I LOVE it!

....with those words, my customer announced the arrival of her ruins and sent this photo to me:
As an artist, there is no greater praise than to see your creation enjoyed!

Less than 45 Days til Christmas!

I went to my first Christmas show this week. Decorated theme Christmas trees everywhere you looked, two string orchestras ....one with a lady singing Christmas carols, a bit of wine and cheese, hot chocolate or coffee and the aisles overflowing with shopping carts loaded high with purchases. I read in the paper that this season will be the worst for retailers but at the show, you could have fooled me!

These are some photos of the Biltmore House in North Carolina, USA featuring Christmas traditions and folklore of France, Germany, India, Egypt and Italy with elements of the Vanderbilt family’s own Christmas traditions mixed in. On the front lawn, a 55-foot Norway spruce is lit by 45,000 tiny white lights.
Designed by Richard Morris Hunt, America’s largest home is a 250-room French Renaissance chateau, exhibiting the Vanderbilt family’s original collection of furnishings, art and antiques. The Biltmore estate encompasses more than 8,000 acres including renowned gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture.

The Biltmore modern-day Christmas celebration is modeled on the first 1895 Christmas, with an elaborately decorated, 34-foot tall Fraser Fir dominating the Banquet Hall.
How super would that be to miniaturize!

Endings and New Beginnings

My ruined castle is finally finished!


I hope I've given it enough of a damp and dank atmosphere to make Dracula feel at home.


....and the roombox give-away has closed as well. Congratulations go out to Aukje Tibbe in Holland who makes incredible needle point! We've talked about certain things for her roombox ....like steampunk! I had secretly hoped she might go for it and she did.
I am totally excited to start! So stay tuned.

A CSI Moment

This photo probably makes you think of Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffin show. What a nice old lady, you're thinking right?

Her name was Frances Glessner Lee and back during the 1940s she created a series of crime scene roomboxes for the Baltimore Maryland police force. They must have been extremely authentic because the dioramas were used to teach inexperienced police officers about different types of death scenes, as well as encourage them to use careful observation to spot "indirect" evidence for crime reconstruction.



You can read all about her amazing miniaturist career here

New WIP....in time for Halloween and a Give-away Announcement

Some time ago I had a customer ask me to make a roombox for her 1:12 Dracula rising from his castle. She also wanted a graveyard to show off some additional ghosties & skeletons. I immediately thought about how perfect a ruined castle would be....
Although there's not much more to do, other than make the interior of the ruins look just that little bit more dark and dank & give the graveyard grounds a spookier look, I doubt I'll have it ready this month but....
.... since Halloween is almost upon us, I thought I'd show you some more Work In Progress photos:






I didn't want Dracula feeling lonely so I added 3 little friends flying close to the stone walls....


So now for my give-away news..... unfortunately this is for facebook followers only:
I intend having a give-away of a 7"x9" roombox when I reach 100 likes on my OrrLakeMiniatures facebook page (winner to pay shipping).
Every person following gets one entry so you'd have a 1in100 chance of winning.

click here to like my OrrLakeMinis page

WIP #2 - Finished

At first glance, it seems fairly traditional, right?Well turn it around & look from the other side.... The doll that you see here wigged & dressed was done by my 11 year old granddaughter, Jade!
I'd taken her with me to attend 2 workshops in Quebec this summer. Being a very artistic person, I thought that not only would she enjoy them but we'd have great fun along the drive ...and we did!
Natalie came over from France (www.provenceminiatures.com) and Helena from Belgium (www.dollsinminiature.com) to lead the workshops. I didn't sit by Jade; in fact I left her on her own to do or not, or even how she wanted to work in the workshops.

So the doll and the Halloween goodies on the table inside the pumpkin are all her own doing! All I've done is put everything together and made the surround. Plexiglas cover and the wooden frame aren't shown as I just couldn't wait to show photos ...I am just so proud of my Jade!!!!

And here you can have a look inside the pumpkin where the Trick Or Treat table sits loaded down with goodies

(the white line in the photo is an edge of the glass cover)
Oh by all means, take a closer look at all the little fimo goodies that Jade made... there's a tea service, a haunted gingerbread house, decorated cupcakes in the 2 boxes at the back, a Halloween cake, a jack-o-lantern filled with treats; she made the jar lids and painted all the faces on the goodies.
The spoon in the bead jar and the Spooky Times newspaper sitting on the top step were a prezzie from Ketsia (another workshop participant) and the eyeballs (in the glass jar) were made by Louise Belair at whose house we stayed.The laughing pumpkin is another bead but Jade chose logo at the back and painted the table
Love you, Jade! So so proud!!!

WIP #1 - finished

well... finished except I still have to make a frame & build a plexiglass cover for it. But since Christel sent me that very nice comment I didn't want to keep her waiting.
May I present to you, Haggartha & her new home:

That's right Christel! Bet you never thought to see her ugly puss again did you?
You see everyone, I bought Haggartha from Cristel Hutson at least a year ago.
I can see having spent the past year in a dark cupboard has done nothing for her attitude (Haggartha's not Christel's LOL).Here she is offering up an lovely red apple but look closely at the firepit.... Our delightful hag uses bones to fuel her fire.and if you're really curious about where that bone supply comes from, just look at the other side of her house. Either big rats gnaw on bones or it's Hagartha's delivery boy.


My clay is still drying; I've no idea how long it will actually take and while it did crackle, I think I should have mixed it more and had it smoother.
Here you can see the steps leading down into Haggartha's basement abode. I think the clay could also have done with more acrylic paint to give it a deeper darker brown but live and learn!Since my gourd came with no attached stem I added my own. What you see here is a rubberized "plant stem" that was once part of a Halloween wreath. I added the spider (it's that dark blob). The snake is one of those soft squishy toys that one of the boys left for their Nana to use (they just don't remember it that way); I had my choice of the soft green one you see hanging, a bright pink one or a soft purple one.
I'm not sure if I'll keep the gecko at the base of the stem.

So there you have it!
One less WIP, approximately 3 million left to do!