Thursday 31 January 2013

pass the CAKE PLATE

It was during the christmas holidays that I was in Michael's  craft store and I saw these Ornament Caps 6 per pack.

This is what they look like in the package....
  And this is them out of the package

I am going to need a pushpin to act as the centre support for the cake stand.  To remove the pin this is what I did. ( Kids do NOT try this at home.)

This is what to do to remove the pin from the "push." I had this candle lit inside my tissued wall light box, which I STRONGLY advise you NOT to do!!!  This was only for the photo.  I wanted to show you how to remove the metal from the plastic. 


I held the plastic end of the push pin into the flame for 7 SECONDS ONLY!   This allowed the plastic to loosen up enough to enable the pin to be easily pulled out.

The pin is hot so use a second pair of pliers to gently pull out. 
 These are the components that I have decided to use for this cake plate.  There are 3 buttons, a metal washer a push pin and the ornament cap.  I don't always use the exact same pieces for each project.  Here is a photo of 2 of the 7 storage boxes of the bits and pieces,like the 2 below, that I choose from.  I try to keep things organized but there is never enough storage or more often than not, I can't see what I need because there is sooo much surrounding it.  Anyway, this is what I choose from, take a peek....
Metal bits

PLastic and metal,wood and cork disks 


This is the glue that I use almost ALL the time.  Looks like it is getting a bit low.

Okay, back to the composition.  The metal washer fits inside the button and levels out the surface of it so that the next piece, (the white button,) has support and the glue has something to stick to.


The pushpin is glued to the top of the button.  The next step is to add the white disk to the top of the pushpin.  This will elevate the metal cap and bring the height into harmony with the visual weight of the cap.



Here it is with the base pieces all glued together.  

On goes the ornament cap.  


I have stuck the cake plate onto a piece of double-sided tape  so that I can  paint it  without getting it all over me.  

Look Ma, no hands!!!!

Cheap white nail polish.  The cheaper the better.  Usually, thinner  and runnier than better brands, which in this case is a Good Thing!  You want thin even coats Not thick sticky ones.  This bottle cost 2 dollars at the dollar store. I like it.



Showing the application of the nail enamel.  This is the 2nd coat I applied.  It will turn out better if you let each coat dry completely before you apply the next, just like you would on your nails.  Had I waited, the finish would have been smoother.  This is when I began to over-work this project.  The one below is Okay, but I'm not 100% satisfied with it.


This one I over- painted with a lime green glass paint, and then gloss coated  with Tripple Thick glaze.  Supposed to look similar to 'milk' glass.  I'm saying that just to hide the
fact that I was really making a mess of the finish especially on the pink one below. 

This piece was such a wrestling match, which ended with me loosing.  Somethings I am very happy with, some not so much. This one is the NOt SO MuCH.
I think this looks lumpy and the color is strange. Not everything is successful (sigh)
Not everything turns out as it should but this one is not too bad.  It needs a doily.  Dessert always looks better presented upon something pretty.  I hope that you will all enjoy making these MORE than I did. hahha

 Until next time.....


elizabeth

Monday 28 January 2013

toys, Toys,TOYS!

A monkey by Todd Kruger and one knitted by Janine's friend and neighbor, Pearl.

I've decided to show you the collection of dolls and toys that I have been collecting for an ongoing project called "TEDDY'S BIRTHDAY".  I started this a long time ago and it has been sitting 1/2 done and staring me in the face as I await more inspiration.  (Where is it, I wonder???)  This assortment is full of memories for me as quite a few bears that started my collection were by a M.C.B.C. club member by the name of Mona Samerow.   She was famous within the club for her bear abundance and she was always an enthusiastic and energetic club participant.  

This is another over view of the collection.  The little girl doll is a Marie France Beglan  doll that is very expressive and a prize addition to my collection.  I'm not keen on most adult dolls in my doll's houses but I love children and am always on the look out for the ones that could be included in this project.

 I have made some doll prams to sell at the show this year. This is one of them. ( Photo a bit fuzzy, sorry)


These are some porcelain dolls by the Canadian doll artist Jean  Day.  Jean no longer makes them but now has a blog where she specializes in Printies and mini books etc. I am so glad that I have these for my collection.  The little rabbit is by me, many moons ago.


Here is another Jean Day child doll 'playing' with another  pram by me.   I made only 6  as  they were a lot of work but fun never the less.  Maybe I'll do more but right now I don't even want to think about it.

All of these dolls are also from my workroom, sitting in a baby carry all basket by Janine.  Sometimes  I make sooo much of a type of thing then I'm saturated and I don't do any more for a very long time.  I use to sell these doll's at a Miniature store almost 20 years ago and these are the last of them.  They were pretty easy to do, come to think of it.  Maybe it is time to try them again?

The rabbit is by another Canadian by the name of Robin Brewer who was a club member until she moved to Vancouver Island.  She scaled down her full sized crafting into miniatures and this is what she came up with.  I think it is adorable !  To the right is rabbit that Janine made in a workshop of mine and the rabbit behind is of unknown origins.  

My favorite bears!  They are all from the U. S. and I wish I could tell you their makers  but too many years have elapsed and I was not very good about keeping records.  The bear in the blue hat is by me though, THAT MUCH I do recall! hahah


I purchased these two felted toys from another Canadian artist from the Westcoast Dollhouse Show and Sale last June.  The artist is Christine O'Neil of 'Fantiny Critters' . She has a web page and last year was her first time at the show and there was a crowd around her table all the time and she not only had the toys but also the supplies so that you could make your own.  Janine and I were glued to the spot and it was sooo difficult to chose which was the cutest because all of the critters had Personality Plus!  I started with the bear and ended with the cute little cat that you see on the chair below.  Christine is coming back to the show this year, so I'm certain that these 2 will eventually have company.
 

Finally another lovely doll by Canadian Jean Day.  She has had a busy day playing with all the toys she has been surrounded with.  She deserves a little rest.  Shhhhhh! We'll just tip-toe out now.....bye


Saturday 26 January 2013

CHESTS,CHAIRS AND PILLOWS

Mountains of Chests! 




the pretty little blue painted chest is by Alan Barnes
Stacks of chairs!


 Loads of Needlepoint cushions by my friend Pam Grant.  She use to send them to me by mail!  Lots of them came out of the destroyed doll's house, but I never knew just how many they numbered.  She is now a romance novelist, and says that her eyes can't do this kind of work anymore.  She made me a beautiful mini needle point carpet that I have used in another half- finished project that has sat for the last 12 years.  I thankfully, had that one INSIDE the house.   


I had to clean out the miniature stuff that I had stowed away in the garage for the last 12 years because the cardboard storage containers were soaking up the moisture in the air and as a result things were getting damp.  Some of the items had just plain rusted away and I had to throw out a lot because of the corrosion. I used to use salt to fill the pillow cushions with, and the salt plus the moisture spelled... Trash!  Added to that, I had stored 2 finished doll's houses in the garage, furnished and everything only to find (several years ago now) that rats had gone in the mini front doors and chewed all the fabric wall coverings that I used inside, off the walls and left a Mess over everything!  These were no 'HUNCA MUNCAS', nothing cute about it!  I ended up giving one of the houses, complete with dolls and furnishings( such as they were) to my friend Pam Grant, and she took it 'AS IS' and cleaned it up and made it her own.  The other house was the one that had won Best of Show at the Seattle Miniature Show and Sale in the late 90's and as bad as it was, I was determined to eventually re-do it and start again.  It was entitled "At Home By the Sea", and as the name explains, it was a nautical home with vintage overtones.  I cleaned it out and rescued all the salvageable items I could.  There was a lot to clean up, but I did it and all of it was re-stored in the boxes and back into the garage.  IN the past and  over the years, when I had finished other projects, that I either had sold or given away, I had accumulated a vast surplus of mini that I always said I was going to use and never did and eventually had forgotten about.  So, I have begun to pull everything out of the garage and back into the house, into my work space and I am SWAMPED!  Kim, of Minimalarky had taken a photo of her workspace, and I had thought maybe to do the same, however, I decided against it, as mine is just too much!!!!  I decided instead to show you just some of the things that have been in hiding and that I have had without knowing how much I actually had because it was all spread out.  There is still another box in the garage that I have to get to, yet.  Fi, this is where a "keen eye" will lead you.  Mini Hoarding!

Friday 25 January 2013

CANADA IS A "WARM" COUNTRY

My mother told me that when she and my father moved here from the United States back in the 1960's my father was VERY surprised that there were NO dog sleds and Mounted Police in red coats and broad brimmed hats riding astride horses in the city.  In fact, my dad could not believe that Canada was as warm as Washington State when you crossed the border.  There was no perpetual blizzard or igloos at the U.S./ Canadian border in fact it looked like 'normal'.  My father grew up in southern California and granted' the weather there is quite a bit different than here, but not all of Canada is so blasted by ice and snow as most generally believe.  I have always enjoyed living here in southern British Columbia and became a citizen in the 1990's, because I think, and have always thought of this as HOME even though I was born across the line.  One of the reasons I like it here is that the warmth and friendliness of the majority of people that I have met or have established long term relationships with who have been a genuine blessing to me over the course of years.  I have friends at church and at work, friends at home and abroad in fact I am surrounded by now by friends who 'visit' me regularly and in turn I am 'invited' into their homes to share the fun that we know is magnified, when it is enjoyed with others.  I am truly honored that so many people are interested in this blog, and when I turn on the computer I am surprised that you are all still there!    THANK YOU.  And now there are even more 'guests', and I have not yet officially welcomed you to this blog, so at this time I am rolling out the Red (and white) Canadian Carpet to thank Eva, Chris, Alejandra, Lina, Lola, Fabiola, Marie, Kim, and Marian, for becoming followers here.  Right now the cold winter is still upon us but in truth, Canada is a warm, hospitable and friendly country and I hope you will feel the warmth of YOUR welcome here.

elizabeth

p.s. I have tried to keep abreast of new followers, and so if you do not find your name included in this or any of the other posts, please 'raise your hand' for me to see.  I don't want anyone to feel neglected or over-looked.  Each of you is important, and everyone is warmly welcomed!

Thursday 24 January 2013

SPAGHETTI!

SPAGHETTI!

Janine gave Fats and I some vials of Nail Art products that she picked up at the dollars store.  There were both tall and smaller vials in the package and she suggested to me, at the time that she thought that they would make nice pasta canisters, and she was right.
The above is the finished one, and here is how I did it...
These are filled with tiny hearts that are intended for finger nails.  They can be used  for other things as well, decorating mini cakes and cookies and Christmas ornaments, etc.



Empty the jar and save the contents for another project.


This was a 'find'!  In Wal-mart in the international food section, was this package of vermicelli from Pakistan.  I have never seen noodles as fine as these and for 97 cents per pack, how could I loose?  I broke off a tiny bit and slid it into the jar.  I did not over fill it as I wanted the pasta to not present a totally solid finish.  I wanted the pasta to be visible individually while inside the canister.



Initially, I was going to re-use the original plug, but that is exactly what it looked like;  a Plug so I needed a different solution.  Tacks are cheap and cheerful and the circumference was just right for the jars.

Remove the stem with pliers.



get ready to glue the lid onto the jar with......????

This glue is great for almost anything as you know if you  have been following any of the previous posts.  I purchase mine also at Wal-mart but you can probably find it elsewhere too.  If you have something else to hand that works for you, by all means use it.  This is just a particular favorite of mine.  I used a label from a magazine ad to finish this project and had I been less impatient, I would have photocopied it many times over because I really like the way it presents itself.  But I'll call it DONE.  I think that if you can't find this angel hair pasta then try a flat linguine noodle to represent lasagna.  Have fun and enjoy your....

SPAGHETTI!!





























DO OVERS! a Glencroft Living room redecoration

    Back in April of 2022, I made up a storyline for my Glencroft renovations, which went something like this...   "After due considera...