Featured Artisan: Richard of Minibydesign

So, if you've been following along, last month, my husband and I went to a wedding down south and along the way we met up with three of my fellow miniaturists/teammates from TeamMIDS on etsy.

I wanted to share with you all some of the pictures I took of Richard of Minibydesign's  projects.

This is his art deco bar. I helped out with the bar stool cushions and helped him find the animal print rug.

Didn't he just do a fabulous job with it? 

You can find more on the art deco bar on his blog post here.

From his modern house, which is huge and he wired the entire thing.

I love these stairs! 

See the spots to turn on the lights at the bottom there? Normally, that's covered over with a bit of gardening.

Peeking in!

After he painted these modern bath fixtures black, then, they began sellling them in black.

Of course, I'm thinking his modern sectional should be graced with a few of my pillows. ;)

Kinda gives you a better idea of how big it is. I'm thinking it's just a bit bigger than a card table. This was the first house that Richard built. 

Pretty good job!

I'm impressed. :)

Now on to his latest project, another house. This time, it's a colonial revival that will include some modern updates in the interior.

Think he'll be going for the stainless appliances in the kitchen? lol ;)

To see more of this project being updated along the way, see his blog.

I made him a runner to go up the stairs in the last picture.

It was so nice getting to finally meet Richard and his wife Gail in person.

And, their dogs, too!

They have too senior dogs, one is a retired grayhound named Wade and I fell in love with him at first sight. He's the strong silent type. lol! I should have gotten a pic of Wade so I could pine over him. ;)

Until next time, my friends! :)

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Road Trip!

The excitement continues on! ;)

Last month, amidst all the other activities, I made a bridal veil for the daughter of a gal I went to school with. Many many moons ago, I had a custom bridal veils and headpieces business, back when the hair was big and the bridal veils were bigger. ;)

Well, a lot has changed in the bridal world since then, I found out to my dismay. :( It was virtually impossible to find suitable trimming. But, I remembered a hint I got from Casey of Casey's Minis. Take an existing trim and trim it down. That advice was meant for miniatures, but it proved to be my saving grace for the trim issue for the bridal veil. I found a trim kinda like rhinestones, but it was three across, I trimmed it down to a single row and voila! I had it. :)

Next time, I will have pictures of the bride in her veil, no early peeks before the wedding, which is this weekend!!!

On our way down to the wedding, we are stopping along the way to meet three mini peeps and I am so excited! 

We're going to stop by and see Anita, she has a shop on etsy. 

I got these wonderful stacking mixing bowls from her. I love how they look like fiesta ware.

 I bought a snake from her and sent it to Sans! 

I felt for sure an Indian tribal house would have a snake charmer some where in it. ;)

Richard from MinibyDesign, shop and blog.

I got this modern dining room set from him, isn't it cool?

We've also collaborated on pieces together in the past.

I upholstered this deco couch for him in red, white and silver. It's striking.

He's also going to help me out with wiring one of my dollhouses. Yippeeeee!!!!!

and

Jody of PeachBlossomHill, shop and blog.

She makes wonderful upholstered couches and chaises. Seems I don't have anything by Jody, I'll have to fix that of course! :)

We are all members of TeamMIDS on etsy, Miniatures In Dollhouse Scale. We've all been chatting online for quite some time now.

So, the excitement continues on for a bit longer! :)

I'm so looking forward to meeting my mini friends, attending my girlfriends daughter's wedding and being off with just my hubby. :)

Daughter has graduated, seen on the right with a gal pal.

I also took all my kids to the photographers for pics for my hubby for Father's Day. They came out grand, and as soon as I can figure out how to share them with you all, I will.

Life should return to our normally scheduled programming soon! ;)

As always, every pink word is a click-able link, have fun! :)

I'm baaaaaaack! LOL! ;)

Hello everyone!

Happy New Year!

I truly did not mean to be gone for so long!

I've really missed blogging and reading everyone's blogs.

What was just going to be a couple of weeks off, turned out to be longer than I expected, but, that's life sometimes, isn't it?

I hope everyone had a most enjoyable holiday season and hope that the new year is off to a good start for all. :)

Isn't this tree darling! I love it! I'm thinking about maybe hot pink and lime green ornaments, what do you think? I got this from De, she made it custom for me. You can find her shop on etsy here and her blog here.

Thanks, De! :)

Look at this!

A little something, something from Sans. She was celebrating her blog anniversary. Isn't that sweet? A hundred roses! I know exactly what I'm going to do with them, too. A subject for another post! (I love to tease, can you tell?lol) You can find Sans blog here, she has one of the best blogs and is a real doll, too!
Thanks, Sans! :)

Just because I haven't been blogging, doesn't mean I haven't been making minis! I've been working on some custom bar stools for an art deco bar for my friend Richard. You can find his blog here and his etsy shop here. He's just listed his first art deco room box.

I'm just about to upholster this!

Sorry, it's a little blurry. It's a custom order for Ray, his etsy shop is here.

Look what I found tucked behind the Christmas decorations in the attic!

My girls minis. I wonder if they still want them... hmmm...

You know I saved them because I thought they were important.

Now, all I want to do is play with them! lol ;)

So here it is 2010 and I'm diving in!

Lots to do and much in store for the new year!

I even have some more followers to, as they say, "Welcome to the Party!"

They are:

callsmall

Jane Smith

miniaturemaid

mia

sMac Thoughts

MiniKat

danitza zarate

A. Wright

Nuri

Little Scotia

Bear cabin miniatures

Christina 

Wow! That's a lot of new additions! :)
Welcome to you all and thanks for following me. :)

As usual, anything in pink on my blog is clickable, so click away and check them all out!

One last bit of news before I end this post. I've been chosen to be on the second Community Counsel at etsy. I am honored to have been chosen and will do my very best to represent my community. :)

I've added a couple of new items to my shop, so if you haven't been around in a while, check it out here.

Now, I'm off to see what you've been up to!

(fears catching up will take weeks!)

LOL!

Dollhouse Miniature Tablecloths and Fancy Folded Napkins :)

I made these table cloths and napkins for a custom order. I love the fabric that I was able to find, it really resembles a damask, which was important for this Victorian setting.

Some plain folded napkins, too. I thought about doing a tutorial on how to fold miniature napkins, but, it's really the same as in real life, just a wee bit tinier. The fancy folded napkins depicted are called Crown napkins and you can see how to fold them here.

and a plain table cloth for the butler

My client has been busy working on her dollhouse and you can see the updates to her progress here.

Well, last week was busy with creating, this week was quieter, but, I'm already on another creative jaunt with more things in progress. I hope to be showing you some totally new creations shortly.

Tomorrow is Philadephia Miniaturia and I am so excited to be going, I can't wait to see what is out there!

Last year I blogged about it for another blog in two postings you can see them here and here.  Now I have my own blog, so, I'm sure I'll be highlighting the fair here. :)

My friend Richard of Minibydesign has started a blog wait till you see what he's making.

Until next time ;)

What did you do today? anything mini?

Just a short post, as it's been a long day, feels like a long week already! ;)

I designed a new mattress today and I really like this much better than the way I have been doing mattresses in the past. I hope you can see in the picture, white on white was not a good idea (giggles).

This turned out so sleek and smooth and really looks like a real mattress, I think. What do you think?

It was made for minibydesign for a custom order. I haven't even gotten to see the bed yet, but, when I get a picture, I'll post it.

Making that mattress today, gives me the confidence to start attempting furniture, which is what I have always wanted to do. I have fabric in my stash that has been waiting to become chairs, couches and loveseats. :)

I've also been working on fine napkin folding for a custom order.

I might have to blog more about this. A challenge, but, as you can see, I've got it pinned. lol ;)

I'm not going to say a word about this chair. Some of you readers may know about it, please don't spill the beans quite yet. ;)

Next time, a more interesting post, I hope.  ;)

One Couch Three Ways! Art Deco!

I thoroughly enjoy doing custom work and collaborating with other miniaturists. You find yourself working on projects that you would not have thought.

It can be a bit challenging and frustrating at times, getting things from your mind's eye, to the actual item. After the challenge/frustration part, there is such a feeling of accomplishment and pride. Like you won over it.

Recently, I collaborated with Richard from minibydesign on etsy. He makes a lot of modern furniture, like this boomerang table. Now, he's dipping into the world of Art Deco.

The interest in Art Deco for dollhouses has been steadily increasing. It should! The designs from that age are so fabulous and luxurious.

Which brings me to this couch that Richard made. It's a replica of a Paul Frankl Streamline Sofa.

So, I collaborated with him on this lovely piece, I made him the cushions and upholstery for it.

In a gorgeous red/black fabric, depending on how the light hits it.

This luxurious silvery gray fabric.

And, this silky cream fabric.

Richard tells me that he's going to be listing this couch shortly, so, I'd keep an eye on his shop if you are interested in it. Be sure to see all of his other furniture while your there as well. He's even got a piece of dollhouse steam punk, but, I'm not going to link it, you have to go find it. :)