Prototypes for little scene boxes

Hi all. Welcome to a new week and a new month - gee it is going quickly. I have been working on some little boxes for scenes which could be used in different scales and also as cross-overs into general crafting. This is the first set (part of, as I think there will be a third smaller box to come) with a woodland theme. I have some ideas for decorating these, and hope I get to finish one over the next few weeks. For now, I need to slightly refine the file (maybe add tabs and slots) and give the option of top or bottom opening. Although I have allowed for a sliding acrylic front, I think the openings will be too small to decorate or change the inside. By having lift-off top options, people will have easier access to the interior.

Also, if you are relatively local, I have booked into my first miniature show! So come see me at the ACT miniature fair on 19 March 2016 at the Weston Creek Community Centre, Weston, ACT. Lots of work to do between now and then!!!!

Take care everyone.

Link to my store

Hi again. Will try to post a link....

Red Cottage Miniatures

Hope this works for you! Have a great day everyone. We're having a warm week, which I am pretty happy about.

First batch of kits up for sale!!!

Hi all. Just a brief post to let you know that I have listed 5 kits for sale on my Etsy store:

www.redcottageminiatures.etsy.com 

They will be ready to ship by the end of the week.

There are an additional few available soon that need just a couple of additional parts. I anticipate having more available shortly, once I have purchased some more supplies and mastered my laser cutter! I hope this will be in January, subject to businesses remaining open to sell me supplies over the Christmas break.

Thanks again for your interest and encouragement everyone. It has taken me far longer to get here than I wanted, but better late than never! There is just so much to learn and I am making constant improvements to my designs all the time. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Little laser cut kit update

Hello all. I thought I'd give a quick update so that the people who were interested in my little French shop kit would know what is going on. And why I am much later having them ready than I anticipated! The husband was taking too long to put the test kit together, and didn't follow my instructions anyway, so I ended up finishing it off myself. And finally got the instructions completed. I decided to have the kits cut from a lightweight ply rather than MDF, as this will significantly lower the weight of the kits. My cutting service then needed to order in extra sheets to cut the kits. Then there were issues with the little tabs which hold pieces in their sheets breaking, so I needed to redraw the parts to make them all wider. So now finally the kits are in the courier on their way to me! I still need to cut the window and mirror acrylic pieces, and when that is done, the kits can be shipped! My laser cutter also arrived at looooong last, so I need to attach the extraction fan and do a little more test cutting and I can start to produce some furniture kits! Pretty happy about it all. I think that progress with new designs will be much quicker now.

I will have 10 kits available initially. As I now have my own cutter, I hope that I will be able to produce more kits as needed in a shorter time, but I will need to obtain some materials myself. But all in good time! 

I have almost opened my Etsy store, which is where you will be able to get one. I will post the address when they are listed. I will also try to get some furniture kits up there when I can. I have also been working on some little room box kits, which I'm really happy with. They could be used in different scales and will have different themes/front designs (the first ones are forest themed!!). So many ideas and so little time!

I hope everyone is well and that your preparations for the holiday season is going well. Sending love to those who find the season tough - ours is always tinged with sadness, but happy memories also.

Ooops

Hello everyone. So I have been thinking for ages, just put the salon walls into the French chateau shell and get moving with this. So I did. Mistake. I never even thought about the wiring issue. So I tried out the wall lights I was going to use in here, and they are too big, so will need to make my own I suppose. And also I need to try to drill the wiring holes now with the walls installed. Not that smart. Sigh.

Anyway, here is a pic of the walls all in place. I need to add the cornice moulding, do some filling of the gaps and install the flooring (which I'll laser cut shortly).

The doors at the back will be fixed in place and the doors at front will need to be hinged. More trouble.

On a positive note, my laser cutter will be here either this week or early next week! (Longer than I was told it would take but better late than never) In the meantime, I've ordered 10 kits from my cutting service, so will have them up for sale soon.

Have a good week folks! Hope it's sunny where you are.

French shop update

Hello all. Thought I'd show some pictures of the half scale French shop, as I've almost finished the exterior. It really only needs the shop name panel (which I painted and then lost) and door handles (which are cut and just need painting and gluing on).

I cut the roof tiles with my paper cutting machine. They are smaller than I intended (something to do with the exporting of the .svg file) but I still think they look OK. Once glued on, I sealed with a matte varnish, gave them a black wash and then dry brushed white over the top.

I have also had little handles cut for the commode and I'm quite happy with how these came out. Here is the chest finished with a smaller version of the commode and a small trumeau mirror, both of which will be available when I sort things out.

Some other things I am working on: (you can't tell but these turned out way too large and also I have changed the design quite a bit to make them a bit more realistic)

And a French canopied bed: 

It needs a little reworking, but overall I am happy with how it is going. 

I am having trouble getting the people who are selling the laser cutter to actually get it crated and send a request for payment, which is quite frustrating. It would only take about a week to get from America to Australia. Until I have the cutter, I am using a cutting service. It has it's benefits but I am restricted with the materials they will cut with. So I think most of the furniture kits will need to wait until I get my own cutter so I can use the materials I want to use. 

I also was considering making a castle as the third kit I design (the second one is almost done and will be a cottage). Are people interested in something like that? If so, what type/style and how big? I'd appreciate your views on this. If possible, post a link to pictures in your comments. 

I hope you are all having a great weekend.

My tiny teddies

Hello all. I spent today working on the shelves for the half scale doll shop. This is the prototype and the parts were all wrong, so I cut bits up and cobbled them together and it came out OK. I printed out all the little pictures of curtains and furniture to add some detail. Here is the shelf almost finished with some tiny doilies and lace. A few more structural pieces to add but these will be added when the shelves are filled and installed.

And here is a pic with some of my handpainted minis.

All these pieces are the white metal ones. I undercoat them in a regular water-based interior undercoat and then paint with acrylics. Here are some closeups.

I landscaped this little house with that stretchy model railroad vine stuff and bunka cut into tiny bits. The hedge at the front is also bunka, but kind of hard to see at this angle. The bunka looks hilarious enlarged to this size!

I have put together a kitchen to fit into this house and it includes the wall tiles. The front of the wall cabinets comes off so you can access the inside. It needs a few basic modifications but overall I am happy with how it turned out. The tiles are the same pattern as the splashback behind my cooktop in my real life home! A tap set is still to come.

Here is the other side of the island bench:

And an overall view of the living room, with a chest which is about the only thing that was all right the first time! I have designed a fireplace to go in this room, which will probably go where the chest is, which is why I haven't finished the skirting. 

And lastly, a picture of the bedroom progress, with a little silk curtain over the doorway. I can't wait to see my little bed in here (but I still need some parts cut before it can go together).

I hope you enjoyed seeing my pictures and that this week is kind to you! See you soon!