dearlybelovedminiatures

[dearlybelovedminiatures]

Ever hear of the BTK killer? Or the suicide forest in Japan? I know, dark subjects but full of inspiration for my little horror house!

Initially I had decided that the house was set in the woods of the suicide forest in Japan. I had recently seen a movie that struck my imagination and thought that this was a house set in a dimension of sorts within the forest and the person who lived there was the keeper of the forest. I found photos of the woods and printed them to scale on photo paper and inset them into the windows to create the illusion of being in the woods. On the second level, that got covered by the red velvet drapes for the Black Lodge, but one window remained in the kitchen downstairs above the kitchen sink.

I gave myself permission to play with themes and decided to work on a mish mash of my favorite dark and horror related themes. In the bathroom I wallpapered a feature wall with real fish leather and hung a vintage Dracula “painting”. Next to the bathtub was a tray of candles with dripping wax that I made from polymer clay and black thread.

On the kitchen counter sat a framed photo of Laura Palmer and beside it was a single slice of cherry pie made from polymer clay accompanied by a “damn fine cup of coffee”.

As the kitchen scene spread into the open living room, there was an open copy of the Secret Diary of Laura Palmer with the spine bent, laying face down on the day bed in the window. The window frame adorned with moss to give the sense of the forest growing into the house. A floor to ceiling black bookcase sat mostly still empty but next to it was an ash tray that I made from sewing notions, a toothpick and gold paint. Inside were cigarette butts made from paper, the filters coloured with pencil crayon and some real red lipstick smeared onto them. I even burned the ends with a lighter for the most real effect.

My favorite and so far, the creepiest part was a shoe box that I made from thick brown paper. This box was/is to represent the trophy box of the BTK killer. I was able to find a trove of “selfies” he had taken, and some letters written. I printed the photos on photo paper and the letters on basic printer paper and cut them out to lay in a stack in the box. The final two items were a pair of silk stockings with a black seam, fashioned from tulle and black thread and lastly, I made a tiny red ball gag that draped over and out of the box creating the illusion of them being pulled out for a look through.

I know this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and that is ok! It is what kept me feeling creative and busy during the pandemic and then became the beginnings of a full-time hobby.

Next time I post, I will share a different project and process 😊

#miniatures #polymer clay #diy craft #cute art

[dearlybelovedminiatures]

#miniatures #diy craft #polymer clay

[dearlybelovedminiatures]

#miniatures #diy craft

[dearlybelovedminiatures]

#polymer clay #miniatures #twin peaks

[dearlybelovedminiatures]

Dearly Beloved

We are gathered here today...

In 2020 while everyone was baking sour dough, working on alcoholism, and questioning the meaning of life, I was buying and putting together miniature kits.

As a truly obsessive person, everything I try and enjoy becomes my main focal point and the object of my future. This means that I rabbit holed on Instagram and TikTok looking for different miniature artists and finding them… lots of them.

This opened me up to the thought of “going pro” even though I had only put together 3 kits and painted a few rocks. What I saw on social media made me think that maybe I could do this too!

I saw people 3D printing tiny high heels all the way to bedroom furniture which of course made me go out and get a 3D printer. I saw people making hyper realistic looking food from polymer clay, so I got every colour and tool imaginable for this process. I saw different ways of aging dollhouses and furniture to give life to the stories being told within the walls of these amazing creations and slowly built up and entire room worth of craft supplies, tools, kits, and components.

After buying and building a few more kits to help me with confidence and process, I purchased a 3-level dollhouse kit and used it as my first “off roading” experience. I used the bones of it but worked on changing the story and played with clay for making dishes, using some of my own fabrics for upholstery, making some fruit canes and changing some of the colours. Because this was only a 1:24 scale project it didn’t take as long as I thought and so I moved on to another one. This time using more of a horror theme because it was summer, and Halloween is always on my mind in the summer!

It was a mishmash of themes and my story changed constantly but it was really fun! I opted for a Twin Peaks/Black Lodge theme on the top floor. I made a table of donuts, both pots and cups of coffee, and of course some cherry pie. I played with my colour printer to make a scaled version of the Secret Diary of Laura Palmer and had a skilled friend 3D print me a scaled version of Venus De Medici.

In further posts I will talk about my inspirations for the lower level of that project, how it has expanded since and the other projects that I have started in 1:12 scale.

#miniatures #polymer clay #diy craft #cute art #twin peaks #black lodge