Club Projects moving along

I'm afraid I haven't been doing too much with minis lately. I missed our club meeting this month because I was out of commission for three days with a very bad back, then eased my way upright again - taking another 3 or 4 days to do that. However, I have the very best of mini friends! Marijke took pictures of the progress on our group projects so, thanks to her generosity I thought I would share them with you today.

First, we have Liz's "in progress" room box. Liz is the newest member of our group and, before making the crazy decision to join up with us, had never done miniatures like this before. Many years ago Liz made porcelain dolls, in a couple of different scales, so was, at least, familiar with the miniatures hobby. In this, her first project, she has painted the outside a beautiful shade of dark green with cream trim. She has plans for her floor and, of course, how she is going to bring in the elements of a dress shop, which is what her project will end up as.

Krista has been collecting miniatures for years - all kinds of miniatures, in a variety of different scales. She wasn't familiar with the "scale" concept but knew what she liked. And when she found something she liked, she picked it up before it was gone! As a result, she has an amazing collection of beautifully wrought little things - from brass pieces to ceramic pieces, to wooden pieces, to musical instruments...and on, and on. Since joining our group, she has learned a tremendous amount about scale and also is learning a variety of techniques through several small projects that eventually led to this, her first room box she has built herself, with advice and assistance from the rest of us, especially Garry, who is so generous with his time and experience.

Krista's project is, for all intents and purposes, finished although, if she's like the rest of us, she'll probably keep making changes and adding things. Her project is, quite obviously, a sign shop. I love how she has included a bin of scrap wood around the side of her shop. I think she's done a great job on this, her first build.

Lynn's project started out as a science lab. A couple of posts ago I showed you some of her wonderful glass pieces she was putting in it. However, she decided that such a great collection of science equipment really needed a larger space to create a complete scene around it so, her project has become a Christmas shop. She repainted the structure, both outside and inside, and has started to look at the furnishing and decorating of the inside. This will make a wonderful decorative piece to display at Christmas each year - or to keep out all year as a conversation piece. Lynn has been making miniatures for several years and has so many great ideas - I know this room will end up packed full of really beautiful things for Christmas.

Next we have Louise's quilt shop. She is making this as a gift for her aunt who is a phenomenal quilter and has been so good to Louise and her husband. It's still a work in progress but is coming along really well. Don't you love the picture she chose for the back wall that makes it look like the room is actually way deeper than it actually is? I also really like how well she matched up the black and white tile floor n the picture with the same tile look in the actual room box. It just adds to the illusion of depth. She still has some finishing touches, including the sign over the window, but its easy to see how beautiful this will be when completed.

Next, we have Garry's project. As I mentioned before, Garry is a very experienced miniaturist and his work is amazing. With this project, he expanded the box to make it deeper and made a few other little changes to bring his vision of an Old West bath house to life. He did a fantastic job. I see, since the last pictures I showed you of this one, he has completed the attached outhouse - and it looks like it's a two-holer!
When working on this, he contacted the rest of us looking for some miniature corn cobs - just the cobs - with no corn on them. He said that "back in the day" some people used them in their outhouses. They used the cobs from regular white (yellow) corn and those from red ones. Apparently one used a red one for the first - well - "swipe", I guess, then the white one to make sure everything was, well -- do I really have to explain this???? I had never heard of it before, even though I was very familiar with outhouses in my young years. However, it didn't take me any time to understand what he was trying to tell me about the use of corn cobs. So - moving right along, here is what hs project looks like from the oustide now:

Marijke is really coming along with her shabby chic flower shop. I'm not going to put any pictures here because you really should go to her blog to see how it has progressed. It is going to be really beautiful. I can hardly wait to see it completely overflowing with her incredible flowers. I love watching her work on her flowers. I have to say, I have seen miniature flowers made by many different artisans and I can't say I have seen any that are better than Marijke's. There may be some out there but I haven't found them yet! Anyway - to follow the progress on her flower shop, please visit her blog: Pulchinella's Cellar.

So - that's probably enough for tonight. Now that I am mobile again I will have to actually work on my own club project room box so I can add some pictures of it to my posts. Soon - I promise -- soon! But, for now, I'm going to finish watching the hockey game(s) and go to bed. TTFN! - Marilyn