Saturday, October 24, 2009

Eerie Glow In The Dark additions to your Miniature Haunted Mansion!

It was the middle of October and I was taking a break from making minis to clean my studio. I was also mulling over ideas for my next line of spooky miniatures. While sorting through my paint box removing empty and dried bottles, I came across a long forgotten bottle of glow in the dark paint. Ah-ha! Such a simple thing but I realized I hadn’t ever made any glow-in-the-dark items before. I ran out and bought some fresh glowing paint and came home to search for something to test it on.

The previous night, my brother who is also an artist took all the paint with him to the game shop. We often host ‘paint nights’ but somewhere along the way we failed to communicate the paint schedule. I was left at home with an old basket of folk acrylics and a few bottles of Citadel acrylics. The gothic style furniture I had made was supposed to be dark black and purple in my mind’s eye but I was left with pale greens, silver, and grays. Oh well, I just used those… and this made the perfect base for the glow in the dark idea. I dry brushed a heavy layer all over each piece and in the daylight, it gave it a ghostly chalky look that I liked. Then with the lights out, it was so cool- glowing and showing the crackle texture underneath. I was very pleased!


I then took a skeleton closet I made and painted spider webs on it and made glowing drips on the skeleton inside. Wow, the piece was just that much more interesting. I then worked on photographing. I think I was only partially successful because my camera didn’t fully capture the glowing effect in the dark. Anyway, these will be available in my Etsy shop this weekend!



I began checking out other glow in the dark ideas for dollhouses and found several artisan examples. From Etsy’s TeamMIDS we have several cute things in clay:

Below are Blue Kitty Miniature’s ghostly glowing figures!
store link: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5725162

Below is Sandy Copeland’s peeping ghost from one of her fantastic enchanted wood tables!

store link: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6177061

Below is Dollhouse Kitchen’s glowing Jack O’ Lanterns!
store link: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6537317

I also found a Victorian Dollhouse (sold in 2007 by Laurel Auction) that has glow in the dark trimming. For an even more spooky effect, on the home’s siding you could do a light colored crackle over top of black then fully paint the exterior with glow in the dark glaze. These type of paints tend to be translucent and will show the hue and texture below it.
Other ideas for adding a bit of glow to spooky accessories:

1) Use glow in the dark printed fabrics on your miniature bedding, drapes, or upholstery!
Here are a few links:
- Star pattern
http://www.promwishescatalog.com/prom/GlowintheDark-Gossamer.cfm
- Fairy Frost pattern
http://www.annsfabricsandcrafts.com/cgi-bin/Store/store.cgi?product=Fairyf&productid=CG0376_Glow&tracking5=froogle
- Glow in the dark fabric spray
http://www.lynchs.com/item--GlowInTheDarkFabricSpray--4568.html

2) Paint glow in the dark spider webs in the corners of your rooms or on table and counter tops!
3) Paint little skeletons with glowing paint and stick them in closets, under tables, or hanging from the rafters! Here is an example of one of those little Dollar Store skeletons turned into a creepy glowing Bridal doll. This was done by Leslie Sheperd.
This life sized skull display by Martha Steward could be easily translated into miniature. I really like how there are 3 distinct colors of bones: white, green, and black. With a thin layer of glowing acrylic, a little pile of bones would look outstandingly creepy on a buffet or dinner table or even tucked under a bed in your dollhouse.
4) Splash some glow in the dark paint on spooky plants, pots of soup, or on mirror surfaces! These ravenous Venus Flytraps are by Kate Lansing of Solet Luna.
Below are life sized glow in the dark cake plates that could easily be copied in miniature scale. Just glaze white dishes!
I also found glow in the dark tarot cards! You could print tiny black and white tarot cards and then glaze them with glow in the dark paint and some sparkles.
My first glow in the dark work: When I was little, I loved to write my name on everything… walls, bedspreads, my mom’s dog. I especially loved red lipstick. You can imagine the trouble I got into! Well, then I wised up and started using glow in the dark paint and lip gloss. I would go into my closet with a flashlight and doodle for hours. This continued until my dad decided to change the doors and add shelving in the closets. He could clearly see the texture of my work. After being severely reprimanded, I ended my graffiti days and moved onto other mediums.


Flash Text Generators at Layoutlab.com

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Cauldron Craft Studio News!!!

Hello out there!
I know it has been awhile since I posted here but I've started my first semester back to college since 2004... wow, I guess at 37 that makes me a non-traditional student now. I received my BA in Cultural Anthropology in '96, took an extended vacation in Alaska for 2 yrs, and then goofed around in a Comparative Religion Masters program for awhile. It seemed time to finally focus on a 'real job' . Therefore, I entered into a Mortuary Science Program (the reasoning behind this choice is another story). I'm now taking 5 classes and also doing an introductory internship with roations once a week. It has been fascinating but I had forgotten what exam weeks feel like emotionally and physically. I came out of it very satisfied and I think I actually over studied!

This last month has not seen me blogging at all and my miniature making was stiffled a bit. I have new listings in my etsy store but not nearly the amount of things for October that I wished to. Still, I have managed to participate in the artist groups I am a member of. Highlights of September at Cauldron Craft Miniatures:

1) I participated in the 1st Annual EtsyDarkTeam Halloween Scavenger Hunt! Players were led from one darkly spooky Etsy shop to the next by following the little ghosties.
It began this morning, Oct 3rd, at 10am and is already over with 14 winners randomly matched to one of the lovely donated dark art prizes. There were hundreds of dollars worth of handmade goodies by the Team's very talented members. The event was a great success and hosted by the hardworking Room3Designs, whose work can be found at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5866511 Yay Go Dark TEAM!!!

2) I made and sold several miniature magical scroll and parchment sets. When I create paper related accessories like books, maps, posters, and photograph collections, I tend to make several sets within a similiar theme. No 2 are ever alike though and even if I receive commission requests based upon someone seeing a previous item, I always tell them that each piece is intentionally different and unique. Here are a few examples from September:



3) I joined AIM, Artists In Miniatures, a group run by and for dollhouse miniature artists. If you are interested in reading more about the group go to their main site: http://www.artisansinminiature.com/index.html

I've really enjoyed reading their online FREE zine in the past and am very honored to be included in its pages this month! The October issue is packed with goulishly delightful Halloween and spooky miniatures by so many talented artists! For some reason however, I was inspired to write about one of my other passions: the Western world's fascination with ancient Egypt. Beginning on page 20, you will find my article "An Intriguing Theme, Egyptian Revival Style". There I discuss my own first attempts to make miniatures with an Egyptian flair and also the historical development of the movement in art and design from the Colonial period on. Follow the link: http://www.artisansinminiature.com/issue10.html


4) I bought many wonderful miniature goodies from my beloved Etsy TeamMIDS! All in the name of shopping for Christmas (yeah right!). My mom and I share our toys and dolls so it really is in all honesty shopping for me too. A few examples of my treasure trove:
Above is the cutest little hornet's nest from PeachBlossomHill: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7945829

Above is my new darling fairy toilet, complete with an organic tp dispenser and sprinkles inside (what was that fey eating?). Made by the creative and very nice fairyfurnishings at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7725354

Above is my new Fairyring Cake made by the star mini baker Blue Kitty Miniatures at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5725162
5) I'm also participating and donating to the so cool Mrs. B, the Pagan Soccer Mom here on blogger who is hosting the amazing 30 Days of Halloween! All the creepy crafts, spooky stories, and shocking recipes you could imagine. She has cooked up quite the stew of contests and other activities... jump on your broom and fly on over there to see what its all about! http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/ My items will be featured on:
Skull brooch - October 11
Mini Ouija board and crystal ball - Oct. 16
Mini coffin shelf - Oct. 21
Witchy spoon - Oct. 23



6) Finally, I participated in the Etsy Dark Team's shop swap and had 2 fantastic partners! The whole affair was so much fun and really challenging artistically. These lovely ladies and their works will be featured in upcoming blog articles here!
For beautiful vintage spooky assemblage work and fashion, Kristy from Gypsy Eye Studio at:
For frightfully altered dolls and fashion, Mrs. Evils of My Pretty Zombie at:

They both liked my artistic style but requested something beyond my usual 1:12 scale miniatures for their swap gift. I ended up making an altered art 'Cemetery Journal' and a playscale sized Zombie Baby Bed for spooky Barbies!


As you can see, it has been a VERY BUSY month! Now onto Halloween!


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