A small world's big buzz!

Bailey's Mini Chair Affair

Do you remember reading Traci's account of our visit to Mary Wallace's home back in December? We were graciously invited to attend her "Mini Chair Affair" gathering, where a group of talented local miniaturists pooled their creativity to donate a collection of one-of-a-kind mini chairs to The Chair Affair event in Rochester, Minnesota.

You'll remember that The Chair Affiar (to be held in late February this year) is a benefit for the Boys & Girls Club. Each year, artists donate their unique chair designs for auction and this year, thanks to Mary's supreme organization skills and love of all things mini, will be the first year miniatures have ever been represented at the event!

Earlier last year, Mary kindly invited me to participate by making my own mini chair for the event. Of course I leapt at the offer!  She presented me with a packet of information, including the mini chair kit donated by Mary Huffer of MJ Miniatures, my participation form, the donation rules, and a little note of encouragement.

I was so excited to work on a new mini project so I thought I'd document my progress and share with you all on the blog! Here goes:

Opening my little kit for the first time. I was so impressed with the precision of the laser cuts. Every piece fit together perfectly on my first dry fit. The kit came with very clear instructions too that weren't too long and intimidating.

All the pieces again. Just love that little star.

Above and following are the gluing stages. Probably don't have to include all of these photos, but what the heck!

Was a little tricky to get the chair legs to stay straight while drying, but I made sure to use a good wood glue and a jig where possible. I remember my kindergarten teacher always telling us that "a dot is a lot" with glue... probably should have remembered that point as I did get a little glue-happy!

I knew right away that I wanted to wrap my chair in some small yarn to give it a wicker effect. I had a skein of this very thin, gray yarn with a strand of silver sparkle running through it that I'd had for ages and didn't know what to do with it. Thought the mix of the modern sparkle with the more country-style wicker look would be a fun effect for my little chair, so I started wrapping!

I used tacky glue for the wrapping process. I was out of toothpicks at the time but luckily had a bunch of matches that were good for applying the glue to the wood. It was easy and fun to just wrap each piece of the chair very tightly with a piece of the yarn. Where I had gaps showing the wood that I couldn't get to with wrapping, I just cut off a tiny piece of yarn and glued it in place. It camouflaged very nicely.

(Blurry picture alert!) It took a little bit of thinking and planning to figure out which parts needed to be wrapped first. The tacky glue was slow to dry too so I had to let each section dry before doing a new section of yarn so the tails wouldn't come loose. 

I was inspired by Traci's cover for the July 2011 issue of American Miniaturist (#99) to do a weaving effect for the seat of my chair. So again, I started wrapping!

I could only wrap this much going the one way, so I had to really try to fill it in with the weaving going the other way. The next step of the weaving tightened down the first direction so it would lay a little flatter.

And ta da! Here's my finished chair with the woven base. I was surprised and delighted with how cushy the seat looked with the woven yarn. Hated to cover up the little star on the back though, couldn't figure out a way to keep it.

After I submitted my chair to our Mini Chair Affair gathering at Mary's house, Mary suggested we set the chair on a base to really finish off the look. She came up with the idea to include a tiny bowl of yarn to play up the yarn theme, and luckily had the supplies already in her mini stash.

Here it is with the base and bowl painted and the mini yarn added! Mary wanted to get my final opinion on the layout and asked me if I preferred the scene with or without the rug. I thought it looked better without the rug--had a cleaner and more modern look which I really liked. What do you think?

And last but not least, my finished chair all ready to be submitted to the auction. Isn't it fun? A big thanks to Mary for her keen eye on making my chair really pop and for organizing the Mini Chair Affair in the first place. What fun it was for me to be involved!

My chair project may have been small (get it?), but I so enjoyed documenting my progress and commentating the steps. Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and reflect on this hobby we all love so much. Why did we choose this particular method? Why this color over another? What material works best? It's the little things that make our hobby such a big deal.

Until next time,

Bailey 

 

d.Anne Ruff's Pretty Pleaters

Karen and Bailey discover the wonders of d.Anne Ruff's Pretty Pleater in this great new series on Dollshouse.TV! Watch as they learn how to make box pleats, Venetian shades, sheers, and tie-back drapes with this amazing little tool.

Look for these films in the "Building and Decorating" channel atwww.dollshouse.tv.

By the way, did you know you can purchase d.Anne Ruff's Pretty Pleater and other great kits right at Hobbyworld.TV, the same place you visit to renew your subscriptions? 

Here's the link to all of her wonderful products:
http://www.craft-club.com/usa/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=134

Happy Minis!

More on Marcia Backstrom

In our latest issues, we announced the passing of Marcia Backstrom, the talented doll maker who was a staple in the mini world. We had a short piece by Connie Sauve in the Jan-Feb issue of Dollhouse Miniatures, but we couldn't fit in everything that we'd been hoping to. Connie put in a lot of time interviewing Marcia's mother, June; Marcia's husband, Dan; and various other mini friends. Here is a more complete version of Connie's writing as well as some extra quotes by friends and family. See Marcia's original obituary from the Pittsburgh Tribune here.

Note: You can click on any photo to see a larger version. It will open in a new window.

--

In memory of Marcia Backstrom:

Doll-Maker Extraordinaire

Doll artist Marcia Backstrom passed away Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011, following a long battle with ovarian cancer. She was the beloved wife of Dan Backstrom and had two boys, Eric and Steven, and a pet dog, Emmy. Marcia graduated from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in art education. Marcia taught art for four years before she started making dolls. Her career in miniature dolls began when her aunt needed occupants for her new dollhouse. For twenty-two years, this versatile doll artist has been designing, sculpting, and costuming expressive miniature dolls. The diversity of her 1:12-scale colorful characters is remarkable. An I.G.M.A. Fellow, Marcia worked in a style that belonged to her alone. With her mother, June's, help, they soon discovered the world of miniatures. She worked out of her home and traveled to various shows around the country with her mother, displaying her creative dolls. Her father, Joe, helped by pouring her resin doll kits. After 20 years in the industry, she became known as one of the top artists in the miniature doll world. Marcia’s creations can be found in homes and museums the world over, in places such as the Puppenhausmuseum in Switzerland, the Toy and Miniatures Museum of Kansas City, the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys, the U.S. Supreme Court Museum, and many others. She has been published numerous times in miniature and doll magazines in the United States and abroad.

 

I talked with Dan, and he said, "I was very proud of her. She was a wonderful woman. Her faith was the key to her life and carried her through the whole difficult times. Her dolls were a blessing to her and she considered them a gift from God. She had so much energy, and loved making her dolls.” Sometimes he had a difficult time getting her away from them. He remembers women looking at her dolls and smiling. “She made so many people happy."

Left: Three stunning young Art Deco damsels epitomize the 1930s as the age of elegance and sophistication within Bluette Meloney's Art Deco Egyptian Theater Lobby (published in DHM8 [March-April 2009]). Waiter/butler in proper evening attire. 

I also talked with June, Marcia's mother, who said, "I lost my shopping partner. She will be remembered for her dolls. I just want everyone to know what a wonderful daughter she was. She had a beautiful life. Her artistic talent came out for the whole world to see. The dolls were her life and she enjoyed every minute of it. She just couldn't wait to get into her workroom. She has given me the opportunity to see the United States, too. Marcia did very few shows herself; I always had a joke that I had her tied in the basement so she couldn't go anywhere, so she could work, then I could do the shows. She and I had a wonderful time and we were so lucky to have her for 58 years. She was an artist from the time she was born. I knew she had talent. She not only was an artist in doll making, she played the piano, she played the guitar, and she did wonderful paintings. She was just an all-around artist. She was a warrior and a fighter. I just miss her so much."

Right: Biker Gramps, published in AM85. 

When asked about the resin doll kits that Marcia also sold, June said, "I think we might keep them up, in the future. My other daughter wants to make about 40-50 resin kits a year, so anybody who wants to make their own dolls can. Falcon also has the rights to sell about 15 of Marcia's resin dolls that she designed. She traveled to Thailand and taught the girls there to dress the dolls. They are sold all over the world." Marcia will live on in her dolls.

 

"I met Marcia Backstrom at the Philadelphia show when it was across from Valley Forge," says Janet Middlebrook, fellow doll artist. “Carole Kaye commissioned Marcia to do a Henry the VIII doll for an exhibit to be introduced at the miniature museum once owned by the Kayes. Marcia introduced herself to me and asked if I would dress Henry....He turned out so well. Marcia and I worked on a special assignment to do the most famous Kings and Queens of England for the museum and also did dolls depicting operas.”

Several months later, on a winter afternoon, Maria called Janet to see if she wanted to do a “really special project.”

“OK, what is it?”

“I have an idea for a line of dolls taken from a book by Nicolas de Larmessin (1690).”

 Left: Vegetable vendor, published in AM85.

Janet had never heard of that book and could find no reference of it either. “So after a chat with Marcia,” Janet continues, “she explained to me the story of the street vendors of Venice and what they sold. The first street vendors made their debut at the Philadelphia Show the following November and the limited-edition series was on its way! To date, 20 vendors have been sold, with one left to be made. I am proud to say these dolls are in some of the finest museums and private collections in the world. What a fun project! Marcia and I would exchange ideas, supplies, invent new projects, along with laugh at everything! When I saw her two years ago at the Chicago Int'l, she told me of her illness and all she had been through, my heart wanted to take that bad experience away for her; as I am a cancer survivor myself, I could fully understand what she was up against. We hugged and said good-bye and promised to keep in touch. What a gal!"

 

I (Connie) first met Marcia many years ago at a show. Marcia's wonderfully sculpted character dolls changed the face of miniature doll-making. The diversity and detail in her dolls’ faces and costuming set the standard for excellent doll-making. She was such a huge part of the miniature world, and her friendly smile and generosity will be missed by all.

Left: Buster the Clown, published in AM85 .

"She was great,” says Shellie Kazan. “I spent a little bit of time in Bespaq's booth, helping her come up with ideas for her dolls. We were looking at mirrors and thought, why not a fat lady looking in the mirror trying to get her girdle up? Or we were looking at chaise lounges, thinking, why not a fat lady eating cake, laying down and gorging herself? We laughed and laughed at the funny ideas we were coming up with. She was such a hoot. She kept us in stitches."

 

Marcia once commented, "I really enjoy the charm of the miniature world. Miniaturists have a wonderful sense of play and fantasy that is very addictive. I think more than anything it is people sharing with me—and catching their enthusiasm—that has sparked the creativity in me to make dolls.”

 

Below, left to right: Chinese lady; Cleaning lady; Jester; Karmina; Ventriloquist, all from AM85. Final photo is another scene from Bluette Meloney's Art Deco Egyptian Theater Lobby, published in DHM8.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Fan Letter for Dollshouse.TV

Here is a lovely letter we at Dollshouse.TV received from Barbara in Oklahoma. Thought we'd share with you!

"Dear Bailey,

Your TV show Dollshouse.TV is really going good. You are doing a great job! I have made so many of the projects you and Karen have told me about.

I attended a mini State Day project in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in October. We did "A Day at the Beach." It was great fun and there were people from all over Oklahoma. And other states too, some from as far away as Illinois. It was great fun. The Tulsa Miniature Club were our host.

I used Joan Purcell's wicker breakfast tray and put a bowl of seashells and fruit on it. Joan is so talented. I enjoyed making the wicker trays. It was my exchange.

I enjoy Dollshouse.TV and told a lot of people about how informative your site is. Keep up the good work and thanks to all of your mini artists featured on Dollshouse.TV!

Happy minis,

Barbara"

A great big mini thanks to Barbara for taking the time to write us!

Tips and Tricks: Making Rosebushes by Polly Morris

In our January issue of AM (AM105), we include an article about Polly Morris and three of her scenes: a Silk Fabric Shop, an Atlantic Fish Market, and a greenhouse. Within the article, we included several tutorial-like tips and tricks from Polly herself, specific to each scene. Here, we share an extra tip from Polly: a tutorial on how to make a rosebush, from her Greenhouse.

Click on any of the photos to see them in more detail.

 

To Make a Rose Bush

Materials List

Paper Punches:

Rose petals - Paw Print punch by EK Success

Rose calyx - Large Sparkle punch by Carl Craft (the larger one)

Rose leaves - Medium Ash Leaf #2 by Punch Bunch

White printer paper or white rice paper

Design Master Colortool floral spray paint 676 Basil

(or Seminole Green Delta Ceramcoat or equivalent)

Green 30 weight Japanese paper-covered floral wire

Naphthol Red DecoArt Americana acrylic paint or equivalent

Seed beads

Fun Foam

Aleene's Tacky glue

Polymer Clay

Tweezers

Stylus

Straight Pin

Burnishing Tool

 

Step 1. Prepare paper for the green leaves and the calyxes. Use regular white printer paper or white rice paper if desired. Spray with Design Master Colortool floral spray paint 676 Basil to match the paint color to your paper covered floral wire. If you cannot find this paint, use thin washes of Seminole Green paint from Delta Ceramcoat or equivalent. Apply the paint in light coats. A hint of white showing through here is preferable to a thick, opaque coat. 

Step 2. Prepare white printer paper or white rice paper for red roses. Use light washes of Naphthol Red DecoArt Americana acrylic paint or equivalent. Once again, it is better to have a little white showing through than thick, opaque paint coverage.

Step 3. Make the leaf sprays. Use 30 weight Japanese paper-covered floral wire. Use only paper-covered wire or the following technique will not work. Cut the floral wire into 1-3/4" segments.

Punch out two ash leaf sprays and flip one over so the branches curve in opposite directions. Apply Aleene's Tacky glue to the stem parts only. Gently curve your wire to match the shape of the punched spray. Press the paper to the wire and use tweezers to crimp the paper snugly around the wire. Take extra care to make it look nice and neat.

Make the other one (the one curved in the opposite direction) and set the pair of leaf sprays aside to dry. You will need to make lots of these as rose bushes have more leaves than flowers.

Use Seminole Green Delta Ceramcoat paint or equivalent to blend the stem and the wire. Use a ball point stylus, draw the center vein on each leaf. Lightly pinch the tips of each leaf to add dimension.

Step 4. To make the roses, cut 1-3/4" floral wire stems for your roses. Glue a seed bead onto the end of the wire to use as a base to build the rose. Paint it the same shade of red as the petal paper. Punch rose petals with the Paw Print punch, but discard the foot pad. The egg-shaped toes will be used as rose petals. Lay petals out on the Fun Foam or several folded paper towels. Use a burnishing tool to gently form cupped petals. The bottom of your petal will be the slightly wider end.

Using tweezers, dip the wider end of a petal into tacky glue. Do not be too sparing with the glue, or the petal will not stick. On the other hand, too much glue can spoil the look. Attach the base of the petal to the bottom of the red bead, cupping it around the bead. Repeat so that you have two petals facing each other. Let the glue set up for a few minutes, then gently coax the petals to form a slightly open cone around the bead. Think of these petals as if they were twelve and six on a clock face. 

Dip another petal into the glue and attach to the bottom of the bead where three would be on a clock face. Then add another petal directly opposite at nine o'clock. For the next round, place petals between twelve and three, between three and six, between six and nine and between nine and twelve. This pattern means the petals will be evenly overlapped.

Poke a hole in the center of the calyx with a pin. Gently cup with a stylus tool and slide up the wire under the rose. Follow with another bead and paint the bead with Seminole Green Delta Ceramcoat or equivalent. Study real roses or photographs and adjust your rose and calyx with tweezers to get a realistic look.

Step 5. Make rosebuds from polymer clay. Form polymer clay buds on a 1-3/4" floral wire stems. A tiny egg-shape with a pinched tip is all you need. Bake according to the manufacturer's instructions on the package. Cool to room temperature and paint to match the open roses. Add the calyx as described above and another bead painted with Seminole Green or equivalent to finish.

Step 6. Build a rose trident. A trident is a three-pronged spear, like a pitchfork, and it will be the basic unit to build a rose bush. Flank a rose stem with a leaf spray on either side. The rose should be slightly taller than the leaf sprays and the leaf sprays should flare away from the rose. That is, the leaf spray on the left will curve left and the leaf spray on the right will curve right. Line the three stems up so they are parallel. Apply tacky glue to the bottom half inch of the stems, gather together to form a trunk. Set aside to dry.

NOTE: Vary the rose tridents with polymer rose buds or all leaf sprays.

Step 7. Join the rose tridents together to form basic rose bush. Make four rose tridents and several extra leaf sprays. Position three rose tridents so the stems line up at the bottom. Apply tacky glue to the bottom half-inch of each rose trident. Gather together to form a tight trunk.

The next step is to disguise this ugly glue junction by carefully positioning the fourth rose trident on top of the others. Slide it down until the flowers and foliage cover the glue junction. Find a discreet place underneath to glue the base of the fourth trident to the trunk.

When dry, trim the stem bottom of the fourth rose trident to match the length of the others. Use extra leaf sprays as needed to hide the glue junctions. Now you have a basic rose bush.

How to create a climbing rose vine from a basic rose bush

Position a rose spray above the basic rose bush. Look for a discreet place to glue it where the rose spray wires were glued together. Hide the glue junction with additional leaf sprays as needed. Attach another rose spray to the stem of the previously added rose spray. Continue if desired, aiming for a herringbone effect.

Mini Chair Affair

This weekend, Bailey, Eric, and I had the wonderful opportunity to get together with several local miniaturists and see some of their creations to be donated to the upcoming Chair Affair. 

The Chair Affair is an event that will consist primarily of full-size OOAK chairs by local artisans that will be auctioned off to benefit the Boys and Girls Club; this year, Mary Wallace (a contributor to AM) has coordinated the efforts of these miniaturists to create miniature chairs, which will be donated and hopefully chosen to be auctioned off as well.

With 20 kits donated by Mary Huffer of MJ Miniatures, the artists let their imaginations run wild. It was so much fun to see how one chair could be turned into so many different styles and themes. The group of chairs are truly emblematic of the talent and diversity that miniatures embody! A few of my favorites included "Sonny and Chair," a chair for the Toothfairy at rest (that's the big winged and sparkly one in the back), and "Old Sparky"--an electric chair. Some slightly more traditional ones included a quilting chair, a country-style chair, and "Lefse Day," including all the ingredients for that Scandinavian dish.

The auction itself is in February, and this meeting was a chance for the miniaturists to get together and "show and tell" their chairs to each other. We met at the home of Mary Wallace, and Eric filmed much of the day and I took photos. Bailey donated a chair and also interviewed Mary for our upcoming Dollshouse.TV film, and I took copious notes for an upcoming article in American Miniaturist. Below are a few "sneak peek" photos of the event! Enjoy!

Traci

 

 

All the lovely chairs!

 

Eric taking a few shots of the chairs on the table for our upcoming Dollshouse.TV film.

Several of the ladies during the "show and tell." Far left is Mary Huffer of MJ Miniatures, who donated the chair kits.

Tips and Tricks: Silk Fabric Shop by Polly Morris

In our January issue of AM (AM105), we include an article about Polly Morris and three of her scenes: a Silk Fabric Shop, an Atlantic Fish Market, and a greenhouse. Within the article, we included several tutorial-like tips and tricks from Polly herself, specific to each scene. Here, we give you a few more tips from her Silk Shop: how to make a rack of silk ribbon reels, how to display fabrics, and how to make tassels for a display screen.

Left: Artist Polly Morris; below: two sides of Polly's Silk Fabric Shop.

Click on any photo to see a larger version.

     

Silk Fabric Shop

Tip 1. To make a rack of silk ribbon reels

I used an old NAME Roundtable Workshop technique to make my ribbon rack. I wrapped ribbon between pairs of stuck-together binder paper hole reinforcers loaded on a 1/4" dowel. The hole reinforcers create the spool ends and the 1/4 dowel acts as the spool.

Step 1. Paper-backed silk. Glue scraps of silk fabric to Manila folders or index cards using Aleene's Tacky Glue. Let the glue set up for a minute or two to prevent bleeding through. Lightly burnish to get perfect contact. Practice makes perfect but small stains will not ruin your project. Just cut around them or wrap perfect sections over imperfect areas so no one will see them. The paper backing will generally keep the fabric from fraying when it is cut and it makes teeny pieces of flimsy fabric much easier to work with.

Step 2. Cutting the ribbons. Slice the paper-backed fabric with a sharp, new X-Acto knife. Do not use scissors. Precise cuts are important. My ribbons ranged from 1/8" to 1/2" wide. If you have ribbon fraying problems, gently swipe a bit of tacky glue to the edges and let dry before attempting to roll.

Step 3. Assemble a roll of ribbon. My ribbon racks were displayed in an old picture frame and I cut 1/4" dowels to fit inside. Each spool of ribbon will need two pairs of hole reinforcers, joined sticky side to sticky side, to create the spool ends.

Step 4. Start by slipping a hole reinforcer onto a 1/4" dowel. Add another hole reinforcer so that the sticky sides face each other. Gently press them together. Loosely wrap the paper-backed ribbon around the dowel and glue the ribbon to itself. Do not glue the ribbon to the dowel. Continue to wrap. When finished, glue the end of the ribbon to itself so that this edge will not be seen.

I like the look of partly unrolled ribbon spools, hanging down the back, so I unwound the ribbon roll a little before securing with glue. Thread another set of hole reinforcers on the dowel, sticky side to sticky side, and gently press together.

Now glue the sides of the ribbon roll between the spool ends. Once again, do not glue the ribbon to the dowel. Now you have one free-moving spool of ribbon. Repeat until you have filled the rods.

Step 5. Assembling the ribbon rack. Fit the filled ribbon rods into a picture frame backed with silk glued on to card stock (a light cardboard) using Aleene's Tacky Glue. Adjust the rods and positions of the spools to look right and glue the rods in place.

 

 

Tip 2. To display fabrics

Step 1. Cardboard bolts. My bolts were made from 1/16" mat board, cut 1- 7/8" by 7/8". Paint the mat board edges white. No need to back the silk with paper as was done for the ribbons, but each bolt will need fabric cut to 3-1/2" wide by at least 3" long. Pay attention to the grain of the fabric, especially if you want to drape the fabric. Make fabric lengths longer if you want to have some extra yardage to drape. If you plan on draping fabric, the grain of your miniature bolt of fabric should match the grain, or selvage edge, of real fabric. Glue the folded fabric to one end of the bolt and begin winding. The folded edge will become the top of the bolt. Tack down the end to finish, choosing a spot no one will notice.

Step 2. Make tube-style bolts of fabric. I used Starbuck's Frappuccino straws which are bigger than ordinary soft drink straws, measuring 5/16" in diameter. Cut the straws into 4-1/2" and 5" lengths for variety and spray with a beige cardboard-color paint. Some paints have trouble adhering to plastic straws, but a primer should help. If all else fails, cover the straws with brown paper from grocery bags. 

Step 3. Cut the fabric into 9-1/4" and 8-1/4" widths, ranging in length from 3" to as long as you like. The selvage edge is the grain of the fabric, and your miniature bolts will drape better if you match directions. Fold in half, and lightly press if needed. Glue one end to the painted straw and roll it up. The folded edge will become the top of the fabric bolt. Glue down the end of the fabric, choosing a spot no one will see. If the fabric is noticeably fraying, swipe the edges with a little tacky glue and let dry before rolling. If your fabric choice is too thick to look right folded, cut a piece half the size along the finished selvage edge. Wrap the bolt so that the selvage edge is along the top instead of a fold.

 

Tip 3.  Make tassels for a display screen

I used one leg of a broken spring-loaded clothes pin as a form to wrap the tassels on. The wood needs to be very smooth. Clothes pin legs are tapered so it is easy to slide the tassels off once they have been wound. I use 100% cotton thread which has a natural silky luster that cotton/poly blends or all polyester thread do not have. 

Step 1.  Begin by double-threading a darning needle with the color of your choice and knot the ends together. Set aside. Wrap thread around the clothes pin leg just below the notch for the spring. Nice, plump little tassels will need to be wound about 20-24 times, but experimenting is a good idea.

Once it is wound, cut the thread and create the top of the tassel by running the threaded needle under the wound thread a couple of times. Cinch it up tight and tie off, but leave yourself two inches of thread to act as a handle. Add a little dab of tacky glue for good measure in a discreet place. Do not take the tassel off the clothespin yet.

Step 2. Pinch the thread handle and top of the tassel between your left thumb and index finger and carefully slide the tassel off the clothespin. Continu ing to pinch, clamp the bottom of the tassel. I use those tiny copper clamps made for assembling circuit boards found at Radio Shack. Still pinching, wrap a contrasting band of thread just below the tips of your fingers. Tightly wind this thread about five times, cinch it. You can stop pinching now. 

Step 3. Adjust the contrasting band so that it is between 1/16" to 1/18" from the top of the tassel. Add a touch of glue to secure the knot in a discreet place. Trim the extra thread away when dry. Repeat with a second color just below the first band, if desired. Finish by slipping scissors into the bottom of the tassel and cut the threads. Fluff the tassel, straighten the cut if needed and adjust the contrasting thread bands. Do not cut off the thread handles yet. You will need them to tie to other tassels to form bunches.

Step 4. Display Screen. My tassels were displayed on a screen I made from basswood covered on both sides with a thin piece of cardstock covered with a very thin piece of fiberfill and wrapped in silk fabric. The edges of the silk were turned under to look neat and glued in place before gluing the cardstock to the basswood. The other side was made the same way except I added a crisscross of ribbon before I glued the cardstock to the basswood.

 

Full text: DHE expanding into US market

Our Big Buzz for Jan-Feb announces that Dolls House Emporium is expanding into the US market, meaning that they have a US website (and catalog!) in US terminology and US dollars. For those of you hoping for more information, here is the full text of their press release, including links to their new sites. You can also find them on Facebook or Twitter or read their blog.

 

E-business methods are tapping important new markets in the US and Canada for Derbyshire dolls’ house and miniatures company The Dolls House Emporium. 

The business moved into America during the summer with dheminis.com, while Canada went ‘live’ this week with dheminiscanada.com – with Australia soon to follow. In each case the company was launched locally, and in the US and Canada prices were changed to the local currency. 

As always, customer service comes first with The Dolls House Emporium and the Ripley-based staff have a new routine to answer telephone orders and helpline requests during the daytime stateside. 

One other important consideration was translating the sister websites from our version of English into words and terminology more readily understood by our cousins across the Atlantic. 

The popular free 220-page hard-copy catalogue – or catalog – was launched in dollars for the American audience in September for people who like to flick through a traditional magazine format. 

Managing director Jackie Lee said: “We may be two cultures separated by the same language but one of the things we have in common is our love for popular crafts such as making and collecting dolls’ houses and miniatures. It was a natural progression as our customer base continues to expand overseas and we wanted to make it as straightforward as possible for people to pursue their hobby. We are already getting fantastic feedback which shows people really value the service we provide. 

“Products were re-priced taking into account local market conditions, and the postage and returns process adjusted to suit the local services. We are providing free call numbers and our telephones are answered during 9am to 5pm in the local hours.” 

This is all supported by social media so that customers know they now have their own local one-stop-shop for Dolls House Emporium products at sister companies dheminis.com or dheminiscanada.com.

Work on the company’s own internal order process system began in April with planning taking place four months prior to that. This included: 

 Rebranding 

 Translation 

 Launch of new websites and content 

 Local currency 

 Working in new time zones 

 Altering postage, packing and delivery 

 Full social media integration 

 

International customers were pleased with the chance to get on with some straightforward ordering and communication: 

“I am a new customer and ordered your red Aga Stove. I was so happy when it arrived - pleased with your quick service and love love love the little stove. I spent yesterday evening going through your lovely catalog - so glad I found you on the internet.” - Kathy Charniak from Illinois

“Please tell everyone involved that I appreciate the superior customer service and I will definitely be a repeat customer.” - Deborah Martinez, California

“Once again I have given my catalogue to another collector... and look forward to a copy.... and once again I have been very pleased with items and plan another order soon! Thanks again for great service and items!” Carole Stepanek, Massachusetts

And from Canada: 

“I love your site and your products. You have made my miniature collection come alive for five years and three houses. Keep up the good work! You guys are the best.” Susan Van De Ven, Winnepeg 

For further information, please visit www.dollshouse.co.uk (or dheminis.com or dheminiscanada.com) or call 080 00 11 44 11. 

 

Sneak peek: DHM's 25th issue

It's our 25th issue of Dollhouse Miniatures! Huzzah! So here are a few images to really get you excited. We sent it off to the printer's last week after working on it for a few months. There are so many beautiful items included that it's hard just to pick out a few for this post. It's a lovely issue and I'm quite proud of it, and I hope you are too!

Note: You can click on any of these photos to see the full-size version in another window if you are interested in seeing closer details.

 

Up first, we have a feature on Ron Hubble written by Deb Weissler. His latest room box/workshop is based on a Spanish mosque. It's just gorgeous. I love all the details. Deb wrote that students, when they first see it, get big-eyed and say, "We're going to make that?!".....I think I would do the same thing. Or faint.

Spanish mosque by Ron Hubble

 

 

Next, we have the always-wonderful Rik Pierce with two new fanciful structures as well as a tutorial on how to create a faux-slate roof as pictured here. He uses paperclay and paint--and that's pretty much it. I was really interested in that technique, as it looks so easy! I can't wait to try it!

    

(Left) Learn to create this roof by Rik Pierce! (Right) Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor (by Rik Pierce)

 

This next article was suggested to me from Martha Puff, who'd come across a website by Michael Paul Smith. While he is an outstanding miniaturist, I was most intrigued by his photography. He has an amazing ability to incorporate real-life backgrounds into his photos so that they look like real photographs from decades ago. For instance, in the photo below, which parts are life-size and which are miniature? 

Scene by Michael Paul Smith

 

Answer: the ground, house, lamppost, and cars are real. The bridge, trees, telephone lines, and hill are all life-size. Interesting, right? I thought so. Anyway, his photos were on Flickr, and he's become somewhat famous because of them. But he's still a humble, down-home-values kind of guy, and he was kind enough to write an article on his technique, his tricks, and his perception of the whole "Flickr Phenomenon" that happened.

Michael Paul Smith in front of the pieces shown in the last photo.

Moving on--here is a miniature fireplace. Would you like a fireplace like this one? Maybe with a few tweaks here and there? Well, Sue Dubowi takes us step-by-step through the process of creating your own custom fireplace using borrowed castings and found items. It's a two-part series, and in this first part we go through the planning and creation of the fireplace up to the point where we make the first mold (so that you can create as many of these as you like!). The second part will go over the painting techniques Sue used.

Make this fancy fireplace in our two-part series with Sue Dubowi.

 

And finally, we have a gallery of photos from dealers at the Good Sam Showcase 2011! Here are just a few of my favorites; there are so many more. We also have another article later in the magazine that shows items from the workshops, kits, and exhibits from Good Sam, so be sure to check that out as well.

 

Dealers

L to R: Estelle by Sylvia Mobley; decorative panel by Johannes Landman; Chinese antique wash stand with wood wash bucket by Isako Furuhashi; "Raspberries for Lunch" by Stephanie Blythe; wine fountain, sauce boat, and mirror by Pete Acquisto.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Workshops, kits, and exhibits

L to R: Miss Elvira by Bruce and Judy Steinke; "Hittin' the Dusty Road" by Conne Sauve; "Cliff's Diner" by Phyllis Nishimori.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magazines Make the Perfect Gift