I Could Open A Furniture Shop

Last night after we moved a lot of our things back to the house from the caravan (the vast majority was my stuff: minis and some scrapbooking and crochet) – I was too tired to do anything much. I put several loads of washing on, and started to sort out the minis I brought home. Not for long though – soon I was assembling some of the furniture kits from BJ Miniatures. Now between these and the ones I showed you the other day, I could open a furniture shop LOL.

This lot is practically all dining furniture. I ordered them because I had a heap of bedroom furniture and sofas but was very short on the dining room side. I fell in love with the variety of furniture on BJ Miniatures – such delicate designs on the chairs, and different from the furniture I already had.

The background isn't the most effective I could have chosen, but it was what was to hand since after all our visitors, almost everything else is either in the washing machine, on the clothes line, waiting to be washed or waiting to be ironed!


Among the kits are several in the Jardin range. First, the Jardin Bench and Table.

 As well as including a ruler in the photos, I’ve deliberately left quite a bit of background around these pieces, to emphasise how tiny they really are,



There’s a Jardin dining table and two chairs, which are perfect for a small space.

And in the same colour wood, a Jardin rocker and table.

Then there’s a Hepplewhite Dining Set, in mahogany.  This is a nice elegant suite and I would like to do a cabinet in the same finish.

Now isn’t this next one an elegant design?  It’s a Ribbonback Dining Table and chairs in walnut wood with cherry inlay.  It’s so pretty.

Less formal in character is this Cottage Dining Set in cherrywood.  This one presented a real challenge to get the legs positioned evenly but we got there eventually.

And to finish this grouping, there is a China Cabinet in Golden Oak.  First, straight on:

Then, slightly at an angle to show the sides:

I thought last night that the mirror for this was damaged. This morning I emailed the Steinkes and asked whether I could obtain replacements for this and the chiffonier mirror. Judy was most gracious about it. Then I finally put my brain into gear and re-read the instructions. It sunk in that I was supposed to remove the protective film from the mirror back as well as the shelves – and guess what? The marks were on the protective film, not the mirror! In fact the mirror is excellent. It’s not true glass but you wouldn’t know it. This cabinet is, like the rest of the furniture, great quality.

Just like the previous lot of furniture, and indeed much more furniture I haven't shown you,  it all still needs to be sprayed with a protective finish. Hmmmm – that will be interesting with the mirrored cabinet! I will do all the furniture together that is already stained. The whitewood furniture that I showed you previously won’t be sprayed until I determine the finished colour to suit whatever home it will find.

So now I also have a good supply of dining furniture to put into those quarter scale cottages I have been building this year. In the meantime I might just put it all into one of my properties as a temporary furniture store.

How to reduce stress

While I have been waiting for the family to do different things so we can get going on what we had planned, I’ve been watching the 24hour coverage of the floods on the tele. I can't ever sit and just watch tv at any time, I have to keep my hands busy -. and if I am stressed even more so. So I've been keeping busy by making up some kits that have arrived recently from Karen Benson and from BJs Miniatures, all of them 1:48 scale. They are not completed yet, the horse needs the paint touching up, they all need varnishing and their knobs added, and there are still more to do but I've taken photos to share progress so far with you.

First, here are some things for the Toy Shoppe (from Karen Benson) that I haven't made yet.

A Butterfly Seat, also from Karen Benson Miniatures (#Q750A).


This is done in a metallic purple, and yellow contrast. The feelers are done in metallic antique gold.


I have a second Butterfly Seat, and am considering doing that one in burgundy and maybe metallic silver. It will depend on how it looks when the paint goes on – colours that look great when put together don’t necessarily look good when put on to the wood.

An Elephant Cart, also from Karen Benson Miniatures (#Q207). I have included the ruler in these photos in order to show the size of these delicate little things. There is so much detail for such a small object. The wheels turn on their axles. The blue on the cart needs another coat of paint, but I am happy with the colour scheme.

This is the second of Karen’s rocking horse kits (#Q109) I have made. The photo shows clearly that I need to touch up the paint on the poor fellow. The first horse is sitting outside the Town Square Toy Shop (Village Toys). There will probably be others in the future as well; every nursery needs a rocking horse so when I have a nursery…..

The buggy (#Q208) is also destined for the Toy Shoppe, if there is room of course. In Australia we call it a pram. Hopefully I will have some dollies for the quarter scale children in the shop as well. Now they will be tiny. Hmmmm…..

Naturally, every child needs a Toy Chest and this one is from Karen Benson, from her second site, The Quarter Source (#Q719) Not sure whether it is destined for the Baby Shop, which is in the Corner Shop, a nursery somewhere or the Toy Shoppe.

The artwork on the front of the toybox is really sweet.

Now for the furniture. First of all, there is a shelving unit kit with 5 dozen bolts of fabric. The cardboard centres are pre-marked and just need cutting apart, and the ‘fabric’ is cut out and rolled onto the cardboard. The full length of each strip doesn’t need to be wound on, so I’ve kept the leftover bits to fold and put on shelves or in cupboards for my quarter scale stitchers.

The whole 60 bolts of fabric can be squeezed in and on the shelves but as you can see I haven’t tried to do so. I have put 36 or so on the shelves and will put the rest in other places to spread the effect. I left two of the bolts partly unwrapped, as though they are in use. I have plans for those two.

A Cottage Window Seat, from Karen Benson Miniatures (#Q334). This is such a pretty piece, with the engraving on the front. I haven't decided whether to leave it this colour or to paint it with a wash. I think I'll pad the top to match the upholstery of whatever room I put it in.

The blanket chest matches it (#Q303). Isn't the engraving lovely? The drawer is removable and the lid is hinged. If you look closely you can see the tiny pins that go through the holes on each side. Those pins had a mind of their own, let me tell you!

The ice chest is from BJ Miniatures. I really love the attention to detail in this piece. Even the back has the same detail as the sides, and the little brass hinges add so much to the realism.  The handles are made from brass wire. It didn't take me long to shape the wire to the correct shape, but it took longer to get the ends through the holes than it took to assemble the whole ice chest .

Aren’t the Hampton dropleaf table and chairs elegant? They are in cherrywood and will be the perfect space-saving solution for one of my fortunate people!


This set will possibly go into Honeysuckle Cottage, though several of the cottages have limited space for dining.

The Hoosier Cabinet is from BJ Miniatures as well. Again, lots of clever detail in this piece. See the funnel under the cupboard. It has an oak finish, and I think I’ll simply give it a spray of satin varnish and leave it like that.

The Secretary Bookcase turned out well. I wasn't going to use the pictures of books in the bookcase section but when I had glued them to the blocks provided and pressed grooves between each book, they looked surprisingly realistic. I did add some thin plastic to the door. There is a problem with the mirror on the secretary section; half of it has a damaged surface so I have to work out what to do about that. Perhaps a vase of flowers to cover it up.

The chiffonier (BJ Miniatures) has a mirror at the top in a really nice decorative frame. It will provide good storage for my quarter scale people without taking up a lot of floorspace.

As you can tell from the ruler in the photo, the ladderback chairs and table set is larger than the dropleaf table and chairs. It has an oak finish and I hope it will fit in the English Cottage from Debbie Young. Probably with the other oak-finished kitchen furniture too. They all have the country cottage feel about them.  They look a bit wobbly in this photo but that is the pillowslip on the surface, not the chairs.

I’ve done two more rocking chairs (#Q109). They are identical even though I bought one from each of Karen’s sites and they have different codes. I have a great fondness of rocking chairs in miniature despite the fact that with my problems with dizziness and vertigo I can't bear to sit in one myself. They project a picture of peace and restfulness, and I like to have them in evidence

I am a little surprised that this lovely little piece from BJ Miniatures is simply called a ‘Cupboard’. None of the drawers or doors open which is a pity but the detail more than makes up for it. And the white ‘glass’ in the doors has a really nice geometric pattern on it.

 I thought Karen Benson’s Cottage Back Porch Cupboard (#Q124) was interesting and that it would make a good addition somewhere. Maybe a kitchen – or a back porch as its name suggests.

And this Winslow Hutch in oak (BJ Miniatures) is a bit different from the others that I have, so it's good to have a bit of variety in my furniture. I think it will go nicely with the ladderback chairs and table.
















I do have other dining suite kits to make up, and look forward to assembling them. They are much more formal in nature and I see them more in the John F Craig Mansion and other slightly grand or at least formal settings. There are also quite a few chairs and lounges to upholster and assemble. And of course there are flowers - there will probably always be flowers lol! I'll be very happy to start putting furniture into those empty cottages and adding accessories to make them look homely and lived in.

The orders included several of those accessories. I bought a few things to see what they are like and I am very impressed with them so will be buying more. After all, I have a lot of houses, cottages and shops to fill


The Sydney Fair is held on the first weekend in May. It is the largest Fair in Australia and the only one I get a chance to go to. I need to decide for sure which items I will be exhibiting and concentrate on getting them properly completed: furnishings, accessories and landscaping. So it will soon be decision time.  Eeeny, meeny, miney, mo.  It's like choosing a favourite child!


Stay tuned - hopefully I'll have those other dining tables and chairs assembled real soon to show you.

My constant cry: so many minis to do, someone PLEASE send me more hours in the day and more days in the week LOL!

Thursday, 8th July 2010

More tiny furniture

And here is the last of the bedroom furniture that I had kits for.  It is the Victorian bed and dresser by Karen Benson.  Yes, these drawers come out too.  In fact the top one has come out a little bit when I was moving it around to take the photo.  No knobs for these drawers, but the dots on them look like knobs and I love the engraving on the mirror and the bed.  There is no mattress either but now I know how the mattress is made on the other beds it won't be any trouble to duplicate it on this one.

The kits are really easy to put together and give great results.  I was a bit intimidated by the tiny quarter scale bits but now one twelfth scale looks enormous to me!  I still use it and love it but it sure takes some adjusting to when I go back to it.

Today calls for a major tidy-up of my workroom, so I can get properly organised to start the Storybook Cottage - when I went to get the bits and pieces last night I realised that I couldn't work on it until all was neat and tidy in there.  But the delay will be well worth it, to have room to move and to be able to find things more easily.

Wednesday, 7th July 2010

Had a mini day

Two deadlines met.  One was over on Saturday, the other was for a GSOLFOT make and I finished that too.  It was the first time ever that I have made 1:12th scale clothing, and of course being me I had to dive in boots and all and start with fabric that would show every little glue mark!   Considering it was my first attempt and I can't find half my supplies (still) I am rather chuffed with my efforts.  After both those deadlines I had the usual nasty let-up-of-stress migraine, and decided that I deserved a mini day as a reward.  So I went to town making up some quarter scale furniture kits that have been sitting here calling out to me. 

So I did several of the bedroom furniture kits, all by Karen Benson except the mirror which is by Karen Cary, and here they are, still in their unfinished state - I haven't stained them because I don't have a stain pen, so will paint them with a light wash of paint and then go over that with a spray sealer or with Shellac.  The mattresses on the bed are removable, and there is another layer to go on them as well.  I will do the bedding after I know which house they are going into and what the colour scheme is.

There is still a Victorian bed and dresser kit to make up, and some fireside chairs to make up and upholster. 

Now tiny as these pieces are, the Mirror swings, and the drawers on the Cottage dresser and the Victorian nightstand come out!  I had enough spare knobs from the Cottage dresser (the one with the little shelves and the oval mirror) to put three on the nightstand - so I will have to hang something out of the drawer I guess, unless I can find another matching 'knob' vbg.

There was a slight pause here - I knocked my 'photography background' box to the floor, don't ask me how, and it still had all the pieces in it!   So a repair job was needed on two of the pieces.  One of those was the table for the conservatory, among the 'wrought iron' furniture from Karen Cary pictured here.  There are three little wall pot holders at the back, one is difficult to see because it is partly hidden by a chair.  Won't they look great when they are painted white?  We are having rain at the moment so it's not a good time to get out the spray can or I'd do it today.

Back to the house, and this darling little (and I do mean little) grandfather clock will be perfect in Miss Marple's Cottage - now renamed Rose Cottage, remember.  There are lots of tiny pieces in it, believe me.  But the results are worth it.  Very sweet.  And the kind of detail that really makes a difference to a house.  Which reminds me, I have some wall clocks somewhere too.......

Now I love dressers.  For some reason they just hold a charm for me that I can't explain.  I have a few by Pam Junk, as part of furniture sets. So of course I fell in love with this one by Karen Benson too.  Again I am not sure which of the several quarter scale projects I have lined up on my shelves yet to do it will go into, but I can see more of these lovely dressers on the horizon.  And yes, the drawer comes out. So of course it will have to be filled with goodies.

But the garden hasn't been forgotten either.  First there is an arbour with planter boxes on either side.  This of course just lends itself to a flowering vine going up and over it, with other flowers on the inner boxes.  And then there's a twig bench to give some garden that lovely rustic touch.  The illustration for this shows it with a throw draped over the right arm and a hat or book on it - just suggests the perfect sunny afternoon, doesn't it?

There's more for the garden too.  This one is a grand Garden Alcove kit, from Karen Benson.  It is much larger than the arbour, and is meant to have a garden seat in it.  I have used the garden seat for the front garden of Miss Marple's Cottage/Rose Cottage, so will get another one (or several - they are just delicious!).  I see it as part of a far more formal garden setting.  I took the photo at a slight angle, everything is really square and spot on.  This is a lovely structure but as the next photo shows, it really does dwarf the arbour

I think you'd have to be careful where you put them if you were to use them in the same garden, or even which house you used the Garden Alcove in at all.  But I love it.

So there you are - the fruits of my labour lol!  Furnishings for the bedroom, kitchen, conservatory, garden and a grandfather clock for the living room.  So I can go ahead and start furnishing Rose Cottage and have some in readiness for other houses as well.   And I have a lovely lumpy, comfy sofa and chairs from Grace Shaw of the Virtual Dollhouse too, as well as lots of wonderful cats and dogs, kitties and puppies, agas and a fridge.  By the way, do visit her store.  Not only has she such a lot of things but she is just so helpful and will get anything for you.  And I get my order within a week, even here in Australia, from the time I order - her service is unequalled!

Now I just have my mother's new computer that I bought for her to set up and take around to her, and I can start on my next project - Story Book Cottage.  So watch this space, friends!