Friday, November 28, 2008

Now Smell this....

Today seemed like a good day to sit back, watch a movie, or 2.....and make some perfume bottles. The bathroom in Cora's house is yellow...and the tub, sink, toilet, and mirror I ordered is green. Figured I'd make some bottles to match. The bf even made a couple....the blue one lying on it's side is his....pretty impressive for a guy, huh! The red one in the very front is his, too. He said it's a genie bottle...as you can see I still need to glue it together~ I wanted you to see how I make these though. I just use a flat headed pin and glue it into some beads. I do cut the pin down to size before I glue~ and make sure you use clear glue!! I also filled 3 jars for Katie's Corner.....I'll blame it on Debbie...seeing all her pretty jars reminded me that I had some that needed to be filled, too. I still need to put labels on these......seeing as the printer died, guess I'll have to write some out! Oh...and I didn't have cork to use for these, so I made some stoppers out of polymer clay...the 2 on the left aren't so bad!?! (That one on the right looks like it's trying to get away, huh!!) From left to right we have poppy seeds, chive seeds, and parsley seeds.....they won't be labeled this in the store, but I needed small things to put in the jars, and this is what I had....I still have 6 jars to fill, wonder what else I can find around here????

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Spray Paint Artists

During my 'travels' tonight, I came across these AMAZING Artists.....Check out one of the clips I watched here....http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1008325/super_sprayer/ I know it has nothing to do with minis or clay, but I promise it will be a very interesting 3 minutes! And well worth watching!!! Let me know what you think.....pretty awesome, huh!!!

Learning How to Graffiti...

The more I think about the idea of doing graffiti on the outside of the skate-shop, the more excited I get. I spent hours last night watching 'how to' videos on You Tube! Then when I ran out of videos to watch, I switched over to Flickr.....and typed graffiti into their search engine....I was up till midnight looking at pictures! I tell ya, if you ever need color inspiration, check out what the graffiti artists are doing! There's some amazing art work out there! Anyways, I doodled out a few names. My son came up with the name Emuit a few weeks ago while looking at a crossword puzzle. For some reason, the word fascinates him, and he's been doodling it ever sense.........I figured since he liked the name, we'd tag the shop with it. I'd still rather find someone else to do this. I know I can do it, I just want it to be really, really, Great! Wonder if the people that airbrush t-shirts could airbrush in mini???? I betcha that would look hot!!

OK, I hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving! I'm headed back to the couch to doodle!!!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

I wish I could stick to just one thing!!!

I know...I starting talking about the skate shop and then started working on Cora's house?? That's how it is.....haha!! I'll get back to the skate shop next week, finally had a little bit of extra money, and was able to order the last counter. Hopefully I can at least get the inside of the skateshop done before Christmas. Thanks for the ideas about the graffiti...once I started really thinking about it last night, I realized that I was going to have to learn how to do it myself...lol.....can't be too hard right, nothing but big bubble letters and some color?!?! Hahahaha
OK...so lets talk about Cora's house for a minute. I managed to get a little bit of a lot done. Once I figured out which one went where, I glued in the Access Bay floors. While waiting for that to dry, I cut out the baseboards for the daughter's room.Then I went on a hunt for the left over flooring I knew I had hiding around here....cut them out and attached them to the floors. Good thing I don't throw anything away, or I would of been making another trip to Home Depot!
I also went ahead and glued (AND CLAMPED!!) the Access Bay Side into place. ..............And then came the 'fun' part......and I say that with all the love in the world. You see I had to get the bf to screw in the little hinges, and that consisted of hearing him yell all kinds of colorful words for 30 minutes. Poor Fella, the kids have run off with all of our screw drivers, and the only one we could find was this tiny little metal one. It was quite the sight to see him with this little screw driver, vice gripes to turn the screw driver, and a paper towel to hold the screw driver as he turned it!! Way to much fun!!! LOL!! (For me at least!!)Ok here's some advice: you really got to pay attention when marking your holes for the screws on this access door. Luckily the bf was paying attention and realized I had it set up wrong. (Check out the how the hinge is on the inside of the door, but on the outside of the side wall?) Good Save honey!! Then, we missed lining it up by 1/4 inch, so I had to glue the right side on 1/4inch below where it was suppose to go...this way when the door it shut, the door lines up to where it is suppose to go. I was not about to suggest re screwing the screws into the right place, after what I had just witnessed the first time around, no way!! HAHAHA

See, it worked pretty good!And while I was waiting for the glue to dry, I painted the baseboards for the daughter's room with 2 coats of paint. And once those dried I glued them into place! Then the bf cut out the crown molding for me. I find it funny how he props up his molding with another piece of molding, LOL: that's the carpenter in him coming out!!Me, I use painter's tape.....Well.....like I said, I got a lot of a little done or is that suppose to read a little of a lot??? Oh well, you understand........I hope:)

Hope everyone has a yummy Thanksgiving! Until next time...

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Looking for a Graffiti Artist!!!


I'm back....my son and I were sitting here discussing ideas about our miniature shops, when he came up with an amazing idea. We have been working on a Miniature skate shop for some time....another one of those things I got side tracked from.......but we were sitting here talking about how to finish off the outside of the room box. I suggested doing some kind of beach house. But, his idea is much better....he suggested that we cover the outside to look like a brick building with graffiti on the outside! I love it, how creative.......living by the beach, we have a lot of buildings with ART on the out side! Just when I thought I'd never be able to figure out what to do, the kid solves the problem.....Now to find a graffiti artist that can do something great in miniature......

Let's Watch Paint Dry....

OK, I know pretty boring, huh! Ok, so I'll watch paint dry and You can look at where I'm at with Cora's house.....I painted lots of trim last night....And, I got the inside of the side access door painted. I also glued in the windows and all the trim....I do want to add a piece of floor molding to separate the colors, but that will have to wait till I get the door mounted on the house...I want my lines to match! (See my oldest peeking threw the window? LOL)And outside of the door is done. I still, really like the colors on this house!

Well, now I must go beg the carpenter to install this door, maybe I should try bribing him with cookies or something?!

Oh and did you notice that I changed the background?? Whatcha think?? Not too hard on the eyes is it?? I found the link in the upper left hand corner of Debbie's page.....Thanks Debbie! You can find the same link in the upper left hand corner of my page........they have over 300 different backgrounds!! And it's very east to do! Have fun decorating!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Amish Quilts and Miniature Camels

The kids and I just got back from Maryland. I took them up there to see my Mom and sisters, and celebrate an early Thanksgiving. On Saturday I met Mom at an Amish Quilt Auction. It was held in a big barn on a farm.....and it was freezing! But, I had fun......and the quilts were beautiful!! I love the simple life, I wish I could live more like they do! I didn't take pictures inside the auction, I do believe they don't like their pictures taken, but I figured the horse wouldn't mind if I took his.After the auction, we went to Mom's house. We spent the afternoon cooking and watched "Get Smart" ~very cute movie, btw. While I wrote names on Christmas ornaments for Mom's co-workers, she helped the kids make bath salts for their other Grandma and their Aunts ~How sweet was that!! I really enjoyed eating a Thanksgiving dinner that Mom cooked and spending the evening hanging out with the family!

OK...now that that is out of the way....Let's talk crafts! These next 3 pictures are of Mom's craft room. Oh...and while I was taking them...she was fussing at me about, I could of least let her clean first, lol....I told her not to worry, that you guys have seen mine, and it is 10 times worse than hers.....and Hers isn't really that bad.....Heck, she's a lot more organized than me! I mean, come on....she even has room for an upright freezer! I could do a dance in the middle of the floor...and I tell ya, it makes me want to dance when I'm in there! She's got lots of good stuff! The whole wall to the right is Rubber stamps and ink!And her craft room even has a closet...and a walk in closet at that!! We won't tell anyone how much material she has stashed in here! I also got to visit with my sisters while I was home. I haven't seen my youngest sister, Joyce since Thanksgiving~last year, I wish we coulda had more time to talk, I miss her! And my other sister, Jess recently went to Dubai and Egypt, and I asked her to keep her eyes open for anything miniature. OH, I'm so excited, are you ready for this?!?! These are awesome!! First we have a small gold camel, with lots of little gems! His back even lifts up to reveal a hidden compartment!And a camel carpet! Isn't it beautiful!!! I just can't tell you how amazing these are! One day they will go to live in my bf's mini Man Room! (when it gets built that is!)
Ok, well I'm off to unwind from the weekend. First, I think I will 'stalk' a few sites to see what's new! Until next time.......

Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Godfather

Not to sure if I've ever showed you this or not. This is The Godfather, an oil painting I did when I was 15. The painting is of a man holding a baby...but I was going more for the feeling you get from the colors. I won't explain the story behind it, Way to much drama there! But, I will say, this Is My favorite painting! ...and this is 'my desk'! It was suppose to be where I work, but for 1, I hate staring at the wall when I work, and 2~ the couch is so much more comfy!! So, naturally everything gets piled up on top of the desk. It's become the catch all for everything that doesn't have a home else where. Although, I will say, I do know where everything is! (As long as the kids haven't taken it, lol....What is the deal with that anyways?? Do my scissors cut better or something, and what happened to the 100 glue sticks Grandma bought FOR THEM, because they were on sale?!?! Why do the insist on using mine??) So, as you can see, this is half of our living room. The couch divides the room in half, 1/2 is mine!!
And the other half belongs to the guy sleeping on the couch! Gees, guess I don't get to sit on the couch and play today?!? Ohhh well, what to do, What to do??? LOL!!!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Happy Little Accidents...

At least I think that's what Bob Ross used to say! And it holds true for clay, too!!

OK, so last night I decided to pull out the clay and try and replicate the colors I saw in a bracelet...Check it out on Tina T's blog, http://tinat.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/i-got-those-fall-inspired-beads-finished-0/....Go ahead, I'll wait.......you See? I love her fall colors!! So I decided to try and use up some more of those scraps I have, I have lots of pearl colors. I wasn't too impressed with what I ended up with from the get go. They're not as dark as I woulda liked for them to be. Too much orange and yellow....I needed more red!! Either way, I made a mokume gane cane, and went to town. One thing I taught myself a long time ago about clay is Not to give up! Sometimes, half way through a project, it really looks horrible, but it normally comes out ok.....See, I really don't like these colors, but someone else may. (I apologize for the flash blurring the bottom center one!!)I took the left over clay and made these:
And then, at the very end of everything, I made this. This I like! I used a rubber stamp to make the impression into the clay, and carved off the top layer. If you look close you will see the Taurus symbol and the Aries symbol......eventually, I'd like to sand this down, I betcha there's something wonderful hiding in there!Then this morning, I decided to experiment even more with that stamp. I chose shades of blue, plus black and white. That stamp didn't work out as well for me this time, you can see the best one in the upper left hand corner, See the Aries symbol? The one in the middle, to the bottom, is today's Favorite! I used an eye stamp, and it worked perfectly! The one in the upper right corner, is the result of a mistake......See, some mistakes are great! I put eyelets into the pendants before I bake them. You can leave them in there when you bake it, and pop them out afterwards. You do have to push the clay that is inside the eye-let out after baking it, and reattach the eyelet to the pendant with a bit of glue. (These haven't been baked yet.)So, when all was said and done, I had very little blue ones to cook....and a lot of left over clay! I took the clay, rolled it up together, and sliced it down the middle........I see 2 birds looking at each other......do you?Then I took the left over clay from that, and did the same thing, again. It really gets my imagination going! What do you see??

Ok, I'm going back to snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie....lets see what else I can get into!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Check it out!

HI! I just wanted to drop off a website I just found for us polymer clay artists. I was just starting to run out of fresh ideas, and then I stumbled across this. Perfect!

http://www.beadyeyedbrat.com/tutescolortech.html

Have fun!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Putting everything back into place....

I'd thought I'd start the day off with a question: Otis, how in the world is that comfortable?? Your head's not even level with your butt!?! And do feel like your foot is floating? Way too funny!!! I swear, they'll sleep anywhere!

I went digging through my stuff last night looking for a bouncy ball.......I still don't believe that in a house with 3 kids I can't find one bouncy ball.....Oh well, guess I'll have to get one next time I'm at the grocery store~ I wanted one for the nursery. Anyways, while I was digging, I found this bear. I do believe he was one of the first things I made out of polymer clay, in 1996. Not to bad, huh? And today, I've been putting Katie's Corner back together. No need to worry, I found the Jungle Undies...you see them, there in the bottom right corner. The thought they were getting away! Hahahaha....... The bagel was under the bed....along with the apple, What a healthy breakfast, huh.....all I need now is that glass of chocolate milk! The kitties are back on their perch, and the bear is nestled back on the bed. I even borrowed a pair of Barbie's shoes, I know they look a little too big, but, hey, If you saw how big my feet were, you'd understand, lol!! I put the flowers back on the dresser, and found all the accessories for the tray. If you look close, you can see that she has her surf board stashed between the dresser and the white metal shelf. Maybe before she opens the store, she'll head down to the beach to catch a wave or two. And I even managed to wrangle the Jungle Undies back into their bag...they are in the bottom right corner of the picture.
Then I moved onto the store......I put everything back where it was, and even added a few extras. On the bottom shelf, I put out the stone pavers, in 3 different sizes! I put bricks in the silver bucket in the front, thought it looked nicer than trying to stack them on a shelf. Here's a picture of Katie's Corner. I still have room to add lots of treasures! That empty shelf in the back may get some jars of seeds....maybe some lavender, or sage, or even some catnip or something?!?!

I've managed to spend the whole weekend..thinking! Scary huh! Yesterday I brought out those 2 red chairs I need to refinish and managed to stare at them all evening! Horrible! Sometimes you just sit and look at something till it comes to ya, Well, it never did last next!!! I did get all the legs pulled of, and found some wood I can cut down to make for legs....but trying to figure out how to make a slip cover was mind boggling! I think I'll save them for when I go home for the holidays and see if Mom will help me sew something for them. I also plan on begging her to do the curtains for Cora's house! I better make a list huh.........Hahahaha:) I love you Mom:)!!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

That Darn Cat!

I really need to find a place in my home that the kitties can't get to. I've tried, honestly, I have. I have things stashed above cabinets, there's stuff under the bed, and I even have crafts hiding in the bathroom. But, it never fails, just when I think I have something all tucked away. I realize that I don't.

Last night we were sitting on the couch, watching TV, when Hurricane Pocus comes from out of no where, leaps across the back of the couch, and ends up in the top floor of Katie's Corner. UGGG! You see, I've been hiding it under a pillowcase, hoping the cats would leave it alone. Well, so far they have.....
It really does look like a tornado went through here. The flowers are lying on their side, good thing there's no water in them, huh?! There used to be a bagel with cream cheese on the bed, wonder where it went?? And I'm so glad I glued everything in the china hutch~ Can you imagine having to put all those dishes back in the right places?? And we won't even discuss the fact that my Jungle Undies are MIA???The bottom floor, the actual store, looks like it's been robbed! Nothing's broke, so, all will be OK! I just have to figure out how to keep those freakin' cats outta my stuff!!!

Any Ideas out there???

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Polymer Clay Baskets

It seems like when ever I finally get ready to put the clay away, I feel the need to make something else. Yesterday, it was baskets. I wanted to try something new, so I dug out the clay extruder. Let me tell ya, if you haven't ever used an extruder, make sure you have someone with some muscles around! I had to enlist the bf and my oldest son to help......they were so kind to take turns pushing, and I had a Grand time watching their faces turn red! LOL, I know, I'm terrible....but it was so funny! My big tough boys were getting their butts tore up by a little tiny extruder!!! HahahahaOk, back to the baskets......the first one I made was light green. I wrapped the clay around and around (I'm sure there's some technical term for this, it's just not coming to me right now.....coiling?), till I felt it was deep enough, then I wrapped the top with a braided piece I made. After I baked it, I white washed it with some acrylic paint, to tone it down a little. I think it makes for a good toy basket!Then I used some gray clay I had....added some black sand to it~ this makes it look like stone when you bake it, to make more baskets. The one all the way to the left was made using a bigger hole disk in the extruder, then I went back and poked it all over to give it character...honestly, I think it has a 'turd' quality to it, It looked a lot better in my head! LOLThen I got brave and decided to try and see if I could make a woven basket out of clay. I still need a top to it, maybe another braided piece will work. I definitely have to develop this idea a little better.........Think I can convince the boys to do a little more extuding for me??? Next time, I promise to write a tutorial!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

I'm having Way to much fun!! LOL

I made some building blocks out of Sculpy clay and added them to the nursery. Even brought a few of my dolls out to model for the picture.
Cute, huh!?!

You can never have enough accessories!

Well, at least not in the dollhouse!!! I'm trying my hardest to de-clutter my real life, and believe me when I say I haven't gotten very far, lol!! So, for now.....I'll stay here in the world of make-believe, and clutter away!

I figured I'd try and make some more toys for the nursery. First I made 3 more bears, their color is reversed from yesterdays bears. And 2 of them have tongues today! Then I made the 3 rocker stacks in the back. After cooking them, I thought they were to big, until I got them into the room, Now, I think they work great! Pretty good for my first try. See, it works, right?? Even looks good from a distance....

Monday, November 10, 2008

Progress is good!!

I haven't done any thing major today, but have added a few small touches here and there. Plus, pictures always seem to make you see what else it is that you need to do!The nursery is starting to look lived in. Small pieces of material folded up in different places, gives the illusion of blankets and clothes tucked away. There's lots of printies around the room, diaper wipes, baby rash cream, Q-tips, and diaper wipes!! The Care Bear came from a 25 cent machine...Although now that I think about it, I do believe it was one of the .50 machines. The blue tub in the left corner will be a laundry hamper. I plan on painting it a lighter color..... yellow might work!?! It was the top to a laundry soap container. ~Found the sewing supplies I had stashed away. Set everything up to make it look like someone is working on something. I even used a 'sticker' to make the little blue dress. It is a Cinderella sticker from the Jolee line, I just pulled off the sticky stuff on the back of the dress and draped it over a dress form. I still want to add a little more to it, it needs a sash and some beads...and maybe a little blue bird or a mouse:)
I added one of my Mom's white blankets and a couple of magazines to the daughter's bed.
Then, I put a dresser in the parents room, and added a picture. The picture was taken where my kids go to summer camp; it will go on the wall eventually. Looks like my 2 bears have snuck in here to take a nap........The were getting all chewed up hanging out in the living room! Dang on Otis! In the kitchen I added the table and chairs behind the stairs. I more or less just wanted to see if they fit, and they do:) Before they become a permanent fixture, they need new seat pads! Then I came across all the little bears I made out of clay, and would you believe that I did NOT have one single green bear??? So, naturally I made 3!! And a horrible basket....lol....I put one bear on top of the dresser in the nursery....Then I donated my rocking chair from Katie's Corner so the second little critter had some where to sit.....I think the chair needs a small blanket and a book now....
(The third bear has yet to find a home, he will go to live with the other bears for now, until he gets adopted.)

There's alway something to do, isn't there?!?!