New bookcase and new artwork

 Hello again dolly-friends. Long time, no see. I haven't posted anything since December so I guess my first post of 2026 is going to be in April. Despite not being active posting, I've been working on some doll stuff behind the scenes. Not as much as I would have wanted to, but at least it's something.  

In early 2026 I felt the urge to paint a miniature painting of a nighttime landscape. I had this idea in my head with a specific color palette, so I had to make it come to life. I did film a Youtube tutorial, as I usually do with my paintings, but it did take me months to edit and upload (more on that later). If you can't watch the video embedded down below, please follow this link.

 

Once the painting was finished, instead of immediately taking the photos and editing the video, I decided that I wanted to make a new miniature bookcase for my dioramas and use it for the final photos of this video. I've been wanting to make a new bookcase for quite some time, as I'm a little fed up of always seeing my crate bookcase in all of my photos. I made this bookcase back in 2020, 6 years ago, and I feel like it's time for a change. 

While I usually make my crafts from scratch, figuring out the measurements as I go, but I recently rediscovered the Youtube channel Simply Stella, which already had templates similar to the idea I had in mind.  So, I decided to work smarter, not harder, and use one of her templates.  

Simply Stella has two options for the patterns: watch her video to find out the free template to cut by hand or buy templates to cut with a Cricut or Silhouette machine from her store. Being my first attempt, I decided to go with the free template and, if I liked it, consider purchasing other designs in the future. Originally, I wanted to do one of her latest designs, but I felt it would be too much work given the little time I have, and I decided to go with a Billy-style type of bookcase with doors. Down below you can find the tutorial for the craft, and here's the link to her store in case you would like to buy the template. 

The instructions were quite clear, but I find the building of the doors quite challenging, and part of it is the fact that I feel I don't have the right tools.  If you find the doors too challenging, you can always make a regular bookcase with no doors, or glue them directly so they will be permanently closed. 

For the color, I picked the shade Desert Cactus from Americana Acrylics. Lately, I've been into these types of green shades, and I think this will look great against my light cream walls. I also decided to give it golden handles made out of coffee stirrers, as they would be a great contrast with the green. What do you think?

I'm quite happy with the result, and I would love to do another one in a different color. I really think that a different color and a few tweaks in the handles and doors can give this project a completely different vibe. I'd also love to do one of her latest crafts, the 3 in 1 modular cabinet, but for this I think I will purchase the templates from her store, because I can't do so much cutting! (link to the store)

 

That's all that I have to share today folks. While I was writing this post, I also started filming another miniature painting tutorial, that I hope to have up on my channel before summer. 

 I hope you are all well. I have not been keeping up with your blogs,but honestly I think there are very few people left who still have an active blog. Regardless, I still want to know what you have  been up to. Any interesting doll projects?

 

Monster Crafts