Trying Out My Creativity..

Time to start furnishing the cafe for my bookstore. The store is not big enough to fit a huge cafe, but I still wanted to convey the idea. I had in mind a cute little bistro set.

Yesterday I was at Michael's and found an awesome metal pendant sort of in the shape of a compass. Viola! A table base! The top of the table was made to look like a Formica overlay. Chairs to come..

While looking at miniatures I have been in awe at some of the food I've seen (Kiva's Miniatures- amazing!). I swore I wouldn't even begin to attempt food. It just seemed so daunting. Last night however, I found a little "discovery" that I couldn't resist. I hadn't exactly cleaned up my table from my last adventures. There were little hard globs of Liquid Nails glue left over. Hmm.. a light bulb went off. What could I do with this stuff?

I laid out some intentional blobs on wax paper. This morning they were dry (and didn't stick to the paper). The result- chocolate chip cookies! Not perfect, but not too bad for a first attempt. I have a few more ideas up my sleeve for making the media more workable for my next attempt. Fun!

I also made my first major purchase last night from miniatures.com . Can't wait to get the package and share my goodies with you!

Here are  some miniature paint brushes I thought I would share. They were purchased a few years ago at Dick Blick. As I've said before, I think miniatures have been in my blood for quite awhile and I just didn't know it ;)

Building Resource Questions?

Does anyone know of a good place to get hardware (doors, windows, staircases, etc) for odd sizes? The floor to ceiling height for my villa is 11" and the arched windows and doors are not standard. Any suggestions?

Just in the initial planning stages now, but can't wait to get started on it!!

Odds and Ends and Flowers Too

I've had little time to work on my miniatures lately :( , however I had a wonderful day today doing some small little projects.

Recently I purchased 3 of my favorite books from miniaturebookstore on ebay; The Stand, Da Vinci Code, and James and the Giant Peach. I will be making many of my books but wanted to get an idea of how other people do them too.

Imho no good bookstore is complete without a Starbucks! After all, a girl can't live on books alone! The official sign went up. Eventually there will be a glass display case full of pastries and goodies next to the counter.

Door hardware and kick-plates were also completed. I found some thin brass sheeting and rods at Hobby Lobby. Pretty simple to make and I think they turned out pretty well.

(glue was still wet in this photo..)

Last, but not least, I made some basic window boxes out of basswood and planted some flowers! The little terracotta pots ("aged" with acrylic paints) were found at Michaels craft store in a pack of 4, along with the silk flowers. The only thing missing on the outside (I think) is a sign. Still not sure what I'm going to name it..