Meet Vera and Virgil... and the Lavender Vanity Drawing Winner!

Hello everyone! It's been a busy 10 days and I am in shock that June is half way over already! And kind of relieved that 2020 is half over, too. What a challenging year, so far! I sure hope that 2021 will be much kinder to all of us! Let's focus on the positive, though, and enjoy a little bit of mini happiness!


Meet Vera and Virgil

Vera and Virgil are the mice who will be taking up residence in each of the two Lisa's Country Cottage kits. They are next door neighbors who are courting one another, and are engaged in budding love. With new homes to look forward to and getting to know one another, it's an exciting time for them! As their names suggest, they are old fashioned to the core and will be taking things as slow as molasses on a cold winter's day. :O)

Speaking of slow... I have been making slow progress on the yellow cottage. I bet you won't be surprised to know that the yellow cottage will be Vera's. Can you guess the color theme for Virgil's cottage? :O)

I started by painting the windows and doors, finishing the pop outs with T-111 like siding, and using the Cricut to create a fun texture stencil for the gables.

Here's how the facade is coming along. The main body of the cottage will be finished in clapboard siding but not until I have the interior painted, papered, floored and trimmed.

A little more about Vera and Virgil...

The creator of these precious needle felted critters is Yuliya of WoolenBoutiqueUa on Etsy. I contacted her about a mice couple that she had listed and asked if it was possible to have clothing done for them in yellow and blue. She happily agreed and knitted them new sweaters. She also made the adorable and color perfect dress for Vera at no extra charge! And then shipped them lightning fast! Her pricing was so affordable and the shipping charge was so reasonable, especially since there was tracking the entire way from Kherson, Ukraine.

Original Listing Clothing 

After Yellow and Blue Request

 When they arrived, they were wrapped in a box in beautiful wrapping paper and finished off with a bow! So thoughtful!

They stand on their own by adjusting their wired tails, and the craftsmanship and finishing are excellent. Look at those whiskers and the tiny wooden heart buttons! I love them, and based on my experience, can't recommend Yuliya's work highly enough. She has a nice variety of mice and other animals, and her costuming is charmingly detailed.

I am excited about continuing work on the cottages for Vera and Virgil so that they can get settled in and start living their dreams! Now that they are here, I'm sure I'll get lots of input on their wants and needs. Hopefully, each cottage will be novel enough and will reflect each of their unique personalities!

But first... We have a drawing to get to!!!

I'd like to thank each of the 53 entrants and also each of the followers who come by to share this passion and it's seemingly never ending excitement and creative possibilities with me!

~Thank You~!

I only wish I could show my gratitude by giving a mini treasure to everyone!

Drum roll...

And the winner is...

Congratulations Jocelyn Redmond!

You can visit her fun blog here.

I hope that you are more than delighted when

you receive your minis in person!

I have your email so will send you an email to get your address!

This was so much fun and thank you again to all who entered!

Come back soon and I will share my crazy 3D printed kitchen farmhouse sink disaster story and how Vera's little kitchen came to be!

Be safe and well, my friends, and with an open mind and a loving heart we'll get through this. And maybe even be better people for it. 💗

xo xo,

Jodi

Let's Have A Giveaway!

Hooray! My package of bottle caps arrived and so I could finally have a try at some better product bottles! That means it's finally time to give away the lavender vanity and bathroom decor set!

The new bottles look a bit more realistic, though I'll send both sets to the winner. Who doesn't need more bottles to fill up shelves and baskets?!?

Old version left, New version right.

Included in the set are Pillar Candles...

Framed and Matted Lavender Prints...

Basket of Guest Towels...

Matching Throw Rug

Heart Shaped Grapevine Wreath...

Vase of Lavender...

Farmhouse Vanity With Vessel Sink, Old Fashioned Taps and Modern Drain and Liquid Soap Dispenser...

And free shipping anywhere in the world to the winner...

What's the catch? What are the rules? Only that you move through this world in the spirit of kindness to all. Oh! And that you leave me a comment to let me know that you want a chance to win.

I'll draw a random winner of all comment entrants on Sunday, June 14th at 4:00 pm Pacific Time (US West Coast). This also happens to be Monkey Around Day, a day set aside to put down your troubles and worries and just have fun. It's also Father's Day here in the US. OOPS! Nope! It's actually the 3rd Sunday in June, so the 21st. Sorry!!!

If you are a person who has trouble leaving comments, you can enter by letting me know via email. jodihippler (at) gmail (dot) com.

May your kindness infect those you meet, whether virtually or in person, faster than any virus ever known to mankind. 💗💗💗

xo xo,
Jodi

Lisa's Country Cottage

I bet most of you are aware that HBS/miniatures.com recently re-released a couple popular past Creatin' Contest kits. For those that did not know, there was a vote held on Facebook between four favorites. The top winners were Lisa's Country Cottage from the 17th and MiniTown Loft from the 19th annual Creatin' Contests.

For Christmas 2013 (the year after the contest), I made the Lisa's kit into a fishing cabin and working lamp for my dad. I had so much fun, but it was early on in my foray back into miniatures. The scope of my idea and the finishes were pretty elementary. I wanted another chance at this kit and have coveted it ever since. Once in a while you'd see a kit come up on eBay, but for a lot more than I was willing to pay. Apparently, other people really wanted another chance, too! Seeing that they were available again, and at a great price, was like a dream come true!

Dad's Fishing Cabin/Lamp

The style of the kit by itself is completely adorable, but the innovative improvements that some of the contestants made have become my favorites. I wanted to incorporate many of those features into my cottages and see where the design lead me. You can see all of the entries and more photos from the incredibly creative contestants here. Below are just some of my favorite features.

Wait! Did she say Cottages?!? You caught me! I did use the plural and on purpose! You see, I've had a project idea niggling at me since the Covid lockdown started, and this kit is perfect for both structures. I was going to make them from scratch out of foam core, but the Lisa's kits will be so much more sturdy while still providing a small-ish footprint. More on the concept later, but for this post, we'll just talk about the structural changes and additions.

I got the kit pieces taped together, then made cardboard walls/roofs to help mock up the additions. So far, I liked where it was heading...

I consulted with my on site contractor (wonderful hubby Russ) to check my ideas for soundness, and because I would need his help and big boy tools to cut new dados in the 3/8" MDF walls. This was necessary because I wanted to reduce the amount of ceiling height on the first floor in order to increase the head room in the attic space. By lowering the second floor (by cutting lower dados into the side walls), the attic now has a knee wall which will great for furniture. The first floor ceiling height is now 7-1/2" and the attic is 8" to the peak. This is perfect because the tallest inhabitant will be 5".

I wanted to make the second cottage a mirror image of the first. This meant creating an additional dado in the floor piece to accommodate the change in wall positions. An easy job for Russ with his big boy table saw. While it seemed as if me and my petite table saw and jigsaw took forever to cut my new walls from 1/4" plywood and the 3/8" MDF, Russ' saw was like cutting butter for him. Luckily, he was happy to help me. I did my best to woo him into being partners in the whole project, but he's just not that into minis and could not be persuaded. :O(

It took a couple days to get the cottages roughly constructed, but it was a lot of fun to see their new characters beginning to develop. You never really know at this stage if your idea is going to be a good one. You just have to follow the lead and hope for the best.

Porch Popout and Roof Dormer

Kitchen Popout and Dormer Profiles

Shed Dormers With Round Windows

New Interior Living Space

I dug through my window and door drawer and came up with the windows and doors from the 23rd Creatin' Contest kit. I didn't use them in the contest build because my Three Little Pigs theme had a Fairy-tale Tudor vibe. But they are really cute with the arch and mullions, and I had enough of them for the lower windows on both cottages. I was able to cut down the double door frame to make a single door for one of the cottages.

For the second cottage, I could have made another single door but I wanted it to have it's own character. I had a cheap $3 door from China that, with just a little remodeling, made a nice dutch door. First, I removed the door from the frame. Then I cut the door's bottom two panels off, leaving half of the upper frame piece. Next, I removed the metal door pins and heated it in the microwave until the glue softened enough to pull the upper panels and frames apart. After removing the remaining glue residue and sanding, I cut a piece of 1/16" Lexan to make the window. I gave the door a couple light coats of paint so that I could assemble it and not worry about getting paint on the glass. I drilled holes for an additional door pin where the two doors will meet and swing separately. I glued the upper frame pieces together with the Lexan inserted. I had to drill new pin holes in the frame because my door needed to swing the other direction. Thankfully, all the steps went smoothly and the new Dutch door will work well.

Here are some more photos of the expanded interior. While it's still a pretty compact cottage, the usable space has been improved considerably, and the character of the new facade gives ample opportunity for cuteness overload! I hope I can make the most of it! The old dado tracks will be filled in with 1/8" x 3/8" basswood strip.

Another project?!? I know, I know! I still have the bakery in progress and the poor old, nearly finished Storybook Cottage. I imagine I'll be bouncing around between all of these as the inspiration hits me, but only after I finish dad's Father's Day gift.  It seems strangely meant to be that I am working on new Lisa's Country Cottage kits as I am making new things to put into dad's old cottage after all these years. But if these last few months have taught us anything, it's that we must make the most of each day. You never know what tomorrow will bring. 

Stay safe and make all your dreams happen, my friends!

xo xo, 

Jodi