My miniatures through the eyes of a professional photographer

Remember the amazing photos my friend took of my minis? Well, she sent me a new round. Again, I was speechless when I saw them. My fiance said they're worth more than gold since they got me to shut up for a few minutes, hahah. He was kidding.... I think he was kidding.... I hope he was kidding, hahha.

I would like to thank everyone for the lovely comments. It means so much to know that people enjoy my work since I love sharing my process and end results with all of you.

Of course these photos were again taken by the fabulously talented Inaya. You can also find her on facebook. And now without further ado....

What do you think? Amazing, right? These are all things you've already seen on this blog. Isn't it interesting how they can look so much better this way? I don't think I'll ever stop admiring them :) Thank you again Inaya!!

In other news....

Recently I've had some time to set up a facebook page. You can find the link on the right side of this blog or just click here. Just in case you don't want to miss any blog updates or are curious to see more WIP photos. I have decided to post occasional snapshots of my worktable there that won't be on the blog. If you're interested head on over and take a look. I will also have another giveaway only for facebook in the very near future so keep an eye out for that also.

I wish everyone a very happy Easter with lots of colourful Easter Eggs :)

Well, until next time!

*Poof*

Davenport Desk 2nd Try

I've slowly been working on another Davenport desk and today I finally finished it. I've made some improvements to it although I'm still not completely satisfied with the drawers. Will have to work on those some more, maybe in another project..... I think that's enough Davenport desks for a while, hehehe.

The drawers are only on one side. After more research I found that Davenport desks usually had drawers on one side and a door or fake door on the other. I decided to make the door on this one working. I drilled a hole in the top and bottom of the door and the frame and inserted a pin so the doors are fully working and yet you can't see any hinges. I love this technique and I'm sure I'll use it again soon. Also the drawers are a bit better but still not quite what I'm hoping for.

Quite a few pictures.... I couldn't resist :D

And this is the first try I made a few weeks ago. I think the second one is better.

I also made another small cabriole leg table. Both of these are going to Brasil for a swap.

My new workspace.... I decided to move outside since we finally have nice weather. It's just great sitting on the terrace/balcony and creating minis!

Well this way a very productive week for me. I finished all the books too, including the bat books. Now I need to make decent photos and list the books on Etsy. And then on to new mini adventures, hehehehe.

Until next time!

*Poof*

Davenport desk part 4 - Finished!

Whew! Well, it's done. The Davenport desk that is.

First of all, Jane over at MiniFanaticus is having an Easter giveaway, so go check it out, you could win some great prizes!

Today I put another coat of stain on the drawer fronts, made the handles and glued them to the drawers.
The handles are made from pins which have the perfect little ball on top. I painted them gold and then put a coat of varnish on. After snipping the top off I got tiny handles. I did drill a hole in each drawer and left a bit of pin attached so everything would be more secure.

I've decided that I don't need the four little legs on the bottom, since I like the table like this. Maybe for the next one, but I'll have to buy some beads since I don't have anything appropriate at home.

The finished project:

I'll probably have to make some accessories, some paper, quills, inkwells,... At least I already have the books although I didn't check to see if any would fit in the drawers..... Probably not....

Well, the drawers aren't all they could be but other than that I'm very pleased with how this turned out. I already have half of the pieces for another one of these cut and I've already assembled some of them. I'm hoping that the drawers on the next one will be better. I'm very happy I tried this project, I learned a lot and thought of some improvements too.

And another project I started working on.... A large trunk or coffer. I actually made 2, but I still have to put the veneer so they won't be as plain.

This is the inspiration. It's a 17th century blanket chest/coffer. I decided against the legs and mine won't have the carvings like this one, but other than that I'm hoping for something similar. Can you imagine all sorts of things a witch could store in here :)

I'll glue the bottom on after I'm finished with the veneer. That's going to be a bit time consuming, since it has to go on all four sides plus the top. And I'll have to figure something out for hinges. The larger trunk is 10cm x 4cm and 5,4cm high. The smaller one is 5cm tall. These are really big but I got the measurements from an antique site. I'll have to try making some a bit smaller.

And starting the veneer. I cut 0.7cm strips of veneer and on top of this one will go 0.5cm strips. It's going to be a lot of work but I'm looking forward to it since it's quite fun making this. 

Well, that's it for today (these posts seem to get longer and longer :P). I'm not going to get any mini work done this weekend since Spring is finally starting to come around and it's going to be very sunny which means outdoor activities. But I do hope to continue these two projects next week.

Until next time!

*Poof*

Davenport desk part 3

I'm almost finished with the desk, all I have to do is get another coat of stain on the drawer fronts, find something for the knobs and four legs.

This is going to be a bit of a long post, I just wanted to show the progress I've made.

Ok, first let me show you what the table looks like assembled, but still without drawers.

I had to rethink the top of the desk. I don't have any mini hinges so I had to improvise. I decided to shrink the top of the table so it fit inside the frame and then I was able to get little nails inside so they act like hinges. The top opens and closes as needed.

This is what I came up with. 

Some of the pieces drying from the first coat of stain. I put a bit of plasticine like glue on the bottom of the piece, and put a leftover stick on it. This way I can hold the piece and stain everything in one shot. Then I just flip it around and finish the underside.

Finished top of the desk. It's a bit of a snug fit since I forgot that after staining, everything would be a bit more bulky.

And the open top.

Finally the desk is assembled!! 

And with the drawers. I have to get another coat of stain on the fronts. And I will have to rethink the veneer on the bottom for the next desk, since it shows that it's there. Either I'll have to glue everything around the veneer or make the front in the end. 

And the other side. This side isn't as good as the other one, so maybe I'll leave some of the drawers open on this side and let the table face the other side. 

I'm thinking I might make a new drawer to replace the second one from the bottom, since that one has the biggest hole.

All of the drawers. 

Tomorrow I'll try to find some knobs and legs. I was thinking beads for the legs, except I don't know what that'll look like since they're not made of wood. And for the knobs I was thinking I'd snip off the kind of nails I used for the opening top but leave them to stick out a little. I'll have to try that, but if that doesn't work I'll have to think of something else. I just don't know what yet... 

Well, all in all it was great building this desk and I can't wait to make another one. I'll do some things differently and I hope that it'll turn out better than this one. I like almost everything on this one, except the drawers. I'll have to work on that on the next one. 

Well, it was silly to expect that on my first try the drawers would turn out perfectly so for a first try I'm satisfied with them.

Until next time!

*Poof*