House of Many Colors

Ever have a style that you admire but that you just can't seem to recreate? I love the shabby chic style and thought that I found just the right colors of light blue, ivory and "bamboo." Unfortunately, the blue looked like bright cornflower blue. Just mix in a little gray and... no dice. Still an unfortunate color! I only wish it looked as good as this picture does. So, what if I use that bamboo tan for the body and the blue could maybe be a trim color? Nope. Wedgewood green? Italian sage? "Go bold," my husband said. Try dark colors. He thought red... I thought it looked like a barn. I want subtle and sophisticated. Right now, I have patchy and uninspired! :) Help!

I've found an inspiration photo that I like, but would it work? (<--Click on the word "photo" to see it). I really want the outside of this house done! Any ideas?

A Second Painting Secret!

A new follower sent a comment asking about my Orchid's bedroom trunk and wished that she could see it closer. Well, Sans, and other miniature friends, here you go! You can click on this to enlarge it. Careful, this lets you see the errors too! :) This ability to enlarge photos applies in almost all of my posts, except for very early ones when I didn't understand the formatting.

The first painting secret I shared was to use dots. So would you like to know the second painting secret that I use? Scroll down... The secret is stamps. Simple enough, right? Most "secrets" are. This intricate design is made by a scrapbooking stamp and then carefully painted using toothpicks and pins. I've grown in my ability to do that tiny kind of painting since doing this trunk but this would be any easy enough technique that you could apply in your own mini work. For a different effect you could use differing colors of ink and skip the painting. First, apply the inks directly to the stamp. Since this takes a minute or two, if the ink starts to dry, don't worry. When you are ready to stamp blow your breath on it (a huff like you're going to polish glasses) to dampen and reactivate the ink. There are so many wonderful sites that can give you stamping advice that's better than mine if you'd like to know more. My best advise is to have fun with it. Get out those stamps and start mini-ing! :)

Dot to Dot

Can I be completely honest? I'm afraid to fail. About 3 weeks ago, I registered an Etsy account full of ideas that I could share what I do and earn a little money for our family in the process. Now, three weeks later, there is still nothing listed. I'm doubting myself! Making my minis was such a joy when I thought it was just for me, now suddenly I'm thinking that someone might not be as charmed by the results in real life. I just can't seem to get over that hurdle.

Well, on that cheerful note :), here is a little shelf unit that I've painted. Remember that I once said I'd share a couple of painting secrets? Dots! That's one secret! Something about a design made of tiny dots looks so complicated and charming but anyone can do it! So grab a toothpick and some paint and start dipping and dashing a design! You might be amazed what you can come up with.

On A Roll!

Ever have one of those days where you're having fun and where creativity just seems to flow from your fingertips? I had one of those wonderful days recently and just churned out a series of accessories and shelves for my Beacon Hill dollhouse.

In case you're keeping count, I have 3 houses; the Orchid which is a Victorian era shop and living quarters with a little shabby-chic girly flavor, a Westville which is a 1930's era farmhouse and my someday-to-be-glorious Beacon Hill. The BH was my dollhouse as a girl and after years in storage, it is home. I've talked about it in a previous post or two with pictures of the broken bits and dust bunnies that it collected. I've cleaned it up and applied gesso to almost every surface and now..... I have no idea what color to paint it.

As I usually do when it's time to make a decision like that, I avoid the issue altogether and make accessories! :) But oh, what fun it was! The house will be our current era, filled with folk art and antiques.

Here's a rundown on the items pictured:

1. More Michael's hutches put to work as a girly dresser and a bookcase. I added molding to the bookcase. The dresser has eyelet hooks as the hardware, at least for now.
2. The black painted bookcase and shelves are Michael's hutches too. I distressed and papered them for a country primitive look.
3. A plastic rooster I stole from my son's room and turned into "copper" with teal, white, and copper acrylic paint.
4. A yellow cabinet with a fruit crate label decoupaged on the front. The coppery handles are pieces of fancy toothpicks as are the pegs on the little shelves.
5. The girl picture is scrapbook paper (Graphic 45 brand) and the frame is a cardboard frame for scrapbooking the a glued string designs onto and then painted.
6. More bead charms make the little (tipped) chair and telephone for the girl's room. They'll be painted someday.

Probably more info than you needed :)

Westville Boy's Room

The little boy's room in the Westville is more of a nook. This is a slightly older picture to show you more of the furniture... a tad girly but he's stuck with it! The items (trophy, car, football) on the shelf are all charms that I found at a bead store. He's outgrowing the toddler's toy train so that will be put away... See the next picture in this post for a more updated look...The picture below was taken more recently with more lived-in details. The Lincoln log house is just made of toothpicks. It took way too much time to make! Every notice that minis take more time than real life items? The sideboard is part of a Michael's hutch that I painted Pennsylvania dutch style. The rug is a fabric bookmark. The "painting" of toy soldiers is an asparagus label from Graphic 45 scrapbooking paper! I love that brand!

Country Kitchen

I love country kitchens! As soon as I saw the Westville dollhouse by Greenleaf, I knew it would have to be one of those homes where you enter directly into a warm kitchen that is the heart of the home and where most of the working and living takes place. You can see the Michael's hutch from my previous posting and a tiny sliver of the living room that had the closet removed. Can you spot more pieces from those hutches? (The upper and lower cabinets near the sink). I put a lid on the bucket near the door which is for keeping kitchen scraps before they are taken out for composting. Can't have it smelling up the kitchen! The flour sacking dish cloth is ready for work on all those dirty dishes, if someone would finally install a faucet! It also looks like someone needs to pick up that fallen ice sign from the window or there won't be a delivery today, and for goodness sakes, the ice box door has been left open...

I think the black painter platter near the sink is one of the favorite minis that I've made or personalized! I'm not a great painter by any stretch, but I've come up with a couple ways to "cheat" that I'll share with you soon...

May all the blessings of the season be yours this holiday!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!