Stairs anyone?

Today I've been busy installing the stairs and finally making the second floor. I can't wait to have everything in place, it'll give the house a lot more perspective. Although I'm starting to think that it's going to be too small..... I tried fitting the bed on the upper floor and it takes up quite a chunk of it :/

Anyway, I've finally finished the stairs, even though they're not much I'm relieved to be done with them. I can sincerely say that was not a part of building my house that I enjoyed a lot.
I've decided to paint them black, although in retrospect they would have worked in brown a bit better.

Part of the wall already painted, wanted to do the whole thing but ran out of paint, haha.

And I finished the flooring for the upper floor. I love how it turned out! Now I need to paint the fence and I'm ready to fix it in1

Well, at least the house is coming together rather nicely. Now I'll have to start deciding where everything will go. And from now on I'll have to make things fit into what I have, so probably a bit more restrictions. We'll see. But for today I got quite a few things done. At least for mini making it's good not to have a job at the moment.

Until next time!

*Poof*

A bed fit for a witch!

Hello everyone! I know, I know, I haven't posted in a while. Real life can get in the way a lot... And with a heat wave it's hard to get anything done.

But....
I did manage to finish a bed for my house. Hooray! :)
Well, at least the frame, I still need to make the mattress, pillows, covers.... But I think that a large part is behind me and I'm extremely pleased with the results.

After numerous failed attempts I finally managed to make the padding for the boards. I would like to thank fellow mini makers from SmallStuff Digest and my yahoo group Dream Dwellings, for giving me advice so kindly and responding in such numbers.

And now..... A bed fit for a witch!

Trying out the padding for the lower board.

Both frames cut, sanded and ready for padding.

Finally, after many failed attempts.

It's finished!! Still without a mattress though. It measures 17,5cm x 10cm. I was aiming for a queen size bed, but it would have to be a bit wider. But it's fantasy anyway and there are not exact measurements in fantasy, hahaha.

The boards are a bit low, but I had to glue them on so the side boards would stay in place. I used gold sating for the upholstery and have plenty left for the covers and such.

Well, this is what I came up with. I know it's not perfect, and that there should be buttons in the tufting, but I like it anyway and I think that for a first try it worked out extremely well. I did plan on making the frame gold and the upholstery red velvet, but I couldn't find any so I had to rework the colors. But all in all, I'm pleased with the result. 

I would love to hear what you think, though.

And some random bottles I also made today.... it was something to distract myself while I was waiting for the glue/paint/varnish to dry :) Have to be productive ;)

Well, until next time!

*Poof*

New walls + a bed fit for a witch part 1

I've been busy the past couple of days, so I only had time for miniatures during the weekend. What I decided to improve were the walls in my house. I did a coat of glue for ceramic tiles, which is just like plaster when dry. This is what it looks like now. Only paint left to add.

I still need to sand it down and then it'll be ready for painting. I'm still deciding on the color though.... I'm thinking light grey... I would leave this color but it's a bit too bright.

And the next project was a bed. I saw this bed when I was searching for inspiration. Unfortunately I don't remember where I got the picture from, but I don't own any rights to it.

The ultimate inspiration.... It's just gorgeous! I decided that the curved board is way past my skill level so I came up with a flat design.

This is the plan for the back board.

And the plan for the front board. These plans are my own design, so please ask if you wish to use them.

The pieces for my bed. I had to glue some boards together since I didn't have wood that was big enough.

First I cut out the outer part and then the inner part. I debated if I should just leave the bed with only the outer part, since I liked it already. But I decided to try it anyway. I won't cut out the back board though, will finish this one first with fabric and paint and then I'll see if I'll like it or not. That way, if I don't like it I only have to cut out one piece again :)

And the back board cut out. This will wait until the other one is completely finished. Just in case....

This is all I had time for. I'm hoping I'll be able to finish the front board of the bed tomorrow. I'm just irritated because I had this really gorgeous red velvet that would be perfect for this, but used it for another project. And when I went to the store last week they said they don't have any more. So I'll have to see which fabric would be good for this. Perhaps black velvet..... I'd like a deep purple, but again, can't get any :/ Perhaps I'll have to widen my search and include more types of fabric, not just velvet. We'll see....

This is it for now. Can't wait to see how this bed will turn out!

*Poof*

Furniture..... mostly :)

Well, it's been a busy couple of days. I've had some time off and a lot of time to make miniatures.
I decided it was time to tackle something other than shelves, furniture wise. So I decided on making a table.
I have to admit, I found a few helpful tips + a plan ON CASEY'S MINIS. This blog has great tips, tutorials and so much more!
Again, the plan for the table is from Casey's Minis (although I tweaked it a bit) and I take no credit for it, only for making the table ;)

I sawed the legs by hand after cutting the straight parts.

Here is my trusty saw :)

The legs already cut out and assembled, only the top left to glue.

And the finished table :) I still have to stain or color it, haven't decided yet....

Another project for this week was a chair. I saw something similar on one of the miniature sites, but can't remember where. If anyone knows where I could have seen a similar chair please let me know. 

The chair is 5cm wide, 15cm high and 4cm deep. The table is 11,5cm wide, 7 cm deep and 6,5cm high. They're both made of pear wood.

The chair still needs to be painted and I have to make a cushion for the seat.

I know that to an experienced miniaturist this doesn't look like much, but I'm so very proud of myself :) These turned out great! 

And finally, I had time for another fantasy bird. This one was named Helga :)

Again made of air drying clay, over which I glued feathers. She will probably get a stand to sit on, or perhaps she'll sit on one of the furniture :)

Another project these past few days were stairs. I wanted to make a spiral staircase but couldn't quite figure it out, so I made a regular one with a twist. It still needs a fence, which will be made of toothpicks. And after the staircase is done the upper floor can finally be fitted in!

And this is all for now. Quite a bit work done, but still lots more to go :)

*Poof*

Carving + Alfred

I've been trying something new this week.
First thing is another shelf unit, with carved detail.

The carved detail are actually skewers which I carved out with an electric dremel tool.

Up close...

Is and Lucifer trying it out :)

Painted but not dry yet....

And the painted detail. I think it turned out pretty good, and it adds a bit more detail to the shelves.

I'd like to introduce Alfred, the fantasy owl! I just love how he turned out. I made him with air drying clay and then added the feathers. I didn't want to make an ordinary owl and that's why he's purple, rather than brown or white. But he told me that he likes his feathers purple, so nothing to worry about ;)

Side view and his tail.

Love his ears!

Alfred will eventually be perched on his stand, which I'm still making. I'll probably make some companions for him since I loved making him. I think this is the cutest thing I made so far :)

Until next time!

*Poof*

How it feels to clip a dragon's claw...

This week I'll have some more free time to make miniatures! 

My first project was another dragon. Presenting....dun dun dun dun dun..... Lucifer, the curious dragon.

He's a nosy little dragon.... :)

I inserted the claws in the end, when everything was already baked. I know they're a bit too long, but I like how he turned out anyway. I never claimed to be an expert at polymer clay, so for an amateur attempt it'll have to do.

Well, this is what I had the time for today.... Beside trying to figure out how to make a spiral staircase for the house. Who knew making a staircase would be such a pain! And on top of it all I keep hearing about this thing called builder's foam, but can't find it anywhere in my country. Or perhaps I don't know exactly what to ask for....

Oh well, hopefully I can get my hands on some of that material... Until next time!

*Poof*

Candles

Well, despite a huge exam I did manage to make some minis this week.... Hooray!! :)

I finally decided to make candles. I tried making them with wax running down, but somehow nothing I tried looked realistic enough. So I decided to make them like this:

I do like how they turned out.... and wax would stay in the little holes on top of the candles anyway, at least in my version :)

I also made a few books, which are non opening. Some have ridges on the cover, don't know if it shows on this picture. I still have to decorate them, so they're not finished yet. I also have a dozen books which I still need to glue together and make the covers. Everything is cut out by hand and then each square is folded in half to make two pages, so it's a bit of a slow process. But I'd like to have books that have "real" pages, even if they don't open.

And here is the candelabra I made a few weeks ago, now finally with candles. I like how it turned out overall but of course it could use a few improvements. I'll leave this one as it is, but will make a few things differently on the next one.

Again, nothing much but at least I'm starting to hoard the little things. A few potions bottles were also added to my treasure chest, so now I almost have a decent number of small items that will be all over the house. Will have to make some more furniture next, and of course the upper floor. I want to make the floor upstairs with "wooden boards", can't wait how that will turn out!

Until next time!

*Poof*

Getting the feel of the house :)

I wanted to see how things will look in the house, so I decided to put what I have so far inside and test out the new floor.
Here's what I came up with :)

Not much furniture yet, and obviously still a lot of work to do. But I do like the initial look and there is a lot of potential :) The chair is something I made a few years ago, when I first found the miniature world. I did initially intend to make a different project, and I'm not sure if I'll even use this chair, but it does look good in here.

A new addition are also the green bottles. They're made from glass beads and I love how they turned out. I still have to decide on a sticker for the bottles, but overall I love how sinister they look :P

Of course I'll need a ton of candles, which will probably be my next project. But I still don't quite know what to do with the walls..... Any ideas?

Well, that's about it for now.

*Poof*

Stone floor

Greetings! :)

It's been a while with real life getting in the way and so on. But I finally managed to take some time for miniatures too.

I tried my hand at stone floor. I made it from egg boxes and I got the inspiration from this tutorial, though I didn't follow it completely.

Starting off, this will be my witch house. I still need to add the second floor and the opening for the door won't be visible, since I already made a cupboard large enough to cover it. I don't really know why I wanted a door...

I still have to think of something to cover the front with. I was thinking of gluing glass on the whole front. I could probably make a wood front with doors and windows cut out.... I still have time to decide though, since I need to finish the whole house first.

I stained the egg cartons lightly since I didn't like the original color.

Here is the floor with gaps still not filled.

And here it's finished. I filled the gaps with a mixture of tacky glue and acrylic paint. I didn't bother all that much with the edges on both sides, because I ran out of colored glue :( But it doesn't matter all that much since I plan on making more furniture and I can place it there to cover anything up.

A closeup of the floor. I know it's not perfect but I'm a bit proud of it :)

And another idea I managed to turn into something.... A cage! Granted it's crooked and not exactly perfect, perhaps I can put it in a corner and it won't be as visible, hehe...

Ok, this is it for now. At least I got to make some miniatures :) I hope I'll have something new to post really soon. Until then!

*Poof*

A first try and some pumpkins

Hello everyone, hope you all had a great week! Mine was a bit busy so I didn't get much miniature work done :/

What I did do though are two things. I made some Fimo pumpkins, which I think turned out alright, although I don't like the stems very much. I thought about using green Fimo, but it didn't seem quite right. Perhaps I should go with a darker brown next time? 

Every witch needs pumpkins!! I thought about making some eyes on them but ultimately decided against it (for the moment).

And the second item I tried making is a candelabra. I made it from wire and cardboard. It was extremely difficult making the wire stand exactly as I wanted but in the end I managed it. I don't think it looks all that bad for a first attempt, although when I make a second one I'll definitely change the design, perhaps add a bit more room for candles,... 

This still needs candles but overall a solid first attempt in my opinion.

My shabby first attempt at a candelabra...

Well, this is mostly it for now. I've also been trying to make a basket, since I found a great tutorial, but I've been having some problems with it which I'll hopefully resolve soon.

Until next time!

*Poof*