New tulip vase!

Remember this?

It's now this:

It's still at the Almond Barn, just out of the kiln. Yolande took the pictures for me. It's about 10cm tall, the width about 2.5cm.

Hope you like it!

😀 

Idske

Hello all!

I've been away for too long, but then I've not had time.... correction, I've not taken the time to do any miniatures lately. But now I'm back!  I am working on a table with an opening top and lyre shaped legs to teach at our club early next year. I'll have to make about 20 kits. That should keep me busy for a while!

First things first, here are some photos of the Uckfield Dollshouse Club Show we held to raise funds for MacMillan Nurses. If I remember correctly we raised over £ 1000!

And here are a selection of my fellow club member's efforts. They are a very talented bunch!

And this was my contribution:

Enjoy your mini time!

Idske

Nearly there!

Just came back from a lovely afternoon with our club working on all of our exhibits!

This will be mine

Sorry for the weird angle, I only had one photo and most of the pots are back in their transportation boxes and setting it all up again will take some time.   I forgot to bring the tulip vase to the club afternoon, but it will go in for the exhibition on 12th July, not quite sure where but it's amazing how much fits in a space that is in part 7cm deep and in part only 14cm!

Just the electrics to finish and a lampshade for the blue and white bead-lamp on the left on the shelf. Oh, and a handrail on the steps and possibly some plants in front of the shop...

The new pots are all on the shelves on the left hand side in the shop.  The six pots I had decorated at home have turned out to be black, or rather gray and white. I'm not sure whether to be disappointed or not... But the glaze is very nice and crackled!

Hope you like it!

Idske

I'm on a roll

Just got back from pottery class. Everybody seemed to be having a great time and doing some of the best pots they had ever done, me included!

Six pots decorated at home before the class and another two that were bisque fired last week. Glazed them, which is a lot easier when they are stuck to these sticks with some glue dots... They should all be fired by next Tuesday!

There were also another three finished, with a penny to show the size.  These are earthenware pots. All the others I have on the go at the moment are made of porcelain.  I will have to put some extra shelving in the Old Pottery to display them all!

In the background a hint of the new tulip vase and another of version of the vase in the middle. I'm getting better at putting a rim on these little vases. Just compare the one in the foreground to the new one in the background...

Happy mini-time,  Idske

2 Shop Fronts

Admittedly, I got lots of advice on my previous post, not to redo the brickwork, but I suppose I had already sort of decided that it wasn't good enough. It didn't look like any of the pretty village shops we have around here. Even the brick pattern wasn't right...

I did take your advice and I really tried to colour the brickwork, a bit like stencilling with very little paint on the brush and this worked on the side of the box, but on the front some of the bricks came off. I glued some back on, but it just became a ridiculous job.

Then I remembered that I should have another box file lid, as the shop is made of 2 boxes to provide extra depth for some furniture. The door wasn't fixed in place yet and the window came away with very little effort. Decision made, I had to find the other lid.

You would think that something that big was easy to find, but not in the mess in my dining room. I had unpacked the cupboard with most of my mini supplies to move it away from the wall when this wall got soaking wet this winter and turned all mouldy. It's been drying out ever since the wall was repointed, with a dehumidifier on 24/7. One thing led to another and I ended up painting 2 of the walls, moving the cupboard back and sorting through almost all of my mini supplies. Of course, the box file lid was in one of the last boxes!

So over the last 4 days, this is the result of  about 10 hours of egg box brick making, glueing, painting and varnishing.

The sides are a bit red, but if it still bothers me next week, I'll do something about it, maybe...

And just to prove I now have 2 shop fronts:

Now I can concentrate on the very blue sign over the shop, which isn't what I had in mind, the handrail by the door and some more signs and a few flowerpots to finish off the outside. And then finishing off the inside and the lights. Nearly there!

All in all a very productive half term holiday!

Idske

Brickwork and pots

Hello all!

I'm sorry I'm taking so long between posts, life is getting in the way of miniatures at the moment. I have been trying to keep up with your blogs, though!  Always plenty of ideas to be found there!

Still, I have been working on The Old Pottery. The blue is a bit much, so I'll 'oldify' it a bit. I couldn't fit the previous name on the sign, so a fellow miniaturist at our club suggested this one. Nothing like being a bit pragmatic!



I decided to try out the egg carton brickwork and I like it much better than the brick paste on the front of the shop.  The brick paste looks more like a new build, than a really old shop...    The question is, can I remove the brick paste version without destroying the front, after all it's only cardboard. Also, I still have to make the railing on the steps and fix the lights, make some more table lamps and fit it all together...
Or, should I try colouring the shopfront like the paving?  If I do that, how is that done? Should I use pastels of can I use paint?  Do I need to seal it before using pastels or paint?  I just can't decide yet.

I'm also working on some more pots and a new tulip vase, all in porcelain. Had some disasters, such as a mould that I couldn't get the top of the vase out of, having to make several models of the base, too small or not level, they just didn't look right and of course knocking the almost finished vase over on the table. Before it's fired porcelain is very very fragile! The top was in pieces.

So I've just made another top and to be on the safe side, I also made another body and base. After all I might knock it over again!  In the mean time I have these 6 to decorate!

Hugs,    Idske

Preoccupied?

Definitely!   Although I have been working on more pottery and I like the result. Not yet decorated, but of the right proportions for 1/12th scale.

This is how I started a post about a week ago. I've got a new computer pad thing and it's lovely, very clear and takes great photos. BUT I can't seem to figure out how to add a photo from the camera. It offers all sorts, including those that are already on the blog!   Why would I want to do that....  Do I sound quite mad yet?  Time to phone a friend...

Success!  Had to add them to the album for the blog and then they show up, at the bottom of the list of course. Soooooo logical, isn't it....

These 3 pots are from moulds and they are my best ones so far.  I'm also working on a new tulip vase, but a very different one from the one I made last year. As soon as I've got something to show other than strange lumps of clay, I'll post again.

I was talking about being preoccupied. Once I started decorating my son's bedroom, painted the walls, put up my table and small bench for the table saw, milling machine and a few other bits and pieces, it didn't look like a usable bedroom anymore and since Marc will be back for Easter and a couple of months in the summer, that just wasn't good enough. So I decided to make him a quilt.

That is the top layer, the pattern is Ohio stars. Still lots to do, but I'm very pleased with it.  Maybe you are getting an idea of why the dolls house I built in 1992 still isn't completely decorated....

My garden is another distraction, spring has sprung and I cut some camellias to brighten up the coffee table. The flower is about 4-5 inches across!

Happy mini-time!

Idske

What else? more pots...

I've not had much time for miniatures except pottery. It works for me that I have a set time away from home, where I can concentrate on pottery only!
There are several new pots that might be good enough for a mould, and there are some more blue and white ones about to go in the kiln. Unfortunately I keep forgetting to take photos.

Except for these two! The bigger one is huge as 12th scale goes, about 2 inch high. They will shrink about 10-15% in the first firing.

And these in red and orange, they have been fired, but didn't come out as expected. A bit blotchy and thin in places so they will be refired with another layer of the glaze.

The lighter one will be very different when fired and the pink ones will be a warm red! I think that one of the most difficult parts of making tiny pottery is the glazing, it rarely turns out as expected. Still, I'm quite pleased with these!

Oh and I promise to take more photos!


Idske