Brick Issues

In a nutshell, I'm really unhappy with the bricks on the Mid-Century Modern build.  

Since this is a four sided building, each end of the house will slide up so that you can see the inside. As you can see, the bricks are just not working with the transition from wall to base.  Not to mention that the bricks simply look like crap.  You can see where the bricks are made from each carton.  There isn't enough texture change.  I should have just laid them one by one and mixed it up.

So I tried painting the brick...You can still see the bad texture and it also started to bubble.  I must not have had those spots glued down well.

You can see the transition between the wall and the base is worse on this end.

So as I see it my options are: Peel it all off and place the bricks one by one, Peel it all off and make it limestone like the Atomic Bungalow or peel it all off and make it stucco.  I don't think I like the idea of the stucco though because that doesn't seem very Mid-Century modern to me.

The good news is that I'm almost done with the front door and I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out.

Any input or suggestions on my brick problem would be greatly appreciated!

Mid Mod Brickwork

 I was going to do stone work like on my last mid-mod build but I didn't want to be a one trick pony and do the same thing.  I also didn't want to do regular bricks. Then I remembered a real life mid-century modern home tour that I went to a few years ago and my favorite house had ivory straight stacked brickwork. So I decided to make longer straight stacked bricks. 

I painted egg carton lids and ivory color that I got at Home Depot then cut the bricks with the laser so that they would be consistent.  Then I decided that was a crap ton of bricks to glue on individually and would take seemingly forever to get them evenly spaced and straight both vertically and horizontally.  

 I still cut them with a laser, but didn't go all the way through so they would stay in tact and easier to keep straight. The bricks look a little dirty from the edges being singed by the laser, but hopefully I will be ably to touch them up with paint later....then I ran out of egg cartons.  The front facade took about 13 cartons to cover. I thought I was going to have to eat a lot of eggs.

Then I tried my home made stone trick but it turned out either too thick and lumpy or too thin, plus when you paint it the paper absorbs the water and gets wavy.  You can't cut uneven surfaces on a laser cutter.

 Ebay to the rescue!  I remember reading something about how you can sell things like crayons and egg cartons on Ebay so I thought I'd take a look.  Apparently you can get anything on Ebay.  I bought 25 cartons with flat lids for $15.00. I'm just waiting for them to arrive.

Craftsman Cabin Turned Mid-Century Modern Ranch

Ever since I sold the Mid-Century Bungalow a few years ago. I've wanted to do  another Mid-century modern build.  Here's what the MCM Bungalow looked like:

As you can see it's similar to the HBS Craftsman Cabin which is this year's Creatin' Contest kit.

I finally decided to start the build even though I have three unfinished projects that I'm "working" on. I haven't decided if I will enter the contest this year.  I guess it depends in whether or not I actually finish it.

 I've made quite a few changes to the kit.  First I closed up the front door, picture window and the window on the back side.  I also cut two new doorways and all new windows.  

 I moved the front door to the other side and put an addition on the left to make a bedroom and bathroom. I also made a triangular window much like the MCM Bungalow.

 It will have a sunken living room.  I cut a square in the floor and put one inch supports under the area where I cut.  Since the kit has a raised floor this worked out perfectly.

 I used 1/4" fiberboard for the addition because I can't find 3/8" anywhere.  The windows are a little deeper than the walls so I will cut some mat board to thicken the walls a bit.

 The angled roof line will be extended to make a car port a lot like this one.

I really wanted to use these mini concrete breezeblocks from Mini Materials for the realism, but I think they will mage it a little too heavy and I would need A LOT of them.  I will just do my best to make them with the laser cutter. Wish me luck!

#HBSCREATINCONTEST2017

Tiny Tea Light Tutorial

On Friday I was doing a bit of cleaning and when I emptied my husbands trash can in his man cave and found these little metal pieces that looked just like the foil holder for tea light candles. So of course I went digging through the trash to find more.

These are small pistol bullet primers that he uses to make bullets.  These are the ones that have been used.  I can't stress enough that if you want to use the same things to make tea lights...make sure they are used.  Other wise you could get seriously injured.

Any way I used a pick and removed the little anvils that are inside of them.

Which leaves the primer cup.

We then used polymer clay to fill the cups, 

 and used a little bit of mono-filament fishing line for the wicks.

I baked them in the oven then trimmed down the wicks and...

Voila!

Bishop International Show 2017 - Two Weeks Later

Once again as I told myself I won't go this year...I went.  Chicago is about a 3-3 1/2 hour drive from where I live so it's really hard to resist.  The lessons I learned this year are: bring more cash....a lot more and suck it up, just take a day off of work and buy the preview tickets. My plan was to go to the Three Blind Mice show on Friday and the Bishop Show on Saturday.  Which I did.

The Three Blind Mice show was mostly basic things.Here's what I found there:

Fabulous Gerber Daisy kits (my favorite flower) and great bird feeder from...Darn I can't remember the name.

 The most amazing detailed humming bird feeder with a humming bird and shepherds hook and some very detailed birds from Mini-Gems. She also has 1:24 scale and other small animals.

And this little cactus-I can't remember the name of the vendor.

 After the Three Blind Mice show I had some dinner at Ikea - Those meatballs! We don't have one where I live yet, but we're getting one in the fall! 

Then I did a little local shopping and didn't buy anything.

Saturday, I got to the Bishop Show a bout half an hour later than I expected.  I headed right to Patrizia Santi and bought my first pair of her shoes...they're amazing! I am so in love with them!

Then I rushed to Ulus Miniatures and ogled for a little bit.  I didn't bring a lot of cash and I knew I could buy some of his stuff online So I waited to see what I could spend.

Then I met up with Brae who informed me that there was a third show...of course right down the street from where I stayed the night before...wouldn't you figure.  Anyway she said it was worth it to check it out so we did....and she was right!  I so wish I had realized that the show was going the day before. I would have spent a lot more time there.

Here's what I found there:

A couple of kits from Art of Mini

An amazing egg timer and a couple of outlets (although they are more European looking than American) from Minifanaberia

This ashtray with burned cigarettes from Cinen

This super cow hide. I love the print and it's really hard to find a print small enough and nap short enough to look real in 1:12. Unfortunately, I forget the name of the shop.

We went back to the Bishop Show and had lunch then we went on our ways.

Here's what I found there:

 A super cute Mid-century modern T.V. from D-Tales Miniatures

 I went back to Ulus Miniatures and bought this electric can opener and Zippo lighter.  The details are amazing.. Even my husband commented on the detail.

 A little pack of smokes and a little votive candle from A little More in Miniatures.

 and these gorgeous papers from Miniatureboekbinden .  I plan on making modern art work with these. They're amazing and the perfect size.

So long 2016, Hello 2017!

This may be a long post since I haven't really posted for several months. I know I've been a recluse lately and I really have no excuse other than procrastination. After the miniature show in September I listed what didn't sell in my Etsy shop and it's pretty much been sold out for awhile.  Then with that money and since my birthday was in October, I bought a new toy....I got a laser cutter!  I'm super excited about it!  It's a "cheapo" Chinese laser cutter and it's awesome!  I've spent many hours online and on Youtube researching info about how to use it and tips, tricks etc.  I've also had to learn how to use vector design and run into many problems with sizing and saving files etc.  For some reason, the program that came with the laser cutter doesn't recognize the type of file that is typically used with a laser cutter, so I've had to figure out how to get around that by using the free two week trial of Corel Draw (of course that expired and I had to buy the program). Many thanks to Pepper and her laser cutter expertise for her advise and tips!

Here are a couple of my trials:

 I plan on using these as little picture frames.

And using this as a room divider.

I've just recently officially finished a few Mid-Century Broyhill Brasilia Inspired mid-century modern pieces with the use of the laser cutter to cut the design out of teak veneer.  I adhered the teak veneer to 1/16" thick walnut to make the doors.

 The Eames bird is from Philip Nuveen on Etsy

I'm thrilled about how these turned out!

No Commitments!

I have decided not to make any commitments this year as far as mini-ing goes. I adore the new HBS Creatin Contest Kit and I already ordered it, however I'm not making any commitment to enter the contest. I never did get any further with last year's Backyard Bungalow kit. 

A few years ago, I won the Artply Highland Dollhouse kit on Ebay, sadly all of the major parts like floors and walls were missing. At the time Call-Small was kind and generous enough to send me the specs of the missing pieces so that I could replicate them.  I just never got around to making them.  Last month there were actually TWO of them listed in Ebay.  One was listed as a buy-it-now for $300.00 and one was an auction which I won for $53.00 plus shipping. I took inventory and all the pieces are there!

Even though things in my life have been crazy busy, I have had time to work on a few things mainly the Citadel.  I've been working on the kitchen which is very close to being done.  I bought an exhaust fan kit from Elf Miniatures, however I'm not happy with how it turned out (only because of my own impatience). I'm going to just order one ready made. Otherwise It's pretty much finished.

 I've also been working on the bathroom. It still has a way to go but at least the larger pieces are in place. I'm so in love with the light.  It was designed by Mini Dork of Modern mini houses.  She has a shop on Shapeways where she has designed some really awesome modern 3-D printed pieces.

But the Citadel is still basically where it's been for some time...in my terribly messy work room where it's been for nearly 4 years.  I think it's about time to finish this!

My goal (no commitment) is go get this finished before I start any additional projects.

And last but not least, the Mad Men inspired office has it's furniture and lighting.  I still need for figure out the roof and accessorize. Goal #2: also have this done before starting another project! Yes, that's a picture of me and my son at Halloween several years ago in the background...It's hard to believe he's taller than me now (maybe not so hard to believe...I'm only 5'2")!

So there is the last part of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 in a nutshell.I hope everyone has a great holiday season and Happy New Year!

Original Lolly's Citadel for Sale

As many of you know, I am the proud owner of a Citadel Dollhouse that was made in the 90's.  It's one of the very few modern dollhouses that have been manufactured.  

I fell in love with this house many years ago when I traveled for my sales job. This is what it looked like back in the 90's when I first fell in love with modern miniatures.

Well that original house that I fell in love with is now for sale on Ebay.  It saddens me a little because that means the original is no longer at Lolly's.  I hope someone buys it and gives it a great home!  You can see the listing here:

Modern-Dollhouse-The-Citadel-Pre-Built-and-Electrified

 In my opinion, it would be worth every cent! That's how much I love mine...even though it's still not finished after 3 or 4 years (I lost count).