Giveaway 15 December 2013

Sorry I couldn't make it any clearer

And the winner is: number 20 out of 51  which is Blanche!

Congratulations!   Blanche please send me your address on idskeh @ gmail.com.

Giveaway - Blue and white vase

It's been a while since I have posted and I've passed 100 followers! It's hard to tell with Google+ circles and all that... Thank you all so much for commenting, it's the best reward for blogging! 

I thought I'd get back in your good graces with a giveaway and it just had to be pottery. This vase is a fraction over an inch in diameter and a bit under an inch high. It's not perfect, with a bit of bleeding of the blue into the glaze, but it's hand made by me...

Blue and White Vase - giveaway 15 Dec 4pm

Rules as usual:

 

- leave a comment on this post;

- have another chance with a mention on your own blog;

- the winner to send me their address within a week or so of the deadline of 15 December 4pm in the UK.

Good luck!   Idske

Blue and White Pottery Shoppe and the Apeldoorn show

I'm slowly but surely making progress with the filing box project. It is now firmly a Blue and White Pottery Shoppe with a few items of furniture. Not a very original name, but who knows the right name will at some point show up... Still quite a bit of detail and pictures on the walls to add -or shelves for some more pottery- but the overall look is how I want it.

Last week I did my first ever course at the Apeldoorn show, well the day before. David Iriarte taught us the fine art of marbling, 'oldifying' a mirror, both as part of a trumeau, all in only 6 hours. All parts had been cut for us, but  Ingeborg Landers translated for us - Spanish to Dutch.

A trumeau was a hall table with a mirror underneath, so the ladies of the house could check their shoes and skirts before leaving the house. In very grand houses, they might be a shaped mirror, with a beautiful painting above it, but ours was a hall table, with a drawer for gloves.  The drawer will have a drawer pull eventually.   Of course, by now the mirrors all show signs of their age. It's quite amazing, what can be achieved with some paint and a toothbrush. Aiming and actually hitting around the edges was the real trick here...

Getting there after a few false starts...

 some of the finished trumeaus

Our table, never even noticed the chaos!
That's David on the right- somehow Ingeborg managed to stay out of all my photos!

My loot!

I already had the small table, the mirror and the rug, but everything else if from the show. You can really see the mirror under the table, reflecting the ginger jar and round vase. I just love the plate by Cocky Wildschut. It's of a sailing ship, called a schouw, like we used to have when I was a teenager.
The other pots are by Elizabeth Causeret, the candlesticks and urns in front of the mirror are by David Iriarte. I'm sorry I couldn't show them off any better.  The 4 wine glasses are by Leo Reijnders (I think). He was in a corner of the hall and demonstrating his skills. He made it look easy ...

Happy mini-time!

Idske

More pottery and a castle...

The summer is well and truly over. Autumn has arrived with pretty colours and dampness. Not a lot of proper rain, but it's trying...

It almost a month ago that I posted. I've just had such a busy summer with non-minis things, it was lovely. I love Autumn too as long as it doesn't rain all the time and so far we've been lucky.

Yesterday the pottery classes started again and lots of pots have been fired over the summer, all but one in blue and white. The bowls are 25mm in diameter (1"), smallest is about 8mm in diameter (1/3").

I've started another tulip vase, the idea is to have more tiers and square pots rather than the round ones of the previous tulip vase. Not quite sure where it's going yet, but the idea is there. I'll update as it develops.

The other project I'm working on is for our school. The reception class (4 year olds) were let loose on this very well made castle. It's about 80cmx80cm and 40cm high at the tip of the church roof.

Within about 4 weeks their play with knights, horses and swords has wreaked havoc with the battlements, the drawbridge, portcullis and main door. Some are old 'injuries'. The rescued bits have been re-glued, but there is still a lot missing. One tower now has new battlements.

Still to do is the front of the castle, the tower on the other side and some bigger bits on the taller towers. And of course the drawbridge, portcullis and main door.  The pointy roof on the first photo also needs something, to make it a bit safer for 4 year olds. And then it needs painting and I haven't found the right colour yet. I really have to hold back from making some improvements and keep in mind that it is a children's toy and it should all be as child-proof as possible.  It sits on my coffee table at the moment because it doesn't fit anywhere else, so I will try to finish it by next weekend - I want my coffee table back!

I've also been working on a better work space. I spend so much time trying to find things or setting up the power tools, that there isn't any time left to make anything! Not good, so in the holidays when he is back from uni, my youngest will have to share his bedroom with my tools and projects. He knows and says he doesn't mind, if I don't mind if he makes use of it too.. I've got the plan and a work table and 90cm high kitchen table to put the power tools on, but they are all still in bits. These are the table legs for the work table in the corner where the higher table will go.

You'll have to wait a bit for some photos as the project has ballooned a bit. I'm now also painting the walls and possibly replacing the carpet with laminate. Possibly, because that is quite a job with a very heavy bed and wardrobe still in the room. Neither fit through the door. I might just give up on that one, or wait until the boys are both here at Christmas.  

Happy mini-time,

Idske 

Summer update

Hi everyone!

We have had a lovely summer here and have also been very busy! Sorry for the silence, I just didn't have time for miniatures. I have been reading many blogs, but commenting has also been a bit hit and miss. And yes, I did say I would have time for miniatures in the holidays,  but I'm back at work and nothing much has materialised.
I did finish the piano runner; it's on my niece's piano and it looks great. Just forgot to take a photo. This is the last photo I took when I had just finished the embroidery.

In the evenings I'm working on a full size quilt in creams, blues and pink roses to go in my younger son's bedroom, I started it over a year ago and it's time to finish it. I have too many UFOs both miniature and full size! I will keep the reverse in neutral, less girly tones, creams and blues only, so he can turn it over when he is here. He is going to university in about two weeks to study aerospace engineering. His older brother is moving to London next week. I loved having them both here for the summer and going to see the family together, but it will be quiet here when they have both moved out and even though I know they will be back, it is certainly something to get used to. Time to work on ideas for a proper work space...

Miniature wise, I will be concentrating on the pottery and the larger projects we are making with our club http://udhc-uk.blogspot.co.uk/. The pottery classes will be starting again on October 1st. The teacher told me there are some very nice pots from the last batch she has fired for me and I will get these back on 1st October, fingers crossed one of them is suitable for a giveaway...
I'm still sporadically working on the box file, because I haven't quite finished the exterior, but we are adding another project from September in the form of an attic for our exhibition next July.

Happy mini-time,

Idske

Pottery class!

The piano runner is coming along nicely (I'm almost half way) and that is taking a lot of my mini-time. I am trying to stay up to date with all of your posts! With all of the RL stuff, the boys, the garden, the house and work, I haven't had much mini stuff to post about. Just too busy.

I made RL bowls for my sisters (and one for myself) just before half term, but the last few weeks have been a bit of a production line with the miniature pots. There are still a few that haven't been bisque fired yet. No idea where they are, I had so much to decorate that I didn't even look for them.  I still have one more class before the summer holidays to finish decorating them and then glaze them all.

The 4 on the left are decorated, although I'm not sure about the plate, the rest have had a wash applied and it works much better for the final decorating session if the wash is bone dry.  By the way the pink decoration will turn a slightly lighter blue than the black decoration which is cobalt and will also turn blue.  So lots of white and blue china.

Just for fun we tried one of my pots out on the almost finished lamp base Beverly is making in the same class.

That puts it in perspective, doesn't it. To make the small ones takes just as long as the really big pots and the decorating takes a lot longer.

It's finally summer here so here are a few pics from my garden...

The scented rambler rose

A climbing old English rose 

This is a hybrid tea rose rescued from the very overgrown rose bed that was in the garden when I moved in. It was very old but actually seems happier in it's new spot!

AND I have cherries!!!

Only two more weeks until the end of term (not that I'm counting down, of course) and then I will definitely have / make more time for minis!

Idske

A new(ish) blog and a 1970s RL piano runner

I'm not quite sure how I came across this blog, but I think his work is fantastic! 

www.madnessinminiatures.blogspot.com 

His work is so detailed and a lot of it in metal. It's worth going back to his previous posts as there are lots and lots of photos of how he makes things. Love his guitar cases, mics and chairs, oh and the tools of course (in an older post).









I keep forgetting to take pictures at pottery class. Must do better! There is another class in 2 weeks and I'm hoping some more miniature pots will be fired then.

I haven't got time for any other miniatures at the moment as I'm embroidering a RL piano runner for one of my nieces. Her new home is all about 1970s design and colours. She has a beautiful orange sofa and she now has her grandmother's piano (carried up 3 flights of stairs!). The original runner embroidered by my sister was a bit worse for wear. So a new one in orange and brown was in order. The runner will be about 16 cm x 130 cm to cover the keys. It's taking a lot longer than I thought, but am enjoying it!

                                          I'm just hoping she'll like it!

Happy mini-time,
Idske