So Many Ideas.

I am beginning to understand why people end up having more than one doll house. Once you choose a style you have eliminated everything else.

How cute is this! I would love to have it 1: 1 or 1: 12 scale. Something about the texture of the stone reminds me of barnacles. I love the shape, height and number of chimneys.

Oct 31, 2011 Yes! I have added several more houses lately.

Making A Crystal Chandelier

I have been finding the most wonderful supplies. I think making those lamps started somthing.

I have always wanted to make a crystal chandelier but I wanted a certain look. I have found what I had in mind. First these 3/8" cupped glass doll buttons. They look perfect for holding the candle shaft and bulb which will hide the drilled holes from the top but allow wires to go through them. Also these will work for crystal candle sticks. I would share the link but I bought them all in ETSY.
These are 2mm round Swarovski beads which will be perfect for swags on the chandelier. I had no idea Swarovski made them so tiny. http://www.etsy.com/shop/twinkledropz/search?search_query=150+pcs+CLEAR+5000+2mm+Swarovski+Crystal+Small+Round+Beads&search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5626531&shopname=twinkledropz

Best of all... These tiny top drilled teardrops. This means they are not drilled straight through the side of the bead at the narrow point. The hole is drilled straight in through the top and stops about 2.5mm into the crystal. Ooooh that is fantastic!!! They are 6x4mm a perfect size teardrop! http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=257098

Making Lamps

I just thought I would add to this post. So many of you have already left such kind comments. Thank you!
I wanted to photograph the lamps in the right setting to see how they looked. I was hoping they would look like marble. I am pretty happy with them.
Still no feeling back on that spot on my thumb.?




I have been busy working on all sorts of things. I managed to finish two lamps today.
They were more work than I ever could have imagined. There is now a spot on my thumb that has no feeling in it at all. It has been that way for three days. I hope it comes back to life. LOL

I bought the Blue Lace Agate Beads for the lamps on ETSY. I loved the color and the oval melon twist! However, there was a problem. They had a very tiny hole in them. I thought... No problem, I'll buy a diamond bead reamer. http://www.etsy.com/shop/EurekaEureka?ref=seller_info

I also bought solid brass heishe beads on ETSY. Same problem, I had metal reamers though!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/mintdestash?ref=seller_info

Then I decided I wanted 8mm Swarovski crystal black cube beads for the base... Same problem a tiny hole. Plus I was told you can't ream out Swarovski crystal beads without breaking them. I never listen to stuff like that, it went fine. I didn't break any and it went a heck of a lot faster than those blue agates!

I bought some metal findings thinking this would speed up the process. ALL of those had to be altered. Plus I realized suddenly I needed to have a metal tube run through all of these pieces. And they have to line up in all directions. UGH!

The GREATEST new find was the watch makers glue I bought. It has a built in hypodermic needle tip. It is for gluing watch crystals and any non-porous pieces together. OMG! That stuff is FANTASTIC! I was told it never goes bad and the needle stays clear.

I really wanted white shades but I when I held up all the white papers I had to the lamps it looked awful. So I made temporary shades out of black paper. When finished they looked funny next to that black crystal bead! I decided to spray paint them black for a deeper shade. Are there shades of black?

I will take some better photos of the lamps in a proper setting in a few days. I hope you like them, cause they really tried to kill me.

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.