Birthday Giveaway!

Again I have disappeared for a few weeks.... it seems like a never ending story that real life always gets in the way of mini making. But I am going to make it up to all of you.... How?

I think it's about time for me to have another giveaway. And since today is my birthday, what better time than now? I'm in a very celebratory mood today and have decided to give myself the gift of giving. I think I should make this an annual giveaway.... there was a birthday giveaway last year too and why not... it's always nice to make someone happy, isn't it.

I will draw one person who will receive ....

This is a vanity chair completely made by hand by yours truly :) It's finished with 'fake' goldleaf and looks slightly worn. The padding is red velvet. 

And the rules are:

1. Be a follower of this blog (either by blogger or bloglovin)
2. Leave a comment on this blog entry to let me know you wish to be included in the draw

For a chance to be entered in the giveaway twice, post about this giveaway on your blog/tumblr/facebook/... (if it's on facebook or tumblr please say so in the comment so I will know you posted)

The giveaway will end on Easter Sunday, April 20th at midnight CET. I will announce the winner on April 21st. The winner will be chosen by a random generator.

There will also be a mystery prize and everyone who will participate in the giveaway will be in the draw for this prize also.

And this is something I wish I could share with each and every one of you...

My birthday cake, which more or less says 'Congratulations to Jana for one quarter of a century'

I don't think I've ever said anything about my age, but well, today I turned 25.... on March 25th, hahaha!

I would like to take this chance to thank everyone for their lovely comments on my blog. I don't post as often as I'd like but I appreciate all the support and I cherish every single comment! Thank you for being with me.

Until next time!

*Poof*

Finished Chair and Patisserie Goodies

I've been extremely busy lately with real life and so I didn't get to play with my minis a lot during the last few weeks. The house has also been on hold for now but I'm hoping to return to it soon.

Although I'm very busy with work, I finished my thesis and now I have to wait for a date for my formal presentation. I'm very glad that's going to be over soon. Also planning the wedding and such... I'm going to make a lot of things myself - invitations, thank you cards, wedding favors,.... as much as I possibly can. We're going to have a small wedding so at least there won't be a ton of the same things to make. But still, I need to design everything which I think will take a lot more time than actually making things. Oh well.... I'm looking forward to it thought. You only get married one, right? Well, generally speaking :)

Ok, I got a bit carried away....

I wanted to show you the progress I made on the white lantern I'm making for a relative. I've finished the chair, 'baked' a lot of goodies and played with paper a bit. Today was the first day I had for minis in quite some time. And I have such great luck that I have a nasty cold, I've been sneezing and coughing all day, not to mention my runny nose. Uugh... and even though I didn't really feel all that good I couldn't wait to get some mini time so I got out of bed for a few hours to make a couple of things...

Just finished it today. I love how it turned out! It kind of reminds me of Alice in Wonderland.... perhaps that should be my next project.... an Alice lantern.... hmmm...

I baked all sorts of cookies for the etagere. I love these, my mother bakes these in real life. They're very big in real life too so I decided to make them big in miniature too.

Mmmmm......

Well, considering that this was my first experimenting with Fimo after over a year I think the sweets turned out pretty ok. I'm no expert for sure but they look somewhat like they're supposed to, right?

The whole etagere.... I'm sorry for the bad pics, I promise to get better ones up sometime soon. We've been having horrible weather and there is no chance of going outside for pictures.

Since I was in bed for the most part of the day I decided to try and design a few shopping bags and gift boxes. So far I've assembled a shopping bag. I think it turned out wonderfully and will look great in the patisserie. It still needs handles though....

I know, I know, these are the boxes for Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. I cheated a little and filled them with some rock candy. I just love the boxes so much I couldn't resist. And it's impossible to read the sign so I can get away with it.

This is what I'm thinking for the table.... although I probably won't use this piece of cake.... I'm planning on making a half eaten one.

Ok, now I'm going to sleep and hope this pounding in my head is going to go away. Again, I'll try to take some better pics soon but in the mean time I hope you like what I've been up to. I'd love to know what you think of these so far. Nothing on the table is glued yet but the etagere is so not much correcting there I'm afraid. 

Until next time!

*Poof*

What kind of shop will this turn into?

First off.... a very warm thank you for all of your wonderful comments, both on the engagement and the dollhouse. I appreciate each and every one of you and I love getting feedback on my projects! You're the best!

I'm very happy to report that we've been making some progress our project :) The house is coming together quite nicely so far.

First we dry fitted the shell of the house. Fits like a charm! We had to mitre the top sides so the roof will sit on the sides like it's supposed to. We also cut the roof to size and dry fitted it but I didn't snap any pictures of that.

And the front facade. We cut out all the openings for windows and the front door plus the upper curves. I couldn't believe how it transformed everything! A few cuts and everything starts looking more and more like a dollhouse and less like a large wooden box.

We glued and clamped each piece individually to the facade and had to wait for the glue to dry. Here you can see the bevelled edge for the lowest part of the shop. It turned out exactly as it should. We didn't have any problems with this one as it's quite thick and wide,

The shop window is getting it's form also.....

And here is the complete shop window. We added two types of bevelled wood for the frame of the window. I was a bit worried because these are quite narrow and there is only a few millimetres between each edge but with some trial and error we managed to figure these out too. The thing is that my dad only has router knives that are used in real life furniture and so we had to try a few of them to get the effect we wanted. Thankfully we can set the router to cut at any thickness and as far into the wood as we want. Although we still have to set it manually and sometimes that takes a few tries to get it right.

The door isn't finished yes but you can also see the foundations for the two pillars, one on each side. These will get a moulded piece glued on top of this piece so they will stand out even more.

Here you can see a bit more detail to the window. I thought this was the hard part until we started working on the upper windows which require even thinner strips of wood. But more on that next time....

Today I finally found the right "plexi glass" for the windows. It's 2mm thick, just like the book says so I'm very excited. Now we need to cut that to size and try it on the windows. Can't wait!

Although now I need your advice my friends..... I have a very hard decision ahead. I need to think of what the shop will look like, at least from the outside. We can't start on the upper windows until I decide how I want the entire facade to look. I do know that the lower part of the house (aka the shop) will be a dark brown colour (an imitation of wood) after staining. Now I have to decide on the upper floor. I was thinking about a light cream or dirty white for the facade and the same dark brown for the windows. Also I have to figure out some way to make a slightly grouted finish like in real houses on facades. Any suggestions on that? I would love any and all advice you might have for me about the colour and the grouting, since I'm such a newbie at this.

Also, I still haven't decided what exactly I would like the shop to be. One option (which I'm leaning heavily to) is a Harry Potter/magical themed shop. This would mean turning it into a shop on both levels plus a little storage room in the attic. They would stock everything from Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, cauldrons, dragon eggs to potions and herbs.

Another option is to turn the house into a general goods shop downstairs and have a small living room or bedroom upstairs. Although I don't like this idea as much.... But I would love to know what you think!

I think this is it for now. Between finishing my thesis, all the wedding planning going on and the lantern project from a few posts ago I think we're making good progress on the house. All in all it's been a productive few weeks.

Until next time! 

*Poof*

Happy 2014!!

First of all I would like to wish everyone a very happy New Year! Of course with all the usual wishes of health and happiness..... although I would like to add one more - lots of mini time and inspiration.

For me the year started spectacularly!! My boyfriend asked me to marry him at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve! I can't believe I didn't suspect a thing :) Of course I couldn't believe my eyes when he kneeled and produced a ring... I must confess that although there were supposedly countless fireworks I didn't see any of them ;)

As for my miniature world, this year also started out great.....

I found this book on eBay and snatched it up for 2.5 pounds! I couldn't resist! I've wanted to make a roombox since we don't have that much extra space (with all my mini making supplies crowding our room, hehehe). But when I got this book I couldn't resist. So my father promised to help me build one. I chose the Victorian shop, mainly because it's supposed to be the easiest to build and it takes up the least amount of space. Plus we can always make others and since this is the first dollhouse (or anything remotely like it) we're going to build it's best to start small, right?

This is the start..... It's going to be made from 10mm plywood. We cut all the pieces to size and then started marking out the front.

Our work space.... 

My father gluing together the sides of the dollhouse. We decided to improvise a bit here and glued pieces of 5mm plywood together. We figured it would be easier than to cut the grooves for the floors out so precisely. We'll see if this was a good idea or not. Worst case scenario we can still replace these with the 10mm plywood if this method doesn't work out.

We still have a ton of work to do but it's a start. I can't believe I'm going to have my own dollhouse! Wow! Now I need to decide what kind of shop it will be. Any ideas? And then I need to pick out a wallpaper and figure out how to decorate the inside before we glue everything together. But I still have some time to decide since we will focus on the front panel for now.

And because I couldn't resist, here's a picture of my engagement ring.....my future husband picked out this white gold ring with a sapphire. I love it!

Until next time!

*Poof*

Étagère

Finally I have some free time to write this post....

I think this is the last piece of furniture of 2013. Well, the Étagère and another console table, which is painted white.

I made this Étagère last month and it will be used in a lantern scene I'm making for a very dear relative. I hope to have everything finished in January for her birthday. It's going to be a shabby-chic-like patisserie, if I can make enough cakes and pastries to fill the scene.

It began with all the pieces cut out.... I made the plan based on a picture I found on the net.

I like how it turned out for a first try although I think that next time I should build a cabinet for the bottom and then add the Étagère..... my boyfriend thinks that it looks strange because the first three parts are the same size. Do you agree or is it ok the way it is?

I still can't decide if I should leave it like this or should I distress it a little..... some sanding here and there wouldn't be a problem but would it look better like this or distressed?

This is the lantern where I plan on making the little scene.... the table will be white, I already have it made but didn't find the time to take pictures yet.... There are going to be pastries on the Étagère. On the table there will be a plate with a fork and a half eaten cake. When my relative was visiting a few weeks ago she couldn't believe the small cutlery I purchased in Vienna so I decided to build something around that. Of course a dining table with a full dinner would be ideal but my Fimo skills aren't all that.... I'm just hoping I'll be able to whip up some pastries....

I'm hoping I'll get everything done before the middle of January. I have all the furniture, now I still need the cakes and pastries. I already made some cake slices but I will need quite a few more. I'm thinking of adding some boxes for pastries in the left corner.... and of course the chair still needs a seat... 

Oh, and please excuse the bad pictures..... We've had terrible weather for the last month and I have to take pictures inside.

Well, I think this is the last post until Christmas, unless I manage to take some more photos, which is unlikely.

I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas! Have a wonderful holiday and may Santa bring you lots of minis!

Until next time!

*Poof*

A chair!

This time things actually went as planned!! I'm super excited to share my newest creation with all of you, my dear readers! Finally, after many failed attempts..... I present to you.... a chair! :)

This is the end result and my first chair made from scratch. I like how it turned out although I might have been a bit too impatient to finish it and see how it will look. I could have done some more sanding on the back but all in all I think it's great for a first try.

Now as promised in my last post, I'd like to show you my new working area....

This is my father's workshop. As you can see he isn't exactly accustomed to keeping things clean. And I completely understand that you can't have a clean workshop if you actually work in it. You can see the large lathe he has on the left. Too bad it's not small enough for making minis....

This is the other part of the workshop where I'm currently taking up space :) It's too cold to work outside now but at least here I don't have to worry about bad weather and can work any time I like (unlike on my balcony).

And another view.... You can see the saw we use to cut the wood for my minis. Actually, my dad cuts everything to the correct thickness.... I guess it's for the best since I would probably loose a finger or two trying to operate this thing.

Now for some pictures of work in progress on the chair. It took me quite some time to figure out the best way for making mini chairs that would stick together. I'm very aware that these are not even a little close to what they could be like but for now I'm satisfied they stay glued together. The chair is made out of pear wood.

This is how I started....  These two seats are for the new chairs, I forgot to take pictures of the "prototype".

And this is the actual chair in the making (from the picture above). I had so much fun cutting out these tiny cabriole legs! They're a lot easier to cut than the ones for tables since they're about two times thinner to begin with.

Then it was time for the back of the chair. I drew my own pattern so there isn't another chair like this in the world. And of course some holes and a lot more sawing. 

And this is the semi finished result. I love how it turned out! After I figured out the lower part and forced it to stick together I got a little worried about the back. But it all worked out perfectly.

And here it is, fully assembled although not yet completely sanded.

If you look closely you can see that the legs are made of different wood. I just had a spare piece of walnut the right size and since this was a "prototype" I didn't want to bug my dad with cutting me pear for the legs. Now that I've seen it sticks together and how it works I do have pear wood for legs also.

And the end result. I wanted to make it into a shabby chic style but I can't decide if I should leave it like this (just white) or should I sand some parts and make it look a bit work and more shabby-chic-like. Any thoughts?

I couldn't resist trying it with one of my tables. Although this table is actually meant to be more of a side table or something standing in a foyer, not a table you would put a chair to..... but still, I had to see how it would look. I think I'm going to have to make a shabby chic dining table and some more chairs.

I was thinking of making some very light pink or lavender chair colours..... Hmm..... I think those would be lovely although I'm not sure they would fit into any settings.... Or perhaps I should just leave them a natural colour? Any suggestions on chair colours? 

Now I can't wait to make more chairs! Seems like once I understand how something works I can't wait to make more. I'm sure I'll make some walnut ones (finished with shellac) in the future but right now I'd like to get some more practice with pear wood (we have a lot more of pear than walnut wood at home). And I don't feel bad about colouring pear but I wouldn't dream of colouring walnut (except for the scrap piece I had for this chair legs) or much less mahogany.

Until next time!

*Poof*

Mahogany table

I know, it's been almost an entire month since I last posted..... I just can't believe how sometimes real life get's so busy I have next to no time for myself, let alone my minis!

I've wanted to show you this table I've been working on but haven't had the time until now. I started making this table right after the newspapers but then I got so busy with work and family obligations that I put it aside. It's still sitting like this but I'm hoping I'll be able to finish it next week. I'm very happy to report I have a whole week of mini time ahead of me so that means a lot of new ideas.

I got some very nice mahogany wood from a friend. I'm very excited to see the finished piece and set it next to the walnut table! It's a lovely wood to work with. Although I don't have very much so I have to be very careful with how I use it.

Here you can see the difference between mahogany and walnut. Both are still completely bare, without any shellac or even oil. The colour will pop and be a bit more intense when I apply the finish.

And what I've gotten done so far on the table. You can see my rotary tool kit under the pieces. This is probably the single most important thing in my process of making furniture.... besides my saws and sandpaper of course.

Now I've had a bit of time today to come up with some plans for a chair. So far there's not much to show yet but I will hopefully have some progress to show next week. I'm really excited to try making a chair (again), since I've tried three times already and given up. I think now I have a better plan and understanding of how it all comes together and hopefully it won't fall apart as soon as I glue everything together.

And also now that it's colder outside I moved to my father's workshop. It's not as warm as in the house but it's way better than outside. I'll show you some pictures next time..... although I must say it's not exactly clean. But I don't really need clean since I'm going to make a lot of dust anyway :D

Until next time!

*Poof*

Some very curious mice...

I had a bit of free time this morning and was able to finish the mice that are crawling into the Daily prophet.... or perhaps they are rats since they seem to be a bit big....

Some curious mice are crawling into the Daily Prophet... perhaps they're searching for news....

A coin to compare size.

And the whole front page with the coin for size reference.

Until next time!

*Poof*

Daily Prophet

Today I decided I needed a break from furniture. I always had the idea for making my own Daily Prophet on my to do list. Last evening I spent a few hours searching for things to put on the first page and deciding how to arrange everything. Although this is a first try I am very pleased with it. It's not an exact replica of the Daily Prophets found in the movies but I like it anyway. Now I can add to the list of things to make during the colder months when it won't be possible for me to make minis outside and I will need relatively dust free projects - making this newspaper was fun, will have to come up with some other versions of it.

The full front page I made. Although it's not much to show for 3 hours worth of work in designing it I like how it turned out. 

A stack that would be perfect in Flourish and Blotts..... I made most of the papers folded and I have quite a few more..... anyone interested in a trade, hehehe.

And now my poor sculpting skills..... this mouse is so tiny I had to sculpt him on a 1 cent coin. In general I like how he turned out considering how small he is. In person he looks a lot better but the camera captures all the small imperfections since he's a few times bigger in the pictures. I think my camera is too good for taking shots of my poor clay creations, hehehe. I do have to colour the eyes black though. Perhaps I should buy some seed beads next time I go to the craft store and use those for eyes.... any other suggestions perhaps?

I just love this little one trying to crawl into the newspaper :) and best of all, no need to sculpt the whole mouse!

I do like how he turned out although he's not exactly realistic.... and way too big for 1/12 scale. But who says a witch can't have bigger mice, right?

I hope you all enjoyed reading about something other than my furniture.... I feel like all I've been making for the past couple of months (with the summer-long break) is furniture..... so it's been fun to make something else and not needing a plan and measuring everything three times.

Until next time!

*Poof*