Fairy CSI - The Conclusion

In case you missed the exciting Part I episode of Fairy CSI, scroll down one post past. In my attempt to make miniature (as in one inch) fairies, I littered my work desk with fairy parts - heads on sticks, legs, random bodies - quite a sight.

Productivity did come from the wreckage, as it (sometimes) does, and I ended up with...

You'd never know of her sordid past. Of course, it would help if I photoshoppped out all the fairy parts behind her - evidence of those that did not make it this far. Practice makes perfect.

Now the only question remains...what do I do with her?

Fairy CSI

I've been experimenting. I like tiny things and I'm addicted to thread, but Penny People just take so darn long! So I wondered if I could make a tiny doll from clay instead of thread.

I like clay. In particular, I like making heads from clay. Pop some eyes in, stick a nose on, pull out a grin, and you've got such a cute little sucker, disembodied as it is. For me, the challenge comes in making bodies for the heads, as I'm told that just a pile of heads is a little disturbing.

So, back to the experimenting...

My work desk now resembles a Fairy Crime Scene Investigation. Tiny body parts everywhere, random heads on sticks - who knew the world of miniature doll-making was thus?

I have one of the original thread Penny People (princess in blue, above, 10 o'clock) watching from the corner. She seems to have thrown her hands up hopelessly. I kept reminding her that as I did make her, I just might know what I'm doing. She was not convinced. Clay and thread are two very different mediums.

Fairy CSI: To be continued...

Mini Calories Don't Count!

Etsy Team MIDS (Miniatures in Dollhouse Scale) Feature:
Miniature Artist Blue Kitty Miniatures

It's Spring! Time for flowers, afternoon rain showers, green grass, and...the swimsuit diet. Was that a groan I heard? If you have a weakness for your corner Cake Shop & walking there every morning doesn't help the calorie disaster that occurs upon arrival, allow me to offer an alternative...

Introducing the exceptional (& calorie free!) fare of Etsy artist Blue Kitty Miniatures.

(Click on any of the pictures below to go directly to the item listing)

Wish your wedding cake looked like this? So does your blushing dollhouse bride. This cake, from the bottom roses to the top pearls, measures about 2 inches (50 mm) tall. I'll give you a moment to pick your jaw up off the floor...

Recovered? It will only last a moment. If neither you nor your dollhouse residents are celebrating a special occasion anytime soon, let me propose to you that there is always an occasion for cookies! Particularly when they come from this adorable miniature Black & White Tuxedo Cat Cookie Jar. Best part? The cookies are included! Click on the kitty picture above to see the "Awww!"-inducing teeny cookies that come with this Cookie Jar.

Bet you never knew that you desperately wanted a miniature herbal book with a goggle-eyed plant creature peeking out, huh? You do now. One of my all-time favorites - I've been fighting the temptation to buy a dollhouse just so I could house this little guy. Resolve...failing...

Do you need a moment to pick up your jaw again? Pretty soon, your dollhouse family is going to forget they're in a dollhouse, when even the flowers that get knocked over look this real!

Do you remember getting cakes like this when you were a kid? No? Then make up for it by providing them for your dollhouse children! Their permanent smiles will thank you.

Want to see more of Blue Kitty's work? How about a golfing novelty cake? A ladybug cookie jar? A Toadstool House Novelty Cake? Step right over...

The Perfectly Landscaped Dollhouse

Etsy Team MIDS (Miniatures in Dollhouse Scale) Feature:

Miniature Artist Golden Unicorn Minis

Is your dollhouse lacking curb appeal? Do your 1/12 scale dolls stay in their chambers & avoid lounging on the terrace, even on the best of days?

Let me recommend you to Golden Unicorn Minis, THE Dollhouse Landscaper whose name is in every fashionable doll's mini-rolodex.

Don't worry! You can still catch up with the styles of the dollhouse elite. Check out some of the pieces that could spruce up your dollhouse's tired exterior:
(Click on any of the pictures below to go directly to the item listing)

Start with the front door. Place one planter on either side of the entrance & have instant grandness (grandeur?). Whatever the word, you'll have it!


Climbing roses. How much more romantic can you get? Put some of these winding their way up the dollhouse facade, & I can practically guarantee a miniature Clark Gable will come strolling round the corner.


Does the lady of your dollhouse have a green thumb? Even if she doesn't, just put this out by the back garden, and all of her neighbors will be convinced she really does know the difference between a rose & a tulip!


I know you're going for prettiest castle on the block, but can your really hope to compete with the Tudors without a lion's head wall planter?


As the centerpiece of a garden or the focal point of the grand foyer, this wonderfully intricate statue & bowl of flowers completes your mini layout.

Well, I hope you (& your dollhouse!) have profited from this little lesson in mini curb appeal. To continue your look through the catalog of mini landscaping, be sure to visit Golden Unicorn Minis on Etsy.

Out of the Project Tube...

I work in miniature. What would be a pile of scraps for one person could become an entire project for me. So I always have tiny pieces of STUFF left over that I don't want to throw away, because my next mini masterpiece might call for it! My solution? Pill containers. Grand, I know.

I use tiny containers, like the kind you can buy that have 7 small stackable containers for you to keep a week's worth of pills in. These become my great & wondrous Project Tubes. Seriously, one tube of containers could hold everything I need for an entire project.

So, what's in my latest Project Tube? A bouquet of a dozen red roses! Seems perfectly normal to me...

I make these roses as accents for my toothpick dolls, & decided to let them have the spotlight all to themselves for once. Each rose is handmade, formed on the tip of a toothpick. The bouquets have three different sizes of rose - a bud, a normal size, & a fully opened rose.

I have to admit, the hardest part about these bouquets is wrapping them in that iridescent film! Fiddly stuff. But the end result so charms me that I put up with it. Having chocolate within reach helps, too.

These rose bouquets are available in my Etsy shop.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Queen of Hearts - I've finally started her!

One of my goals this year is to finish a doll about every other month. My schedule says I should have one finished by the end of February. So maybe it's time I got started :)

Remember my original Queen of Hearts sketch? This lady scares me, honestly. I don't know what I was thinking when I drew that design, but now I'm paying for it - this is a difficult project!

First, some supplies:

- Various pairs of scissors, reverse pliers, 6-inch ruler, glue

- toothpicks (those do help when making a toothpick doll)

- Thread color catalog

- Impossible sketch (hanging up)

- A mess of embroidery floss (yes, that is the technical term. A herd of sheep, a gaggle of geese, a mess of thread)

- A bowl of fruit (1 navel orange & 1 Fuji apple, chopped into bite-size pieces. Works well when there's no chocolate in the house.)

Humble beginnings, but we all have to start somewhere...

Her design calls for a nice, full skirt. This is layer 3 of a 4-layer petticoat. I start down around her ankles, & keep adding layers until we reach her waist. No, the woman will not be able to move. You'll notice Sleeping Beauty lurking in the background often. She has consented to be my reference model for this project.

Ok, 4 layers of petticoat done. Now we start the tricky process of adding all those decorative skirt layers. She'll end up with the following layers:

- subtle pink & white striped underskirt

- black & white stripe detailing

- black satin overskirt, pulled back to reveal the pink underskirt & black & white stripe

- hot pink over-overskirt (I really should come up with more elegant-sounding names...) with fringe & rose accent

This is the first layer - the sublte stripe underskirt. If you look closely, you can make out the pink & white striping. You'll see this layer is only in the front, for two reasons:

1) The back would be covered up by the black satin skirt.

2) Adding this layer all the way around would add bulk to the back. When you're working in such a tiny scale, even one layer of thread can make a difference. She needs to have a shapely silhouette, without extra bulk.

Ok, the first of 4 decorative skirt layers is finished. Now I'll start the black & white stripe detailing (see the original sketch). But first, I have to outline exactly where this detailing will go. Look closely, & you'll several lines of a single strand of white thread. Now, I just fill this part in with the striping.

I'll post more progress in a few days!

Want to know more of how I've done a certain technique? I'm planning a doll tutorial in the next month - tell me what you'd like to be in it!

Miniatures on Martha Stewart!

If you like dollhouse miniatures & Martha Stewart, have I got a good thing for you! Today (Tuesday, Nov. 11), Betsy Niederer of Custom Dolls, Houses, & Miniatures (CDHM) was featured on Martha. She had a teeny tiny Thanksgiving Dinner layout that perfectly matched the cover of Martha's latest magazine.
She showed how to make a Christmas Tree Ornament that looked like a miniature ceramic plate of Christmas cookies!
I am a member of CDHM, along with many very talented doll & miniature artists. Got coffee & some free time? Come check us out! Here's my gallery, or stop by the CDHM homepage.