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Friday, September 27, 2013

If you don't have a clue what you wanna do, be careful with the glue...

I'm sick =( It started out with a sudden urge to clean the house last week... I picked up things just to get them to their rightful place, and after a few days of this, it got worse, and I vacuumed the whole house and swabbed some of the floors and cleaned the toilet and the sink and did the laundry and the washing-up. But then I got so tired and just like that I got a sore throat. And then the cold hit me, with headache and fever. I couldn't even work with my miniatures for a couple of days, I was only sleeping and lying on the couch. It is boring to just lye down for a whole week..

But I can feel how I'm starting to come back now =) And I have been able to do some more details for my cabin. 
NOT the best picture.. but I added a doormat (a small piece of leather, upside down) And under a gutter I found some moss that I thought look like a bush or something =)
And I added some curtains =) I just realized I forgot to make curtains for the upper window..
I like yellow for the kitchen, so I couldn't resist this yellow fabric for the windows =)

I also added a blanket for the bed and a rug, made of tread like I did this one: http://hannahsminiatyrer.blogspot.se/2011/03/det-kommer-en-del-nya-inlagg-i-rad-nu.html Very simple =)

And then I thought that blue blanket would look good on my bed in the first house, so I made a quilt for that bed too =) And then I just realized both my "1:144 scale" houses are the same size... That seems about right.. until you see them.. first one is a big house with two floors and several rooms, the second one a small cabin.. how did it turn out this way???
Is it the first one, that is too small, or is it the cabin that is way too big? I think the cabin is too big, but the first house may be the wrong scale too! I just hate counting and measuring.. I will have to do a better job with that next time.. and yes, it's going to be a next time =) I'm already sketching on a new house =) I LOVE building houses. But I hope I will furnish them too, that is not as fun as building new houses =) But I like it when they are full of things to look at.. so I will work on that =)
 
And if you wonder what that headline is all about ;) I realized I shouldn't have glued that second floor to my first house just yet.. It will be very hard to add furniture in there... (At least the roof is still movable) I did manage to add a curtain, but that was very hard =) But I will keep working on that house, and hopefully I can add new stuff to it every now and then =)

And today I did paint more squares to my floor (in the 1:12 house) It will take a great deal of time to finish it, but I'm working on it (yes I'm working on a LOT of things ;) )
And I did a lot more work than usually on my carpet now when I've been sick. This really feels like a never ending project =) But when I see it like this, on picture, I can see I've done a lot already =) The boring part is still to be done.. all the off white in the background.. and the frame and some small details too =)
Take care
Hannah

Friday, September 20, 2013

Progress on the tiny cabin

I would like to thank every one that left such nice comments on my last post =) I started painting that floor again. Amazing how hard it is to make it look like it has been washed off.. ;) I will keep working on that.. I think the first ones looks better than the new ones, but I will keep trying =)

But I'm working on that little cabin too =) Every time I think I'm almost done, I come up with a new idea =) And I still haven't done the roof =) And the grass (I think there will be grass around it, if I'm able to make that..)
When I left you the last time I had done all the walls, but I had not glued it together.
I did some window frames, by regular white paper =)
I also did this around the doorpost. Then I assembled the house.

I made the second floor out of balsa wood, drew some lines on it with a pencil and painted it brown, the same colour as the house.

The first floor is also made out of balsa wood, a bit thicker than the second floor.

Three walls in place. I haven't glued the fourth wall yet, I might just have it loose =)

Then I made a ladder =) (of toothpicks as well)

And I was eager to try out my furnitures..

 
I tried lots of different combinations (I haven't even painted the sofa yet) And I realized I could make a fence just like I did the ladder =) (The sofa is made out of balsa wood and later I added some fabric too)

 Looking at these bright white window frames made me want to paint them... so...

...I painted both the window frames and the sofa, in "Dala-blue" =) I don't know if they are still a bit too bright.. I might just make them a bit more dirty with some brown paint, we will see about that =) (made a door of balsa wood too, and painted it blue)

I made a bunk-bed (out of toothpicks, beads, cardboard and fabric) and a bedside table (balsa wood) and a chest (balsa wood and paint) and a corner cupboard (the cupboard isn't really done yet) and I thought I was almost done (except for the roof and the exteriors) Then I thought, we have very cold winters here in Sweden, maybe I should give the cabin a tile stove. So I moved the cupboard and the fridge and started making a stove.

Eager as always ;) I wanted to see how it would look with the tile stove in place, so I tried it out, even if the stove isn't finished at ALL! (And the cupboard isn't done yet either... )

The door got a doorknob (a bead).

Tried it with the last wall in place, but I think it would be best to leave it removable, maybe I can have some kind of hinge, and open and close the wall like a door?! I will have to see when I have made the roof, if it's even possible to do that.


Some last pictures =) I will keep working on this and I will have to make at least one more post about this house ;)
When I was looking at this now I just realized it might be nice with a rug too... I might just come up with new ideas everyday...
I haven't glued the furniture I only used tacky wax, so they are movable, I figure it would be the best, since I get new ideas for this house all the time =)

But this is a fun project and I have no rush to be done.

I will go paint my tile stove now =)
Take care
Hannah

Monday, September 16, 2013

I totally lost my inspiration...

At least I lost my inspirations for the floors.. And I did something I shouldn't do.. started to compare my work with others... My bedroom floor did NOT turn out the way I wanted.. =( And I was so disappointed, and I just gave up. But then I started on the last floor, the kids room. I can't say it's fun =( But it needs to be done so that I can have fun decorating and doing other funnier things =)

On a distance the bedroom floor looked OK, but up close you could see big holes.. And it might show even better after I painted it white...

I dont want to remake the whole floor, so I hope some more paint will make it look a little better...

Now to the children's room..
Like I have said before there were splines on the sides, so I used quite thick "planks"
I had a hard time cutting the planks to fit around the small wall in the middle. Its not beautiful, but it works, and since I was going to paint it I thought it wont show...

I should have saved it like this... but I painted it white. And since I thought white was a bit boring I thought of painting squares, in blue..
And then I started thinking.. Since this is a children's room, I will have lots of toys and stuff lying around.. and that might give a messy impression, if the floor is squared... so I tried wiping it of.. but that was harder than I thought...
And then I gave up!!! So this is what it looks like now..
And instead I started on the 1:144 log cabin =) I'm still working on that and I hope to show more pictures of that later this week =)

But now, what am I to do with that floor?? Please leave a comment what you think I should do.. I have no clue..
Should I finish painting it blue and white? or should I repaint it white? or maybe have faded blue squares like in the last picture? or something totally different that I haven't even thought about??
Hope you can help me with this =)

Take care
Hannah

Thursday, September 12, 2013

A tiny log cabin

I got very inspired to start building in 1:144 scale again after seeing this at kilmouski and me and then Anna started on a house too =)
I should finish my first one, but, I started on a new one instead =) I got this cute kitchen, a bit old fashioned and I immediately thought of a log cabin for it, and not any log cabin, a "härbre".  Its an old "storage house" for food and things, they hang the food high so that the animals wont eat it before the people could ;) And it was built on rocks or poles. But mine will stand on the ground, since it wont be for storage. They did sleep in this small cabins too, mostly in the summer, and I believe many old härbren have gotten a make over so that they can be used as cabins nowadays. I've seen many of these old cabins/ härbren in Dalarna, Sweden. And since I almost believe that I am from Dalarna (which I aren't, but my grandfather were and my mother lived there for a long time and my grandmother still lives there, in a cute cabin, not like this, but in a typical red swedish cabin) anyway! ;) I've always liked log cabins, and härbren =) I saw this drawing: http://timmerstugan.blogg.se/2009/august/ritningen.html#comment and I started draw a plan myself and this is what I came up with =)

I thought toothpicks would look like logs, if I painted them =) So I started out with some paint, I thought I would have this house in "wood-colour" (not red like most cabins in Dalarna are, but I have seen some wood-coloured log cabins too! And maybe it's more common to have a red "normal cabin" than a red Härbre?! I think so anyway) I used watercolours and let them dry in some styrofoam.


I started carving the toothpicks, but I realized it would take forever to do this, so I came up with a way to cheat ;) It wont be as beautiful, but it will save time and I think it will do.

I just glued toothpicks on each other and used a paper template to see how many I had to use. I will glue the walls together later.

I made an opening for the window =)

 

I had a hard time decide if I should have 3 or 4 walls?! I will make the roof movable, so that one actually can see the kitchen furniture inside =) but I don't know if I should have one wall open too, but I would like it to look like a house...

Working on my cheating method for the sides ;) 

And when I was done with the three first walls, I decided to make four of them =) So I will keep working tomorrow =) And we will have to see if I use 4 or 3 walls later =)
To be continued....

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

August swap

We had a swap in a Facebook group I'm in. We have had swaps before, I attended twice, this is my third time. You can read more about the last times here: http://hannahsminiatyrer.blogspot.se/search/label/Swaps
I love swaps =) Its so exiting, you don't know what to get. And sometimes you might get something you never would have bought or made yourself, and that is very exiting I think =) It gets you to think in new ways. And it's great to trade things you don't use or in my case, things you have made yourself and have to much of ;)

This is what I gave away =)

Lisbeth got this:

A needlefelted cactus, a saw, an angle, a "christening
candle" (In Sweden every one who gets baptised gets a candle with this red symbol on it, don't know if you get this in any other countries?! =) ), a swedish flag, some coffee-filters, a cat and some bananas. Everything except the bananas are handmade by me =) And I did send her some linen too.

Magdalena got this:
A needlefelted cactus, a saw, an angle, a golden frame, a golden cup, some slices from a strawberry cane, a liquorice-cake, a scull with a candle, and some blue fake suede fabric.

 This is also handmade by me, except for the fabric ;) 

And Sarah got this:
A mannequin, a needlefelted cactus, a saw, an angle, a pair of shoe blocks, some bananas, a piggy bank (or a rabbit bank =) ), a toy- Volkswagen Bus and 6 Clarice Cliff inspired art deco plates.
And like the other things, These are also handmade by me, except the bananas and the mannequin =)

(I will make a post of how I made the Volkswagen Bus later =) )


And this is what I got:

From Pernilla:

She had made a book and bread and sent a plate and the thing I was most impressed by, a tiny table cloth that she had crochet with sewing thread =) Amazing work =) Very cute package. Thank you very much!

From Linda and Sarah:

The card in the back is a painting of Carl Larsson a well-known Swedish artist =) I wonder if I can us that in the mini-world too?! =)
I got a very nice small printed fabric and two very thin pieces of leather (I might "have" to do more bags now =) ) and a little box with salmon slices, (I have tried to do salmon slices before, but I failed, so I know how impressive these are ;) ), an angle, roses, a skull and two hangers (they are actually paper-clips for scrapbooking) I asked in the Facebook group if anyone had seen these before, and a couple of days later that's what I got in my swap =) very funny! and the flower is made by Linda, very beautiful and the little charm is made by Sarah, so cute, very kawaii-looking =)


A big package from Sara =)
A "whiteboard" for a café/ bakery, ( I always wanted to make a bakery, so this will be perfect, when I get on with that idea ;) ) some straws (for making drinking glass or jars), a football (I believe this is a rubber =) ) and a watering can (also a rubber) bathroom scale (I was only just thinking of making one of these for my house, but now I don't have too =) ), a small house, Styrofoam egg and water-balloons (for make balloons), plastic sticks to use with glue or paint or what ever I like ;), a beautiful white mirror, a pacifier, a lock and a key, a clock (That Sara made of a button), a candy bar (made by Sara), 2 toothbrushes that can be cut to make dish-brushes, some rubber band (for making wholegrain pasta), one pair of flatware, some "spider web", a cup of chocolate and a "dammsugare" (like a cookie) on a plate (made by Sara) and brown air-drying clay.


Great swaps =)
I'm so happy with my packages =) Like the other times I have joined swaps =)

Take care
Hannah

Monday, September 2, 2013

Making my bed =)

I cut two wooden sticks in the length of 11,5 cm and two 17cm long. I do wish that I had made the sides 13cm instead, but this works too =)
Like I said in another post I used Lego (or actually Duplo) and masking tape for support while the glue for the frame dried. In Swedish Biltema they sell sticks that are suitable for dollhouse furniture =) Quite cheep but a bit hard, but good for building.

I glued popsicles on the inside, to support the ribs (or should I say splint instead??? I'm not talking about ribs on a human being ;) But somehow I just thought I could use that word here too...) I used Panduros quick glue. Dried quick enough =) but I took some clothe-spins just in case...



Then I made the ribs/ splints for supporting the mattress. (Yes that is a couple of sponges you see in the back, will get back to that later...)

Then came the legs. I had a lot of fun doing this bed, until the legs.... Why does it has to be 4 of them?! I made them out of a square long stick, that I found outside after new years eve, a rocket-stick of some kind. I do hate new years eve actually, but I like finding these great sticks ;)
But it was hard getting all the legs in the same length, as soon as I sanded a little on one, that one was shorter than the rest.. and to get them to stay in the right position was quite hard. But I had placed the splints close enough so that they give a bit of support for the legs too =)
And with a little masking tape I think I manage to make a relatively flat bed... One leg may be longer than the other, but it doesn't look awful, so I'm happy =)



The frame is done, now to the mattress =)

Here came the sponges =) I removed the green top and used only the soft part =)

And as I guessed they shine trough...But I took another piece of sheet and then it looks better


 I'm thinking of doing a headboard too, but I have to think about that, so this is how the bed looks like now =) In the bedroom. I will make a quilt and some pillows too, but I don't know when ;)
Take care
Hannah