Back again

Hmm .... I know i have neglected my blog for some time. Been doing other things i am afraid. My real life house has been decorated. I just love wallpapering, but not so keen on glossing the woodwork .

However in between the decorating I have also been making some more minis for the online yahoo group that i am a member of which is called Miniature Haven . Every month we have a project of the month to make. Last months project was something for the Nursery so I sculpted  a little toddler from polymer clay. I also made her  a super toy from a kit by Jane Harrop  which i received in a birthday swap last year from a friend on the group.

Here is a picture of her for you to see with her toy.

The month before the project for the month was something for the kitchen  so i made a cake decorating table. I loved making this and I learned so much as i had never made anything like it before. It was so much fun.

I love pastel shades and have decided that i am going to re-decorate my Georgian house and make it all shabby chic with  pastel coloured furniture and accessories. That is another job on my to-do list which funnily enough seems to get bigger and bigger all the time.I dont know when i am going to get all the jobs done Lol!.

Outfits for the Edwardian shop

Well i have been having a great time making up some outfits for the Edwardian shop. The first i made was a wedding dress which was a workshop from  Hazel Dowd. I love making up kits by Hazel as the instructions are so easy to follow and you always get such beautiful realistic results. Her tips for draping have to be the best.


Here is the wedding dress

I also made an outfit form the May issue of the  dolls house and miniature scene magazine.  It looked a bit difficult to do and i wanted mine on a mannequin and not on a doll so I had to make a few alterations but i think it turned out ok.

 Here is a picture of it. Sorry  the picture is not straight. I will have to remember to take a better one when i am taking photographs again.

A new project.

Over the Easter holidays I have been busy starting another project.  This time in 12th scale .It is to be an Edwardian clothes shop and haberdashery.

Several years ago my hubby bought me a Sid Cooke shop from a seller on  ebay. The shop kit  had already been made up and was used as a sweet shop. It looked super with all its little glass jars of sweets and chocolates, but the person who owned it only wanted to sell the shop.

It has sat here on the shelf looking sad and neglected and desperately in need of a face lift. So the work started.

Some bricks had been added to one side of the shop which had to be removed, I wet them slightly and let them soak for a little while and they were able to be removed with the help of a a paint scraper.


 I  removed the shop front  and i removed all the glass. It was easier to paint this way.

I repainted the inside in a lovely Laura Ashley emulsion paint in a pale blue colour, and painted the shop front in a cream and beige  to brighten it up. The front paved area had been covered with tapestry canvas  and painted green, which i was unable to remove so after much thought I decided to just cover it with air drying clay .Thankfully it worked well.

After everything was nice and dry i set to work distressing the paintwork on the shop front so that it had the lived feel. Anyone who knows me will know that i don't  do neat and tidy with my miniatures . I always like the well worn and lived in look. I think it looks more natural, more realistic and gives it more charm.But then that's just me, everyone has their own tastes.

Here it is now..

 I just have to decide on a name for it, and finish adding skirting boards to the inside when i decide on the layout, Then i can start to fill it with all the little things i am going to make.

The progress picture of Halfpenny house

This is what i have done so far to my Halfpenny house. as you can see i think i got the negleted look that i wanted for it. Just the roof and chimney to do now. But i think that will be another days work as i am going to get my clay out today and try to make some foods.

update on Halfpenny house

Well everything dried ok, just a few little cracks to deal with so nothing too bad. All sorted now and
I have painted the outside with a cream coloured paint and distressed it so that it looks really old and neglected.
The trouble with the Petite properties is once you start building them you just cant stop. The only things I have left to do are the roof tiles and the chimney.
I will upload a picture tomorrow for you to see the progress.

Petite properties

Halfpenny House

I have been away from my blog for a while as i have been feeling a bit poorly. I think i must have caught one of those dreaded viruses that have been doing the rounds.However i couldnt't  sit still doing nothing when i felt a bit better so i  made a start on one of my Petite property kits, Halfpenny house. The house kit was a free gift when i subscribed to the dolls house and miniature scene magazine.

Here is the kit out of the bag with my instruction book from the Petite properties corner shop which i am going to use to help me build it.

I have used air dry clay to make tiles on the living room floor and card which has been painted and distressed with acrylic paint to make the floorboards upstairs.

I have added air dry clay to the outside of the building today. I didn't want to have a brick effect finish like the shop as i want to paint the outside to look like rough plaster. So after applying the clay i distressed it with an old hairbrush and a washing up scouring pad. Hopefully it will have the effect that i want but we will have to wait and see.

I hope it will dry ok without too many cracks or shrinking.

I will give you an update tomorrow.

Ratty

Over the weekend i sculpted Ratty added his fur and yesterday i finished dressing him. I havent made him shoes yet as i dont have the leather in the colour i need .So that is a job for another day

Here are all the little characters.

I hope you like them. I really enjoyed making them all and seeing all their little facial expressions coming through.

 Helen xx.