What Is in My Witch's Hutch...

Creativity feeds creativity. This week I've been working on two short stories for various anthologies. They've been challenging to write, as they don't involve the characters I know best, Kiki and Cara Mia. Several times, I've had to step back and take a macro view.

I ask myself these questions:

* Did I start this story in the right place?
* Have I done the right amount of description, but not too much?
* Is my research accurate?
* Does the story move along at a good pace?
* Is there a satisfying resolution at the end?

Typically, I would take a long walk on the beach and think all this over. However, after reviewing the Xrays of my right foot, doctors have advised me to walk as little as possible.

Instead, I've used crafting as a way to disengage. And it's possible, entirely possible that I've gone too far! Chris and I decided that for our second Dollhouse Decor & More book, we'd focus on Halloween. Miniaturists LOVE witches' cabinets. (Go to Etsy or Pinterest and you'll see there are tons of them for sale.) I decided to tackle my own version. Of course, buying the stuff to fill it would have been easy, but that was beside the point. I also didn't want it to be too cute. I wanted to straddle a line between gothic and fun.

I'll post a list of everything in the cabinet on my Facebook page, http://www.Facebook.com/JoannaCampbellSlan

Crafting with Wine Bottle Corks

I love recycling nearly as much as I do crafting. I especially enjoy turning trash into treasure, which was the inspiration for my Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery Series. (You can read the first one in the series--Tear Down and Die--absolutely free on a number of platforms. Check it out at https://booklaunch.io/edit/558056e0c6a3572315c53553 or click on TDD )

Wine corks are a fun item to use for crafts. I've made several things from them, including a large trivet. For this, I arranged the corks in a pleasing design, hot glued them together and finally, I added twine around the outer edge.

Recently I had occasion to use corks in my miniatures. I had an idea for how to make a tiny vial of test tubes of blood for my witch's kitchen. However, the vials needed stoppers. I cut a cork into small pieces, sanded them, and plugged the vials. (They're filled with red nail polish!)

That set me thinking. I had a lot of cork left over. Blood would need to be mopped up, right? In fact, if you were cooking with it, surely you would have a bloody handprint or two.

I upended a cork. Using a Sharpie marker, I drew a hand on the end. It was only a rough silhouette, but that was plenty for my purposes. Using a craft knife, I carefully cut around the hand. Next I tested my stamp by dipping it in acrylic paint and stamping on paper. Okay, the cuts needed a bit of work. I trimmed them with the knife again and double-checked my work. Finally, I cut a small piece of paper napkin, using a high-quality napkin without any raised design to interfere with my impression.

And here's the final bloody handprint on the towel.

Have you ever used corks to craft with? What did you make? What do you think of my bloody scene?

4 Terrific Sources for Ideas

By Joanna Campbell Slan


People often ask, "Where do you get your ideas?" and the answer is...everywhere. But I thought I'd share a few of my favorite resources:

1. Walks -- I'm a huge fan of walking without headphones or music. The silence gives me a great chance to think. More importantly, I often hear the "voices" of characters in my head. Or I'll see someone or something that sparks ideas. Here's an example, I found a scuffed up piece of glass stuck in the dirt. I dug it out. The coloration reminded me of an old shop window. From that I made Odd Bob's Antiques.

In the door on the right, you can see the piece of glass that started all this rolling. I embedded the glass between two pieces of foam core board. The frame is cut out of drink coasters.

2. Memories-- Thinking of old shops reminded me of the year we lived in England. The streets feeding into Covent Garden were full of poky little stores. The dust and traffic guaranteed that windows were dusty. Yes, I thought, that's how Odd Bob's would look.

3. Challenges -- My pal, Christine Verstraete, and I call ourselves Two Mad Miniaturists. We're working on a new book of tutorials, especially for Halloween. She suggested that I try my hand at a bookend, as that's a new trend (or the revision of an old one) in miniatures. I looked up the size on a cool website called www.dimensionsinfo,com and started building Bob's.

4. Brainstorming -- Chris has been telling me about all the cute things she's crafting, and I didn't want to duplicate her efforts, so I decided to go darker. Last night before bed I brainstormed a list of horrific items. Today, I built a miniature guillotine, only 1 1/2 inches high. I also created a cobra in a basket, and a set of horns on a plaque. I'd already made a gold casket, and I sculpted a dis-embodied hand, too. 

The guillotine can barely be seen on the left, bloody blade and all. The cobra in a basket is next to the guillotine. The plaque with horns is on the left, second shelf, and so is the gold casket. You can't see the hand I made. Hmmmm....maybe I should put it somewhere else?

The piece isn't perfect yet. I need to rearrange the shelves, attach the lights, and create the roof. But it's definitely coming along. 

What sorts of horror-ific props should I add to the outside of Odd Bob's? I'm curious to see what you suggest!

Let's Get Caught Up

It's been years--maybe even nearly a decade--since Deb Baker and I (Joanna) had a hallway conversation that led to the inception of Killer Hobbies. Wow. How time flies. I took a long vacation and now I'm back, along with my friend, Christine Verstraete.

Together we've formed Two Mad Miniaturists. We've just released our first miniature tutorial book, Dollhouse Decor & More, with 62 cool projects.

If you like crafts, you have to love miniatures, because you can exercise all your craft muscles. Today for example, I concentrated on paper arts, cutting, assembling, and painting various small accessories for the Victorian room box I'm constructing out of garbage.

My trashy Victorian roombox.

Yes, you read that right. Garbage. As in, trash. I try to recycle, upcycle, and reuse anything I can put my hands on.

Here's a partial list:
* The bed is cardboard stacked and glued together.
* The headboard is a mixture of toilet paper and glue, covered with tissue paper.
* The chair is an empty toilet paper roll.
* The plant, lower right, is the plastic trim from sushi.
* The throw at the foot of the bed was a washcloth I found in the street.
* The curtain rod is a wire clothes hanger.
* The leaded glass windows are the bottom of a fig newton container.
* The dresser is an empty box that makeup came in.
* The mirror started with a jump ring I found in the street.
* The purple flowers are dried ones from a real floral arrangement.

So I hope you'll tune in on Mondays to see what I concoct over the weekend. It isn't always pretty, but I hope you'll find it entertaining.

See you next week--

Joanna