Dori Allard – Happy With Her Shabby She Shed

by Pam North

Managing 401K plans for a large insurance company may be a good career, but for some it may not be the greatest creative outlet. Dori Allard admits to that philosophy, so she sought another venue for that fulfillment. Miniatures became her passion.
“I've been collecting and making miniatures since childhood, but only in the last 5 years have I been able to really indulge! My children are now adults, and I have more time and money to devote to miniatures. I can see huge progress in my work; I have more patience and take my time. Having the right tools is important, and with so much information available in magazines and online, one really can learn a lot. I love attending workshops and mini shows; miniacs are very generous about sharing their time, ideas, knowledge, and expertise.”
Her latest piece is called My Shabby She Shed, and gardening was its inspiration. Allard shared her thoughts on many aspects of her project. “I love gardening, and when the kit came out for the 2016 Creatin’ Contest, I just had to try it. I have created miniature gardens in the past, and my first thought was to use real plants around the shed, but I decided against that. I started a diary with pages of ideas: magazine pictures, photos from the internet and Facebook, real-life items I wanted to try to create in miniature. I had enough ideas for four she sheds!”
“Picking out colors was the first task, because I wanted to paint everything prior to building. I used a piece of pink insulation for a base – sturdy but light, and easy to anchor my garden trinkets without using much glue or wax. My husband cut skylights in the roof for me.”
“I always wanted to make a real-life mosaic with broken china pieces, so I decided that I do one in miniature with paper and Mod Podge. I covered a flower pot and a bird house, and then needed lots of flowers. My first project was to try Kris Compass’ tutorial on making geraniums, which I put in the mosaic pot. Using the same technique for hydrangeas, I added laser-cut leaves from Mary Kinloch and sdk miniatures. Happy with the hydrangeas, I tried my hand at some roses on the fence. Finding just the right tree for the corner was challenging; a tall and stately one that would invite one to sit under it to read and dream, but not cost a fortune. I added a longer and larger trunk to a tree I found at a hobby store, using tin foil I painted over. In real-life, my She Shed would have to have a fairy garden, so I looked for 1:144 scale miniatures that would work in my garden. The teeny house in the little wagon is from Stewart Creations, and the little fairy door on the tree I had made by an artist on Etsy (Klay by Kim). The sign to watch out for fairies is from Laura Crain at Dollhouse Land. One day I found the teeny 1:144 scale she shed (originally a beach house) from Templewood Miniatures, and a perfect green house was included in my order. The occupant of my she shed would have to be a miniaturist, reader, cross-stitcher, and tea drinker, and love cats, plants, and visits with friends. One of my favorite artists is Kim Jacobs; I tried to recreate the feel of some of her paintings, which always have lots of cats. I made the comfy chair and ottoman using Kris Compass’ tutorial recently in AM magazine. I incorporated several Squint Box pieces: the Starbucks cup, tissues, tray on the ottoman, package on the table, and others. The cross-stitch picture is a kit from Janet Granger;, some flowers are kits from sdk miniatures and laser sheets from Mary Kinloch. The mulch is tea (which also smells nice), and the walkway is ripped pieces of egg carton glued onto a piece of mat board, sponged and sealed. The hardest part was making the space full and comfy without it looking like a hoarder lived there!”
“ My favorite parts of it are the miniature she shed on the table with the greenhouse, the mini garden pieces in the garden. and the dandelions growing in the walkway (a kit from SDK). The part I most enjoyed was creating the flowers. They were very challenging, and I learned a lot from making them. Mary Kinloch made  the amazing, teeny 1:144 scale flowers in the green house.”
Asked about her plans for her creation, Allard joked, “I'll display it for sure - or shrink down and live in it!”