I had an afternoon at home alone...

....and the inspiration to find my craft room floor. Since it was a rainy afternoon and I couldn't do the outdoor chores that were calling, the craft room won. As you can see by the photos, it's a good thing it did!

That's a sewing machine under the quilted cover. Lots of random stuff gets dropped off here as it is just inside the door.

The path to the chair, and thus the work area, was narrow and treacherous.

Although this room is supposed to be "my" room homeless things often get shoved in and the door shut. To even get in here I had to roll out my MIL's small folding wheel chair that should have been returned last fall. I'm not putting it back in here! As often happens in big cleaning projects, starting this project led to taking care of another before I could finish the cleaning. The pink tray is sitting on top of a box of old (1986-1991!) checks, receipts, etc. that needed shredding. I wanted the box so I had to get it empty. An hour and a half later (and six full shredder bins later) I got back to work on the craft room. The large rolling black toolbox divides the room into a small storage area behind it and the work area you see in the photo. I pulled a large box filled with remains from my last several projects out and began sorting. If I would just put everything away as soon as I finished with it my room would stay neater. Yeah, like that's really gonna happen, LOL.

The box held much more than it looks in the photo. Just behind the box is a large gift bag that was also full. I found bits from the French country house, the 1950s house, and even some from the house I made for my granddaughters two years ago. I eventually got everything sorted and put away. I don't have enough shelves to hold everything so I still have stacks of boxes but at least the chaos is semi organized now. I can also easily walk in and I have some space to work. I will be switching the antique shop with the castle soon. The stone paint has not held up well so I will be replacing it with egg carton stones.

And now for the big reveal:

 There was a table top under all the random stuff.

 The printer is off the floor and usable. The empty document box now holds wallpaper rolls. The boxes under it hold stamping and scrapbooking supplies

The trash has now been consolidated a bit by flattening boxes. I can't take it out tonight since it's pouring but I will be glad to have the remains removed tomorrow. Below are some photos showing the storage area behind the toolbox. The closets behind hold seasonal decorations.

I know it still looks like a bit of a disaster but I promise that it's a huge improvement.

One bonus to cleaning the paint area is that I found the lawn chair that's been missing since DD#2's cat caused my old shelf system to collapse and sent stuff flying everywhere. The chair has been stuck in the side of the revolving paint rack for 3-4 years and I just found it today. I had so much stuff on the work area that I could only turn the rack in one direction. Guess which side the chair was stuck on?

This is what it says on the door to my craft room. And I have to admit that I am happier and healthier when I follow this advice.

I found these two potential projects while cleaning. Hopefully, you will see some creative blog posts soon!

Mini me

 I ordered the Houseworks resin doll named Dot to transform into mini me. She arrived wearing a tan floral print top, gold glasses, and a plain gold chain. I made her glasses navy, added nail stickers to make her necklace like something I would wear, and added a couple of rings (we won't look closely at those because I had a horrible time with them, lol.)  I painted her top a solid turquoise because tan is not my color. I even added my white streaks in her hair and painted her fingernails with my favorite polish.

I changed her snack to a less chunky tea cup and a gluten-free donut on a napkin. Her (my?) hands look kind of funny in that position but I can't change that. I tried putting the cat in her lap but her hands are still too high to look natural. Maybe I should add a bottle or tube of hand lotion to the table...

Finished, huh? Yeah...right!

OK so maybe I wasn't finished. I added three more hanging plants. They were quick and easy because I used some mini holly roping for the ivy and bits of 1:1 plastic plants to make the fern and the big plant. Now it feels more like a real conservatory might feel. If you have a space dedicated to plants wouldn't you want to fill it up? At any rate, I think I've used up all the available space for plants so all that's left is putting mini me in place on the bench.

 My free range chickens were desperately trying to "help" or more likely looking for treats, so I had to snap the photos quickly. I apologize if the quality isn't the best. The "girls" are very curious and really wanted to get closer.

 There are still some glue areas that aren't dry - not that I'm impatient or anything, lol.

It's hard to tell in the photos but now it looks complete. There really isn't any room for more plants anyway if mini me wants to be able to move around in there. ;-)

It's finished...

...unless, of course, I find something that needs to be added, taken away, or changed. ;-) You all know how mini projects go and I seem to have more trouble than most with calling a project finished.

 Besides the hanging spider plant and philodendron, I added a caladium and an ivy heart topiary.

 Some of you may have noticed a slight change to the tree stump stools. When I made them several years ago I didn't have any woodsie circles so I made the seats our of polymer clay. Since the set was in a child's room, I made the seats small. Now I have circles and the conservatory is more an adult place so the stools got a nice wood seat upgrade.

 I had the gray bird in my stash. This monarch and the butterfly on the other end came from a recent printies sheet in American Miniaturist.

 The calico cat, made by my friend Brenda, was stolen from the back porch. They don't need both a cat and a dog, right? The conservatory just seems like a place a cat would curl up and nap in.

I added some more shading to the palm tree and painted a hint of a leaf vein down the center of each leaf.

Don't you love how you sometimes put off a project because you just aren't sure what you want to do and then, suddenly, inspiration strikes and the whole project comes together? That's how this went. Once I decided what to do with the floor I was off and running. It's been a stressful week at work so it's been great to come home and de-stress in the mini conservatory.

One thing I do plan to add is a resin figure. I think this one
looks a bit like me. :-)

Sometimes it is easy being green

 The plants are multiplying in the conservatory. I added several this afternoon made from printie leaves. I'm really happy with how they are turning out. I figured out how to do the two hanging plants and got a start on the philodendren. No pics yet. The Chinese Evergreen and the fern are sitting on small stands made from chess pieces. The pots are wood beads. One of the plants by the palm is planted it a cap from one of hubby's inhalers and the other is in a rubber tip from something. Paint is a wonderful unifier.

 I even added a small gazing type ball. It isn't mirrored so I guess it's more of an art piece but the marble looks pretty on the chess piece anyway. :-)

The different plant printies I've found have given me a lovely variety of plants. Once I finish the hanging plants I will reevaluate to decide if I am finished or need a few more.

I hope to have more to show you tomorrow.

It's starting to look like a conservatory

 A bonsai made of twisted covered floral wire, foam grass, and paper flowers planted in an old computer keyboard key. I didn't have a tutorial. I just looked at photos of real bonsai and played.

 A tiny succulent planted in a shallow bowl, in sand.

 A Dieffenbachia on a marble post. The leaves are printies I found online. The pot is a combination of lids and the marble column is a heavy duty cardboard tube my son brought from the trash at the grocery store he works in. The natural spiral of the tube determined the direction of my marble veins.

The palm tree is planted in a Dollar Tree plastic trophy cup. The trunks are sticks from my yard with some painted details. The leaves are cut from cardstock. The leaves look more natural in real life. The shading doesn't show well with the flash.

This is definitely a lady's conservatory with all the pink and the floral upholstery. I'm liking the balance between rustic and elegant. I have several more plant varieties to cut out and pot. I'm planning to have philodendron and spider plants hanging from the center beam also.

By the time I finish this project I am going to want a sun room of my own, LOL. Have a blessed and happy day, my friends!

Back from vacation and on to the next project

 DH and I found this conservatory at an antique shop in Indianapolis last year on a visit to see DD#2 and her family. It's been waiting for me to get inspired. Inspiration and interest hit last evening. I started looking online for furniture and plant tutorials. I wanted a sofa/bench type piece and found a couple of possibilities. I'm glad I didn't order anything, though, because a lovely lady at church brought me a kit she found when a local thrift shop went out of business. There was also a coffee table but that will be saved for a future project. I love how this turned out. I painted it with a dark green glaze and then added a cushion and pillows cut from a floral napkin I found some time ago at a thrift shop. The little table, cup, and plate were all made by me.The banana bar on the plate was made by Gaye at My Small Obsession.

 The flooring is a mix of stone tiles and vinyl tile. I didn't have enough of the stone ones so I just made a cozy little elevated area at one end. Some sort of tall palm or potted tree will sit to the left of the bench.

 Doesn't this look like a wonderful place to spend an afternoon with tea and a good book? I am anxious to start making plants now. (Especially since we've had a bit of snow almost every day this month! Please find us soon, Spring.)

 I love this table. It was made by my friend, Sandy. Look closely at the trunk and you can see a face. I made the tree stump stools to go with it. The set has been waiting for the perfect place to call home. I think this is it.

The next step will be filling up the empty spaces with all sorts of plants. Then it will need a pet and maybe a person, too. I'm very pleased with the early stages.

Have a wonderful, blessed week, my friends!

Exciting news!

I found out last night that Dolls House World, American Miniaturist's UK sister magazine, will be running the feature article and tutorial about my French Country house. Wow! That's all. Just....wow!