Robin Betterley's Fabric Line with Wilmington Prints

I was excited to see a article of page 19 of the magazine of "Guide to Creative Living"

Robin Betterly and her husband, Shawn are gifted artists in miniature and oh so much more.
I added the link to Robin's bio and her fabric lines.

Angels Watching Over Me

Harvest Moon

Stitching In The Woods


http://www.wilmingtonprints.com/view_designers.aspx?did=17

After looking at her fabric, check out their website for miniatures and oh so much more!!

http://www.robinbetterley.com/

I find their laser-cut kits to be detailed, complete and buildable. And yes- oh so- alterable!!

Accordian House (new project for Miniature Gazette Magazine)

The Accordian house was named for it's shape, if you push hard enough it would collapse like you were playing an accordian. But don't try it with my house!!!

Pictures and directions will be published in a upcoming NAME Miniature Gazette. You have to belong to NAME to receive the magazine http://www.miniatures.org/. NAME stands for National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts.

It is a non-profit, all for fun and great friends organization that has members all across America, Canada, and over seas too.

Just as my recent projects were created using matboard, foamcore and index card- this one is too. It is an altered miniature, that has very open rooms. I used the "packing tape" transfer method on all three doors to give depth and texture.

For more ideas and pictures go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alteredminiatures/?yguid=263045118 and join our alteredminiatures yahoo group. It is a new group that is already full of creative people who love to share.

Discovered a great Resource for arts and crafts

I am a charter subscriber of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion. I love her art, I love the inspiration I get from her magazines and enjoy meeting new artists that are interviewed.

So needless to say, I was jazzed when I saw Home Companion's first ever Crafters' Guide.

"Guide to Creative Living, a sourcebook for arts and crafts".

It is like a phone book, internet address search and a GPS all rolled into one.

I look forward to exploring new and some familiar sources that I find in here.

No this is not a paid advertisement, I just think it's a great tool available to all of us.

Altered Halloween House

Our miniature club- Ketchup Club- is currently working on making an altered Halloween House. Using the basic instructions and dimensions from the “America’s House” (May post).

We all have the same acrylic case for display, the only rule is that anything we build has to fit within the cube- we are using basic boxes as the structure and after that- anything goes.

Susie is making a castle. She used plaster wrap for texture on the bottom, she has a moat with an alligator. The top is painted and the top built from a toilet paper roll (or a paper towel roll).

Lorene’s is bright and light. Currently the house is not haunted- she is advertising.

Karla’s is also bright and cheery; one of her boxes has a decorated exterior door. When we left for the day, she was thinking about making a lower level…to place her house on.

Barbara’s house is black and bare. She used “blue tac” to stick her rooms together until she came up with a configuration she liked. Then she used white paint to outline the edges to assist with room placement. She is also using fabric scanned into her computer for wallpaper.

My house is also black, but by the end of our day, I had papered the interior of 6 rooms.
I used “post-it” stickers with numbers for room placement. I plan on using the “Betterley’s” Halloween furniture kits inside my rooms. The papers I am using are purposely on the quiet side- but once everything is in – it will pop.

Making simple boxes ended up being more challenging then we thought. Once you make all of the boxes you want then you work on placement- the real challenge is finding the shape you want then take it apart- wallpaper it and then put it back together again in the shape you decided on.

We have used digital camera, notes, markers to help with placement… part of the fun is letting the structure build itself.

I have started a new Yahoo group, “Altered Miniatures”. I just posted a challenge for others to join us in making a structure. It does not have to be Halloween theme-

Would you like to join us?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alteredminiatures/