Little Ceramic Jug

jug in front of the cupboard - the "real life" jug's base is to the right
the mini measures 1 3/8" high - a little larger than what the original would be
in "true" 1/12 scale - I think the original is only a foot high

The other night I experimented with some Crayola self-hardening clay and decided to do a replica of a jug that my sister-in-law bought me.  I just love the shape of this.  Now I'm going to have to fashion a room around my new "antiques" -- cupboard and jug.

It's like an Austin Powers "mini me!" 

on the cupboard - can't wait to figure out where to put these!

Antique Cupboard

antique cupboard

I worked on my finishing/antiquing skills the other night and wanted to share the fruits of my labor.  In case you're interested, I've explained how I achieved this look and have included a couple more pictures below: 

This started out as a plain, unfinished wooden bookshelf that I purchased for cheap -- no door or little front panel - in fact you can see it in the background of one of the photos in my post, "New Lamp."  Anyway, I had the idea to make it an antique cupboard the other night, so I took some scrap wood, cut the panel and glued that on, then cut the door and attached it with some hinges I had.  I was sure to file, and "rasp" (with my X-acto knife) the edges, to make the cupboard appear uneven and somewhat hand-hewn.  I also used a woodblock carving tool to cut in some gouges.  I was impatient to get to the painting part, so I probably could've done a better job, but oh well.  :)  Oh -- and I also used steel wool and fine sandpaper on areas I thought needed a little smoothing out.

To paint -- I began with washes of acrylic craft paint in burnt sienna, black and highlighted areas with a very light yellow/cream color. Then I did some dry-brushing on of dark brown, black and burnt sienna.   After that all dried - and warped the door, thank you -- I dampened the door again on both sides, weighted it down onto a flat surface (the corner of my drafting table, so that I could hang the cupboard off the edge, while the door stayed flat -- I wasn't about to take the door off!) overnight and it was perfectly straight!  Then last night, after doing a little bit more buffing with steel wool, I brought in a fairly bright blue -- only dry-brushing, dabbing and such - adding in brown and black where I felt I needed it. Adding the blue over-top the other colors kept it looking more aged.  In some places I layered more blue to brighten it up some, but if it got too bright, I covered with some dry-brushed brown.  I then weighted the door again, just in case - and this morning I rubbed on some minwax clear finishing paste, buffed with a cloth and also some steel wool and voila!  Here she is!  

the knob is a wooden ship-building accessory
 I picked up at a hobby shop

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! 

Working On Details

a bedroom vignette - photo of me and Dan, a box of Oil of Olay,
faux metal trinket holder, "Sense and Sensibility"

Well hello there! While watching the Patriots get trounced yesterday, I did a little merry "mini-making."  (It kept me in a good mood.)  :)  I got out the Sculpey and made a miniature blowdryer, a little "trinket-holder," . . . then got on the computer and created tiny book jackets, downloaded some packaging designs (from here and another site that seems to be down for the moment -- www.todosminis.com), and shrunk down some old photos and some of my paintings.  Later on in the evening I made a couple frames, finished painting & assembling my items and this morning took the  photos for this post.  Aaaahhh . . . photos . . . so much fun . . . forgive me if some are redundant.  It's nice to move things around and make some of the pictures look like they're of a real size room.  Enjoy!  

blow-dryer close-up -- if all works as planned, I'll be attaching a cord

a book and a blow-dryer (it looks also like a drill!) -- need I say more?

one of my all-time favorites, on the bed stand

My sister-in-law has the real size original of "Sunlit Lemons" -- and now I have a mini version!

close-up of the "antiqued gold frame"

trying out a different arrangement of items

printout of miniature goodies

me and the hubby  :)

Thanks for taking a look!

New Lamp

I recently tried my hand at making a lamp. In a future post, I'll describe my process. It was really quite simple. Of course, I'll be perfecting my technique and design, but for a first try I was pretty pleased. Thanks for stopping by.  :)

A New Blog and Getting Wired

For a few years I have had a blog about my watercolor painting (www.karakbigda.blogspot.com) and recently I've become involved in making miniatures for my dollhouse, so I thought new blog was in order.  I don't know how often I'll post, as painting is still my main focus, but I do LOVE making minis!  :)

I just purchased some new light fixtures and had great success in getting them all plugged in.  I'm very excited.  Everything is still a work in progress but I hope you enjoy these few pictures.  (Oh and please don't be alarmed by the scary, giant eye in the top photo.  Ouch!)  :)

Have a great day and thank you for stopping by.