Here are the participants in the Create Year Long Challenge (CYLC2025) who have COMPLETED their project.
Participants are in alphabetical order by last name.
Progress for participants who are still working on their projects can be found here:
Last names starting with A-C
Last names starting with D-K
Last names starting with L-P
Last names starting with Q-Z
From Barb Antol:
First up is the New York Style Building kit from Cornel’s Creations. I’m doing this one as a tribute to our rescue kitty, Bella Donna, who came from Brooklyn. I’ve wondered what her life would have been like if she hadn’t been sent to the shelter, but had lived her whole life happily in Brooklyn. This brick style building is where I imagine she shared a loving home with her original person.
The second is The Hermitage kit from Petworth Miniatures. This is a quirky little building which I plan to do in Steampunk style. I’m going to use all the kits I had gathered for the Neverwas project. (For me, it sadly never was 😔). It will be home to the little Steampunk couple that I bought from Sally Reader.
The plastic bins underneath each kit have all the accessory and furniture kits I have to build for each project, so I will be busy 🥰 Both are 1:48 scale.
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March Update:
I completed part 1 of my CYLC 2025 plan. I used Cornel Gheorgheasa’s 1:48 scale NY City apartment building kit to construct “Bella’s House”. Bella is a black cat who lives here with her person -- a female architect whose family has owned this Brooklyn building for multiple generations. The brick building is furnished with a mix of new pieces and family heirlooms, all built from kits in my stash. The top floor is her person’s home office decorated with Brooklyn Dodgers memorabilia and there’s even a rooftop patio garden. I had so much fun working on this project. The building style is unique and different from any other projects plus it’s a special tribute to our rescue kitty Bella Donna who came from Brooklyn.
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June Update:
Part 2 of my CYLC2025 is the Hermitage Kit from Petworth Miniatures. This is a unique quarter scale kit which I’ve wanted to do for awhile. It will be home to this little Steampunk couple I got from Sally Reader. I’ve completed the structure and landscaping, but still have to complete the furnishings. I’m planning to use some of the kits purchased for the Neverwas project, which for me “never was”.
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September Update:
This is my September update on the Hermitage. For September, I completed Part 2 of my year long challenge plans. This is “The Hermitage”, a quarter scale kit from Petworth Miniatures. I decided to decorate it in steampunk decor. It was a good place to use all the kits I had gathered for the Neverwas, which unfortunately never worked out for me. It is now home to the Captain & Missus, a wonderful pair of steampunk dolls I got from Sally Reader. The Captain and Missus are enjoying a night of celestial viewing through their telescope atop the tower.
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Final Update:
I completed parts 1 & 2 of my planned year long challenge work for 2025. I know it’s early. I really thought these would both take longer to complete, but they were both so much fun and once I started working on them, I couldn’t stop 
. Both projects are quarter scale. Part 1 is Bella’s House, a tribute to our rescue kitty Bella Donna who comes from Brooklyn, NY. I used the NY style apartment building kit from Cornel’s Creations (UK). Part 2 is The Hermitage, a kit from Petworth Creations (Canada). I decorated it in steam punk style and it is now home to The Captain & Missus, a beautiful pair of steampunk dolls I got from Sally Reader (UK). Once again, I’ve enjoyed the Create Challenge. I plan to use the remainder of the year to work on a bunch of smaller UFO’s.
From Jackie Browder:
My YLC 2025 is to complete Debbie Young's Sweet Rose Cottage kit. The whole thing: house, landscaping, furnishings, and display case (if needed). I am trying to not get 95% done, and move on to another project! The furnishings will be a little difficult, since I did not buy the furniture kits, and I will be furnishing the house by using my swap stash, and by making my own furnishings.
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March Update:
I am not finished with my Rose Cottage, but it is moving along. Some real life household projects have distracted me. My Rose Cottage takes a little longer to make, since all the furniture (such as the kitchen parts shown in the photo) is DIY and not made from the Debbie Young kits. I have sofa and bed fabric on order, and several clear case options are in my craft room.
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Final (May) Update:
My YLP is finished! Rose Cottage was a wonderful kit which I finished with my own furniture and accessories.
From Lesia Lennex:
My goal is to finish Nick's Cottage in 2025. I think it can be done! I made the shell in 2016 at Gals, Gangsters, and Gatsby. I then spent another 6 months on finishing the shell and making furniture. It's good to take our time and finish things the right way! I'm making progress on Nick's Cottage, the back half. I've completed the first floor, prepped the landscaping, porch, chimneys, windows, and some of the upstairs wallpapering. I've also completed the first level exterior shingling/ painting. and the openings are cut for the downstairs lights. I don't know if I'll keep the carpets in it but they're in the right time frame if I do.
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March Update:
I've attached my progress photo on Nick's Cottage, back half. It's moving right along!
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June Update:
Still a work-in-progress but it's coming along! Attached are my update photos for the back half of Nick's Cottage from Great Gatsby. It's roughed in to show how it'll look.
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Final Update:
I'm finished!!! Nick's Cottage is done and in a display case. Whew! It's been nine long years but it's finally come together. I've attached front and back photos. The detail is just incredible. I think this is the most involved build I've ever attempted. Somewhere among the finicky stained floor boards and woodwork, the exacting exterior shingles, and the challenging roof line, I learned how to leave paint alone and let glue dry. I took apart many pieces and re-glued as well as repainted. It was worth it. I am thrilled with how beautiful both halves of the house look. The house, the interior, the furnishings and foods, the landscaping, just perfect. The fireplace in the back half -- my CYLC -- is stunning. The kitchen/dining area in the front half is amazing. I am so very happy with Nick's Cottage. I've been inspired to mini and share through CYLC. I hope others are too!
From Carin Shapiro:
This year I will focus on renovation of a vintage dollhouse. It is missing a backwall, I will wallpaper the house and furnish with my existing vintage and antique dollhouse and accessories.
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March Update:
This quarter I repaired broken antique furniture, made structural repairs to my antique house, and made progress regarding wall paper. I am most proud of the hand painted tile kitchen floor.
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June Update:
This quarter I completed one bedroom, added a brick wall and shelving to the kitchen, and completed the parlor. I also took a lot if time looking for antique dollhouse wallpaper and ultimately found 2 borders to use in the last bedroom and upstairs hallway. I found a local printer who can make me high quality color copies 11x17" for $2 a page and he has helped me out a lot with this project. I have most of the furniture and antique dolls already, so I cannot wait to finish this project so I can put them in their completed house that they have waited approximately years for.
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Final Update:
I got this one done much earlier that my prior projects as I did not electrify this one! I really enjoyed renovating this antique house, making it into my version of an antique dolls' house. I tried to be as authentic as possible. The furniture and dolls are all antique. I used antique handkerchiefs for curtains, antique tatting made by my great-great grandmother for the kitchen curtain and some rugs, and I manged to track down original antique wallpaper borders for for the left bedroom and upstairs hallway. For more photos, visit my Facebook page.
