My Little Hobby - Scale Miniatures

The Glitter Swap - part 2
 Same project only this time it is completed.
The only thing I have to do is let them finish drying out, sign the bottom and package them. Then they will be off in the mail on Monday.

So here are my little glittery snow-women.

The glitter doesn't show up well here. I also added little carrot noses.

The little orange carrot noses were made from the very end of a toothpick. That was fun!
Once they are all dried I can sign the bottom.

Now on to the glitter house project.

You should see my studio! It's covered with glitter.

Back later. Off to create something else.

Terri
 

The Glitter Swap
 I am involved again.
This time it involves glitter! And snow! And women! And we don't get snow in our neck of the woods! Except in 2004 when it snowed about 6 inches Christmas Eve. Everything was covered in a beautiful white blanket of snow. Everyone had a great Christmas gift that year. And the best part was that it all melted and was gone by the end of the day. No dirty snow to be refrozen and piled up. Ahhh I love living in the south! But I digress...again.

I  am making about 35 quarter inch snow-ladies. They will go in front of a Putz House. (That's another post yet to come.)

So far I have a small group made. It' funny how you make things and when you get to the last few you figure out the best way do it. Some of these little ladies have buttons on their bellies and some do not. That is because I should have put them on before I added the scarves. I also inset the eyes with tiny tiny beads and marked some eyelashes on them. I don't like the eyelashes. Will experiment with white out later. 

These little ladies stand approximately 1 1/4" tall. That would be about 5 feet tall in real life.

I still have to add some glitter and make some more. Then the bagging and labeling will come. Packaging is always important. I found the worst items can look great if they are packaged nicely. 

So that is my little project for this weekend. To complete the snow-ladies.

I am off to the studio to create something else.

Terri

September 21 - Return from NAME Small Scales Houseparty in Greenville, South Carolina

South Carolina is beautiful! I could live there. Easily! However, I'll stay in Texas for the rest of my days and that's ok, too.

I was fortunate enough to be one of the 240 people to attend the the Small Scale Houseparty  in Greenville. Our theme was Touring Tuscany. And since I've not been to Tuscany, this was the next best thing. We had a great time. Lots of projects, shopping, laughing, seeing old friends and making new ones. 

Here are a couple of tangible things I came away with. 

Our Thursday night project was a brick pizza oven. The kit was designed by Debbie Young (unfortunately not related as far as I know). I was able to finish adding the little details after I got home.

We can see the country side from the side. Mozzarella balls and fresh tomatoes cut by tiny little knives.

Pizza fresh from the oven and a bottle of wine. Notice the pizza/bread paddles by the fireplace.

And a final shot showing the well used brick oven. I love where the wood is stored beneath the mantle.

I won a couple of raffle items. When they called my name for the Thatched Roof Cottage by Debbie Young, well, I was excited! I wanted it because it was unfurnished and I have a 1/2 ton of her furniture just waiting for a home. Here is the cottage unfurnished and move in ready!

Another Debbie Young cottage.

A side view. Already landscaped for me.

Kitchen and dining area with master bedroom on top

 

The back will show the living room on bottom and maybe a studio on top? Decisions, decisions.

And finally I wanted to share this project I did from the 2014 NAME On-Line Houseparty. We did this kit over the internet. Debbie Young's kits are so well made and everything goes together so easily. Directions are excellent and she even sent us some sawdust for the floor. 

Entrance to the studio. This is a replica of Debbie's real studio.

Debbie said the ironing board shutters and old stove have a lot of patina on them. Her flowers probably don't look as colourful as these.

And the inside where all these great kits are created. I think I need to add a lot more to make it realistic and put lots of sawdust on the floor.

I'll be posting more from the Greenville Houseparty as soon as I get things finished. 

Back to the studio
Terri 
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Scale Miniatures has been a hobby of mine for over 28 years. During that time I have become involved with several organizations both physically and on-line. There are many Yahoo groups that focus on dollhouses in about every size from Barbie Size to 2/88" and probably smaller. My eyesight doesn't go that small. 


One of the groups close to my heart is SAM, Society of American Miniaturists. I  have belonged to this group for 20 some years. I have served as a board member and editor of the Passport, the 32 page news letter that's published twice a year.

The spring edition highlights the workshop weekend held every September in Temple, Texas. Three days of workshops, sales room, round robins, live and silent auctions. Did I mention we also have a great time with friends from all over the state of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and a few others.

The fall edition highlights SAM's birthday party. This is a free project for members. Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas take turns playing host and providing a free project. Tote bag favors, silent auctions, lunch, door prizes and of course a great project are all free for members. Projects we've made are quilt shops, door for all season, little girls bedroom, bed and breakfast suite, 1950's diner and more. Most of the projects are in 1" scale and a few have been done in 1/2" scale. The 2014 host city is Corpus Christi. My local group is working on this now and we will have a great project that can be almost finished in 1 day. 

N.A.M.E. (National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts) is an international organization that promotes and supports all scales of miniatures. NAME has Houseparties for 300 to 400 participants. They have a national houseparty each year but my favorites are the small scale houseparties. These aren't held as often but I have attended the last 5 (2 were held in Salt Lake City, UT, Fresno, Portland, Or, Rochester, NY) and plan on attending the upcoming events in 2014 (South Carolina) and 2015 (Wisconsin).

Currently NAME is having a houseparty in the Gazette, their quarterly magazine. They are also holding an online houseparty next year with attendance limited to 1,000. (I've already registered for this one).

If you are interested in knowing more about any of these groups or just want to play with miniatures, let me know. I'll be happy to educate you on a hobby that uses all crafts and mediums. 

I'm off to get small and work on my gardeners retreat project.

Terri
Waiting for the glue to dry