Mermaid home

A couple of weeks ago my husband bought for me some stuff suited for a mermaid home.

Every year Zara Home releases articles related to the sea, and I love to peruse them to see what I can add to my collection.  Here are some from this year's catalogue:

                                                                         Coral dishes

                                                                             Placemat

                                                                     Octopus pitcher

                                                                        Napkin rings

There's much more at their website or in their shops.  If you happen to live in Spain or are just passing by go take a look.  I am sure you will find something that you just need to have!

Vampire hunting kit for my dollhouse

Remember that project that I wanted to start with a chest box that I bought?  Well, it is almost finished, but I could not wait to share some pictures of it and to talk about what the project entailed.

I wanted to do a vampire hunter kit to display in Kassandra's shop.  I had seen some of these kits for sale, but the ones that I liked were really out of my budget.  So, I decided to try and make my own.

So I bought this box:

I had seen some kits that were made into a suitcase or a trunk, and they were absolutely gorgeous.  But I though "If someone is running or galloping after a vampire he or she needs something portable that could be carried without too much effort, like a small box".  So I chose this box that was, maybe, the size of a jewelry box or small chest.

The first thing I did was strip the box of everything it had inside:

Then, I took red "suede" paper like the one it had, took measurements and cut some pieces to redo the inside:

And then, I started making everything a vampire hunter may need.  First, a bible.  I made it by cutting small pieces of wood for the pages, and covering them with a nice vintage-looking paper cover.  I also painted the wood with golden paint, to imitate gilded pages:

Then I purchased some crosses and a silver dagger, and attached everything to the lid of the box with suede paper strips:

I knew I needed a very small glass bottle for the "Holy Water" - my usual apothecary glass bottles would not do. I had the opportunity of buying a very cute bottle at one of Tom Bishop's shows:

After that came a long hiatus of work and the move to the new home, so I was too busy with life things.  Today I retook the vampire hunter project after finally knowing how I wanted to continue. I cut a couple of pieces of plywood to redo the box compartments:

Then I covered the pieces with the red suede paper:

Next, stakes!  I took decorated toothpics, cut them to fit the box and filed the end to a point with the help of a blade. Then I used regular acrylic ink to paint them:

Next step, parchments rolls.  I simply took my parchment paper, cut a couple of strips, rolled them and tied them with black cord:

And finally!  My cute glass bottle!  I made a label saying "Holy Water", printed it on the parchment paper and attached it to the bottle.  And this is how the box looks now:

I still need to do a mallet and a garlic from polymer clay.  But I probably need to buy some new blocks for that - mine were rather unworkable.  I am so happy how well turned out!

I will post more pics when I do the mallet and the garlic.  I hope you enjoy this post.  I certainly did, both doing the project and writing about it!

UPDATE: This is awesome!  You want your own life-sized, portable vampire hunting kit?  Check these out!  Oh, one day one of these will be mine...

Introducing Kassandra, my vampire tenant

The long wait is finally over.  May I intruduce Kassandra, my lovely tenant?

Here she is, in her dollhouse parlor

Isn't she the most beautiful creature ever?  She finally allowed me to share some pics of her, so please enjoy:

Working in the study

Attending her witches' shop

Taking care of her daughter Perséfone.  Notice Perséfone's tiny teeth.

You can see some professionally taken pictures of her here.

I am very happy to finally introduce her to all of you.  I hope you find her as delightful as I do.

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Fantasy apart, she is the magnificient creation of Terri's Dolls.  I contacted her with some ideas in mind, and she has brought her to life just as I dreamed her.  It has been a looooong wait until my country's Customs has let her go (more than a month!), and I have been very anxious not only to have her safely at home, but also to enjoy her.  She is an absolute treasure that will be cherished forever. 

Titanic plates and great news

Today my lovely tenant informed me that the holders for the Titanic plates arrived, and the plates are already in their final setting.

They are so unusual and pretty!

She had thought about putting them on the wall, following up the stairs, but she decided that they were not really visible from there.  So instead she decided to place them on top of the parlor library:

She is very happy about how well they look, and she hopes that you all like them as well.

She then told me that after thinking long and hard about it, she has decided to let me take some pictures of her so I can share them with my readers.  I was surprised, because she is a very private creature, but she winked and said surely people would like to finally meet her.

As soon as she is ready, I will share her photographs.

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Fantasy apart, the thing is I finally was able to comission the lady vampire doll I have always dreamt about.  It is already paid for, and I am currently waiting for it to be delivered.  I am so excited, I can't wait to have her here.  The doll is a beauty, and the amazing artist that made it has created it as if she could have taken a look inside my head and produce what she saw.  I am counting the days...

A new dollhouse scene

Having visited IKEA for a number of times recently due to my moving, I became aware of a lovely item that is sold as a mini greenhouse for small plants - in case you do not have a garden and want one to protect your plants during winter (1).  It is called Socker, and it is a cutie:

I don't have live plants in my home, only artificial ones - basically because real plants tend to die on me, poor things.  I have no use for a greenhouse, but it occurred to me that it would looked like a miniature greenhouse in 1:12 scale if only it had a door.  Then suddenly the idea to create a dollhouse scene inside this cute greenhouse was set in my mind.  It is big enough, high enough, and so much cheaper than any roombox I have found online (the Socker is priced at $20 in the IKEA catalog).  But even though it was a greenhouse, I did not want to recreate a scene related to gardening because I am not good with plants.  Oh no, my lovely tenant had her own idea about what this should be...

She said she was going to open a shop: a modern shop for beauty products.  Mainly soap and toiletry products.  A place to go to buy stuff to pamper yourself and have a SPA day at home.  She already has some good ideas about the set up, and how it is going to be named.  She won't share it with me though.  She said I will have to wait until she has designed the shopping bags.

The Socker greenhouse was bought and is already mounted and waiting to be worked on.  It is wonderful that since the walls are transparent I will not have to think about wallpapers and floors, since I do not like to work with them.

I am so so excited about this new project!

(1) Funny enough, while I was looking for pictures of the Socker greenhouse to attach to this post, I came across some reviews which said it is really not very useful as a greenhouse because humidity tends to escape, and users advised to use it only as decorative item.  In case you were thinking about buying one to keep your delicate plants.

Tom Bishop's Show - a lot later than it should have been

It has been a very busy December.  Happy New Year everyone!!

With the moving, the setting up the new home, IKEA purchases and family gatherings, I have not had a moment of rest.  I was so very eager to share what I got at Tom Bishop's show, and I have not had the time until now.  But finally! Here are all the goodies:

A lot of stuff from Sophia Miniatures.  You can find all the things in the picture in her shop.  The flower candles are real wax with a wick!

A wonderful medieval candelabra from the talented Nalladris.  I had the chance to chat with her for some minutes, and she is so delightful and kind.  It was truly a pleasure to meet her.

A sack of spices from Gemma Such.  I own several pieces from this artist, she is so talented for  country-style stuff!

A pot of mushrooms from 64tnt Miniatures.

Another open book, and a fish fossil and precious stone.  I cannot find the cards from these artists, so if this is your work, please contact me and I'll be happy to credit you and link to your shop.

And finally, more glass laboratory goodies: glass containers, a jar with pipettes, and a test tube rack from Beatricce Miniaturas.  I am running out of room to put them, but I just love them so much, they are incredibly realistic!  The little glass bottle with the cork will go to a very special project I am working on.

I also got a black LED chandelier, to replace one that I had and stopped working.  This one was an unexpected purchase that my budget was not ready for, because I expected to buy one online later on, but I got a very good price and, naturally, no shipping charges.

I also bought some supplies to make parchment documents and books, and miniature glass bottles for future apothecary cabinets.  And of course, it was a pleasure to talk with María José and Mónica from LugArtpetit (the makers of my bonsais).

I just learned that there is another miniature show in Madrid in February, so I hope I can attend that one as well.

In the following days I hope I can post pictures of my life-size house.  I am very happy how everything turned out now that we have finally finished.

Moving again!

It's the never ending story!  

We are moving again to a new home.  My current landlady wants to sell the apartment, and since we are not interested in buying it, we are relocating.  Funny thing is, we are moving to one of my co-workers' apartment. She has also recently moved to a new bigger apartment, and she wanted to rent hers.  So my husband and I are now her renters.  We will be doing the moving next Monday.

I am very excited to get to decorate a new place!  My aunt is taking me next week to IKEA to buy furniture, and my friend Esther said she wanted to help us with the cleaning and assembling.  Lucky for me I still had vacation days, but I won't be having any resting, LOL!

We already ordered a new frame for our mattress - it will be delivered in two weeks, luckily we got the futon!

I am very nervous, and I want Monday to get here already!

On the other hand, my mom and I will be attending Tom Bishop's Miniature Show in two days, which will be lots of fun!  Although it comes in a bit of a hectic moment, though.  I will probably be wearing one of my Steampunk corsets, so if you happen to attend and you see me, come say hi!