Shingle Time: Will it ever end?

 Hello Readers,

Well I was determined to try and finish shingling my house before the end of January and I'm not too far off achieving my goal.

They are split cedar shingles that came precut and ready to lay. As you can see there is quite a variation in their colour but I'm happy with the look.

 Tips:

1. BOTTOM EDGE: Most miniaturist recomend you start by gluing a small (about 1/4) of a shingle long ways along the bottom edge of your roof. This enables the shingles to lay flatter. If you don't do this your shingles will stick out.

2. SCISSORS: The cedar shingles are easily cut with scissors (please don't use your best craft scissors for this project....hide them....hide them!!!!!)

3. DRAW LINES: Draw lines for shingles to line up to!!!!!! (I didn't do this so well in this project so its a little wobbly)  Take a look at my old post and you will see what I mean.
http://tailsofadventurewithindyandpoppy.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/the-roof-is-on-but-not-complete.html

4. GLUE: Choose your glue: I used wood glue....according to some miniaturist it's a big no no. But I had minimal problems using it. The main thing to remember is to take your time. Glue on a few...leave it for ten minutes...then do another section. Too much at one time will lead to shingles moving...falling off or drying crooked.

5. MIX IT: If your shingles came in separate bags. Mix them up before you start. The shingle colours very so much but if you don't mix them it will stand out.

I hope this helps: It is a bit of trial and error, but if you take your time you will be suprised by your results.

Well its time for more shingles

Talk soon, IndyPoppy

A Bargain?

 Hello Readers,
I have always wanted a power tool of my own so I finally bit the bullet and purchased one. On a few blogs and forum posts people mentioned using a scroll saw to make miniatures. After a bit of research I thought I'd look into it.

Many of our hardware shops in Australia sell cut priced scroll saws...so the question was...do I go with a cheaper one or do I go for something a little bit more pricey. After seeing (and HEARING....add swear words here!!!!) my boyfriend use cheaper power tools that failed within a few hours of use I thought.....pay a bit more and so I did.

So here is my new "baby" a Makita scroll saw. I had a quick go this afternoon and WOW, I was so impressed! NO TIMBER IS SAFE!!!!!!!

I know it won't be able to cut really small stuff, however for the items I want to make I think it will be great.

 Now to my cheaper find this week. I was looking for a cheap supply of timber and thought...what about an old timber blind. So with this in mind I was off to our closest recycling centre and found this beauty for $5. As you can see I have already pulled it apart, ready to use.

The timber is about 5cm wide and only a few mm thick which I thought would be great to use for my kitchen cabinets, bookshelves and other items.


If you have any ideas of what I could use it for...let me know.


Time to experiment!!!!!!

IndyPoppy

PS. Thought Id share with you a quick photo from a recent visit to Australia's capital city, Canberra. Each year they have a spring festival called Floride. They plant thousands of tulips. Here's just one of the many photos I took.

3D Printing...The next Generation Minis.

I have noticed a few people who are designing their own minis and wondered how do they do it? Well the answer is 3D printing.  With this  additive manufacturing process if you think it you can make it!
I have been investigating the idea of a 3D printer since I purchased my digital vinyl/paper cutter. As I found it so easy to use. But after much looking I decided that owning my own printer is definitely out of my price range at the moment. ($1400 is a lot, and imagine how many minis I could buy for that!) So what are my options?
Well I found an online store that could offer me the best of both worlds. I can get my own designs made or I can purchase other people's lovely work. If you haven't visited this site before here it is :
http://www.shapeways.comUsing the information from the Shapeways site I did have a quick go at designing a small piece. A small wall panel part that could be used  in modern scenes. I used a free online program http://www.3dtin.com which allowed me in under 3 mins create a fairly quick attempt. (I'm sure if I spent more time on it, I could achieve much better results) It was fairly easy to use.  I do like the idea of making something that is one of a kind. If I spent more time on it, I would create slightly larger opening or shelves that you could sit your mini art pieces onto. As you can see, I'm well away from creating such custom pieces as you see below. (But you've got to start somewhere right?)

As you know from previous posts I have started a collection of 1/12th modern furniture, my main problem has been cost. I almost fell over when I purchased a chair at the miniature fair. (Did I really pay $!! for it?) After looking for a while on the shapeways site....here are a few of my wish list items.

My first picks are mainly furniture, but it got me thinking.....

I have always thought of making my boyfriend a mechanic's room box. Look at these lovelies that I

could use for it!
 

One thing that I would like to explore is 3D printed animals. I have absolutely no idea on how to go about it but would love to have a 1/12th version of my "fur kids" especially the ones that are no longer with me.

Ksenia agrees with me "Who wouldn't want a 1/12th scale Border Terrier for their house?"

Anyway, I'd love to hear from anyone who has actually gone ahead and printed something. Or what items that you think you would like to have a go at printing. The possibilities are truly endless.
Talk soon, IndyPoppy

Modern Miniatures

Hello Readers,
It's been a while and I haven't had much time to make minis. As you may already know, I am collecting items for my Victorian dollhouse and so far I have resisted other eras but......

Well I came across this set on gumtree and I couldn't look away! This is volume 3 of the "Design Interior Collection". There are 9 items in this collection. I'm quite impressed with their details.

This collection is many miniature versions of Charles and Ray Eames famous designs.

Well its the closest I will ever get to one of their designs.

So the hunt is on. I'll be hanging out on eBay I'm sure to find the other sets.

Do you collect any of these and if so what's your favourite piece?

IndyPoppy

Bricks and coffee sticks.

Hello Readers,
So I finally made a decision on bricks…well for the most part :) After my experiments with different products I'm trying my own thing.

I found these coffee stirrers at a local catering company and thought that they are almost the right thickness and size to make individual bricks.
I have started gluing them down and so far I am pretty happy with the results. I am wanting a rendered/painted finish so you shouldn't see the wood at all.
So I have started with the bottom part of my chimney. The gluing is probably the trickiest part, making sure its straight and equally spaced. Anyway theres plenty of cutting and gluing to do. Guess that's what long weekends are for.

IndyPoppy

Want to join me on Facebook?

If you are like me, you probably have a Facebook account and use it fairly regularly. But do you use it to communicate with other's in the dollhouse community?

Whilst attending the Sydney Dollhouse and Miniature fair and speaking to other bloggers and miniaturists.  I thought wouldn't it be great to have a place to go to see other peoples work, share ideas and just have fun.





So I decided "Why not start it myself?"

So what do you think?

Who wants to join me?


If your a dollhouse or miniature enthusiasts from anywhere in the world. I'd love to hear from you.

I'd love to see you there!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Worldofdollhousesandminiatures/

IndyPoppy

Sydney Dollhouse and Miniatures Fair: Part Two.

My Mum purchased this for me for my Hallway. Thanks Mum.

 Hello Everybody,
As promised I thought I would share with you my purchases from the fair. As I am working towards furnishing my Victorian Dollhouse I purchased with that in mind. If it wasn't from this era (or as close as I could get to this era) I wasn't buying it.

However for anyone with a vintage or modern dollhouse the Sydney fair has plenty for you too. I have to admit, it has made me think…is one dollhouse enough? I'd really like to get a vintage Triang 1930's/40's and a modern dollhouse to add to my collection. Ahh the possibilities!

Anyway to the purchases:

It's a pencil sharpener. But with a bit of paint and some records it will be perfect

A Phoenix Miniature (old stock?) Mangle for the laundry.

Parts of the white-metal kit….lots of gluing and painting ahead.

Croquet Set for the children's room.

A fresh fruit delivery. I will probably change the labels to vintage Australian ones.

Silk prints.

One of my favourite finds.  A Lidi Stroud (Basketcase Miniatures) fishing creel.
This has to be seen in person. The weaving is teeny tiny and FABULOUS!

A closer shot of the Fishing Creel.

Cruet Set

Duelling Pistols. These will need a little case. So another DIY project is on my never ending list of DIY.

I met the lovely Michelle from Michelle's Miniatures at the fair. Her books are magnificent! 

Another Phoenix Kit. Sewing Machine.

Toys for the nursery.

Handpainted by Margaret Crosswell.

Sydney Dollhouse and Miniatures Fair. Part 1

Hello Everyone. Well it has been a very exciting week for me as it was time for the annual Sydney Dollhouse and Miniatures Fair at Homebush.

It has been two years since I was last at the fair and was so dissapointed that I couldn't attend last year. So rain, hail or shine I was going this year.

After convincing my Mum that she needed to come (after all I needed someone to stop me if I got mini-itis. The need to buy every mini you see!) We headed to Homebush.

I loved this cutout so that you could view all the contents!

Our first stop was to look at the wonderful displays. The houses were in multiple scales, some 1/144, 1/12 1/24 etc. Below are a few of my favourite houses/ideas from the show.

Flower Shop

Steam Punk Extravaganza!

Tudor Kit

Kitchen Room box

This shop was one of my favourite room boxes at the fair. It held a wonderful secret! Can you see the Baker in the back room? Well this miniaturist came up with a great idea so that you could see the items in the back room. It's a mirror! Fabulous idea. You could use this idea for those rooms that are just too hard to access, but you still want to be able to use and see!

Mirror placement in back room.

Lots of handmade treats.

Grocery Store

Jewellery Shop

Haberdashery Shop. I just want that cotton display cabinet!

Readers of Basketcase Miniatures will recognise this beauty.  Willunga . If you would like to see more of Lidi's work, check out her great blog.

                                              http://basketcase-miniatures.blogspot.com.au

In my next post I will share pictures of my favourite purchases. 

Take care

IndyPoppy