My goodness, I did not realize how long it had been since I had posted here! As some of you know, my boyfriend and I bought our first house together in April. This was my first move since creating the mini-rooms and it was daunting!  Three months later, I still have 2 empty houses and box after box after box that looks like this.  I don't even know where to start.

Recently the Peculiarium was nice enough to ask me if I wanted to do a gallery showing, but only if my work was mobile.  This started me thinking. Do I really want to put together these rooms exactly the same?  Maybe instead I should try making some room boxes? 

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.

Guilt

I like to think of myself as an honest person, but sometimes I fail.  I have been looking for a particular friar cookie jar for a while, but usually they go for more than I want to spend.  As I was looking for creepy old dolls for my house, I saw this description, "Old lady whose head comes off".  When I looked at the photo, what did I see, but my little friar!  I feel bad that I paid almost nothing for this little guy, but I am glad he has a new home in the Judge and Gibbet kitchen.

Ooops!

While I work on the Judge & Gibbet, The Wee Witch House sits in a corner of my living room. Disaster struck a few nights ago when a loved one accidentally tripped and gave the house a little bump. All three floors are now a jumble.  

There is a lot of clean up to be done, but on the plus side, I now I have no regrets for using glue in certain places.  (I know this is a no-no)  

If there is one thing I have learned in my half-century: things are just things.  Even if the house is never the same, what does it really matter? Plus now I have an excuse to visit my prior project for a while. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  Be safe and have a Happy New Year!

So much to do, so little time!

I have very poor organization habits when it comes to my mini time.  I never make plans, and if I do, I never stick to them.  Rather than finish the walls, floor and ceiling, I jump around like a crazy woman.  Today rather than finish the baseboards and "dirty up" the walls a bit more, I wasted my time shifting items about.

Because the holidays are around the corner, I closed the Judge & Gibbet for a few months but not before taking a few photos.  There is a lot of finish work to do, (which is the part I dislike the most).

The owner of the Judge & Gibbet gave this room to his daughter to indulge her "scientific" curiosity. I have a ton of mini bottles to label and fill and want to age to the walls and windows. Maybe I will add some tattered sheers.....

 But, that will be in the new year.

Have a wonderful holiday season everyone!

I felt like working on a fun project today, so I abandoned the walls and made a little frog pond for the new witch workroom.  I purchased a used sit up tub years ago but forgot about it.  When I came across it, the idea of a frog pond came to mind.

 I thought about the tub and it seemed like the frogs would not enough, so I added an old broken doll that I had in a drawer.  I purchased a few frogs on eBay and gathered some small rocks from my driveway.  I threw a few small shells into the mix as well as some landscaping material to change the tone of the "water".

I am pretty happy with it, even though it is a tad creepy.

Help Please

I appreciate the wonderfully talented folks who check out my beginner blog. Now, I would like to ask for your help.  The room I am currently working on belongs to the daughter of the Judge & Gibbet.  She likes to "dabble" in darkness.

Now, imagine that the hutches are hanging from the wall and are filled with jars of organs and other items of interest to the young lady.  There will be a large number of plants and vines, and perhaps a few birds in the vines and lots of random books on herbalism and nature.  The table will be covered with a variety of items as well....potions, plant cuttings and other current projects. (Plus maybe a finger or two)

Now for my problem.  This room will have a nature-like feel, but I am not sure if the wallpaper on the left is too "homey".  I love the print with the small brown birds and I think it would balance with the horror inside the cabinets.  But I also like the plain look of the wallpaper on the right.

Or maybe just stick with weathered white paneling......?

If anyone has an opinion, can you please be honest and let me know what you think?

Thanks for your help, Friends!

 I still have a few major items to work on in the downstairs kitchen of the pub, but I hate it when things look too clean.  For fun, I tried my hand at a sprouting potato made from Femo. I think it looks fun next to the messed up door frame.  I also spilled a bit of "salt" on the work table where the cook is putting together some bean salad.  I was pretty happy with how the salt and pepper shakers came out.  I made the tops by very carefully placing one drop of silver paint on top of the two tiny plastic lids.

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