Rest of my time will be dolls!

Once I eurathane the shelves, finish the gourds, and stone my fireplaces I will be doing nothing but making dolls till the Chicago Three Blind Mice show! crunch time!!! I have 2 more weeks of work left ahhhhhh...work but also grand expectation as I have a new display and new items to show and best of all get to chill with my bestest friend for a few days! :o)
Here is a link to the Three Blind Mice Show... http://3blindmiceshow.com/chicago_spring/
....taking place in the same town and same time as the Tom Bishop show!

gourds and display made and painted!

So gourds have all their leaves and flowers painted, the tall straight one has grass down now!

I finished the display steps and painted them with 3 coats of primer....going to eurathane them today so they are easy to clean!

one of 2 new display systems that will be built

Realized i need more wood to finish the second one. It will be painted white and will be far easier to lift and deal with than my heavy boxes that I used to stack for displaying. Top shelf is for bigger things like gourds, next shelf down will be my fireplaces, and then the other 2 shelves are for dolls :o)

shelves in one gourd

Here is the gourd with shelves now! time to do some more mudding of the walls, fill in any cracks and then when dry I can paint!!! Likely painting the apoxie leaves/flowers/vines today. Am thinking this gourd could well be like a roadside fruit and veggie stand :o) That means I should also make a few produce items to put in the gourd wagon to add atmosphere and suggestion to prospective buyers...and a sign maybe? planted in the ground outside?

more progress

Again, in the need to stand up more....and a need to do some work outside where it was sunny, i worked on the gourds. grouted all the stonework, painted a bit, and then added the apoxie details. Going to make some built in shelves in the whacky gourd. so the interior is not finished at all yet.

Gourd path

In my attempt to stand up most of the day yesterday to save my back a bit I cut wood for fireplaces that will be stone and worked on gourd houses. I created a path and stairs to the one gourd house and grouted the rocks on the foundation and steps of the other gourd. Here is a picture of the pathway. I am also playing around with putting a piece of wood on top of the gourd and make steps or a ladder leading to the "roof" where it will be extra gardening space. I like the idea of giving a buyer many options for further decorating and designing. :o)

the gourds

As I worked on ghosts and dolls yesterday I also squeezed in the gourds. I made some paper mache up and used it to make something of a built up terrain to the one gourd, which will be covered with grass, to give more depth to the piece, and then rocked the "foundation" of the other gourd and made a rock step :o)

2 ghosts :o)

Here is a pic of Samuel and his dog Max, being sold separately.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/96115095/samuel-a-young-ghost-dollhouse-miniature
http://www.etsy.com/listing/96115574/max-a-puppy-dog-ghost-dollhouse?ref=v1_other_1

ok couldnt wait...gourds :o)

So as i wake up with coffee, got a couple pics of the gourd houses I am making...I sure hope the seeds from the wacky necked gourd sprout and grow! I saw one in a book once that was grown from a trellis, hanging down, and they somehow tied a knot in the neck while it grew!!!!! how cool!!!
I will keep you posted on the progress of these. They will go to Chicago with me because I would never really trust shipping these things!

some furniture I listed

Spent the day making animal faces (including a couple raven heads) for dolls. Never made a raven doll, just small more realistic ravens, and so am a bit excited about them. Started on a couple gourd houses, one with a neck straight up in the air and the other with a very crazy fun long swirly neck. they will both be on bases, not on wheels. Will try to get pics today :o)
In terms of finishing things, I made a few benches and got around to painting a couple wood pieces yesterday, in between other work.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/96058615/a-primitive-shabby-chic-bench-miniature?ref=v1_other_1

http://www.etsy.com/listing/96058348/a-primitive-shabby-chic-table-or-potting?ref=v1_other_2

Sculpting mania begins for Chicago

First of all, yay!!! My ghost Peter sold :o)
Chicago looms just 3 weeks from now, well 3 weeks of work, one day of organizng all my show stuff, a day packing, then 2 days driving!! So my next couple of weeks will be spent sculpting away!!!! although I cannot sit all day or my old body screams with back stiffness/pain...so may work on things like a couple of gourd houses in between where i get to stand and stretch other muscles!! I dont know about other artists/miniaturists but I find i start out sitting up straight and slowly end up in some strange hunched position as i focus in on tiny things!!!
for anyone who has not seen any of my gourd houses or wagons, here is a pic of a groud vineyard house I have that will go to Chicago with me :o)

finished dino skulls!

Here is a pic of one of them, in my art gallery :o) http://www.etsy.com/listing/95985845/a-t-rex-dinosaur-skull-miniature

who wants a ghost?

Here is Peter :o) He is about 5 3/4 inches tall and like all my dolls is hand sculpted from polymer onto a wire body that is posable. I think he is lonely. He is $55.00 and then $5.00 for shipping anywhere!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/95972448/peter-a-ghost-dollhouse-miniature-doll

skulls

I have long wanted to get these plastic dinosaur skulls and do something with them. Finally got some, have painted and given them what I hope is a more realistic aged look... this is the idea I am working on! :o)

Another box, shelf unit :o)

busy busy busy again today getting ready for Chicago...meanwhile...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/95943717/a-rustic-or-art-deco-shelving-unit

Part of my new line, Steampunk Victorian Wall art

I started this whole line of art for the dollhouse after researching and seeing that there was really no art pieces for the dollhouse other than paintings! Here is a steampunk Victorian piece I just listed! I sure hope no one copies me! :o) http://www.etsy.com/listing/95905762/steampunk-victorian-modern-wall-art-for

Thank you for following! :o)

I see I have a few followers already!! thank you ladies!! :o) XXX

Missalina an elf :o)

http://www.etsy.com/listing/95905219/missalina-an-elf-dollhouse-miniature

New designs for displaying in Chicago

While I like my layout for shows I think maybe it is too earthy and dark? (pic my best friend not me LOL)

so going for white displays. also been thinking how to make the most of every inch, which can get cluttered when I have some larger things like gourd houses! In addition, because I have been making a lot of  littler things that are more affordable I need ways to display them. I had this shelf unit I built years ago to house stamps. It was in 2 pieces and so I connected them, and primed them all white and clean looking.

And then I have a cabin of sorts that I made and have been using for taking pics of things. I took off the roof, painted it all white and It will serve as something of an art studio to display the little art pieces I am  making.



the Chicago show

For anyone interested here is a link to the show next month!
http://3blindmiceshow.com/chicago_spring/

Welcome!

Ok I got rid of my old blog because it took up too much time (I was on dial up). We finally have high speed so now I have the time to do this!
First off, getting ready for a show, the Three Blind Mice show, in Chicago right now, and trying to finish some commission dolls too. There are so many ideas in my head and it reminds me....Dont you just love miniatures because there are no limits to what you can do, what era or theme you can choose? and what you can create that may not even exist in the real world of theme? :o)
My most recent obsession is miniature art in various forms, furniture is included in this. I have made several assemblage altered art dolls and just love them!!!



I am also going to begin offering things for sale here on the blog. So here we go!!!!