Organization...Catch it! It is Contagious! & Artist Highlight!

Hi everyone!

 Two posts in one day!?

I can't explain it. It just happened! Ok, there are always things I could be doing other than working on minis. Given a choice, I usually chose minis! The last few months, I have not put much time into them or even the blog choosing to do other things. Well, I had fun, but minis were always in the back of my mind.

ARTIST HIGHLIGHT!

And then it happened! I saw Hey it's Muff's last post. It was on organizing her fashion dolls et al.  When you go to her blog you can be sure you will come away having learned something new, fun and useful! I wish I were as skilled as she is. Her blog is such a positive place and her pleasant, friendly and playful personality really shines through as she shares her knowledge with everyone!  Isn't that why we all log into mini world? Stop by her blog and educate yourself while having a few giggles.

Anyway, something inside of me became motivated and I started cleaning, sorting and organizing my doll studio like a mad woman! The more I did, the more...I did! That was the answer! Clutter and disorganization dampened my creativity. Before then every time I would go in there I would do a little then just stand there not knowing what to work on next and I wasn't satisfied with what I did work on.

Now, I have created the Barbie section in the outer room liked I always wanted. I had to dismantle my beloved park. I tried setting it up in another location temporarily. It has to be moved to a better spot that will give it justice.

In my madness I got an idea for a high rise office building overlooking a park in the 1:12 room. I like it because it adds a modern-urban look. I may tweak it and remove most of the park area out front.

Today is the third day and I still have the organization bug! Sometimes we just need a little positive energy from our friends.

Thanks Muff! :-)


The shelving on the right will be changed to Barbie dioramas to keep the theme in this section. Right now there are 1:12 scenes. Landscaping will spruce up the neighborhood.  Something will have to be done with that boring wall. The car parked out front is actually a radio!

 

 

I bought this Barbie house the day before the organizing blitz. Would you believe it was only $5! I  just placed here, but with a little clean up and remodeling plus nice window curtains in the background the whole area will be gorgeous! I already had the shelving section at the bottom. It will become two more rooms!




Sitting out on the  side balcony watching the sun go down

I didn't realize how much Barbie stuff I had.
There is a boxful waiting to become dioramas.
 

The 1:12 Room

       
Two views of  the table with the office high rise and part of the park in the front. They are two shelves one placed on top of the sideways one on the bottom. I like them because they add a touch of urbanism to the 1:12 room. I like the atrium area.
 I have two more shelving sections left. Wondering where they may pop up. hmmm

These guys are just hanging out in the lobby for now  :-)

These are a few additions to current projects. Before now, I just couldn't really get into them like I wanted.

 

The partially finished bathroom in the big house. Some things like the tub tile wouldn't cooperate. I have a few more great features waiting to be installed

 

 The Chess-taurant.

 
That is a window frame on the left wall. It is not attached. I could not find just the right window scene to go in there. Then my printer would not function right sometimes. I had to back off for a while. There are a lot of accessories waiting to be added to the room. Note the chalkboard menu specials sign on the front left

I tried out the logo on to-go bags and a menu

 

The candy store in the Mall

Here are the new glass shelves in the mall candy store. I still need to make lots more candy to fill them! Click on the picture to see the details!

 

A bit more work and I will be finished. The candy dispenser on the left wall is micro beads glued into acrylic battery packaging. The shelving in the top picture on the right wall used to be scrabble tile holders now painted red.

More pictures to come soon!
 

 Click on pictures for a larger view

Shelve It!

Hi Everybody!

Life should be slowing down in about a week or so. Then I will have more mini time (crossing fingers). I still think of them all of the time even when I can't get to them or blog about them. This post actually took me a week to get up!

I just had to show you this. I have had this idea for a long time. I finally decided to try it. Most of you probably already know about this trick. I wanted shelving and I didn't want to have to do a lot to get them looking right. You know, keep it simple. I also wanted the look of floating shelves with no brackets.

So, I bought some inexpensive microscope slides. The box of 72 came last week. I was anxious to try them out. I had to move everything around in the shops. When I put everything back in place, I know they will look great! Take a look at the shelves all over the place! I only had around 50 slides left within 15 minutes. LOL Perfect! Most of them went into the mall. I did put some in the Chess-taurant, though I really need to fix them better.

Now to order the slide covers for other ideas!

I had to make the pictures somewhat dark in order for you to see the shelves well.

CANDY STORE: I can put so many more goodies here now!

 

MEN'S STORE: Sorry I had to make it dark so you could see them better.
I also put some on the opposite wall

 

 

 

BRIDAL SHOP: The dove on top looks like he is flying, but he is on the glass shelf

 

SHOE STORE: On the upper left you can see more shelving.

 

 

This will be the new,
JEWELRY STORE:  You can be sure there will be shelves there too!

I do have a few tips for using them.

1. Try to keep them vertical while putting the glue on. I used superglue on most surfaces and just let it slide down the side.   After a few tries, you can do it without it getting glue on the flat shelf surface.

2. Remember you can not reposition if you use superglue so get it right the first time. It wouldn't stick on some wallpaper at all.

3. Once you get  superglue on the sticking side surface, you must clean it off well before trying to
 re-glue if it didn't stick the first time. It just won't stick to itself and the other surface.

4. Make sure the side you are gluing is flush against the wall so it won't be slanted when dried.


                                               Click on picture for a larger view

 

 

 



Retail Therapy

 Nora does a little retail therapy at the mall where she runs into an old friend. I refer to her as an "old friend" because I really like this doll. She is posable and has red hair. She will show up later with a name and a life in the hometown. lol Right now she is just a fill-in.

The store is in the mall I started some time ago. I now have a lot to go into the various stores so I am working on those too. Ah, the throes of A.D.D.! LOL

Old Friend:    Oh my goodness!Nora!
Nora:      Hey there! How have you been? 
Old Friend:  Great! I just got a promotion, so I am treating myself to a pair of shoes. What's up with you these days?    (I love that  circular rack behind them!)

Nora:  I am moving back to my home town.
Old Friend:  When!
Nora:   In a couple of weeks. We are waiting for Troy's transfer to be complete
Old Friend:   I wish you two all of the best.

                                                             

Nora: Thank you. I will keep in touch I promise! Bye!
Old Friend: You better! Bye!

The yellow and white shoes are glass rings that go on stemware. The ring part came off easily and can be used for a choker necklace. I don't have the faintest idea where that other shoe comes from, but I love it!

Click on picture for a larger view

If You Build It They Will Shop

Shortly after I purchased the shelves from the thrift shop I started working on my "mall."  (see May 28 post A Mini Mall)Then I got stumped. First it was the question of scale. Should I keep it 1:12 which is my scale of choice. The dimensions of  each store would be 7X12 made me wonder if it wouldn't be better in 1:24 scale. Everything I had put aside to go into it was of course 1:12.

After hashing it out in my mind and going to other miniaturists for advice, I decided to stay with the 1:12. Now I thought, what does a mall look like? My daughter and grands were happy to go with me to the mall with my camera and notebook in tow. I was careful not to appear to be casing the joint so to speak. I was friendly with security and had my cameral visibly around my neck.

I came home checked my notes and blah. Nothing noted on there excited me or would do justice to my stores. The only useful information was what type of items were found in each type of store.

One day, amazingly, while in the books for purchase section of my local library a book was jumping out at me. I usually grab anything that looks like a craft or decorating book.

Voila! Look at what I got there! This book has such great ideas. It was perfect to get me going on getting ideas for my mall. Take a look.
 Now I have absolutely no excuse. Pictures of the mall in its current state coming forth shortly.

Click on picture for a larger view