I Should Not Be Allowed to Clean the Workroom....Ever....

I was happily rummaging through drawers, boxes and bin yesterday....Yup. Cleaning the workroom again...Or I should say still.

I found a black textile pen.  I don't remember when I bought it, but it still worked...

I couldn't let a good thing dry out and go to waste,could I?

I dug in my closet and found a very dull tee shirt that was in dire need of a makeover.

Let the fun begin....Forget cleaning.

Zentangling can be a fashion statement.

I started with the three leaves and the eye, that you see in the first photo and worked out from there.

In the second photo, I hid my signature and year.

Don't ask me what any of it means.  I think it just means that I was bored with cleaning and wanted an excuse to quit.

I didn't want to do the whole shirt.  I don't want to do all of that work and have it wash out if the fabric pen isn't a good one.

This is as far as I got for the sample.  Now I will wait for a day or two and then wash it in cold water, maybe delicate cycle.

If it still looks OK, I may add more.  If not, I will find a better pen and a new shirt.  This is a great way to make a tee shirt look fashionable...Or at least wearable. I sure hope that this works.

Sorry about getting sidetracked.  Back to the cottage tomorrow.

See you then...Somebody, hide the pen!  I am having way too much fun.

Useless, But Fun!

This morning I was cleaning out the corner of the bedroom that I call the rat's nest.  I work there a lot of the time, because there is a big screen TV on the wall and I can do two things at once.

As usual, my "stream of consiousness" way of cleaning lead to other things.  I found a couple of watches that need new bands.  I moved all of the sock knitting stuff out of there, so that I wouldn't be tempted.

Then I cleaned off the top of the bedside table.

I always have a jar of tools, a frog full of scissors, toothpicks and glue right there and ready to be used as soon as the mood strikes.  The glue bottle is a small one that I fill, over and over.  Really ugly...

OK.  Just call me "Sidetracked Sadie".  I saw that old gold Aleene's Glue bottle setting there and I cracked.

I wondered why Aleene doesn't make pretty glue bottles?  Then I thought....It doesn't have to be all that ugly.

I know this is a waste of time, but it was fun.  I went and found some black and white fabric that would look good with all of the other black and white in the bedroom and went to work.

Tessie joined me and between the two of us, this is what it looked like when we were done.

I laid the bottle on the fabric and cut a piece that was about an inch longer than the bottle was tall and about 3/4" longer around.  I cut it so that the top to bottom edge was on the selvage edge. 

I was lucky.  This particular fabric was printed all the way to the edge, so I didn't have to turn it under.

I glued it around the bottle.  Then I clipped the bottom and the top edges and glued them to the bottle, trying not to overlap too much.  The top went all the way into the neck of the bottle.  The bottom covered only about 1/4 to 1/2" of the bottom.

I then cut a cardboard circle the size of the bottle bottom and covered it with fabric.  Tessie glued that to the bottom of the bottle.

I decided that the cap needed something too.  I cut a circle a bit larger than the top and cut a hole for the snout to fit through.  We slipped it over and glued it around the spout. Then I clipped the edges.  Tessie glued those down.  Then I cut another piece of selvage edge the height of the cap side and glued it around to cover the clipped pieces.

Amazing what a little glue and fabric will do!  Now I will hit it with a bit of clear varnish to protect it.

After seeing how nice that looked, I prettied up the jar with a couple of strips of fabric to match.  OK.  It's silly, but I like it.  It makes me smile.

No. It's not mini, but it is something that will put me in a good mood while I am working on minis.....If I could only get Tessie to stop asking, " Can you see me now?"  That happens every time she puts the tangled apron on...

See you tomorrow with other rediculous things to keep you busy.

"Silly Mini People..."

That's Tessie's opinion of today's tutorial. When I clean, I run across all kinds of old supplies that I had forgotten about.

Remember back in the 80s when country style was all the rage? I used to make clothes pin dolls and sell them at mini shows. I sold as many to non miniaturists as I did to mini people. They were just something fun to do. I guess that you might call them 3/4" scale. If you really wanted a scale...


I had to see if I remembered how to do it, or should I just pass the clothespins on to someone else?

After making these two, I am of the opinion that someone else can have the clothespins. I am not sure which garage sale I picked them up at.

I used to use real ones. These are made for crafts and I definitely don't like them as well.

Anyway, let's do it. I had already painted faces on these. They are basically a simple eye nose mouth combination, done with a extra fine Sharpie. Then colored in with colored pencils.

The hair is simply pearl cotton. For the bangs, I cut pieces about 1/2" long and laid six over glue on the forehead. Then I laid long strands across her head, until I filled it all in. The other one just has short pieces laid across the head and glued down.

The arms are done one of two ways. I prefer drilling a hole through the shoulder of the clothes pin. If you don't have a drill you can use the wrap and glue method shown on the left.

Here's a side view of the long hair. It was divided in half, braided and tied at the ends.

The curls are done around toothpicks and sprayed with hairspray.

I had to dress the one with curls before I could add them.

I made the hands with some natural colored leather, but you could do it with fabric if you don't have leather.

The sleeves are simply rectangles long enough to cover the arms and a little added for the glued hem. I wrapped them around the arm and glued the top edge to the clothespin. Overlapping the front over the back.

The skirt is a rectangle as long as you want it to be plus hem. It's 5 or 6 inches wide. On the blue one, I sewed the back seam. The pink one is totally glued. Even the gathers at the top were simply pleated with glue.

The bodice is a rectangle with hems on all four sides and a slit cut up the back, with a hole for the head.

After you get the dress constructed, simply decorate it the way you want to. Then you can finish the curls by cutting them in about 1/2" lengths and glue them around the head vertically.

Tessie wandered in about the time I finished making them. She named them Nancy and Jane....Then proceeded to box their ears for not talking to her. For some reason, she seems to think that, if it's shaped like a person, it should act like a person.

I am now cleaning up and getting ready for an invasion of witches.

See you tomorrow.

Before and After Day....

On the way home from town this morning, I stopped at a garage sale as they were putting things out to sell. I lucked out! I found this radio case for $3.00.

Nope. There's nothing inside, but there will be. Zar and Tessie are both vying for it. Zar wants a laboratory and just plain wants it.

Scott's Liquid Gold is my friend...I relegated Zar and Tessie to the other side of the table and went to work.

After less than five minutes, this is what the case looked like. That stuff is amazing. It looks even better up close and personal...

I got the back off and there is lots of room inside. The only problem is the front is glued as well as nailed in place. This might be a tough one.

I am playing hooky from the trailer this morning. I was looking at lap desks at Walmart this morning. The ones that they have this year aren't as big as they have been in the past and twice as expensive.

Being a cheapskate, I decided to go with the old one and fix it up.

Another before photo. As you can see, lots of paint and glue stuck to the surface, not to mention cuts from Exacto blades.

This one is just the right size and I use it a lot. So.....Here goes. I purchased some sticky backed cork drawer liner. That's all....I had glue, fabric and everything else to do what I had in mind.

This desk has the soft pillow underneath attached with Velcro. I pulled that off and went to work.

I cut strips of fabric about 3" wide, long enough to go around the edge of the desk and over lap just a little. I had to do it in two strips cut crosswise of the fabric.

Starting at one side, I glued the strip to the back, even with the edge of the Velcro and turned up to the side in one pass. I clipped the corners so that the bottom would be wrapped neatly.

Then I flipped it over and trimmed the edge of the fabric all around so that there was no more than an inch to wrap to the front and glue. In this particular case, I had to cover an indentation meant for pencils. I didn't want to lose that feature or I would have just ignored this step. I cut a piece of fabric long enough to glue inside and come out over the edge of the indentation about a half inch, making sure that all of the edges were glued down securely.

Next, I cut a paper pattern for the cork piece to go on top, with a hole where the indentation was.

The tough part was getting the paper off and this piece on evenly. I started with the corner where the pencil well is and worked to the opposite diagonal corner. The cork has a tough backing on it, so I was able to lift and reposition it a couple of times, here and there. (If you try this, save the scraps for minis. I make soles for espadrilles with this stuff.)

When that was straight, I glued a small self-healing mat to the left corner. Then I decided that I needed a pincushion to match. I used an 6" circle of matching fabric to make a yo-yo and stuffed it with batting. I then used green pearl cotton to section it off like a red tomato type pincushion, with a green button in the center to match the cutting board. Poke the picture, if you want to see it closer.

I now have a brand new, better than store bought, lap desk. I guess that there is no longer an excuse not to go work on minis. No. Wait. There is. I don't want to get my new lap desk messed up!

See you tomorrow.

Never Leave the Keyboard.......

I went out shopping this morning, since I didn't really want to start working on the townhouse yet. Did I mention that the lighting got here yesterday afternoon?

First I went to Michael's where I picked up a few findings to replace the ones that I have pretty much used up. I needed to use the 40% coupon before tomorrow....

Since I was already in the neighborhood, I stopped at the 22nd Street Antique Mall. Not one mini in sight, or even anything that I could turn into a mini. I did find a couple of tatting shuttles for my collection though.


The black one and the white one in the center row are the ones that I found. Probably early 20th century. I thought that I might as well show you the rest while I had the box out. The top row are just plain run of the mill shuttles, each a little different from the next. I usually pick those up for about a quarter a piece at garage sales. I like them because I can load each one with a different thread and don't have to keep looking for another shuttle. With those, the bobbins slip out for winding.

The second row consists of other purchased ones. They are of various materials and most are early to mid 20th century.

The bottom row is my pride and joy. the first three are from my Grandma Daisy, the fourth one is my great Grandma Mary's and the last two are some that April brought me back from Russia on one of her trips. They are about twice the size of the other ones and hold twice the thread. I don't think that the Russians like to wind bobbins any more than I do.

Anyway, that was the sum total of a couple hours of shopping.

Now for the rest of the story......I told you that the lighting got here yesterday.....I didn't tell you that there was a little something extra in the box.....

To my surprise, when I opened it, there were two extra boxes in the shipping carton.

Tessie was perched on the edge of the box and seemed to be overly excited about the lighting contained inside...... She jumped down into the carton, grabbed the two smaller boxes and ran.

Meanwhile, I checked the shipping list and made sure that all of the lights that I ordered were there.....They were.....Then I spotted, at the bottom of the list, two added items. The first line said Eames Lounge chair......The second one said Eames footstool.....I didn't order either of these.

I thought a minute or two and then remembered. When I was ordering, Tessie was looking over my shoulder and pointing at things that she wanted. I showed her the Eames chair and told her that I had always wanted a people sized one. I went on about my business and didn't think of it again....Until I saw the shipping list. Then it dawned on me what had happened. I had everything ordered and was ready to check out.

I had to stop and go check on dinner. I was only gone for a few minutes. I thought it was kind of strange when I got back to the computer that the page telling me that my order was completed and on the way. I thought that I must have pushed the button before I went to the kitchen.

OK. I am not crazy.....Well not completely. I didn't push that button! Piecing things together, I realized that Tessie completed the forms. She added in the Eames chair and footstool and then pushed the button to complete the order!

I went looking for her and sure enough, there she was ensconced in the chair with her feet up, chatting with Zar.

She turned and looked at me. Before I could say a word, she said, "Thank you so much for recommending this chair, Casey." And then, "I may never leave it again."

I know how comfy those chairs are. I sat in one a long time ago and I didn't want to ever leave it either. How could I take it away from her?

She slept in it last night. This morning she zapped it wherever she wanted to be at the time. She is now in the bedroom watching the big screen, as she calls it.

The chair was worth every penny. It is so peaceful around here that it's scary! I wonder how long this is going to last?

See you tomorrow.

A New Bad Habit.....

I seem to be developing a craving for Sunday morning stops at the Dollar Tree. I am not sure if this is good or bad. I always seem to find something silly that may or may not apply to miniature making.

When I got home this morning, I pulled all of the goodies out of the bag and Tessie pounced. She was trying to figure out what she could make from two of the four for a dollar fancy emery boards that I purchased. Yup. Zebra stripes.

I have the feeling that the townhouse is going to be afloat in animal skin patterns. She is pushing me to finish the zebra rug also....

Anyway, the other things that I found were a couple of bookmarks that each had two really nice miniature resin frames on them. There was no question about getting them unstuck from the backing....Two of the four had already fallen off in the package. Two fancy frames for a buck is not a bad deal.

Did I mention that Dollar Tree is now carrying sheets of 1/4" foam core that is 20X30 inches? They are. It seems that maybe the outer surface is less thick than some of the other brands. I grabbed a couple of pieces to play with. We shall see how they work.

Lastly, I got a package of two cupcake presentation boxes that I thought would make cute 1/4" scale room boxes. There is a window that covers part of two sides. They will have to be reinforced a little. I think that they have possibilities as simple gifts.

Remember all of the needle holes in my fingers a few days ago, that I told you not to ask about? Well....The experiment was a success.

The plastic edge of my fuzzy steering wheel cover was crumbling. Last week Walter bought me a new one.

Unfortunately, the manufacturers must have changed the formula for the rubber from which they are made. The new one smelled to high heaven of burnt rubber. I left the windows down on the car for a couple of days, hoping that the odor would dissipate....No such luck.

Walter took that one back. Fortunately, I kept the old one. I brought it into the house and went to work. I cut some bias binding from some checked fabric. I made it about 2 1/2" wide and doubled it lengthwise.

Here's where the holes in my fingers came into play. In order to get it sewn into the inside edge of the cover, I used doubled thread, a strong needle and a pair of needle nosed pliers. That was the tough part. It took me two days to get around the back and front.

The easy part was pulling the loose, folded edge around to the outside and blind stitching it to the soft outer skin of the cover.

As soon as Tessie spotted it, she insisted on posing with it. Then she wanted to take a ride to try it out....That didn't really work out too well. Every time I turned a corner, she either fell off or was hanging by her fingernails.

I think that she will be going back to riding on the dashboard. She seems to do much better there and there is room for Spike too.

I am off to see what other trouble I can get into without poking holes in my fingers.

See you tomorrow.

Sidetracked Twice.....

Remember the mess that Tessie and friend made in the workroom yesterday? I have been attempting to clean it up and put things in their place without much success.

I did get the Clockwork cottage returned to the family room, so at least I can walk around in the workroom without leaping over it. That thing is pretty high and I was getting fatigued doing the cleaning that way.

Anyway, every time I made any progress, something seemed to pop up in front of me that lured me away.

The first one, I do believe, Tessie zapped onto the floor under the worktable so that I would be tempted to start doing the foundation of the teashop. Yes!!! I found more egg cartons. There was enough hiding under there to do it. I could have sworn that I used them all. That's why I think that it was Tessie's doing. She really wants the work done on the teashop.

I finished doing the gluing and then went back to work. That lasted less than 30 minutes.

Then I found the wire whisks that I bought to rework as Christmas gifts. I found some that I could alter and make them fancy on top. Hey! They make Altered Trading Cards. Why not altered whisks?

I did a small one of these for April to stir with when she is making cosmetics. Seth liked it and wanted a "real" one for cooking. Seth, if you are reading this, don't look at the photos!

That took me over an hour to finish. The wire on those are reallllly tough to bend.

Did I mention that required taking out tools and a couple of boxes of beads.....One step forward in the cleaning and another one backwards. At least I didn't have to jump over a house to put the beads back....Yes. I did put the bead boxes back where they belonged.

I went back to the kitchen to see if the rock work was dry and ready for painting....Yes it was. Unfortunately, before I can paint the rock work, I have to rescue the whisk.

Tessie was sitting on her favorite tape dispenser, hugging the whisk. She was whispering "Pretty. Sparkly. I wonder if I can make it fly?"

Seth, if you are reading this. You are on your own. If you want the whisk, you are going to have to fight Tessie for it. The last I saw of it, it was floating around the room with Tessie on the handle! They are both gone now. I have no idea how she did it or where she is going with it.

I need to go work on the room some more now and see what other trouble I can get into.

See you tomorrow.

A Fascination With Shoes....

I have been working on refurbishing a pair of golf shoes for Walter this week. His group from work is called the "9/80 Golf Club". They are having a Halloween tournament this Friday and he wanted something spiffy to wear.(That's another one of my grandma's words that I just don't hear anymore. Spiffy is a great word. Why doesn't anybody use it?)

Anyway, he gave me free reign to do what I wanted with the shoes. As I was painting them, Tessie showed up. She loves shoes, even though she never wears them. I fear that Walter may have to fight her for this pair. Nope. Not her size, but everything else about them is Tessie worthy.

You see, I turned them into alligator shoes. You say, "What's so spiffy about alligator shoes?" I say, "These really are alligator shoes....."

Eat your heart out Nike! I may still put a few scales on them here and there. Tessie is already trying to put a spell on them so that they will come to life and fly. Never mind that alligators don't fly. I am hoping for spell failure.... If she manages it, Walter may never see his shoes again.

While I was at it, he needed a new patch for his golf hat to go with the shoes. He thought up the idea and I executed it. Pardon the expression....
He no longer belongs to a golf club....He belongs to a ghoulf club. My spell check is working. It just turned ghoulf a bright yellow.

He should look really spiffy if I can manage to snatch the shoes back. The last I saw of them they were flying in tandem towards Tessie's cottage.

See you tomorrow.

As Monte Python Would Say......

"And now for something completely different......" After finishing the porch yesterday morning, I decided that it was time to take a break from minis. I will get back to it on Monday.

I have been reading the blog of an artist from Mexico City that I stumbled on a few days ago. One of her methods is carving her own stamps. I remember doing a crude form of this when I was in grade school long ago. I also remember it being lots of fun to do and pretty easy. Sooooo....
Yesterday morning I found some of the erasers that she uses for small stamps at Walmart in the stationery department. You know, with all of the pens and pencils. I can get in so much trouble in that department. I love new pens, pads of paper and pencils. Even erasers float my boat.

Anyway, these are the plain white erasers that come in a three pack for under two dollars. I already had the tools(You can get them online from Dick Blick or You can pay a lot more at your local Joanne's.)

While I am talking about this, I probably should send you to the website and the instructions just in case you want to try doing some yourself. The name is Geninne's Art Blog and the part about the stamps is http://blogdelanine.blogspot.com/search/label/handcarvedstampstutorial

These are the three tools that I used. The center one is a fine linoleum cutter and the other two are really wood cutting tools, but they work in a pinch.

First I drew out the designs the size that I wanted the stamps. In this case, they were about 1" x 3". I transferred them to the erasers and started with the fine tipped tool, gouging the outline. Then with the bigger tools, I took off the excess around the design. That is basically all there is to it. I did print them a couple of times to make sure that I got off all of the part that I didn't want to print.

By the way, you can also purchase larger format sheets for carving these blocks at the places listed above. In both cases they are cheaper on line. You do have to pay postage, but in the case of the sheets for carving you get two for the price of one over the price at Joanne's. And the lino cutters are much cheaper there too.

I found a set of colored ink pads from Walmart(Martha Stuart) because every ink pad that I own is dried up because of non use.

Here is the results of my labours. I cheated and carved both sides of the stamps.

The one at the top has not been carved on the second side yet. I made that one so that it could be used side by side to make a border on something.

The one with the flower can be printed in whatever color you want the flower. The other side of that stamp is the blue leaf stem that you see at the bottom of the photo. On a couple of the examples I went back in with a .005 Pigma pen and did some detailing.

The leaves in the center are the ones that I like the best. Those are all on one eraser so that I won't lose one of them if I want to use them together.

I don't think it took me much more than an hour to carve all of them and now I have a bunch of stamps that I can use over and over.

If you want to see how it's done right, go to the above website and watch the video at the bottom of the page. It is fun to just watch her carve. She makes it look so neat and easy. It is easy, but mine definitely doesn't look as neat.

Geninne does wonderful watercolors and other graphic work. I could look at her blog for hours....In fact, maybe I will do that right now.

See you tomorrow.