Hello and Welcome

Good evening from rainy England.

My Name is Kim and I have long been fascinated by miniatures, how such dainty versions of ordinary objects take on an almost magical cuteness. In case anyone is wondering, I turned 30 last year.

I have made miniatures before a few years ago and enjoyed swapping with other UK based mini-ists, however ill health meant I left the group to concentrate on getting better. Several years and two major surgeries later I am back in fighting form and wanting to get back to my love of miniatures, so as part of my 2013 goals is to make minis once more. Even at my sickest I never stopped reading mini-blogs and later pinning images that inspired me, and to help me get back into the fold I am starting this blog for interaction with other people who share my interests.

Living in a small house space is in short supply, another reason that minis are a great hobby, room boxes need never take up that much space. And materials tend to go quite a long way when you make tiny things. I did start a scratch built house with basement all those years ago but I discovered that I didn't want to do whole period houses, furnished with low end purchased pieces. I have no interest in doing a mini bathroom.

I would rather concentrate my efforts on a few various room boxes in a mix of styles/themes and make as much as possible myself,swap with others and buy only metal and glass items which I can not work with. I want to concentrate on learning new techniques to create ageing and wear and on making really high quality pieces which I can then swap with some of the bloggers whose work I adore and broaden my collection. Techniques such as mold-making and casting are also fascinating and I can't wait to try them. Some day I hope to buy a kiln and learn to work with fired ceramics and glass (lamp work), but that will have to wait till I get my financial footing back and a more dedicated workspace.

My room boxes will be - in no particular order and often simultaneously

• A witches house, her name will be Belinda. Or at least the working part of the house, again, a witches bathroom doesn't interest me, or her kitchen. I want to see all her books and jars of potion ingredients, cauldron and black cat.
• A shabby chic teashop/bakery with a gift shop This will eventually be two boxes one above the other but will inhabit one box until it expands.
• Some kind of antiquarians office/library full of books and artifacts, no specific period and will be filled with various curiosities. Everything from artifacts from fantasy realms such as Tolkien (OH is a big fan) through to a miniature versions of the mars curiosity rover.

Of course this being the first ever post on the blog only a few early and/or very dedicated readers will ever see it, once I have some actual posts for people to see then I will start being more public about it.

So that dear readers is quite the treatise.

Step 1 will be workspace, turning my former computer desk (I always use my laptop on the sofa now) into a working area, and as funds allow, adding storage drawers below (hello IKEA) and boxes on shelves above for my most used tools and materials. Large fabric yardage and rarely used items will have a shelf upstairs.

And in case you were wondering about the kitten at the top? I hate blog posts without pictures and since I had nothing relevant I played it safe with our youngest cat as a kitten. Her name is Astrilde and she is now 6. She is the sweetest bundle of love you will ever meet. You will meet the others in later posts.

Till next time
Kim