Mini Ideas and Finds

I recently went to a Bric a Brac Fayre and managed to pick up some lovely items, perfect for minis.

Firstly was this little trinket box.

I love the pattern on the outside and it is the perfect size for my 24th scale cottage. I am so happy with this little box.

I am not so impressed with the inside at the moment but I can use this as one of my little projects.

It will be going in the loft of the cottage and I will be finding some little objects.  People who know me know that I love the idea of miniatures that offer something new to look at whenever someone looks.

I also found these...

The internal workings of small watches.  I thought these would be perfect to make authentic looking clocks for my twelfth scale house and pet shop.  As other mini fans know, sometimes you can just look at something and see many different ideas.  This little bag was one of those.

I havent started working on them yet but here they are out of the bag.  I shared them with my mum so she can also make some clocks.  I am going to experiment with a variety of materials, wood, clay, cardboard, leather etc to see what different looks I can find.  I have all sorts of ideas and doodles to work from.

Mini Update

Although me being able to sit and make things has been limited, I have still made some progress on my minis.

Firstly, I now have a small bookcase and modern desk for the upstairs office of my pet shop.

I had tried facing the desk the other way round but it looks a lot  better this way round although this photo does not do it justice.

Here is a photo of how my pet is now looking  :)

Still so much to do, but getting there bit by bit.

And now on to my terrace house bedroom.  I was recently given a bedside cabinet  I love it and it looks great with my 2nd battery lamp I had bought from Miniatura.  

And here is the bedroom as a whole.  I still have a couple of pieces of furniture that I would like to buy (a chair and a bedside cabinet) and I have a dolls house for my dollhouse that is currently waiting for me to paint it as it is plain wood at the moment.

As you can see from this picture, along with a couple of pieces of furniture, I will need to add a few other accessories to give it a 'lived in' feel.

Pet Shop Progress

Here is an update of my pet shop following my recent Miniatura trip.

As you may remember from previous posts on my shop, I seem to have spent a long time making very little progress.  Thank to my Miniatura outing, I found my inspiration to make an effort to sort the downstairs area.

Prior to this the ground floor had been very cluttered with a variety of pets.  I made the decision to take most of them out temporarily to tidy it up.  Once I have filled the shop with stock, I will bring a lot of them pets back in.

This was the downstairs after sorting and prior to placing my new items.

As you can see, It was looking pretty bare at this point.  I am happy to say that although there is still plenty left to do and most of the shelving still needs to be filled, with the new items in place, it is looking a lot more how I have pictured it.  I am now needing to save for the next Miniatura show in October this year.

The lady is looking very happy and at home in the shop.  I really do need to find a name for her and her shop now that I am feeling more happy and settled with the project.  I have to admit that I am feeling very happy too.  I am finally making progress again.

Along with saving for the next Miniatura, I also need to save to make a trip to my local Dolls House Shop as they have some furniture I want such as a new counter, computer desk and desk chair along with computer.

Back To It

I made a trip to our local Dolls House Shop called Dolls House Mania and picked up a single display shelf for the Pet Shop.  I have had plans to buy this shelf since Christmas so I am really pleased.

And here it is in place.

I have high hopes that by the end of June the majority of the making and work will be done leaving just the finishing touches.

I have two main pieces of furniture left to buy now.  A new serving counter and a computer desk for the lady who will be working here to complete the boring paperwork and office duties that come hand in hand with running your own business :)

Research

This evening I was going to be researching items that I can use in my pet shop.  Unfortunately, I got side tracked by everyone's lovely blogs again haha.  Of course I can technically still count it as research and I have definitely been left feeling inspired.

When I go to Miniatura later this year, I am planning on buying items for my 24th scale cottage and more things for the shop that I am not confident making myself and cannot buy at the dolls house shop that is relatively local to me.

That being said, I havent been to Dolls House Mania since the beginning of December and it is such a lovely shop with such friendly people.  I am hoping to go there again soon because I plan to buy the last of the shelves I need from there.

Moving on... back to the research.

I shall be looking at making a list and then start with making what I need.  That should keep me busy and out of trouble for a few days :)

Pet Shop Progress

Today I decided to finally start clearing out the Pet Shop (Yes, I know, still not found a name for it yet), and began to get the shelving and items in place.

Here are the before pictures;

Such a mess eh?  Well, please don't get your hopes up, the ground floor is still not looking good.

I do like some of the shelving but there is still so much left to do on the ground floor, and I am looking forward to the challenge.  

As you can see, there is a blank space in the corner.  I will be purchasing another single shelf for that area and then working on continuing making stock.  Hopefully, this will give the effect I am after.  Since buying this property, I have really struggled to find what I feel will suit it.  I tried a holiday home, a cottage and then a haberdashery.  I would love to make it right and feel I am on the right track with it at last.

The first floor is taking shape...  finally...

Yay!!

One last bit of great news.  I have spoiled myself and my mum today.  I have booked two tickets for Miniatura this March at the NEC.  Just got to wait till closer to the time and then they should arrive in plenty of time for us to go.  A lovely day out for just us two to enjoy.

The plan for Miniatura this year? I shall be looking for 24th scale cottage items and Pet Shop items. I am so excited.  I really needed something to look forward to this year and this was just the thing.

Belated Merry Christmas to All

Hi Everyone,

What is happening to this year? Too late to worry really I suppose but wow!!

Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

I thought I would quickly pop on to have a quick catch up on what is going on in blog land and show everyone the new shelving I have for my pet shop.

I will show more photos once I have the shelves in place with some stock on them. 

Of course, the next steps then will be returning to the dolls house shop to pick up more shelving and then start working on straightening the upstairs.  It is a tough job but someone has to do it.

Finally, I apologise for my absence, I have needed to take on a second part time job and I have been struggling to adjust to the new times etc.  Unfortunately, this job was only temporary over Christmas and is shortly coming to an end.  On the plus side, at least this means I will have more time for my minis again.

In need of a sort... again

Today was the turn of the pet shop.

As you can see, it is feeling a little neglected.  I havent done much to it recently.  I must admit, I am starting to get more enthusiastic when looking at some of the ball jointed dolls.

I am hoping to have another push at getting some of the items and animals in place.  I had wonderful plans when it came to sorting out the shop.  I would like to make it even more over run with animals eventually.

As you can see, there are books on the floor of the shop.  I am thinking of using them to try and fill up the bookshelf in the living room of the terrace house and making books for the pet shop with proper petcare titles.  I keep having so many plans.  I really need to be a little more strict so that I can complete some of them.

I still have not found a person that I am happy with to run the shop.  I have a lady that I was going to use on the market stall but, I have had to put the stall away due to lack of space and my larger doll collection growing.

This was one of my newer guinea pig hutches.  It is a little big for the downstairs of the shop but, I am considering putting it upstairs and including more animals up in what was originally going to be the office area.

This is my favourite guinea pig hutch.  The photo does not do it justice.  I have had this hutch for a year or so now so you have probably seen it before.  I bought it from a Miniatura show I went to.  

Hopefully, I will manage to complete one of my projects by the end of next year.  

Back to the Pet shop stock

Sorry for my absence recently.  I am back, although I am hoping to be working on other crafts too till I am all caught up with myself.  The last month saw real life go from chaos to total chaos and things look uncertain for a while to come. But, the beauty of minis and all things crafty is the escape it provides so onwards and upwards.

Tonight I started making some more stock for my pet shop.  I didnt have any wood the right size so, I rolled some clay to roughly the right shapes for cans.  I am going to make my own labels and see how they turn out, they might be marked as worked in progress lol.

I also made a couple more bowls, balls and chews.

I am going to make more tins and will be hunting round for pet type printy boxes but, making my own labels for the cans and bottles seems the best idea at the moment and I could really do with stretching my skills to other things.  I am also going to trawl through some catalogues and internet pages to look for more inspiration to make my items more varied after all, I need to get together stock for birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, cats etc as well.

Pet Shop progress

I have been sorting out the ground floor of the pet shop today.  First I emptied out all the items that were already in there and then I placed the items from Debbies giveaway.

Next, I added items that I had made/bought over the last few months.  I have so slow making progress with my shop.  I still intend to buy new shelving so these are temporary homes till I have saved up and found the kind of shelving that I am happy with.  I have bought on impulse before and always end up regretting it because it wasnt quite what I had hoped.

I am feeling like I have a lot more motivation now and am looking forward to putting more planning into it and making yet more books lol.

Think I surprised the Postman

T oday I saw my postman arriving before he saw me.  He had a parcel in his hand and I knew what it was.  I threw the door open before he even arrived at the door.  What can I say? My inner child got the better of me.  He looked a little surpirsed but quickly recovered and smiled.
It was a parcel off Debbie at http://makeminemini-makeminemini.blogspot.com/  as I won her giveaway.

Wow, there are so many items, all beautifully made.  I love them all and have decided where they are all going to live.  Thank you so much, I am one very lucky lady.

These gorgeous items are all going to live in my terrace house. Arent they beautiful?

These sweet pet items are all going in my  1/12 pet shop.  I dont think the photo does them justice.  I love them.  I am going to place them in their new home tomorrow and post pictures.  

How about these for more gorgeous pet items?  These items will also be living in my pet shop.  The dog coat is exquisite.  The attention to detail on it is wow.... Debbie, all I can say is, please let me know if you start selling the dog coat.  All the items are going to be loved for years to come.

Debbie also gave me these printies.  They are so lovely.  I have been truly spoiled in her giveaway and the time and attention she has given to all these many items is amazing.

Thank you so much Debbie.  The link to her blog is http://makeminemini-makeminemini.blogspot.com/  
More photos will follow soon of all these wonderful items in their new homes.

Pet Shop

My pet shop used to be a haberdashery.  As soon as I had stocked the shelves with fabric and trimmings etc, I felt it wasnt what I was after...  Rather than just moving things around, I emptied the shelves where I hadnt glued things down and took out all signs of what it was.  Unfortunately, I didnt take any photos of what it had looked like in its previous life (I have only just started getting better at remembering pictures lol).  I love animals so, the idea of turning it into a pet shop is quite exciting for me.

There is lots to do to the outside and the inside and it is going to take a lot of thought.  I am a lot more certain on the effect I want inside than the outside but here is how it is looking so far...

At the moment the outside is looking very plain but, it does give me a blank canvas.  I am happy with the colours so, I just need to think about signage and items to decorate the outside.

The inside is looking very cluttered at the moment and most of the items upstairs will be stored safely in boxes as they are not for the shop.  I plan on buying some more shelving etc as I would like it all to match and I am definately NOT a furniture maker, try as I might, me and wood do not get on.  I am however hoping to make most of the items myself and when I am feeling braver, I may attempt making some of the animals too.  This is one of my big projects for this year.