Re-opening

Life has a funny way of twisting and turning when you least expect it, and unfortunately responsibilities have to come before anything else.

The last couple of years have had their ups and downs, but mostly have meant WORK...not just "I had to go out and get a day job.", kind of work, but "Any time I'm not sleeping, I'm at work."!  Anyway, without boring you with all the details, I had been putting in so many hours that there was no way I could continue with the hobbies I enjoyed.

Thank goodness that's over!!  LOL  I'm back to having some free time, and back to making mini's (along with a few other types of items I like.  I re-opened my Etsy Shop this morning; not a LOT of items, but I'll list more as I continue.

It feels good to be back!

It's been a LOOOOONNNNNGGGG few months here. I've had so much going on that I haven't even had time to think of the blog...and it will be a while longer till I can get back to regular posting.

Be back as soon as I can. :0)

Wow...I can't believe a whole month has gone by since I've had time to post in my blog...I've been so busy working on the team website, and finally getting around to making my own personal website that the days just slip on by...but I did finally get a little time to devote to working a tiny bit on the dollhouse again.

I papered the walls, and carpeted the living room. I made a sofa (it's not done in this picture...it still has some trim to go, and the seat cushions). I framed the beautiful little Monet that my friend Dale (dales dreams) sent me. And if you click on this picture to make it bigger you can see some of the other things that my friends have sent...the candles and the little pink fairy frog on the fireplace mantle are from my friend Sandi (Whimsy Cottage Minis), and the wagon wheel with the vines is from my friend Cath (Golden Unicorn Miniatures). My friend Carol (Blue Kitty Miniatures) also sent me a gift all the way from the UK! It's a gorgeous little herbal magic book, but I haven't got the right place to display it yet, so it's still tucked away in a safe place, along with the other things that will eventually grace these rooms.

If you get a chance to look at my new website, I'd appreciate knowing what you think!

http://smokeymountainminis.web.officelive.com

First things first. I wanted to say thank you to Erika, who follows my blog and has given me an award from her blog! It was really neat, and I appreciated it a lot!
Erika, I will follow through as quickly as I can and award it to more people!



Also...Big Announcement Time!!

For the last month or so, we've been developing a website for TeamMIDS and now it's up and running!! It was announced on our team blog today, and in a newsletter from BlueKitty Miniatures (our awesome team-leader) by newsletter! We worked really hard on it, and it's now open to our team members who want to point people to their Etsy shops.

Check it out! http://www.teammidsdollhouseminiatures.goods.officelive.com/

My "Photography in Miniature" has now officially debuted in my Etsy shop!

I won't bore you with the details since I my last post was about these items, but I did want to show the final finished project here. :0)

There will be more soon, as I have a new batch of photo's to frame.

My newest finished project is my Rustic Farm Table. I didn't make this from a kit; I measured, cut, sanded, stained, woodburned, and assembled it from scratch (altho I did cheat a bit with the legs. There's no way I could do this type of leg yet, since I don't have the tools, or the expertise, so the legs are actually cut down porch balusters). I've completely fallen in love with making miniature furniture, and while I'm no pro for sure, I think I'm making some progress.

I'm going to be pretty busy for the next couple of days working on finishing up the furniture I already have going, and then I get to start on the next part of my dollhouse: the upstairs hall and bathroom. I love my little mini world!!

I've talked about these before - Framed Photo Art in Miniature. If you click on the picture above, you can see a much larger version, and a lot more detail.

These are going to be debuting in my Etsy shop before the end of this week. Neither of the two shown will be there, as the waterfall was given away as a gift, and if you look closely at the other, there was a slight matting mishap! The matting was wide enough but not tall enough.

Making these has been one long, sometimes frustrating journey.

I live in the Smokey Mountains, and one of my favorite past-times is hiking. I LOVE to take off early in the morning, camera in hand, and hit the trails in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. And I wanted to combine my two favorite things; my photography and my Mini's. All is well while I'm out taking pictures, but the problem was shrinking them small enough for Mini's while keeping the sharpness and clarity!! Finally, a good friend of mine, Fairy Garden, figured out how to do it, and through the magic of Photoshop, we got some useable pictures.

These two are framed in hand crafted frames, but I wanted something a little fancier, so I looked high and low to find picture frame molding in 1:12 scale, and FINALLY!! Success. :0)

Anyway, to make a very long story short, I'm going to be selling my original art photography, miniaturized and framed in hand-crafted frames. I hope you check them out in my shop when they're on sale. And thanks for looking. http://wanderinon.etsy.com

Ah yes...the dollhouse in progress. I've seen tons of pictures of these, and they're always such a mess...now I know why! You need all the rooms you're not working on, to hold all the things you need to complete the room you're in!! So I've decided that since this is my first dollhouse, I don't need all the bells and whistles. No electricity this time around, because I just can't wait that long to save the money. I want to start NOW!!!

The Blue Room. This is my first completed dollhouse room EVER. I'm thrilled with myself, of course. LOL

Actually, it really did turn out exactly like I had pictured in my mind, (minus the flaws like paint that needs to be touched up, and crooked chair rails, and the fact that I didn't allow quite enough width on the valances to straddle the window frame).

I don't care. It's my first room ever, and to me; it's a masterpiece!

Our Article has been posted in the Etsy Storque!!

Yea for Cath (Golden Unicorn Miniatures) and Carol (Blue Kitty Miniatures)

http://www.etsy.com/storque/reviews/dollhouse-scale-miniatures-facts-and-fancies-3169/

Some of the lovely photo's Cath put together:

Well...here it is!! I am so excited...Aubri and Terry made me my very first dollhouse for Chrismas this year, and what a dollhouse it is. It's a blank canvas waiting to be turned into a work of art. The first step is to decide what theme I want to use. My friends have decided that it should be a cake shop - LOL - but I'm thinking I'll make a roombox for that! For this: I've narrowed it down to either a Beach House or a Mountain Lodge, with the leaning toward the beach theme because something about the porch is pulling me that way. I can just see it with wide, weathered floorboards, a hanging swing or two, some adirondack furniture...and some feathery plants, both hanging and standing.

Right now I'm still considering if I want to put electricity in it or not. I'd like to, but I'm a bit impatient to get started, and if I do that, it will be a while before I can afford to buy the electric kit. If I do decide to electrify it, I'll still have the outside to work on. Hmmm......
Decisions - decisions.

Full of the Christmas spirit :0)

Our Christmas was quiet, but cozy...

One of my gifts to my mom: A yummy lobster dinner!!

I haven't shared a picture of my boy for a while, and since I'm still trying to work out the details on this photography thing (*&%##@!!), I thought I'd go ahead and do that. This was also taken at the sinks, and I really like this pic, because it shows not only my beautiful boy, but also how high up we were. Doesn't he look contemplative? I get a kick out of that.

This was taken in a place called "The Sinks". It's about 20 minutes from my house, and just one of the gorgeous places that are all around me. I spend a lot of time out walking the trails in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, because my goal in the long run is to do a multi day hike on the Appalacian Trail, which runs through part of the park on it's way from Georgia to Northern Maine.

I take a lot of pictures, and I'd really like to share them, so I'm working on a project, which, as my TeamMIDS team-mates can tell you is driving me crazy. Watch for my mini-photography soon!

I hope everyone is having a great holiday!!

Woo hoo!! Made a sale today!! Woo hoo!!

I've been really working hard on trying out new things to put in my Etsy Shop. I've been focusing on needlefelting, and I think I'm going to have some things pretty soon that are sale-worthy. But in the meantime, I'm also trying out other things. This is the latest addition to my shop:

Another Needlefelted Project

Ok, so the goal is to make needlefelted dollhouse Mini's, but I couldn't resist making a snowman. He could actually be a great decoration for a dollhouse winter scene, because he's only 3 1/4 inches tall...but I can't part with him. He's my first 3 dimensional figurine, so he gets to live with me. But before long.....

My newest project; a needlefelted couch for displaying my dollhouse Mini's:

Well the team is officially up and running, and I am the blog-maker!!

TeamMIDS is a team of artists dedicated to making scale miniatures for dollhouses in 1:12 scale or smaller. If you want to see small sometime, check out a 1:144 dollhouse within a dollhouse. Amazing.

Click here to see the TeamMIDS blog and check out the slideshow for some absolutely stunning work.

Hi Brenda!!

The leaves are finally getting around to turning here in the mountains, and it's so beautiful I've been having a hard time staying inside long enough to get anything done. I went for a drive a few days ago, and this is just a little sample of what I'm surrounded by.

My Blog Gets a Facelift!

In the last few months, I've been learning all kinds of new things. So my blog needs a new look to go along with all my new projects, don't you think?

First of all, I'm learning a new craft, which I LOVE!! If you've never been exposed to needlefelting, you can learn right along with me; it's a fascinating thing where you take these seriously sharp needles (and trust me, my fingers can attest to that!) and some loose wool, and sculpt it into...well, whatever your imagination can come up with! Three dimensional figurines are really popular, Art Dolls, animals, fantasy figurines, and that's just the beginning.

At the beginning, before I could get my hands on wool, I went out and bought wool yarn, and tore it down to it's basic fibre structure...LOL...lots of work, there, and it slowed me down some!

But anyway, here's a picture of my first efforts, which were just little Christmas Tree Ornaments, but I like them anyway:

More Awesome Mini's!

Ok, I realize I'm turning this blog into more of a Mini Showcase than anything, but I just can't help it. There are too many amazing artists that I'm being exposed to...

So today, it's all about the Unicorn! Golden Unicorn Mini's (or as we just call her, GUM) does the most amazing florals:

And this you GOTTA see!

This tiny little potting station, because after all, if you're going to do florals, you really NEED a place to keep your supplies, don't you think??

These little works of art are 1:12 scale, which in laymans term means one inch in a dollhouse equals one foot in real life. Talent?

Ya' think? For more of her work, check out her website!