Getting There...

But other things get in the way... Like cleaning out the refrigerator and a new iPad!

Now all I have to do is learn all of the quirks of the new iPad.  Zar is helping... Kind of... He points to a button and says, "Poke that one and see what it does."  Big help!

 I decided that some of the minis that haven't been cleaned for a while need it.

Spike's Crypt was closest at hand.  First come. First serve.

The good thing about this one is, it doesn't need a LOT of cleaning.

I do dust and sweep inside, but not a lot.... Hey!  It's in a cemetery!  It's supposed to look unkempt.

I especially like cleaning the outside...  I just don't do anything.  Lots of dust and spider webs are a good thing. 

OK, I do dust the motorcycle... Spike does like to keep that clean..

One down and many more to go.  You may get stuck with seeing old stuff here and there.

I kind of enjoy going back and looking at the old stuff once in a while.  That's when they get cleaned and repaired if they need it.

Back to scrubbing. Bless Cara, she found me... If you want to see the Pinterest site, go here... https://www.pinterest.com/caseymini1/

I will try to put it in the sidebar by tomorrow.

See you tomorrow.

Oops! Almost Missed a Day!

I had the Wednesday Witches' meeting here today... Instead of doing minis, I was busy getting ready. 

I got the hair brained idea that I needed to switch some of the minis to different sites. 

I left the tree house where it was.  I did trial fit the roof.  I think that it is going to be just fine when finished.

 I moved Spike's Crypt into the bedroom.  It is one of my favorites and I am tired of having to go out to the front hall to see it. 

It is now living on top of my jewelry/needlework chest.  That's where it started out and I enjoy having where I can see it by just turning my head.

After buying  the juicer, the kitchen counter was getting a bit crowded.  I moved that Rusty Needle quilt shop to the front hall.  Now I have more counter space to work with for the juicer.... besides, the quilt shop just plain looks better on this table, than on the counter.

The only other thing I moved was the Elizabethan room box.  It was actually the reason for moving everything else.

It was sitting on the floor, by Zar's Tudor Trailer.

It lost it's home at the top of the cat tree around Christmas time last year.  Now I can also see it with a single glance... It distracts from the ugly VCR, and other TV watching machines.

Anyway, by the time I was finished moving everything, it was time to get ready for the mini meeting... About five o'clock, Walter asked me, "Did you do your blog today?"  That's where the Oops come in.  Thank goodness he said it before twelve midnight! 

I can still say, "See you tomorrow!"

I am in Time Out... Bad Casey!

I am not going to show you another coat of spackle or gesso this morning...

I am in sooo much trouble with Tessie and Zar that it isn't funny.

They are both on my case.

This is what the workroom looks like at the present time...And yes.  That is the top of the infamous laundry basket at the bottom of the photo.  And no.  The drawers aren't done.   I have a good excuse for not getting anything done yesterday... A clean bathroom and my half of the closet is clean.  OK those are big people things.  They don't count, as far as Tessie and Zar... and Spike are concerned...

The reason that they are ticked off, is not Daisy's Cottage.  It's the stuff that I moved around last week.

Tessie swears that none of her domiciles are livable... She never uses any of them.  She mostly lives in my house.  But that doesn't matter.  She wants her homes set right.

Zar added his two cents, saying, "My Tudor Trailer is covered with dust everywhere.  I have been sneezing terribly!"

I went and looked at all of the stuff that I moved around... They were right. 

I picked up a rug that was in front of the stove in Cordelia's house...Remember, Tessie traded with her at one point.  Thus, she still thinks of it as hers.

That spot in front of the stove is where there was a throw rug... I think it needs dusting...And the table is missing.  I think that we tried it out in Daisy's place....Then it ran away... And hid somewhere..

I wasn't smart enough to stop looking.  It looks like a hurricane hit the Embroiderer's cottage. 

That's two....

Spike's crypt is in it's usual state.  But he had to get his two cents in....Now he wants the dust dusted... I think that he means that he would like to have just one layer of dust, instead of two or three.

Tessie's townhouse and the craft cottage both need straightening. 

Not too much dusting.  I did that when I moved them.

We won't talk about all of the other buildings that haven't been dusted for a while... At least they haven't been moved and shaken.

Before I get back to work, I just wanted to show you the babies.  If you look closely at the bottoms for the rosettes, you will see tiny roots starting to find their way to the soil. 

I have never counted to see how long they actually last, before they need to be transplanted.  I am going to keep track this time. 

The dust awaits...

See you tomorrow.

Toss Them All Up in the Air....

And see where they land...

One of those three o' clock AM ideas. 

I decided(don't ask me why) that it would be a good idea to move Zar's den into the computer room.  And on top of that, I remembered it this morning. 

Reality strikes again.  I still had to move a few things back to their rightful places from the holidays. 

I figured that, since I was moving things anyway, why not rearrange some of them.

First I did the thing that started it all.  If I moved Zar's den, I had to have a table to fit.  Soooo.... The little tool table from the bedroom was the perfect size and would give more room to move in the computer room...

Then I decided I wanted the music tower room on a smaller table.  The one next to the front door was perfect.

That meant finding something to put in it's place on the other table in the hall.

Spike's Crypt fit nicely and kind of goes with the Witches' Warehouse.

I still hadn't run out of energy.  Yet....

Where Spike's place was needed to be filled.  Tessie's Fortune Telling Tent fit well there.  Actually better than Spike's did.

And there is still room for the toast rack where we keep the mail.

That chest is filled with poly clay and assorted related items.   It's just a good thing that poly clay doesn't spoil...

You guessed it.  I had to fill the spot where the fortune telling tent had been.  That was easy.  I put Tessie's Teas there.  She never lets anyone buy anything there anyway. 

She is up there standing guard with a gargoyle right now.  Threatening anything that moves towards the teashop. 

 The teashop is the thing I moved to make room for Zar's den.

Do you see where I am going with this?  Round and round....

The table that the teashop was sitting on is now my table for tools. Remember?

Yup.  Full circle. Now I have a table where the little house can sit when I am not working on it.  And yes!  I finished painting the outside antique white....Three coats to cover the green and dark brown that was on there.

I also got one coat on the inside, over the dark red and green walls...This could take another couple of coats too.  I am not sure what color it will be when I finish.  I just know that I am NOT EVER going to paint walls red or green again!  They are next to impossible to change if you want to repaint.  Bah Humbug!

Anyway, it's time for the next coat on the inside.

See you tomorrow.

Moving Monday....

OK.  I kicked the last of the party people out of Madam Tessie's this morning...Time to move on to something else.

I perched it atop the tall bookcase in the bedroom, along with a bunch of dragons and gargoyles to keep it safe.

Zofi refuses to leave...She's not paying rent and not getting any customers in this out of the way spot, so I don't know what is going to happen. 

Meanwhile, I moved Spike's Crypt down to the top of the jewelry/tool chest.  I kind of like it at eye level.  Now I can see all of the details that I couldn't when it was up on the bookcase.

Buffy and Spike went back to arguing and trying to kill each other there.  So things are back to normal...

Spike:"Here Buffy, I baked cookies.".  Sure he did.
Buffy: "Just set them on the table.  I wouldn't want to get blood on them when I try to kill you again..."

See?  Normal...

If you enlarge this one, You can see more of the detail. 

One of my favorite pieces is the little grim reaper toy on the second shelf.  A friend of mine sent him from England.  When you turn the little yellow handle on the side of the base, he swings the scythe back and forth...

I put one of the portable closet lights in the top to take the photos.  I really prefer it when it is dark and dank.

While I am thinking about it, I should tell you that this is another of the birdcages.

The outside front is all faux marble.  I did the front and sides with illustration board this time, so that I could take the marble all the way to the corners on the top. I won't go into the technique.  I have it in other entries.

I added regular molding on the top edge of the main wall to make it more substantial looking.

The corner posts are the birdcage itself.

The real reason I am showing this view is the roof.  People are always wanting different ways of making roof tile.  These slates are more of the illustration board.  I cut the tiles a bit larger than I wanted them to look so that I could overlap them. Then started at the bottom and worked up, just like regular shingles. After I got them all glued in place, I let the glue dry. Next I primed them with gesso and a stiff stencil brush.  Last, I painted them with charcoal gray Ceramcoat and a bit of shading with a little lighter gray here and there.

It just proves that you can work with whatever is at hand.  The trees on the outside of the building are made from branches of my rosemary bushes in the back yard.  Stripped of leaves(put in soup) and with railroad greenery added.

Anyway, now I can start on something else...Oh yeah....I forgot about the workroom...Workroom?  What workroom? 

See you tomorrow.

I Break for Vampires....

OK...The third time had better be charmed... I have lost this post twice, trying to publish. I am not a happy camper....

I don't break for all vampires. Just Spike. Yesterday afternoon, the phone in our bedroom went haywire and the outlet is behind a six foot bookcase. By the time that Walter got home, I had most of the books out and when he arrived, he helped me with the rest. He also took Spike's Crypt down from the top.

I decided that it could use a good cleaning and refurbishing. The doors were off their hinges and the inside looked like a tornado had been through it. Literally.

The dust inside was as bad as outside.

I went to work with Clorox wipes, lemon oil and some stiff brushes.

It didn't take long to get it back in order.

Look at the difference in the color of the top of the bed in the first and second photos. Don't forget to poke them to make them bigger.

I doubt if Spike has been spending a lot of time in here, as messy as it was. I suspect that he has been using other people's houses. He doesn't sleep when they do, so it's not a problem.

I did notice that he has fresh from the oven cookies... I just went and checked. He didn't use my kitchen. He tends to leave the oven on and a mess everywhere when he cooks. Nobody seems to be able to catch him at it. I wonder who's kitchen is dirty this morning?

Anyway, the crypt is ready to go back up on top now. I think that it will be wise to wait for Walter to help. It is much easier with one person on the ground and one on the ladder.

About the Clockwork Trailer....I finished the shingles and did more painting on the roof. I still need to do a little more wash to darken the shingles on the rounded part of the roof. They don't look right with the flat roof part.

I did notice, or I should say, it was pointed out to me that moss is already starting to grow between the stones and under the edges of the shingles.

I had better get back at it and do some more on the inside, while I have a chance. I don't want moss growing under my feet...Or between my toes....

See you tomorrow.

Memory Lane......

As you may or may not know, this computer is slowly dieing..... We went and got a new HP this weekend, but Walter hasn't had time to install it yet. Maybe tonight. I am not much help with the installs, but I did go through all of our old floppy discs this morning......It took me THREE hours! Therefore I didn't get much done in the way of minis. Actually I didn't get anything done in the way of minis.

I am cross eyed from looking at photo after photo. Most were not worth saving, but I did run on to some mini photos that I didn't remember keeping.

The big prize that I found was two inventories that I carefully copied from an old book at the U of A library a few years ago. They were both from the late 1500s and English. I was thrilled to find them because they were estate inventories from when the two men passed away. I would like to do Tudor houses that have exactly what the inventories include.

The first man was a weaver that died in 1583. He had £4 1s when he died. He looked to be quite prosperous. They listed everything in his shop and in his home. It was a three page inventory.

The other man died in 1596 and was a joiner(woodworker). He worked out of his home. which appears to be a one room cottage. He had £ 3 19s 5d when he passed away. His was a one page inventory and they even listed "Certain timber and other trash around the house".

The point is, they never missed a thing in these lists. It made me think......How in the world would I even start a list of all of the things in this house???? Nearly impossible and ours is a small house. OK, that's enough about how over self-indulgent we all are now.

I also found a few mini photos that I didn't remember or thought I had lost. Here's a close up of the motorcycle witch that I made for Pat Arnell a few years back. She(the witch) actually made it into one of the mini mags in an article about unusual transportation. She is one of Tessie's cousins and the one that got Tessie into cycling.....

Please note the black widow spider tattooed on the back of her hand. Funny. This bike was actually puce. If I had used a different bike for Pat's witch, I wouldn't have had to paint the one for Tessie!

I found a really good close up of the 1/4" scale quilt shop in the big latte cup.

Here's a hint on quarter inch furniture. Did you know that you can carve on the quarter inch plastic furniture that comes on cards by room. These chairs were really clunky. I took an Exacto to them and narrowed all of the parts down and rounded the corners. They look so much more in scale. You can also cut the furniture apart to make new pieces just like people do with the Chrisenbon kits and the Michael's hutches. It's fun to chop them up and see what you can make.

This is a photo of Buffy and Spike in the Southwestern Room Box.....I absolutely don't remember for what reason, why or when I took this one. There were several. I am now wondering if Tessie escaped from her old glass box and used the old Mavica to take this one. Why would I even think of putting them in this particular room box?

I am just rambling now. I will leave you with one last photo. AfterTessie impolitely told everyone that the party was over at midnight, she sat up and tried working on the rug for the gazebo. Look at the tangles! She really wants that finished because she knows that I still am going to finish the Clockwork Cottage before I go on the the next project. She still thinks that should be her beloved Spiderwort Mansion........How many times now have I told her
"Don't hold your breath, Tessie!"?


I'll see you tomorrow, even if I have to write the entry on the infernal laptop keyboard......

Tales From the Crypt

OK. I'm stalling again. I didn't work on the Mystery House like I planned to today. So as a special treat you get to spend the day at Spike's place.

If any of you watched the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series when it was on you got acquainted with Spike. He was a vampire but he was kind of, sort of on Buffy's team some of the time.

Before he died in the Victorian age, he was an extremely bad poet and kind of a sissy. To make up for it when he became a vampire he went through stages and wound up a Billy Idol type. Black leather and bleached blond hair.

Now here is the crypt where he stays. Notice I was careful not to say he lives there......

I made the crypt because I was fascinated by the character.

I found a wood and wire birdcage that reminded me of his crypt. I filled in all of the sides and then marbleized the whole thing with acrylic paint. I didn't change the shape or the window and door placement. It came with the balcony on the front.

I used a framed bulletin board for the yard.

The two characters are Mac Farland action figures that were put out while the show was on. They just happened to be the right size for miniatures. I redressed Buffy in real leather. I textured Spike's coat to look like leather. Then I repainted both characters to look more like the real people. The detail on the dolls are amazing. The sculptor did it with computer measurements of the real people. If you blew them up to life size they would look just like Sarah Michelle Geller and James Marsters.

Bad Buffy! She sneaks up on him with a dagger. Silly Spike thinks he can win her over with a cookie.

Spikey always liked his beer and his cigarettes so of course there is a case of Corona on the bottom shelf of the bookcase and a carton of Marlborough's.

I made the wing chair and Jack Chasteen made the tavern table.

The rug is #22 cross stitch from an old Dover book. It is one of my favorites. I have made it 3 times in different colorways.

All of the weapons in the vase came with the people.

The little windup toy of death actually works. A friend sent it to me from England.

There isn't much more to say.In their off time the do scenes from Romeo and Juliet.

They have to do something fun when they aren't saving the world!

Back to the real world now. Tomorrow I will go back to work on the Mystery House or something else mini. No promises of what it will be.......See you then.