Last Day of National Dollhouse Miniature Month

I want to thank all of you who have been following my blogs this month.   It has been great fun and I have received lots of great comments.   Thanks to those of you who have signed on as followers - I appreciate your interest and it makes me want to produce a better blog for you.

If you signed up for email updates, thanks.   I hope to keep them coming for you.

All month I have touted finished projects and additional enhancements to existing projects.   Today  I am going to break that with a great big 

TEASE.

The following neglected dollhouse has been mine for about 25 years.   My husband gave it to me and wondered why it took so long to put together.   It was hard work!!!!   It looked lovely, but Hurricane Wilma did a number on her.   That much humidity did nothing for the wiring and didn't help the wall paper.   Well when you neglect a project, it seems to get worse by the day.

These are all what I will call Before pictures, because in the next few weeks, I want to update the rooms, rearrange some furniture, add some things to each room and take away the out of date and/or damaged items.  

 She doesn't look too bad in this photo.   The table she is on needs a skirt so the storage doesn't distract from the house.   My theme for the house is Christmas Wedding.   

 This is the attic.   One side is to be a guest room, the other is storage.   I'm sorry you can't tell.   I've been planning this for awhile and as I acquire new lighting fixtures and new items, I've just been pitching them in the attic.   It looks like it has been ransacked.   

 This is the nursery.   Poor furniture tipped over.   Really needs some work.  

The bride in the bathroom is in dire need of some assistance.   The tub has become unglued and the poor bride has fallen over.   She needs a really nice  bath and she shall have it.  

The living room is a collection of more presents and things to enhance the Christmas wedding theme.    Really looks like someone has made a big mess; but will be fixed.  

 More wiring in the porch.   Needs some work. (to say the least)

 Master bedroom.   Needs some refreshing and all the toys picked up.  

 This is the father's den.  It is in the process of being set up with the gift table.   So far, not so good.  

One of the worst rooms in the house is the kitchen.   It really needs some help.  

I forgot to take a picture of the dining room, but I will include before when I post after.   

Stay tuned!

Thanks again for following my blog.   

One More Little Project for the Month

I thought I wouldn't have time to do one more little project this month, but this one went together really well.

It is a little hat shop.   It took about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to finish.   I had the hats and the jewelry, mostly from previous swaps I've done.    The bright blue and bright red hats were made by Jan Stockwell.   You've seen her dolls in some of my blogs; her hats are great too.   The kit was offered through Quarter Connection and it was A Shoppe Vignette by Suzane Herget

 Notice the dime - this is a little shop.  

The kit came with a little plastic container so this scene should stay quite nice and dust free.   

Now, I have to admit to a mistake.   I got glue on the mirror and couldn't get it off.   Used a bit of nail polish remover and it took most of it off - still not too good.   Painted mirror with clear nail polish - presto - it looked like a brand new mirror.   Keep in mind when you are a little heavy handed with the glue.  

Let's get out the decorations for Halloween

I love to decorate for holidays and in my house, decorating for Halloween is almost as much as I do for Christmas.    I try to get the decorations up on October 1st, transition then for Thanksgiving (a lot less items) then gear up again for Christmas.

What Halloween Holiday would be without my mini Halloween scenes.

My first Halloween scene was started in 2005 and you can read about it HERE   It was a long-term project.   It got put on hold due to Hurricane Wilma.   

I just love the holiday and like it done in many ways.   The next scene changed from 1 inch scale to quarter scale.

To find that original post, you and find it HERE.   It was a fun little project and I hope you find it fun.   

I hope you have a very Happy Halloween!   

Let's talk about Blogs

There is no mystery on why I blog.   When I retired in 2006, I wanted to do a web site and admit that  it took me a little over a year to get it on line.   About 30 minutes after it went live, I got a message that said I had to remove some of the content (pictures) or pay a higher rate.   That was a blow.   I worked and worked and decided that paying more was a waste of my money and my time.  So after coming to grips with spending over a year and having the world's worst web site, and  I wanted a place to share projects and collections, I decided to blog.  I decided to do two blogs.   One for collectibles, Raggedy Anns and Andys, elephants, miniatures in two scales (Quarter Scale and 1/12), dishes etc.   The other is for art projects, Junk and Jewels.     Junk and Jewels have paintings, masks, collages, pottery, jewelry etc.   

Raggedy Kingdom

Junk and Jewels

Blogs are certainly interesting things.   On blogspot there are dozens and dozens of things you can add to a blog.   When I first started, it was VERY BASIC.   After exploring blogs of others, I found I could add music (didn't like that and removed it), slide shows, pictures, lists, viewers' count, links, subscriptions, searches, follower section.   There are so many things I could add, but I want to stay fairly focused on why I decided to blog to start with.    I've been to blogs that were almost impossible to use because they had too much.   

When you go to Blogspot blogs, there is a neat little block at top that says 'next blog'.   Sometime search thru those.  They could be on all subjects and many you won't like, just keep moving on.   Sometimes you find one that is amazing and you will want to go back time and time again.     

Followers.   I love my followers.   This is an advantage to me because I know there are some who really like my blog and come back frequently to see what I am doing.   I get their comments and suggestions etc.   Also, if you have an account, you can see what blogs you follow.   Have you ever found a blog, loved it and never found it again - well just list yourself as a follower and you won't lose it.  The more feedback a blogger gets, the better the blog.   Without followers and feedback it's rather hollow.   

Subscriptions.   Although I am posting every day during October for National Dollhouse Miniature Month, I generally post less frequently.   If you subscribe, you will get an email notice that there is a new post.   Also a nice way to keep track of your favorite blogs.  Not all blogs offer subscriptions, but if you like this feature, leave a comment and suggest it.   

Search.   I have a search blank.   If you want to see a particular item, act like it's Google and type in a word and it will show you any blog that covers that subject.   Most blogs also have a list of previous posts, by year, month and date.   Good way to find a specific blog.  

Pages.   At the top of my blog I list pages.   Under those subjects you will find those blogs that are under that subject.   Might be a way to see what I've done in a given area.   Here is another area that I have rather broad headlines.    Take a look (it needs to be updated, but I will try to get that done very quickly)

Slideshows.   On each of those blogs, I have slide show of the other blog.   Gives you a little taste of what I am doing.  

Pictures.   You will notice several, mostly my son and it brightens my day when I post a blog and it enables me to share major events in my life.

I would love to have your comments.   I'd love to have you as follower.  

Sharing minis at a Beta Sigma Phi meeting last fall.   

My beach shack after the Fort Myers Fun Day spring 2012.

Come back often!  

NAME Day Project

NAME Day is a celebration of the origination NAME,   National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts.   It is held in October and recognized 3 scales, 1/12, 1/2 and 1/4 scale.    This is my 3rd year of participation of the NAME Day Event with Quarter Connection.   There are individuals and clubs all over the country (and world) working on these projects.    With the Quarter Connection group, you get the item that NAME decided to make.   In 2010 it was a hutch, in 2011 it was a kitchen island, and this year it is an alcove.

2010 Project

2011 Project

2012 Project  

 Nearly assembled.

 Alcove on jig.   Nearly finished.  

 Finished.   

It was a super fun project.   Looking forward to using the other alcoves that I purchased in different environments.   

Miniatures for November and December

Well, let's finish off the year.   As you have seen, some months are really productive and others not so much.   

All my projects for the end of the year were quarter scale.     

This first project was the souvenir house for the Quarter Connection Virtual Convention.   HERE   is where you can see my presentation for the virtual luncheon.   

I am absolutely crazy about 'four season' scenes.   I have 3 more kits to do the other 3 seasons.   Don't know when I will get them done, but I do know the inspiration will hit at some time.   

 You might not realize it, but on the porch is an ice cream freezer - what a great 4th of July custom.   

I had the above picture on my iPad and last January I met a woman at Sarasota who mentioned the virtual convention and what she had made as a swap.   She had made a little swimming pool.   When I showed her the picture, she was absolutely thrilled - it was her contribution.   That was SUCH FUN!


On another yahoo group - Small and Smaller - they had a tea room swap.   Most of the participants did their rooms in tea pots.   I had this great box that I had gotten for a few dollars at a yard sale and I wanted to o mine in the box.   Tea shop on lower level and bedroom upstairs.   This project will make a reappearance at some time because I think both rooms need more 'stuff'.   

 I love the bedroom.   However, can you imagine that I wouldn't have things on the walls.   Just haven't found the right stuff yet, But I Will!

This little frame with the box built behind it was an item that I won in a quarter connection auction.   When it arrived I figured I would just wrap it up and wait until later to do the room.    It was getting way too close to Christmas to worry about it.   It sat on my workbench for a few days and one day it basically assembled itself.   Once I added the love seat and chair and the tree  the rest was a piece of cake.   Just gathered things from my stash and it was done.    I love snowmen and thought t would make a great addition to my collection      Do any of you like snowmen?   HERE is my snowman collection.   

 Now it shouldn't be a surprise to you that I love Mary Englebreit, almost as much as I like Raggedy Ann and Andy.    I am truly not sure when this will be done, but it is furnished and lighted and useful because of the clock, so at the present time, it awaits another hit of inspiration.   

My favorite room is the living room.   

Stay tuned, I know something will appear in this clock at some later time.   If its substantial, I will post about it.

I've been posting about 2011 projects - there were 24 of them.   As you can tell, I love minis.   

Miniatures for October

October was strictly a quarter scale month.  No 1/12 items at all.  

The first project was the quarter connection 2011 NAME Day project.   The main project was the center island.   The rest of the project was the Quarter Connection Kit and Swaps with fellow QC members.   It is also a lighted project over the kitchen sink.   It is a fun project every year.   I will talk more about the NAME DAY projects later in the month.

I've talked a lot about the Diner and the following picture is how it was blogged originally in 2011.   Just recently I posted an update.   Scroll down.  

This is the updated version.   More people (including a waitress), more food, door behind the counter for the kitchen.   Sometimes you don't know when something is done.    When I originally finished it my husband said they would go broke without more business.   Duly noted!  

Another Quarter Connection project, the upstairs workroom.   This is really full and the dollhouse is making great progress.  Please note the TV mounted on the wall.   I would have to have a TV.  

Well the following project grew out of the one just reviewed.   I had too much stuff for the upstairs workroom, so I made another little workroom.     I just love this little room and it is very small.   

 I just love how this hobby grows and sometimes develops a life of it's own.