On A Fruition High

It is such a great feeling when you get on a creative roll! Motivation rages as you see the fruition of ideas coming to life, and more and more inspiration begins teaming through your mind! This feeling is why we spend countless hours, and why so many miniaturists become hopelessly addicted.

Today, there was no Seahawks game to watch (they are on Monday Night Football this week), so I delved into the barn's To Do List. Next item: Wall sculpture.

This is the empty living room wall that I needed to fill up. I do like the modern and minimal look in miniatures, but my current home, and what I imagine our retirement barn will be like, is much different. Maybe it is because I need to get rid of some stuff, or maybe I am just very sentimental (hoarder). Either way, I like my home to have elements that make you feel as though you've just received a big, warm hug. As soon as you walk through the doorway.

It is pretty difficult to reach into the back of the space, and my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be. They are no good for measuring at a distance, so I made a template of the wall. It's very, hmmm... Rustic! That's it! But it will do...

These are the items I've been collecting to use as wall decor in the barn. I didn't really have a solid plan as to what would go where. There are some plastic frames from HBS as well as some unfinished metal frames that I purchased from Minis And More on eBay. A couple of the metal frames are from Russ' aunt Lu. She gets free stuff at the casino and likes to give it to us. Love you aunt Lu!

I measured and drew ley lines on the template (my version - remind me to pick up some drafting paper) so that I could lay out and trace around the final design. This way, after I got everything painted and assembled, I'd remember where everything was supposed to go. 

Here is the layout that I finally settled on. 

I have a mixture of all kinds of metals in the barn, because that's what I have in my 1:1 scale home. I'm kind of disorganized eclectic in the way I accumulate things to decorate with.

 I decided to paint the frames in flat black, then spray a light coat of aged bronze over the top. Here they are before spraying them.

I wanted to print photos of Russ and I on our forest adventures together, because wherever we are together, that is home. I resized and cropped them to the frame sizes in Publisher. Then I printed them in black and white on glossy photo paper. Here are the photos with the finished frames.

After I cut them out with my Xacto knife, I glued them into the frames. Then I drilled a pilot hole for the coat hooks and affixed them to a piece of trim board. I made the plate rack and plates in July when I delved into learning how to solder. I'd love someday to get involved in a mini swap and make them for my new kindred friends.

Now it was time to transfer everything to the actual wall. That's the hard part! I concluded after much thought that the chances for success would be greatly improved with the assistance and employment of gravity (although it's not doing my boobs any favors). I carefully removed any items that were not glued down so that I could put it on it's side on the floor. That way, I'd be gluing on a flat surface, and would maybe have a better chance of getting everything even and straight.

That reminds me. I've been really curious... How many of you permanently attach everything in your projects? I usually do, but I am not the proud owner of any expensive art pieces from artisans at this point. Pros? Cons?

I just have a few more details to add on the entry/living room before I can move on. The next project will be the garage, and I'm really looking forward to getting my grease on!

New Friends...

After reading and lurking for months on several different blogs, I finally subscribed to several and summoned up the courage to reach out and introduce myself on The Greenleaf Miniature Community forums. I shared the story of my miniature journey and received many warm and friendly welcomes! Incredibly, one of my favorite and repeat customers, from back in the online miniatures store days (2002-2003), is one of the community admins! It was so wonderful to reconnect with Tracy! It is so wonderful to connect with kindred spirits and see where imagination has taken them! Really incredible work to see there!

Speaking of new friends, I often check in on what's for sale on eBay. Now, usually, this can get me into trouble. It leads to chronically persistent ideas for incredible new miniature projects. That leads to starting a new category in My Collections. That leads to "oh crap this auction is about to end! This item is so unique and I really need to bid!". That leads to starting to collect items from other places for future projects (trust me, I have everything I need for the next two ideas already). That leads to boxes coming in the mail, which leads to my husband shaking his head, which leads to me feeling really guilty about all of the cardboard I recycle (god please let it be true that it really does get recycled into new boxes so people just like me can not feel so bad getting boxes delivered because they really are just recycled from ones we've already gotten stuff in). You see, there's always trouble when I 'check in' on places...

But this time, I swear it was different! I saw this poor woman, and just couldn't leave her in that situation! The humanity! Sometimes you just have to be the one to save somebody! If you can, you must! And I had to.

I'm not going to make formal introductions until my new "rescue" arrives (and until after I've explained the whole thing to my husband), but I am sure you will all agree. It had to be done. There was no choice in the matter. Hopefully, she'll arrive safe and sound sometime in the coming week.

Meanwhile, I perused so that I could catch up on the many wonderful miniature blogs out there, I came across Kris Compas' tutorial from July on How To Make A Mini Ottoman From Faux Vinyl. What luck! It just so happens the little barn living room needs an ottoman! Hers tells you how to make faux vinyl by painting silk with acrylic paint! And it's pulled right out of the pages of an old catalog. It's really cool!

It didn't occur to me to start to chronicle the project from the beginning, and most of you will probably be inspired to go to Kris' site and make your own anyway. Even for those of you who aren't into minis, the idea can be adapted to make an adorable pin cushion or something. Think holiday gift giving...

My space is not Mod, but more traditional/contemporary so I opted to make a rectangle version. It's got to be easier than the round one, because mine won't have any sewing (yes, even a simple running stitch counts as sewing in my book), I'll use the same fabric from making the sofa  and I won't have to make cording.

Here are a couple photos I finally remembered to take during the construction. It's just foam core, card stock, mat board, batting, fabric and glue. The only tools really needed are an Xacto knife and some scissors.

And here is the final product:

What a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon, after such a lovely morning making new friends.

And my list items are being struck through one after another!

I Found Them!

Last night when I was thanking my grandma for her help with the pillows (some very weird synchronicities happened throughout the day), I also asked if she could help lead me to my missing window trim pieces for the living room window. This morning, I suddenly knew exactly where they were. I went right there, and voila! Understand, I looked everywhere for them. Thanks grandma!

With pep in my step, I set about happily making little details for the living room. Did I mention how much I love and am addicted to the feeling that comes over me when creating? Minis or anything else my mad mind comes up with? Madness in the name of my blog is completely apropos.


I save the leaves and flowers and branches from silk and plastic flowers I use in other projects. Lots of times they can be used to make 1/12th scale plants. In my pretend mini world, they are legitimate species. :o) One time, when I was working on CannaBliss, I ordered way too many little bags of the rubberized brown mulch from HBS. This works perfectly to camouflage the stems and glue in the container. I just squeeze some Tacky Glue into the pot, trim leave stems, arrange  the stems to look "natural", then sprinkle the mulch on top. After it dries, I shake the excess off back into the bag. I still have one full and one partial bag left. It goes a long way!

This is the lamp shade from the little bead lamp I made in July. I decided to cover the shade in the same toile fabric I used on the sofa pillows.I didn't have a pattern, so I had to make one by tracing the lamp shade onto card stock. I made a couple of these before, but with full sized lamp shades. The mini lamp was definitely harder to roll while holding onto the pencil, but I made the pattern close enough to work. It's times like these that I really wish I had taken drafting classes and had fancy drafting tools. In my house, we really try to make due with what we have.

I needed a little lamp table for the lamp to sit on. I wasn't sure what I'd make it out of, so I did what I always do when I need inspiration: I went through drawers and boxes until something sparked an idea. I had a couple of these unfinished trays and some legs. I knew I'd use them "someday". Today was the day!

Here is the finished table with the lamp. I added a book, a jar of fresh picked flowers (not), and a plant basket. Looks like I need to tie up that lamp wire a little better! Also, maybe it is time to mop the floor...

Here is the other little table, all dressed up with tchotchkes. I have two shelves full of real sized tchotchkes. None of them are really useful, but I do like to look at them a lot!

Here is the table in its new home. The room is still far from complete. I have pictures in frames to make, the coat rack, a shelf filled with junk curtains, and I think it still might need a rug and an ottoman. 

Those projects will have to wait a few days. It looks like I'll be car shopping with Ande! The Jeep he's been driving since he was 17 is no longer fit for daily driving. This time, he's looking for fuel economy rather than lift height and tire size. He's really all grown up now! :0)