The Making of a Miniature Pyramid Roombox

Earlier this year, I just decided to to do it. You know one of those 'its' you've been thinking about but just hadn't gotten around to for like two years. Well I finally did! The 'it' was an ancient Eyptian Pyramid Roombox in 1:12 scale. Then I had to get around to blogging about it. After an inquiry about the piece, I finally was motivated to write a bit.I've made several Egyptian dolllhouse miniatures ranging from sets of museum crates & archeology desks, to Revival style furniture, and even a tacky gift shop set. The style seems pretty popular maybe because there isn't a lot of it out there in the mini world (hint hint to mini makers) and Egyptian anything is so magical (ok, except the recent riots). Anyway, I always wondered what type of setting my customers put their Egyptian style minis in. I suppose a Victorian house could have such touches because the 'exotic' other was very influential in all of the Revival movments, including those of that period. I kept thinking though, that a fully Egyptian setting would be really interesting. I had been keeping a folder of ideas for awhile. Some of the pics include:I decided on making a pyramid shaped tomb with an open front. For your history buffs out there, my design is purely FANTASY and may have elements from different historical periods... honestly, I just totally made it up based on my own imaginings. I began drawing patterns on newspaper and cardboard and the project just went from there! It was built with a combination of foamcore, styrafoam, paper mache, sculpy clay, paperclay, and my own stucco mix. It's a very lightweight but sturdy piece. It measures 18" square at the base and is nearly 16 1/2" tall.

I made molds using polymer clay of some of my Egyptian trinket boxes and jewelry and then used these to stamp pieces for the decorative elements. I made little lotus bricks, statuary, and carved hieroglyphs on the walls like this.

There is a central ramp leading into the tomb and an upper shelf inside to put additional trinkets on as well as hang the removable curtain rod. I admit that I was inspired a bit by the Mummy movie with all the gold curtains.I wanted the tomb to look very ancient and a bit spooky. I thought someone could really have some fun with a Halloween scene in this. I kept all the colors very dusty and earth toned, like the paint had worn off centuries ago leaving just a bit of the gold. The details were inked in black and soot to bring them out, with a bit of dribbling here and there like some water damage had occured. Yes there is flooding in the deserts of Egypt. In fact, I just saw a show about the water table rising enough to worry Egyptian authorities about the base of the Sphinx. On to the little goodies I made to go inside the tomb. My tomb has not been raided. The female mummy still lies within its wraps and there are jars, tabulets, and a bit of treasure about. I made several things specifically to go with the tomb as a set for sale. I used genuine obsidian and African wood beads, little ankh charms, and a glass scarab bead.

Now, I did do a photoshoot of many of my favorite little Egyptian bits and baubles in the tomb just for my own satisfaction. Unlike the things in the above photos, these are not for sale. Yes I know much of it is not to scale either (someone emailed me about that) but these pics were just for fun... because it was shiny and I like hoards of treasure! I should totally do a pirate cave too on that note.

Anyway, while I mentioned that there are not so many dollhouse scale miniatures in Egyptian themes, I did find a few here and there. Berkpanda on flickr has an amazing Egyptian roombox and set of dolls in their stream of photos. I was unable to provide any pictures here due to copyright issues but definitely go see these! http://www.flickr.com/photos/berkpanda/508229234/in/photostream/

I also found this ancient Egyptian domestic home- so cool. Not sure of the scale but I think it's a smaller war game piece. It would be pretty easy to make something like this with an open back. Maybe a fountain in the front. http://www.greenscollectables.com/proddetail.asp?prod=N25

Miniature dealers who do have Egyptian decor can be found with a bit of digging. Here is a selection from The Wild Orchid at http://www.c-we.com/wild.orchid/egypt2.htm Not sure if these are artisan? Some of it looks similiar to the Aztec miniature catalogue but I still like it all. The tiny sphinx bookends available on the site are beautiful.

There is a set of very realistic Egyptian burial scene dioramas by 'hummeline' on flickr, taken at the Field Museum (where?). Go check out the whole stream at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hummeline/1806580167/in/photostream/Now there are a ton of Egyptian miniatures in smaller fantasy gaming scales! Below is a tomb set which has the block set in standard gaming piece movement squares. I really like the details and the paint job. The molds are available from Crocodile games and you can customize with infinite detail. This picture doesn't even do justice to the main website's examples. There are temple columns, fountains, statuary, etc at http://www.hirstarts.com/etombs/tombs7.html There are some very unique accessory pieces by Crocodile Games as well. "Their range of miniatures for their Wargods of Ægyptus wargame is based in a egyptian fantasy realm, so there are plenty of sources for inspiration!" I heartily agree. http://www.leadfigures.com/posts/tag/egyptian/

On ebay, Jason's Collectibles and Comics has a nice selection of resin terrain pieces. http://cgi.ebay.com/Miniature-Terrain-Egyptian-Temple-IWSEGY010-/110695823626?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c5fc390a

Feature Artist: Enchanticals Fantasy Miniatures

Today I will be introducing you to Marsha of Enchanticals (if you don’t already know her, she’s a delight!). I first ‘met’ Marsha on Etsy through Team MIDS (miniatures in dollhouse scales) and I also follow her work on flickr. She frequently submits her enchanting pieces (hence the shop name) in both my Spooky Dollhouse and Fantasy Miniature flickr groups. She was kind enough to answer a few questions about herself and her creative process.

Below is my favorite magical cabinet she has made so far. I love the tarot paper on the backboard!

Her shop: http://www.enchanticals.etsy.com/
Her blog: http://www.http//enchanticals.blogspot.com/

-Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a miniaturist, artist, writer, and poet. I am/was gifted with both a sense of wonder and curiosity, as well as a rich imagination that knows no bounds. My late parents encouraged and instilled in my sister and me a desire to learn all that we could from all sources available….the written, visual, spoke; to seek; to question; to think broadly and out of the box; to learn other cultures, customs, and make friends of every culture and creed; to create; be ourselves; think for ourselves, and, most of all, to imagine. For from imagination with action added to it for fuel, one can create boundlessly.

Here is one of Marsha's assemblage spell bottles:
My personality is a bit like yin and yang. I love nature, sunlight, sunny days, animals, flowers, meadows, butterflies (my Sacred Power Animal), and colors. But, my yin, so to speak, side, loves the night, the moon, grey overcast skies, rain, barren trees, melancholy, cold winds blowing, emptiness, fog, and mist. This yin yang personality of mine enhances what I create. When I am in a Yang mode, I create fairy, elemental, and the like creations and when Yin, I love to make spooky, dark, vampires, and etc.

Below are some of her nature inspired items.

-Please discuss your creative process.
As an artist, I create in various mediums. However, my preference and specialty are predominantly in 1:12th or miniature dollhouse scale…miniature items, but especially furniture, altered and/or made by me. I furnish them completely with one-of-a-kind, handmade, detailed, and realistic looking items made from nature and found objects.

There is no assembly line in my workshop. No elves either. For this reason, each piece is truly one-of a-kind. I keep no written “recipes” for the colors I use nor written instructions for any of the items I create. Each piece is from or includes nature or is created out of found objects I have available at the time. Thus, none of my finished pieces can be duplicated.

For each individual creation, I specifically write an original story entitled, “A Little Tale”. My little tales are fables, some with a moral, which either recount the personal life history of the previous “owner” of the piece of furniture or the origin, history or mystery surrounding the miniature item I created. My little tales are a way for me to bring my creations to life for the audience and also to draw them into and become part of, not only the items created, but also my enchanted little world. (Grim loves these little stories!)

Enchanticals is known for beautiful glass tipped wands, crystal balls, and potion bottles:


-How did you first become interested in miniatures?
I do not remember a time when I was not head over heels in love with miniatures and dolls. My late Mother loved and collected miniatures and, perhaps, this became imprinted on me.
Each creation is based upon a central theme or character and each altered found object created for that piece supports the main theme.

-What themes do you work in regularly?
My themes and characters for my creations run the gamut…from enchanted to fantasy to whimsy to fairytale to wizard to horror/spooky to realism. These themes do not have a season or Holiday associated with them; I create them year round. For example, spooky…Spooky is not just for Halloween, but rather exists in my enchanted world the entire year.

A spookier gray hutch:
-How do you define ‘spooky’? Do you make spooky or fantasy miniatures year round or just seasonally?
Speaking of “spooky”…my spooky creations are scary, sometimes a bit ghoulish, and may give you a bit of a chill. But, they are always infused with a dab and a dash of whimsy. My spooky is devoid of evil, harm, cruelty, repulsiveness, and hate to and for others. Spooky, to me, is fun fantasy.

Here are a few of her more chilling works:


-Do you have a dollhouse of your own and what do you like to collect?
Grim asked me to tell you about my dollhouse. Well, after three years I can finally talk about it and am ready, anxious, really, to finally buy a new one. Three years ago, when I was moving, I firmly decided that “I” was going to move my just completed, not yet furnished, dollhouse or rather French model’s atelier. I didn’t want the movers to damage it. Well, the oddest thing happened. I had the atelier firmly and tightly in my hands as I was walking to my car. All of a sudden, as if the element of wind decided to create a huge gust of wind (There was no wind.), my dollhouse flew out of my hands, went up in the air about 10’, and came crashing down on my pebble tek driveway. It shattered into a million tiny pieces. Nothing was left. I simply stood there and looked at it. (Grim throw hands up in horror and hides her face in misery) It was decorated with French blue and dove grey walls with white molding and molding embellishments, real wooden floors, a fireplace, glass windows, and tile. But, now I have three sketches ready for my new dollhouse and cannot wait to buy a new one and begin.
Marsha J. West

Links Marsha wishes to share:
http://www.hilarosenberg.com/
http://www.ravenrocksstudio.com/Home.html
http://www.alicemagazine.co.uk/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AFancifulTwist
http://www.griselda.com/

I would just like to thank Marsha for sharing her time and creativity with us!

Nature's Castles: Miniature Fantasy Homes by the Schramers

While surfing Etsy for hidden treasures, I typed in 'fairy' and dug through 20+ pages. Amid all the baby tutus and charm bracelets, I discovered this absolute wonder of a dollhouse in a shop called 'Sunflowerhouse'. I was in awe and keep looking at the pictures... the artist Debbie Schramer likes to go on nature walks and collect treasures with her husband Mike, who is also an artist. They have over the years collected a huge amount of drift wood and other earthly treasures. With all of this, they went to work building two of the most magnifiscent dollhouses I've ever seen. Although they are built in the spirit of the now popular organic 'fairy homes', these two pieces are much grander in scale and design. These are truly fairy castles and mansions!

The couple's websites:
www.artmajeur.com/debbieschramer
http://beautiful-art.blogspot.com/
http://www.michaelschramer.com/

THE FAIRY TREEHOUSE
About their Fairy Treehouse, Debbie writes:
"This is the most amazing, magical, intricate work of art. My husband and I created this house in 1995 when we lived in Washington state. We always have loved going for walks in the mountains and by the sea and have collected so many incredible materials in nature over the years. We've always wanted to build our own very different, unique house (to actually live in) so I think we put many of our dreams and ideas into this house (the first fairy house we made).

This house is 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. It has 14 rooms (all completely furnished with little chairs, beds, tables, etc., dishes, books, sculptures, paintings, brooms, shoes, etc., also made from nature). We have used everything in nature you can imagine.....driftwood, branches, roots, vines, twigs, leaves, moss, flowers, stones, shells, seaweed, kelp, leaf skeleton, wild grasses, herbs, pods, the list goes on. We gathered nearly all of the materials we've used in the house as well.

It took us 6 months to make this house; towards the end of creating it, we worked 12 hour days quite often. Our Fairy Treehouse was exhibited at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland in 1995 for a year and was chosen the 4th favorite work of art out of the 400 artworks in the museum's inagural exhibit.

There is an observatory at the very top with telescopes, a sculpturing table and clay, pots to plant flowers, and little chairs. There are stairways that wander all throughout the fairy treehouse; there are nearly hidden little rooms, balconies, windowboxes, sleeping hollows, garden rooms, little ladders leading to separate little overhanging rooms and just endless, amazing detail that captivates a person for hours... Endless surprises everywhere"

Additional pictures and purchase details available on Etsy at:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/51064598/the-fairy-treehouse

THE FAIRY CASTLE
Debbie says about the castle, "My husband and I made this fairy castle 6 years ago. It is made from all natural materials.....driftwood, branches, vines, twigs, leaves, moss, shells, stones, leaf skeleton, flowers, pods and just really everything in nature. We gathered nearly all of the materials ourselves.

It is 2 1/2 feet tall; there are wonderful stairways waundering all throughout the house that lead one on a magical journey to fairyland. Your imagination goes wild. Even after seeing this house millions of times, I never tire of spending time looking at it. It is truely amazing. There are little bedrooms with beds made from flowers and leaves, a living room with shelves of books, a chess set and little twig chairs. There is an art tower with a painting and sculpting studio and an art library. There's even a mud room with a sink and pots for planting little flowers. There's a bathroon, nearly hidden behind shelves of lotion bottles and perfumes. My favorite area though is the laundry room with it's ironing board and iron made form stems and pods. There's even a little wash tub and a package of (fairy) soap. A little mailbox is filled with letters and a newspaper. And there are three towers made of stones at the top of the fairy castle. One of the towers is atop a little hermitage cottage; one can barely see in through the door to the tiny furniture inside. There are tiny dishes, paintings, sculptures and other amazing detail, all created from nature"
Additional photos and retail details are available in their Etsy shop at:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/51061672/the-fairy-castle?ref=v1_other_2

I'm being followed by an Art Thief: Is she following you?

Hmm... that is selling well, people like that. Wow, it's sort of expensive and I could make that way cheaper. I'll just move this little piece here instead. Oh the original artist is offended? Hey I made this with my hand so it's handmade. Look angry miniature artists, you don't own the idea of a 'magical mandrake table' or other WITCHY concepts. I'm making money and you can't stop me!

Now I'm going to start following all of your blogs and mass advertising my shoddy knock off work and you can't stop me! You can't stop me haha! In fact, I'm going to advertise my work as original, ooak, and truly an expression of my own inner creativity...

Uh-hum... Most of us figure this out as children.

The picture above was taken and submitted to DeviantART by 'skullberries' at http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&q=dumb+girl#/d2m8k3z I give her credit, no matter how simple the idea is- because it's HERS! If I were to like this idea so much that I would take a picture of the word dumb tattooed on my own lip, I would be COPYING !!! Then if I were to try selling it on the very same sites she advertises on I'd have just the biggest pair of testicles EVER!

I know who you are.

In fact, we ALL know who you are.

I know how you have blatantly made poor quality copies of work belonging to other miniature artists in the Spooky & Fantasy genre.

I know that you have decided to follow my and many other miniature art blogs recently.

I know that you dress yourself up as a witch.

I am a Witch, lady... and I am pissed off. I do NOT appreciate you following my blog or pretending to be an original artist.

You have been warned many times in a friendly manner to stop copying other people's work. You have responded with nastiness and distain. You have NO INTEGRITY !!!

Just remember, whatever you do to others will come back to you, whether you call it Karma, Threefold Rule, or the Golden Rule. I support my community of miniature artists and original handmade art. You have lost your place in this and are a tainted HACK.

http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&q=art+theif#/d1b3otc

-An article on how to approach someone who has stolen your art:
http://news.deviantart.com/article/22971/

-Your full legal rights as an artist can be found in the BERNE CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF LITERARY AND ARTISTIC WORKS (Paris Text 1971)
http://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/overview.html

-10 Big Myths about Copyrights:
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

NOTICE !!!

I only personally follow blogs of original artists that I respect. Just because someone is following my blog, does not mean I support their work or want to be associated with them. As a collector and a creator myself, supporting the artistic community in all mediums is very important to me. I cannot stop someone from following my blog, stealing my pictures, or even physically copying my work. However, I can refuse to buy their work, follow their blog, and put the word out about them in my own artistic guilds and groups.

If you are visitng my blog as a shopper and collector, please consider the fine artists I have provided links for. Their work is a bit more expensive than mass produced items because they put so much time and thought into making them. Unique, One of a kind, Original

This actually means something.

My Gypsy Wagon Project Is Underway!

Confession 1: My art room is trashed again but I've been making minis like mad!
Confession 2: I've gained weight from sitting on my butt painting things or in front of the computer too much.
Congession 3: I bought a Tai Chi video and just need to do it.

Between my many other projects (Steampunk, Spooky, Alien) I've been working my way through my first Miniature Gypsy Wagon Project! I have several themes in mind but began with a Blue Celestial magic wares wagon. After much thought I will offer these custom wagons stocked with goods but without a driver or yoked animals.

Below are my first pictures of the Blue Celestial wagon. I began with a vintage wooden wagon kit that I greatly altered with wire, additional wood pieces, pressed aluminum to mimic carving, and found ojects and jewelry findins. After all the main components were in place, I spray painted it flat black. Then I gave it the basic acrylic blue, pale green, and a hint of lilac acrylic colors. This was then washed over with more blue and then drybrushed with the light green. Who knows what will happen next?

Here is the Snake Charmers Wagon still under construction. The cage will be removable so you can put whatever beastie in you want!

Creation out of chaos... hey I know where everything is!