Miniature town, Otterville

Otterville is underway! I thought I would share some progress here on my blog. This project is meant to be a relaxed form of creating for me, where I can let loose and be okay with small mistakes. When I work on my French cottage I am very diligent and will remake things if needed, which can be intense.

The plan with Otterville is to keep on adding boxes as I go, but I did want to start with the town's center, which is a courtyard. I have a massive collection of cardboard boxes in my basement that I use for selling used full-scale items on eBay. They sure have been coming in handy for this project. The number one rule for creating Otterville is to use what I have on hand. If I do have to buy supplies they have to be very affordable.  I need to be extra creative to make things from scratch. This would be a really fun project to make with the grandkids or kids of your own. You could fill your town with any little make believe animals you want. 

I grew up loving otter’s and lived in a place that used to have them, until “progress” reared its ugly head and motor boats/jet skis created pollution and took away the serenity of sailboats and clear water.

Otters are such playful animals and are very smart. Sea otters can form social groups of up to a few dozen. Other breads of otters often engage in group social behaviors like playing in the snow and wrestling each other in the water. This behavior not only creates bonds among the animals, it also allows young otters to learn and practice skills needed for hunting and survival.

Ollie the otter's dream has been coming to fruition as we have been very busy building Otterville so he can have some company. But other animals are always welcome in this town. There is already a platypus ready to move in!

I started with his room box and hot glued it onto a long piece of thick cardboard that will hold the other boxes for the town center. I took a shoe box and cut the sides away from the lid to make faux house fronts.

I have a few boxes of scrap wood and have finally been using it up. Window holes were cut out and then framed then I added the window panes. I taped clear film in from behind and hot glued a curtain on the inside.

After the faux doors were glued on with a trim around them, I also added trim around the windows. I painted the windows and doors then applied molding paste to make a stucco effect. In my mini builds I usually use spackle but that requires a few layers and lots of sanding. This product was something I used to use on my mixed media art and is a great solution for quick and easy stucco in miniature. It dries kind of rubbery and takes paint really well. It's also very light weight.

I printed out the stone floor. I was very tempted to make cobblestone with paper clay but then reminded myself to 'keep it simple'. If I change my mind, I can always go back and make 3-D stonework. 

I built a patio with steps from my wood scraps and also made a balcony with steps. I still need to add the railings. I imagine twinkling lights along the bottom of the balcony and around the post! I also want to add lights inside the buildings.

There is a small town in Skye, Scotland that I visited named, Portree that has colorful buildings along the water edge and it left an impression which inspired the colorful buildings. This was out of my comfort zone because I prefer to create a romantic sullen mood and am not used to such bright colors! But it's been fun switching things up!

Clyde sells rocks, which otters love to play with and collect.

I still have much to do including some building details and festive courtyard decorations. Coming up with the town's characters has been SO much fun! I look forward to sharing their story with you here on my blog. I am also selling my handmade mini otters and other animals as I continue. A complete otter family has already sold and they are getting a house of their own! If you are interested in having mini otters or other animals of your own just email me at auraleakrieger@gmail.com.

Chat again soon…

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Building a dollhouse

Hello! I am sharing another update on my French cottage build. This 1:12 scale house was built from scratch based on my own design. I reached a milestone this weekend when I finally made all of the windows and installed them. Michael’s Craft store had a clearance on their craft wood last year and I quickly bought up a bunch for these windows. The planks have been waiting a long time to take shape!

I was debating having my friend, Jeff Winkle-3D master, print up some handles for me but I was eager to wrap up the windows this past weekend. If you are curious about 3D and Laser printing he has ongoing tutorials in American Miniaturist 227-229.

Every so often I look through my stash of beads and jewelry findings to remind myself what I have. I am so happy I did this just a week before because I remembered these interesting metal links. With a little TLC they became perfect handles!

Using jewel pliers, I carefully bent one end (with the hole) then grabbed the neck of the long piece right beside the flat hole and bent it. Then I snipped off the other end. After some sanding with a metal file, they were perfect! I envisioned them covered in paint like old handles may be in an older home.

The stores don’t carry Plexiglass or acrylic sheets anymore (seems most things are only online these days) so I used a 50% off coupon at Joann’s and got an inexpensive poster frame for $8! The acrylic inside the frame was even better than the sheets I used to buy. It was thinner and much softer to cut.

 

Each window hole was a little different so the windows were made carefully to fit. I just had to do a little sanding in the window holes and then fill in cracks with watered down spackle in a squeeze bottle.

I bypassed making them working windows because this project is a moment in time. It won’t change with the seasons, it will always be early summer. The resident is an elderly man so he likes his bedroom and bathroom cozy. But he does open the kitchen window for some fresh air. His strong-willed cat (boss of the house) enjoys this because he can pop out for some sunbathing. Being a big-boy the pot needs to move so he can fit on the narrow sill. I will be adding spilled dirt and a plant in the fallen pot and a plant in the other pot. Cat by Heart Felt Canine.

  

I must say I really love all the cracks and chips that are on the walls inside. This piece is taking shape and adding the windows really gave it life! I hope you all are well and having fun creating!

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