length, make two slits, one for the topknot and one for the neck.

Calculate the number of wraps you need to make as follows.

You will need multiples of 24 strands which equals 12 complete wraps of the card.

Gauge the thickness of the leg by holding strands of your chosen yarn together, 12 complete card wraps will give 3 strands per leg as each of the eight legs is formed from a three strand plait you need to decide how many strands will give the correct thickness (3, 6, 9, 12 etc.) then multiply this number for each strand of the plait by 12 to get the total number of wraps needed. Example if you decide your leg needs to be 9 strands thick in total that gives 3 x 12 = 36 complete wraps. Don't worry if you slightly miscalculate as one or two strands less or extra can be taken into account when plaiting.

1) Wind the yarn right round the card beginning at the bottom until you have completed the calculated number then cut off the yarn at the bottom. Tightly tie round the topknot and neck through the slit in the card. You can use the same yarn if it is strong or another strong thread which will not break, tuck the tied ends in using a large-eyed needle or crochet hook.

2) Cut through all the loops at the bottom.

3) Slide carefully off the card.

4) Sort the strands into eight equal bunches and tie to keep them together.

5) Divide each of the eight bunches into three equal sections and then plait each leg and tie the ends.

6) Trim the ends of each leg.

Finish your octopus as you wish. You can cut through the loops of the top knot and give it a neat trim. For a female tie a pretty bow round the topknot.

Add features. I used google eyes tied with yarn through the head. You could cut out felt eyes and glue them on or tie beads in place. I also added a stitch to form a mouth.

You could add a lace collar and other decorations.

When I had finished my mascot Paula (nine inches long) I made some tiny ones with fine thread to add to my dollhouse toy collection. You could omit the topknot tie and instead tie the loops together tightly at the top of the head to form a simple round head-body.

Summerhouse

2010-07-14T12:04:00.002+01:00

It isn't raining today so as requested here is a photo of my summerhouse, I don't think it does it justice but you can get an idea.

All done!

2010-07-13T18:25:00.003+01:00

My summerhouse was built by five men yesterday, it looked like ants assembling something or a film speeded up as boards were joined to boards (log cabin style) and it grew. The base took four days (different supplier) and I was apprehensive about it taking days to erect the building.

Two returned today to add a couple of finishing touches.

I'm thrilled with it, much better than the one on display as because of its larger size it has double windows. Reminds me of a dollhouse but one I can walk into.

Not only does it provide me with a lot of extra much needed space it also makes my garden more private, screening it from the street, and provides an attractive backdrop to my plants.

Now I have to re-lay the existing path and extend it, then do a lot of planting so the garden doesn't let the summerhouse down.

One day I might have time to relax and enjoy it.

Gooseberry Crumble

2010-07-08T11:11:00.006+01:00

It isn't only polymer clay miniature food I make. I enjoy making (and eating) real food as well, especially cakes and desserts.

Once a year I get a treat from my solitary gooseberry bush planted in my flower border.

Gooseberry crumble, an old traditional 'pudding' that isn't much to look at but if you like gooseberries it is delicious.

'Top and tail' the gooseberries, wash them and then stew with a tiny amount of water and sugar to taste, different varieties vary in their sweetness.

Place them in an ovenproof pie dish and spread crumble mixture on top.

Crumble mixture is butter and or margarine and flour rubbed in to fine crumb then sugar stirred in. There are various recipes giving different quantities and if you Google "gooseberry crumble" you will find a range of recipes to choose from according to your preference and quantity of fruit.

Bake in a moderate oven for approximately 40 minutes until golden brown on top.

Serve hot or cold with cream, custard or icecream.

Don't lose out on Phalaenopsis orchid flowers

2010-07-05T10:42:00.007+01:00

When you buy a Phalaenopsis (moth orchid) and its long lasting flowers eventually die don't cut the old 'dead' flower stem right back, you could be cutting off future flowers.

Often if you cut the stem back to the 'shield' or joint directly beneath the flowering part of the stem as the last flower is fading (before it is totally dead and falls off) it will eventually throw out a new flower spike from that point.

Cut back as shown in the photo, which shows an old stem with the new stem growing out of it, and continue to care for your plant, I add a drop of ordinary plant food to luke warm water at about 1/4 the usual strength each time I water and only water when the compost is dry.

I purchased the plant shown nine months ago and it now has three new stems with many buds beginning to open, one stem is an entirely new one and the other two are growing from the old stems. This flower is the first to open - the first of my 'bonus' flowers.

Butterfly Greeting Card

2010-07-03T19:41:00.009+01:00

With its different textures and shapes this is a very tactile card which besides looking pretty is also suitable for someone with impaired vision.

If you want to make one similar you will need -

Aperture greeting card
Butterfly sticker
Fancy coloured paper
Thin card (e.g. plain postcard)
Sheer fabric (chiffon, net etc.)
Flowers (paper cut outs, silk, quilled (as I used) etc.)
Tacky glue (thick PVA craft glue)

Optional -

Velvet paper
Sticky fixers

Glue your coloured fancy paper to thin card then apply your choice of butterfly sticker. Place under a weight to keep flat until the glue has totally dried.

Carefully cut round the outline of the butterfly using fine scissors or a craft knife.

For added colour and texture you may like to cut out the body shapes from velvet paper and glue those into position.

Take your aperture card and with it closed mark round the aperture with pencil then cut out the shape so you now have an aperture card with a hole right through.

Carefully glue sheer fabric sandwiching it between the two layers and gluing them together.

Glue your butterfly body in position leaving the wings unstuck so they raise slightly above the card and add the flowers of choice.

Add a suitable greeting inside the card in a position so it can be viewed through the aperture. I used a gold "Happy Birthday" sticker which gives slightly raised lettering.

You can use 'sticky fixers' (small squares of foam with self-adhesive on both sides) to raise the butterfly wings slightly.

Miniature flowers and plants

2010-06-17T11:01:00.002+01:00

A new wonderful slide show of work by Etsy Team

Miniatures In Dollhouse Scales

http://teammids.blogspot.com/

A busy week in the garden

2010-06-13T13:31:00.007+01:00

When I ordered my summerhouse it seemed it would be ages to wait, now in only one month it could be here and built, the base might be laid in a week, weather permitting. Of course the area has to be totally cleared.

I've been very busy moving plants, not the best time of year but so far everything seems to have survived. I only have the beautiful big clump of yellow Alstroemeria shown above to move now. Its in flower and three feet tall so I'm not happy about moving it. The clump is on the edge of where the base slab will go so I am going to move some and leave some and hope for the best. I'm delaying the move so I can enjoy those flowers for as long as possible.

Alstroemeria has a reputation for disliking disturbance or dividing for propagation but I have never had this problem, moving pieces in spring or autumn has always been successful - but I've never tried in mid-summer before. I have several varieties and it is one of my favourite flowers.

I'm far too busy when it isn't raining to have any interest in making miniatures and trecking to the Post Office can be a nuisance (no pick ups in the UK) so when serendipity played its part a week ago and I found I had a choice of all my listing fees returned and I could re-list at my leisure or everything returned to my shop I opted to leave the shop empty for a while and add stock when I have more time and interest in dealing with it. Not checking my shop regularly or packing and posting this week has really enabled me to get the summerhouse site cleared, not much more to do now. If the weather is too bad to garden I might add a few listings from time to time, especially seasonal ones.

Etsy Feed-Back Appreciation Photos

2010-06-05T13:50:00.006+01:00

La Reine Victoria Rose

As a seller it can be difficult to leave feed back for a customer who has purchased, paid immediately and let you know the item has arrived safely and they are happy. There isn't a lot you can say to make feed-back more interesting so I include an appreciation photo in the form of a "Thank You" card made with photos I take in my garden.

I try to use these according to season.

My new photo taken today is this beautiful scented old fashioned rose "La Reine Victoria" that was bred in the 19th century.

Typical photos for June and July

Etsy Team MIDS Alien Competition

2010-06-03T23:10:00.002+01:00

You can vote for your favourite

http://teammidscompetitions.blogspot.com/

Irresistibly CUTE

2010-05-27T13:25:00.005+01:00

This is the newest creation by talented miniature soft toy maker Gayle of Bassombears.

Bassombears are getting a reputation for coming up with new ideas and designs and its exciting to watch to see what will appear next in the Etsy shop - http://www.etsy.com/shop/bassombear

I am thrilled to be the owner of the first baby seal Gayle has made. Her miniature creations are better in real life than any photograph can show them, the workmanship is superb.

Bassombear’s animals are often imitated but I’m sure the quality cannot be the same as the originals.

This little seal is not quite 2 ½” from tip of tail to nose. (62mm)

An easy way to make a tree

2010-05-17T17:03:00.007+01:00

The usual technique for making miniature trees involves making a wire armature as a starting point but my way is a short-cut which avoids this stage.

Select a suitably shaped twiggy piece of plant, this might be from a tree or shrub or even a dried flower stem. Leave to dry completely. This is very important, don't be impatient to make your tree and risk mould forming.

When dried cover completely with artist's acrylic texture paste or a similar substance, polyfiller for example. Apply using brush, knife, fingers or any other method you prefer. Don't make it too smooth, roughness suggests the bark. This covering will strengthen, stiffen and protect the original twig from rotting or insect damage.

Build up the covering until it is as thick as you want your trunk and branches to be and leave to completely dry out, then paint as desired.

For a large tree with a thick trunk it is possible to join several suitably shaped twigs together and glue extra branches and twigs in where needed, concealing glued joints with more texture paste.

The tree shown is intended for a fantasy winter scene and was painted white then sprinkled with silver glitter. It is 12 inches (300 mm) high. It was made several years ago and shows no signs of deterioration.

For a leafy tree paint brown and add foliage - paper cut-out leaves, lichen etc. of choice in the same way as a wire armature tree would be finished.

If you look out for suitable twiggy pieces and keep them safely drying out until needed you will have a supply of material ready to make trees for your miniature landscaping.

American Miniaturist Magazine

2010-05-15T12:46:00.005+01:00

Some of my wedding cakes were featured in a wedding article in the current issue of "American Miniaturist" magazine. A whole page of their own.

Etsy Shop re-opening

2010-05-13T20:54:00.004+01:00

The problem of "stuff" is no less than it was. Sorting has become a daily task now with only an occasional day off to save what is left of my sanity.

I have become disenchanted with using the Freegle/Freecycle sites after spending several afternoons and evenings hanging around waiting for people who enthusiastically claimed items and made arrangements to collect them - never to be heard of again. Not even an email with an excuse or apology.

It is wasteful I know but it seems a whole lot quicker and easier to simply throw things away even though I know everyone isn't the same its those who are that spoil it.

Now that I am settling into some sort of life-style pattern I have decided to re-open my Etsy shop although whether I will make anything new to list for some time is another thing. It seemed silly to have items sitting here in a box, most of which had already had listing fees paid on them now that I can go out to the Post Office once or twice a week without it being a real hassle.

The need for more space reached crisis point. I could, of course, move to a larger house but I happen to really love my house and the area it is in and at the moment have super neighbours.

So I have hopefully found an answer to the dilema in the shape of a garden shed -booked to be built in July - I can't wait!

It will be similar to this one but larger.

Busy Spring cleaning

2010-04-22T10:47:00.006+01:00

Not so much cleaning but a major upheaval !

As if I didn't have enough to keep me away from miniatures already now the weather is improving and the garden is making considerable demands on my time, especially as I have decided on major changes.

When the weather isn't fine I am sorting out the house contents.

No time at all for miniatures or even Etsy for a few weeks so my shop is on vacation even though I am not - unless its a working holiday!

Do you use one of the recycling sites to dispose of unwanted items that are too good to throw away?

I use Freegle but there is also Freecycle and probably other similar schemes. Its a great way to find people who want and can use what is merely cluttering up your house and taking up space that could be better used.

In the past couple of weeks I have disposed of a large box of wildlife magazines, a box of paperback novels, 8 boxes of A4 paper and a propagator and bag of flower pots.

If you are like me and can't bear to throw things away even though you haven't used them and have been hoarding them for years give one of these schemes a try. It reduces the pain of parting with that "might come in useful one day" item when you see someone driving off happily to (hopefully) really find it useful.

Miniature Neglect

2010-04-14T21:15:00.003+01:00

Due to the events of my "real everyday life" over the past few months I've had virtually no time for miniature making and very little interest in my Etsy shop which I put on vacation for a while and wasn't even sure whether to re-open it or not but the items are made, listed and the fees paid. My friends and team mates know all about this so I will not go into details here.

Suffice it to say my love of the miniature world is as strong as ever, I love my Etsy team and am keeping the shop ticking over and relaxing when I need to get away from it all in the Etsy forum which at times is more entertaining than any tv could be.

I am expecting to be featured in another magazine soon (watch this space) and it seems a terrible shame not to capitalise on it but the fact is that as far as I can see I am going to be pretty tied up until the Autumn at least.

Even when I do get life sorted out and find more free time and enthusiasm for craft work I am intending to spend that time on my own projects and very little time on making items to sell.

This is something I have been threatening for several years but always get sucked in by pleas from collectors and the undeniable fun of sharing my creations in return for funds to buy more materials. I have a very good friend who I know will keep me on track by reminding me of my goals should I stray back to ignoring my own projects and maybe this blog will help me to stay focused.

I'm looking forward to blogging about my projects, four houses/shops in various stages of completion plus one still a kit in a box. A greenhouse partially filled with plants and a fancy conservatory kit in box together with many smaller projects like a working barrel organ I purchased all the parts and materials for years ago, put them in a box mentally marked it "future project" and never got further.

I must confess to being very excited to be making this turn towards indulging myself - total pampering miniaturist style.

Quick crisps

2010-03-14T20:00:00.003Z

The seeds from sweet peppers can be collected and dried and make great crisps to put in bowls in the dollhouse for 'nibbles'.

Pineapples

2010-03-08T16:20:00.006Z

Although I don't accept commission work I do sometimes work on ideas suggested to me. These ideas often set off new projects.

One such idea recently was from someone who said they needed a miniature reproduction of the plastic pineapple ice-cube container so popular in the 60's - 70's for a special roombox project.

Previously a collector had suggested a pineapple cookie jar.

With the help of Google images I found reference photos of the real ice-bucket with its white plastic liner and set to work to create one that turned out to be approximately 1 1/4" high. I made a cookie jar version that is a little smaller at the same time.

A Team In The Pink

2010-02-27T13:06:00.003Z

I managed to remember to grab a treasury this morning to celebrate some work by my very talented Etsy Team - Miniatures In Dollhouse Scales.

Packing for long journeys

2010-02-19T11:24:00.010Z

I am often asked how such tiny miniatures with fine details such as sculpted roses with fine petals survive in perfect condition to destinations all around the World. Despite sending well over 1,000 packets over the years nothing has been reported as damaged, partly this is because the miniatures are actually stronger than they look but mainly it is the extreme care in packing them and a little ingenuity in providing protection.

My standard packaging is 35mm film canisters. Most things are small enough to be wrapped in a little bubblewrap and then placed in a canister which is then put in a bubble-mailer. Making friends with the staff of a photo processing shop ensures a steady supply of these - as long as digital photography doesn't replace film entirely.

However some things do not fit into a film canister and improvisation is called for.

I have found that very strong heavyweight card postal tubes cut into suitable sized sections or cores from packing tape etc. make good containers. I cut thinner card circles and glue one on what becomes the base, wrap the miniature(s) in bubblewrap and then add a lid circle using adhesive tape to hold it in place, I mark it to indicate to open this end.

N.B. I use my scroll saw to cut the long thick card tubes into sections.

My new iron weight holding a shallow card core from adhesive tape securely while tacky glue dries and the finished container about to have the lid secured.

The finished and sealed 'box' is wrapped in bubblewrap for extra protection and to help prevent it from splitting through the bubble-mailer. When I send several items in film canisters in a bubble-mailer I will use bubblewrap to keep them together and help prevent damage.

When I have a quantity of miniatures to send these are all carefully wrapped individually in bubblewrap and packed into a strong box.

While these methods of packing may not be pretty they are very practical and I hope it may provide some ideas on how to solve the problem of sending a dainty little miniature to the other side of the World and have it arrive just as it was when it left you.

Natural Scavengers

2010-02-14T15:48:00.004Z

scav·enge
play_w2("S0129200")
(skvnj)
v. scav·enged, scav·eng·ing, scav·eng·es
v.tr.
1. To search through for salvageable material: scavenged the garbage cans for food scraps.
2. To collect and remove refuse from: The streets are periodically scavenged.
3. To collect (salvageable material) by searching.

1. To search through refuse for useful material.

It seems to me that all crafters are natural scavengers, never passing by an object that is discarded without seeing a potential use either as a material or tool. Added to this is the instinct of a squirrel to hoard anything that "might be useful one day" and this combination inevitably results in a storage problem.

Something that has always puzzled me as a miniaturist is how it is that despite making incredibly small items the amount of "stuff" accumulated seems to be no less than when working on larger crafts.

No fully fledged miniaturist looks at an object without seeing it as something in dollhouse scale, a discarded fork with the handle cut off could become a chair back, lolly sticks and coffee stirrers are garden furniture, floorboards and a hundred other interesting possibilities. Broken jewelry in a charity shop box of rubbish for throwing out is an irresistible magnet, findings make many small items. Bottle tops are carefully collected in boxes to make plant pots, bowls etc.

My most recent acquisitions came during the past week on two visits to my parents' home. We are currently having a tidying session. The first "find" was when I called to deliver their shopping the day before the rubbish collection was due. In the wastepaper basket in their living room was a bunch of old silk flowers, grey with dust. A good shake and they were almost as good as new and will provide petals and leaves to use as they are or cut into smaller pieces for years.

Yesterday while helping tidy up I came across an old flat iron - this was not for throwing away but of course had no use. I immediately saw the perfect weight to place on top of flat items while waiting for glue to set. Despite its small size it weighs almost four pounds and of course has a totally flat base.

That came home with me.

So if you also have this scavenging affliction don't worry - its normal.

Etsy Team MIDS treasury

2010-02-14T14:21:00.008Z

On 12th February I made my first Etsy treasury for a long time, I featured work by 'Miniatures In Dollhouse Scales' team members selecting household items and furniture.

"Through The Keyhole"

New Wedding Cake for February

2010-02-01T11:05:00.003Z

Not specifically a Valentine cake but it suits the February theme.

Last day of January

2010-01-31T12:05:00.004Z

Its been a very strange month to begin 2010. Serious health problems in the family meaning almost daily visits to the hospital, shopping for others and contending with sub-zero temperatures and snow. All topped off with a crazy liar trying to damage me with statements that I had said things in Etsy forum threads in which I never even took part and twisting statements and events beyond recognition. Fortunately skills learned during my working years enabled me to find the evidence and present it here for anyone fair minded enough to check further from the source of those lies. It was often a welcome relief to spend my time in the evenings researching as it took my mind off more serious problems, its strange how things work out like that - but I refuse to refer to it as karma, this is not a term that appeals to me for obvious reasons.

Another interesting side effect has been that I have taken an interest in this long neglected blog and I am thinking I might do a little more with it in future.