Minigirl Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Hello everyone, I joined last month and finally have gotten my feet wet to add my first post! I have been crafting all of my life. I grew up doing needlework, ceramics and macrame. As an adult I continued with some needlework, sewing, ceramics, papercrafts, rubber stamping and scrapbooking. This past year I have been intrigued with miniatures and started working with polymer clay again. That led to making other types of miniatures and of course that led to miniature furniture. Now that I have made things to go into a dollhouse, I started shopping for an actual dollhouse. I decided to start small to see if I enjoy the process of building. The Greenleaf Corona Concepts Orchid arrived at my door about a month ago. I opened it, read the instructions, looked at all of the pieces and quickly boxed it back up. It was a bit daunting so, I went back to polymer clay, dollhouse furniture building and pinning lots of miniatures, dollhouses etc. on Pinterest. Next, I joined this site, watched more dollhouse videos, ordered a few dollhouse books and finally decided to break out the Orchid kit. I have some of the sanding finished and dry fitted my floors and walls. Now, how best to assemble these pieces and keep them up and square while the glue dries..... Yep I'm off to the FAQs next and hope to find some tips and pics there. I think I'll start blogging about my new world of miniatures next. It's a great way to house all of my research as I go and give me a place to store my data and pics during the build. You know, just in case this becomes a passion! I have already scoped out dollhouse museums in my area and a miniature show. I hope to visit them over the next few months. I look forward to see you all around Greenleaf! Oh, one quick question. If I were to subscribe to one miniature related magazine etc. Which would you recommend? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid-life madness Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Hi Paula, It looks like you have gone down the dollhouse rabbit hole. It is a great outlet to express your creativity. I have the same question about magazines. I have ordered different publications one at a time when I order from some online retailers. JoAnn's carries Miniature Collector here, but not a large amount and sometimes I'm not fast enough to get an issue. You can view some back issues here. http://pubhtml5.com/bookcase/dtdy Welcome again, I can't wait to see you journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Welcome to the little family, Paula. All the newsstands (in bookstores in my neck of the woods) quit carrying mini magazines. I quit subscribing when I retired because the price had increased to the point that I didn't feel all the ads justified the prices. My favorite was Dolls House & Miniature Scene, a UK publication. Artisans in Miniature is a free online magazine. I started fairly large with my first two kits being Dura-Craft's San Franciscan, followed by their Cambridge (I found a couple of pictures of mine online); by the time I was ready to build small I discovered Greenleaf's Buttercup and Sugarplum. For most builds I find that the same sort of tape I used in the dry fit holds the pics together whilst the glue dries; but I tend to manhandle the houses as I build them, so I reinforce the edges with my Stanley stapler and the heavy-duty steel staples. I also make most everything I put into my houses. Here is one of the pictures I found online of my Cambridge's interior: I didn't make the doll I wigged & dressed, nor the little breakfront behind her left side, which was from Dollar Tree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beulah Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Hi Paula and welcome. You are far ahead of things than when I started dollhouses. I knew nothing about miniatures, other than my granddaughter wanted a house lol. I also did the orchid but altered it quite a bit. I omitted the small dormers and added different windows, you can see this in my album if you would like. It was the perfect house to try out. my stucco also. Enjoy and welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyckedWood Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Hi Paula, welcome. The magazine subscriptions are so expensive I don't subscribe because I'd rather spend my money on minis, but I do buy a lot of back issues on eBay to get a better price. American Miniaturist, Dollhouse Miniatures or Miniature Collector would all be good options to try out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minigirl Posted October 28, 2017 Author Share Posted October 28, 2017 6 hours ago, Mid-life madness said: It looks like you have gone down the dollhouse rabbit hole. It is a great outlet to express your creativity. I have the same question about magazines. I have ordered different publications one at a time when I order from some online retailers. JoAnn's carries Miniature Collector here, but not a large amount and sometimes I'm not fast enough to get an issue. You can view some back issues here. http://pubhtml5.com/bookcase/dtdy Welcome again, I can't wait to see you journey. Oh I most definitely went down the rabbit hole! Thanks for the welcome and the information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Miniature Madness Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Welcome, Paula! Almost spit my coffee out reading "just in case this becomes a passion"! Have fun with the Orchid! Looking forward to seeing your minis and your blog! Jodi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiraPrincess Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Hi! I'm new, too, so since you've travelled further down the rabbit hole than I have: which books did you buy and which ones were worth the money? I ordered the October issue of Dolls House and Miniature Scene and really enjoyed it because it covered a lot of topics I'm interested in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thimble Hall Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Welcome to you too, you sound a bit like me right down to the ceramics which I taught LOL I di some quickie basic houses years ago but didn't alter them or decorate them etc , they were given as gifts for the owner to do. So really I am a dollhouse newbie too.I can't help you with magazines but if you find a good couple I would like to know. Good Luck with your house, take it steady and expect it to take longer than you anticipated, that 's the best advice I can give you, apart from ask questions here, these folks do some wonderful work but they all rememeber how they started and they can help you a lot. Welcome to you to Mareike, there are some great dollhouses in Europe so good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minigirl Posted October 29, 2017 Author Share Posted October 29, 2017 On 10/28/2017, 12:46:48, Its_a_sm_world_after_all said: Welcome, Paula! Almost spit my coffee out reading "just in case this becomes a passion"! Have fun with the Orchid! Looking forward to seeing your minis and your blog! Jodi Thank you Jodi. I want you to know that it's partially your fault that I was up all night. You had the nerve to post your blog address in your signature and Holly had to show me some of her cool work too. Off I went to look at your things which led me to other blogs etc. I have so much to learn and I have tons of questions! I haven't even ventured into the threads on this site yet. Guess I may be up all night tonight too! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minigirl Posted October 29, 2017 Author Share Posted October 29, 2017 On 10/28/2017, 3:43:47, MiraPrincess said: Hi! I'm new, too, so since you've travelled further down the rabbit hole than I have: which books did you buy and which ones were worth the money? I ordered the October issue of Dolls House and Miniature Scene and really enjoyed it because it covered a lot of topics I'm interested in. Mareike, I purchased used books to save a few dollars. Both are British writers. "How to Make Your Dolls' house Special" by Beryl Armstrong. This book has a lot of inexpensive how to information in it, if you are building on a budget. "A Beginners' Guide to the Dolls' House Hobby" revised and expanded edition by Jean Nisbett is also good for newbies. I learned several things from each book so it was well worth the few dollars I spent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minigirl Posted October 29, 2017 Author Share Posted October 29, 2017 23 hours ago, Jeannine said: Welcome to you too, you sound a bit like me right down to the ceramics which I taught LOL I di some quickie basic houses years ago but didn't alter them or decorate them etc , they were given as gifts for the owner to do. So really I am a dollhouse newbie too.I can't help you with magazines but if you find a good couple I would like to know. Good Luck with your house, take it steady and expect it to take longer than you anticipated, that 's the best advice I can give you, apart from ask questions here, these folks do some wonderful work but they all rememeber how they started and they can help you a lot. Welcome to you to Mareike, there are some great dollhouses in Europe so good luck. Jennine, we must be twins! I taught ceramics too. I was a certified Duncan instructor and still have a mid size kiln and lots of molds. I know it will take a long time. I have been working for several months and still need tons of this, that plus more furniture to fill the house. Thanks everyone for the welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thimble Hall Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 Yep, it is a shame the bottom fell out of the ceramic business. I started in ceramics but after a few years I switched to just porcelain .I taught dolls, Lladro, Hummel, and lace draping etc but as there was only me doing it in my area I was very busy. I ran 3 day seminars where folks made 2 dolls, or 1 lace drape and I had 4 huge kilns running. I had to fire n the night so they had their pieces to continue on with the next day so I had a bed at the studio. .I also brought in teachers from the Sstates for specialized things like millinery or French hand sewing, mini cobbling etc.It got very crazy. Working on a doll house is a much slower pace LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Miniature Madness Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 47 minutes ago, Minigirl said: Thank you Jodi. I want you to know that it's partially your fault that I was up all night. You had the nerve to post your blog address in your signature and Holly had to show me some of her cool work too. Off I went to look at your things which led me to other blogs etc. I have so much to learn and I have tons of questions! I haven't even ventured into the threads on this site yet. Guess I may be up all night tonight too! I am so happy to have been the precipice for your all nighter! Mini blogs and forums will be the most enjoyable rabbit hole you ever fell into! Our mini world is jam packed with creative, helpful, funny, caring and talented people! It's such a blessing to be a part of it! So many new doors are still opening for me, even after five years being back in this obsession! I have stayed up way past my bedtime many times, as well! Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thimble Hall Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 Oh bedtime, my body doesn't seem to work on a 24hour day, it seeme to prefer about 26/27 housr so I gradually slip further and further back. Right now I am to bed at 4am and up at noonish and that is with a 2 hour break in the middle. Another week and I will skip a night.. got to admit though I do some of my best work in the wee hours when the world is still and the phone doesn't ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyckedWood Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 One of the best things about this hobby is getting to use all of our other interests..sewing, painting, etc. all in miniature. Go on Pinterest and search for "dollhouse" if you want to be up all night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minigirl Posted October 30, 2017 Author Share Posted October 30, 2017 I have always done my best work at night when the house was quiet and my mind can concentrate on just one thing without interruption. So these days I may be an empty nester but during the day, even the dog usually wants something. Nights are still the best creative time. Karin, I have tons of pins relating to dollhouses and miniatures. Yep, pinning is one of the last things I do before I go to sleep. There are lots of Rabbit Holes and I just don't know which way to turn. So many things to see and so little time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thimble Hall Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Her I am having my 2 hour sleeping break, I went to bed a bit early tonight at 1.30 tonight but her I am at 3 15 awake and back in my workshop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minigirl Posted October 30, 2017 Author Share Posted October 30, 2017 We must be 2 peas in a pod, Jeannine. I was up till 4 perusing AIM and printed off several tutorials. I guess It's Holly's fault this time since she suggested I take a look. It couldn't possibly be just me thinking about mini's all the time. Naah, perish the thought! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesp2k Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Welcome Paula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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