Miniature Monday: Beach Hut

Today I'm sharing my 1/12th scale Beach Hut.  The original instructions for the structure were in the Miniature Collector Magazine.  This version is slightly modified.  The base was configured in such a way that I was able to create the illusion of a beach with paint, craft sand and resin.
 

Since this was a club project, everyone pitched in to teach a different mini.  We also had a gift exchange and I made 30 of those outdoor showers for everyone in the club.

The palm trees were surprisingly easy to make and I think they look amazing!

I had this beach bum in my collection.  He really knows how to soak in the sun! The small boogie boards were created by my young son who wanted to contribute.  I purchased and made way too many things for this project, and the fish cart didn't make it in because it was too big.  I love the details the artist put into it though and wanted to share it with you guys.

The back wall is actually removable as one unit.  I made it with mat board, wood strips and thin sheet metal.  

Please do let me know if you have any questions!! Thanks for stopping by.

Miniature Monday: Crochet Animals for the Nursery

My very talented friend Gladys creates the most amazing stuffed animals with her crochet needle and thread. We have two sales at our miniature club every year.  This is the only place Gladys sells her wonderful creations.  The two monkeys have tiny pacifiers in their mouths.  The purple elephant is less than an inch wide.  She also makes shawls, baby blankets and clothes.  Every piece more amazing than the next.  She tried to give me miniature knitting pointers, but one shawl later, I decided that I like buying them made MUCH better.

Confession time; I bought all of these at this month's sale!

If you'd like to incorporate sales at your miniature club, here are a few rules that we follow and have worked for us:

1)The sale is held during the same months every year so that vendors and buyers can prepare.  We have ours in November and March.

2) During the remainder of the year, we respect club time for having fun and making miniature projects.

3) We ask the vendors to set up prior to the meeting and cover their sale items.  We then begin our meeting, giving everyone time to come in and get settled.  About an hour later, we announce the sale is open and all the goodies get uncovered.  That gives all members a fair chance at all the great sale items.

4) Everyone brings labels with their names on them.  I've often forgotten my labels and used blue tape with my initials.  You can put your label on anything you want to purchase, then settle up with the vendor at any time during the meeting.  This gives members the opportunity to browse, see what was purchased and enjoy the meeting without feeling rushed.

5)  When we had limited space in our meeting room, we gave each member who wanted to sell a set amount of table space.  Now that we have a large meeting room, our members can bring as much as they want to sell.

6) We ask that the items for sale be miniature related.

Thanks for stopping by!

Ketsia

Miniature Monday - The Potting Shed

The other day, my Husband warned me that there was a bit of a catastrophe in the living room.  I walked in to find one of my shadow boxes in pieces, doll parts everywhere!  He'd done an admirable job of picking up everything he saw, but couldn't tell me how it happened...it's another miniature mystery.

Here are photos of the the pieces:

I had to sort the parts and glue everything back together.  Fortunately, living with 3 boys, 2 dogs and 2 cats, I'm really handy with glue.  Here's the fixed shadow box - almost like new, and I didn't cry:

This shadow box can hang on the wall or sit on a shelf.  It measures 14" wide X 10" high X 6" deep. The setting is the outside of a potting shed.  The instructions for this project came from The Miniature Collector Magazine.

The little girl mixing mud in the pot was made by Bonnie Justice.  The two baby boys were from KutiBabies, an Ebay vendor that hasn't sold anything in a while.  I put Grandma together in a workshop taught by Ellen's World at our NYC Club, Big Apple Miniaturists.

I made most of the flowers from punched paper and the little birdhouse from scrap wood.  I also made the pigeons at Grandma's feet from polymer clay (that was an adventure!)

If you have any questions, please let me know.  Thanks for looking!

Miniature Monday - Witch in the Attic

My sleepy Witch has her "craft" room in the attic of her otherwise normal house.  She was having an afternoon with her wolf friend, and fell asleep with her favorite kitty.  That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

I enjoyed making this little fantasy scene.  There's a lot to look at.  My favorite piece is the little werewolf.  He's sculpted by very talented artist Aleah Klay. Her amazing creations can be found here: http://aleahklay.com/

Thanks for looking!

Miniature Monday - Artist's Lofts!

I've got TWO 1/12th scale artist's spaces to show you.  The first is a fantasy loft located on 22nd and Broadway in NYC.  (My mini artist isn't starving!)  Years ago, I worked in a huge space there, and took pictures of the view outside so that I could use it in my mini artist's loft.  I printed the image on 11x17" paper that covered the back wall.

The box is made to fit inside an 11x14 frame.  The original artist's loft was made and donated to my friend's charity for auction.  My Miniature group loved it so much; we re-did it as a yearlong project. Yes, imagine me on the porch, with my table saw, cutting 150 pieces of wood.  I was a sight to behold!  The window wall is made from foamcore and strips of wood.  I made the easel, stool, tables and the spiral staircase.  Some of the accessories were made, some were purchased.

The painting was done by my son; he was 4 at the time, and insisted on contributing a masterpiece!

The next artist's studio fits inside a basketball display case.  It depicts art class in progress.  The beautiful fairy model is made out of polymer clay.

It's amazing what you can do with bits of wood and paper!

If you have any questions, please let me know.  Thanks for looking!