Painting Lines with Shaky Hands: l have been painting and selling my work for over 20 yrs. Here is a tip one of my art teachers taught me a long time ago. How to get a steadier hand when painting detail lines is to take a piece of glass and acrylic paint and practice writing in cursive. Write your name or anything over and over till the brush starts to feel like you're writing with a pen. Once you get this, you will become a much more controlled painter for fine lines. It was one of my most valuable lessons learned. Hope it helps you also.

Cindy from Mi

Painting Lines with Shaky Hands: Before I got into miniatures, about a hundred years ago, I was a painter of large canvas. I did a bit of teaching as well. There are several parts to painting: the brain that sends the message, the body, and the brush. Is the brush the correct size for the job and is your medium mixed to the proper consistency? No lumps, smooth but not drippy?

Is the body relaxed? If your shoulders are hunched with effort, you have just cut off the message from the brain. Drop your painting arm straight down and move it in gentle circles to release tension. Roll your shoulders. If your arm is held tightly, you also cut the electrical impulse from the brain and you will be getting jogs and bumps. Make a practice line before doing the actual piece. Relax, this is fun.

Laurie Sisson

Painting Lines with Shaky Hands: One thing you might try when painting with a small brush is to anchor your pinky finger well on the table while you work. This keeps the rest of your hand steadier. When making stripes, I was taught to lay out the work so I can anchor the pinky along the edge of the table and it acts as a ruler. This works for large scale but I have never tried it for minis.

Jacqui in Hilo, HI

Wallpapering poster board:  It is more a less the method that Brooke Tucker teaches. I make paper templates of each wall, and then cut poster board to fit. I check the fit again, and then, using Yes glue, I wallpaper the poster board sections. I glue them on the walls with Yes glue too.

      This enables me to completely hide wiring. It is easy to match patterns from piece to piece so they line up perfectly. It makes it easy to get odd angles and corners. It also makes it easy to change the paper later if I want to. If your dollhouse is one of those thin wood kit houses, you will have the added benefit of thicker walls as a result, too.

Anne Gerdes

Thin walled DH kits... a remedy...If you find yourself stuck with a nicely designed DH kit made with lousy wood....

      Trace the pieces out onto better plywood and cut them out. . . follow directions and assemble the 'new' DH. Take your time, think about dimensions of your 'new' wood is thicker. Take more time and insure fit...

Tape it all together first.

Remember: You will be spending hundreds of hours on this project. Good solid thinking time with the basic model is time Very Well Spent!

Judie

Diamond Dust: Craft stores, (Michael's, A.C. Moore) sell diamond dust in small vials.  Several colors to choose from, as well as metallic.  I use it sprinkled on glue when I do decorated eggs.  Perhaps it would work for you lightly applied to the wet paint with a dry brush.  Or brush it on the ceiling after the paint has dried and lightly spray a clear sealer. Care is needed, this stuff is very powdery and clings to everything.

Yvone

Woodcraft catalogue with small bits and pieces of wood, some dollhouse kits, some furniture, some hardware. might be more convenient for some folks who can't easily get to miniature shop. Cherrytree- 1-800-848-4363 in Belmont, Ohio.  http://www.cherrytree-online.com

Kathleen Shiflett

Painting Lines with Shaky Hands: I was happy to see Mary Kinlock, the super flower artisan, write "Dip the pen  in the ink lightly and with a shaky hand draw stripes." I get all bent out of shape when I have to paint anything. Maybe the one thing I can do with a pen and ink is draw stripes on phalaenopsis orchids.What else can I paint with shaky hands?

And then shortly thereafter, Betty in New Jersey asks, serendipitously, "Is there anyone out there who can tell me how to keep the brush from shaking when painting tiny little lines or furniture trim?"

Wanna in El Paso

Painting Lines with Shaky Hands: What you need is a brace or bridge to keep your hand from shaking. The one that I have is for full size painting but works well with mini paintings too. Mine is 16" X 2" with a brace on each end that is 1/2" in front and slopes to 1" at the back edge. It looks like a long, crooked, short legged picnic table or something. Mine is clear acrylic so that I can see that I am not placing it on top of my work when I move it. You rest your palm or wrist on this bridge and you can work without touching your painting and with a steady hand. I'm studying my key board trying to figure out how to draw a picture of it but I think that would just confuse things more. All it is a sloping bridge made out of three pieces of acrylic.

I must be doing something wrong. I heard about using cat whiskers years ago for painting fine lines in full size and especially for mini paintings. I have also had at least one cat, often more, all of my adult life. I finally found a cat whisker about 2 months ago - my first and only one. Now cat and dog hair - that's another story. If I could breathe life into them, I would have the worlds largest kennel by now made out of cat and dog hair - but only one lone whisker.

Mary Lou in Portage, IN

Painting Lines with Shaky Hands: First, you must use a very good brush, don't even attempt to use one of those cheap ones, and also use a very fine, liner brush Make sure that the paint is not too firm, not too runny, so practice on a ceramic tile for a while before you hit the piece to be painted. The other thing is to rest the wrist onto something firm to keep the hand from wobbling. If this is too difficult to do, then buy some of those wonderful fine point pens, gold, black etc. and use them, they are great for detailing.

Pauline (Downunder)

Painting Lines with Shaky Hands: I hope to read some answers from experts for Bette in NJ. I will answer for myself because my hands are not steady or delicate, but I have learned to paint lines. Bette, I don't know if you already know all this, but there may be someone else out there who hasn't gone to painting classes and wants info.

First, the paint should be thinned to the consistency of ink. I find that usually means almost half water, but it can be less. You need a good brush, called a "liner." Some of them are very fine. I am addicted to getting just the right brush, so I have five or six. There is also a "scrolling" brush. I use that to make vines and such on large pieces, but I don't seem to use it much for small lines on mini things.

Probably the hardest part to explain is the angle of your hand and brush. You can find pictures of this in most basic decorative painting books or magazines. Just start with the concept that you don't want to do it like writing with a pencil.You want the brush to be more perpendicular to the surface. This gives more control. Don't be stuck on holding the brush the way you hold a pencil...try moving your middle finger toward the top or side of the brush instead of underneath. It only feels strange for a short time. It is a natural way to hold when the brush is perpendicular.

I find that I need to brace my arm, not wiggle my fingers but make the movement at the wrist (roll or slide the arm for long lines).

Bar in La Honda

I have made "beautiful" hardwood floors with wood purchased with the grooves already imprinted. I just stained, polyurethaned and installed. Cheap and easy.

But the reason I'm posting to the list is because I decided that I would try some printable flooring. I never wanted to before because it just looked so....so... I don't know...unreal? Well, anyway, I went to Eileen's and chose hardwood flooring. She had a nice pattern for parquet(?) flooring. I printed it, used a glue stick and glued it to some thin cardboard (file folder), I then put on three coats of the polyurethane. BEAUTIFUL!!! I mean absolutely beautiful. I think I like it better than the actual hardwood floors. If you haven't tried it, give it a try. I think you'll be pleased. I'm going to try some of the other tile on her site. If you'd like I'll let you know how it goes. I'm sorry I don't have pictures yet, but I will. Just trying to fix up my Beacon Hill after seeing Kathy's (it will never compare.) And thanks so much Eileen. Also, Hope of Hope's printables. I just put some of your wall paper up today. Beautiful

Tonya in Brooklyn

Mitering; If you have to go beyond a butt joint and have to measure mini angles (corners in a room or door and window openings,) a few things came to mind. Take a small pinch of kiddy clay and press it into the corner to be filled and you now have the angle of the corner. Take it from there. Or, yhis may be difficult to explain (describe)but..... think of the letter "H". Use pointed flat or square toothpicks for this. For the 2 vertical parts of the "H", leave the points on. For the cross piece of the "H", cut off the points. Make an "H" using the three pieces of tooth picks and attach the cross piece to the vertical pieces with a small straight pin. This permits the vertical elements to move (rotate around the ends of the cross piece. In this way you can place your device into the corner to be measured and adjust the vertical elements to measure the corner. Of course the limit to this device is an angle no bigger than 90 degrees.

Dr. Bob, Delray Beach, FL

Copper Bay Window Roofs: Years back, I made a Tudor Shoppe with a copper-topped bay window. We did make a paper pattern, glued the sheet of copper to cardstock with contact cement and then, cut out the pattern, bending as necessary to fit the roof area. We glued it to the Shoppe with hot glue and tacky. For aging, we used a commercial product called "Patina-It" which I found at a model train shop. There may be something available for aluminum also, for the person doing the trunk. (Sorry, can't remember your name.) Another aging product made by the same company as Patina-It is "Weather-It" for wood. Works great. I have no connection to this company, just like the products.

When I first started making minis, everything had to be neat, clean and perfect. Then as the years passed, I discovered that for realism, perfect means more normal, aged, and lived-in. Isn't this hobby great !

Marjorie in CA

Ageing and weathering [DUST & COBWEBS]: The bagless cyclonic vacuums are great for the carpets and floors in your "real" house. I would stop quite short of using the dust that's in the container after vacuuming though. Reason = think of all the molds, allergens, bacteria / viruses tracked into your house on the bottoms of shoes and that are "blown in" through windows on a daily basis.

A more reasonable and cleaner method for "dust" in your doll house or room boxes is stucco powder. You may purchase this in the paint department of any hardware/home supply store. I've used a small container for about 10 years. To use, put a about a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon on either a piece of typing paper or the palm of your hand. GENTLY.......blow into the areas that are to appear "dusty". No need for any spray to hold it down......it will stay put.

If you need cobwebs to go with the dust.......purchase a package of the white fluffy Halloween webbing at a party supply store [i.e., Party America]. Use a very small piece and pull out to a VERY THIN layer, then drape wherever you want the cobwebs. Much safer than turning "pet spiders" loose in the house.

Patricia/Redwood City, CA

Sealing plywood: I always use White Shellac. Regular shellac works too but lets the color of the wood show through. I like to thin it out a little to make it flow better but leaves you with a nice sealed wood to prime (if you are going to use paint) or wallpaper.

By the way, shellac is the best sealer of all time in my opinion. I had a piano I was rebuilding that had mice living under the keyboard, of course leaving little reminders of their existence. I washed it, disinfected it, did everything I knew to get rid of the smell but to no avail. I thought I was going to have to tell the people that the piano was done for, when I read that shellac puts up a permanent barrier to animal odors (that included dogs and cats). So I tried it as a last resort and IT WORKED. Because I had to be careful not to warp the keybed of the piano, I used a "spit coat" (for anyone who remembers The Furniture Guys) of 3 parts denatured alcohol to 1 part shellac and, in spite of the watered down version, completely sealed the keybed (in case you hadn't guessed I'm a piano tuner/technician as well as a mini nut).

Ana Gerard

Paint applicators: I have found that those triangle make-up sponges make the best paint applicators for miniatures. I use some uncut for large items, others I cut lengthwise in half or thirds, depending on the size of the item I am painting. Not good for detail though.

MAP in Puyallup

Hardwood floor using iron-on wood veneer: I looked in the archives and didn't see anything about it. I just "laid" the floor in my dollhouse this way, and it looks, as my teenager said when he saw it, "way cool, Mom!". I used the 3/4" strips (comes in a roll), cut it down the middle, and made 6" planks. Then, I just ironed it on in the same kind of pattern we used when we laid our real floor. It comes in oak, cherry, or pine, although only oak was available at my local Lowes home store. This was fairly inexpensive (2 rolls and a little more for each 15 X 29 floor), and gave a little more lived-on look than a sheet of flooring.

Linda in NC Mtns

White on white painted stripes - Regular masking tape may indeed pull the paint off and paint often leaks under it. Try the new BLUE painters tape. It is wonderful. Pulls off easily after days and never a leak! Get it at your local hardware or home improvement store.

Ribbon as Trim - Ribbon is excellent for trim over wallpaper or even laid on the outside for a decorative appearance. Stiffened lace is great for Victorian 'Gingerbread'. Painted to match, it looks terrific. A small device used by gift wrappers is a 'Ribbon Slitter', a small spring loaded device that has a row of fine pins that pierce the ribbon. Clamped down then pulled, it cuts the ribbon into a million tiny strings. I use these to weave rugs, make wall hangings and even clip for foliage.

Dorothee