A Taste of Halloween....
Not Very long ago, Dear Readers, I bought a bunch of little kits from Robin Betterley Miniatures. Specifically, a whole bunch of her Teeny Weeny Secret Books. They are hollow "books" which pull out and have tiny scenes inside them. Many of them are based on a Holiday Theme, and as we are approaching the Halloween Season, indeed we could even be already In the Halloween Season, I decided to put together one of these tiny projects. You can see above the beginnings of construction. In theory it is very simple and straight forward to make. A box like a drawer slides into a "case" which has the book cover information applied. I only made a half dozen mistakes in the initial assembly. Clearly I wasn't paying attention to which side of what went with what side of whatever! Eventually, after some serious un-gluing and doing over, I got it right!
I painted it a burnt sienna color
and then applied the decorative printed papers.
First the cover art.
And then the interior art.
This angle shows the left hand side...
And then the right hand side.
Please ignore the lumber "scrap yard" in the back-ground!
The kit comes with all the little "twiddley bits" to make the interior scene...
including a cutout of a Witch's silhouette.
But I thought it needed something more....
So I added an old Crone....
And gave her glitter eyes...
Which do shine in the right light!
I might have gotten a bit carried away...
I wanted the cauldron to sit on glowing coals....
(More glitter in red and copper.... but so hard to photograph!)
And a crooked stick for stirring the Brew....
And smoke rising from the pot....
(My own additions.... not included in the kit.)
Can you see it in this picture?
Or here...?
The brew is green and overflowing
and has copper glitter mixed in too...
Here I am gluing the Crone in place.
The space is really very small...
so I had to carve off part of the Kit Witch...
I had to glue her to the back side...
(I am not sure she wants any part of this toxic brew!)
So I still had room for the pumpkins.....
I don't know why...
but I wanted one of them to still be on the vine...
I had to keep checking to see that it would fit inside the cover....
And see if we can see the glitter...
And with the pumpkins inside too....
It is full to the brim!
I have nothing more to add, Dear Readers,
Except to say that this is a Little Taste of Autumn....
And to wonder what you've got "cooking"?
que bueno, me encanta!
ReplyDeleteMe gustan mucho los libros que "esconden secretos" y tu mini libro...me encanta! Has hecho un bonito trabajo y más siendo tan diminuto!!
ReplyDeleteBesos.
Oh my dear, you do have to have your own stamp on things. I totally approve - it makes it ok for you to work with kits which somebody else put together. (I love the book cover - it's nicely authentic.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Mom
I already commented, and somehow Blogger dropped it.
ReplyDeleteDang!
I was telling you it's ok to use kits someone else put together, particularly if you make your own particularly personal changes & additions. which of course you would do!
Much love,
Mom
cute little project !
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of these kits, Betsy, so thank you for showing them. These boxes are lovely for making in miniature, especially for special occasions, as Halloween is. Both, inner and outer art are gorgeous, but I can imagine so well that you had to add more of the inner side, the cauldron and the witches, this box just asked for it ;O)! And you succeeded, the whole is just perfect now! I had to look very well to the pictures but I can see it all, so detailed, your additions are great work!
ReplyDeleteStay safe, take care, dear Betsy!
Have a nice weekend.
Hugs, Ilona
This is so original! Thanks for opening my eyes. Never heard about these kits. Teeny tiny witchy items always appeal to me.
ReplyDeleteHugs, Drora
What a fun project - although I know well from my own experience that such small projects which appear to be made in a wink of an eye are more time consuming than most people would expect. But the result is totally worth it - and what I like best about it is the personal touches you've added. This way even a kit being sold many times becomes a unique and stunning ooak. The addition of another witch is so you and really, the cauldron is terrific! And most of all the fire under it... WOW! Believe me, the glitter brings the effect you hoped for even at the pictures.
ReplyDeleteAnd it made me smile to see the tiny pumpkins - this brought back some memories. Back when I had my Etsy shop I sold many of my tiny Halloween scenes which had many jack-o-lanterns on it made from tiny beads like yours (and yes, they had faces)... oh, how I hated to attach the stems (aka tiny bits of green wire) to them. This caused many, many curses in Old Babylonic back then... *grin*
Wonderful work and a stunning project - and it sounds very promising to me that you've bought a bunch of these secret mini books... (starts-hoping-for-a-Christmassy-one). And it's good to see you preparing for "H"... and no, I'm not going to mention "C"... and not at all "CC"... never... although this could be easy this year, don't you think so too? I foresee fabulous castle rock work as the background with this year's stitching projects being hung on the walls as well as the map and the personal scenes of your family life... and in the foreground a parade of tiny secret books... but wait... the year is not over yet... who knows what wonders we can still expect from you that should find their place on CC... ;O)
Hugs
Birgit
A fun project. So tiny and so beautiful.
ReplyDelete.. nothing quite like 'if all else fails read the instructions' - that is how I tend to work to! Never mind the un- and re-gluing. The result is fabulous! I did not know of Robin Betterley's work.. now I have to go check it out.
ReplyDeleteAnna X