Scrapbook Dome: Part 1

My favorite hobby is miniatures.  When I make something that turns out great or have the pleasure of buying them, I get giddy.  But miniatures can be expensive. I often make them myself, but doing them DIY takes time.  Making them in general takes time.  Because of this for a long time I resisted adding scrapbooking as a hobby. 
Scrapbooking isn’t a cheap hobby, either.   First, is printing the pictures.  I take lots of photos – even more now that I have gone digital.  Raising two children on a budget left little room for printing but I did print the film ones over the years.  When it came to albums I didn’t have the extra money for those either, so I was storing them in boxes.  They were all organized so nicely in order. 
One day, my children wanted to look at them.  I let them.  Pictures are made to be shared.  But I didn’t watch them very well with them not thinking they would not be so ocd about keeping them in order like I would.  So yes, they were all mixed up.  That’s the day I decided I had to do something.  I had to do something to share them in a way that I was comfortable with.  That was the day I decided I couldn’t resist the scrapbook hobby anymore.

This scrapbook dome is my tribute to my other hobby.  A in process project…

This dome just screamed buy me at a thrift store.  This is what it looked like before.

What I didn’t realize was that the opening was smaller than the overall dome. I had to figure out a way to use it.  My solution was a floor that folds.

With the floor flat inside

Other things I have done so far:

I made the table using foam core for the top, fabric to cover, and wood dowels for legs.

I even made the braces out of paper and a dress pin head.

I cut paper strips for the brace, drilled a hole in the dowel leg and added the pin for the joint.

I had purchased a cat from at a show and this I repainted it to look like my Juni.

Juni

Next time I finished was this pen case.

Do you see it?  In the middle, of the real thing….
.
.
.
.
Well here’s a close up of it.

To make this miniature I used black cardboard for the backing.  Then I scanned the color sheets and printed on photo paper (wanted them to be shiny).  Used 4 mm silk black ribbon around the outside, plus some fringe cording around that.  The markers are made from price tag stems.  I painted after adding them to the sides.  The pen loops were made using the same silk ribbon, but I added a line of glue down the middle of the ribbon, then cut it in half to make a 2mm wide pen loop.  The scissors are from a hook and eye that I cut apart and the blue craft knife (with black end) in the flap was sanded wood.  The one in the middle is from the price tag loops.

To make these I used the photos these to print and then glue on to cardboard layers.

Further, I took photos of my own scrapbooks and then reduced them to make miniature copies.

Here it is in the dome. Nothing is glued down as I am still wanting to make a few other items.