Trash to Treasure Throw down Take Two

 I would have said "Challenge" but it just didn't work with the alliteration I had goin' on there.

So, as I am sure you guessed by now, I have not finished my T2T piece yet - but I do have until April 6th!  I really need to stop overthinking things!

Marijke finished her piece which you can see on her blog at Pulchinella's Cellar.  It's a wonderful little mid-century modern piece and I just love it - especially the mirror on the wall.  I want one of those for real!

Louise also finished hers but has been so very busy getting her house ready to go on the market that she has not been blogging so I promised I would show a couple of pictures of her end product.  It depicts a wind-swept derelict shack on the beach that has been blown over by a big storm.  The flamingos have now taken over (of course!) and there is a little site set up where someone has obviously been taking shelter under the side of the tipped over shack.

On the back of her piece she pasted a list of the T2T items she used to make her scene.

It is truly amazing what a person can do with just little bits and bobs of things, isn't it?

As for my entry - sadly I feel like I got very little done this week.  Well, I did do a lot of thinking and changing my mind on ideas, as usual.

The easiest thing to show you is my little eraser project.  I used a white/blue eraser for something to add interest to one of the balcony walls (once I install it!)

I angled the top of the eraser, painted the whole thing green - although that colour might change before my project is finished - added two little roof portions that I painted a terracotta colour, used two of the pins I pulled out of the push pins I used for the base of the bird bath, to act as perches, and added two dots of black for entrance holes.  And there was my bird house for my balcony.  Child's play!

On to bigger and better things!  

I mentioned in my last post that, on the inside cover of the book box I am using to house my project, I wanted to post a picture of an apartment interior and maybe add some French doors that one could imagine lead from the apartment to the balcony scene I will be creating.  I chose a picture from the internet and used one of my allowable pieces of computer paper to print it out.  Since I did not need the whole sheet to print out the size I wanted I made sure to take advantage of the blank space on the page to also print out some leaves that I could use in my corner garden on the balcony.

The other piece of computer paper would be used to simulate French doors.  I still had a "free" supply item I could choose from my stash so I chose a piece of acetate to act as "glass" inside the French doors.  Here I am, just getting started.  I have drawn an outline of the faux doors I planned on making.

Okay - it's at this point that I think I lost my mind.  I must write on the blackboard 500 times "I will not obsess over the tiniest of details!"  

I cut out the basic door shape then, in my addled thinking, I thought I could add layers of paper to frame out each section to provide more detail in the final product.  I painstakingly cut out 1/4" strips and glued them around the two doors, the windows in the doors and the transom window above the door.  Then I cut out 1/8" strips and centred these on all of the 1/4" strips to make it look like a stepped trim.  I didn't have enough paper to make more than one layer of each size but, when I was finished adding a double layer molded panel to the bottom panels, I thought it all looked pretty good!  Here it is in process:

Now, I know there are many of you out there chuckling right now because you already know what happened next, don't you?  Of course, I painted the whole thing and let it dry.  That was when I realized that, because the paper was so thin, once the paint hit it, it all became a single layer with no definition whatsoever.  Do you have any idea how long it took me to trim that all out?????

Well, not to be deterred, having come this far, I got out my trusty Crayola pencils and started adding definition and shading to try to make the doors have a little bit of personality.  I used a light brown and a dark brown to add the shading and outline some of what should have been the architectural features.  It may not have been what I had in mind at the start but I think it turned out okay in the end.

So now I needed to add the "glass", attach the picture behind the doors and make some handles.  For the handles I used a total of 6 of my ten beads and small pieces of a white coated paperclip.  Okay, the handles may be a little wonky but, in the end, people will be looking at the balcony, not the door, right???

So, here is the finished door along with the chair I made last week and the little bird house I made earlier this week.  Take a quick look then I will point out a couple of things that truly confirms how ridiculously focussed I can be on the teeniest of things.  Man, this b&%ch be crazy!!!

Why do I think I must be crazy??  Because I cannot let the little things go, even for a simple T2T challenge.  When I covered the chair cushions with the napkin paper I had, I looked at the colours in the napkin and really could not allow myself to just make things randomly.  They all had to tie in with the fabric or some other part of the overall design. So, even though no one other than me will probably notice, the roof of the birdhouse perfectly picks up the orange/terracotta colour in the chair fabric, and the green as well.  I chose this particular picture of an apartment interior because the colour of the floor also picks up the colour as does the terracotta coloured leather chair in the room.  The corner of the sofa you can just see on the left inside the French doors picks up the lighter beige-yellow colour in the balcony chair cushion.  It would have driven me absolutely crazy if these things didn't tie in to each other.  What is wrong with me???  Is there any cure out there for this madness??? *sigh*

Well, hopefully my madness isn't contagious but, then again, I'm very suspicious I may have caught it from some of you perhaps????  Oh well, we'll all be good company for each other.  So, I'll be off now with hopes that I will have the finished project to show you next Tuesday.  Stay safe, stay healthy!  TTFN!! - Marilyn

Happy Birthday, Louise!!

 Yesterday was Louise's birthday so I finally get to show you what I made for her.  But first......

(I know - I truly am a pain in the neck, aren't I?)

I hadn't mentioned it earlier but, back in the December issue of Dollshouse and Miniature Scene, my small Christmas shelf was featured.  They had apparently noticed the North Pole Postal Service and wanted to have that in the December issue but, at the time, I knew there wasn't a hope I had enough time to finish it before then.  So I offered them this first little Christmas project.  

 

I showed the whole process of making the shelf in posts that can be found under the label "Christmas Shelf" in the list on the right - or clicking on the label at the end of this post.

The second thing I wanted to mention is that I have been encountering an interesting issue caused by my Norton security application.  For some reason it doesn't seem to like blogger because when I try to link to another person's blog to read the latest entries, it blocks it and tells me that the site contains possible malicious material that could be harmful to my computer.  Then it gives me the option to "submit a dispute".  I am slowly working through the ones I visit most often and submitting disputes to Norton.  I label the material as "art/culture" because it is the closest category they provide for it, then add the comment that it is a blog about the art of making dollhouse miniatures and does not contain malicious material.  A few days later I get a confirmation from Norton stating that my dispute has been reviewed and the site has been recategorized as a safe site.  Eventually I hope to have Norton acknowledge all of your sites as safe so I can actually leave comments on them.  I am slowly making my way through each one!  Security software can be so finicky!

Thirdly...Louise's birthday pressie!!!!

Louise is currently building a replica of the large farmhouse she and her siblings grew up in.  For her birthday, I decided I would make something for her farmhouse but every time I thought of something to make, I would get a text from her saying "Look what I just finished!"  Every piece she made - washing machine, stove, sofa and chair, cupboards, etc. was beautifully made and captured the 1950s period perfectly - I'm sure much better than I could have done!   I was getting desperate trying to figure something out when I found out that she had ordered several window boxes online for her farmhouse, only to find out that they were too large for her windows.  Also - I know how much Louise hates to make flowers so how would she have filled them anyway?  Now I had the right gift!

Her farmhouse has eight windows that needed window boxes so first I made and painted the boxes, then got started on filling them.  I glued small round Paperclay balls on the end of floral wire to act as the base for geranium flower heads.  I painted the balls a deep rose colour so, if there were any spaces showing between the tiny florets, they would not really be noticeable.  Then I started adding the teeny florets.  Each flower head took between 30 and 36 florets which each had to be shaped before being glued on.  Each window box contained 2 geranium plants with 3 flower heads in each (x 8 window boxes).  Okay - - you can do the math.  I then shaped and glued two leaves on each flower stem and added 3 individual leaves to the plant before adding the remaining flowers.  Here are some pictures of the process.

The window boxes in their assembly line:

The flower heads in process:

The leaves on the left have had a coloured margin added to them (before shaping them) as do real geraniums (really these are pelargoniums as true "geraniums" actually refers to a perennial plant which does not have coloured margins on their leaves and the flowers are different as well)

AND THE FINAL PRODUCT (or 5 of them at least):

So, my dear friend, Louise - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!  There are two things I need you to remember:

1. You are my "bestie" and I love you to bits! and

2. You'll always be older than me!!!! *smile*

So, with Louise's birthday over for another year - I'm off to finish the T2T Challenge which you'll see more about next Tuesday.  My wish for everyone- stay safe, stay healthy, and keep on mini-ing!  TTFN!!! - Marilyn

Up for a challenge!

 As I mentioned a few days ago, I noticed on Maureen H.'s blog, St Albert Minis, that the Miniature Enthusiasts of Edmonton (MEE) had launched a Trash to Treasure (T2T) Challenge for their club members.  They provided a list of 35 items from which participants had to choose 25 to include in their challenge entry.  Also, they can use one supply item of their choice from their own "stash" but it can't be a piece of furniture or miniature accessory.  Participants can  use however much they want of colouring supplies (paint, coloured pencils, chalks, etc.) and glue to complete their entry and they can choose the container in which to display their final product.

This sounds like such a fun idea that I talked my mini cohorts, Marijke and Louise, to join me in trying the challenge ourselves, even though we are ineligible for the "contest" part of the challenge since we are not members of MEE.  We'll send pictures of our final pieces to Maureen to share with her members.  If you want to check out the "rules" of the challenge and try it out for yourself, visit this post: "Hello again! Good to be back!"

So, with my energy and enthusiasm renewed, I went downstairs to my craft room, list of the acceptable 35 items in my hand, and started trying to choose 25.  At first I gathered together about 15 or so items, with no idea exactly what I would do with them.

Then I paused for a moment to figure out what I would use to put the project in.  I found a few possibilities but, when my eye landed on one of those boxes that look like a book I had my Aha!! moment.  I had purchased this "book" box at Michael's on sale about 5 or 6 years ago and it has been sitting on my shelf every since.  I was drawn to it because of the picture of Paris on the outside, and again on the inside.  

Now my brain was percolating!  In my head I could see a balcony scene looking out over the square below (so the railing would be up against the back, not at the front).  In the picture above you can just make out, at the bottom of the side wall, that I have started using one of my 25 choices, a piece of textured, dark green card stock paper, to look like overlapping pieces of siding on the side walls of the balcony.  On the facing cover of the box, I will be using my allowable 2 sheets of computer paper.  I will print an apartment interior view on one sheet and use the other to look like French doors or some kind of door that leads from the interior to the balcony. 

I plan on using some pieces from the egg carton to make square stones for the floor of the balcony, and also blocks for the wall on either side and above the door on the facing cover. I will use a portion of the lid from a sour cream container as a small balcony garden space in the right corner.

Well, without telling all of the planned details, here is what I accomplished today when Louise, Marijke and I met for our Wednesday afternoon mini session via Skype.

After finishing the siding on the walls, I looked at the small white Styrofoam coffee cup and thought I could probably turn it into a chair for the balcony corner.  I first marked a tiny line on the bottom edge of the cup and one that matched it on the top.  I placed these two marks at the edge of a piece of scrap paper and started tracing as I rolled the cup along until the marks were back where they started.  That gave me a pattern of the correct arc I needed to cover the cup. I cut the rim off the cup since I didn't want it to be too high, nor did I want it to have that "bump" at the top.  After cutting off the same amount from the top of the arc pattern,  and wrapping it around the cup as a dry fit, I folded it in half so I could figure out the exact centre of the pattern.  Knowing that a standard small chair would be 18" wide between arms and the seat would be 18" from the floor, I first marked these lines in from the sides of the pattern. Then, on one half, I continued to draw a design I thought would give me a rounded back, arms at the side and an opening at the front.  I cut it out, and used the resulting pattern to mark the shape on the cup and cut it out. 

 

I shortened the piece I had cut from the rim of the cup and glued it to the inside of the chair, to provide support for the seat, which I was going to make from a small piece of fun craft foam (we are allowed a 6"x6" piece).

My plan was to use the allowed 6" x 6" piece of fabric to cover the outside and upper inside of the chair.  My choice of fabric was penelope fabric, a material used mainly for decorative needlework but, in this case, would look a little like rattan.  It was at this point that I thankfully noticed one little issue.  By using the pattern I had to cut out the fabric, the seam would be at the front of the chair.  That would definitely not do!!  It is so unlike me to to actually catch an issue before I have gone too far that I was quite taken by surprise!!  So, with my new-found sense of confidence and amazement in myself, I recut the pattern so the seam would be at the back, but saved both patterns for the steps to follow.

CHEAT ALERT!!!  Okay - it's a good thing I am not actually eligible for the challenge anyway because, once I had the patterns ready it became obvious that they would not fit on a piece of fabric 6x6, so, I cheated!  I cut a new piece that was 6x7 instead.  I'm sorry, Maureen!  I just couldn't make it work!

Once I had wrapped the chair in penelope cloth, front and back, there was, of course, a gap between the two (the thickness of the Styrofoam) so I pulled individual strands out of the leftover penelope cloth, twisted them into a cord, and glued them into the gap around the edge to finish it properly.  

Then I arrived at problem #2.  We were only allowed 1 piece of fabric, how was I going to make the cushions for the chair?  We do have a choice of a piece of felt but I didn't feel it would be the right look.  We were also allowed a paper napkin or piece of paper towel.  I happened to have a couple of pretty Easter napkins left over from a meeting I had been at so I peeled the 2-ply napkin apart, and found the pretty patterned part to be very soft and pliable.  Perfect!  I cut pieces of egg carton in the shape of the cushions I needed, pulled apart a couple of the cotton balls we are allowed and glued the pieces to the egg carton, centred them on a pretty part of the napkin and glued.  I actually quite like the result.

Not too bad for a Styrofoam cup, some penelope cloth, fun foam for the seat and egg carton, cotton balls and a pretty napkin for cushions.

So, what else did I get done toward the challenge?  I used a strip of fun foam, two 3" pieces of narrow suede trim and two tiny nail stickers to make a rolled up exercise mat for the fit-conscious resident of this Parisian apartment.

I also glued together an Advil cap (we're allowed 4 bottle caps), one of my ten beads, and three wooden push pins together to form the column and top of a bird bath.  For the base, I used three small circles cut from the leftovers of the Styrofoam cup and a narrow strip of leftover fun foam glued together to form a base for the bird bath.  I will wait for the glue to be well cured before attaching the base to the rest of the bird bath, then paint it appropriately.

So that's it for today and I will be spending the next few days working tirelessly to try to complete a birthday gift for a certain someone by her special day on Monday.  After that, I will get back to work on the T2T challenge that needs to be completed by April 6th.

I hope everyone is finding a new bounce to their step and enthusiasm in their craft as we inch closer and closer to spring.  I'm sending bug hugs to everyone ( in the hopes we'll soon be allowed to actually hug people again!).  TTFN!!! - Marilyn

Bits and pieces

Okay - I still have very little to show you because I am working on Louise's birthday present(s) so can't show those until after March 15th!  There are a few things I wanted to clear up though. 

First, in response to some questions I got about why I chose the 5 artists I featured in my last post - not that anybody didn't think they were completely deserving, just that the process to choose among so many excellent ones must have been difficult.  Indeed, it would have been but the ones I featured were chosen because they were the first 5 I had actually stumbled upon back in 2014 when I hadn't yet made the jump into making miniatures myself.  I found them so incredible to look at and they gave me the push I needed to start in this hobby myself.  For that I will be eternally grateful to them.

Then, for any of you who see me commenting on your own wonderful posts, I thought you might wonder why I sign off with my name, even though it is shown next to my profile picture, and also why I include where I live.  Well, by reading the number of blogs that I do, I quickly discovered that there are two other Marilyns who post comments on mini blogs and one of the others also has the letter D. as the initial for her last name.  So, mystery solved!  I put my name and location in my sign off just so you know which of us it is!

So - back to things I find inspirational.  I love to look at different architecture in real life to find ideas for things I might like to include in my mini projects.  I am particularly drawn to stonework and to unique doors or windows.  As such, I have collected a number of pictures over the last several years - and don't lie to me - I know you all do it too!

This is a picture I found of an incredible entry door with window above and to the side.  I just love, love, love this door and go back to the picture often.  I have never figured out what project a door like this would be appropriate for but I am now thinking perhaps I should just make the door itself into a small wall-hanging, framed piece.  I will definitely give this one a try one of these days!

Another picture I have that I dream about duplicating some day is, of course, of a stone exterior - very European looking.  I'm thinking probably Spanish?  Anyway, I love everything about this.  I would include the slant to the cobbled street, the terracotta pots filled with plants, the bougainvillea, even the downspout.  In my mind everything works together to make a beautiful, warm and welcoming vision.

I also love this beautiful entry courtyard that I found on the "magic puzzles" I used to get on my computer.  Doesn't it look cool and cozy?

All this to say that there is inspiration all around us - way too many inspirations given the time we have to work but just think of the hours of fun we can have trying to bring them to life in miniature.

I would love to hear where everyone else finds their inspiration.  What makes your heart sing when looking at it or when thinking about it and want to recreate it in miniature? 

So, while I finish off Louise's birthday gift, I find myself with lots to think about.  I want to finally finish off the North Pole Postal Service and start something new but, in the meantime, I read on Maureen H.'s blog that the Edmonton miniatures club is having a trash to treasure challenge with entries due on April 6th.  

Even though the challenge is for her club members as there is a prize for someone at the end, I thought perhaps some of us out there might want to give such a fun idea a try as well.  If so, we could send our pictures to Maureen just for fun instead of actually entering the challenge.  I think it would be a great way to show just how connected our mini community is.  To find out how her club is running this challenge you can go to this post on her site:  http://stalbertmini.blogspot.com/2021/03/hello-again-good-to-be-back.html 

Basically you have a list of 35 "trash" items and you have to use your choice of 25 of them to produce your "treasure".  I think it sounds like a lot of fun and a good way to get some of us motivated and to get our thinking caps on.  Anyone else in??

Now I will let you go to think about that last little challenge.  I think I am going to try it out myself and will send Maureen pictures at the end.  Thank you MEE for such a great idea!  TTFN!!! - Marilyn

Oh, how easy it is to digress.....

 ...and I am a master at it!  If there was a world championship in digression, I would have the top spot nailed!  But this time I have good reasons.

I have done a little more work on the North Pole Postal Service but I am going to wait to show the progress until I have a lot more done. So - what have I been working on?  Well, that's something I can't show you right now.  March 15th is my friend, Louise's birthday and I am making her birthday gift so I don't want to show it on the blog either.  At least until after March 15th. 

So, to make sure I don't get out of the habit of a weekly blog post, I thought I would share some of my own inspirations with you.  Tonight, it will be a few of my earliest miniature artisan inspirations.  I am sure that most of you will already be familiar with them but, I guess,  as a relative newcomer to this artistic expression, I was a little late to the party  *smile*  So, here are 5 (because I have so many I had to force myself to limit it to 5!) of my inspirations, in no particular order because I find them all so inspiring:

Miniature Rooms Company - Robert Off's work was probably my first "find" in the world of miniatures.  I was absolutely blown away by his attention to detail, his use of perspective and his ability to portray real life in 1:12th scale to such perfection.  His work totally blows my mind!

Americana in Miniature - After being completely enchanted by Robert Off's work, I started to search for more examples of this incredible hobby.  That is when I found the work of Connie Sauve.  The title of Connie's Shutterfly pages is so appropriate because she truly does capture so much of regular life - mostly through nostalgic interpretations of a time past - evocative of a simpler time many of us remember from our childhood. Again, I am in awe of the talent exhibited in her work.

Studio E - Oh, Elizabeth, what can I say about your work??  When I first stumbled across the beautiful gardens of #43 Dolphin Street I was transported to a place I wanted to spend all day, every day visiting.  Then I went back to the beginning of the project and explored the beautiful interiors and was so amazed at your exquisite work.  I then went back to the beginning of your blog posts and read all the way through and still follow it regularly to this day.  (Villa Leone is awesome!) It is no wonder you have received so many awards for your work.  Inspiring cannot begin to describe it!

My Miniature Madness - Visiting Jodi Hippler's blog is an incredible treat.  Her creative mind and ingenuity results in some of the most amazing pieces of miniature art that range from beautiful interpretations of what could easily be real life buildings to fantastical pieces that will bring a smile to your face and joy to your heart.  Topping it all off is her ability to use some of the latest technology to bring her pieces to life, from laser cutting, to using a Cricut to 3D printing.  She so makes me want to be braver and try my hand at some of these techniques myself.  I'm sure you'll feel the same.

Jennifer's Miniatures - Jennifer's Facebook page entries provide so many tutorials that showcase a plethora of simply beautiful pieces.  With her detailed pictures and instructions she truly does leave me feeling that maybe I really can do some of this incredible work.  From faux finishes to wonderful lighting projects, furniture, décor and even small building projects, her site is a go-to for me when I need a little encouragement to try something new.  I will always be grateful.

Oh why, of why did I limit myself to 5!!!  There are so many of you out there in our world of miniatures that do incredible work and I have only just begun to mine the treasure that is online.  I have favourite blogs I like to visit from artisans from Spain, from Australia, Russia, New Zealand, France, Germany, England... and so many others that are just so numerous, not to mention others from right here in Canada and the USA.  Please forgive me for not highlighting each and every one of you - but I think Blogger probably has a limit of just how big a post can be.  

Rest assure, I love you all!!  You are all so talented and so very generous with your advice, instruction and encouragement, you make my life so much richer and I adore each and every one of you!  Thank you all so much for the joy you bring into my life!

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