Scene: Library in a book

Another scene I have just finished.  This one is a gift for my mom: a library inside a book box.

I bought this ages ago at Michael's.  I never really did anything with it

The papers used as covers come from Digital Curio

I chose a book still life painting because my mom has a very similar one at her house

I love how well it turned out!

I really hope she likes it!

ETA: She loved it, and she displayed on a shelf with Mucha's Four Seasons figurines: 

She bought a mini light for the still life

Installing some floors

It has taken Kassandra some time to finally decide which floors she wanted in the first floor of the house.  It even tooks us some trial and error, and to uninstall the floor on the bedroom.  We opted for wood at first, but she did not like it.  And she finally chose this lovely golden tone floor:

It is the same style as the one in the cellar, but in another color.  She was quick in placing the bedroom furniture in their place:

She is still not convinced about the bed.  She says maybe it just needs some dressing up to be comfortable for her.  

And then, the library floor.  She was very sure she wanted a dark wood panel floor, and so I got it for her:

Do you remember the table with the snuff boxes collection? She decided to bring it to this house because she felt the other one lacked the proper space to display it properly.  I agree that this is a better idea than her old parlor.  She even ordered some furniture to start displaying her book collection:

She has already starting to bring some books over.  Hopefully we will start working on the cellar next...

A weekend of books

It is such a joy and satisfaction when one can look at the accomplishments over the weekend and be happy about them!

I have spent the free hours making more books for my libraries, and here they are:

All of them come from the Magic Collection Set #7 from Ever After Miniatures, and they all have the inside pages as well.  Except for the Vampyr and Darkest Magick, which are my own creation:

I made them using images found on Google

I still have seven books to make to complete the set.  But it has been a productive weekend!

Miniature books

One of the things that I enjoy more than anything doing for the dollhouse is books.  The first instructable book about miniatures that I bought taught me how to make books with real paper pages and clay covers.

I know that some people prefer "dummy books", which are books that do not open, either because they have clay pages or wood pages, so they look more realistic when placed on libraries or tables.  I do not like those for a reason.  When I was working in a vintage car foundation (we had cars from 1899 to 1930) we had some visitors that asked my then boss if all the cars we had worked.  I will never forget what he answered: "Of course they all work!  If they did not, they would not be cars; they would be statues".  To me, dollhouse books are the same: they have to have pages, or they would be just sculptures, not books.  I do not mind that the pages are fixed in place, but they HAVE to have pages.

Books offer such a vast range of subjects!  Science, literature, pictures, children's stories, cookbooks... Antique editions, manuscripts, journals, diaries, coffee table books, ledgers, notebooks...

They can be copies of real books (your favorite book!), or they can be made-up books.  Or they can be books that appear in your favorite movies or TV series.  They can have blank pages or illustrated pages, or written pages.  Anything is possible!

So I love searching for miniature books to fill my shelves with.  These are my favorite places to buy books from:

- For DIY books:  I absolutely love Ever After Miniatures!  Their books cover a lot of subjects: science, literature, music, children's stories, wizard school, fictional creatures, cookbooks... All their books have illustrated pages, or are "written" with illustrations.  They sell collections of covers if you prefer dummy books, and they have filler pages too if you are like me and like books with written pages.  My dollhouse has two floor-to-celing bookshelves; it is probable that I run out of space before I run out of books to make.  They also sell other stuff, such as scrolls, shadow boxes and shopping boxes and bags.

Some of Ever After Miniatures books

- There are a couple of other places from which I have bought DIY books, and those were lovely as well: A Lavender Dilly and We Love Miniatures.  For permanently open books, Gothic Miniatures's designs are the best I have seen.  I have a custom-made bat book from her.

- For ready made books: Tree Feathers Miniatures.  These are the books with the best-looking covers you will ever find.  Most of them feature copies of vintage editions covers; they also offer modern sets such as the Game of Thrones collection.  They have blank pages.

I also love making books designed by myself.  Many times I use Ever After Miniatures templates to make my life easier.  Here are some of the books that I have created from scratch:

From top to bottom:

- two Agatha Christie's novels: Murder on the Orient Express (that one is for my mother, who is a huge fan of Ms. Christie's) and Death on the Nile.

- three books related to Egypt: two guides to learn to read hieroglyphics and a coffee table book.

- The Necronomicon, a copy of a prop used in the TV series Ash vs. the Evil Dead.  I also have in my back burner the books from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Vampyr and Darkest Magick).

I have also made several vintage editions of Dracula, Frankenstein, Ivanhoe, Carmilla, Arabian Nights, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and The Man in the Iron Mask.  I also used to sell copies of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, from the movie Beetlejuice.

The making of books is awesome, but it can get tiresome if I do not do anything else.  So I make them in batches, and when I have had enough, I start a different project.  My next project is going to be a Phantom of the Opera shrine.  More on that very soon...

Showing newly acquired minis

Is it not a satisfaction when you are expecting miniatures and they arrive in the mail?  I love to open those small packages and marvel at their contents.  It's been quite some time since I had minis for myself, and I am so happy to be able to share them:

It is me on the cover of the magazine  :)

This is a wonderful collection of letters made by Montserrat Folch.  I am so in love with them, specially the tiny wax seal and the sealing wax: they are just perfect!  Did you know I use sealing wax frequently?  Hence my wonder at this lovely mini.

These adorable tiny shoes are the work of Miniaturas y Vintage.  I love that they are a very good match to the dress that Anabela Menocal made:

The wonderful black parasol is the work of Linda Kravitz.  These pieces are gifts from my mom.

The lovely candle snuffer is like one I have in real life size.  It is the baby of Syreeta Miniatures.

I am still waiting on a couple of treasures from Linda Sweigart.  I'll share pics when they arrive.  In the meantime, here are a couple of books I made:

I used the Barnes and Noble Collectible Editions covers from Dracula and Frankenstein. I know they are very modern editions, but I love the design.  I may redo them to put on a shelf I am planning on buying to redecorate the drawing room.  And just for your delight, and because it is one of my favorite creations, a pic of the room showing the absinthe display:

Check out the mentioned sellers because they are awesome.  I am sure you will find something you just have to have!