More Mini Goodies...

More mini goodies loaded into my Etsy Shop
I think I have gone through all of my inventory and uploaded all of the bedding I have. Below are a few things just listed.
Click here to take a peek:)

New Duvet and Pillows/Pillow Cover

Shabby Chic Set with Red and Pink Stripes

Vintage Style Apron

Bed Throws in beautiful Colors

Wonderful hand painted miniature floor cloths in lots of colors

Click here to take a peek

Miniature Stained Glass Frames...

Now that I have exhausted myself from woodwork. My next "big" goal is to create miniature stain glass panels in different sizes. Each panel will have an aged frame and rusted handle for hanging. I been playing around with some ideas and I think it's going to work out nicely. I'm just waiting on hobby lobby to send the  supplies (their delivery is super slow).

I'm also moving on the miniature wing chairs again. I did a test of about 4 or 5 chairs and I am happy to say that all the chairs sold! I will be Upcycling wing chairs to give them a more updated look.

Here's a peek:

Stain Glass
Below is the glass panel tester. I did not have the correct product for the color, so you can see it's super messy. I just wanted to see if the idea would work. Once the "how to" was figured out, I went ahead and ordered the correct color products. I'm really excited about these, as I have bee collecting wonderful stain glass patterns and can see the results in my head.

Upcycled Wing Chairs
I will be creating many of these wonderful wing chairs in beautiful fabrics that I have been collecting. Each chair will come with a pillow also.

Feeling excited :)

Update: Can you believe that hobby lobby sent me the wrong markers :(.  I'll be heading to Michaels tomorrow. I so want to start working on this project!!!!

Tester for Stain Glass Panels

Will be Upcycling this style of wing chair
using different fabrics

Facebook Blues...

I started a facebook page for fabulouslyflawedminiatures to post photos of my miniature work. I did not want to bombard my family and friends with a bunch of miniatures on my personal page. I thought I would just create a new page and who ever might be interested in seeing my work, can join in. I had no idea there was a miniature community lurking around facebook.

As time went on my "friends" began to grow and a great support system was born.

Little did I know that I would become dependent on "my facebook page" and "my friends". I enjoyed, meeting new people from all over the world, commenting on great miniature work, sharing ideas in the mini world and, of course, seeing everyone's dog (mine too). 

But this past Monday was a different day. I did what I normally do in the morning, check my blog, Etsy and facebook, but something strange happened. I could no longer access my account. I had no idea what was going on!

After a few minutes of panic, I took a deep breath and reread the pop up box. I would have to convert my wonderful, supportive facebook page to a business page. There was nothing I could do, as they locked me out! My first thought was, "my friends". 

I followed the procedure and within minutes, I had a new "business" site. I immediately noticed that

all of my "friends" were MIA! Where did they go? I had over 1,000 (and growing daily) wonderful (I love miniatures too) friends. As I starting looking around I noticed that my friends are now "likes". I can't see or comment on their work, previous likes and comments are gone, I am no longer part of any group…everything GONE! I tried everything to get them back…it was done :(.

I started to feel sorry for myself. I worked hard on that facebook page and people took notice!

In my frustration, I began to do a little research as to what was going on, here's what I found out. You can't have a business set up as a private (profile) page, it's against their (facebook) rules. It was never my intention to make my facebook page a business site, but I guess with the the name, post with a link to my etsy shop, posting everyday, likes and traffic, it fell into the deep hole and I got punished. 

I thought facebook was all about connections…well it is, but not for free anymore. 

As I began to think about this, it started making sense to me. Why should facebook allow me to use their site for free marketing??? Digging deeper into my research, that is exactly what they are thinking. Hence, the "switch". Now, in order for my wonderful, supportive friends to see my postings, I'm gonna have to pay for it. I can still post, but it's only going to reach a small percentage of my friends and I mean a very small percentage.

That problem can be fixed if I pay. So here's what I understand, based on what I have researched: 

(example of idea only)

Say...

I pay facebook $20.00 for a site promotion - I will get 18-71 likes.

I pay facebook 10.00 for a post promotion - my post (only that post) will be seen by 500-1500 people…

let's just say both of these will last for 5 days.  52 x 20 = 1, 040.00 per year or half that for the second senario. 

ARE THEY CRAZY!

I don't care about random likes, I don't want my post going out to Neverland to people who could care less about dollhouse miniatures. I want "my" friends back!

I understand the business side of this. I'm okay with paying $5.00 per month for a certain amount of weekly or monthly post to "my" friends. But I am not Walmart or Burger King!  I'm not looking for the type of marketing that facebook is forcing on a super small business like mine. I think they could have come up with something better.

I write this to share with my mini friends who may be unknowingly operating their facebook page as I unintentionally was. By the way, there was no warning or notice from facebook before they forced me to make the switch to a business page. It was just done.

Needless to say, I will be focusing more on my blog. I will continue to post on my new "business" facebook page. It will not be the same though, as I can no longer hang out with my friends. :(

I'm so glad I invested equal time in my blog, Pinterest, Instagram and Tweeter, fingers x'd that these other sites won't follow suit.

Feeling sad :(.

Working on...

I'm working on creating "faux" blanket stacks for your mini blanket chest and cabinets. I want to make sure that when they are folded, they are a bit less than 1 inch deep. My hopes are the create stacks of 3's in coordinating colors and sell them as a stack.
Still have a few adjustments to make on the size.
Here's a peek:

Faux blanket stacks for your mini blanket chest and cabinets.
Coming soon to fabulouslyflawedminiatures

Miniature Dollhouse Hand Painted Canvas Floor Cloths...

Wonderful Miniature Dollhouse Hand Painted Canvas Floor Cloths by fabulouslyflawedminiatures. Available at Etsy. 
Lots of colors, lots of sizes!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/FabulouslyFlawedMini

Hand Painted Canvas Floor Cloths
for your
Mini Home

Let's Go Shopping!...

Spent the last few days getting lots of new dollhouse miniatures up in my etsy shop. If you get a chance, stop by :).

More Vintage Hampers...

I decided to create a bunch of miniature dollhouse hampers in softer shades. Here's is the new group. Each hamper will be sold with a coordinating towel. I've started uploading new work and will get these up tomorrow. Fingers x'd that you like them…I made a bunch :0.

New Softer Shades
Vintage Style Hampers

This is the first group, a towel has been added and they are uploaded to Etsy

Mirrors and Upcycling...

I finished a few upcycled HofM projects that I started last week. The footstool and baby cradle are painted with Annie Sloan Old Ochard. I changed the fabric on the stool and, surprisingly decided not to distress it. The baby cradle now has a comfy mattress and pillow, along with a little distressing. I decided to make the half round table a woman's dressing table by adding a framed mirror and a redo to a side chair makes the set complete. I wish I had a few perfume bottles and pearl necklaces to dress it up…(another project :O).

I am totally obsessed with mirrors right now. I started working on a sofa mirror with a ledge a few days ago and got a chance to finish it today. I love it!  I'm always thinking of how to display accessories. Yep, you can add accessories to this mirror. I plan on making several of these in different colors. They will be a little smaller, as I could only find 1 1/2 inch square mirrors.

All of these items will be added to my Etsy shop next week.

Have a great weekend and Valentine's Day,
Anita

Shabby Bath Cabinet...

Just in time for mini spring cleaning. This shabby bath cabinet will get things in order. Painted in a beautiful faint aqua with a lined backing and plenty of shelves for your bath accessories. Rolled towels, glass jar with cotton balls and toilet paper included.
Coming soon to fabulouslyflawedminiatures Etsy.

Moving Along...

Slowly getting through the new wood work I am creating for the shop. Today I added the final touches to wall shelves, a pantry and decided on the accents for the blanket chest.
I still have quite a few wood items I am adding final touches to, but have decided finished or not, I will start photographing for Etsy next week.

New Wall Shelves

Dollhouse miniatures Pantry

Dollhouse miniature Blanket Chest

Lined interior of Blanket Chest

Old Kitchen Pantry...

I designed this one to look like it was purchased at a flea market and upcycled by its new owner.  It is painted in a pretty mustard color with slight distressing. I decided to use a window so that all your mini accessories will be on display. Coming soon to fabulouslyflawedminiatures Etsy.
*Accessories not included

Mustard Color Rustic Miniature Dollhouse Pantry

Wood Transfer for Dollhouse Miniatures Tutorial...

I want to share my wood transfer technique with you. I love the wood transfer look, but could never get it to turn out as sharp as I would like. This morning, I came up with an idea and thought I would give it a try. I have read and tried a bunch of online tutorials, but could never get the image to transfer the way I wanted. Today I added an extra step and it worked out nicely.

Wood Transfer
by
fabulouslyflawedminiatures

Here's what you need:
Freezer Paper (Plastic Coated)
Matte Mod Podge and Large Paint Brush
Printer Paper
Tape
Inkjet printer
Images (I used image from The Graphics Fairy)
Bass Wood

Step 1:
Tear off a piece of the freezer paper. Lay it on a flat surface, using a large paint brush, paint a thin layer of Mod Podge on the "shinny" side of the freezer paper.
This is the extra step I added to tutorials I have read. This step allows the ink to absorb, creating a sharper cleaner transfer.
Let it dry completely.

Freezer Paper from Grocery Store
Plastic Coated

º

Matte Mod  Podge

Paint a thin layer of Mod Podge to the shinny side of the freezer paper, let dry
This is my extra tip, it allows the ink to absorb instead to "sitting" on the paper.

As you can see, the print that has the dried mod podge is so much darker and sharper
than just printing on the freezer paper. 

Step 2:
Once it has dried, tape it to a sheet of printer paper. Make sure it is flat and all the corners have tape. I add tape to the sides, top and bottom also. Now it's ready for your images.

Step 3:
I use Photoshop to gather and size my images on a 8x10 canvas with 300 resolution. I usually reverse the images. A must if you are using letters or numbers.
I use images from The Graphics Fairy (click for website)

Step 4:
Put the taped freezer paper in your printer. (Make sure you test to see if the freezer paper goes up or down in your printer). Print your images.
*Forgot to reverse the "Bread" word :(

Images should print out dark and sharp

Step 5:
Apply a thin layer of mod podge to your wood (wait a few seconds) then lay the printed image (face down) on the wood. Tap it gently making sure not to move it. Once it seems secure, rub it gently.  Let it dry completely before removing.

Transfer on wood after a thin layer of mod podge applied to wood

Results:

Here is the final result after I played around with light sanding, chipping the wood around the edges, weathered and dark stain, and finally, a rusted handle for hanging.

Here are some other samples I tried. I plan on trying a matte spray on the wax paper instead of the
Mod Podge. Hopefully, it will help to get rid of the sticker look (as you will see below).
*I will update if it works better


Update: 
Tried with the Matte Spray. The print was light, fuzzy and wet. So I'm sticking with using the  Mod Podge on the shinny side of the freezer paper.

Transfer on wood with light coat of Mod Podge
(this is the one I used above)

Transfer on painted wood. I used Chalk Paint, let it dry, sand, then a light coat of Mod Podge
before the transfer. I'm going to play around with this one a little more. 

Update:
Today I hand tinted the bird. I am pretty happy with the results, but need more practice. I like this technique as I can visualize lots of ideas. With the pigs, I did some light sanding and layering of different stains I created. This gave the image a nice aged look. I am pleased with the results.

Hand Tinting on Wood

Stain layering to give an "aged" look

Enjoy!

Mini Company...

Your mini guest won't want to leave with this set up. This unit is painted in Annie Sloan Old Orchard Chalk Paint and it includes the welcome sign, cotton glass jar, towels, hand knitted blanket and baskets.  Add it to a guest bedroom or bath for instant charm.
Coming soon to fabulouslyflawedminiatures!

Dollhouse miniature Bed or Bath Pantry

New Pantry...

Just finished this new pantry. It is painted with Annie Sloan Pure White Chalk Paint and very lightly distressed. I think it is versatile, and can be used in any room to hold lots of fun accessories. The pantry comes with the "HOME" sign and two baskets lined in blue and white. Coming soon to fabulouslyflawedminiatures Etsy Shop.