Been a while...

Hopped on here for just a minute to check in. I've had a nasty cold and haven't been doing much of anything except knitting the same dishcloth pattern over and over again in different colors of yarn while watching Law & Order reruns.

I'd like to extend a warm welcome to my new followers! I was surprised to see that I have a few new followers even though I haven't posted lately. Thank you for taking time to read my blog. (This goes for all of you who've been with me for a while too.)

Mini stuff soon! I promise.

Witch House Progress

I haven't posted much lately, but I have been pecking away at getting things done on the witch house and it's coming along... I've been busy finishing the exterior. I had to add on to the roof to make an overhang (not sure what I was thinking when I originally measured and cut the roof pieces). My daughter has been asking lots of questions about the witch house... I finally explained to her that this project wasn't completely planned out at the beginning. Instead, it has been a process... a journey that is developing over time. She seemed satisfied with that. It has been a bit therapeutic for me. I'm having to be patient while I consider each "problem" to be solved or wait for the answer to what to do next, while I wait for "inspiration"...

An example of this is the roof shingles. I wanted to use wood shingles, but couldn't find any in the right scale. So the witch house sat on my kitchen table while I mulled over what to do. Then, toward the end of December, I bought a 2012 calendar for the kitchen. Part of the packaging was a piece of cardboard that seemed exactly the right thickness. Ruler, mechanical pencil and my favorite pair of scissors plus a little time, and "Voila!" Witch house shingles!

The next example of this was what to do about the exterior walls. I had a stack of illustration board that I had rescued from the recycling bin... So I cut and glued pieces to cover the exterior walls. This did a couple of things: first, it hid the rounded edges and corners of the box; second, it eliminated the need to sand the surface. I painted the entire outside cream and let it sit on the kitchen table for a few days while I thought about what to do next....

Enter the tattered kitchen scrubby! I had decided I was going to use a sea sponge to dab on a little darker color to make the exterior look a bit like stucco and not so "new", but I didn't have a sea sponge... Rooting around in the kitchen, I found an old (clean) kitchen scrubby that was falling apart and had big pills all over it. Turns out it was the perfect thing to dab on the paint.

Again, the witch house sat around for a few days while I thought, "What next?" Some architectural details were needed. The tall, narrow house made me think of Tudor style houses. I looked through my wood stash but didn't have anything the right dimension. Then I came across the leftovers from the bamboo placemat I deconstructed to make Abigail's floor. Perfect thickness and width for whatever scale this little house is. I painted several strips with dark brown paint, then trimmed and glued everything in place. Here's a (blurry--sorry!) picture of what the witch house looks like now:

Not too bad, so far, I think... Up next, some aging and some ivy...

Wanna run off and join the (mini) circus?

The Penobscot Marine Museum has extended the run of its popular circus exhibit for another month. The free exhibit is comprised of art, photography and memorabilia, but perhaps the biggest draw for us mini-loving folks would be the Bex Brothers Circus, described in a press release by the museum as, "a complete circus scene comprised of thousands of scale models depicting every element of a traditional circus, including sideshows, clowns, trapeze artists and animal acts."

The Bex Brothers Circus is on loan from its owner and creator, Capt. Les Bex, who has spent decades creating the 3/8":1' scale scene. If, like me, you can't jet off to Maine to see the exhibit, Kay Stephens has written a great blog post about the story behind Bex's circus scene, which includes photos and the story behind certain scenes, as told by Bex himself.

It sounds fascinating to me (all except for the clowns!). Admission is free. The exhibit is open every Saturday and Sunday from 11 to 4 through February 26.

Mini Hoarders

The Kitchen, 2011 by Carrie M. Becker

No, I'm not talking about people who hoard miniatures. I'm talking about hoarding IN miniature. Hoarding in 1:6 scale, to be exact. 

(Confession here: Every once in a while I watch "Hoarders" on A&E. I call it "train-wreck TV". It's like... well... a train-wreck. You don't want to watch, but you can't look away. The stories of these people are often sad but I still watch because I'm curious about the relationship between people and their stuff.)

Anyway... I came across an interesting project created by Carrie Becker. A ReMent collector and photographer, she has created 1:6 scale miniature scenes fit for the Hoarders show and photographed them.

Becker writes about her project, "I have a love of all things miniature. As a young adult, I collected small Japanese toys from a company called Rement. During the summer after completing graduate school I had some down time and decided to use my commercial photography skills to shoot my miniature collection as though it were "real". Also during that time, I also frequently watched shows like "Hoarders" and "How Clean Is Your House?" With that in mind, this past summer I began creating the images that are presented here, though I reflect their inspiration as a mirror and not a judgment. For me, this series about creating a small, but perfect world where the viewer cannot distinguish between what is reality and what is fiction."

Check out the gallery on her blog "Barbie Trashes Her Dreamhouse". Wow!

Don't miss the other photos in her portfolios. I find the Kansas farmhouse series particularly interesting. If you see something you like you can order a print from her Etsy shop.