Colored Pencils

One of the benefits of waking up at 4:30 am is having some time to make minis!

I decided to try some colored pencils over watercolor. I like the look. My little pencil sharpener broke so I'll have to add more detail later. I think they will look cute once I make some frames for them...

Sure wish I didn't have to go to work! Mini-making is way more fun than taking blood pressures and giving flu shots!

Hope you have a creative and happy day!
Blessings, Kathi

Watercolors

I decided this evening that I would get out my Crayola watercolor paints and try to see if I could make a miniature painting or two for my dollhouse.

I am NOT an artist and really have never done watercolors before except to fool around with them at the beach. I always take my art supplies to the beach!


















I cut out a pattern, then traced sixteen little rectangles on a sheet of watercolor paper so I would have lots of canvasses to paint!

Then I got some water, my brushes and this cute little mixing dish that my mother had...









I washed some color on and let it do its thing. With watercolors you really never know how the colors will blend. Unless you know what you are doing, which I do not!



This one I hope will soon look like a hibiscus flower.



A sunset perhaps? You really need to have an imagination here!



This one needs more detail.



This is an attempt at sand dunes...

I really wish my mother was still here and could tell me what to do next! She and my Aunt Adelaide are REAL artists! I have several of their paintings in my home and love each one.

I'm letting my little paintings dry overnight and will try to figure out how to finish them later.

I might try to do some pastels or acrylics later? I still have 11 more little "canvasses" to do!

Hope you have a nice evening!
Blessings,
Kathi

Quick Trip to Finland

Don't you just love finding new mini blogs to follow!?

Today I found the Happy Little Muffin in Finland. Aren't these the most realistic and delicious looking miniature foods!


Click on over to see more of Mirja's yummy goodies! Her little puppies are adorable too!

Mirja also has another blog, Such a Small World, where she shares her dollhouse miniatures.



Thanks Mirja for sharing your gift of miniature making! I look forward to following along!

Blessings!
Kathi

A Neat Little Trick

Found at Storm the Castle.com

"Here's a nice little trick you can use if you don't have a clamp or vise - Wrap tape backwards around a piece of wood. By backwards I mean wrap it so the sticky side is out. Then you can stick your miniatures right to it.

This is a pretty handy little trick because then you can sit in a comfortable chair and you don't have to lean over a table or a vise. You can use any type of tape like electrical, masking, double sided or even cellophane."

I think this is a great idea. I sure could have used this when I painted my fireplace accessories! Why didn't I think of it? :)

Hope you have a beautiful day!
Blessings, Kathi

Ebay Find

Look what I got on Ebay! I got a great price too! I've only purchased two things from Ebay and they have both been really good deals.

This is a room box made by Real Good Toys. Right now it's a General Store, but I have different plans for it!

I will be working on this next year! It will be really hard to leave it in the box until then! Right now I need to continue working on my dollhouse!

I can't say what I'll be doing with this room box because it's a surprise for someone. I already have tons of ideas and am really looking forward to this project!

Sweet dreams!
Kathi

Beautiful Fabric and More about the Fireplace

Isn't this the prettiest fabric?! It will be perfect for my dollhouse living room curtains! Thanks to Dale at Dale's Dreams for sending me the link!

I decided to remove the tiles from my fireplace. I have another idea. Hope this one works!

Blessings,
Kathi

Do NOT. I REPEAT. DO NOT sprinkle sand over glue to look like grout!

I remember now where I read that sprinkling sand over glue would look like grout. It was at About.com, by Leslie Shepherd. I'm going to be the first to write a review!

Not only did it not work, the glue warped my fireplace! I don't know if I'll be able to salvage it or not. Needless to say, I am NOT happy.

I wish I had read Alice's comment on my earlier post. She suggested using soft spackle instead. I even have some of that in my laundry room!

I guess I'll try to remove as much sand as I can and give the spackle a try?

That will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm going to go eat some ice cream...











Sweet dreams!
Kathi

Fireplace - Accessories

While I was waiting for the glue to dry on the tile, I made some teeny tiny fireplace accessories.

If you look closely, you can see what they are made of. It was a matter of determination over loss of patience with these little things! I would much rather be building something!



I'm going to clean them up a bit and then paint them all black. Hopefully then they will look more like the real thing? Yes, I could have just bought some accessories for my fireplace.
Maybe next time I will!

I really need to go do some laundry, run to the grocery and put gas in my car....

Hope you had as much fun today as I did!

Blessings, Kathi

Fireplace - Making Progress

So far, so good. Things are starting to come together here. It's so motivating to see a little project start to look like something...



I still haven't glued the firebox in. I want to do the tile first.

I'm not sure if I will grout it or not. Will have to wait and see how it looks. I read somewhere that you can just sprinkle sand on the wet glue for grout? If it didn't work, I'd have to re-do the tile so I don't know if I'll try that or not. Maybe I'll do a little test on a piece of paper to see how it looks?

Of course I'll still have to make the mantel and the fireplace accessories. I'm determined not to buy anything if I can make it myself!

Onward and upward! I'm having fun! :)
Kathi

Fireplace

The glue isn't even dry but I wanted to show you the beginning of my "custom made" fireplace.

I cut wood for the fire box and painted it black. Now I'm gluing on little sand paper bricks.

This is going to take a while...

Later - Here's the work in progress. Nothing is glued together. I just wanted to see how it was going to look. Still lots to do here.



Hope you are having a good day!
Blessings, Kathi

Found Fabrics

I've been looking for fabrics for my dollhouse furniture and curtains. I found Quilt Home this morning and spent some time just drooling over their wonderful fabrics!

I love this collection!

I'm also thinking about making my own designs with batik or tie dye?

All of this dreaming and not so much doing makes for a really messy dollhouse! I'll be working on the living room walls this weekend.

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Blessings, Kathi

Still Needs Work

Well, just as I thought, the painters didn't do a very good job painting the living room. I think I'll just tell them not to bother coming back. I'll do it myself.

I see that I'll need to possibly remove the trim so I can get the tiny bits of wallpaper off that were left from before... I don't really want to do that because I'm afraid that I'll break it.

I found some cocktail napkins in a pretty tropical print. I folded a piece and pinned it up to see how it would look for drapes. The print is way too big. If anyone knows where I can get small print tropical fabric, please let me know!

Anyway, I do like the yellow and will continue working on this room. More later...

Hope your day is going well!
Blessings,
Kathi

Dollhouse Renovation Day 5 - Painting and Repairs

The painters arrived late this afternoon to paint the living room. Two rather scruffy little guys came with ladders and buckets of yellow paint. They threw some paint on the walls, primed the trim and then headed out.

Seems like they were in a big rush - something about a frogger band that was playing down the street? They said they would be back tomorrow to finish up. They were only here for about an hour. It got too dark for me to see if they did a good job.

Before they arrived I checked out the front door. I'm going to paint that. I don't trust just anyone to do that right. I tugged on the door, lifted it up and down a bit but it wouldn't budge. I want to take it down so I can properly sand and paint it. I don't want to break it either.

Since I couldn't figure out how to get the door off the frame, I searched for a tutorial and found this video. Isn't it wonderful that you can Google anything and find what you're looking for!



The batteries in my camera are too low for me to take any photos of the work in progress but I'll post some tomorrow. I really need to see this paint job in broad daylight anyway...

Sweet Dreams,
Kathi

Forget the Epoxy Resin - Check THIS Out!

I just found this video by Garden of Imagination on YouTube. This seems to be a much easier way to make realistic drinks for your dollhouse! I'm going to try this! You just use Krylon triple thick crystal clear glaze and chalk!




Have fun and please post what you make!

Blessings!
Kathi

Mini Drinks and Fishbowl

I've been looking at miniature fish bowls and tropical drinks for my dollhouse.

These two are from I Love Little Things at Etsy.

I also found a tutorial on About.com for making a fish bowl and iced tea.

I'm wondering if anyone has used epoxy resin to make something? Before I go out and buy this stuff, what was your experience with it? Did it work? How do you add color to it? Can you pour it into plastic or just glass?

Here's one thing I AM going to buy! This little blender! Isn't it cute?!



I'll be using it to make margaritas like this one!



As you can see, I am totally distracted by all of the lovely little things I've found online.

This blender looks easy enough to make but I really like the one above. This one found on Ebay.



I really need to get back to the basics again. My dollhouse living room needs to be painted ...

Hope you have a beautiful day!
Blessings, Kathi

Three Things I Like and One I Don't

I accomplished three things today! I finished my first little cross stitch, made my first mitered picture frame and my first gift bag! I used an old map to make the gift bag. I found Katie's tutorial at at Miz Mary's.

I like how my little project turned out.

Can't show you just yet because it's a surprise...

Now here's one little thing that I DON'T like! FLEAS!

This evening I bathed the dogs, gave them and the cats medicine and fogged my bedroom. Tonite when I go to bed I'll fog the rest of the house. We may all be gassed in the morning, but hopefully the fleas will be dead!? I'll tuck a towel under the bedroom door and hope for the best.

When these little buggers start jumping on ME it's time to take action!!

Like my grandma used to say, "Sweet dreams, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite!"

I really hope we don't have any bed bugs...

Blessings, Kathi

Tiny Stitches

I am about to begin my first miniature cross stitch. I have no idea what I'm doing! I found this calculator online and will try using it to figure out how to re-size a chart I've made.

I stitched one letter and realized that I don't have the right count fabric. The smallest fabric I have is 22 count aida. If I complete my project, my finished design will be about 1" X 2" and that's too big.


If anyone has a tutorial or advice I would really appreciate your help! (Hint hint Rosanna!)

My eyes are crossed already and I haven't even begun!

Thanks, Kathi

Frogger Band

Look what I found on Craigslist! Aren't they just the cutest little band of frogs!?

I'm going to get them tomorrow. They are not too far from here and I'll enjoy the drive...

I'm not sure I'll enjoy their music. Especially if it sounds like this! Just pause the playlist to listen, if you dare...

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Save On Crafts

Here's a link to a great place to find all kinds of craft supplies.

http://www.save-on-crafts.com/dolsup.html

Not that I need another place to spend money...

Sweet dreams!
Kathi

The Dresser is DONE!

I finally finished my four drawer dresser for the master bedroom. I'm glad I only need one for my dollhouse!

I found an idea, tried to copy it, fooled with it a while, took a day off and now it's finished.


I like how it turned out. I'll use the things I learned while making this to do my kitchen cabinets. That's another project for another day!

The 21 piece end table is going in the trash, I think. It's too small. Another learning experience! I didn't measure my real end table before I started. If I had, it would have turned out much better. This 1:12 scale calculator has been really helpful. Thought I would share it with you.

I'm also going to make a coffee table and end tables for the living room. Here are a couple of ideas I found.

Maybe I'll make a fireplace too? I've seen so many pretty fireplaces! I know you don't need a fireplace at the beach, but this one really has me inspired!


So many ideas, so little time! Hope you have a beautiful day!

Blessings,

Kathi