3 Blind Mice Show – April 2013

Last night, I headed to the first of the local mini shows: 3 Blind Mice.  Since the IMA Show is no longer running, this show grew considerably in size. There were vendors all over!  :D

For The Art Studio, I bought a flag with a stand and a door mat from Designs by Janet.

They add a little welcoming whimsy.

I also purchased a few items for the mini fridge from Golden Acorn.

The white tray on the left is for the Studio, but the others are just to add to my accessories collection.  These are all from A Pocket Full of Wishes.

Also from this vendor are some decorative votives and a candleholder.

I’ve had my eye on these REAC Frank Lloyd Wright chairs for a couple of years, so I picked them up from William Cambron Designs – a vendor who always has a nice selection of modern miniatures.

From Mini Decorators, I found some great fabrics.  I’ve been looking for that one on the right for the past couple of years.  The one on the left is used to weave miniature carpets.  She had some nice designs, so I’ll give it try.  :D

The rug is from Designs by Janet but the vase and pot are from other vendors.

I bought two French knot rug kits by Teresa Layman.  I’ve never stitched one of these, but they look so perfectly in scale in miniature.

Two more lights from The Lighting Bug for an upcoming project.

I always buy birds from Barbara Ann Meyer of Mini Gems, but this time she had a tiny fox and Bastet statue that drew me in, too!

While I’m showing new minis, here are a few I picked up from All Small Miniatures when I bought the shingles for the Studio.  The stool is also for the Studio, but the other items are for my accessories collection.

The anchor will be for Jasper Inlet Light, and the vase will likely end up in the Heritage.

Categories: Miniature Shows and Shops
April 19, 2013 | 0 comments

The Artist’s Studio – Hummingbird shower part 4

Using the two tile images shown previously, I did a test sample to see how the sealer would look. Since I had success with the Old World Tile in Baxter Pointe Villa, I decided to use the same Triple Thick Gloss Glaze in this instance. I used spray adhesive to attach my printed image to a mat board scrap, using the same part of the image for both to get an apples-to-apples comparison.

This is the spray adhesive I use.  :]

I added the Triple Thick Gloss Glaze and let it dry overnight. I recommend two nights of drying time when using this, but I just needed to get a rough feel for the grout lines and wanted to move forward with the process. Here is the glaze before scoring the lines. The thick glaze really transformed the image, though I wasn’t really careful with the application on these samples. I’ll take better care to spread it evenly for the final.

I used a ball stylus to trace over the lines. As expected, the glaze lifted in some areas since it really needed another full day of drying time. This won’t happen in the final process since I’ll be sure to leave it alone the required time.

I think the 10-pixel is the clear winner here. Not only were the lines easier to see to trace but it just seems a better break between the individual tiles. Next up, the real deal…

Categories: The Artist's Studio
April 18, 2013 | 0 comments

The Artist’s Studio – Shingles and chimney

I was able to find two packages of Desert Tan rectangular shingles at All Small Miniatures, a brick and mortar dollhouse shop about an hour from my home. I had called local stores to see if anyone had them in stock, and the woman at All Small Miniatures had exactly what I needed. She was gracious enough to hold them until the weekend when I could drive out to get them. Meant to be! :D

Of course, while I was there, I had to look around…and other minis jumped into my shopping bag before I left. Anyway, on to shingling!

I used Quick Grip to attach these to the roof board. Easy peasy.

The chimney is made from bits and bobs. I had used a similar setup for Baslow Ranch. I tried to attach the chimney in the same spot as the wood stove, lining up the two visually.

I super glued the chimney parts together and then spray painted it flat black. Since the chimney is hollow, I added a crumpled bit of newspaper inside to increase the gluing surface.

I cut the shingles around the pipe.

It’s a nice, seamless finish.  :]

The desert tan is a great color with the red and walnut base.

The skylights are perfectly set into the surrounding shingles.

I had a little left over in the end.

I want to offer a special thank you to Lori at Happily Ever After for taking the time to check if she could get the shingles for me. Thank you to Lolly’s for also being so helpful. And, thank you to Fran for letting me know about a new product at miniatures.com – laser cut paper shingle strips that you paint with stone spray paint to get the color you want. It would have been a great second choice!

Categories: The Artist's Studio
April 17, 2013 | 0 comments

The Artist’s Studio – Hummingbird shower part 3

I did a little prep work and sampling before forging ahead with the tile mural. First, I photographed my original hummingbird and flower drawing and then manipulated it in PhotoShop to lighten and sharpen since some color loss and blurring occurs in printing.

There are a few ways I figured I could make the tiles. I could cut out individual tiles and paste them to a board with “grout lines” in between. The problem I foresaw with this method was matching the precise lines of the drawing and getting the grout lines even. Also, I would have to cut my tiles slightly smaller since the overall dimensions of the drawing were exact to the shower stall size I wanted.

I opted for an easier and just as effective method: making gridlines in PhotoShop. I made my gridlines the lightest of greys, just to make them fall into the background slightly. Plus, even white tile grout isn’t bright white in real life. I also made sure there was a gridline in the very center where the mural would break at the corner of the shower.

I made three test prints, the first of which had 14 half-inch tiles across with grout lines 10 pixels wide.

The second has the same half-inch tiles but with 5 pixel-width grout lines.

The third is done with quarter-inch tiles and 5 pixel-width grout lines.

The half-inch tiles are the clear winner to me since they achieve the tile look in a realistic manner without detracting from the image the way the busier quarter-inch tiles do. The 5-pixel lines for the half-inch tiles seem better in print (in person anyway), but I will do a trial run of the next step using both samples to see which works better in the end. I don’t want to go through the whole process just to have the lines disappear for being too thin.

Categories: The Artist's Studio
April 16, 2013 | 0 comments

The Artist’s Studio – Wood stove, part 6

I finished up the wood stove, and I am ecstatic about how it turned out! :D When I last wrote about it, I had cut the stove pipe and primed the pieces.

I sanded the pieces once the primer was dry and sprayed them Krylon Satin Almond. I sanded once between the final color coats as well. I didn’t go with high gloss since that often looks unrealistic in mini.

I cut a piece of acrylic sheet to fit the front opening.

This fits using only tension, but I didn’t want to risk it coming loose. I cut a larger piece of acrylic to fit behind this piece.

It is held in place with two pieces of black mat board glued inside.

I then glued the door in place, added a round head pin for the bottom tray latch and fashioned a knob from a jewelry finding and flat head pin. While I was painting, the delicate parts of the door grille broke. I cut part of the design away to salvage the piece. It still looks like a planned design. Crisis averted! The stove pipe has a pin in the bottom that holds it in place on the stove.

It’s a little crooked here since there’s nothing to hold it straight.

As a reminder, here is my inspiration piece from Charnwood.

Inside the Studio, I glued in the brick hearth and trimmed it with 1/16″ x 1/16″ bass wood. I was able to add in the surrounding baseboards as well.

Here is my inspiration from hearth.com showing a partial brick wall.

I fed the flickering LEDs into the stove and then into the resin fire. I put on the lid and set the stove in place. The stove pipe fits against the ceiling and holds the stove in place with tension alone. This is good in case I ever need to take it back out. :]

And, here it is! Love! As much as I adore red stoves, I’m so glad I went with the almond.

The firewood under the stove is one of my favorite details.

Looks cozy inside.  :D

Categories: The Artist's Studio
April 15, 2013 | 0 comments