Embracing The Detour

Hello My Friends! Once again, I didn't intend to stay away from my blog for so long! But all of the things that keep keeping me away have taken so much longer to finish than I thought they would! At least I am back now with some amazing progress to share on my workroom and with news of a long awaited return to a beloved, if too long sidelined, project. Let's catch you up...

Current State - Still a lot left to do. Purple chair will have a teal charcover.
Retreads in front of window seat will eventually go on the staircase, lol!

We got the ceiling and walls painted and boy does it feel fresh in the office half of my work room! Despite its chilly name, the Benjamin Moore Jack Frost paint is such a warm and tranquil shade of light teal and I just love how it feels to be in this room now! That salmon-y pink I had in the former living room was really harshing my vibe. I didn't even realize how much until the last patch was covered by primer!

Photo from September 2015

A few years ago we had cut and painted a piece of plywood to fit inside the recess of the upper arched part of the window. The intent was to block the intense afternoon sun from shining in and blinding me because my desk faced the window. It made a big impact taking that down, too. Now that my back is to the window, it does not seem so bad for very long in the afternoon. I am really loving the light! If it becomes a problem, I will find another solution other than blocking the wonderful light. 

    

I painted the shelf backs a color called Surf City. I love the contrast with the white shelves and the way it plays so nicely with the wall color. I have moved some of my mini projects over to those shelves and it seems like a nicer way to display them. I have many more to move over that are currently residing in grandma's hutch. I also bought special frames to display a couple of the projects that were featured on the covers of American Miniaturist and Dollshouse World. 

Russ put together a rustic sign board for me using three pieces of the tongue and grove boards we have left over. He sanded them and attached them together so that I could whitewash them. I made stencils on the Cricut to paint the My Miniature Madness logo. We'll get it hung this weekend. The whole workroom is starting to feel like a legitimate workshop for me! There are several more details and decorations I want to add as I have time and inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration... When removing all of the things from the shelves in order to paint them, I did a lot of detailing to many past projects. Honestly, it was a task that was long overdue and I was a little surprised at myself for having let it go for so long. Ah well, it does no good to live backwards so I just got on with the cleaning and detailing and actually enjoyed the walk down memory lane.

When I got to the Three Pigs project (it was the 2017 HBS Creatin' Contest entry in which I received Honorable Mention), I was aghast at how much dust had accumulated. It made sense though, as the roof was cut back a ways for ease of reaching in. It made me think that in any future project I do, I want to be sure to make it completely enclosable. And then I thought, why not take The Three Pigs apart, streamline the scene and put it into a new, completely enclosed room box? I love the idea of cutting the items down and giving the scene new life. Big, spacing hogging projects are so much to keep! I set about decommissioning the brick house, saving the contents for future display, and I even gave the structure to a new mini enthusiast! 

And all the reminiscing and dusting had me thinking about The Storybook Cottage. There are some incredible minis that I collected for the project and have yet to display. It is so close to being complete and I love that dollhouse so, so much! What am I waiting for??? There is no time like NOW! So I have determined that that will be the project I bring down to the table to work on as I find any mini time. Finally!!! It is really going to need some TLC. Time has revealed which adhesives fail over time and what dust can do to a garden full of flowers.  This will be quite a journey...

And the final bit of change I have to share is my window seat area. My wonderful and generous 30 something son gifted me with some yards of lovely peacock colored upholstery fabric and several pillow covers in varying shades of teal in order to recover and rejuvenate the best feature of the former living room. It has turned out so lovely, and I am looking forward to testing out it's comfortableness with a nice afternoon nap in the near future.

And that's a lot of what kept me away from minis and blogland, my friends. I am really struggling with the urge to get hip deep in a mini project, and I've almost got enough off my To-Do list to jump in guilt free! I can't wait!

Hope you're hip deep into something joyful now, too!

xo xo,

Jodi

Storybook Cottage Links In Chronological Order.

Hello Dear Readers,

It has been brought to my attention that some of the Storybook Cottage posts are not coming up in the search or tag link. That is so frustrating when you are trying to find something. I can't find a common denominator as to why, so I thought I would just create a list of links in chronological order for easier reference.

 1. Going Organic...

 2. The Storybook's New Facade

 3. The Storybook Cottage Facade Remodel Is Complete! I think...

 4. Storybook Cottage Kitchen Progress

 5. Storybook Kitchen Cabinets

 6. Storybook Dreaming and Doing

 7. Storybook Cottage Preparations

 8. Storybook Mini Multi-Tasking

 9. Storybook Cottage - Second Story

10. Storybook Cottage - A New Chapter

11. Storybook Cottage Exterior Plot

12. More Storybook Saga

13. Storybook Cottage: Fable of Gables and Glass

14. Is There A Moral To This Story?

15. Storybook's Story, Layer By Layer

16. Storybook Cottage Gets A Roof!

17. Age Old Storybook

18. The Storybook's Hardscape

19. Storybook Cottage - Laying The Groundwork

20. Growing A Cottage Garden Part 1

21. Growing A Cottage Garden Part 2

22. Growing A Cottage Garden Part 3

23. Growing A Cottage Garden Part 4

24. Growing A Cottage Garden Part 5

25. Growing A Cottage Garden Part 6

26. Growing A Cottage Garden Part 7

27. Growing A Cottage Garden Part 8

28. Growing A Cottage Garden Part 9

29. Decisions, Decoupage and Disasters

30. Suddenly... Life Is Sweet Again!

31. The Storybook Cottage Gets A Bathroom!

32. The Storybook Cottage Kitchen Appliances Take II

33. Storybook Cottage Kitchen Progress...

34. Swept Away

35. It's Tea Time!

Hopefully, this will help until I can figure out what the trouble is.

Happy Getting Inspired!

xo xo,

Jodi

The Freedom To Choose!

It’s been two weeks since my last post and you’d think I’d have made a ton of progress on the bakery to share with you. Especially,  since time has practically stopped! But alas, there is little here to show on the bakery for my time...

I did manage to get the ceiling papered, stucco'd and painted, the ceiling decorations attached and the lights installed. And I did attach the roof, fill gaps, install trim and touch up paint. Hey - I guess when I type it all out, it sounds like a lot, huh?

With what I'm about to share now, I know I might risk losing your confidence that I’ll ever finish a project. In my defense, I’ll remind you that after abandoning the New Orleans for a year and a half, only the landscaping remains to be finished. It took a while for inspiration to take hold again, but eventually, thankfully, it did.

I must also confess that it has been a little over a year since I ceased progress on the Storybook Cottage. It really is a shame that I can’t muster the inspiration to finish it, because I love it so much and it is ever so close! Only the bedroom and living room furniture and decor to go!

But working in the monochromatic bakery was beginning to become mundane. And there was nothing to keep me occupied while glue and paint were drying! There is still so much to do before I get to the fun parts - all of it more black and white and gray. It is fun to think of what I might do on the exterior, but...

With all of the worries in and for the world lately, I needed something more colorful to lift my spirits. I looked at my stash and thought "If the world might really end soon, I just have to see one more mini project come alive!" ;O)

And I know that there is not one miniaturist who is willing to die until every one of our mini dreams is realized. And God forbid we go with any unassembled kits remaining in our stash!

So I pulled down the Street Of Shops Two Window Shop kit.

I bought the whole SOS set back in 2013, and some of you may remember that I used the Bay Window Shop to house  Starbucks. You won't be surprised to know that it's not finished. I had plans to brick the exterior of all of the SOS shops and was waiting until they were all finished to do so. It's funny how my plans have changed over the years, and what used to be exciting plans for a wine shop has totally lost my interest. Here's how the poor Starbucks sits now, forever waiting to be completed. Look at all that dust!

And while I had no clear idea what I wanted the two window shop to be now, I  went through the wallpaper drawer, selected a piece of flooring and began to take measurements and sketch ideas on the instructions.

I found some lights and power in the stash...

And began to make some built in shelving with the Cricut...

And found a direction to go in...

Drawer Fronts with Dresden Embellishments and
Sparkly Drawer Pulls

 

Cut, installed and waxed the wood flooring...

Mirrored these cabinets and installed some lights...

And now, with no clearer idea what this shop will become, I'll start on trims. While glue and paint are drying, I'll switch back to the bakery. Or the New Orleans landscaping. Or the Storybook Cottage's furniture. Or start another new project... It's so nice to have choices, and the freedom to choose between them!

I pray that all of you are well, have all that you need, and that you have things to keep you happy, dreaming, and looking forward in spite of all that is out of control around us. God Bless, and keep on keepin' on!

xo xo,
Jodi

You Know You're A Bear When...

Hello dear friends! I have let another couple weeks slip by without checking in, except the odd comment on your blogs or replies to comments on mine. Just wanted to stop by today to say that I have nothing much to show for my time, just a few kits, a couple attempted tutorials, and a bunch of projects in various stages of doing (which are waiting for some motivation). I just can't seem to get into the groove, and my body is telling me it's time to hibernate!

First, the kits. I started off by completing a sewing box kit from Jean Day. She has really nice feminine kits, artwork and doilies in many scales, so stop by her Etsy shop and daydream! I really enjoyed making the sewing kit, and there is so much stuff in it that your sewing box will overflow like mine! I even have leftovers to use in other projects!

Next up was a collection of Dragonfly International kits. I just love these laser cut kits because they are so easy to do and to customize, and Deb's site is so full of fun stuff to shop for! The candy box kit and purse kit were super fun!

The lady's screen kit got a whole new life as a fireplace screen. It was fun to customize it for the cottage living room!

I have a lot of bookshelf space in the living room and bedroom alcove, although a lot of it is allocated for delicate knick knacks. Not knowing exactly how many books I'd want on the shelves, I used part of the materials in a book making kit by L. Delaney on Etsy. I only made 27 of them. I've made plenty of mini books for my projects over time, but her method is quite interesting.

I've had these chipboard suitcase kits from Alpha Stamps for quite some time. They were originally intended to go into the flower shops a couple years ago. They don't come with instructions, but I am sure one of their staff crafters has a blog post about it somewhere. I just winged it, and since they are going to be filler pieces I wasn't too concerned about detail. They were fun though seem to need more shabbiness.

I made the laser cut side table kit (MenutmonShop Etsy but no longer selling?) and pitcher kit (Angie Scarr), both of which need to be painted. As do the coffee table, chair, dresser, nightstand and vanity set. We had snow here the last couple of days, with more predicted for the weekend, so spray painting is on hold for a while.

I have plenty to keep me busy - just making the replacement fabric panels to recover the chair is enough for hours!

And I can always dust off my sewing machine and begin making the cushions, bedding and pillows - Oh Brother!!! That's going to require an excavation!

I did make a few styles and sizes of shopping bags for the lady of the cottage using Julie Warren's Bag Tutorial as a guide.

But I still need to make the apron for the kitchen. I also have several flower kits that need to be made up for filling pitchers and vases...

I know what to do and how to do most of it, so what's the problem?...

I feel lazy, I am hungry and I want a nap. Yep - I must be a bear!

Hopefully, it'll pass quicker than winter.

Have a great week!

xo xo,
Jodi