A Beautiful Wedding Cake

A beautiful 1:12 scale wedding cake, by BlueKittyMiniatures

1:144 Scale Wedding Scene

This is a 1:144 scale wedding scene, by WeeFolkandFantasy.

This is the first of a few (late, sorry) Valentine's Day entries for today!

1:12 Scale Chef

This is a 1:12 scale Chef doll, by Sandy Copeland.

The Amazing Chef George is renowned in the dollhouse world for his extaordinary culinary skills.From baking miniature cupcakes, to preparing dinner for the Queen, he is a genius in the kitchen.He is handmade in 1/12th scale, and was sculpted without molds.Chef George stands 5 1/2" tall, (14 cm), a little over 5 3/4" with his hat. He wears chef pants, a scarf tied at the neck and black boots.His hand sewn chef's jacket is a miniature 'extra-large' size.(He has been known to sample some of his treats.)

Used Chamber Pot

I made this chamber pot from polymer clay.

Link'n Logs

Here is a Link'n Logs set up for your dollhouse!

Going Away

I'm going away over the weekend, so there won't be any updates for a while. If any of you would like to help me though, I'm *always* after more people to send me photos! Or to volunteer their stuff from their blog. Or to 'stumble' or digg fluffybricks.

Also I'd love to announce a new website (totally unaffiliated with this one, other than I'm running them both), Not Negative News. A friend and I were fed up with the fact that the media is always negative, so we decided to make a positive news site and community around that. Dollhouse news could count as positive! We only put it up the other day, so we're really looking for our first members and submitters and commenters. :)

I'll make an update sometime today, and then you won't 'see' me until about Tuesday.

Did you see my post with the pictures to use in your blog if you're featured on Fluffybricks? I wasn't sure if anyone saw them.

Cabbages With Teeth

These awesome cabbages are made by Debbie.

Stargazing Plants

These were made by Debbie. The stargazers were made for her Diagon Alley scene!

Three Dolls

I love it when there are photos showing the comparative size of the doll with someone's hand. These ones are by Sherri Colvin

1:12 Scale Leprechaun Doll

Timothy O'Hearn, the miniature leprechaun, brings good luck wherever he travels.

He is handmade in 1/12th scale, and was sculpted without molds.

He stands 5 3/4" tall, (14.6 cm), to the top of his Irish Derby.

His hand sewn clothes include a suede green jacket,
with gold buttons and orange trim.
His coattails are lined in orange,
making him easy to spot running through the woods...

The vest features tiny gold buttons.
His hat is trimmed in orange, white, and green, with a tassel.

Although his hands and face are finely detailed,
he doesn't look his age of 200!
He comes with a shamrock, but he seems to have misplaced his pot of gold.

Faux Stained Glass Miniature Lamp

This is a 12 volt miniature lamp by AKminis. The lamp is about 2 1/4 " tall, and she did the 'glass' using her own 'faux stained glass' technique.

CPSIA, Dolls, and Miniatures.

Today, Wednesday, is a blogathon day for the people protesting the CPSIA laws.
Many people are not aware of them, and so that's what the blog posts are for. If you'd like to join us, please do so.

The CPSIA laws are laws that are a reaction to the lead poisoning problems with toys coming from China. The laws say that all things that are going to children 12 and under must be tested for lead.

Sounds good, right?

Except it also requires testing of handmade items, made from safe products, in American homes. This will kill the handmade toy industry. Many crafters are getting scared, and are stopping making any dolls or teddies or children's clothes or anything like that, until this mess is sorted out.

They made their items out of non lead based products. And since things are one of a kind, or they're a tiny 'company' (think, one woman in her sewing room going to fairs or selling online) how could they afford it? If it's one of a kind, they can't possibly get everything tested because it changes every time!

The law also covers older toys at present. Though various officials people on Etsy have talked to have said that they will use 'common sense', (for example, antique dolls that cost $500 most people would understand they're for adult collectors, not children) but the fear is still there. So people are stopping selling.

Books will apparently have to be pulled from shelves.
The fear is that you won't be able to buy children's clothes from opportunity shops anymore.

This law is only in the USA, but it would affect me, and English people, because I do like getting stuff online from the US, and I'm afraid that it'll be picked up here as a good idea.

I'm also concerned for miniatures, because I don't know how strict or stupid the lawmakers will be. The makers of collectors dolls (crafty looking soft ones) are afraid right now because they make dolls... that the law will consider it for children. Would the law also look at 'dollhouse' and instantly think 'for children' as well? We all know that assumptions happen.

Will online marketplaces such as Etsy take it upon themselves to check for licenses? So... even if it ISNT for children, or it's actually an Australian or English company, will they take it off their site so that they don't potentially get sued? (like they remove Hello Kitty things if they're reported)

Even if it's not true and the law isn't that stupid to compare our miniatures with children's play things, will people think it IS true and pull their products from the internet? As can be seen from my Etsy thread asking if I have to worry, some people are thinking that dollhouse miniatures should be pulled due to CPSIA laws- will all people assume that, even if it's not true, as apparently it's not? (read the second page of the thread.) You should see how many people are crying because they are closing their stores on Etsy.

If I made some chunkier dollhouse food for children (and labelled it for say, 5 years and over, adult supervision required, etc etc, potential choking hazard) and sold it online to an American, would that be illegal? And that's a thought, will you no longer be allowed to buy hand made children's dollhouse food? I've seen some great ones for barbie doll houses!

YES the lead in the chinese toys was tragic. But this law is really going to hurt crafters and small businesses around the world.

Historical Dolls

Miniaturists have all sorts of different tastes for the figures in their houses, and there's something to suit everyone! These dolls are made of the old 'dolly' pegs, rather than the porcelain or clay that many dollhouse dolls are made of. They're made by 'Uneekdolldesigns'

Being Featured/Meme

Have you been featured on Fluffy Bricks? Want to show off about that?
Here's two images that you could use to tell your blog or website that you have been featured- you can attach a link to your fluffybricks submission behind it, or put a link below!




Also, FluffyBricks now has its own Meme Award.
All Fluffybricks followers can use this award- It works like a normal meme. You post the picture up on your site, and then nominate 5 people who you think deserve a mention for their beautiful or strange miniatures- things that would be worthy of Fluffy Bricks. Then they save the award, and nominate it to 5 more people. The nominations can be from anywhere. Websites, Livejournal, Blogger, Wordpress, a miniatures forum, anywhere! You could nominate their whole blog, or individual pictures! And you have a choice of two Meme images.


I'd like to nominate- Everyone who has been accepted on Fluffy Bricks so far!

If you have suggestions of different images I could use, or you wouldn't mind me using one of your images, please, suggest it!

Easter Is Coming!

Easter is coming, or so the shops say! These hot cross buns are by Sarah Maloney.

Firefox trouble

Sorry, Firefox is 'being a vixen' today.
It's not letting me open more than one window, and apparently, tabs and popups, including the one that comes up when you put photos into blogspot, are right out.

I'll get the next lot of photos up as soon as I can.

I've got a 'links post' below, perhaps some of you might be interested in participating?

I've added to the events and the media on the 'miniature penfriends' part of the site- give it a look!

Here's a question for you all- What first inspired you to be interested in miniatures?

(best answers will go on the website!)

If anyone has Australian themed dollhouse items, I'd love it if you'd submit photos of them!

Miniature Blue Dart Frog

This tiny blue dart frog is sculpted by WhimsyCottageMinis and peeking out from his terra cotta planter home. He is surrounded by lush greenery and mini 'plants'. The backdrop is a jungle motif to complete the look.

The vivarium is 2" long by 1" high by 3/4" deep.

Link Post Time

I'm now on twitter. So tweet with me if you'd like! I'd love more miniaturist tweeters.

This is a links post. What I'd like you to do is... link away! Link to interesting posts you have just made, your websites, things you recommend, etc.

It doesn't have to be miniatures related.

In return I'd love it if you'd consider mentioning this blog in your own blog or on any other websites you know of. If you can't, don't worry about it, you can still link.

Titania's Palace

Danish children's book author Shane Brox guides you through one of the most beautiful dollhouse palaces in the world; Titania's Palace. It was the name given to an intricately constructed edifice created by British peer Sir Nevile Wilkinson as a dwelling place for the Fairy Queen Titania, inspired by his small daughter Guendolen's imagination. The Palace, which includes more than 3,000 pieces of miniature furniture and treasures, took almost 30 years to complete and was officially inaugurated by Queen Mary in 1922. It was exhibited throughout the world and raised the equivalent of 60 million danish kroner for the benefit of deprived and handicapped children, before it was sold by Guendolen in the late 60's. As her father, she had a good heart too and the entire sales of the palace was donated to a children's home. Today the palace can be visited at Egeskov castle in Denmark.

The String Family

I thought I'd write something a little different today. Scroll down for pictures, and of course as usual, any submissions are gratefully received.

When most people talk about books that got them into dollhouses, they talk about The Borrowers. I liked several other books as well. I'm not sure if they got me into dollhouses, or if I liked them because I was already inclining in that direction of interest.

The book series I want to talk about today is "The String Family" by Patricia Cleveland-Peck. I wish I could find a copy in a library in this city. When I have a little extra money I might try and find it online, someone must have it. I'm not sure how many books were in the series, I think there were at least three of them: The String Family, The String Family at Home and The String Family in Summer. There may have been more that I can't remember or find a mention of online.

I was constantly borrowing these books from my school library.

The String Family was about a family of people made from string. When they were 'alive' they were plaited into the shape of a person. When they were observed, they could unravel themselves. I think one of the characters had a job tying up vegetables in the garden. I know that for a while they lived in a potting shed, but I think there was also a time that they lived behind a couch. The daughter's name was Flax.

They had various adventures.

It was quite creative, and it caught my imagination. I was more interested in them than The Borrowers for a while, because The String Family was aimed at younger people than The Borrowers, and also... I thought that I didn't need to play Borrowers, because that would defeat the whole idea of them being real. Playing Borrowers involved me leaving stuff out for them to find and take away, or imagining them within the walls. The String Family, on the other hand, I felt in control of.


In the back of one of the books were instructions on how to make a String Person. So I made six of them, and they lived in one of my drawers. While cleaning my room the other day (pulling everything out of the room) I found them. And you bet I kept them. And I discovered that at the bottom of the drawer I'd chalked 'room divisions' into it. So, lines, dividing up the areas of their home. I made them seats out of corks with a few sewing pins in it as a back support, and the cushion was a scrap of fabric. They'd 'eat' seeds that I'd 'steal' from my pet rat's food bin.

I made them a chest of drawers from three matchboxes stuck together. The handles were beads on a wire, and I covered the chest of drawers with a piece of fabric.

The String Family could talk to one certain human girl.

I just managed to find an actual summary!

"The miniature world of the String family - Mr and Mrs String, their children, Hemp, Flax, Twine and baby Skein all come alive and share their adventures with Sally in Miss Floribunda's cottage in the country. Sally is the only human child to be introduced to the String family and friends..."

I'd love to see these books reprinted so that more children can find something else miniature related!

Once I even got my whole class to make string people.