A Wee Band-Aid

I was feeling pretty sorry for myself because I missed the show this year in Chicago. There were so many people going I wanted to see too. So, I decided to put a band-aid on it.

I bought three of Scott Hughes fixtures last year at the show. I just love them. I telephoned Scott before he left for Chicago and told him I wasn't able to go and wondered if he would send me a photo of a couple of fixtures. I bought a lamp but when it arrived yesterday it was too big. :-( So today I asked him what he had in that aged patina I love. This is the chandelier I bought from him. I am soooo excited.

Scott doesn't have a web site or a catalog. He only does one show a year. In my mind that makes his work all the more special.

Linda Master

Linda sent me this wonderful bread board last week. She hand carved the entire thing. Including the circle!!! Just try and draw a perfect circle sometime. lol I know very well how difficult that is to do because of the hand engraving I have done on metal. Her work is simply incredible. If you can think of it, she can carve it for you. You will be delighted when your order arrives.

http://www.miraclechickenurns.com/

Thank you so much Linda! I love it!!!

New Lamp Bases

I never liked the bases for these lamps I made. I was having a look around in Etsy and found a solid brass tiered finding that said it was 7 mm on the interior of the square! WOW perfect, just the right measurement and a perfect look for this lamps new base.

They came in the mail today. the interior of the tired square was 12 mm in the inside Grrrrr How off can you get with a ruler...scary!

Uh-Oh! I had to destroy the old lamp bases to get them off. Which I did, in anticipation of the new ones arriving. Hrmmm.... now what? I guess I'll cross my fingers and operate!

I had a old plastic miter box I bought long ago when I first became interested in miniatures. I measured 7 mm and marked the finding then cut the corner off with a jewelers saw. I did that to all four of the &^%$ things. Then just soldered them all together. There ;-) ...Now they're 7mm on the inside. all I have to do is clean them up and glue them on.


Lots of things are almost finished on my work bench. I have been busy working on several things I hope to share in a day or two.

My English Cottage Interior Inspiration

I have saved hundreds of inspiration photos for the miniature cottage I want to build. I thought I would share a few here.

Please double click on photos for a closer look.

I adore this cottage and it's rooms. I love the quirky (Elm) beams in the ceiling. One side of the hearth is carved with the initials A. W. and 1810. The cottage could be a lot older however. The room is 8 feet 3 inches X 12 feet. The six foot owner can only stand up straight in three places in the room. I love the billowing plaster ceiling daubed into a crazy mattress of twigs and branches.


Spice Cupboards were often built into the wall next to the hearth. The hope was to keep the valuable contents of herbs, spices and possibly tea and sugar dry. I lreally like this one and hope to add one of these to my miniature cottage. I love the butterfly hinges and the initials and date carved into the wood. Also the scratch moulded framing.Another example of a built in wall cabinet.

I LOVE the patterns in the brick in this medieval cottage hearth. What a fun miniature clay project this could be.

French Flower Buckets

With all the things out there you can buy in miniature there was one thing missing, at least I couldn't find one. French flower buckets.

I tried one this morning using a sheet of tin. I am not happy with it though for a variety of reasons. First... I knew to make them look right I needed to have a die made to form them onto, using a hydraulic press. Reason being, this would allow the two band lines below the lip of the bucket to be pressed into the sheet. I tried instead just to solder on two rings to "look like" that. It wasn't a success. :-( Secondly... I have to find a tool for my flex-shaft that will give the surface of the metal the right look that galvanized buckets have. Sadly... the patina I want for the outside is in the inside where I didn't have to clean up anything.

I am determined... I will get there!!!

Every Village Needs A Shop (Nutshell House)

Welcome to... "Twigs & Berries"

Today's Menu

Imported... French Frog Eggs, Pears& Raspberries With Honeyed Blueberry Sauce, Sparkling Honeysuckle Juice

Classes For Children Thursday Afternoon... A Field Trip... Identifying the right mushroom snacks.

For the Ladies... Try a new look...Wing Painting...Friday's By Appointment

Belgian Spider Silk Lace... by the inch.

Fairy Dust... Six Exciting New Colors!

Portable Rainbows... See our display window.

Emergency Wing Repair 24/7

Frankly this was a little &^%$# to make. It is going to be a while before I touch another walnut. lol I decided I would like to have a vine growing up and over the awnings. I started with very fine wire and soldered all the pieces together. Trying it on the shell as I went along soldering. Then I painted the wires brown.

Now I could spot glue the vine to the nutshell. The next step was to glue the 1/2 mm beads on. YEP one by one. I found that they were really secure by painting clear nail polish over them after the glue dried. Once I had all the "berries" on I really liked it without any green foliage but thought it had to have it on the vine. :-(

I built the bay window by cutting up three double windows to make one bay and glued that to a styrene box I built. In the window there is some magic happening. These holographic tiny stars blink colors even in relative darkness. I just glued them in a pile for the bay window display... "Portable Rainbows". If you could see inside it, you would notice there seem to be some much smaller ones floating in mid-air too. Those are glued to a second & third sheet of clear styrene on the inside of the house. They step back from the window front. I still have to make the sign that will stick out from the side of the bay. I am going to have to use someone else's printer for that.

PHEW.... Maybe too much information. ;-)

Finally!

At long last! For well over a year I have wanted a simple basket of croissants! I ordered them from Stephanie Kilgast at PetitPlat. She also sent me a gift of a religieuse. I love it! Thank you so much Stephanie!!!

Something else I have wanted for a long time is a lemon reamer. To go with the hand held strainer and all the other things I made. This boxwood reamer was made by David Edwards. I am delighted with it. I have a slight wait for the bread board I wanted from him with the word BREAD carved into it. Seven YEARS he told me.

I have been working on my next walnut house. It is a shop called Twigs & Berries. Stay tuned. :-)