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.

Miniatura Wonder

Last weekend was Miniatura weekend.  Me and my mum went to the show on Saturday 28th March in Birmingham and what a time we had.  We both made many purchases.  I have taken photos of most of mine and will show pictures of most of them in place over the coming days.

I will do my best to make sure I list the proper sellers names here and will update or change them where I see there is an error or the information is missing.  I do want to make sure that the correct details are by the correct seller.

Knitting bag  -   apologies seller details will be added at a later date

Baskets  -  A Basket Of

Mirror  -  details to be added at a later date

All these gorgeous metal items were from the same seller - sizes 1/12th and 1/24th scale - seller details to be added at a later date

All these items are 24th scale.  

I believe the fish bowl, rhubarb and cabbage  -   Pride of Plaice

This was a pre-owned bird in a cage, I could not resist and perfect for my petshop.

All the packets and tins in the photo except the flea rid and chinchilla food  -  Platts Mini Packages

I love this picture says who I got this from.  It is beautiful and I will definitely want to buy another one from her.  My apologies for the painting being upside down.  It is perfect for my 24th scale cottage walls.  I am soooo happy.

Not only was the smaller of the teddies perfect for my terrace house, but the larger ones are just right for my hujoo girls.  And they were so cheap at only £1 each.

Again these speak for themselves.  -  Heidi Ott battery lights perfect for my terrace house living room and bedroom.

I am a bit upset I dont have the sellers name for this beautiful lady.  She was my 'spoiler item' which is the name I give to the item I buy myself as a treat.  She is perfect for my pet shop.  I finally found a doll for my shop that I am 100% happy with.  Seller details to follow once I have found the leaflet out.

I am hoping this doll seller is at the next Miniatura as I definitely plan to go and I am wanting to buy another lady for my terrace house.

All in all it was a fantastic day and I made some great purchases all of which will have pride of place in my mini buildings.  NOW I CANT WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE hahahaha :)

Slow Down!!...

Wow, this year is really flying by.  I didnt realise it had been so long since I last posted on here.

Well here is my progress...

I started by measuring the size books I wanted on my 24th scale book shelf and made a table with the size squares I wanted my pages to be.  This covered the whole of an A4 sheet.  Once done, I cut them into rows and chose my fineliner pens and papers I wanted as covers on my books.  I have also used sticky back plastic to make the covers more robust.  The pages were created by folding the squares into concertinas and gluing them to the covers.

And here are the completed books.  I have  used pen to give the books titles.  Some of the books have pages written and/or simple pictures but, I need to improve before I am willing to show those haha.  Lets just say its a work in progress.

Here are some of the books in place.  I have made more than these but, I still have a way to go before the shelves are all full.

Hopefully I will be able to show more progress soon.

Back to my hobbies - mini time

Today has been lovely and sunny.  I finally managed to get some garden time in.

After all my hard work, I have been shattered tonight.  During my time of sitting like a zombie on the sofa, I have decided that it is time to make sure I get moving with my minis and dolls more regularly again.

So, I have measured the shelves on my 24th scale bookshelf and I am going to print out some blank pages (measured blank table squares) and I am going to start making some books.  As I have said before when talking about my 12th scale terrace, I really love the thought of all my books being able to be opened and 'read'.

Unfortunately, I have no photos of my minis to show today.  Hopefully I will have some pics soon. But here is a sweet picture of a different sort of mini :)

The baby giraffe at Dudley Zoo.  Such a cutie   :)

Anyway.  I am off now to start making and crafting before bed.

Putting in a few more touches

Today, I put in the few 24th pieces that I had remaining on the ground floor of the cottage.  Although I had a home for most of the pieces in the picture I posted yesterday, some of them are waiting for the bedroom to be sorted and possibly the attic.

I put the sweeper in the tall cupboard near the front of the photo and the tray on the table in front of the fireplace is waiting for me to find the perfect cup and toast slice to put on it and you can just see the plant on the top of the book shelf.

I also added a few bits to the sink so they can be washed as the lady of the house always seems to be busy at the kitchen table, I thought it only right that there be some washing up waiting to be done.

There is also a plate now at the table so that can plan to finally sit down to have something to eat.

I am getting more and more pleased with all the progress at least on this floor.  I am hoping to start thinking about the books but because there are so many to do and I seem to get easily distracted, I am also going start working on the first floor.

Here is the picture showing how it looks now.

As you can see, it is a bit of a mess but gives me plenty of scope for improvement.

The cat is currently on the bed but, as you can see, the bed is in desperate need of dressing and some of the furniture needs fixing.  I am lucky, I have two of some of the furniture such as the bed, so I am able to experiment without too much worry.

I am looking forward to making a start on all this but, of course, I am back at work after the Christmas break and so my time is a little more limited again.  Fingers crossed.

CottageProgress

Today I was going to post about how pleased I am that I have finally positioned all the pieces of furniture and accessories in the cottage that I have so far, at least for the ground floor...

It started off well, I emptied the ground floor and started to dust all areas.

After moving all the pieces of furniture around and started filling the cupboards with cups and accessories.  I love the idea that anyone can open any of the cupboards and find things that you could find in a lifesize home.

I am pretty pleased with the results.  I still have to make the books to go on the book shelf.  I want all the books to have pages and open so I am still planning to make them myself although I am not sure that I will be able to illustrate them as well.

Well, here is the result after todays move around and sort.

And from the other side...

Well, like I said, I thought that meant that I had completed what I could for downstairs, considering all the items that I currently have.

Unfortunately, I then looked in my craft box and found some 24th items that I had not placed.  They will have to wait till another day now.  I had to stop to sort tea and felt too tired to continue for today.  Here are the items that will be waiting to be added to the cottage.

So, not long now till the downstairs is completed, but, today is not that day.

Cottage update

Today I thought I would look at my little 24th scale cottage.

The first thing I noticed was that it is in need of a spring clean and dust.

The next thing on my todo list is to sort out the bedding. and try and fix the piece of furniture where the drawer is constantly falling out.

The saucepans still have no home at the moment.  I am currently trying to decide whether to keep all or some of them.  I also need to fill the book shelf.  I am hoping to make all the books so that they open.

I have started to work on a scene for the loft area as well.  We will see how it goes.  It is still in the early stages of planning.

I am now going to introduce you to the latest addition to the cottage

I havent got a name for him yet.  I saw him on a shelf in a junk shop and couldnt resist him.

My 24th House Mate

And here she is...

She is a lovely sweet 'old' lady.  I am hoping to buy her a husband later this year.

I have made a little bit of progress with my 24th scale cottage.

These are my items that I have managed to add this Christmas.  It has been lovely to start adding a few more bits to the cottage.  I have a positive feeling about this year that all things mini will be making good progress this year.

Before...

After...

As you can see, I still have plenty left to do in the living room but, I have most of the large items and furniture.  I am looking forward to making the smaller finishing touches.

Bedtime Blues

Well, ok, not blue, yellow probably.  I have lots of projects that I need to get started on but, one of the things that I really need to get started on is some bedding.  I finished the basic outside to my 1/12th terrace at the end of last year and have started buying the items I need to furnish it but, I bought the bed for it a while back and it still has no bedding for it.  So I have decided to make a start on the bedding today.  I am at the moment sat with scraps of material, ribbons, lace and graph paper round me, ready to take the plunge and make a start.

This is a picture of my terrace house and 1/24th cottage.  The bed in the cottage is also awaiting bedding so, that is also on my 'to do' list.

I also have a bathroom project and a valentine table to make a start on for a couple of online groups that I am a member of so, I am hoping to be able to have a mini weekend to get moving with them over the next couple of days.

I am loving this new year so far, a busy mini year ahead for me.