Put a Cork In It!

Sorry to be so late today. I had the mini Wednesday Witches here today. We generally had a good time eating and not getting a lot of minis done. I did teach one of the members to make miniature tassels. That's something that I am going to have to put on here one of these days. Not tonight tho.

I am going to do a fast one tonight. I have some minis that I started collecting years ago just because I am fascinated what the Chinese artists can do with cork. It started innocently enough. I saw a small scene in a thrift shop. Then I saw another and another. They were inexpensive and beautiful. The fan shaped one was the first. I think it was priced at about 2.00. Someone got rid of it because the fan shaped mat was water stained and in bad shape. I brought it home and made a new one and covered it with white Chinese brocade. It was as good as new. I picked them up here and there until I have about 10 different ones now.

I have two of these little domed pagodas. I think that I got them at an import store. I started thinking mini scene usage with them. These are only about 2" tall. In this shot you can see the incredible carving. The details are like that in all of them. My photos don't do them justice.

Some of them have cranes in the scenes for good luck. I would imagine that at one time the cranes were ivory. Now they are synthetic. The leaves on the trees are perfectly carved and the pine trees even have needles.

This is the back side of one that is about 4" long at the base and 2" long at the top. I wanted you to see how the cranes and leaves are attached.

The best one is the last one that I bought. It is a 4 panel screen. It is perfect size for a 1/12 scale room. Each panel is 2 1/2" wide including the frame and 6 1/2" tall. Someday I am going to make a Chinese room for the screen. For now, it sits on a shelf where I can see it and enjoy it every day. I can't imagine doing the intricate carving that is in these pieces. I do hand carved beds and other furniture. I don't think that I would even attempt this.

OK. I have filled up enough space for today......Keep an eye out for minis everywhere. They will pop up when you least expect them!

See you tomorrow.