Working with clay in my pottery class got me thinking about the polymer clays I have but never really use. While at work one day the idea popped into my head to use the polymer clay to create a miniature gingerbread house. I figured other people probably have already done this, so I did a search and found this adorable example below by PetitPlatbySk_.
As I said, I have polymer clays, but I really don’t have a good grasp on manipulation, so I turned to youtube. I love how you can find multiple tutorials on how to do just about everything there. This is extremely helpful for visual learners like myself.
Looking around youtube I did find several helpful videos on how to work with polymer clay in making miniatures. If you’ve spent anytime on Etsy, you’re bound to have come across all the wonderful miniatures that people create. Here is a video I came across that shows an amazing selection of miniature food items. Seriously, you have to watch it, you will not believe that most of these foods are fake and could actually sit cozily on the pad of your finger.
Watching these videos I’m very inspired to make some miniature items myself. Unfortunately it seems my clay might be too old. I understand that you sometimes have to work with polymers to warm them up, but they shouldn’t be so hard and crumbly that they hurt your hands. I just read if this happens, it might be that your clay has partially prepared itself by getting too hot or even being in direct sunlight for too long.
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If you are interested in miniatures at all let me recommend going to a miniatures expo. I’ve been to the Tom Bishop Miniature’s show a few times and it is so inspiring. I remember carrying around my sketchbook, filling it with notes the whole time.
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Cassie Marie is a local artist who is working on redoing her doll house as part of her MFA studies. I’ve been intrigued following along as she works on the remodel. The photography could often be mistaken for a real home remodel.
A lot of people I know have been before and I’ve heard the stories and reviews of what it’s like. I thought it would be a fun experience to add to my list. See, in all honesty, I’m more the type of person who would get excited to gather friends and drive to a small town diner. But, when compiling my list of things to do for the year I wanted to add a few things that would stretch me.
I didn’t bring a camera, not knowing if it would be acceptable. Unfortunately, once there, there were constant flashes going off around us while waiters were snapping guests with the amazing view behind them. Sadly, I don’t have a picture of Matt and I all gussied up to remember the occasion. He did capture the above picture from his camera phone though.
We debated making dinner reservations or just waiting in line for drinks and dessert in the “lounge”. Once we got there we saw the loooooong first-come-first-serve line for the lounge, I immediately doubted myself and we considered just going elsewhere entirely. I’m so glad that we didn’t and I ended up calling and making reservations for dinner. We enjoyed ourselves walking around the magnificent mile, killing time until our reservation.
I’ve been up to the observation deck in the Hancock tower before, but I forgot how fast and high the elevator goes. Your ears pop while you go up. When we exited the elevator I was just thrust into the unexpected, in a very good way. The ceiling is super high, with windows all the way around. It was just beginning to be dark out and you could see the beginnings of clouds in the air right outside the windows. The restaurant is HUGE and completely dark with basically a single tea light on each table for lighting the entire place. Once it was completely dark out the lights from the city just popped and you realize why the restaurant is kept dark. It all adds to the romantic atmosphere.
We had an excellent evening and I highly recommend others to experience it at least once in their lifetime. You can request window seats, but make sure you ask for the city view. A coworker of mine asked for window seats, but were seated near the water and there isn’t much to see there. Oh, and dinner, it was delicious and filling, but the price you pay is really made up in ambiance, rather than what appears on your plate.
Today I assembled these little matchbook styled scrap-pads to add to my purchase packs that go out with every order. I used to have these quarter sized recycled scratch pads, but when I ran out I got the idea to revamp the plan and make matchbook styled scrap pads. And you know me, whenever there is an option, always go miniature!
While I was making them I thought it would be pretty easy to take a few snapshots and put together a little tutorial on making these easy-peasy pads. They are still made from recycled, hence the “scrap-pads”.
The materials are basic things everyone has in their home. Scrap paper, scissors or paper cutter, and stapler. If you’re feeling like getting tricked out, grab a ruler, glue stick and bone folder.
The paper size is 1/16th of an 8.5×11, meaning I halved, halved, halved and halved again, if you can keep that straight. Otherwise it’s 1.0625″ x 1.375″. That’s not based on real matchbooks, but just in the ease in halving over and over again. For the cover I just grabbed some 12×12 scrapbook paper, but you could also use any pretty paper you have lying around. I think I’ll use paper from old books for my next batch, then they will be truly recycled (aside from the new staple). I cut the scrapaper down to strips roughly the same width as the halved paper (1.0625″).
1. I used the halved paper in stacks of 10 since that seemed to be how much my stapler could handle. Placed my stack of paper face up with the decorative paper face down and stapled them together like shown in picture 1.
2. Slightly above the staple, I fold the paper back down. You should be able to see the decorative side of the paper now, like in picture 2. This way you can hide the staple.
3. Continue wrapping the paper around the back, creasing the folds, like in picture 3.
4. Now fold over the top, from behind to front, like in picture 4.
5. Carefully trim the decorative paper so that once trimmed the edge fits under the flap from the bottom as seen in picture 5.
6. Voila! You have a handy-dandy snazzy easy-peasy pretty scrap pad.
Use the bone folder to crease and fold and the glue stick to glue the back page to the back cover, if you like.
Throw a couple in your purse so that when your frantically riffling through your purse looking for a piece of paper to write down a phone number on, or to throw away the gum you’ve been chewing on for eternity, you are golden. I took mine a tiny step further and put my personal stamp on the inside cover, as seen in the first image. You could go to whatever lengths you want to gussy them up. They are fun to make, quick, cute AND functional.
Making these I was reminded that the Artomat machine at KCH has a “matchbook” slot, where a book would have dropped with every pack of cigarettes. I wonder if books like these would work in that machine. It would be a cool project for the students there to make their own “art matchbooks” that would drop with each Artomat sale.
Today was my last pottery class :( I will be returning to pick up my pieces and I’m very excited to see how they will turn out. I didn’t get as much done as I had hoped. The first class went so well, and then, as I feared, the next two classes I flopped piece after piece. When the class is only 5 sessions long that can really put a kink in production. BUT, I do have a couple thrown pieces and a bunch of hand constructed pieces that I will share here as soon as I can. Everyone in the class is very excited to take the next class again. Bad news is… it’s not being offered again until next February. Well, it will give me plenty of time to come up with a plan for pieces I want to make.
Did I mention it is National Blog Posting Month and I’m participating? Well, I’m taking the weekends off, so I’m not posting truly every day. Here is the blogroll of all other participants for this month. Check ‘em out if you like.
I was driving late tonight and I noticed the way the corn fields caught a car’s headlights. It struck me as a real beauty, but I don’t think I was able to really capture it with my own photograph here. I’ve always loved the feeling of driving on country roads when the surrounding fields are high. It feels kind of like a labyrinth, and kind of like your alone in the world (in a good way). I’ll will be sad once all the fields have been harvested and we can see the flat ground around us for eternity. I’ll get over it soon soon though, because that’s a different kind of beauty of it’s own.
I added the text to my photograph with “headlight” design details for fun.
This was one of those nightmare fibers I spoke of yesterday, one I purchased based purely on the beautiful colors. And the colors are lovely, aren’t they? Very Autumn. In fact the fiber is a very itchy, wiry one that would not work well against the skin.
What else could you knit with this yarn that you wouldn’t wear?
I finished spinning and plying this yarn last night. You might recall it from a few posts back when I posted some poorly photographed progress pictures.
Last year, or earlier this year, I promised myself not to buy any new fiber until I spun up everything I already had. This is an attempt to prevent my collection growing out of control like my current store bought yarn situation.
I’m excited because I’m getting close to the end of the collection. When I first started spinning (2004) I would impulsively buy rovings based purely on colors. When I’d get home and try to spin them, I’d often find the colors didn’t suit me after all, or the fibers were troublesome, scratchy, nubby, riddled with vegetable matter, and/or over dyed/partially felted. Immediately I’d stick them on the shelf and not even want to look at them again.
The case with the fiber above was more of a color issue. Green is my favorite color and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the green and red color combination. They’re called complimentary colors, but I rather like to think of them as competitors, fighting for which one makes more of an impact. It wasn’t until I got it home that it struck me “oh no, Christmas colors”. You will never know how many times this has happened to me, where I create something that I love and only once it’s finished and I’m happily admiring my work that it occurs to me “Christmas!” and instantly I am repulsed by it. It’s not that I don’t like Christmas, it’s just that I have an aversion to my work resembling Christmas craft/decorations.
Well, now enough time and experience has passed that I know a better fiber when I see it. From now on I’d like to keep better track of what breed all my fibers are actually from for selling purposes. I’d also like to think I have a better eye for color and have learned that a more blueish green or teal-y color and red still create the same impact that green and red do, but without the negative connotations. AND lastly, I want to buy a ton of fiber because I’ve had this project in mind for a couple years, to spin enough yarn to make a simple vest for myself. I mentioned it first in this post.
One last bit of fiber inspiration: Yesterday I saw a tweet post by knittydirtygirl where she is starting a knitalong project on Ravelry to make knee high socks, toe up, from handspun yarn. Here is the yarn she will be using. Dare I say it, but after the vest project I’d like to tackle that one. I’ve never made socks before, not for lack of trying though. I think I will need some guidance from my sister, the sock knitting expert.
Matt’s mom, Ilga, recently acquired this doll house from her mother. I always have a place in my heart for doll houses and everything miniature. Ilga’s mother and sister built this one from a hollowed out tree trunk. If that was charming enough, the details that they put into it are extraordinary. It has multiple floors, each with custom details.
From the outside you will see the window, with mushroom awnings.
The main floor has a stone fireplace built into it and iron pots and pans hanging nearby. One floor has tiny tools (saw, hammer, etc.) hanging from the walls. Another floor has a handmade cuckoo clock. There is even a little birdhouse hanging on the outside.
It has to be one of the most unique doll houses. It brings me back to when I was a kid and made little fairy houses outside from sticks, bark and rocks. Can you imagine happening upon this outside?
It is Friday and that means today’s are the final pictures for Polaroid Week.
Once again trying to keep this week’s pictures relevant I decided to do portraits. This is my brother (who wishes to be known only as “Alfonso” or was it “Alfonse”?) and my Sister-in-law (who shall remain nameless, not because she requested but just because it’s fun). The relevance is that they are expecting their first child. They are so thrilled and the rest of the family and I are SO excited. I had the idea to document them in this manner, in this turning point of their life. They are right on the verge between being married and being married with children.
I set up a tripod and had them stand in the exact same spot so the height is consistent. They looked at each other off camera and it worked out perfectly. I kind of like to imagine the pictures framed as it is above.
