Friday July 10, 2009
Making all the printable Paris souvenirs got me thinking about Paris, and as the Tour de France is on, my mind switched over to the stuffed lions given to the day's stage winner at the tour. Now you can make your own miniature lion toys for a dolls house nursery, (or your Parisian souvenir stand). My little dolls house child (from a Josephine Parnell Kit) is happy to be sitting next to a toy scale King of Beasts.
Like most chenille stem or pipe cleaner animals, these little lions take very few materials and only a few minutes to make. Have fun, and reward yourself with a miniature lion the next time you bike!
Photo copyright 2009 Lesley Shepherd, Licensed to About.com Inc.
Thursday July 9, 2009
There's a wide range of fine scale timber and sheet wood suitable for miniature building projects, dollhouse furniture, model boats, and other miniature uses. Specialist scale lumber yards sell everything from tiny pieces of cherry wood ship grating to miniature furniture made from original wood from the H.M.S Victory or the Brighton Pier. A model builder shouldn't have to resort to 101 ways to stain basswood to look like exotic flooring. Find a specialist supplier and your imagination can take wing!
Wood is available in everything from raw blocks through to laser cut gingerbread detailing. Which wood is your favorite for miniatures? Where do you find it?
Wednesday July 8, 2009
French Dollhouse miniatures are popular. Printable souvenirs of Paris were requested so I've set up some files for flags, bumper stickers, T shirts, scarves, and postcards, along with some coordinating paper and fabric designs so you can make your own miniature mugs, shopping bags, and pillows. With Bastille Day on the 14th, and the Tour de France on daily for the next three weeks, you can send your doll's house residents on a French trip for the cost of printing paper.
These printables work well for French themed scrapbook layouts as well. With four scale sizes of printables you can mix and match fabric or paper scales to make a wide range of items. If you need more French miniatures the list on the site is growing:
Photo copyright 2009 Lesley Shepherd, Licensed to About.com Inc.
Mini Blacklights and Halloween Minis Hit the Stores
Tuesday July 7, 2009
I'm always amazed that the day after everything red, white and blue goes on sale, it's time to start looking for Halloween items. Today my big box craft store has half their Halloween stock on display, including the Mini blacklights Lemax sell as purple lights. If you couldn't find any last year, start looking now!
These little floodlights are great for lighting miniature disco scenes, or anywhere you want glowing neon effects from bright white materials or items like fluorescent markers, even white paper like these printable ghosts. I'll start plotting and planning how I raise the scare factor this year, but I'm still not ready to jump right into Halloween yet. What about you?
Photo copyright 2009 Lesley Shepherd, Licensed to About.com Inc.
