I have been a total slacker where my minis are concerned.  After spending Halloween in New Orleans, I have decided to buckle down and work on locating and purchasing a real sized home.  This means that my Judge & Gibbet will have to close down for the winter while I work on getting rid of my real life clutter.  Have a wonderful winter, Friends.  I will continue to follow my mini friends and will hopefully be back in the mini-game next summer. Happy Belated Halloween!

I love this crazy, flawed, one legged doll.  She was part of a lot eBay.  She was crammed down in the corner of a box, looking up at me with her big wide eyes when I found her there.

She has been sitting in the Judge & Gibbet attic for years along with other pieces that have no place.  But during a recent trip to Seattle, it hit me.  This fine little lady would make a wonderful fortune teller in a box!  Instead of working on a room this winter, I am going to devote my time to making a wonderful cabinet for her along with a slot for coins and a place for the fortune to come out.  I know it will not be the same, (and I would not want it to) but below is an example of what I am going for.

She will be a perfect addition to the bar when she is finished.  Maybe she will inspire me to actually get to work on that room!

I think I will start with 3- windowed doors and a solid back and see what I can do.  Wish me luck!

I have been so busy that my poor house has been gathering dust. Finally this weekend, I had time to add lights to the witch's herbology room.  I also received a lovely copy of Dollhouse Miniatures which featured my witch's laboratory in the Sept-Oct issue. They were lovely to work with.

As for my current room, which is right next to the lab, I still have LOADS of work to do and many, many little bottles to fill and books to bind.  But here is an update.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying a great summer!

I have been working on the young witch's herbology/ potion room and having a great time abusing the wallpaper and ceiling.  I started with a normal damask and used a fine grade sandpaper to take off the sheen. Next, I created rips and tears and tea stained the exposed white areas.

Under the wallpaper is a dark cement like wall. I tried my hand at staining it and marking it up a bit. I think I could go a little further, but don't want to over do it.

I purchased some white, unfinished skulls from a seller on etsy and were very happy with them.  I used dark wood stain and the primer and then went over each skull with diluted white paint. For the exceptionally low price, I think I may add a few more.

I am now about 1/3 finished with the room and have loads of trim and details to add.  Here is a shot of where I am. Regretfully, a flashlight and an iPhone do not make for a spooky mood. I can't wait to put in the lights!

Per your comment, this one's for you, Catherine!

Every little witch needs to be prepared, right?

A few more things that need to be finished, fixed and hidden, but here are a few non-fancy shots of where I am now.  Danny will be taking nice photos for me this weekend after I am ready to step back and stop switching things around.

I think I may be losing my mind.  Two nights ago after doing the dishes, I noticed a mangled mushroom in the drainer.  It looked just like a little pile of guts.  I was elated and moved it to a dish and squirted it with a little color. (Red ink and yellow food color)  I let it dry out a little and then placed it in a bucket.  I sealed it in with resin, making sure it was a very tight seal. Voila, bucket of guts.

Minis make me crazy, but also keep me sane. That makes sense when you think about it.  When stress hits, nothing clears your mind like trying to figure out a certain look or texture.

Hopefully, the brown glass jug under the sink looks like it is covered with a fine layer of mold.  To create that look, I rubbed a little E6000 on my fingers and then lightly over the jar.  I ran to my dryer, cleaned the vent and pinched off a little piece. I rubbed it over the jar and then brushed off the excess.

To make the snails, I used a few shells I had left over from a seashell display.  I made little "feet" out of Fimo, and after inserting them into the shell, rubbed the bottom over some E6000 and placed them in the jar.

The greenery in the jar of pond leeches was made from the inside string of a cantaloupe, soaked in green food color.  Again, when I use organic matter, I always make sure my resin seal is tight!

This weekend I also hung a couple of photos I found on a site devoted to Victorian post mortem photography. I found them both lovely and sad.  It is chilling when you realize that only one of the girls in each photo is alive.

I guess I really don't mind being crazy.  It is fun.

Let there be light.

No baseboards, lots of finishing work to do, wires to hide and loads of bottles to fill. But thank goodness I have light!

During my never ending quest to save money, I found these bottles while wandering around Dollar Tree. They were in the nail section, filled with glitter.  I painted the plastic lids a rough silver, filled them with household goo, aged them up and voila, six bottles for the shelf for under $2.00. Saving money on miniatures makes me giddy because it means more savings for the "fun" stuff I can't make myself.

A few weeks ago, I purchased an empty cabinet on eBay and wondered why it was so inexpensive.  For the first time in a while, I had forgotten to check the scale.  When it arrived, I was disappointed that it was so small. But I used some small bottles that I had been saving and filled them with everything from dead bugs to Dawn dish soap and voila, I now have a little potion cabinet.

I sure have been bad about keeping up my blog, but I haven't been able to spend a lot of time on my new little house.  Here are a couple of photos of what I have been working on.  The butterfly display was a lot of fun and I am still tinkering with my leeches. Every day I seem to switch something around.  I am about 50% finished with this room, and I have no idea what it is going to look like when it is finished. I wish I was a better planner, but I never seem to know where I am going with anything in advance.

In Progress

I have so much to do and hope to be finished with this room by Halloween. Here are a couple of recent shots. Keep in mind, I am not even half way there. 

Taking a Gamble

I haven't been working  on the actual bar in the Judge & Gibbet because I am having so much fun in the morgue/workroom.   The walls are bare and things thrown in there willy-nilly.  But I did want to share with you a great find.  

While looking at miniatures on eBay, I found a small bone box marked "Mexico".  It cost almost nothing and the description said it was filled with small dominoes.  I had no idea what scale they were, but took a gamble due to the super low cost.

When my package arrived, I think I screamed out loud when I emptied the contents of the small souvenir box. Inside were the most perfect 1/12 scale dominoes I have ever seen. We set up a game on one of my favorite used tables.  (Note the mismatched chairs as well.)  I could not be more pleased with the final outcome.  Maybe some day, I will get to work on this room!  The size of this new house is simply daunting.