In Like A Lion

This is the sight that greeted us this morning. We're expecting even more this afternoon. I'd say this would be a great day to stay in and do minis, but I'm having trouble focusing this weekend. My dad had a stroke on Friday and is in the hospital...200 miles away through crummy weather. My mom was snowed in at the hospital last night.

I did get a few things done during the week that I am happy to share.

More paper doilies! I think I'm done with these until I need a specific color, or I find more colored envelopes that I stashed for the purpose.

I auditioned three shades of green Gallery Glass for my thumbprint cookies. [Bellow, center] Two made the cut... one for St. Patrick's Day and the other for Christmas. I also tried a new-to-me icing recipe for minis. It's from Angie Scarr's Masterclass book. It's smoother and runnier than the way I usually do my frosting.

I really like the way it looks on the iced cookies [Below left], but not so much for this type of cake. [Below, right] It's much easier to mix and tint than the way I usually make frosting, which is a definite plus. And there are many, many more things I can use this type of frosting for in the future so it is a winner... just not for these cakes. Perhaps with some additional tweaking I can find a happy medium.

 Finally I went out and found some more bead organizers to neaten things up around here. This one is just for St. Patrick's Day themed foods/canes. Time to try and get busy filling it up the rest of the way.

That's all for this week. Stay warm!

Cakes and More

Lots of mini baking was happening this past week!

The mini Green Velvet cake samples are done for starters.

Along with some un-cut cakes.

But I also had a go at making some shamrock cookies,

put sticks in lollipops,

and punched paper doilies out of some papers and envelops I had laying around.

I'm quite pleased with how the cookies turned out. I will probably make more once I finish frosting the other sliced cake pieces that are waiting on me to make more "frosting." I did make some plain old round cookies too, but I forgot to get their picture. They aren't decorated yet, so you're not missing out. Hopefully I get back to them in the coming week.

That's all for now. I need to get back to some real world work around the house. See you next week!

An Early Start

Not on the day, but for a workshop/project I'm teaching next month. The local mini group will be making 1:12 scale green velvet cakes for the March project. I spent time this past week getting a few things ready for them. [Oh and I hope everyone had a nice St. Valentine's Day!]

What took up most of my time was the cane of candy I designed for them to decorate the cake with. In fact I haven't even gotten the cake part started beyond deciding on colors and making notes for the handout.

But the cane is finished and I've gotten half of it rolled out and baked!

I still have about 3 inches of the unbaked cane to roll out and bake. I will probably try to come up with a few other things to do with it.

I've already made lollipops and stick candy.

And of course there are some teapots made from bits trimmed off the cane ends after stretching.

For fun, I tried out a cookie jar type thing with a chunk of cane end, just to see how it would look. The bit I used was at the first end I trimmed off when I started stretching the cane, so the shamrock design isn't quite all there, but I'm actually quite taken with it and will try doing another one or two.

I'm not going to have the mini group members actually make the cane at the meeting. It takes way too long. But they are getting the instructions and design in their handout in case they'd like to make more at a later date. They're also each getting a piece of finished cane to use for their project.

I'm also planning on putting the finished project instructions up on my Etsy page as a download for a couple of dollars at some point. There may be someone out there who would like the instructions.

That's all for this week. I need to get working on the little cakes so I can get pictures and finish writing up the handout.

Folding and Molding

I got into the mood to work on some bolts for the Patchwork Peach during the week. If I recall correctly, these bring the total up to 442 bolts of fabric. I've got fabric for another 20 or so and then I'm going to stop making bolts until I get my shelving sorted.

I also unearthed some mini fat quarter bundles that I made a few months ago. I'll be making more of each colorway at some point.

Yesterday I thought I'd get started on making a cane of candy decorations for a St. Patrick's Day themed cake. I got as far as mixing a brick of White with a brick of Translucent before my hands decided they'd had enough. It took the length of a movie on Netflix to mix. Hopefully the greens won't be as bad... I don't need as much of them.

The project is a sample for the mini group's March project. I thought I'd give myself plenty of time to make the sample and handout for them. They're getting the instruction for the cane in the handout, but I'm supplying the finished cane that evening. It will save on time and frustration all around.

Artie has taken to sleeping in the ancient cat condo in the dining room while I work. I managed to sneak a couple of pictures without disturbing him too much. This one is my favorite, despite the bit of fuzz on the lens when I took it. Gotta love the kitten toes!

Anyways, I'm going to go mix up some green clays and hopefully get going on the cane today. Otherwise I'll be another day behind. See you next week!

Lazy, Snowy Sunday

As the title suggests, it's snowing here. 

 Pixel has been bored to sleep with the snow, even with the visiting birds.

I can't really show pictures of my class work for the computer drafting class, but that's what's been taking up my time this week. Hopefully next week I'll get to show something a little more miniature-oriented. Until then, stay safe and warm!

Hopping Along to Class

Well the hopping is more Victor's department. He's settling in nicely and the other animals are getting used to him. Artie is very comfortable around him and pretty much ignores Victor.

Pixel on the other had likely to sit on the pet stairs to Victor's house and not let him in/out. She also likes to eat his food.  That doesn't stop Victor from exploring for long. He's quite the ATB, all-terrain bunny.

Gus has been acting strangely and after taking him to the vet, we're trying to rule out kidney failure and the possibility of diabetes insipidus, aka "water diabetes." We'll know more once his blood tests come back this coming week.

FH and I joined a local "makerspace" last year and have access to more types of tools and technology these days. The group is a non-profit and focuses on teaching uses for technology and building a community workspace filled with tools that the average person might not have access to otherwise... like 3D printers, computer controlled routers, laser cutters, large saws, and specialty electronics.

The "class" bit refers to me taking a CAD/CAM class through the makerspace so I can learn to draft drawings to be used for laser cutters, computer-controlled routers, and 3D printers. I've got some furniture designs drafted on paper that I'm going to transfer to the computer this week. In a few weeks, we should have an operational laser and I can finally cut the pieces for all the shelves I need for fabric bolts in the Patchwork Peach! I'm very excited about it.

The other neat thing about the makerspace is getting to meet and work with other people who know all sorts of different things. One of the guys works with plexiglass often and has said he'll show me how to make display cases for my minis. Another gent is an electrician and is going to help me remember the basics of wiring from my electronics class in high school so I can make some tiny LED lamps!

There's another particular man who understands and uses technology, but has an artist's soul. He does "light painting"... changes the exposure times on his digital camera and uses LEDs to create stunning effects in his pictures. He asked me a while back to bring in one of my scenes for him to "paint."

I chose the Vermeer Vignette my Aunt Pat made. These are pictures I took a while back.

Now look at the work Jay did with his camera and an LED pen.

It took the better part of an hour to get the light just right for the candle flame, but wow! I'm going to see if we can "light" the fireplace at some point. I think Aunt Pat would love to see it.

That's all for this weekend. I'm going to go see about drafting up some shelves. Ttfn!

Victor von Bunn

Victor came into our lives on Wednesday last week. He is a four month old Netherland Dwarf. The girl who gave him to me was being abused by her boyfriend and was leaving him, but couldn't take Victor with her. She was terrified to leave him behind because the man had already thrown him a couple of times into walls from across rooms. With Victor safe and sound, she was brave enough to take her little boy and leave.

As you can see, he and Gus have become fast friends. Gus absolutely adores Victor and will pace behind him whenever Victor is playing outside his cage.

Pixel and Artie are being pretty gentle with him too. Although I've been watching them pretty closely. Pixel was more afraid of Victor than he was of her.

He's a spunky little guy and somehow knows he won't be hurt here because he's already given FH and I loads of kisses every day since he's been here.

FH is insisting that Victor be given to a rescue that I contacted last week, as soon as he's old enough to be neutered. I'm hoping Victor will win FH over and can stay. We have a month or two to see how that shakes out. I'll be spending that time supervising his play times and attempting to potty train him. Unaltered bunnies are difficult to potty train. I lucked out with Tempie as she was a bit older and preferred things tidier.

Running Late

My desktop PC has found some malware somewhere and is enduring a thorough scan, etc. I thought we'd be finished with the process by now, but alas ''tis not to be. Happily I figured out how to get pictures from the camera onto my new tablet, so now we're in business!

It's currently grey and snowy here. The sun's almost down so it's really not fun to be outside at tne moment. However this is really a heat wave considering the wind chills we experienced during the week. For the most part the critters and I didn't do much but cuddle under blankets. I did come out for air long enough to check the mail and this was waiting for me. Now I can start looking up all the furniture I received from Aunt Pat!

I also wrapped most of the furniture up in acid-free paper and got it stashed in the archival box I purchased. The box is big enough to hold a queen-sized quilt and came with about two dozen sheets of the acid-free tissue. There are still a few pieces that still need more work before they're stored though.

These three need minor repairs. Thanks to Casey, I'll be using E600 to get the job done.

With the exception of the pink dresser which is just really dirty on the back, these pieces all have an odd white residue that smells of acetone on them. I haven't had much luck with soaking or scrubbing it off. I'm not quite sure what to try next, but I'm doing some research into the matter.

Yesterday was fun though. I had my teenaged niece here and we started working on her quilt. She picked the pattern and all the fabrics. We got everything pressed and cut, but only had time to get the centers of the blocks done before she had to go home. But we had fun!

That's all for now. I'm off to find someplace warm to curl up. See you next week!

Renwal Restoration

Happy New Year! I hope 2015 is a good year for everyone!

One of the gifts I received this Yule was my Aunt Pat's Renwal dollhouse. It's not her childhood dollhouse, that was lost many years ago. But she found one nearly like it at an antique shop about 20 years ago. It needed some work then and, well, now needs even more work.

The second floor has to be completely replaced.

 At least I won't have as much carpet residue to remove that way.

 The walls need new paper/paint.

The outside is in fairly good shape. It needs a gentle cleaning and the porch columns need tightening.

 Three window and the front door need replacing, unless Aunt Pat finds them in her storeroom somewhere.

 The roof pieces need cleaned and re-attatched.

She had been collecting the plastic furniture from Renwal and Ideal as well. She has a habit of over-buying for projects, but that's half the fun!

All of the furniture needed washing, and that's how I've been spending my free time this week. Eight of the pieces (dining room table and chairs, buffet, and blue chair) have some kind of residue that smells like acetone on them, so I'm still working on trying to get them clean. It's to the point where I'm having to scrape the residue off with q-tips and toothpicks. It won't wash, soak, or brush off.

As for the rest of the furniture, it's clean, dry, and waiting for the archival box and tissue I ordered to get here. I'm going to store it nicely until the house is ready. Whatever furniture I decide not to use will have safe storage this way as well.

That's all for this week. I'm going to make myself a cup of tea and watch the birds at my feeders. It's snowing, so everyone is wanting to eat a good meal. See you next week!

Filler Post #2

FH, Gus, and I are on the way back home from spending the holidays with family down south. I hope everyone had a safe and happy time with their families and friends!

Filler Post #1

Today is the Winter Solstice, and therefore I'm celebrating our wedding anniversary with FH. Seven years together and going strong.  According to the Julian calendar, our anniversary is tomorrow, but we decided to celebrate on both days, because why not? ;-)

Of Sewing and Strep

The past week has been interesting to say the least. Mr. P moved back to his bachelor pad, which means he was finally strong and healthy enough to live on his own again. Then I came down with strep throat. The timing was irritating, but I caught it fast (Thursday) and am already starting to feel normal again.

I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped in terms of cleaning, decorating, and projects but given the circumstances, I'll take what I've got.

I finished the cleanup work on these eight autumn napkins. I love the contrast of these too fabrics. The picture doesn't do them justice.

 The placemats are "pillowcased," trimmed, trimmed, turned, and pressed. They still need the side opening slip stitched closed and quilted. However I'm tabling them until after I get my holiday gift sewing done. I'm thinking about quilting them with autumn designs and that will take longer than I have time for currently.

 And whilst I was cleaning I unearthed these 6 1930's reproduction prints that I'd purchased to make quilt shop bolts from, so I got them cut last night. Like the other 59 from last weekend, I haven't cut the individual fat quarters yet. None of these particularly appeal to me for more use in miniature, so the remaining fabric will get put in my life-size quilting stash.

I finally found where I'd stuck this picture. I took it back in June. It's the quilt shop bolts I'd made to date, organized by color or collection. I need to get an accurate count at some point. There was one, but apparently the note was "put in a safe place." Plus I think I finished a few more bolts since then, not to mention the 65 bolts ready to be completed.

The hard part will be resisting the urge to buy more fabrics until I can get my custom shelves cut and assembled. That's actually going to be an issue for a few months. My friend who built a laser cutter sold it. He wants to build a larger one and needed the capitol to start the project. It will be a while before a new one is finished. I was also going to have him cut the other windows I need for the 1930's Nursery roombox. So that project is on hold for a while.

Now that I have access to the actual Patchwork Peach building again, I will likely start in on painting, flooring, and interior accents after the holidays. Perhaps by then I'll have found someone else with a laser cutter in the area who would like to help me out.

59 More Bolts Prepped

What you see below is 59 more pieces of fabric cut and pressed in preparation to make into miniature quilt bolts for the Patchwork Peach Quilt Shop. I've had lots of remnants and fat quarters for the project laying around the dining room since I hurt my shoulder in July and since I want to decorate for the holidays, I needed to put them away.

So instead of shoving the fabric into a box and putting it "in a safe place" for a bit, I went ahead and cut my strips from everything and pressed them. I haven't cut my mini fat quarters from all these yet. I'm holding off on those. I am putting the readied bolt sections in the same box as the soon-to-be fat quarters though. But at least I'll hopefully have a better idea of what I'm doing when I get the box out again.

I'm still waiting on access to a laser cutter to make the shelving for the Peach. Hopefully in the coming year I will be able to get my hands on one. I'm also waiting on Mr. P to be sound enough to be able to return home so I can actually work on the interior of the Peach... the building is located in our guest room.

That's all for this week. I'm hoping I will have the dining room tidied up and decorations up by next week. We'll see how that goes.

ThanksgivingThat's Finishes

I'm a day late thanks to traveling for the holiday, but it was lovely.

These are the gifts I made for my SIL's birthday and first wedding anniversary. She'll be hosting Christmas at her house this year and I wanted her to have something elegant to enjoy.

I finally finished hand sewing the binding on my little runner. I'm not overly happy with this one, but it's finished.

That's all I've gotten done this past week. I'm hoping to finish up a few more things so I can start cleaning up all my sewing and decorate for the winter holidays.