May Challenge Submissions

From Suzanne Spooner-Munch:

The following is my interpretation of the “Travel Time” Camper kit, available on Amazon. I completed this during March/April of this year. The original kit is the last photo. I throughout enjoyed remaking this to my liking, a camper in northern Michigan where my family and I often vacationed.

 

From Kathy Patrick:

I’ve completed several projects in the past year, but NAME said to send a picture of my favorite one.  This has been in my UFO stash for years, maybe decades, and I was so happy to get it finished.  Inside the shop is a Thomas Kincaid gallery.  The Ivy Cottage design reminded me of some of the shops in Gatlinburg where I bought one of his paintings.  I think it was Cat Wingler who came up with this project, wasn’t it?  
 

From Laura Seibert:

My favorite kit that I completed during Covid-19 is my gingerbread house.  I received the pieces for the gingerbread house at a NAME club meeting of the Itty Bitties, here in the greater Sacramento area of California, a few years ago.  I was a member of the Itty Bitties, usually a 1" scale club, for 9 years.  This project was conceived by Sandra Dawson and a friend of hers.  I started it that day, and then it sat, unfinished, for several years.  I bought candies; got a wood base; made quarter scale furniture and accessories in my current local NAME club, the Quarter Persuasion; saved swaps; saved Quarter Persuasion Christmas gifts; and saved a couple types of snow and glitter.  I decided not to use a roof.  I really wanted to be able to see inside the house, with all the decorated gingerbread walls intact.  I was able to buy Hannah and Frosty from Julie Stevens on Etsy this past October 2020.  No more waiting!  I bought fresh caulking/silicone for snow and went to work.  A winter theme is MY favorite!

From Lynne Hoffman:

This little doll kit was my first experience with spun cotton. It was fun to try, but I have to admit that fingers, glue,  and cotton roving may not be my best combination. She is pretty cute though. Maybe I’ll have another go some day-

From Barb Reynolds:

This is a recreation of my grandson’s room.  The wall above the bed is stenciled, 3D doll of him is from a picture, real quilt has been shrunk to size and fish swim in his aquarium.

Western New York Miniature Enthusiasts.

From Jenni Hillard:

My favorite project this year was a 1:24 scale house from Laser Dollhouse Designs called the Stephanie Country Mansion. At Christmas I just didn't want the season to end so I decided to make this a Christmas house so I can enjoy it all year long. Carl from CR2S helped me figure out the lighting so it is all lit with LED's which allowed me to really light it up! I made most of the furnishings using my Cricut machine and patterns that I either purchased or made up on my own. I started this project in November and "finished" it just last week. The NAME yard sale was a great help in finalizing the details like the icicles.The beautiful tree in the front yard was made by Robert Haven. The rug in the small pink bedroom came from the NAME museum gift shop.

From Robert Haven:

The Wedgwood Salon... This was a project that had been in the design /concept stages for years as I gathered the bits of classical Wedgwood blue Jasperware.  One I finally located a needlepoint yarn that closely matched the classis Wedgwood color I stitched the two rugs and the wall hangings. The room box also contains a number of "first attempts". This was the first construction project build with recycled  corrugated cardboard walls and ceiling. Likewise the floor was the first attempt at combining  mahogany veneer with coffee stirrers which required a good deal of sanding to equalize the thickness. I wasn't sure what would actually go into the room once it was done but after experimenting with what my Crircut Maker machine could do with cutting wood veneer I settled on a harpsichord based of the dimensions of one I own. Much of the internal structure and some veneer was cut on the machine. I finally settled on fitting out the room as a music salon with a Mozart quartet. And added another first with doll kits from Mini Doll Kits , I painted, assembled dressed and wigged  Mozart and three other musicians. 
The last bit is to scale down some sheet music for the music stands.
 

From Doreen Lindsay:

These are pictures of my favourite kits completed during COVID.
 

From Lissa Loosemore:

True-2-Scale kits, my major pandemic projects. 

From Pat Perry:

Here are a couple of photos of my favourite kit completed during  the last year. It’s a Martha’s Vineyard cottage from the Utah state day in 2018. 

From Mary Johnson (Yakima, WA)

Here is my favorite "covid kit" ("Favorite" always  being the one I just finished!)
I've finally assembled "Americana"  after a shaky start back in 2012 (I think 2012...it was a NAME Seattle workshop)  I am now working on the furniture kits and pulling a few accessories out of my modest stash of minis.   Had hoped to finish it all before end of month, but  a few "issues" slowed my progress.       
 
It also took me a while  to join the challenges, but they have been huge motivation to finish  my UFO's!   

 
 

From Sally Lonn:

During the Pandemic I was thrilled to have completed Carl Brondson's Elegant Little Shop. Mine is scheduled to be a Tea Room and display some of the over 150 teapots I have collected over the years. I loved making the two little display shelves that compliment the decor. And now you may wonder, why isn't it finished? My children moved into our house in Arizona for six weeks in July and August and it was so much fun, and school and work were all virtual, so why not return from Nov 20th to Feb 20th (and miss the yucky Michigan weather, almost)....and my son took over my art room for his office. Many of you know I had neck surgery about two months ago and with recovery I am only now, for just a couple of hours a day, able to return to my space. I plan on displaying this at the spring 2022, Phoenix show. 

From Jackie Browder:

This tiny, tiny kit is one of my favorites. We had a rocky relationship, but I am now in love with this little tree. He will have a place of honor in my 2021 Christmas room box. Look closely, the grid square is only one inch!
 

From Rhonda Williamson:

This is my WIP NAME day kit Metallurgical Laboratory.  The laboratory furniture and accessories are made from NAME kits, litebrite pegs, paper and bits and bob's.  My favorite found and recycled items are the earplug dispenser made from two medicine vial caps, an earring back and plastic tubing filled with tiny pieces of real ear plugs, the paper towel holder made from a recycled floss container and the emergency shower and eye wash station made from vial caps, plastic straws and cap gun cartridges. Purchased items are a scrapbook police uniform adapted to resemble a furnace jacket, glassware, shoe charms painted to look like well worn steel toe shoes, an action figure hard hat and safety glasses.

From Pat Roberson:

Here (I hope) are a couple of photos of a kit(s) I did in the 
first months of the Covid hibernation.  I loved this kit because it 
closely resembles the Midcentury Modern house I grew up in in Tucson!

From Peggy Zorn:

This project was by Suzanne and Andrew. The Witch’s Shoe on Crooked Stick Lane. The date was 2015. It was fun getting something that has been on my mind for so long. 

From Ruth Goodger in CO:

This is a kit from KitKat minis that uses a lot of my horse interest items.

From Margaret Gordus:

Stair kit from Ruth Stewart - thought was different.
 

From Sue Ann Ketchum:

Over the many years that I have been a NAME member,  I have collected 1/144th scale roundtable kits of miniature scenes and dwellings.  They were in three boxes waiting to be assembled some day.

Just before the pandemic, one of my clubs was working on shop kits.  My chosen kit was from Houseworks.  I decided to make a miniature shop using as many of the roundtable kits as possible.  These included kits by Robin Betterley, Lew Kummerrow, Shannon Moore, Sue Herber, Jenny Fortin, Debbie Young, and many others.  Since some of the dwellings appeared to be vintage styles, I decided to call it Second Chance Miniatures, a gently-used resale shop.  Note the address is 2020 for the year it was completed, and my name is on the door.
 

From Kim Hood:

I really enjoyed this market stall kit from Kathy 
Abdinoor with several of Volker Arnold's little kits inside and one of Susie Newell's dolls. 

From Jackie Williams:

My favorite - the Western Weekend Saloon Quarter Connection event  kit. 

From Laurie Sisson:

I have been working on a clock shop for a couple months and making kits from
various dealers in quarter scale.

From the waste of one of the kits...I have created an inside-out bookcase from the clock shape.
 

From Diane Fisher:

This was a kit “Just Peachy”, designed by Kristie Norman of Norman’s Country Creek.
 

From Kathy Koons:

When I saw the challenge for this month, I knew it was a true challenge for me. Between March and December, I'd completed more than 40 kits. Now, it is north of 50. I just couldn't choose. So, I asked my husband, who has seen me working on all of them, and older daughter, who's seen pictures of all of them to choose. They both chose this one. As it happens, my daughter was actually here when I built this one. In fact, she was building a Sherlock Holmes one from the same company, which I'd given her as a Christmas gift. 
The company is HemispheresCo on etsy. This is their Diagon Alley Book Nook, which is in about 1:48 scale. It comes as laser cut pieces of wood, lights, mirror, 3D printed cauldron stack, and broomsticks. You can build it as is and be happy with it. I chose to paint. You have to thin the paint so that all the details remain. Painting the owls was the toughest part. It is truly marvelous with the Owl Post, passageway to Knockturn Alley, and Flourish and Blotts on one side and then Quality Quidditch Supplies and the Cauldron Shop on the other. The Leaky Cauldron is above the broken wall that leads to the Muggle world. The mirror there makes the street look like it continues.  There is a painted Snitch "flying" in the sky above the street. There is one string of lights that starts its snaking behind the Owl Post and ends up behind Quality Quidditch Supplies. As in other book nooks, the battery pack is cleverly hidden under a panel in the top. The outside walls look like an engraved book and one wall even has a raven, as I am a Ravenclaw. (Seriously cool of Benjamin at HemispheresCo to let one personalize it this way.) 

It may be of interest that I did another Diagon Alley book nook this year, as well, which I had backed on Kickstarter. That one came completed, but you could unscrew it in places to be able to personalize it. That let me repaint, put wizarding items in a window, hang quidditch posters, add a Daily Prophet on a doorstep, etc. That company has another one on Kickstarter right now that is a medieval street and I had to back that one, too, of course.

I appreciate the chance to share this project. The kit is really high quality and not what one immediately thinks of, when one thinks of miniature kits.

From Debby Albert:

Love this kit. I’d make it again. 
 

From Debbie Columbo:

My favorite quarantine project.

From Vivian Lawton:

One of the many kits I’ve completed over the last year.

Kit is Robin Betterley’s “A little bit scary”. 
Completed by myself. 
 

From Barb Pizzini:

A Simple Kit -- 
How difficult could it possibly be?
We all have them. They are the kits we thought we would put together in a couple afternoons like a jigsaw puzzle. 
Piece of cake. Just follow the recipe. It’ll be fun.  
So, this summer, during quarantine, I dug out a couple of kits that I had purchased at a miniature museum gift shop about seven years ago, when we visited our son in Taiwan.  
So I opened mine, dumped out several bags of the tiny pieces and set to work. There was just one “small matter” with the kit — the instructions were printed in Japanese. I speak English.
The Solution? I have a phone. I’ll use Google Translate! 
With that, my new instructions actually included:
“Mark each jk with lead flower as shown” and “Use sand paver to finish old. You can also file a file” and “Fix the bamboo skewer, fold it in your face and put it on.” 
Perhaps my favorite was: “Make a chair with Rikibarashi. Cut two pieces of Miwabashi into the size shown below and watch them.”
Yes, I finished the project, but I’ll be checking for English instructions in the next kit I buy!

From Lauren Rein:

This is probably my favorite project I worked on during “lockdown.” I fell in love with the Betterleys’ Cranberry Cottage the first time I saw it and knew I had to have it! Being “stuck” at home for so long gave me plenty time to work on it. 
 

From Connie Sauve:

I recently finished this 1/4” scale scene using the trailer kit from Robin Betterley. 

From Kathryn Asbahr:
 

My 70's house. Kit from JMan Laser.  

Allen had a 1970 Boss 302 in that blue. Traded it for a Datsun PU during the gas crunch. I can't complain as we met through the Datsun Mini Truckers of Oregon or the demented souls as I liked to call us. Took us 5 years to even date. 

Here is a shot of the basement. I love the wagon wheel furniture set. The layout was going to be a single loop but granddad got wind of it and made a few more trips to the train store.  As the kit sits in my office it has Tim Allen on his souped up lawn mower out front. Al is up on the stairs. Found the set on Ebay. 

From Terri Maxwell:

The “Fixer Upper” Farmhouse was my favorite kit completed during the virus.
 

From Natalie Maguire:

This is a Robin Betterley kit I completed for my daughter.

From Carol Pitman:

I've attached a couple of photos of "The Cobbles", made from a kit by Suzanne and Andrew's Minis.  They brought it out of retirement a few years ago and I snapped it up right away!  My mini friend had taken this class many years ago at a Houseparty and I had been drooling over it ever since.  I was thrilled to have a chance to make my own!

Unlike class participants, I had to make all my own stones and roof pieces from the included molds.  This was a learning curve for me, but one I truly enjoyed during the long months of COVID lockdown.  In addition, I made almost every one of the flowers and those were also a new venture for me.  Some of the flowers were from kits or purchased petals and leaves.  Others, I made myself from purchased punches.

Bella and Tillie are two Julie Stevens dolls, one by the front door and the other seated at the table.  Rachel, also by Julie, is on the back bench.

"The Cobbles" was one of the many kits I made in 2020 that kept me sane.  I am so thankful for the many miniature online dealers who made last year bearable and provided mini escapes from lockdown!

From Nina Peery:

This is one of my almost-completed pandemic kits:  a Betterley 1/4” camper given to me by a mini friend.  It had some bits missing,  but I figured it out and took some creative license with it! 

There were other favorites completed, but not room for all of them!

From Sharon Johnson: 

Two of my favorites - A tiny kit for a book in 1:144th found a box of these little kits in a store in OH, and a half scale trunk for my half scale I’m working on. 
 

From Lesia Lennex:

have SO MANY projects from the last year! I finally decided on this one to send-- the Dutch Tulip.

From Susan St. Pierre:    

 I bought this kit "Winter Wonderland" by Carl Bronsdon at the July round table. This is the first 1/144th kit that I have made. 
    I really enjoyed it, I plan to use it in a roombox that I'm working on as a mantel piece when I decorate it for Christmas.

From Barb Antol:

I’ve done quite a few kits during the pandemic.  They kept me busy during the lockdowns and brought many hours of fun, so it’s hard to pick a favorite.  Certainly, one of my favorites was the Stragglethorpe Manor kit from Petite Properties Ltd.  This one kept me busy for several weeks in 2020.  It wasn’t just the house kit, but also a base and knot garden kit, and all the furniture and accessory kits to fill the house.   The furnishing kits were mainly from Petite Properties Ltd and Petworth Miniatures.  It was a wonderful project, inside and out.  I had many hours of enjoyment working on it and was so pleased with how it turned out.  It was also a perfect place to display a little set of figures made by Sally Reader: Henry VIII and his six wives, as well as his daughter, Queen Elizabeth I.  

From Fay Zerbolio:

Here is my favorite mini for April.  It is a quarter scale craft room.  It is a favorite because it is my latest.

From Christiane Starks:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my favorite kit build 
during Covid: the "Rose Cottage Baby House" from Cynthia Howe. My 
favorite rooms are the living room and the nursery. I added a few tiny 
details like pillows and books, and I replaced the brass drawer pulls 
with little roses. It was a challenging build, but the outcome was worth 
it!

From Suzanne Larson-Tamburo:

This was a Betterley kit designed for a Thursday night workshop for Name National in Indianapolis.  I collected a wonderful Mad Hatter and White Rabbit from k. Kuhti and delicacies from Bettina Murta.  I added a Cheshire Cat on a wall from Wee Forest Folk and flowers by Mary Engelbreit.  Just a few of my favorite things. 😁

From Patty Trauthwein:

Kit by Jane Harrop 
 

From Cindy Bottasso: 

My favorite kit this year is Debbie Young’s log cabin.  I just want to curl up by the outdoor fireplace.   Plus it was fun to take a more modern approach to the kitchen with bright blue colors, add a llama bedroom and stock the bathroom with extra toilet paper.  

From Cat Wingler:

My favorite kit this past year is one designed by Jackie Batcheller. It combines both of my favorites, Halloween and old buildings, into one kit. 

From Paula Francis:

Here is one of my favorites....a kit from True2Scale, the Christmas Stoves Vignette. It was the first time I did a kit on my own without an instructor by my side, helping me fix my mistakes (LOL). With my confidence restored, I have gone on to do kits  in all 3 scales and each one becomes my favorite upon completion.
 

From Pat Brown:

I am a big fan of the many cousins. Their kits are delightful.  I took three of the kits and  I made it into a special area in the park for goodies. I just ordered the newest piece on create.

From Laura Reich:

My favorite kit:   Village on Christmas Tree - from Arnold Volker via Ruth Stewart website - because it is the smallest but coolest kit and very colorful and detailed!   

All the kits I've done via zoom meetings during these Covid isolation:  32 'projects'  (See my pictures under the QC group.io photos:  Laura Reich)

•     1-144 Victorian Mansion - from miniatures.com
•     book furniture - Tudor  cover - from Petworth
•     7 book rooms - from Petworth  -- plus added two dolls
•     Field of Dreams - my outdoor scene and first doll
•     2 market stalls - from MiniCousins
•     2 secret books - from Robin Betterley's
•     Shadow Box - from Kathy Abdinoor
•     4 suitcases - from Robin Betterley's
•     Village on Christmas Tree - Arnold Volker via Stewart 
•     workshop - Yule Log (unfinished) with Ruth Stewart
•     workshop 1-24 Country House 
•     workshop cabinet 
•     workshop Making Minis - with Debbie Young
•     workshop Ontario Gathering - bookcase
•     workshop Rosmal painting - with Ginger Landon Siegel
•     workshop Valentine room
•     xmas tree - from 1Man1Garage
•     3 five clay dolls with wires inside
•     clay molds
•     5 furniture kits - not used it in any 'house'

From Ann V Gee:

Several years ago I bought this kit "Ladies Sewing Secretary" and decided last summer to start my mini quilt shop and had this kit in mind to place inside it.
Its designed buy Georgia Matuschak and Lori Ann Potts -  wow it says 2010.
It was quite a challenge and learning experience.
 

From Vicki Scidmore:

This was my favorite kit during the shutdown.  I did a lot of Petworth “books” as well as ¼ scale Tudor furniture and several 1/144 houses were finally finished but this Petworth Arts & Crafts Furniture “book “ wins out!
 

From Terry Unnold:

This is a pair of kits called Bebe Shoe from the now retired, Suzanne and Andrews, along with two of Julie Stevens' dolls.  I had the kits and dolls for a while but couldn't decide on a color scheme.  Once I was officially restricted to staying home, I pulled several well aged kits out and decided to create joy at home for myself.  I solved my decorating dilemma by following the illustrations on the kit instructions and Julie's two little dolls claimed it for their home! 

From Paula Sklodowski:

The kit I finished during covid is the Jason’s Kitchen from Robotime. It was on sale and I thought it would be fun. Little did I know it would rekindle my interest in minis that had been dormant since the 1990s. I didn’t do everything according to the instructions (does anyone?) and added a few pieces of my own to finish. I think I smiled the whole time I was working on it and still do every time I look at it.
 
 

From Suzie Aguilar:

A kit from many, many years ago. It has a glass dome cover but photographs better without it. The wonderful Julie Stevens dolls were included. Actually this kit was a gift from a dear friend. She knows Christmas is my favorite! She also bought the finished project for herself from the kit maker, who no longer makes kits. I can not remember or locate her name right now. Aging is the pits!

From René Riley:

I can’t decide which is my favorite so including both.  The question really is how many more kits did I buy during the pandemic? 😱

From Carol Shea:

This is a project our club 'Salt City Miniatures' all completed just last month.

From Michelle Miller:

This is my COVID project.

It started as the Mermaid beach hut kit by KitKat Minis.  It was the perfect kit to create a summer holiday getaway, which was the closest I got to a vacation last year.