What's everyone working on?

[JohnReid]

Hi ! I am new to this forum but not to miniatures.I do what I call storyboard dioramas mostly in 1/16th scale.Although I have never built a dollhouse myself it was what I saw people doing building doll houses that got me into doing large scale dioramas.I have worked with wood for a long time now doing decorative bird sculptures and models ,mostly sailing ships and old airplanes.

A hobby store that is now closed in Montreal carried both model and dollhouse supplies.I kind of married up the two to create something a little different, large scale dioramas that tell a story.I have been having a lot of fun doing this just about everyday for over ten years now and have completed about 3 and a 1/2 dioramas now.I hope you like my stuff,Cheers! John.

[Debra from Olde Cape Cod]

Welcome John! You do some seriously wonderful stuff!! Better watch out--you hang around here too long, you'll be making a dollhouse for sure!

[pdlnpeabody]

Picked up some lumber last weekend. While I was at the shop I found 1/8" aluminum pipe, so I picked up some for the house. I was going to use coffee stirrers for the electrical conduits in the utility room, but I couldn't find the right type. Best part is the house will now have real brick and real metal pipes!

If anyone watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition last weekend (2/21) the race car beds that were made for the family's kids were made at the scale lumber shop I get my supplies from. Besides scale lumber, clear plastic and styrene cut to different sizes, they also build life-size custom interiors for resturants and night clubs, so you never know what you might see when you shop there.

[havanaholly]

...While window shopping for mini food I took a good long look at some of it and realized, "Hey, I can do that!" So, long story short, I bought some Sculpey Clay and some tools and I'm back to waiting for it to arrive so I can get started making my own accessories.

Google Angie Scarr's site, she makes polymer clay food look easy. Oh, and that "Hey, I can do that!" works for furniture, dolls, etc.

Put in a "travertine" floor in the kitchen using Greenleaf vinyl tiles. I really like the way it turned out.

So do I! BTW, those tiles easily cut in half to make 1:24 floors. I used some in the Lighthouse:

That's what I always said about DH!

...A hobby store that is now closed in Montreal carried both model and dollhouse supplies...

Where? When we went on our first long trip (in 2004) up into Quebec & New Brunswick we camped near Ville St Phillipe and rode our tandem bike into Montreal; but when I asked about dollhouse stores people looked at me like I had two heads!

Picked up some lumber last weekend. While I was at the shop I found 1/8" aluminum pipe, so I picked up some for the house. I was going to use coffee stirrers for the electrical conduits in the utility room, but I couldn't find the right type. Best part is the house will now have real brick and real metal pipes!

If anyone watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition last weekend (2/21) the race car beds that were made for the family's kids were made at the scale lumber shop I get my supplies from. Besides scale lumber, clear plastic and styrene cut to different sizes, they also build life-size custom interiors for resturants and night clubs, so you never know what you might see when you shop there.

Where in Gainesville, oh Jeremy, my friend!? (That 1/8" aluminum pipe sounds mighty tempting...)

I finished the figures for the blue Pony/ Horse rug (I'm only doing about 1/4 of the whole rug, it's HUGE, even in 1:12) and slowly filling in the background. I'm also still making 1:24 drapes and curtains. I had just about talked myself out of making a Knowle sofa for the FF library, but found a necktie this past week at a thrift store that will be perfect! <sigh>, the things I get myself into...

[lmgervais]

Holly, I know there is a store called "Montreal Building Supply" that apparently sold miniatures in Montreal, but they are now in Maryland, I think it, according to the website.

[pdlnpeabody]

Holly,

The shop is Magnum Wood, off I-75 and Archer Road. www.magnumwood.com. Well worth looking around.

[Sherry]

I'm kinda frustrated with mine right now, or with myself. I can't do much more until I decide on how to do the walls, and I can't decide! I'm just going to have to dive in and try something. And I have changed my mind about where to put the study and where to put the bedroom twice now, at least. Can't decide on floors for those two rooms either. I don't know what's wrong with me right now!

[Syphon79]

Daphne, I have done all of my windows that way. They just don't look right if you don't, so it's worth the time.

Hi Sherry -- yeah, finally finished with the windows. Though here's the odd part -- for the Rye, I had assumed that the milled walls (where the window openings are) are 3/8" thick. Didn't get the exterior finishing kit Earth and Tree offered because is was so $$$, so I got windows at RGT instead that are compatible for the 3/8" walls.

After the whole sanding/painting process, I did a test installation -- the windows are thicker depth-wise. So I measured the milled walls where the openings are -- they're about 1/4" thick.

*sigh* Guess I'll have to do some illusion work with the trim to make it not look like the window's flush against the wall....

Besides the windows being done, I ripped off the wood plank floors in the kitchen and installed the vinyl tiles Greenleaf sells in their online store. Had some leftover pieces so used it in the bathroom as well (I'll use the blue/white wallpaper tiles on another house). Have to wait till payday to order wallpaper, but will begin the millwork for the Rye's living room...want to do some dark wood ceiling beams and wall trim.

[havanaholly]

Thanks, Jeremy; east or west of I-75? We hit the Archer Road shopping center/s at least every trip for Michael's and lunch at McAllister's and the CD Warehouse, when it was there.

[otterine]

I used a pattern from Embroidered Projects by Sue Hawkins to create new covers for my Mackintosh chairs. The project called for 32-count silk gauze but I had a hard time locating it so I used 32-count linen. My eyesight has always been good, but wow were these tiny stitches! I bought a magnifier and ended up with much better results. I think they turned out pretty well for my first attempt at miniature needlework and fit in rather well with the modern style and colors in the living room. There's a close-up of the embroidery in my gallery.

[Ravenswing]

Hey Holly! Well you know you're right! I have been having a ball making all this mini food. So far I've made tomatoes (red and green) chocolate layer cake with a slice cut out, potatoes, oranges, apples (red and green) sliced bread, corn on the cob, eggs over easy, eggs hard boiled (cut open), cauliflower, garlic bulb and indivdual cloves of garlic, sliced log cake, rolls, bagettes, challah loaf, sliced honey dew melon, watermelon and bok choy! Oh! and peppers - regular and chilli!

Tonight I'm going to try my hand at hamburgers and roast chicken. I'm waiting for this translucent liquid to arrive so I can make things that look like they're "dripping" - like cherry sauce on cheesecake and peanut butter and jelly. I'm going to take some pics tomorrow in the daylight. The inside light makes everything look like it has a red hue. This has turned out to be a great way to pass the time while I wait on parts for the house, my solder should arrive tomorrow (Got a package notice so I think it came today, but I was on the phone (the phone and the downstairs intercom are linked) so I missed the mailman, drat it!

All my little Fairfield needs is the rest of its lights and a floor in the attic and it's finished. Used varnish on the floor paper, and it's just like glass its so smooth and hard, I love the way they turned out. Have two more craft carts on the way, then I can get all my supplies off the table and organized so I can get started on my farmhouse. Unfortunately Target is slower than a snail's bowel movement with deliveries, and I could be waiting for another week before I see them.

[pdlnpeabody]

Thanks, Jeremy; east or west of I-75? We hit the Archer Road shopping center/s at least every trip for Michael's and lunch at McAllister's and the CD Warehouse, when it was there.

Holly,

Cool! Sounds like you know the area, so this should be easy. It's just East of I-75. Turn left at the 2nd light (there should be a McDonald's on the left). Just past the shopping plaza on the right the road curves left. Take the 2nd right after the curve (There is a small sign for the company on the side of the road). The street ends in a cul-de-sac, but if you drive straight through, there is a parking lot and several buildings. The building to the far left is Magnum Wood. They usually have a marked van out front. I just Google mapped it. It gives the right location. Its the only building running vertically in the arial view.

I'm there every week so they know me pretty well. The owner showed pics of the Extreme Makeover project over a month before it aired, so I knew to watch for their work.

[havanaholly]

I used a pattern from Embroidered Projects by Sue Hawkins to create new covers for my Mackintosh chairs. The project called for 32-count silk gauze but I had a hard time locating it so I used 32-count linen. My eyesight has always been good, but wow were these tiny stitches! I bought a magnifier and ended up with much better results...

I've always used a jeweler's loupe or a magnifying visor for mini embroidery, even before the cataracts. It's the thread count that determines your finished size. I love the designs in that book, the Craftsman Rose is perfect on those chairs!

...I have been having a ball making all this mini food. So far I've made tomatoes (red and green) chocolate layer cake with a slice cut out, potatoes, oranges, apples (red and green) sliced bread, corn on the cob, eggs over easy, eggs hard boiled (cut open), cauliflower, garlic bulb and indivdual cloves of garlic, sliced log cake, rolls, bagettes, challah loaf, sliced honey dew melon, watermelon and bok choy! Oh! and peppers - regular and chilli!

Tonight I'm going to try my hand at hamburgers and roast chicken...I'm going to take some pics tomorrow in the daylight...All my little Fairfield needs is the rest of its lights and a floor in the attic and it's finished. Used varnish on the floor paper, and it's just like glass its so smooth and hard, I love the way they turned out. Have two more craft carts on the way, then I can get all my supplies off the table and organized so I can get started on my farmhouse. Unfortunately Target is slower than a snail's bowel movement with deliveries, and I could be waiting for another week before I see them.

I can hardly wait for the pictures! I figured that once you started you'd have a ball, Judith! There's nothing like the buzz you get after you sit back and look at what you can do, and the lovely thing about polyclay is that you can keep squooshing it and start over until it's right.

...Sounds like you know the area, so this should be easy. It's just East of I-75....The owner showed pics of the Extreme Makeover project over a month before it aired...

Thanks, Jeremy! Both DH & I graduated from UF in '63 (the year before Steve Spurrier started) and have marveled over how much Gainesville has changed and grown. One of our big dreams is when we get too old to keep up with a house, to pack up our bikes, kayaks & hiking boots and move to a retirement home there. The local FTA chapter hikes San Felasco every Thursday AM and I think we know where every thrift store in town is!

[Ravenswing]

Holly, I checked out Angie Scarr's site, boy is she good! The best part is I found 3 great tutorials for corn on the cob, leeks and oranges (with the pith, peeled and sliced) I am definitely doing my oranges again. My corn looks pretty good, but I'm going to do it again with the extruder for the kernels (I scored mine by hand this time) Once you see how it's done it makes it so much easier and you find yourself sitting there saying "Now why didn't I think of that?" It's so much easier when you can see the process. It's snowing like crazy here, but I'm going to lay everything out and take a quick pic on the balcony while the light is good.

[havanaholly]

Angie also has a book (I used mine to make veggies for the Coventry Cottage's garden in the Team Coventry Cottage blog).

[Ravenswing]

Angie also has a book (I used mine to make veggies for the Coventry Cottage's garden in the Team Coventry Cottage blog).

Yes, I saw the book on the site, gonna have to check that out with my book club, see if they have it. At any rate here are my pics. These are really tiny, plan on using them with the 1/2 scale house. Hoping for deliveries today, but if they don't show up Ill spend my evening making 1 inch scale veggies for the farmhouse.

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[lmgervais]

Wow! That food looks awesome!

I've spent part of the day playing around with my Beaumont in partial dry-fit and seeing how my proposed changes would work using cardboard for now. Still a bit of refining to do, but is it ever going to be spectacular if anything close to my vision of it actually turns out!

[havanaholly]

Awesome food, Judith! And it IS super tiny! I wish the breads & cake had showed up!

[Shy Spirit]

Excellent job on the food!

[what2craftnow]

Looks like ya'll have been pretty busy. What beautiful things you have all created!!

I have had some setbacks due to a wrist injury that is still painin' me, but here's a photo of my "little" project of late. (more pics in my gallery under Paper Mache Houses if anyone's interested) It's not finished just yet (taking me a lot longer than I wanted with the darn wrist business ), but it's gettin' there. Not even sure just "who or what" lives in this little place - definitely somethin' little though since the doorway is only about 1-1/2" tall

I'm thinkin' about trying the Etsy thing again - we'll see. I have about 6 more of these paper mache houses, so I better find something to do with them, or DH will have my head (again! lol)

[Shelly N]

Chris, that is a fab house!

[havanaholly]

I love the little paper mache houses! They're adorable.

I've been playing with the iso FF again. The butchered roof isn't nearly as pitiful as it originally looked. I installed the pendulum, which involved installing the tower roof; but now I'll have to UNinstall the roof to finish the decorating! This is not only the most overthetop decor I've attempted, I'm also making it a lot more complicated than it oughta be. Once I get the decorating caught up I can stop and take some more progress pictures.

[Sherry]

I'm in a better mood today and starting on my bed for the PL. I had to have a kingsize, no self respecting bachelor would have a double bed! So I have the pieces for the sides cut and ready to stain and put together.

[bookmarm]

since our bank account is feeling poorly, I've been working through my stash of small kits. Finished some 1/2 scales: oak dresser, two step stool, two round tables. Now working on HOM arm chairs. I've gone through my stash of fabric scraps and found a pale blue silk for upholstery that matches some of the BH wallpapers.

[havanaholly]

My new eyeglasses finally came in at the opthamologist, so we're running errands. I removed the iso FF's tower roof and started working on its ceiling, and I hope we're not gone all day so I can work on it some more; I love how it's coming together.