Shabby Morning Light

  

The latest room box.

A customer of mine requested a room box similar to the little room box used in the header image of this blog. I was surprised that she wanted something as 'dirty' and distressed as the original little box but she said, "Yes, please make it as close to the original as possible".  It's funny but I really struggle to make the same thing twice, things always turn out differently. In the end, she was quite pleased with the images, just waiting for the package to arrive. Makes me nervous, hope she loves it as much in person as she liked the photos.

This little box can be completely disassembled for storage and the walls are reversible. Many possibilities there :).  The room box is in 1:12 scale.

The little day bed is from a vintage kit - the table I really couldn't tell you, I think it came in a lot of furniture I found in a thrift store. The chair came from the same vintage lot. The little hutch is a Michaels craft hutch. I printed the wallpaper on my home printer and distressed it with chalk pastels and inks. Basket and teapot and linens by me.

I have another, larger scale roombox in the works and I do have a chalk painted bombe chest to share with you in my next post. The chalk paint worked beautifully.

On a non-mini, side note; is anyone else having trouble with their blogger dashboard reader?  I was using it last night with no problems but when I logged in this morning - poof - it says I'm not subscribed to any blogs??!?!? wha?? *cry*...Hope it's just a glitch as I had the max of 300 or 350 (whichever it is) favorite blogs in there!

I've been absent.

Hello friends!
If you are still there, I want to apologize for being away so long. I've missed creating and sharing minis so very much. It seems like there is just never enough time for all the things that interest me.
Edit: You can thank Norma of Make Mine Mini for re-igniting my fire :) She reminded me of the wonderful friends and things I had been missing. Thank you Norma, I hope we can meet some day so I can hug you up.

I've decided to make some changes and to focus on my miniature business.
I will be opening a new online shop selling my dressed miniatures as well as ready mades.

Hopefully, I will have more tutorials to share in the near future. :)  I'm playing catch up with all my favorite blogs, I've missed your wonderful inspirations!

For now, here is something I've been working on for some customers of mine. I am working on three room boxes, in both 1:6 and 1:12 scales.
This little box is 1:6. The little doll is a Secret Person doll. The larger doll is a Blythe doll, she is about the size of Barbie with a very over-sized head. ;)

I've enlisted the help of my wonderful neighbor, Art. He has the most wonderful wood working shop and does beautiful work. He has helped me to engineer these little room boxes so that the walls are reversible and they are easily assembled and disassembled for shipping and storage.

Something else I have run across in my wanderings....Chalk Paint. Have you heard of this?  Not ChalkBOARD paint, but chalk paint.  I'm probably late to the party but I had always wondered what people used to paint real life vintage furniture that gave such nice coverage. 

What's so special about chalk paint and why would a miniaturist be interested in that?  It works beautifully for mass produced doll furniture. No primer needed. You can cover up that gawd awful red or orange lacquer that is used on so many of the factory pieces. The paint must be sealed with waxing or poly but it is worth it.  I will post more on this later with some examples for you.  If you are interested, you can make your own chalk paint, just Google 'chalk paint recipes' and you will find a wealth of information out there. Chalk paint can also be purchased from some retailers that have their own special formulae but it is rather pricey and the colors are limited...I prefer to make my own :) .

Yet Another Cross Post....

Sorry if my cross posting from MidModMini is becoming irritating. I can't pull myself away from the modern stuff :) I promise, more shabby/country stuff soon but don't be surprised if I find a way to mesh the two styles. It's what I've always dreamed of  for my own home (hey, what happened to the word 'dreamt'? was that ever a word?) Anywhoo, more here and here.

Oh my....
I just stumbled across Sarah's blog this afternoon. I was looking for scale figures for my room box scenes...
Lo' and Behold, Twelvemo by Sarah Beare. PLEASE go spread the love if you like these 12th scale figures, let Sarah know... (I'm gobsmacked and can't wait to get my grubby hands on one or three) :
http://sarah-beare.blogspot.com

Modern Roombox Scene

Ahhhhh.....I would love to shrink down and relax here.