Just the Beginning...

Today is the first day of keeping the workroom clean....for the rest of my life?

Well maybe for a month or two it will stay like this...or almost like this.

I rearranged furniture this morning.  I have a new, old chair.  This is the one that was in the computer room.  Pretty classy for the workroom.  It was the one in the computer room.  We had a newer one out in the garage, so it is now the computer chair and this one is mine!  The other one I had, had tipping to the right issues.  Now I won't be falling off my rocker when I work on minis.

This is what I did last night with the new fabric paints.  I am just getting started.  I just hope that the ink sets well when I am finished.

It is a heat set type of ink and those usually do pretty well.

Even if it doesn't, it is really fun to do.

Last but not least, my friend Jane sent me another knitting care package.  Look what I got yesterday.  This is the third group that she sent.  I haven't used up all of the first two packages yet...I am determined to make as many socks, scarves and hats out of this yarn as I can.  It is really nice wool sock yarn. 

This is the way it comes packaged.  You simply unfasten one end and start knitting right off of the little blanket of yarn.  The hand dying in interesting.  You never know what you are going to get until you start knitting.

I have done several pairs of these and they turned out well....I think that Jane has made it her mission in life to see that I never stop knitting socks...Don't worry Jane!  You are doing a great job. Thank you so much, Jane!!!

I am going now and see what happens with one of the new yarns...

See you tomorrow.

Before and After....Washing.

I thought that you might be interested in how the shirt with the tangles did in the wash.

It came out pretty good actually.  I may go over some of the darker areas, but all in all, I am pleased.

I went back to Hobby Lobby yesterday morning and grabbed another pen that I wanted to try.

These are the four pens that I had available.

The first one is the on that I bought yesterday.  It's a Pentel Permanent Gel Pen.  The last one is the one I used on the shirt.

If I do any more, I think that I will try the third one.  It's a Permawriter Two.  It seems to have gone through the wash the best on the strip of muslin that I tried the pens on.

The Zig pen that I used on the shirt isn't nearly as bright on the muslin strip and surprisingly, the second one, that I thought would come out the best (India Ink) didn't do so well.

Anyway, that's how it went with the pens.  I think that there may be some more shirt work in my future.  I also found some textile medium in  with my acrilic paints.  I used to do a lot of that back in the 80s.  Maybe there will be a revival!

While I was doing the wash, I worked on the rug some more.

It's coming along pretty good.  I did have to rip out a couple of colors that I wasn't pleased with, so that slowed me down a bit.

Now I am going back and finish the wash.  I won't make you look at photos of that...

See you tomorrow.

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.

Happy Birthday Seth and April!

Every year about this time, we take the kids out to dinner for their birthdays.  Seth is eight days older than April.  So somewhere between the two we celebrate.

I don't expect to get any minis done today.  Too busy getting things ready.

First of all, I tangled both of their card envelopes.  As you can see, I didn't get the other end of the flooring dipped.

Next I will show you the progress on the lucet...I think that I am getting better at it.  I went back and watched a few more videos on U tube.  The more I watched, the more I got the rhythm of it.

I do think that it would work better with a better lucet, but for learning purposes, this one works fine.  There is even one video that shows somebody working with a piece of plastic cut in a crude V shape and that even works!

Anyway, Tessie will have to wait until tomorrow to have hers made.

To fill in the gaps, I will show you my latest tangle.  I did this one especially to fit the frame that it is in.  this is a great way to fill frames that I have sitting around doing nothing. 

At least it keeps me awake whilst watching TV at the end of the day. 

I have to go get ready now.  Outback, here we come.

See you tomorrow.

First of All.....

We have the ultimate tangles here in Tucson. My friend Ginnie brought me this photo yesterday. It was taken at the Pima Air Museum about 10 miles from our house. I am going to have to make a trip there. As I understand it, this is not the only one being displayed there now. Pretty Amazing. And you thought that I was bad for doing shoes!

Basically, I have nothing to report in the way of minis. This morning I started cleaning the workroom....Again.....

The lighting in that room is not good. The goose neck lamp beside the desk is a very handy light, but up until today I was having trouble with glare from the bottom arm. It is at eye level when I am working and the shades were frosted clear/white. It was almost like not having a shade at all.

I had a piece of fabric wrapped around it to cut the glare. It didn't really do a lot of good. So...Since the whole light was only $12.99 to begin with, I didn't have a whole lot to lose with experimenting....

I took out a bottle of Burnt Sienna Ceramcoat and a one inch brush and just started slapping the paint on....I knew that it wouldn't go on smooth with a brush, so I deliberately did cross hatching with the brush.

I had the light on whilst doing it, so that I could see how much coverage I was getting. It took two coats to get the effect I wanted.

When it is on, it looks like a smouldering fire. When it is off, it looks like a solid color. It is similar to the color on the furniture.

I am pleased. I can now see what I am working on without eye strain.

I am back where I started now. I am not tripping over things when I walk through the room...

I found these little guys while cleaning. I found them at the Mini Time Museum. They were in a basket on the front desk, marked 59 cents each. They are soft rubber and under an inch long. They have possibilities in 1" as statues and in quarter inch as baby animals....They are a little small for adults. Now all I have to do is decide what to do with them.

I succeeded in cleaning off the work surface. I also found the kits for 10 Chrisnbon chairs of two different types. I ordered them from HBS a couple of weeks ago. I am short on straight chairs in a lot of the mini scenes and I keep moving chairs from one place to another.

I am going to be putting chairs together for the rest of the day. I didn't think that you would be thrilled to watch that.

Anyway, this is what I will be looking at while I work. I like to keep things on my desk that make me happy. Yes. Elmer's glue all is one of those things. And bottled water is another. I just don't like the labels, so I made myself a cover that slides over the label so that it doesn't show. The same goes for TV controls. Needlepoint comes in handy for things like this.

The little dog, sitting next to Tessie in the circle of flowers is the lid to a Victorian vanity jar. I never had the jar, but found the little dog in a thrift shop years ago. Who knows? Maybe someday I will find a bottom that fits it.

There is a button that Walter gave me a long time ago. You can't read it in the photo, but it says, "I'm not Messy. I'm Creative." and there is a little creature holding a paintbrush, with paint all over the place. That's me....Messy(denying it) and Creative(A good excuse for the mess).

There is a miniature wooden sign from Katie at Katie's Clay Corner http://katiesclaycorner.blogspot.com/ It has one word on it...."Journey" and it looks a hundred years old. I love her work.

So there you have it. How I wasted my morning....And the work that I am going to do this afternoon. Ten chairs...

Thanks again for all of the votes and keep it up! You are great! Tessie is thrilled.

See you tomorrow.

Being Ambidextrous Can Be Fun!

I use both hands equally for a lot of things... I have been ambidextrous most of my life. I used to drive my art professors nuts. In life drawing classes, I would sometimes use two pieces of charcoal at once. One for each hand.

I usually wake up before Walter by at least an hour, so I have to find something quiet to do until he awakens. It seems polite to do so...

Last night, I polished my nails with silver. This morning when I got up, they looked dull and kind of bare....So I tangled them. And yes, I did both hands.

Here's the proof! Now, would somebody please take this pen away from me before I tangle the stove and refrigerator in the kitchen? I think I need help.......Walter just looked at my fingers, shook his head and walked away. He has lived with me a long time and is used to such weirdness....

On to minis. A couple of days ago on the Creating Dollhouse Miniatures blog, http://creatingdollhouseminiatures.blogspot.com/2012/02/faux-enamel-flowers-tutorial-by-stacy.html there was a U Tube video on making enamel flowers in mini with wire and nail polish. I have seen this done a lot, but never tried it.

It looked like fun and didn't take a lot of supplies. I had them all on hand. Basically it is #32 gage brass beading wire and some nail polish or glue and acrylic paint mixed.

The only tools needed were some needle nosed pliers, some round items to form loops around and something to cut the wire with.

I sat myself down and went to work. Following what Stacy did on the video, I made a rose bud in just a short period of time. You just twist the wire around something(in my case, the handle of a crochet hook). After making a series of loops, you paint them a couple of times and then form the petals by using the needle nosed pliers after the nail polish is dry.



This was my first attempt. I think that it turned out pretty good. I am going to be trying some more of this.

If you have never been to the Creating Dollhouse Miniatures website, plan to stay a while and look around. It is completely videos of tutorials of miniatures. It's a great place to get ideas. I have been following it for a few years now and she always has something fun to try.

In case some of you are wondering about the blog birthday drawing, I have decided to wait a while...I have a few other things going on right now. I only have 12 more followers to reach 900....Maybe I will wait until then and have two at once.

I am going to go twist some more wire now.

Don't forget to vote. Just poke the URL at the top of the right column. It will take you to the site. Thanks.

See you tomorrow.

That's Not a Nook!

OK. It's Monday morning and the real world is sneaking up on me. So far I have done several loads of laundry, cleaned a bathroom, cleaned the kitchen and put up new curtains in the family room....Well not new. Just different.

I went to Dollar Tree a few days ago and found frames for some of the tangles. I hung two in the bedroom. I already have lots of black and white in that room, so they go well, but you might know it. Tessie caught me doing it.

She is now officially on my case for a nook of her own. Please don't encourage her. Maybe she will move on to something else if she isn't reminded.

While I was cleaning, I noticed this selection of pottery that I did years ago....They kind of remind me of the tangles. They hang in the big Southwestern room box,but aren't noticed very often because they are on a side wall, above the Shaker sell cupboard that is there.

Do you want to guess what they are made of? The large one is an actual mini blank for a plate. The others are all bottle cap liners from soft drinks that I painted white. Then with my Pigma Micron .005, I drew the designs on them. I don't think that the liners in bottle caps are made of the same material these days.

Not quite tangles, but pretty close.

In case you can't tell, I am trying to keep you entertained whilst I work on other things.

I did do just a tiny bit of mini-ing this morning.



I finished this gourd basket. I decorated it with feathers and on top of that, I glued one of the copper splashes. It's interesting, but I wouldn't say that it's one of my favorites. For one thing, it's too big. I need to cut up a few of the smaller gourds and make more.

I tried to start some seedlings for these gourds, but so far, I have had no luck....I am not always on the ball about watering them...Oh well. I have lots of seeds. If at first you don't succeed... and all that...

I had better get back to the real world for a while now. Lots left to do today.

Please don't forget to vote. Tessie is starting to nag me. Thanks!
See you tomorrow.

I'm Baaaack!!!

Since I am so late, getting back to do the entry, I will just show you some of the finished tangled cubbies in the printer's drawer.

Tomorrow I will finishe sticking them in more permanently. Right now they are just wedged in.
Don't forget to poke the photos to see them up close and personal...

After I took the first two photos, Tessie had to get into the act.

She has been bouncing around from one spot to another....The better for you to see more of the 98 finished drawings.

She keeps asking, "Can you see me now?" She somehow got the idea that the new apron makes her invisible when she hangs onto the frame and holds very still....I don't think it is working. I can still see her.

But she keeps asking.... I think that she watched one too many of those cell phone commercials where the guy keeps asking, "Can you hear me now?".

Sorry this is so late. I am playing catch up. Back to real live minis! The radio awaits.

See you tomorrow.

"I Look Like a Psychedelic House Maid!"

I thought that you might like a report on how the printer's drawer is coming along....Twelve more holes to fill! I am so proud of the six year old's attention span hanging on for this long!

When I am done, I will take a few close ups so that you can see some detail. It should only take another day or two.

Now. About all of that screeching in the entry title for today.....Tessie finished doodling on the fabric. She followed me around all morning insisting that I make the apron.

When I did it, It was very white compared to her normal dress. That one is antique material and a little more cream colored.

"This will never do. I need a black and white dress to go with the tangles.


I didn't bother to argue. It doesn't pay.

Instead, I took down the tiny check fabric that I got at Cactus Quilts last week and went to work.

I wouldn't let her see it until it was finished and on her body.

As soon as she looked in the mirror, I knew that I was in a world of trouble.

She turned around, glared at me and stomped out of the room.

She yelled for Zar to come and see what I had done to her....That's always a bad sign. She wanted a witness and most likely someone to back her up in her next move.

Unfortunately, Zar took one look at her and started snickering behind his hand. He started with, "You look like.." and didn't get any further.

Tessie took over from there. "I know what I look like! I look like a psychedelic house maid." Then she turned back to me, before I could leave the room....She hissed, "Zar, leave the room. Casey stay. Change me back! NOW!!!!!!!". Did I mention that there was emphasis on the word NOW?

I was not nice. I didn't say another word. I had the photo of her and Zar that I needed, so I left. I came in here and started writing the blog, with her close on my heels.

As I wrote, her insistance turned to pleading....She got down on her knees and started to beg...

Then I knew I had her when she held up her right hand and said, "I will promise to never use your Pigma permanent .005 pens again without asking first. I promise....Honest!"

That was the most fun I have had in a long time. She can't really get mad at me. She told me what to do, every step of the way.

Since she asked so nicely, I guess I won't make her wear the outfit for a week before changing it.

Just before I said I would, she reverted to childhood and threatened, "If you don't fix this, I am going to be so mortified that I will go out into the garden and eat big, fat,wiggly worms and die! Honest I will...".

I was really tempted to see if she would do it, but she is no fun when she is ill with wiggly worm fever.

I guess that I should get back to work.... I am in such a good mood now, that I might even give her a new hairdo too....I wonder if she would prefer a Crew Cut or a Mohawk....

See you tomorrow.

Put Down My Pen!!! NOW!!!

First of all, I cut out the paneling for the fireplace sides this morning...Stained them red mahogany and growled a lot! It seems that the red mahogany that I have doesn't match the red mahogany on the fireplace. Not even close.

What to do? I tried putting some cherry stain over that. It didn't change the color even one little bit. More growling ensued.

I finally whipped out the Prismacolor pencils. It's getting closer...When I get it the right shade, I am going to spray it with Deft Satin Varnish so fast that it will make your head swim!

Using the pencils, I can keep the grain in the wood and still change the color. I am getting there.

I took a break a while ago and I may have to imprison a certain witch in a big mayonnaise jar. Don't worry. I will be sure to punch a few holes in the lid....

Why would I do this? She has gone through two of my good Pigma permanent .005 pens, trying to make a tangled apron. No....I didn't give her permission. Since when does she ask for permission to do anything?

Between lines, she keeps putting the point on the fabric outside the area where she is working... Dulling the point and wasting ink.... Still growling here!

If I go buy replacement pens, I am hiding them in a safe place...I'm not saying where. Somebody might take pity on her and tell her what I did with them.

Oh well...Now the question is, who is going to do the putting together of the apron? If she does it, there will be glue everywhere and needles in the rug for us to step upon. OK. Just so it will be over and done, I guess I will be making an apron....Somehow that seems like condoning her actions...

I do wish she had waited until I got home from Walmart this morning. She could have used this. It's from their "Quilt of the Month" section of fabric.

Granted, it's a little bigger than what she is doing, but at least I would have still had my pens.

See you tomorrow.

The Shoe Is On the Other Foot.....

Or maybe I should say, I turned them around so that you could see the other side. I am very pleased with the way that they turned out.

I went back to work on the radio this morning. I am doing the floor now.

I already had a piece cut out that fits the main part of the floor. I cut strips of some unknown kind of wood veneer that I purchased at the mini show in October. It isn't walnut, cherry or mahogany and I am not sure that I like it now that I have it stained.

I cut it with the Microlux saw into strips that were 3/8" wide. Then I cut the strips to 1 1/2" long.

I drew a line down the center and started at the front. That part is the least fun to do. It has to have pieces cut to fit.

I did fussy cutting on the pieces as I went. That's what they call it in quiltmaking and that's what it is when you are laying floors too.

It looks crooked in this photo, because nothing is fastened down. Nothing stays straight.

When I finished laying the floor in the herringbone pattern, I stained it with Minwax Red Mahogany. That is what someone used on the fireplace. That is made of bass wood and takes the stain nicely.

Unfortunately, the mystery wood doesn't take a coat as evenly as bass wood does.

I still have to sand it and then I will put another coat of stain on it to see if that evens it up and turns it a bit redder.

Anyway, that is about as far as I am willing to go today. I have had enough fun for now.

I am in the middle of watching a Korean series, called "City Hunter" on Netflix and it is difficult to read subtitles and work on minis at the same time. I think that sock knitting is in season again.

See you tomorrow.

First, Drink Lots of Coffee....

That's the first step in mini marbling.... No steady hands involved. I drank strong coffee whilst looking for examples of green marble on the net. I put "green marble" in Bing and got everything I needed.

I narrowed it down to these two. The one on the left was the one that went best for what I had in mind. The other one had too much blue in it.

I printed the two out just to be sure and taped them to the top of the fireplace, so that I would have something to look at as I painted.

Here you see my color pallet and the brushes that I used.

The colors were mostly greens, ochre, Old Parchment, white and brown in Ceramcoat Acrylics.

The brushes range from 1/4" flat, down to a 10/0 liner brush. A good liner about that size is essential if you are going to put fine veins in the marble. I also used a 3/0 and 5/0 for some areas.

I started with a base coat of Wedgewood Green and over that I used Black Green, Ochre, Old Parchment and Brown Velvet. mixing them as I went.

I use a lot of finger painting. That is, I put the color on with a brush and then dabbed at it with my finger to blend it into the background....This is not for people that don't like getting messy.

After it is really dry, I will hit the whole thing with Deft Satin Spray Varnish. Also Acrylic.

Last, but not least, I finished the shoes. I am going to have to go over the one on the top in some areas. My pen was running out of ink. There are a couple of labels on the shoes, but you can't read them without blowing them up. So don't forget to poke the photo.

I need to get back to the real world. The laundry needs changing from washer to dryer. Did I mention that I need a full time maid? I know....Dream on....

See you tomorrow.

I Am Square! The Firebox Is NOT!

So much for whipping out the bricks in just a little bit... I started a herringbone pattern in the center bottom of the firebox back. Working out from a center line. I discovered that the edges weren't straight...So I am cutting the bricks one at a time...Rats!

The person that built this did an impressive job, but not exact. I am about half way up. That took almost two hours.

I am using the brown file folders that I used for the outside of the Rusty Needle quilt shop. They are about the weight of heavy card stock and one side is just a shade darker than the other. They aren't a solid color. Kind of misty looking. Anyway, they are excellent for brick. I just wish that I knew where they came from originally. I found a big stack of them at a garage sale for a couple of dollars. They are great if you are willing to cut bricks. I cut them a quarter of an inch by three quarters. That's close enough to scale. The eye says that they are right.

I am going to take the rugs to Wednesday Witches today. I will NOT take a permanent pen and drawing pad! Tangling gets in the way of minis. We can't allow that to happen.

However.....I will show you how far it has gone in the past week or two.

I did this photo frame for April, for Valentine's day. The kids take a lot of black and white photos of the baby, as well as color, and this one is a 5" by 7".

Last night I went too far.... Somebody stop me now!

The five dollar OP sandals that I bought for summer were just sitting there. They looked pitiful and naked....I couldn't help myself. I had to dress them.

I am about 3/4 of the way around the first one. I used my Sharpie Extra Fine Permanent Marker.

Beware! Anything that is white and will take to being written on is getting tangled around here.

But I will NOT do them before I do minis! I promise. Minis always come first. Honest!

Back to bricking. I will finish the herringbone and then all of the bricks will get the edges rolled with a ball stylus. The last step will be, going over them with Prismacolor Pencils to add depth and shading.

See you tomorrow, with the finished firebox.

I Think I Can. I Think I Can. I Think I Can....

OK....First, before we get started on other stuff..... I got a better bargain than I thought yesterday. Remember the stove? I thought it was a 60% discount on a 48 dollar stove....I was wrong. Troy commented that he had been looking at those stoves. Just out of curiosity, I decided to check on the price at HBS....It has been a while since I looked. I was thinking that it was 54.00 the last time I looked. The stove is now priced at a whopping 94.99 plus shipping! So....I guess I got over 80% discount. I am definitely doing a happy dance over that one!

Now about the I think I can thing...Tessie needed a rug for the living room, to go in front of the sofa. I dug through my pile of "starts" and only found one the I thought might work. It didn't.

The style isn't bad, but the colors were way too pale. Back to the drawing board, so to speak.

I started looking at rug "images" on Google. Still nothing....Then the mad six year old artist went to work. Tessie helped.

Between us, we came up with a tangled rug. Why not!?! The permanent ink on the coffee mugs didn't stay on...I need to tangle something else now.

I went and got some #26 congress cloth(mini canvas). In true tangle spirit, I whacked off a piece about the size that I want the rug to be.
I then grabbed a black Pigma permanent .005
pen and went to work. It may not work on mugs, but it is great on canvas. As fine as it is, after you stitch over it, nobody ever sees it.

I didn't count the number of stitches width and length wise. I just drew some lines. I am going to do it as a border rug. The eye will need somewhere to land and I am not going to do the center if I am going to cover it with a coffee table.

I pulled out the last scrap of the sofa/chair fabric and Tessie started pulling colors from my three floss bins. The floss bins will have to be straightened once again.

Anyway, here you see the colors that we are going to use. There may be a few slight changes, but this is the basic pallet.

I will start on one end, with Tessie tugging on the other and repeatedly asking,"Is it done yet? Is it done yet?".

Before she tires of asking, I will probably tire of hearing it. I will shove a cookie in her hand and lock her out of the bedroom... That will hold her for a while. Every time she asks, I will shove another cookie under the door and hopefully she will go away for a while. I need to get started now.

I am going to try to beat her to the punch. "Here Tessie. Have a cookie!"

See you tomorrow.

Finding More Tangles....

OK. So these first ones aren't found. They are the ongoing ones for the printer's tray. I have finished the alphabet up to the letter Q and I have filled 19 of the center slots.

This may take a while. I will just keep plugging along. Sixty one to go.

The more that I think about the tangle process, the more I think that it bleeds into other activities. I realized that I have been doing tangles with threads for many years. I grab a piece of canvas and a bunch of yarn and doodle frequently. I enjoy this much more than following a pattern. Here are some examples. From left to right, a case for my mini TV, a couple of remote cozies, the base of my large magnifier a couple of pincushions and down front, the remote for my apple TV gizmo. There are more, but I was to lazy to go hunting for them.

I don't know about you, but I am forever losing remotes when they are undressed. With these covers, they are much easier to spot. I still lose them, but I think that the cats steal them to change the channel to Animal Planet and then hide them so that I can't change it back to people TV...
Anyway, I just finished tidying the workroom. I am so proud. It has been clean for a couple of months now....Well, clean by my standards....
I am even showing you both sides of the room to prove it.

If you look closely, you will see that Tessie and Zar volunteered to help...They are holding down the end table, so that it doesn't float away. They are doing a great job. It hasn't moved an inch.

Now that I have that finished, I can get back to mini-ing. I am going to have to make a run to town tomorrow to look at paint. The townhouse living room is definitely going to change color. I don't have anything that Tessie likes in the paint stash.

Michael's stopped carrying Ceramcoat, so I guess it will be a trip to JoAnn's. Sorry Michael's. I don't care if you do give a discount. If you don't have Ceramcoat, I am going elsewhere.

Meanwhile, I think that the new sofa and the rocker both need throw pillows. I am off to see if I can't whip some up.

See you tomorrow.