Bringing In The Harvest, with KIVA

I have admired Kiva Atkinson's work for a very long time. I knew that I would order from her as soon as I thought of something I really wanted. It turned out what I really needed was a lot of loose vegetables. I wanted to be able to arrange different set ups depending on what I was going on in the kitchen that day. ;-) It seems like someone is going to be cooking a sauce for pasta today. (gorgeous pasta box by Carol Cook).

Kiva made me potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, corn on the cob, cauliflower, yellow onions, a red onion and garlic. Do you see how one tiny garlic clove has been removed. :-) I love how the onion has sprouted a couple of green shoots. She even thought of something I forgot... Mushrooms. They are perfect! What a lovely surprise!!!

Thank you so much Kiva, I love it! Your work is just beautiful!!!
http://kivasminiatures.blogspot.com/

Halls Clock

Jenny Halls told me in an email that she is Malcolm's biggest fan. As his wife I have to yield and give her that spot but I am absolutely his second biggest fan! She made me laugh so hard when she told me she goes into his work shop and pinches his clocks for her doll house. He knows exactly where they went and goes and gets them when an order arrives. LOL

His beautiful clock came in yesterdays mail. It was too late for me to call them in England from the USA. Malcolm answered the phone this morning. I called to let him know the clock arrived safely and ask some questions. I wanted to know how to care for the clock, take the back off to set the time and change the battery.

We had a nice long chat. He told me he engraves all the metal parts (clock face, decorative panels). He also makes the hands and the articulating handle at the top. OMG!!! The wood is burl walnut and it is simply beautiful! I am afraid my photos don't do it justice at all.

Nothing in miniature I have ever bought has impressed or thrilled me as much.
http://www.hallsminiatureclocks.com/

Another Copper Teapot and Glass Repair

I had a little time this week so I made another copper teapot. This one has a African blackwood handle and knob. I drilled the knob so I could put a brass pin (rivet) through it to insure it so it wouldn't come off once glued. The wood handle also has a pin the runs all the way through it.

The glass canisters I bought a long time ago at a show in Chicago. They were very crudely cut, meaning they had awful raw edges. So this morning I decided to stone off those jagged edges off the canisters and their lids. Now they look much better! I filled them with flour, sugar, tea and pasta. I must find a substitute for the real thing. I don't need weevils hatching and creeping around. LOL

Please CLICK on photos for a much closer look.

Sterling Silver Portrait Buttons

I am home, having had a wonderful week in the mountains. The fall colors were magnificent! I see I have a lot of catching up to do with my blog reading.

I was asked by a friend if I would make some portrait buttons of her five children. They will be on a sweater she wants to knit. I asked her if she would mind if I sculpted them sleeping. I hate the look of vacant eyes in metal. She said she rather liked it when they were all asleep. LOL I also thought it would be kind of creepy to have five sets of eye balls staring out from a sweater.

The first two have had the shanks soldered to the backs and have been polished and oxidized. The third one is dull because it hasn't been polished yet and still needs a shank on the back of it. The sculpting was done in wax with a hot tool. Most of the small details had to be done with a needle. They were built up rather than carved out of hard wax. Then of course lost wax cast in sterling silver.

I am delighted that my (at home) bench is finally together. I am going to love having a place to work at home on some miniatures.

Wilbur

Meet Wilbur. I am afraid I broke his neck this morning, no problem he can be fixed. He is a doll sculpt I made for the little girl that visits my shop. She asked me to make her a funny man with a big nose. I suppose I will have to dress him now and put some color on his face and give him a few hairs. What do you think he should be wearing? lol

Experimenting

I found this image on someone's blog recently and saved it (no not a miniature blog). Now I can't remember where I found it, so if you remember please remind me.

I liked it so much I decided to try some fabric printing. I had to buy new ink for my printer to do it because mine had all dried up. The only things I ever print are in black and white.

I thought I would try to make a bed with an upholstered headboard. I only had time to make the panels today. I have no idea if I will use the bed when it's finished. This image might end up on a wall behind the bathtub before it's over or in the bin. It was just something I wanted to play with. Sadly once again my camera has gotten the colors wrong. The trees are all in a nice faded green and the sky is a blue-gray.

It looks like a nice place to go to sleep. Sorry for the VERY ugly back ground paper I photographed it on. YUCK!

Fairy Cakes

I couldn't resist these fairy cakes made by Lory. I thought... If I saw those in
1: 1 in a bakery I would have to bring them home. These are much safer to have in the house. They won't be calling to me or waking me up in the middle of the night.

OPPS! I forgot Lory's link. http://www.etsy.com/shop/64tnt