2022

Has it really been about 8 years since my last post?  

I have a hard time believing that it's been that long because while it seems like it's been forever since I posted, it also seems like just yesterday.  

I've dealt with many changes over the last 7 years, but one thing that has always remained the same is my love of miniatures......and well, the fact that "The Lily" is still not finished.  

When Covid started I found myself with a lot of downtime, and sort of dove back into the miniature pool so to speak.  I found an old "Beacon Hill" Dollhouse on Facebook marketplace and rescued it from a life of hiding in an old storage locker.   I thought that maybe I would have a better chance of finishing a dollhouse if it was already built and all I had to do was a little Reno work and decorate (which we all know is the best part), but that too stands unfinished.  

I find myself at a point in my life where I have not only the time to work on these houses, but also the money.  We all know that this is not an inexpensive hobby.

So, maybe there will be more posts as I work on stuff......and maybe not......but one thing I know for sure is that whether or not I blog, I will still love miniatures as much as I always have.  

If I can share a bit of my mini life with you.....then that is just a bonus.  

On to better things in 2022......stay safe and healthy everyone.

Long read but there are pics.....I promise !

Well, it was brought to my attention that it has been some time since I have posted to my blog.  It's true....it has been some time.   There are many reasons for this which I will go into more detail below.

New "Job" :  Well you may or may not know that I work for a Pet Sitting company, and this is my day job!  I walk dogs, or do home visits for cats, or sometimes even work at the Doggie Daycare.  Some weeks are busier than others, and I thought I needed something to bring in a little more money.  So I joined Jamberry Nails.....and so far it's been busier than I had hoped it would be.  So it's taking up a lot of my time.  If you want to check out my site please feel free www.crysdez.jamberrynails.net

Vacation:  I went away for a while.....not long, but long enough to get away from the worst winter ever.  We still have snow banks at least 5 feet tall.  Florida was nice!!!

House Problems:  I live in a house that is 130 years old, and some days it seems like nothing has been done to this house in that 130 years.  Well the latest problem was my craft room.  I found that the roof was leaking.  Not just in one spot, like one whole side of the room......the side where ALL my supplies are.  So I had to put everything into Rubbermaid bins and get it out of there.  I caught the problem in good time because there was very little damage to my supplies.....however, now there are about 15 bins jammed with various stuff sitting in my dining room.  Not sure I will get much done with it like this.  So I probably won't get back to Mini-ing until the summer after I reno the craft room.

Cancer Walk:  I know some of my followers know that I have done the Weekend to End Women's Cancers before, and I am doing it again.  So I will be walking 60 km in 2 days and need to raise $2,000 so that has taken up some time.  If you would like more info or would like to make a donation please visit www.endcancer.ca/goto/crystaldez

So.......here we come to the actual Mini Post.  During the month of January Grandpa's Dollhouse has daily deals.  Each day new deals are posted.  So I took advantage of some of the offerings.  I highly recommend visiting Grandpa's Dollhouse at www.grandpasdollhouse.com

As mentioned in previous blog posts, I am working on a Tea Room.....so I got these items for that!

Tea Cart.....Retail $12.99 but I got it for $6.99



Side of cart

Front of Cart

Blank Sign......Retail $5.00 but I got it for $3.50.  I plan to create a pretty "logo" with the Tea Room's name on it and attach it to the house as you see in the second photo.

Perfect for customizing



It will go right here  beside the door.

The other thing I ordered was a $5.00 grab bag.  It has at least $20 worth of value in it, and it's a surprise what you will get.  Here is what I got for $5.00

What a great bunch of loot.

Martha's Vineyard

For Christmas my wonderful husband purchased for me the Martha's Vineyard Campground Cottage.
It's a quarter scale house kit by Debbie Young (www.youngatheartminiatures.com)
This is what the house looks like.  It's a long, narrow two storey cottage.

I had no idea what these houses were all about so I decided to look online, and discovered that it is the cutest little community that I think ever existed.

This is the information that I received with the kit.

"The tiny cottages that make up the Campmeeting Association on Martha's Vineyard are one of the most visually exciting experiences I have ever had.  The campground is made up of over 300 of these tiny unique houses built between 1865-1880....barely larger than the original tents they replaced.  But for someone who loves small old houses, gingerbread details and different variations of the same basic thing, they are simply breathtaking."

"Another feather that cannot go unnoticed as you view the campground is the color.....there is lots and lots of color as the current owners paint their houses with varied combinations of blues, pinks, purples, greens and yellows. "

Here are some life size houses that I found online.

They are awesome.  I now want to add visiting this to my bucket list.   I have lots of thinking to do before building and painting my little house.  There are so many options of how to paint it.   I'm probably leaning towards pink but purple has also crossed my mind.

Matt's Room

Many years ago I made my little brother Matthew a roombox.  It was his bedroom.  Well, not an exact replica of his bedroom, but I made a bedroom that was filled with things that screamed Matt. 

I don't remember the exact year that I made it, but I do remember he was in high school.  He's now 22.....you can do the math.

The other day I asked him to take pictures of it for me so I could share it with all of you.  At one time I had taken pictures but I have since lost them.  Glad he was willing to help.

This is my brother Matt.  This was taken a year
or so ago.  As you can see he has long hair. 
When I made the roombox, it was not this long
but was getting there.

I started with an inexpensive diorama base that you can buy at Michael's and painted it blue.  His room is blue.  Not sure it's the same colour blue, but I didn't care.  As long as it was blue.   Here are the pictures.  Keep in mind, I made this many years ago.  My skills as a miniaturist were not exactly what you would call good.....haha.  So be kind :)

This picture shows you the whole roombox.  As mentioned above I painted it blue, and I do believe I used a piece of felt for the carpet. 

The diorama base at a place to put a label, so I put Matt's Room.

This is a picture of the right side of the room.  Matt is a Leafs fan, so I made sure that the room had something in it that showed that......so I put a blue and white Canadian flag.   You can also see that there is a TV with a video game system and some DVDs, but I will show you more of those in another picture.

This next picture is a quick view of the left side of the room.  Matt being a fan of Family Guy, I made sure to put something in the room.  The Stewie poster was perfect.

Ok so now onto the little details.  The next pictures are close ups, and explanations!

This is just a better picture of the right side of the room.
Some of the movies that he liked at the time of making the room.
Superbad and the Simpsons.  You can also see that the room is just
messy.

Bulletin board that I made.  I made sure that there was a
picture of me in the room somewhere so he would remember
who made this for him..haha.  The little note paper says "Call
Marcus", that is his best friend that he has had since Kindergarten.
And of course, it wouldn't be a teens room without dirty dishes .

Laundry basket on the floor with clothes that should be put away.
also a bottle of coke, another dirty glass, and an empty bag of chips.

I tried to make the room look a little realistic with the light swith
plate and the wall plugs.  Here you can see the TV, and the video
game system.  I do believe the game on the TV is Halo, a game that
he liked at the time.

Ok, now we will move onto the left side of the room.

Here you can see the pizza on the floor.  He loves Pizza, so I had
to have pizza in the room.  Also put some games under the bed.
The denim backpack hanging on the bed displays the crest from
the school he was attending at the time.

Matt had this big stuffed white bunny since he was a kid. 
I had to have one in the room, so I made this one out of pipe cleaners
and googly eyes.  I also made him dirty but I don't know that you
can see it very well in the picture.  The Dexter book on the table is because
he was a Dexter fan.  I made the lamp from found objects.  There is
also a remote for the TV and an alarm clock.

Showing this picture again.  Notice there is a pillow on the bed
but also another on the floor.  When I put this together I imagined
he had that on the floor so he could be more comfy while
eating his pizza and playing video games.

This part was my favourite thing.  I made sure that the bed
showed the he was in it sleeping.  This is why I showed you the
picture of him at the top.  He has a crazy afro (or did at the time).
So I made that a feature of the bed......I loved how it turned out. 

I tried to make the bed look like it was being used.  I think
I did a good job.

Well that's it.  Here's the whole room again.

So that is the story of my brother......you see the calendar is on August, so he's off for the summer.  Had an all-nighter playing video games and eating pizza.  Went to bed without turning the TV off or cleaning up the food.......bad Matthew.

Christmas Village

I've always been envious of people that have those little villages that they put out at Christmas time.  My mom had one that she got from Costco, and I was lucky enough to put that out one year but I really wanted one of my own.   Last year I told my husband that I wanted to start a tradition.  I would like if he would buy me one building a year.  Which would mean that this Christmas I would have one building.  Not much of a village, but you have to start somewhere.  Well he bought me two, as well as some accessories.  Then after Christmas I got a few items quite cheap at some after Christmas sales.  Then this year I got 4 for my birthday, which is at the end of November.  So needless to say, I have quite a village already.  I'm quite proud of my little village, and I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoyed setting it up.


My Christmas village during the day

Customers at the Christmas tree lot.  One lady checking her list
to be sure she got everything she needs.

Customers leaving with packages of wonderful things purchased
at the Holiday Crafts shop.

Children playing up at the old barn.

Skating by the warming hut.  Looks like the little ones are having
trouble staying up.

The diner is a great place to stop and get some lunch on a busy
shopping day.

Some of the kids like to slide down the hill from the old barn.

A crafty lady selling handmade Christmas wreaths.

The Tavern.

Outside the toy shop, Santa visits with some of the local children.

 

The village at night

Sneak Peek

Ok I wasn't going to show my wonderful followers this until the whole room was done, but I am loving how it turned out.  I'm going to give you a sneak peek at the chair I made for the Vermont Farmhouse Jr.'s living room. 

The background is the bedroom so not where it will
have it's final home. 

I made this out of foamcore, batting, fabric and braiding cord.

So what do you think?  I am working on a love seat to go with it.
I think I am going to add pink throw cushions as well.

Plans, plans and more plans.....

Well if you read my last two blog posts then you know that I had grand plans of working on my dollhouse over the three days with no work, and no kids.

Well Friday was awesome, and I worked on my kitchen all day and it is done!  YAY! Then I got a call from a client that needed a dog let out on Saturday......grrr......Then Saturday came along and I went Christmas Shopping with my darling husband, and then grocery shopping, then did the one job I had to do and then hubby and I spent time together and before I knew it, Saturday was gone and so was my uninterrupted mini time. 

Sunday I woke up feeling like I fell out of a tree hitting every branch on the way down.  So I didn't work on anything and then my little guy (he's not all that little anymore) came home from visiting with his dad.  Well that night, in the middle of the night, I was awaken by my little guy, he had been throwing up.  Lovely.....so for the past two days he has been home sick, and while I didn't get the full bug I have been feeling less than perfect. 

With all that being said, because both of us felt horrible yesterday, we sat in front of the TV cuddled in blankets watching movies, but while doing that I also made a chair and started working on a couch for my living room.  Not my actual living room but the Vermont Farmhouse Jr's living room. 

I'm making it out of foamcore, and a fabric that I didn't think I would like but after using it, I like it a lot.  I will show you once the room is complete.  I guess that is the next room to get done.  I have to consult the list to see what else needs to be done.....which I think is a lot. 

I've been thinking about putting a Christmas Tree in the living room as well since it's that time of year.  Just to make it look pretty. 

Anyway....this is just a rambling post, sorry no pictures.  Hopefully in the next couple of days I will have the living room done. 

Vermont Farmhouse Jr. - The Kitchen

Well if you read the blog yesterday then you know that I am working on "finishing" up my Vermont Farmhouse Jr.  So today I worked on the Kitchen.  I am happy to say that it's as done as it can be at this point. 

There is still room to add stuff, but this is what I have done so far.  It's a complete kitchen, and after this, it would just be about adding more accessories.

So here are the pictures. Enjoy.







Right side of kitchen.  Need to make a new sink
for the cabinet, and need to fill up the cupboards.
Need to also make a rug for the floor in front
of the sink.

I made a roller shade for the window. 

Just some stuff that is in the cabinet.

There's silverware in the drawer.

Left side of kitchen.

Pots and pans in the lower drawer of the stove.
Dogs bowls on the floor.  Need to be painted
and needs food and water in them.

The whole kitchen with the ceiling fan on. 
Too bad it doesn't move.....just lights up.

 

 

 

 

 









Get on with it already......

I'm pretty sure I heard my dollhouse saying that to me today.  I kept hearing it over and over coming from behind me.....the only thing there is the dollhouse.  It's plain porch and dusty roof staring at me.  Just begging to be cleaned and spruced up.  So I gave in.  I turned it around so I could see inside, and I am pretty sure I heard it sigh with relief. 

This dollhouse (Vermont Farmhouse Jr) was purchased in 2006 as my very first miniature purchase.  Probably should have started slow with a Roombox or two first.....but I like to dive in without any clue as to what I am doing.  I remember the day I bought it so clearly.  It was in January of 2006, and I bought it with some money that my aunt gave me at Christmas time (she's always shoving money into someone's hands).  That day, while I was out buying my Dollhouse, I got a call from my then husband telling me that my mother had a heart attack.  She survived it, and another many years later.....but I always remember that I got my first dollhouse the day I got that call.  

I built it rather quickly, and had the exterior painted and shingled, and I really like the way it looked. 

Over the years I have decorated it, and redecorated it (as I became more experienced).  Then I decided to electrify it (I took a workshop to learn how to do that).  Then I never touched it again.
It's full of furniture, but it's not DONE. 

This coming January will be 8 years since I purchased this house.  I have everything I need to finish it, I just need to get on with it already.......so I made a list.  Room by room, what needs to be done.  I have the next three days off.  No work, No children (they will be with their other parents), just me and my husband (who will be preoccupied with Football), so I plan to use these 3 days to finish this dollhouse.  I know, I know.......I've said this before.   But No, really I am going to do it.

I'm just going to go through it room by room, right from my list.  I'm realistic! I know it's going to take more than 3 days to finish, but once I get on a roll, there's no stopping me.   As I finish rooms, I will blog about it. 

I'm so totally excited.  I want this house to be the house I purchased and finished in my 30s (I don't turn 40 until next November).......Wish me luck.

Snow Day

You might be thinking.....did I read that Post Heading correctly?  Yes you did.  It's only October 26th but we have snow here and it is still falling, so today is a mini snow day. 

I plan to sit here at my computer today, Blogging, searching for ideas on Pinterest and making Minis. 

So a while back I posted about the yearly I was making for one of my yahoo groups.  Since everyone should have received theirs by now, I can finally post a picture of the final product. 

I decided to make everyone an umbrella (non-working), and a clutch purse.  The umbrella is not an original idea....I saw someone post a tutorial online, so while I didn't create the idea, I did create all the umbrellas.  It wasn't as easy as the tutorial made it look but I am very happy with the final outcome.  I did a few colours.  Neutral ones like Black, Brown and Grey and I made clutches to coordinate with the umbrellas.   The first couple of purses were not going together as nicely and easily as I had hoped.  So I changed it half way through.  The picture below is what most of the swappers got.....a few people got a different looking clutch but I don't have a picture of that.

Umbrella and "Leather" clutch

Can you believe what you can make with a thin piece of wire, a piece or origami paper, a few beads, a part used for a cell phone charm and an eyelet?
I would never have thought that.....and while I forget where I saw the original creation.....all credit goes to that very talented miniaturist.  Nice job.

I've never had a good eye for turning nothing into something....or what we like to call "Trash to Treasures".

Well I do hope that everyone that received this package likes it and has a use for it in their dollhouse or a miniature scene. 

Swaps and stuff

Sorry I have not posted anything in some time.  Life sort of got in the way.  Also I just really didn't feel like posting.....it's my blog, I can do what I like :)

Today I thought I would post about swaps.

The swap group that I am in has what is called a Yearly swap.  12 very talented people sign up and each is assigned a month.  When that month rolls around, you send the other 11 people what you have made for them.  So every month you get a package in the mail with some awesome miniature item to add to your dollhouse or save for the perfect miniature scene.

This is my second year being in this swap.  Both times I had October.  Last year I made a Halloween themed package since it's my favourite time of year.  This year.....well....even though I had a whole year to come up with and make this years swap item I put it off....and now I am trying to get it all done and sent out as soon as I can.  It's pretty much done, but I Just have a few little details to do.
I'd share what it is but since I know some of my followers are likely to receive one of these lovely little items, I will hold off until November before I post a photo. 

Once I have that done and sent out, then I need to start on some new swaps that I have signed up for.  Every month (I think now it is every other month), our lovely Swap Lady Fern, comes up with three 1:12 scale swap ideas and on 1:48 scale swap.  Normally I join one or two because not all the themes appeal to me.  This time though I jumped in and signed up for all 4.  The themes are great and I know that I will use all of them.  They are due to Fern by December 4th, so I will have to get right on them.

These are the themes:

Pantry Items - Items for the kitchen, boxes, cans, detergent etc....

Mickey Mouse Décor - Anything Mickey themed.

It's About Time - Anything to do with clocks or watches, sundials etc....

1/4 Scale Filled Shelf - A shelf filled with stuff.....oh the possibilities.

They are all great!  I can't wait to get started on them.

I feel bad that this post has no pictures in it.  So here is a picture for you. 

Saw this online, and I think I want to make it in 1/4 scale.

Creative process

In my Vermont Farmhouse Jr.  (which I have had for 7 years and is still not complete), the bedroom right now is pretty blah.

I did wallpaper it about 5 years ago, and that was it.  Never really touched it again.  So I've been thinking a lot about finishing it.  I don't know what the point of me having all these dollhouses is if they are just sitting empty.  Other side.....what is the point of having all this dollhouse furniture and accessories if I am NOT putting them in a dollhouse.    There is a simple solution.  PUT THE FURNITURE IN THE HOUSE!  Not sure why I have not thought of this before.  haha

This post is going to be the start of me finishing the master bedroom in the VFJ. 

Firstly, I should show you the wallpaper.  Sorry about the horrible pictures, bad lighting and a cell phone don't make for good photos. 

Close-up of wallpaper

Ok so that my dear followers is the wallpaper that I chose for this room 5 years ago.  The print is small and in scale.  I must have liked it at some point, now I am not so sure.  However, that being said it's staying.  I consider wallpapering a dollhouse about as irritating as nails on a chalkboard.  
So it looks like little leaves, that are pink with a darker pink/burgundy colour, and little green dots.

So......what goes with that wallpaper?  I have real issues with pairing patterns in rooms.  I've seen a lot of dollhouses with floral wallpaper and another floral for curtains etc.....it may work for some, but I cringe when I see that.  I struggle with co-ordinating wallpaper to curtains or fabrics for furniture.  So I already know that I'm going to be frustrated by the end of the creative process.

The floor in the bedroom is unfinished right now.  It's grooved to look like hardwood, but the likelihood of me actually staining it is slim.  So I thought maybe on each side of the bed I would put a throw rug.   Just something plain....maybe white-ish.

So here is a picture of the wallpaper, with the rug I was thinking, and the colour of the furniture that will be in the room.  Wanted to see if they go nicely together.  Which I think that they do.  Oh I should also mention that any trim in the room is white.

So far so good.  This particular room has two windows that are on either side of the bed.   They need curtains I think.  I'm still torn between putting curtains or making roller shades for them.  I saw a really cool easy tutorial to make some.  Either way, I have to figure out what fabric to use.
What I like to do is take my wallpaper swatch, and carpet swatch and place fabric swatches with them that I think might look nice. 

So, went through my enormous stash of fabric and got a few pieces I thought might go with the wallpaper.  The burgundy I think looks really good and possibly even the pink.  The one with the swirly things on it, might make good cushions for the bed.  Possibly?!?!
See, I'm already frustrated!  This is why the room has sat empty for the past 5 years.

I wondered if maybe some reds would go, so that is a picture of two types of red that I have.  I'm not sure that either goes very well.

So I'm no further ahead.  I still have a wallpapered room with the furniture in it, but no finishings.

Next step would probably be to see if maybe some nice greens would go, although I have a feeling that I would just be wasting my time. 

Thoughts?????