Short post - plus announcement from Blogger

 Hi everyone.  Sorry I didn't post anything last Tuesday.  I have to be honest, what little work I was able to do was not very exciting so I didn't want to bore you with it.  

In the meantime, I did receive a notice from Blogger - which I'm sure many of you did.  Just to let you know, if you are someone who has chosen the "follow by email" option for the blogs you read, Blogger is discontinuing this in July of this year. If I understand things correctly, if you use the regular "follow" that adds new posts to your Reading List, you should be okay.  If I am incorrect, I am sure one of you who is better at this stuff will be able to correct this assumption.  Thanks!

So, this week, I did make a few more geranium heads to finish Louise's window boxes.  I only got 5 of them made for her birthday and she needs a minimum of 8.  To reward her for her patience, I will end up making a total of 10.

I also saw some pictures of how to make little winter toques which were meant to be Christmas tree ornaments so ended up being 3 or 4 inches tall.  The technique they used intrigued me so I wondered if I could make them considerably smaller using the same technique.  This was the result:

I thought it was adorable - and it perfectly fit the head of one of my doll kits, sized for my North Pole elves.

Other than that, I have been putting in a lot of thought on how to hide the last battery pack I have for the North Pole Postal Service.  This one is the largest one I have to hide.  I am thinking that I want to build a pile of snow that will hide the box itself but, I still need to have access to turn the battery pack on and off and to change batteries when needed.  I have finally landed on a solution based on some of Pilar's (Miniaturas En Mi Mundo) incredible landscaping skills. She uses bits of Styrofoam to build up mounds, rocks and such, then covers it with plaster bandage material before finishing off by painting and adding dirt, grass, etc.  I am thinking I could use a similar technique for making snow mounds so am giving it a try.

I think it will work in the end but I still have a lot of work to go.  Hopefully I will have some success to show you next week.

On an entirely different note, I made a recent purchase for which I have been getting a lot of teasing from my DH, Bruce.  Since we have our name on a waiting list for an apartment we have our eye on, I have been worried about how our little Bridie will make out as an indoor cat as she is used to going outside every day and playing in the trees and woods around our house.  So - I went online and found a pet stroller and have been taking her for walks in our local eco-park so she can get used to it.  Here she is on our latest walk with my grandson, Brogan. 

She actually seems to like sitting back and taking in the new sights, sounds and smells as we walk through the trails.  Needless to say, Bruce thinks this is hilarious.  As a result, he has started sending me pictures he finds online from someone who posts as "the crazy cat lady".  I will leave you with the first one he sent me and, hopefully, will be back next Tuesday with that battery box solution completely done!  Until then -stay safe, stay healthy!  TTFN!! - Marilyn

At least it's fun!

 That's what I say to myself when I look at the long list of things still left to do for the Postal Service.  I thought I would have more time this week but, as often happens, other things demand my time and take me away from my beloved miniatures!  This week it's trying to prepare a grant application for our Irish Association.  Man the paperwork involved for just a little bit of money!!  It's amazing - and very time consuming!

So, this week will be a short update:

My last entry about the Postal Service showed the light fixture I wanted to use for the back entrance.  However, it was just a bare bulb and I felt it needed a cover over it - one that retained a little industrial look.  So, I took one of those pull tops from a milk carton, cut off the pull tab, and cut a slit in the solid top remaining.  Then I slid it over the arm of the light fixture and used narrow pieces of Bristol board to cover the slit I made and to look like metal framing.  Then I painted the added pieces grey, then silver, then dirtied it up with brown powder.  I like the way it eventually turned out.

As you can see, I also made and added a sign by the back door as well.  I see from the picture I have a tiny bit of red that needs to be touched up with white along the bottom edge.  You always notice these little things AFTER you take the pictures.  *smile*

I also installed the back door but I needed to add door handles and locks to it.  For the outside door handle and the lock I just used pieces of mat board and a piece of copper wire.  I etched the shape of a key hole in the lock portion then painted them both a dark brown.

One of my favourite things was the little doorbell I made for delivery drivers to ring for service.  I used a small gear that looked like a snowflake to me, a bead spacer, and a scrapbooking brad.  Isn't it just the cutest!!  I also am happy with the way it looks with the door handle and lock in place as well.

The last thing I was able to accomplish this week was getting the trim around the back door and building a salt/sand box that is really just there to hide the battery from the light above but I will be putting a rusty bucket and shovel next to it so the workers can spread some on the ice to prevent slipping!

I did lay some sandpaper in the entryway and will paint it black to look like asphalt before dirtying it up with a snow, salt and sand mixture.  It's a busy spot with lots of foot traffic!  I can't have it too pristine, can I?

So - sorry I didn't get more done this week.  I hope I can get back to work on it after I finish this grant application, then get the newsmagazine ready for the publisher, then get the annual report done, then get the......it just never ends!  I think I'm going to come out of retirement and go back to work!  These volunteer activities are killing me!  Hope everyone has a great week!  TTFN!!! - Marilyn

Post Office Progress

 I'm a little like the proverbial tortoise.  I know that slow and steady eventually wins the race so I continue to work away on the North Pole Postal Service.  I expect to have it completed by the end of February, if luck continues to be on my side!

When I closed off my last post I said I hoped to get the back door installed, maybe build a sorting table and some shelves in the back room, and perhaps add a little lighting to the back room as well.

I didn't build the table or shelves but I did manage to finally get my back door hinged properly into the door frame.  I didn't actually install the frame into the opening yet because I will be running some wiring for the extra lighting first.  

I had an inspiration photo for the back door which showed an industrial door that, while it looks like it is in 3 parts, the two pieces on the left are actually together and the single piece on the right is hinged separately.  This allows a larger opening for bringing bigger items in or out of the back room (like those large mail bags full of cards and letters).    For the glass above the door, I once again used the plastic I had saved from a package of bakery cookies I had bought at our local grocery store.  I used the same plastic for glass in the craftsman-style lights I made for the front room of the post office.  I really like the faceted look it provides.  I think it would also look good for glass in a set of vintage kitchen cupboards.

My next step is to make a handle for the door and a couple of deadbolts before I install the whole thing in its final position.

Before I do that, of course, I have to finish installing the last of my lighting.  Because there is no ceiling or ceiling joists in this building, I was stumped as to what I should do to add more light into the back room.  I had finally installed the trim at the top of the long wall on that room and thought that a string of lights right under the trim might provide the light I was looking for but how would I make that happen?  

I pulled out a package of those teeny little LED lights with the very thin, easily bendable wire.  The light string had 20 lights along its length - but the length was really too long for the room and the lights were placed quite far apart.  I tried folding the length in half and twisting it together so the extra 10 lights sat between the first 10 - still too long.  So then I bent it in half again, twisting together.  Still too long and I didn't like the look.  So I untwisted the whole thing and straightened the wire back out again.  Then I took a wooden skewer I usually use for cooking brochettes and started to wrap the wire tightly around and around, being sure to keep the coils pushed tightly together.  I like it!  

It may seem like an odd choice for some, but I think it will work perfectly if I tuck it up tightly against the molding at the top of the long wall.  We'll see how it looks in next week's posting!  

While we're on the subject of lighting, I also wanted to add an outdoor light near the back door.  One of these days I will learn to plan for these things before I start a project, not as an afterthought!  But then, that would ruin my perfect record of "flying by the seat of my pants", wouldn't it? *smile*  

In my stash I had a great light, made by Lighting Bug, which I purchased from Shelley at Freedom Miniatures almost two years ago.  It has a more industrial feel to it with it's slightly tarnished metal finish and a bare light bulb.  I loved it when I saw it even though I didn't know yet how I would use it.  When I decided it would be perfect for this project, the only issue was that it would be unusual for an outdoor light not to have some sort of cover over it to protect it from the elements.  So, I decided to add a top over the bulb.  I am using the little white plastic pull tab from a milk carton to make this top piece.  Once I have it in position I will paint it silver then tone it down and tarnish it a bit with a little burnt umber paint, then seal it.  I will definitely have this done for next week's post so keep your fingers crossed for me that it actually works like I see it in my head!

Still on the theme of lighting, I still had the wires and battery pack for one set of lights in the service area of the post office sitting exposed at the side of the building.  For the lights by the front door I had built a bench to hide the battery box from view.  For the lights on the other wall of the service area, and the bathroom lights, I built a water metre to hide the battery pack.  What could I do to hide this other set?  

In the end, I went online and found a picture of a front view of a Canada Post mail box, and also found a side view.  Inserting these pictures into Power Point, I used the horizontal flip option to make a mirror image of the side piece, then cut and paste so I would have a back piece (although since it is going against a wall, this wasn't strictly necessary).  Then I connected them side by side and used the "group" function.  I re-sized the whole piece until it was the size I thought it should be and printed it off on regular computer paper.

Then I built the body of the mail box from mat board, and wrapped the paper pattern around it.

I cut the centre piece of paper from the front as I had built the frame so I could put a drawer in the bottom to hold the battery pack.  I added small vertical strips to this bottom portion, including the separate front piece, a horizontal piece across the top of these, and painted them grey to resemble the bottom of an actual Canada Post box.  When this part was done, I glued the box in place against the wall of the building.

Then I punched out a hole in the side and glued the on/off button in place, slid the battery holder in the drawer, and slid the drawer in place.  Mission accomplished - battery hidden!

So - even though progress appears to be slow, every step forward brings us closer to the project completion.  With the end of February drawing ever closer, I will be giving it my best effort to finish the last details.  Good luck to me!!  And happiness and good health to everyone else!  TTFN!! - Marilyn

Getting back at it

 Hi everyone.  I know I should feel guilty for not posting anything since November but, truth be told, I really haven't accomplished much since then either!  I have been "lurking" on other sites though and it seems to me that many of us seem to have had a bit of a "slump".  Maybe we were just so tired and bored of being cooped up with all the restrictions we've been under, causing us to enter a feedback loop where, since we couldn't do much, we didn't feel like doing much.

I'm glad to see that we're starting to come around again with more people back at their blogs.

I have continued to meet via Skype on Wednesday afternoons with my mini friends Marijke and Louise but it didn't seem like I was accomplishing much.  However, even though it is still only February, I'm beginning to feel like spring is not that far off and that has gotten me motivated again.

Reading Jodi Hippler's latest post I chuckled when she mentioned in an answer to a comment left on her blog, that she always starts off at at great pace but then starts to taper off as she nears the end and it gets harder to finish up all the little details when she what she really wants is to start a new project.  I'm just like that!  Okay - confess now - how many of you are too?

Well, I do want to get on to another project so, now that I am finally back at it again, I am determined to put a push on the North Pole Postal Service so I can then start something new.  

I have accomplished a few little things this last couple of weeks.  I made a lot of letters for the post office, and, thanks to Louise providing me with a sheet of iron-on stencil paper, I also made some mail bags to hold these letters.  Of course, the bags will be filled mostly with a wad of filler with letters mostly on top but hey - it's a start!

I also got started on putting together a few elves to get me started.  I will be using 4 elves and one human in this particular scene.  This will be my first attempt at making people for my scenes, although these will be made from kits I just have to put together and dress.  In the future, I would like to give a try to make my own figures.  I have a book from famous dollmaker Jamie Carrington as well as a wonderful book on dressing and wigging dollhouse dolls.  It looks like it would be fun to do although I recognize it will be a big learning curve but hey - - I'm not going anywhere!

Two of the dolls I have have articulated heads while the other two are fixed.  I have no idea where the articulated ones came from because I bought them second-hand but if anyone has any idea where I could get kits like these I would greatly appreciate it!  I like them much better than the fixed head ones.

Today I added numbers to the mailbox slots, glued in some of the numerous envelopes I had made, and then glued the mail cabinet into its corner.

This week I hope to get the back door installed, maybe build a small sorting table, add shelves in the back room to hold parcels, and possibly add some additional lighting as I think the back room may end up a little darker than I have in mind.

Please send encouraging vibes my way so my renewed interest and energy doesn't drop like a stone again!  And I will send them right back to all of you so perhaps we can all re-energize each other again.  We need to keep the blog postings coming!  Until next week - Big hugs!  TTFN! - Marilyn

Slow and steady

Once again, real life has left me with not as much progress as I would have liked but I'm plodding along - happy to just get something done. I did get some necessary, although boring, tasks completed: I finished putting baseboards in all of the rooms, I added a base surround to give me some room to add piles of snow around the edge of the building, and I built a frame for building the loading dock doors.

I'm planning on an old-style door with a strip of 3 windows above and a door that looks like 3 doors side-by-side but is actually a double size door plus a single width door. Hopefully it will look like what I have in my head.

I finished the door handles for the front and middle doors. I used white beads for the end of the handles for the red door and red beads for the ones for the white door.

Then I installed them, of course.

I also put together the little lunch room corner so our postal elves will have someplace to take a break and have their lunch, or a snack. Of course they have the essentials there - regular and barbeque-flavoured Pringles and a tin of chocolates! I see someone is about to have their sandwich. I hope they're working in the back room for the rest of the day - looking at all those onions they're about to eat!

The Camp Mini Ha Ha coffee cup was a little something provided to Campers by a generous "secret Camper". I purchased the sandwich plate some time ago.

Last week I received this chair kit from my friend, Marijke and thought it would be perfect for this scene. The chair kits were made by Samm Brockhurst, from Ontario, to go along with the 2008 wall-hanging kitchen project from Camp. Marijke had a few of the extra kits and gifted one each to Louise and I. It did take me a little to figure out how to put it together but, once I realized the 4 pieces I was wondering about were for forming the "apron" around the seat of the chair, things went much more smoothly. I did have to cut the back legs a bit as they were longer than the front legs.

The shelf unit I made last week now contains dishes, a tea kettle and coffee pot, the aforementioned Pringles, and a lovely little radio that was a Camp tidbit a few years ago from Sherry Parker from Nova Scotia. I'm not sure about the white spots showing on the walls in these photos. I thought they might be excess glue and I would touch up the wall paint to eliminate them but, when I checked, there was nothing there. Perhaps just a trick of the light?

So - that is all that was accomplished this week. I do want to leave you with a new link, though. All of our Camp Mini Ha Ha people were so disappointed that this year's Camp had to be cancelled so we decided it was time to start documenting the projects from prior years. We have put out a call for Campers to send in their own bios and pictures of finished projects over the years. The blog is set up so that, once fully populated, if you want to see all of the various interpretations of the same project, you just click on that year in the label section. Alternatively, to see all projects of one particular Camper, you choose their name from the labels. We're in the early days of posting but, over time, a complete picture of our Camp adventures should be available. To see what we have at this point, visit the blog at: Camp Mini Ha Ha Projects.

UNtil next Tuesday - keep safe and keep mini-ing!! TTFN!! - Marilyn D.

The tortoise and the hare...

Okay - there is no hare - just a tortoise and that's me!!! Once again I got very little done this week but I will show you the very little bit that I did do.

I did cut the last side wall in half so I could permanently attach the wall for the front, customer service end of the building. I then built a wooden wall for the back portion so I could attach a 1 inch strip of wood the the MDF back wall and still be able to hinge the rest of the wall (I knew screwing hinges into MDF would not work in the long run, hence the wood). I painted the portion of the wall that will be in the bathroom area and wallpapered the portion in the work area.

So - what else?? Hmmm.... Well, I did start making toilet paper for the shelves in the bathroom:

Then, of course, I knew I would need labels for the packages of toilet paper so, rather than waste a whole sheet of clear label plastic, I put some time in lining up a variety of labels for cleaning products, paper towel and toilet paper. Now I just have to make the little shapes to stick the labels on. I figure I now have enough labels to last me until my miniature-making days are over!!

I also had an idea for a set of shelves I wanted for over the table in the work area/lunch room area. I used 3/16" x 3/4" wood for the shelves and some very small strip wood for the sides. I still have to paint it white, in keeping with everything else, although I quite like it in the plain wood, I must admit.

So - that's all I managed to get done this week. Oh - I also had a broken wire in one of my wiring set ups so had to replace the light.

Here is the hinged wall (not yet applied to the building) the table for the lunch room area with the 3" wide set of shelves on top, one package of toilet paper I made up and ... oh yeah, I also made four long, candy cane striped door handles - two for the front door (inside and out) and two for the door leading into the back room. I will make the brackets to hold them and get them glued on to the doors this week.

I do hope I have more progress to show you next week as I know how boring these short little posts must be. However - I do want to leave you with one little thing: I finally managed to convince my good friend, Louise, that she needed to start a blog so she could show some of her amazing projects and hand made furniture. You can find her at Flaminis (https://miniflamobsession.blogspot.com/) She asks for us to be gentle with her as she's just beginning to explore the world of blogging but then - what else would we be?? We all love a new blogger!

Until next Tuesday - big hugs to everybody! TTFN!! - Marilyn D.

A Cautionary Tale

... That's basically what I call my whole journey into miniatures...a cautionary tale for everyone out there who would like to know the proper way to do things. Following my example would not be the way to go!!

I know, and have always known, that planning in advance is so important and can save so much time and anguish on your project. However, that is just not the way I roll! As a result - I once more find myself at a crossroads where I have to take a step backwards in order to move forward.

My original intent was to have the walls of the North Pole Postal Service permanently in place with a clear dome for the top so the interior can be viewed from above. However, every time I set the last wall up against the building, I felt like it would be difficult to view a lot of the planned (yes - I did say "planned") details. After much agonizing, I decided I needed to have that last wall hinge open in some way. Well, the building is made from 1/4" MDF and we all know that screwing hinges into MDF does not often have good results. If you are going to install hinges, you really are better off screwing them into wood. So - I could do that by using wood glue to attach a one-inch strip of solid wood to the existing back wall and the floor in that area. Then I would also need a piece of the connecting wall to be wood as well in order to secure the hinges. Well, as we all know by now - I have that 22" long wall already finished with wainscoting for the front room portion, wallpaper in the back room area and a painted wall in the bathroom area, not to mention that the light sconces are already attached and wired onto the wall in the front portion.

Now what to do??? I haven't had a lot of time to work of minis this week as real life has gotten in the way - which is why I am posting late on this Tuesday, but I have spent a lot of time thinking about that darn wall.

In the meantime, I have taken advantage of the few pockets of time I have had to get just a couple of little things done. I used my Cricut maker to cut out the letters and images for the signs for the building. Here is a picture of the sheet of cardstock before I finished punching out all of the negative spaces.

Then, I glued and stacked three of each letter and sleigh image to provide a thicker profile. I arranged them on white Bristol board until I was happy with the spacing, glued this onto a 1/16" thick piece of sheet wood and framed all of it with a red trim piece of basswood. I have installed the sign on one of the side walls and, as soon as I finish the other wall, there will be a sign there as well. I will have to cut that one to match wherever I cut the wall to allow it to hinge open.

I also managed to finish making the electric meter to hide the wires and battery for the front room and bathroom lights. I first painted it with a couple of shades of grey, dry brushed with silver and again with white to make it look more like galvanized metal. I didn't like it at all so I repainted with a light grey, leaving just a bit of the old paint job showing. Then I hid the wires in the two upright pipes and the battery and on/off switch in the main box. I cut a hole in the side for the switch to be accessible, and I wedged a piece of wood inside to make sure the switch didn't get pushed back into the meter box. It's all glued in place and the wires are now hidden. Whew - finally, one problem solved!

As for my dilemma with the wall?? Well, Bruce cut a partial wall for me from 1/4" plywood, cut that into a 1" wide piece to attach to the back wall and drilled holes in the two pieces to accommodate the hinges.

Now I will have to test fit to determine where to cut the original wall to meet up with this new piece, and start painting and wallpapering all over again. Wish me luck!!

Channeling Bob Ross

Do any of you remember Bob Ross, the gentle, soft-spoken artist who taught painting on a PBS television show called The Joy of Painting? I used to watch him regularly. He always fascinated me with how simple he made everything seem and, in no time at all, ended up at the end of each 30 minute show with a completed painting. One thing he used to say frequently was that there were no mistakes in painting - just happy little accidents.

Well, today's short post is about my latest "happy little accident".

Moving along with the North Pole Postal Service, I wanted to get started on the outside wall finish so I could permanently attach the lanterns outside the front door. Since I had already run the wiring, the lights were hanging loose until I could get the wall finished behind them. I wanted the post office to look like it was made from large blocks of snow and ice so I proceeded to cut lots and lots of 1"x2" rectangles of thin white foam from a pack of styrofoam plates I got at Dollarama. I figured that once I was done I could then use a combination of paint and fine white glitter to make them look more realistic. Before I started gluing on the foam pieces, I painted the walls white in case any of the wall ended up showing through the cracks between blocks.

I started gluing the blocks on the walls using my go-to glue: Quick Grip. After I had a few rows done, I looked back and was horrified to see that the glue was melting the foam pieces! I should have known that was going to happen! So, then I was left with a dilemma. Should I try to rip them all off before I got too far along and the glue was truly dry? Or, should I continue and try to fix things later. You know me - I decided to carry on and see what I could do to repair things later. The "happy little accident" showed up when I had completed a large portion of the first wall. I thought it looked like actual ice blocks!!

I continued along, finishing off that wall, the back wall and the front wall. I was liking it better all the time. And, yes, once the blocks were applied, I then permanently installed the lanterns by the front door.

Here's a little closer look:

So, now I have three walls done and am looking down the length of the side wall. What I am left with is the wires and battery back for the interior lights that I will need to find some way to hide while still having access to change the battery.

So - how will I hide these? Well, I took a look at the electric meter box at the back of our own house (and yes, when taking the picture I realized it was time to get a can of spray paint and refresh this too!). It looked like something that could work.

That's just a downspout to the left of it so I didn't need to be concerned with that. I took measurements of the box, gathered some bristol board (poster board?) and a paper straw and started to see what I could do.

So far, so good. I will make a top for it that will hinge, paint it up and show you the results on next Tuesday's post. Please keep your fingers crossed for me because, to be honest, the battery holder just BARELY fits into this little box. Also, I need to find something to use for the clear glass dome in front where the numbers from the electric meter can be read. Hmm - I do have an idea there - I will let you know if it works. I'm off now to see if Netflix still carries Joy of Painting shows. I think I need a little of the soothing voice of Bob Ross. Until next week, keep safe! TTFN!! - Marilyn D.