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Saturday, December 23, 2017

Toy Xylophone for Santa’s workshop (Let there be noise!)


Made following directions from Joanne’s Minis on YouTube



Replaced the dots of grey paint with circles punched from silver cardboard used for cakes. The punch also is useful for tiny buttons on doll clothes.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Let them Eat Cake!


Got a birthday or holiday cake? Don’t throw that container out.
This little scene fits inside nicely for storage.
Start out with a little house.

Fill in the back panel with windows, doors and windowboxes to blend in with the front and sides. Landscape, using moss. The windowboxes are filled with green Bunka and clippets of red.
The base is foam core covered with quilt batting.


The snow effect is quite wonderful, a train modeler’s trick. Use diluted glue with a drop of dishwashing soap, and spread where you wish to have snow. Then sift baking soda over the area. Shake off excess once dry.

Then cover.


https://photos.app.goo.gl/OLRyekQPa9wufhBE2


Monday, December 4, 2017

In Flanders, Remembrance Day 2017


In 1914, the war-torn fields of Western Europe became a natural breeding ground for the Papaver rhoeas or poppy, as it is more commonly known. It was in these fields that Canadian soldier John McCrae wrote “In Flanders Fields”, probably the most widely known poem of the First World War. It was McCrae’s words that turned the poppy into a powerful war emblem and the symbol of Remembrance Day.
In what has become the signature piece of Brian Lorimer’s Project Remembrance collection, In Flanders carries on the tradition of the poppy. Depicting a moment of calm before the quiet field is transformed into a battlefield, the painting hints at the destruction to come; the soldiers who stand waist deep in the scarlet poppies will soon stand in the blood of their fallen brethren.



This is a room box with poppies in the foreground using Brian Lorimer’s painting as backdrop.


Thursday, June 29, 2017

Teapots and cakes.

This is a Niagara minis project. The teapots are from air dry clay, as well as the cakes. Some of the frosting is dimensional paint. The cake rack was made from bits and pieces of wood, shelves slightly slanted for display.
The roof is a glass insert from a picture without the frame. It lights the room effectively, adding shadows and light.



For more info, go to Niagara Minis Tea Room

Thursday, June 22, 2017

West Coast BC Big House

Edith Newman from Sooke British Columbia, has completed an astonishingly detailed replica of a big house.
This is the front of the house, with the dugout canoe and nets. The lady is splitting salmon to dry on the drying rack near the front door. The children are carrying fish from the canoe to the bentwood box.The girl with the basket on her back has just come back from digging clams. Can you see the Hudson's Bay blankets through the front door?
The totem has an eagle atop a copper which is shield shaped and is a sign of great wealth. 
The design on the front of the house is of the killer whale. 
The design on the dugout canoe is of the sisiutl or double-headed sea serpent. It is a protector. 

The mats on the ground are old worn mats that are dampened and put over the canoe to keep it from drying and cracking when it is out of the water.
The drying rack on the roof, where small fish are dried.
The elder is teaching the youngster how to spear a fish.
Interior view from roof
Man climbing ladder and view of various storage baskets.
View from the front.
Man is filling bullkelp with fish oil to store for the winter

Salmon being cooked on the fire, an elder weaving a mat and the kids are singing and drumming.
Smoke is rising from the fire.

This gives an idea of the size of this unique project.

Edith is a member of Small Endeavours, Miniature group in Victoria B. C.

Simple chandelier

Making things from a stash. I bought a bag containing some large sequins.
 Already had a 3 prong fish hook and wire, along with necklace chain.
Put them all together, make some air dry candles and voilĂ !

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Emily Carr's Campsite

In celebration of Canada 150,  Lynne Landygo from Chemainus, B.C., shares her project featuring Emily Carr, an artist and author from British Columbia, closely associated with the famous Group of Seven.
Lynne has recreated the camping setup, and included the intrepid pioneer herself!



Lynne is a member of the Small Endeavors Miniature Group in Victoria, B.C.

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Parasols


Instructions with kind permission from Viola Williams,
www.violasdolls.com

Times and fashions do change, don't they? Sometimes they go in circles. Once upon a time, privileged ladies of the upper classes valued a pallid face, which indicated they had the money to achieve this result. Elaborate parasols protected them from the sun, while ingesting arsenic, or applying lead based creams supplemented the effect. 


Heaven forbid you had freckles! Remember the portraits of Queen Elizabeth 1 of England? A real paleface! She was a redhead......just  saying.....  It was only working class women who worked in the sun who were tanned.

Times changed again in the 1920's, popularized by Coco Chanel, and the privileged could spend time in the sun, with a tan being associated with health, wealth and leisure, while the pale working class were confined to factories and offices.

Now again, with more knowledge about the harmful effects of too much sun,  umbrellas are seen more on sunny days, as well as in the rain.

Probably the most popular periods for the parasol were Regency, Edwardian and Victorian. Some parasols to were quite tiny, just large enough to shade one tiny lady, while others were larger. 
The photo below shows the smaller size on the left, larger on the right.


To make a parasol, you will need
  • Pull tab from a beverage container
  • Lace (straight edged works better on smaller parasol, and stiff lace is best) 
  • Tacky glue
  • I Dowel or wire for handle
  • 1 small and 1 larger spools

Remove the circle from the pull tab and punch a small hole in the centre. 
Gather the side-edge of a strip of lace. Then pull gathers, join ends together and tie off, forming a circle to create the top of the parasol.
Tacky glue the lace to the top of the plastic circle, using clips to hold in place.


Gather a narrower strip of lace, join the two ends and slip over the handle to cover the plastic circle. Glue in place.


Push a dowel or wire from the insides through the centre of the plastic circle so that approximately 1/16 to 1/18 inch protrudes through the top. Glue the handle securely.
Stack two spools together to support the parasol. Drape the lace into a parasol shape. Give the parasol several coats of clear drying glue, hairspray or other stiffener.


Cover the top of the handle with flowers or a bead. Please note the larger parasol has lace glued to both inside and outside of the parasol.

How elegant, swelligant!