Fun with Pillows

I just finished making some fun modern pillows.  Soon to be in my Etsy shop.

I hope you like them!

Feedback is always appreciated. ;-)

Which one is your favorite?

Have a mini day!

Mini Modernistas Sale

Minimodernistas is having a great sale on her new items.  20% off! 

Woven Bench

Woven Platform Bed

Frame Sofa

There are several other new items on sale as well.  The quality of her work is wonderful!

How to Get Laminate Samples

From my last post,  I have had a couple questions on the websites where you can get laminate samples for free to use to make minis.

Here are some links to the major suppliers in the U.S.  Be aware that some of these suppliers will limit the number of samples that you can have. Formica for example only allows a total of five samples.

Formica

Pionite

Nevamar

Wilsonart

Some of these have branches in other countries.  Of course Formica has some really cool laminates that are only available in the U.K. and won't ship to the U.S. :-(

You can also just type in "free laminate samples" in your search engine and find suppliers in other countries.

Have a mini weekend!

 

Efficiency Kitchen

I've been working on the Spring Fling this week. Needless to say that I will definitely NOT be done or entering this in the contest, but it is coming along nicely.  The bottom floor is turning out pretty well I think.

The bottom floor is going to be an efficiency kitchen/living-family room.

Here it is in it's current state.  There is still a lot to do.  I might get lucky and have this floor done by next weekend.  I still have to finish the kitchen, wallpaper the back wall and put in the ladder (stairs), make the sofa and entertainment center and install the overhead lighting.  This will be a little cramped, but it you think about it, it's equal to only 120 square feet in real life.  That's why there will be three floors.

The wall panels I was making didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. They were a little lumpy.  I bought the Fasade panel from Lowes.  They didn't have the pattern I wanted. They could order one, but the wait was 29 days. Personally, I'm a big fan of instant gratification.  I really wanted a more dramatic wall, but I still like this one.  I spray painted it a flat white.

The efficiency kitchen is almost done.  I still have to put in the exhaust fan which I purchased as a kit from Elf Miniatures, tile the backplash, make a faucet and accesorize.  The appliances are Meile also from Elf.  I painted the little fridge silver to match the rest of the appliances.

I used a textured laminate for the cabinet and drawer fronts.  They mimic the textured wall on the other side of the room. FYI, you can get laminate samples free by going to the web site and filling out a request.  Some come as large as 8"x10".

 

I'm also working on a Facebook page.  I'll let you know when it is up and running.

Have a wonderful mini day!

What's New

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.  Why? Like anyone else I get times where real life takes away from miniing and blogging.  Anyway, we have been on vacation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, then getting the kids ready for back to school...you know school supplies, registration, new shoes yadda, yadda, yadda...then out of town again to visit relatives not to mention work.

So, what have I been working on?  I've been working on both the Spring Fling (again) and the Miniatures.com Creatin Contest (Not telling about this one yet).

On the advise of a few blogger friends, I dug out the spring fling pieces I had trashed some time ago and they have been sitting in my work room since.  I did some thinking and decided to rebuild what I had already done and make some changes. I'm still going for the modern updated city brownstone idea. Here is what I have so far.

 I put the first two floors back together and closed up part of a couple of windows.  Since the floor space is so small, I needed to make sure I had enough wall space to place things.  I have to make more newspaper bricks to cover the empty space.  Learn how here.

 Above is the original Spring Fling kit.  I made the doorway much larger and took out the window pieces.  The original base for the kit broke when I took it apart so I had to cut a new base for it.  This will be the top floor and there will be a balcony where the doorway is.

 I love bamboo mats!  I found two of them at Marshall's and Home Goods.  They are cheap and you can make A LOT of flooring out of one mat.  To make more floor space I decided to make a built in ladder to use instead of a stair case.  One will be where you see lines drawn on the wall.

I wanted to make a really cool 3-D feature wall like these Wall Flats from Inhabit Living.

I actually have this one made into a art piece in my bedroom, in orange of course.

These would be much too large and deep, so I found some plastic panels I liked that would work.  They are called Fasade and they are used for backsplashes and ceiling tiles.

Wouldn't you know it...you can only purchase the pattern I wanted in a minimum of 5 panels at $20.00 a piece.  A little out of my price range.

The next idea was to make a modern graphic photo wall using this picture I found on Yahoo Images.

When I enlarged it enough, the picture was too pixelated and wouldn't look right.

Back to the 3-D panel idea...

I ordered a sample from Fasade and tried making my own mini panels using the same technique I used for the bricks. This time using white tissue paper and using the sample as a mold.  I thing it may just work.  I'll let you know. ;-)

Since the deadline is in about two weeks for this project, it won't be done in time to enter it in the contest.  I'm just going to finish it for fun.  That's what a hobby that you love is all about right? FUN!