Book Club Meeting at 7 p.m.

The book club is meeting at 7 p.m. this Wednesday.

Today we are discussing Little Women (bought from #LittleThingsofInterest on Etsy).  (I highly recommend her books. They have illustrations and texts on the page. Which is why I could not glue all my books in. Driving myself BATTY in the process of making this.)

But don't worry: What Happens in Book Club Stays in Book Club.

I cut that sign out from a Paper Source catalogue. (I find Paper Source catalogues to be good sources for mini cutouts, as evidenced by the bookmark box.) And then I made the frame.

What book should we read for our next book club? Can you find any favorites among our selection? We have literature, mysteries, art books, cook books, Young Adult, travel, classics, women's literature etc. on this bookshelf.

Have a great week!

The Magic Portal Bookstore and New York City Plant Bed Tutorial

I made a lot of progress over the long Thanksgiving Day holiday (although there were several times when it felt like one step forward, two steps back) on The Magic Portal Bookstore, particularly on the NYC sidewalk and plant bed.

It is good that I have a deadline because I get very tempted to work on other things (like Christmas or Thanksgiving food or just random ideas that catch my fancy).  This explains why I have so few finished projects. Lol.

I finally decided on the color of the letters and I glued them on. I bought the letters from Factory Direct Craft. I painted them white and then I used glossy white nail polish on top for a shinier effect.

The Bookstore is called The Magic Portal because books are like a magic portal. I believe that, but it's also based on the Stephen King quote, "Books are a uniquely portable magic."

I also finally got the magnets to work to attach the front to the store. (Sheila, I'd be interested in how you did yours. The walls were so narrow to drill holes into for my magnets.)

I created book exhibits for the windows.

This circular one will be attached to the top of the left window. It's supposed to evoke a book portal. 

I chose a mixture of books for the window: literature, chicklit, children's, cooking, Stephen King's book On Writing.

I also figured out my lighting with some trial and error. (I tried a fancier method  (using my bakery ceiling as the practice ceiling) and then went back to my easier method.)

I worked on the city sidewalk and the flower bed. I am really happy with how the flower bed turned out.

I love looking at flowerbeds on streets in New York City--glimpses of very small gardens. This is a flowerbed I pass every day and I think it is quite beautiful.

I was going to put a tree trunk in mine, but I couldn't find the tree trunk I wanted to use. My daughter and I had made one for a school project, and we saved that from the project. But I couldn't find it (another time).

Here is my flowerbed:

The hostas plant is from the youtube video by We love Miniatures (and the printout was available years ago on their Facebook page. My friend Ketsia had found it as a project for us to do).

The other plants are from Dragonfly International Miniatures. The small plants were a NAME roundtable kit  (but also available on her website) and the large plants are available on the Dragonfly website or HBS/Miniatures (where I bought it ).

I highly recommend Deb's kits. They are easy and come out well. This kit makes 2-3 plants. I didn't realize that at first, and I was like this plant is going to be HUGE. Then I looked at the website where it clarified that the kit makes 2-3 plants. Similarly, the kit for the small plants made 6 different plants.


Plant Bed Black Iron Fence Tutorial

For the iron guard rail around the flowerbed, I cut paper clips. I crazy-glued them into the foam base and then I painted them black with Testers Black paint.

Here are my tools and supplies:

For the iron guard rail around the flowerbed, I cut paper clips. I crazy-glued them into the foam base and then I painted them black with Testers Black paint.

After painting:

For the sidewalk, I used spackle thinned with water, a sponge to give it some texture, and then I painted it with watered-down grey.

I made the purple dahlias from a kit by **. I bought it at Philadelphia Miniaturia. I forgot to include it in my earlier post on purchases. That was also an easy kit with a lovely result.

And finally, in New York, you need a "don't pee/poop on my garden sign." Not that it works. 

Have a great week!

Bookstore Blue

I couldn't decide initially what to do with the façade of the bookstore, but eventually I went with my original desire to paint it all blue.

I considered doing stone on the front bottom to match the side walls.  I made a sample on cardboard

But for some reason, it didn't look right.

So I painted it all blue.

I also flirted with building the second floor, going as far as to cut the plywood floors and one wall (love that wall shape).

But then I decided against that for now. Too many space constraints in my apartment.

I added the door handles from Ron Stetkewicz Miniatures

Next I am working on lighting and painting the letters of the name. I can't decide if it should be gold or white, so I'm making a sample of each.

And I keep getting distracted and making more books.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

A Book Store in Progress for the HBS/Miniatures Contest

I'm making a bookstore for the #HBS/Miniatures Creating Contest. After I made the my writer friend's book talk scene and the library for my son's school last spring, I really wanted a book store for myself. Especially since I quit my job to be a writer. So I thought if I like the HBS/Miniatures contest kit, then I'll use that. 

Instead of working on the structure, though, I keep re-arranging the books.

And posing my new cats. Above is my new fat cat from wolvi64 on eBay.

And below is my new orange cat from JMDS Miniatures on eBay. 

The books then fall down because I don't want to glue them in.

 I like using them in scenes. Some of them are from #LittleThingsofInterest and have text/illustrations on the pages. I can't glue those in! I will build little boxes for them, I think.

I did make a little bookmark box. Free bookmarks when you buy a book! I cut up little pictures from a Paper Source catalogue and put them in some left-over wood scraps from a Betterley book kit.

I love The Big Book of A Miniature House, but I can't fit another dollhouse in our apartment, so I thought I'd try to make this in the French style. Sort of.  I would like to put a second floor roof on top following her instructions, but I think my husband will notice if a two-story structure appears. Lol. Anyway, I doubt I have time, so I'll work on the current kit and the landscaping and then see if I have time. 

I put spackle paste on both side walls, as per her instructions of how to do the walls. And there you can see the blue of the window.

I want the front to look like these inspirational photos, but I realized I've already used that blue in other buildings (my bakery and Malibu dollhouse - yes, I clearly have my favorite colors), so I will use the royal blue above. 

I like the way they put the books on shelves on the side of the wall in the above picture.

Have a great week!