Annual Half-Scale Swap; A to Z Blog Challenge 24

  

My items, last year's swap

Continuing on the A to Z Blog Challenge - getting that P in here for SwaP. (* Back to Day 1. Click photos for full image.) 

Been doing this for years and it's always fun getting the box of hand-made items from the annual Half-Scale Swap. Members of the half-scale group on Groups IO do such a great job! (* Click photos for full size.)

Here's last year's Kitschy swap and links to previous swaps.

There's usually a theme as a suggestion, but everyone can make what they want. This year the theme was general, but I at least make whatever comes to mind at the time. I already have next year's idea and was lucky to find the components at the dollhouse show! 

Hopefully I didn't mix up names as I unwrapped these for photos.

Cute handmade bread and baskets - Gail (SoCal)

Coffee table - Paula W

Round rugs - Emily M. (she has a great HS house collection. Check out her blog.)

Brown planter - Bea J

Toaster (with teensy toast slices!)  - Karen from MiniEtchers.com

Tiny wicker planter w/ greenery (holy cow she wove all those!) - Glenda D

Neat whale picture and love the real-life postcard! Robin,  Merriweatherminiatures on Instagram.

Vintage landscape painting, newspaper, Christmas deer - mine.

Cool dress mannikin, Adrian C - Makes me want to do a dress shop!

Plate shelf, Ruth G - Red/black braided rug, Eva P -  Easter basket, Emily B

Neat 3D printed baskets and shells, Jackie B

Cute!! I was making a hot chocolate table before. Can always use more mugs too! - Helen S

Plants, copper planters, Sharon J - Tray, cookies, Mary W - Bag, grocery boxes, Annilee T

These are the cutest! So tiny! Teensy gnomes, Sydney H

Toy wagon with some fun toys! Love that it has a Raggedy picture so it'll fit in the planned Raggedy Ann house. And that almost looks like the Raggedy camel! - Cyndi McD - And I think the tiny Christmas packages are from our organizer, Terezinha

Also got these great 3D printed plate and cup sets from Terri C. Cool mod design. (The plate sets are from ShopMiniDecorandMore on Etsy.)

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Once again, great stuff, nicely done! Always fun opening this box each year. - and I already know what I'm making next time! Thank you everyone!

N for Noncorporeal Fiction: A to Z Blog Challenge 24

 

Today is the letter N-O for the A to Z Blog Challenge. 

(Back to Day 1. Next: 4/19 - P for the Half-scale SwaP )

Figured since I mentioned my upcoming story before, I wanted to share the art and the upcoming Kickstarter, starting 4/17 TODAY.

My story, "Secrets of the Last Mine," will be in the spooky anthology, Noncorporeal II, coming soon from Inkd Publishing.

 *** Follow the Kickstarter to get in on cool editions and other goodies! Starts TODAY 4/17! 

* *  Follow Inkd Publishing on FB for the latest news.

Love My HS Mansion - A to Z Blog Challenge 24

Continuing the A to Z Blog Challenge with a favorite project - L-M for Love my Half-Scale Mansion! (*Click photos for full size/better view. Back to Day 1.)

The Mansion, technically the Park Ave. Mansion from Laser Dollhouse Designs, has been a favorite to work on. Okay, they're all favorites ha! But I wanted to try something different this time and wanted a vertical project. While I love how some people have turned theirs into modern homes in black and white, I had the idea to make separate apartments on each floor. And I wanted to do a diner on the first floor. I've never built a diner/restaurant but thought this would be fun in half-scale. (The standard 1" scale is 1" = 1 foot. Example: a 6-foot-tall person is 6" tall. In half-scale, it's roughly half of that.)

The back: (before finishing)

The diner: Love this but I have to re-fix the left wall light again. Before photo. I still have a few other things to add yet.

I was hoping to add some final finished room photos here but... I had an eclipse of the dollhouse! The day of the eclipse, I had to change a bulb, then changed another - somehow got a short and the house went black! Luckily we only had to cut the electric tape underneath the house in one spot, then re-solder to get it working again. Whew!

The long explanation:  But.... I still have two lights to re-figure  and wondering if I want to try getting a pin-bulb in that wall lamp again. Such a trial! And I have to re-solder a new lamp to the wires I cut in the top floor. Trying to see if I have a lamp that will work or I'll try the floor lamp again except leave a longer cord if I have to refit another bulb. Learned my lesson. I hate these bulbs and next time will put a wall socket and use a plug so I can remove them to work on! Otherwise I use 12 v bulbs I get in a big pack that aren't sold strictly for dollhouses and they last a long time! I'll do a video tour soon once it's all done. Meanwhile: 

Floor one: The diner:

I took the unusual step in this house of adding fake walls and doors leading to the hall stairs/elevators like a hotel. I didn't want to use stairs as they take up too much room. I've since changed the door curtain to white so it'll go more with the other window.

Floor 2: The rich widow/building owner's apartment:

Left side: Bedroom, so far - pre-moving in stage. Still things to be added and changed. I painted and decorated pieces from the Victorian bedroom set and screen (in temporary spot) from the Victorian dressing room set from HartsDesireMinis /etsy.

I just love the bed and colors.

Floor 2 right side - hall/living room. Furnishings on the way!

Floor 3: first look - cook's apartment

The diner cook/chef lives on the third floor. The left side sitting room is shared with his daughter, who waitresses in the diner. I have more furnishings added since this photo. That standing lamp is the other one I need to fix. I love the brick. (All textured brick papers used in and outside house from Starboc2 on etsy. The tile flooring except in diner is from Melvin's Miniatures.)

The door on the right leads to the cook/chef's small kitchen and sleeping quarters. He likes to try out new recipes sometimes or stay up late watching TV after a long night. I'll add a small TV and pictures, plus his late night snack and some cooking items in here yet. I loved adding the turquoise color to match the bed fabrics and curtains, and to coordinate with the tile floor.

The bed was made of small wood scraps. The bed covers were glued to a piece of aluminum foil so I could "scrunch" them to look rumpled, like he just got out of bed. It's hard to tell here but the ceiling light is made from a "crystal" design globe removed from some replacement LED Christmas lights. They make great light covers. Used them also in the hanging lights in the diner.

The wall sink/cooking unit was from a kitchen cupboard kit from D. Tales Miniatures. I added some food and items. The table was from a swap which I decided to repaint to match the room. 

I need a spoon by that pot. I know I have some wooden spoons... somewhere. 😆

Added some food to the table. I should've put the half-sandwich, oranges and chips on a dark plate to show up better. I might change it. The mug is a shaped bead with a thread handle.

Upper roof: I added greenery in planters all around for privacy and to give it a certain look. Plus the gargoyle guard in front. (Photo taken before windowboxes added.) I'll add a small grill once I find one I like.

I added a light string around the greenery, too.

There'll be more photos once I fix the lights and have a "moving-in" day. I got fed up so taking a few days away from this. ha!

 Next: 4/17-18, Weds.-Thurs: N-O - Noncorporeal II Fiction     

Just a New Kit: A to Z Blog Challenge 24

 

What's this? Well....

Continuing the annual A to Z Blog Challenge - letters J-K.

I did start a new in-between kit I didn't mention earlier. (*Click photos for full size.) Back to Day 1)

My friend Gigi gave me this little house kit this past Christmas and we started building them together a couple weeks ago. And I do mean little! It is only 5" tall and 3" wide. I have no idea what scale it is, though you'll get a better idea when you see some of the furnishing pieces. The pink piece is the bed headboard. Yikes!

I, of course, couldn't leave it as is. I'm not a big fan of the color blue, but when I saw this I thought it would make a cute project all in yellow with a sunflower theme! A favorite color and flower! Eventually I'd like to do a half-scale room with that (which in comparison to this, seems huge!) I also painted the dark blue roof and doors a sage green. The "shutters" will also be that color. I really like the top sunflower print. I never like the prints that come with these kits, more geometric and generic.

I printed out these papers and shrunk them down. The bottom room walls are scrapbook paper, which I thought fit well. I really like the boldness of the patterns. I like using larger patterns. I glued on wood strips for moldings to give it a "rustic" look. I'll add a wood strip on that black line,  too -  the bathroom section. Yeah that "curtain piece," a piece of lace, is glued on a thin wire poked through two teensy beads on the ends!

The kitchen pieces are super tiny! But so far, so good. I like how they turned out. Painted the blue to yellow. I switched the metal handles, except on the fridge, and used the black wire instead for the other pieces.

The whole house is really small probably the only kit I'll ever do in this size! Well, never say never, right? ha! Not sure what the scale is but... I'll give more progress when I get further. I'm kind of intrigued by it so I'll keep going.

Thanks for visiting! I'll have more posts coming soon about the upcoming annual half-scale swap. Next: 4/15-16 Mon./Tues: L-M: Love my  HS 1/24 Mansion!

Have to See Dollhouse Displays: A to Z Blog Challenge 24

 Some things seen at the annual dollhouse shows. 

Miniature Chicago Sports Bar

Today for the A to Z Blog Challenge (See Day 1, April 1 ), I thought I'd share a few of the neat things I saw at the shows. I also just got the box for this year's half scale swap but I won't be able to share it for another week at least so everyone has the chance to open theirs. Stay tuned!

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Went to the annual dollhouse shows in Chicago on Saturday, which is always fun. I love to show some of the things I saw and what I got. (*Click photos for full size for better view.)

Always fun to go see what's new, meet people, and well, buy stuff. ha! 

Saw some neat things at the Spring Miniatures Showcase in Schaumburg, IL - T&D Miniatures. I'll try to credit the makers if I can find the information.

Cool Miniature Sports Bar

This was so cool! Fantastic project by Kelley Kuehnert. What's neat is this mini Chicago sports bar also has a working TV showing the winning 2016 world series game! Actually it is an mp4 player which is a cool idea I haven't seen anyone use yet. It's really a well-done project.

Another cool table. She has a lot of neat haunted items. That haunted cauliflower is a riot and she said she'd made a whole haunted garden for someone years ago. How fun!

The spooky foods are a riot!

Another cool haunted table.

Found quite a few neat displays at the Bishop Chicago International Show at the Marriott hotel in Chicago. 

Room setting in a frame

Pretty table. I really liked the floral border.

Longtime miniaturist Kathi Kuti dolls had the cutest display table. And aren't these cat and animal figures just adorable???

These foods from Whimsies Dollhouse Shop are sooo realistic. Yum! Hungry yet??? (Pizza photo: Gigi N.) (The watermelon had a great transparency, better than my photo shows.)

This was the cutest thing. Someone shared a photo online of another lady with a yellow house purse. Happened to see her on the bus and then spotted this lady's purse. Now isn't this great? (Her daughter shared the link on Amazon. Link I found shows it at  $19.54 (other link didn't work anymore. Search will bring up other sellers.)  It also comes in black and white. Very tempting! It was a decent size, too, and not too small or too big. Just  so cute!!! Maybe I found my birthday gift. ha!

This is but one of several amazing crystal chandeliers made by artisan Frank Crescente. Here is a link at the Museum of Miniatures of a miniature view of the Titanic grand staircase and ceiling by him as well. 

New house kits from Little Vintage Lane Miniatures. Half-scale model, too.

(You can see full views of the full HS model at link above.) I like that it has an attached deck/greenhouse.

Scary snakes, cool lizards, great detail. Karl Blindheim animals

Next:  4/12 Fri: J-K - Just a new Kit   👱

Got at Dollhouse shows: A to Z Blog Challenge 24

1" scale tins and plant kits from CastleCrafts.

Today for the A  the A to Z Blog Challenge (See Day 1, April 1 ), I thought I'd share a few of the cool kits and things I found at the annual dollhouse shows in Chicago. Come back tomorrow for the letter H-I to see some of the Halloween & Other items I saw at the shows. 

* Click photos for full size and larger view.)

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Some of the kits I've come to love are from CastleCrafts (from South Africa and also shipping from New Jersey.) The kits are cut from a sturdy mat board, (similar to Petite Properties in the UK), but they go together well and have a great final result. 

Now while I mostly get and make half-scale (1/24th) kits now, I still occasionally have a few 1" scale projects I like to do. I liked the plants and tins in the top photo, and while I don't need another house project, this 1" scale storefront is a neat display project and not too big. So I couldn't resist. It'll be a nice smaller way to store some things between projects. I think I'll do a brick with gold and black like an older French or English shop.

For half-scale, I found quite a few fun kits. I really liked this cooker and the sink, which can fit in a cabin kit I'll eventually work on. I liked the European look and it's different than the usual furniture kits.

I was also tickled to find this weird "wonky" clock in half-scale. It's just too cute to pass up! The parlor chairs are also nice as I got the matching  French chaise lounge.

My other favorite vendor, SDK Miniatures, always has a great selection of furniture and plant kits. I love her Gothic items! I also got the second cafe table/chairs for the mansion diner and these unique poison plants for the witch's cottage. The philodendron will go in the mansion. I also found the second cafe' table/chairs for the diner and another set of plain wood chairs. That's after I fix a light problem. Darn. Knew these wall lights with pin-bulbs would be a problem. I'll have to re-solder one and attach a new light.

Cindy McDaniels (Cindy's Minis, IN) had some great half-scale pieces. I like furnishings I can remake, like these resin pieces, including a vintage Tootsietoy ice box that I'll paint. I found the painted metal stove at another table. There's a also a resin fridge (cabinet?) that came with the bed lot. The bed will be covered with fabric.

Also found some cute Chrsynbon plates painted for Halloween.

The assorted bookcases and counter were from J&J Miniatures from FL. He had quite a few half-scale pieces and since they were priced similar to kits, it saves me from doing the work. I just have to paint and decorate them. I liked the TV display stand (left), too, as it's similar to the stand/bookcase I decorated with a travel theme in my yellow Victorian house. (Other furnishings: Victorian bed, twin dressers, bookcases at link above.) I also got a bargain lot of wood doors from him.

Also got some nice tile flooring from Melvin's Miniatures. (I used the black/white stars tile floor in the witch's house and a couple vintage-look patterns in the mansion, too.)

There is more. Plenty of tiny decorative items and other furnishings like a couple bathroom sets, one plastic, one painted black, maybe for a Haunted house or I'll have to repaint it. Since I used all my bathroom pieces in the last couple houses, it's nice to find some inexpensively priced items. I found some tiny metal/pewter pots to paint for the diner kitchen, also, I really did get a good selection of kits at both shows.

Here's one of the bath sets, the fridge (or a cabinet that doesn't open?) and a fun little robot figure from another table. He kept staring so I couldn't resist. ha!

So fun stuff to work on and keep me busy for a while! I'll share things I finish later.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for H-I. - Stuff seen at the shows.

Next: Friday, 4/12 for J-K  - Just a new Kit I'm working on.