Updated information at bottom-A give away commences, and two more magic Harry Potter miniatures are done!

Super super busy around here now that school's out,  but I've been trying my best to get things done around everything else.

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Let me post pictures of the new minis I've made recently, both one of a kind-when they're gone...they are GONE :)

Professor Trelawney's fortune telling table:

And Professor Sprout's Herbology Cabinet with magical plants of all kinds:

Both available here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/19thDayMiniatures?ref=si_shop

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Blog Giveaway Information~~~~~
And now for the giveaway information, which I know is very late.  Sorry about that!  I plan on making 3 individual mandrake plants like the ones on the top of this cabinet for the giveaway.  I haven't made them yet but I will.  If you'd like to join this giveaway, click on the link to my etsy store right above this message.  Leave me a message with your blog username and please make sure you have joined my friends list on this blog.  Anyone who is not a member will be disqualified.  This is open to the general public with no previous store purchase needed.  I'll post the mandrakes when I make them, and first place winner will have first choice of them.  Second place winner will get second choice, and third place winner will get the last available mandrake plant.  These will be dollhouse scale, 1/12 scale.  The mini will stand no more than 2 inches tall.  Drop in an join the giveaway in my etsy store!  Use the contact the seller button on the side of the screen.  Good luck everyone!  Hugs-Tara, 19th Day Minis

*  I think it will run for 2 weeks, so I'll be taking names in my shop until June 12th.

~~~~Please click this link and pop into my store to let me know you're joining the giveaway if you do wish to join the giveaway so I don't have to go hunting for you later should you be one of the winners!  Thank you, this will save me time and trouble later :)  If you don't do this you probably won't be entered in the drawing! I could get busy and miss someone accidentally -
http://www.etsy.com/shop/19thDayMiniatures

Blog Giveaway Winners Announced :) 19th Day Minis 2nd blog giveaway is over!

Hello all, as you know every 50 new followers we host a blog giveaway!  This time around we had a customer only giveaway for those people who have supported Sherry and I during the time we have had our etsy.com shop open:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/tarayvonne?ref=si_shop by making purchases from our store which enables us to keep up our favorite hobby!

Next time will be for everyone!  Tell a friend to follow us here on this blog and hurry along our next giveaway :)  Each new follower who joins pushes the next giveaway time closer and closer :)  We love you guys and can't wait to give you more goodies!  

Anyways, I put names in a hat and had my daughter draw names to be completely fair and unbiased.  I have some good friends I have made along the way here and there are so many of you by now that I couldn't in good conscience draw myself so I had my little girl do it :)  She's 9 so she was very excited she was the one picking who won :)  Nothing keeps you completely honest like your child there watching you!  

Well anyway, my husband was at work and I couldn't wait to see who won out of all my dear buddies :)  

The first name she drew was...Michelle from Kentucky!  Congrats Michelle!  Michelle chose the largest blue candy shelf as her prize :)  She is a new customer who recently ordered a selection of individual Honeydukes candies from us to add in to her Honeydukes she's making :)  We'd love to see it when you get finished Michelle!

The second name she drew was Zepha from Illinois!  Congrats Zepha!  She chose the second pink candy shelf for her Honeydukes she's making :)  Zepha is the proud owner of a 19th Day Minis collection including the Red Queen Trolley and the first Honeydukes Trolley I made with the witch on it that everyone loved so much :)  Thanks Zepha!  Enjoy your new prize :)

The third name she drew was Benedetta from Italy!  Benedetta has won the last available item which was the small lolly display table.  Benedetta owns the Alice in Wonderland Tree I made recently along with several other 19th Day Minis items :)  Thank you Benedetta!  I hope you like your lolly display table when you see it in person :)  

We appreciate all of you and I am so sorry I couldn't have gifts for everyone who entered!  I wish you all could have won!  Thanks to all who did enter and please remember there will be more giveaways in the future with new prizes to be won :)  Keep entering to win and next time it could be you!  AND, next time will be for everyone who follows this blog so keep checking in :)

Hugs!  ~Tara, 19th Day Minis   

         

Dollhouse Miniature Coraline-Themed Christmas Tree in Progress and updates on the Giveaway

I have been hard at work making the next tree which is a Coraline theme tree.  This tree may also be spoken for, I'll let you know when I get it closer to done whether my new client has truly decided to buy this.  The last Honeydukes tree is indeed sold, currently on layaway in my store.  Thank you for inquiring, but it did sell.  Sorry!  Perhaps one day I'll get around to another version of a Honeydukes tree :)  I'm trying to keep these all OOAK so if someone should order one when I'm ready in the future it will have to be a little different :)  I have another Harry Potter tree custom order so I'll post updates as I make the new one of those :)  Anyways, I'll show you what I have done to this one I'm making now.  The circus mouse on top of the tree is not quite finished yet, I still have to make him arms and a hat.  Small sculpts like this are always a challenge!  He is one inch tall, yikes!  Try making clay button eyes with four holes THAT small, not easy to do!  I still have a ton of work to do on this one, I'll update it one more time when I finish it completely :)  Here's what I have so far:

What I have on here:  circus mouse, button key, spools of thread, growing plants like calla lilies and other flowers (Coraline loves to garden), spider ornament (the other mother turns into a spider creature), a dragonfly which is an exact copy of Coraline's hair clip and dragonflies crop up over the course of the movie, stars like the ones on her sweater the other mother makes her, the red ball on top with the star on it was one of the ghost children's eyes, big frothy whips of cotton candy that are quite pretty in person (during the mouse circus these were shot out of a cannon),  prettily painted frames with pictures of Coraline and the other mother in them, and a variety of other bulb ornaments in shades that suit the look of the tree.  And as I said before, the tree itself is indigo blue and sparkly which doesn't show up on the pictures well :(  I'm having a terrible time taking pictures right now because of a foggy camera lens (humidity is thick here right now).  I plan on making the other Mother's needle hand climbing the side of the tree before I'm all done.  At one point during the movie the hand is snapped off her body and comes after Coraline, hehe.  It crawls along like a spider on it's fingertips.  It seems fitting it should be climbing on this tree :) 

The tree skirt matches the other mother because she turns into a spider chick :)  And the ruffle perfectly matches the color of the tree, indigo blue.

      Foggy pics, ugh :(  Stupid humidity!  It's so bad here right now I can't remember it being this bad for years.

The base will have a variety of things like the "little me" Coraline doll with button eyes, a welcome home cake like the other mother makes for her, and a variety of other things specific to the movie :)  Should be cute when done.  Like I said, I'll post pics when it's all finished up.  

Now for the giveaway news:

The giveaway will commence tomorrow so please submit your name here at my etsy store IF you have previously bought something from our store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/tarayvonne?ref=si_shop  you will be eligible!  I'm very sorry but this time around is only for loyal customers who have supported Sherry and I's work.  Next time we have a giveaway it will be for everyone but this time it's only for customers of our store.  We wanted to do something nice for those people who have supported and loved our work and made it possible for us to keep doing this :)  You mean the world to us!  Thank you! 

Please submit your name to the above web address if you have not done so previously, the names entry closes at 12 noon US central time tomorrow.  Thank you and good luck! 

Hugs-Tara, 19th Day Minis

Loyal customer giveaway items done, giveaway to commence! And more trees coming up :)

We're at 100 followers now, and Sherry and I couldn't be more pleased.  We adore you guys and you make us feel like we've really accomplished something every time we get rave reviews from a happy customer :)  What could be better than making someone happy?  Nothing! 

And so this time around, we are doing a customer only giveaway for the people who have supported our work and helped us keep creating :)  Next time will be for everyone who follows this blog, like last time was.  If you have previously made a purchase from our Etsy store:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/tarayvonne?ref=si_shop, please go there and leave me a message to let me know you're joining the giveaway drawing.  Several of you already have, and I know who you are so no need to do it again.  But for those of you who haven't done so yet, you have a week from today to turn your name in.  When we have all the names turned in that we're going to get, I will put all of the names in a hat and have my husband draw to be fair to everyone. 

How it will go is this:  First name drawn will have first choice of the three items I have made for the drawing.  Which are, 1 large Honeydukes or regular candy store shelf, 1 smaller Honeydukes or regular candy shop shelf, and one small lolly display table.  Each item gets smaller, so I expect the first place winner would choose the largest item but you never know.  First place winner gets first pick, second place winner gets second.  The third place winner gets the last item available, but hey, free is free right?  Free loot is nice no matter how big it is :)  Anyway, I guess I can put them up now for all to see since they are done and the drawing will be held in a week :)

First and largest shelf is 4 inches wide:

Side view of how the shelf brackets on both shelves are made.

And now the second smaller shelf (2 5/8 inches wide):

I just noticed I have some of the dark blue glitter from one of my next projects on some of the candy on here.  It brushes off!

And this is the small lolly display table which is the last giveaway item. 

And now my next two projects are a light pink Honeydukes-themed tree which I have a very basic start on:

nothing on it but garland right now

and a Coraline-themed tree which is also only painted indigo blue and sparkled and has a bright yellowish-green garland that I am very excited about :)  Should be fun.  Here's the movie trailer for anyone who may not have seen it (first go shut off my blog's music player on the right side):

And now the colors of the tree might be better understood :)

Very hard to see but it's indigo blue with sparkles, reminds me of Coraline's hair.  This project was inspired by some of my customer's (and friends) love of Coraline.  Also by my love of Neil Gaiman's books which are amazing in a style uniquely his own :)  I highly suggest Neverwhere for adults and the Graveyard Book for older kids.  Coraline for the younger ones.

     

Finally finished on my sold Alice in Wonderland Tree

I am so proud of this, I think it may be one of the best things I've ever done :)  I got a little carried away on what I did with it, and put a ton of work into it.  Days of work, matter of fact.  But it's very true to the movie scenery, and for anyone who doesn't know here is the video of the movie trailer (first go shut off my blog's music player):

This is a darker, Tim Burton-style Alice movie that really grew on me.  At first I wasn't sure about it, but it seriously grew on me when I rewatched it.  It's not perfect, but the scenery is amazing!  The characters are amazing and memorable.  And so I based my tree around the scenery of this movie.  Here's what I came up with and I think it's fabulous!

 

The brightly-colored mushrooms are done in the style of the movie mushrooms.  They are all copies of ones I saw by freezing the footage on the movie at certain parts.  As you can see in one of the pictures, my rocking horsefly turned out well :)  It's very small, 3/4 an inch tall and the wings are real wings.  I have coated them for protection and dusted them with sparkle powder for shine.  The teapot I sculpted turned out cute, and I decided it looked better without a fussy paint job.  It looks very good in person and yes it is pouring tea down into the teacup on the lower branch :)  My pictures never do anything I make justice and I know my customer who purchased this will be thrilled when she sees it in person.  The talking rose didn't turn out looking good on the pictures but it's much better in person.  It just didn't photograph well at all :(  Most of this looks 100 percent better in person, I so wish I could show you all!  It's so lovely here in front of me!

I have to take a short break from minis so I can make a family member some of his favorite soap and then I will be finishing up my give away shelves.  I'll be back with updates and then we'll have our customer drawing for the free Honeydukes items :)   

A Return to an Older Favorite, Wonderland Miniatures-and a Giveaway for Loyal Customers!

I had such a good time with my Harry Potter Christmas tree that it made me think of what fun it would be to do my own version of an Alice in Wonderland tree.  I'm sure you all remember 19th Day Minis co-creator Sherry's version which was such a cutie little thing full of happy flower faces and topped with her darling hatter's hat?  It was adorable!  Here it is:

I pretty much wanted to do the opposite end of the spectrum and do the more gothic look for my own tree more in keeping with the look of the scenery of the movie (Tim Burton's Wonderland) which to me was a sort of decaying garden scenery with a run down gothic look that was gorgeous and very memorable.  The large beautiful mushrooms, the broken down windmill in the tea party scene, the goth looking talking roses, etc.  I still put it in occasionally just to look at the gorgeous background and not really to pay attention to the story anymore.  Just to look at the brilliance of the landscape design.  Tim did a great job making a world that was quite intriguing and different than our own.  I love it when that happens, when a movie can take you somewhere totally unique right out of someones imagination.    And this one was brilliantly done. 

So I wanted nothing more than to try to capture that look and time period in my own tree.  A decaying elegance...victorian, mossy, an aging garden lost in time.  That's what I want to capture.  I have a very basic start on it with an unfinished clay base.  Soon it will be filled with some of those very well done mushrooms, grasses made of German glitter grass which is lovely, ferns, an upelkuchen cake, a drink me bottle which I have to order in so it may be a week or so, a rocking horsefly, and one carefully done rose with a face against the gothic fence panel I added on the side of the tree.  So anyway, I guess I can just show you what little I have done so far so you can see.  I did distress finish several of the ornaments I put on to look aged and mossy :

Like I said, lots to do yet.

Not quite sure what I'll do for a spectacular topper but I'm thinking possibly a tottering tower of tea pots and cups/saucers or something like that.  I'll have to be careful about how it looks so I don't overdo it.  I guess we'll see.

I have more ornaments to make of course but I will be careful to keep them darker and gothic in nature.  I don't want any more color than this in the tree itself.  The colors will come in from the natural materials and plants.  And of course those gorgeous mushrooms!

Sample:

I'm sure you get the idea. 

Also, welcome to my 100th follower!  Yay!  I adore you guys, you keep me going :)  My excitement over making something is much higher because I know other people care and like to see them.  It's wonderful when something turns out well and everyone likes it :)  It really makes me happy and makes me feel like I accomplished something. 

Now that we have 100 followers, we'll have our first customer only giveaway.  I'll take a break from this tree and finish up those items :)  It shouldn't take long.  I'll get back with you all about what I've got done and let you know what's going on.  Ok my dears, have a lovely weekend!

   

When we reach 100 followers, we'll have a customer giveaway :)

Don't forget to go to my store if you have previously made a purchase in my etsy.com store and leave me a message letting me know you are entering our 100 follower celebration giveaway! We are fast approaching 100 followers and this means we will be having a drawing for some sweet shop items. And also, we are asking for customer photos of a project or scene that you have made featuring at least one item that either Sherry or I have made. It's quite alright if your project is a work in progress and not complete! That is understandable :) We just want to feature customer photos on our giveaway celebration blog post. You can choose to remain nameless as well, or not, but we just want pictures of your projects! Again, contact me here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/tarayvonne

and I wil give you my private email adress for you to send in your photos and tell us at that time if you would like to be nameless or if you'd like your username or nickname (not real name) on the blog under your photos. Welcome to my new followers! We're very glad to have you here :)

We want to feature you on our blogs! All it takes is one single purchase from 19th day minis to do both of these things! Free stuff and a blog feature that gets viewed all over the world? How cool is that?! Please contact me to join!

I'm so sorry to all of you out there who cannot join the giveaway! This one in particular is for customers who have supported our art and helped in our sales. There will be others, (like our last giveaway at 50 followers) that will be for everyone who follows this blog. I won't forget you dears! But I wanted to do something special for those who collect Sherry and I's work. They have made it possible for us to continue doing what we love and we want to give back to those people this time around. Hopefully you all can understand and bear with us until the next at 150 followers when it will be anybody's drawing!

I'll give you a sneak peak at what I've been making, although the pictures are terrible because they've been shot just after a rain outside on a few of them.  The shelves will be filled with candy when I'm done.  The side table is basically done, it just needs a couple little things adjusted for me to be happy with it. 

Another thing, this giveaway will be even more fun because 1st place winner gets first choice of the 3 items made, they get to pick which item they want.  Second place winner gets to pick of the last two items, and the third place winner gets the last item available, sorry but hey it's still free!  Here's what I'm making:

The larger of the two shelves, far from done.

Yucky pictures from our horrible weather, but I'm sure you can tell what I mean.

Here's the second shelf, smaller:

Pretty in pink :)

Candy swirl brackets.

And here's the little side table with lollipop display:

The base needs a little work yet.  It will end up a little different but you get the idea.

If you have made a purchase from our store, please contact me here to join the giveaway:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/tarayvonne

leave me a message letting me know you're signing up!