Back in the Bathroom

My miniatures have been so neglected this month! January is almost ending and I have little to show you. I finished the garden center bathroom floor. I'm not sure it agrees with the palm tree wallpaper I used?

Now I'm working on the glass block window for the side wall. This is a real challenge but I think I'm going to like it.

This coming weekend I plan to clear off my work table and dry fit the building. I still need to finish the supports for the roof and complete my lighting plan.

Dylan is doing well. My arm is healing. Thinks are looking UP! Thanks for continuing to follow along! There WILL be progress. I promise!

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Back To "Normal"

Now that Toby is gone, Henry Cat has taken his place next to Dylan. Dylan loves his kitty.

I'm working on the bathroom floor for the garden center. It is not as easy as I thought it would be. This is my second attempt. Will there be three?

Now that things are getting back to normal around here, I have some time for minis. :D

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Back to Work, Back to Minis

Dylan is doing well today. He seems comfortable. I have to go back to work today. I can come home at lunchtime to check on him. He will be under the watchful eye of his little brother, Nugget, while I'm gone.

Last night Dylan gave Henry Cat a quick bath. It was so cute to see him doing normal things again. :D

I started working on the Garden Center bathroom floor yesterday. I made one floor with woven paper but wasn't happy with the result. Here I'm trying one of the tile patterns I found at Villa Lagoon Tile.

Sorry for the blurry photo. If you click on the image you can see the details better. The one inch tiles are too large for this room. I think it will be perfect in 1/2 inch size? Each tile has a black border so I will be using black paper for the background. Lots of cutting and pasting to do here!

I haven't asked Lundy for permission to use this tile yet, but she has always been gracious to allow me to copy their wonderful tiles to use for my projects. I will email this photo to her today before I continue, just to be sure it's okay.

Thank you so much for your love and concern over these past few days. I really appreciate your kindness. ♥

Garden Center Rug and Chair

I made a rug and started a little chair for the garden center library today.  I found this gorgeous fabric on Etsy. I have a whole yard of it to play with...

I'm using white paper clips for the frame of the chair. I still haven't quite figured out how to make the legs?

Hope you have a great day!

Maybe?

I thought I would try to make a little glass block window. I'm using some acrylic "blocks" that are meant for scattering on wedding tables or filling vases.

I built a frame the size I wanted out of 1/8 inch wooden trim. I also emailed MicroMark this morning to ask them to add a 1/4 inch grid to the bottom of their gluing jig. That would really help line things up and keep them square!

I wallpapered two walls of the bathroom this morning. I can't do the rest of the room until I decide about this window. Two steps forward. One step back.

Somewhere around here I have some real 1/2 inch glass tiles. If I can find them, I will try those too. Finding things here right now is next to impossible!

Hope you have a nice day!

Morning Mission

My mission this morning was to finish several projects. All at the same time! I had painting going on in the kitchen. Painting going on my work table. More painting on my desk.

This is what was accomplished since I woke up at 3 AM.  :D

✔  Applied second coat of peanut butter glaze on ceiling beams

✔  Painted third coat of pineapple upside down paint on upstairs ceiling

✔  Spackled downstairs ceiling where needed

✔  Finished bathroom basket weave tile. Applied first, second and third coat of spray varnish

✔  Finished palm pendant light

✔  Painted first coat of pistachio green on downstairs ceiling

Now I have to get ready to go to work. Real work.

Hope you have a productive day!

Basket Weaving

I love the tile I found at This Old House. I'm working on the floor for the garden center restroom.

I'm not sure why this is taking so long? Maybe because I need to take a basket weaving class?

I'm also making a pendant lamp. This will also go in the restroom. It's not finished, but coming along nicely.  :D

Hope your day is filled with happy mini making!

Peanut Butter Glaze

Peanut Butter Glaze Recipe: 

1 cup Sherwin Williams clear acrylic glaze.
1/3 cup Behr Fudge Truffle flat acrylic paint. 
I used a glass measuring cup.
Mix well and pour into an empty peanut butter jar.
Do not eat or drink!  :D

This is just one coat of glaze. I'll add another. Like on the door frame below.

I thought I would try one of my outdoor lights. I'm using LEDs from Evans Designs. Here I'm testing the light using their coin cell battery that has a switch. Love these.

I will need to make some minor adjustments. I want the light to be in the center of the lamp. I may add some "glass" too? The lamp will be attached to the wall with a piece of copper tubing.

I found a great tip at RCgroups.com for cutting small metal tubing with a razor blade. Worked well and did not crush the tubing. I just need to file the ends. :D

Hope you have a wonderful day!

A Long, Long Process

Most, if not all of the decisions have now been made for the garden center. From top to bottom there is now a final plan.  :D

Getting here has been a long, long process! How many times have I tried different roof ideas? How many times have I changed my mind? How many times have I painted the building?! This project has gone from a coffee shop to a garden center to a coffee shop and back again. 

I don't think I have a chance of finishing before the Creatin' Contest deadline on December 17th.  I'm going to try, but I know I have too much to do. I'm going to just relax and enjoy the process.

I also have two Christmas swap gifts to finish and mail. Kikka and Julia if you are reading this please email your address to me. Thanks Fabiola for organizing this swap and for all of your sweet comments here.

I really don't have anything to show you today but I feel good knowing I can now move ahead with some confidence. I may have some light fixtures to show you in a few days?

Hope you had a good weekend. Welcome to my new followers and all of my faithful friends! I appreciate each and every one of you. Thanks for following my blog. Even if there aren't any minis ❣

Stucco Stenciling

I've been thinking about adding some stucco designs to the exterior of the garden center. I had this flower stencil in my stash. It is too large for what I have in mind, but a good one to use for practice.

I mixed up the colors I wanted using lightweight spackling compound and acrylic paint. Then I taped the stencil on a scrap piece of plywood. I used a stencil brush to apply the stucco.

Here is how my stucco flower turned out. Not bad for my first try.  :D

I like this idea. Now I just need to find the stencils I'll need. I probably already have some. I just need to find them! Here is a great site for ideas and real life size stencils, Victoria Larsen.com. Mini Stencils has stencils that are just the right size.

Hope you have a lovely day!

$ Shopping $

I found these hand made 2 inch wooden flowers at Save On Crafts. The listing said they can be strung together. I think they might make perfect hanging lamps? 

I'm not sure where I will use this?  I just thought it was beautiful.

 

My orders from Earth and Tree Miniatures, Miniatures.com, DBJ Miniatures, and Ebay arrived this week. I bought shutters, a cute wire window box and lots of miniature garden and woodworking tools, etc. etc.

I also found some palm tree wallpaper that I like, but the color is too bright. 

Any ideas on how I can make it fade or lighten it with paint or glaze? I may try putting some out in the sun today to see if that works?

I will be working on my lights this weekend. I hope that all of the emails I received from Shelly at Evans Designs will help me. Thanks again Shelly for all of your great advice!

It's going to get crazy around here! Stay tuned...

Real Progress

This is what I have had in my mind for a long, long time!

It was fun to dry fit things together this morning. I'm building an atrium on the left.

Here is the upstairs with holes drilled in the floor for LED lights. Thanks Pepper for your great tutorial!

I'm excited to see my project coming together. There has been some real progress made!  :D

Hope you have a wonderful day. Thanks for all of your sweet comments!  

Four Day Blitz!

The Doc I work with is going out of town today. He won't be back in the office until Tuesday. I asked him if I could have some "time off for good behavior" and he said, "yes."  Now I have four days off to work on my projects!  :D

This morning I decided to try to make a pine tree. This great model railroad site that has lots of tutorials and photos of trees for inspiration. I decided to combine some techniques I found and try to make a pine tree with a bamboo stick and felt.

After I cut the circles out of felt, I covered them on both sides with fine turf using spray adhesive.

One of the railroaders used green Scotch Brite pads instead of felt. Very effective. I didn't have one of those so I used what I had on hand.

When the circles were dry, I cut little slits in the circles for branches and then glued them to the trunk.

My little tree doesn't look real, but I think it's kinda cute.  :D

Hope you have fun today!

I hope to actually get something done on my garden center!

Beep Beep!

I don't know what got into me this morning? I woke up with so much energy and motivation!

I cleaned off my work table. I put all of my paint away, except what I need now. All of the paper and punches went back to their place.

I put bottles of glue in the drawer where they go. I gathered wood trim and sticks and put them in cups. I found most of my clamps and pencils and pens. 

I found the walls and the roof for the building I need. I found flooring and stucco and the recipe for stone. I even found things in the "coffee shop box" I can use for the project at hand. I found things, lots of things, I had forgotten I made!

I put flowers and plants, dollhouse dirt and pots, into a box where they won't distract me right now. Flowers take time. Time I don't have. I need to start building. I need to start now!

I'll need to remodel. I'll need to repaint. I can see it all finished, but I've got a long way to go!

Cahaba River Rocks

My daughter and I went to the Cahaba River right here in Birmingham yesterday. It was a beautiful day. Perfect for gathering river rocks.  :D

I will have to get back to you on this table project. It is going to take a long, long time! 

I have a building to build. Plans to accomplish. Rocks to wash.

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Not A Potting Table

This is not a potting table. It's a table with pots. Lots of them.

Guess you know what I will be working on for a few days!

I'm off to find rocks. Little rocks. Lots of them.

Stacked Stone

I made some stones a while ago, planning to use them on the exterior of one of my buildings. I used handmade paper clay.

Today I set up a little rock quarry and went to work painting my stones. Casey makes stones with egg cartons and colors them with several different shade of paint. Thanks Casey for your great tips!

There is a place, called Pebble Junction, near where I used to live in Sanford Florida that sells an incredible variety of stone. If you want stone for your landscaping in Florida, you have to go buy it.

Here is my mini version of stacked stone for sale.

In Birmingham, there is stone everywhere. I'm going to go find some stones for the second section. I could buy some at Michaels, but I want real stones from Alabama.

I'm planning a short trip this weekend to gather some tiny rocks from the river at Peavine Falls in Oak Mountain State Park.

Hope you have a lovely day!

Antique Seed Display

This is the first time I have tried to make something look old and rusty. It takes a lot more work, believe me.

Below is my little shelf in progress. I used folded copper card stock for the shelf supports and cut little notches in them to hold the shelves. The trim is cut with scalloped scissors and embossed with a knitting needle.

I just had to add a little whimsy with a butterfly. :D








I guess you know what I will be doing today? Making 45 little seed packets. That should keep me busy and out of trouble for a while...

Hope you have a beautiful day!