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A Witch’s Cottage (and more dollhouse miniatures)!
Filed under Art Projects, Giveaways, Magic Potions Kit, Miniatures, Newsletters, Shannon Cooper
Revised: Those bottles from the (sadly, now sold out) gift collage sheet have shown up on the new Spell Book Box Extras Collage Sheet!
Before Miz Bella tells you about Shannon’s amazing artwork, The Bottoms Up Collage Sheet announced in last Thursday’s newsletter is still on offer! (FREE for all orders, regardless of order size!) More info and photos
Design Team Member Shannon Cooper has been busy brewing up a project to amaze and bedazzle you with, the Witch’s Cottage!
If you love miniatures (and even if you don’t) you’re going to flip over the Witch’s Cottage. It’s one of those creations that has so many fun things going on within it that every time you look at it, you find something new that you hadn’t noticed before. (So much so that there’s a grid of highlight photos below — and today’s Giveaway is inspired by just one corner from Shannon’s artwork!)
The cottage was inspired by the Magic Potions Kit, and in Shannon’s own words she “went a bit batty” with her project. Which just goes to show that she’s definitely on the right Design Team, because we’re all a bit batty around here.
“It began with the idea of making a teeny potions shelf out of the Small Hinged Tins. It’s only 2.5″ x 2.5″, which makes it the perfect size for all of the bottles in the kit. The lid of the tin was removed and I left the hinges pulled out so I could hang a Pentagram Charm and key from the bottom. Alcohol Inks were used to color the edges, and then the rest was covered in paper from the Tiny Vintage Scrapbook Collage Sheet. The little shelf is simply a piece of painted balsa wood. Some of the bottles were made with Potion Bottles Bead Mix that are also in the kit, and I used the most microscopic labels from the Secret Spell Book Parts One Collage Sheet. Sharpies were used to color in the liquid inside the bottles, and I also colored some of the lids.
“After completing my wee potions cabinet, I walked around the house with it in hand trying to find a place to hang it, and eventually came to my senses and realized this thing needs a witch’s cottage to go around it. Duh. [Skipping ahead a bit…] On to decorating this pad! I found the Rocking Chair and Wooden Fire Place at Alpha Stamps and the hutch has been in the stash. Balsa was used to make the table and ratty picture frame. Don’t you just love that lantern in the corner? What ambiance!”
While Shannon used a hutch and table from her stash, we have a Mini Oak Hutch and an Unfinished Wood Table that would work out just fine. Yes I know, I’m such an enabler! Speaking of enabling, I am going to have to enable myself to get some of the new items that Shannon used in her Witch’s Cottage, just don’t tell Slim Daddy! Such as the SUPER adorable Mini Mason Jars, the Set of Mini Wooden Buckets, Tiny Wooden Bowls, teeny Tiny Wooden Flower Pots, and my favorite, the Mini Black Cauldron.
Something else to point out that is a must have if you like to create miniatures (or if you live in earthquake country or have obnoxious cats) is Museum Wax Anchoring Putty. This stuff saves the Evil Queen’s ceramic sculptures from toppling off shelves during California rumblings and it also secures dollhouse props in place. You’ll only need to use a tiny bit for the dollhouse props, and the items can still be rearranged (although I’d rearrange fairly soon, as the wax does harden with time).
You’ll want to check out Shannon’s supply list before you check out the Witch’s Cottage in greater detail at her blog. Be sure to look for the jar of eyeballs that Shannon made and also she will tell you how she created the walls for the cottage!
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New Miniatures & Halloween Goodies – ALL On Sale! |
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 Mini Mason Jars – Set of 3 |
 Museum Wax Anchoring Putty |
 Black Chair Kit |
 Secret Spell Book Labels Collage Sheet |
 Mini Black Cauldron |
 Tiny Wooden Flower Pots |
 Mini Wooden Crate – Unfinished |
 Tiny Wooden Bowls |
Hooray for the Witch’s Cottage Fireplace Giveaway!
With all of those lovely options that Shannon used in her Witch’s Cottage it was hard to decide what to focus on… but I picked the fireplace (and a bit to the left):
– Miniature Wooden Fire Place
– Mini Black Cauldron (New!)
– Set of Mini Wooden Buckets
– Small Ceramic Horned Owl Bead
– 18x13mm Oval Filigree Setting (and how clever… Shannon just bent back the bottom of the filigree to turn it into a picture frame)
– Tiny Glass Jar with Lid (I love those eyeballs Shannon made to fill the jar!)
To enter the Witch’s Cottage Fireplace Giveaway drawing all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post TODAY or TOMORROW (the deadline is 11:59 pm PST, Monday Night, July 27, 2015. AND tell me what part of Shannon’s artwork you find most inspiring (and/or that you plan on attempting in a project of your own).
Don’t forget to leave your (hello! correct) email address, too, so I can contact the winner; your email address does not need to be made public. Note: I’m offering free shipping, too, but only within the USA. International shipping will still apply.
Please be patient! Spammers try to post crap here a lot so comments are moderated. So if you don’t see your post in the comments section, be patient and check back in a few hours before re-posting it, please!
After midnight, I’ll randomly pick the winner (via Random.org). So make sure to check back to see who won! And check your mailbox on Thursday morning for the next Giveaway and Newsletter!
Hey, who won the Bottoms Up Bottles Giveaway? That would be Kathleen! (And she commented: “Beads are little pieces of the color wheel in the sky, that have broken off and are visiting our world. I’ve used them as little teeny bottle caps, I’ve used them as weights, I’ve used them in dollhouse miniatures, I’ve used them on pins, I sew them on quilts and jackets to make pictures, I have used them as bookmarks – I’ve never eaten them, but my dog has! (By the way, I love the Gypsy Spell Book stuff – ANYTHING to do with magic or Halloween….that’s my thing!)“) Please check your email for my message about getting your mailing address.
Looking at this gives me more energy than a Venti from Starbucks. I love all the detail and can’t wait to get started on my own witches cottage.
Halloween and alpha stamps!!! What a marriage made in…well…Hades! Heh heh. Love both! The miniature witch’s cottage is the BOMB!!!
Shannon is so talented .
I like the little jar filled with eyeballs
The Witch’s Cottage is “eye candy”.
Literally and figuratively. 🙂
I’m wondering about the table in the middle of the room. Is she brewing up a potion, or is that dinner?
Hello there ALPHA COMMUNITY!! I love this theme( of course) lol her hutch and Fire place is very creative. I love how she has it lit up so it looks like a fire. Does that come with the kit too? Well Leslie as I stated before I am in the process of making a haunted witch castle and THIS WOULD JUST BE FABULOUS!! Must have!! Blessed be!
Love the fireplace. Would like to try
First of all I have been so in love with the Alpha Stamps blog ever since I came across it. I confess, my favorite season is Halloween and I go apes for Halloween minis! Be still my heart – I love Shannon’s make! I love being able to order such good stuff from one site. And I would dearly love to win!!!!!!
sandy xx
The fireplace and little lantern!
Yahoo! My favorite holiday coming around! I love creepy. I have a huge Mason jar to create a spooky vignette. just need a collection of minis to go inside!
Oh, those teeny, tiny bottles get me every time.
Shannon’s art is so inspiring!!
Anything to do with witches – that’s my thing! I’ve made a little Edgar Allen Poe room out of a cigar box, and this witch’s cottage just inspires me more!
I love this – Halloween in July! Of all the great details, that little owl bead is giving me some ideas!
I really am inspired by the use of 2-d and 3-d items to create a sense of space while minimizing bulk. It works really really well.I’d like to work on using more of that in my 3-d collage pieces.
Oh my! I am so inspired by this piece. I’m conjuring a story and imagining myself brewing spells in this witchlab. Overall, it is the kind of witch Shannon has created for us, but I’m so intrigued with the cabinents filled with potions and spell books and artifacts. I’m now dreaming up my own take on this theme…maybe a gypsy caravan. I would love to have this in my studio!
I love the wee potions shelf and will start with that project. Next I will make the hutch and all of the wonderful accessories inside.
Finally I will make a room to house it all!
Thanks for the chance to win such an inspiring project prize!
I love the glass front cabinet and the little potions shelf. I have a dollhouse sized credenza that I am turning into a mad scientist’s desk; working in miniature is so much fun!
Every new email I get, I think wow, this is the coolest- they will never top this- and then you do, again and again. I can’t pick one thing. I love everything about the tin with the potions- what a cool idea to remove the lid and style it to hang up. And that fireplace- the cauldron, the little frames, the jar of eyeballs, the owl, the pots beside it… I love it all. I can’t pick just one thing. It’s fantastic.
Have been making miniature Halloween gifts for my grown daughters for several years now and they have come to expect it. I’m always on the look-out for new ideas and I love this one.
This is amazing! I love the hutch with the books and potions–just beautiful. I have so many new ideas for redecorating my daughter’s old dollhouse after this!
I love all of this. Shannon inspires me to create a similar house. I love the hutch with all of the decoration she did. Tooooo cute!
Everythimg is wonderful but I especially like the witches cottage.
You have rung my bell !!!!!!! I want it allllllll……..
gotta do it,,,wow……………
Loving it all but the fireplace and cauldron are epic,would love to have a go but trying to get this sort of stuff in UK is nigh on impossible,wonderful x
I love the case with the hand and the bottles I would make a mini collage with these I love them Thank you
I am definitely going to have to get one of the hutches so I can recreate that first but with a fairy, troll, gnome theme and then I just might tackle the room around it! I love miniatures and have been working on a Faerie world for over a year now. I am always adding to it and have gotten MUCH inspiration from Alpha Stamps! My ideas are so much bigger than my budget due to prescription and medical costs!!
Winning this would make me a very happy gal!! my email is: macaskillbarbara@yahoo.com
Thank you for all the inspiration!
I am dying here!! I love the entire thing.. I’m in the process of making a dolls house converted to a haunted house and I would love my little witch to have all the items… I have to say tho, I would love to make this fireplace a center point in my house… I sooo hope I win…
The little cottage for the witch is filled with things that delight me…love the new mason jars and the rocking chair….
I love everything about this little witch’s cottage. I really like the little jar with lid filled with eyeballs. I just bought some items to make a mini apothecary but now I’m excited to make a whole room. I’ve always wanted to make Hagrid’s Hut or some other Potterish room. This gives me the inspiration to tackle that on!
Oh my goodness, where do I begin; this project is a feast for the eyes! There is so much detail that it’s hard to pick out any one area. My eyes keep going back to the table, and since I have a small wooden house I got at a thrift store, I can use this kit to start furnishing it as a Halloween lair. This is sooooo perfect for me and a great kick-start for my very most fav holiday of all. Thank you for the chance to win!
I love the pieces but would use them more in a fairy theme maybe……but the hutch is my favorite…….love it
This will go right beside my large witches apothecary à la Laura Carson that I did a couple of years ago!!!
Well – what a fun little cottage project! I love it all and many of the items in this giveaway would be great to accessorize a witch doll. Halloween is coming up so I better start planning.
I love the witch’s cottage! The details are all so eerie and fun. I’m a bit of a witch at heart, so I adore the tiny potion bottles and the elements of magic and mystery. If I were to choose one item as my favorite, I would have to say that the miniature glass lidded jar was a stand out. I would get a set of them and fill them with different herbs for the witch’s pantry.
That mini hutch is too stinking cute! And those mason jars! The cottage is absolutely delightful! So many wonderful details!!
I love the little medicine cabinet made from a little mint tin. Very cool!
I can’t wait to get my hands on those itty bitty axes so I can get to work on a Lizzie Borden diorama!
I just love the bookshelf with tiny class doors.
I love the fireplace with the hanging cauldron, (how did she get the “fire” in there?) and all the wicked details: the potion bottles, black cat, skulls, need I go on!! I’m going to HAVE to make a cottage for my small, cloth covered witch. I’ll need help furnishing it, so please, please pick me!! Thanks, Shannon and Alpha Stamps for ALL the inspiration!!
I’m living for the little glass jar of tiny eye balls. Totally inspires me to make a whole room to boil up some potions!
Ilove the hutch and all the different parts of this collection but most of all, I love that fireplace. Each one of these giveaways is nothing short of spectacular!
I love the eyeballs!
I love everything in the witch’s hutch but I’ve got to try making some of those tiny eyeballs.
Really want to do a witch’s miniature house of my own – love everything in this giveaway!
Love, love, love it! I especially like the fireplace with the eyeballs in the apothecary jar. My daughter’s birthday is on Halloween and she would love it if I made this for her. I love all of the things Alpha Stamps carries and it always sparks my creativity.
Oh I want this I use to decorate every room in my house many years of collecting then last year we had a fire and I lost everything so I have started collecting again thank you for making this it is really cute
Oh my witchy goodies! I love the lantern as well as the frame with the folded back bottom; and of course-the eyeballs!
The wooden buckets and tomatoes are my favorite! There is so much to take in!
What an amazing house!!! I only wish I had the place to put something like this, but having just the fireplace would be a perfect match to the rest of my Halloween stuffs.
I LOVE Shannon’s witch’s cottage it is awesome-she has such a great imagination. I would love to make the hutch what a great halloween decoration. >^..^<
Soooo wonderfully wicked and enchanting! Would love to try and brew up an ensemble like this!!
I have never worked in miniatures and all of it is so interesting. I think it is really the scale of the items that really makes my head spin. Incredible.
All of the miniatures are just fantastic. My favorite are the black cauldrons.
The fireplace is fantastic! I keep expecting to hear the bubbling of the cauldron and crackle of the fire when I look at it!
I just purchased a small doll house that I plan on decorating and furnishing, so the Alpha Stamps miniatures will be perfect! I could really use that fireplace! So I’ll keep my fingers crossed on this great giveaway:)
I love the fireplace and would like to recreate my own version in a shadow box.
Oh my gosh — it’s just impossible to name one part of the witch’s cottage which is most inspiring, because simply every nook and corner is greatly inspiring! I would love to make a witchy fireplace of my own for Halloween. 🙂
Happy crafting,
Birgit
Love that fireplace… with the little cauldron pot … I’m definitely going to add it to my witchy list..This is such as in-spook-erational post..Love it !!!!
I have my doll house from when I was a kid. Thinking I want to take each room and make it all into a Witch’s Mansion!!
A Spell Kitchen, Skeleton Gallery, Bat Attic, I could go on!!!! My poor brain is full!
Unbelievable. I was creative dreaming about a witch’s pet owl’s tree house. Made with G45 Rare Oddity just this morning. Following lunch my best haunting friend and I are embarking on creating a owl habitat and the lanterns are spectacular as is the fireplace. Your cottage is spectacularly spooky. Every owl deseves a spooktacular nest.
What an awesome room, a scary place to feast your eyes. I love everything about it, an ambitious endeavor for sure. Would love to attend a class!
A friend and I are planning to make one for each of us.
This is one of the coolest projects yet.
Thanks for so much inspiration.
I absolutely love Shannon’s cottage. I want to make the whole thing. It is so inspiring to see what others make!!
Love the transformation of the little tin with the shelf added; and all the incredible detail!
I am in love with this entire project, but the oak hutch full of potions is the piece I would really love to do. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I love all things spooky and creepy, now to find the right witch to go into this scene. I’ve been contemplating creating dollhouse rooms out of wooden boxes and this might be my muse to get started.
Definitely the eyeballs in the jar. How creative.
I can see Santa’s kitchen
How cool is this! I have always wanted to make a Halloween mini room. Love it!
I don’t know where to start! The cottage is awesome, so detailed, so much effort put into it! I would like to make my own. Cheers!
COOL! I Love the oak hutch! I would like to make a Witch’s kitchen or perhaps a wizards classroom and this hutch would be on the wall filled with similar concoctions and potions and spellbooks! Love this theme…gobblin good fun. 🙂
I love it. Such great attention to detail.
I’d love to recreate the table and the cabinet. All these miniatures makes me want to pull mine out of storage and get to work!
Wow! Hats off to Shannon for making such a creative piece! Great detail and such clever use of beads, Styrofoam and foam board innards!
I love Halloween! It’s my birthday and has always been such fun. I made my own haunted mini house and decided to make a new one every year. I only did the exterior though – using alpha paper cutouts and rubons with fake fingernails painted black for the roof tiles – but love the idea of a “doll’s house” gone spooky. Thanks for the inspiration!
That room is so clever…i’d love to recreate several parts of it.
The hutch is my favorite. I love all of the detail in the entire room but the hutch is absolutely fabulous! I do not think I could attempt the full project but the fireplace wuld be a great beginning.
Thank you for your generosity.
Oh…my…Lanta… How can I pick one thing to be inspired by? The whole project is a work of art! The details are amazing. I was drawn to the fireplace. I love the ambiance it creates for the room. This is definitely a work of “heart”. Thank you for the inspiration.
There are so many wonderful details in her artwork! I am so inspired by all the bottles of goo and fun things they are filled with.
I love the whole room, but the fireplace with the glowing fire really took my eye. Thanks Alpha Stamps for everything you do!
What a wonderful piece! It’s like ” I spy” and “hidden pictures” all rolled into a magical witch’s spell. I love it!
Halloween, miniatures, skulls, this witch cottage has it all! Sooo much creativity! The lavender bunch made with embroidery thread is so clever, the candle holding skull is spot on, and I can feel the warmth from the fireplace! No need for me to take a trip to Tucson’s Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures for inspiration when I can get it from the Alpha Stamp Design Team!
I love all the little tiny things.
OOOH! The eyeballs are the coolest! I love the tiny bottles and Mason Jars. So much fun here. I’d love to win someday. This is the time.
Thanks JB
I love the little bucket full of moss with the toadstools. That’s something I would love to emulate 🙂
I love seeing how each person sees the value of items differently -some may use beads for necklaces etc and here they are little bottles full of potions or ingredients.
I love seeing other people’s imaginations flow and inspire others!
Thank you.
The whole collection speaks to me. I love anything to do with witches and Halloween. The wheels are turning and I can truly say I would love to build my own cottage.
Love the potion shelf 🙂
I like the skulls and the book and potions. Would definitely like to make something like this.
I simply love the tin…imagine all the fascinating little items you can find. Magic potion bottles full of odds colors containing who knows what…let your imagination roam! And small bones of…well, I can’t say. Rings and spellbooks, many things…yum!
I love the little owl on the fireplace mantle! I have been wanting to make a witch’s cottage for quite some time now, but I really need to stock up on some supplies!
This was a wonderful work of art. Years ago I used to put furniture kits together. This chair looked like a Chrysabon kit. Wow that would be so awesome if you could locate more furniture kits, not just chairs! I sure miss doing them!
My favorite would be the wee potions shelf and I love the fact that she built the witch’s house to put it in. Looks like a lot of fun …. Perhaps I am a little batty as well!!
Love, Love, Love!
I love this witch’s house, how inventive.
The tiny shelf with bottles and potions made from the tin box is a definite must make.
The witch’s cottage is just spectacular. I’ve finished the outside of my dollhouse-turned-into-haunted house, and need to start furnishing the inside. I love the hutch the most.
I love everything about this.Amazing talent at Alpha Stamps!
Your designers always amaze and thrill me. But I can honestly say this is my favorite creation from Alpha Stamps ever. It’s spooky and enchanting. Don’t know if my old hands and eyes would be up to creating it,but I’ve bookmarked this page so I can enjoy looking at it. Thank you Shannon Cooper for such a delightful start to my week.
love it! Love the tiny cabinet!
LOVE the entire cottage, but especially the hutch. Will definitely be trying to create something similar!
I find all the little touches very inspiring: the eye on the wall, the little cat under the table, the pine cone by the fireplace.
I have just discovered Fairy Gardening and absolutely love creating miniature worlds.
This is the most amazing collection of magical miniatures I have ever seen. My witch would be an herbalist and her house would be filled with potions. That little hutch and all those jars, what magic could be created.
I love the detail and the creepiness of the witches cottage
I love how she incorporates the miniatures, beads and bottles to make a witch cottage. Very inspirational and great ideas.
I find her attention to detail absolutely inspiring! What an amazing display!!
It all looks great. It is amazing all the little details that were added to the objects to form the overall spooky atmosphere!
I am working on a small scale cottage for a papier mache pumpkin and also a small fairy apothecary, so the entire cottage is inspirational. But if I had to pick just one element, I would say that I really like all the buckets and jars. I might not have thought of those little elements if I hadn’t seen it. Thank you.
simply ghoulish!!!! I LOVE it!
I really like the mini tin made into the potions shelf!! Very inspiring :o)
What a great use for mini-tins, or even maxi-tins!
Love all the mini potion jars, the fireplace and the picture above it. Want to make this project!!! I hope i win!!!
This a truly amazing project. I do not know which is my favorite part. I would love to try a much smaller version of this house, as I have never tackled much on a miniature level, but I love it!
It is amazing how detailed Shannon made her project – wow! She should be creating sets for movies! It’s fun yo start seeing Haloween goodies again.
I love her details!
Really? I’m supposed to pick ONE part of this fabulously creative room? Hahaha. I do like the little wall shelves. So many fun things to be stored up there. Thanks for the fun!
I love the eclecticness of the items. The cool apothecary type jars and details are very eye catching! So many ideas…
Incredible job, Shannon! I’ve been collecting some elements for a witch room but haven’t gotten there yet…you’ve inspired me! Could look at the contents of the cottage all day and still not see everything in it. Love!!!
So fantastic! What more could I ask for than a witch’s cottage! I love everything about this! But most of all the fireplace! I need to try this after I complete my mini apothecary dioramas!