Welcome New Follower!

Welcome to Brenda of Brenda's Minatures!

Here is her blog: http://brendasminiatures.blogspot.com/

Please check it out and support a fellow mini enthusiast. She has a really nice blog.

I'm glad you're here, Brenda!

Goodies Arrived in the Mail

On Friday my little dining room set arrived and on Saturday the tin can art pieces arrived. It's like Christmas!

I put the dining room in the San Fran just for fun. You can see I have a Michael's hutch in the background. It might work well with this set if I stain it the same mahogany color.

This table is really long, but it looks nice. The detailing on the legs of the table and the backs of the chairs is very well done. I have no idea if this is a very common piece, but I sure like it. I've been having fun collecting pieces for this house.

Next, the tin can art pieces arrived. I suppose I should have asked for more info and have asked for measurements, because these piece are really more play scale sized. It doesn't matter- I still really like both pieces. I might be able to adapt the bed as an over sized bed. The chair- I don't think so. But it doesn't matter. I'm happy to have them both.

There's a lot I need to buy or make still, but piece by piece I'm getting there.

Joseph Angel House Mystery - Part II

Mystery solved! Well, maybe. The whole quest to find the "real" Joseph Angel house has come down to the answer from the designer himself, Mr. Ronald Clanton. He responded to my email yesterday.

And the answer is (drum roll please!) there is no actual Joseph P Angel House. Can you believe it? All this speculation and there is no real Joseph Angel house.

The full name of the house was "The Captain Joseph P. Angel House." Mr. Angel was a real person and the first to ask Victorian Times to build and finish this house for him. He was the franchise owner of the Burger King in North Portland.

The house came from Mr. Clanton's imagination, but was fashioned after two or three old Victorians around the Northwest. He says he finished this house in many ways for many movie stars, inside and out for about $15,000. to $22,000 with all the little details anyone could ask for.

What a nice email he sent me! I am really excited to have been able to chat, at least in email, with him.

I only have one more question which I can't quite figure out. From what I have been told, Clell Boyce was the original owner of Victorian Times and Ronald Clanton bought him out. If the Joseph P Angel House was designed by Ronald Clanton, how is it that some of the ones out there (like mine) are signed by Clell Boyce? Did they work together for a time? I certainly don't mean any disrespect by any of this speculation. I'm pretty sure I am just missing a detail that would clear it all up.

So maybe the mystery is not totally solved. I'm still looking to the Johan Poulsen House for inspiration. But as to getting answers, well, back on the treasure hunt we go!

Joseph Angel House Mystery - Part I

I'm not sure how many parts this mystery will be, but this is part I.

So what is the big mystery? The mystery is trying to figure out what real Portland, Oregon mansion the Joseph Angel House is based on. There is no Joseph Angel House listed anywhere I can find (other than the dollhouse). There is, however, a very similar house called the Johan Poulsen house in Portland. This picture is from the site of the Realtor who sold the house last: Terry Treadtke

It looks a lot like the Joseph Angel Dollhouse, doesn't it? Here is a historical shot of the Poulsen House. This house has an interesting history. It was built in 1892 by Johan Poulsen. Paulsen's business partner, Robert Inman, built a twin house across the street. The Inman house was torn down in 1956 to make way for a parking lot or something. That thought kind of makes me nauseous. An incredible Queen Anne torn down for a parking lot.
Disgusting.
According to this blog this picture was featured in LIFE Magazine in 1959. I don't know why I included this picture because it makes me really ill to see this grand home knocked on its side.

So is this the inspiration for the Joseph Angel house? The debate has been going on for a few days on the Greenleaf forum. One member says she visited the real Angel house and it was on 14th street in Portland which has been converted to apartments. Searching for a house like this on 14th in Portland got me no results. The Poulsen house is on McLoughlin in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Portland.

I'm not quite sure why we are all convinced this house is based on a mansion in Portland Oregon. There is a Joseph Angel House in Maurice Louisiana, built in 1895 and a Queen Anne as well. Unfortunately I have not yet found a picture yet.

So is the Poulsen House the Joseph Angel or isn't it? My guess is that this is the inspiration for it, but there is no way to be sure. . . Or is there?

Last year the son of the original owner of the company that made the JA (Joseph Angel) emailed me from my blog and asked a question about my JA. So I emailed him to see if he had any info on the history of the house. He responded by sending me his father's email address. So tonight I emailed the owner of the company who designed the JA and asked the million dollar question: What house is the Angel based on? I'm waiting for his answer. He would be the authority! So now you know why part II of this story has to wait for another day.

I'm feeling like Ben Gates in National Treasure about now, but I've had help. Amy from the Greenleaf forum lives in Portland and drives by the Poulsen house frequently. She says she'll go take some pictures for me. Isn't that nice of her? And Shelby on the forum has been helping research because she is considering purchasing a JA shell of her own.

Now I'm totally psyched about working on my JA. History is yet another passion of mine, so combining dollhouses and history just can't get any better! This story isn't over, and that's fine with me. I'll leave you with some pictures of Joseph Angel dollhouses and the Poulsen House so you can see what you think. I don't have any at the same angle, so use your imagination a little bit, OK?

Wiring and MDF

The proverbial good news bad news is in order. First, the good news. My order from Mott's arrived yesterday. With all the horror stories I had heard I was a little worried that it would not come in a reasonable time, but it did and the people I dealt with via email were very helpful. So I'm pleasantly surprised.

Now the bad news. That little tool I ordered for wiring was in it. I'm sorry to say I'm non plussed with it. The directions say to put in the big pin in and make the hole, then put in the little pin and insert the eyelet with it. Are you kidding? Switch pins every eyelet? And I bent the big pin with the very first eyelet. Not helpful. I'm convinced I just haven't found the "right" way to work with tapewire and MDF. I'll keep you updated.

Welcome New Followers!

I have two new followers, both accomplished miniaturists.

First is Jean Day of Jean Day Miniatures. Here is her terrific blog: http://jdayminis.blogspot.com/ She is really an artist!

And then Debbie of Tiny Treasures who has so much going on and so many beautiful things to look at! She has 120 followers so she's doing something right- or an awful lot of something right! http://debbiestinytreasures.blogspot.com/ Check it out. She's doing Diagon Alley. It's amazing work!

Thanks, ladies, for checking out my work. I suddenly have an image of Wayne and Garth, bowing and shouting, "We're not worthy! We're not worthy!" But I'm learning and getting better all of the time.

I'm not sure I ever welcomed the person I consider my friend and Mentor, Casey of Casey's Miniatures: http://caseymini.blogspot.com/ Casey is also an unbelievable miniaturist and has encouraged me from the beginning. It is because of her terrific blog I started mine, and almost everything I've made she's had helpful tips and guidance to get the result I wanted. My progress is so much because of her help! So thanks, Casey! Check out her new project, a steampunk house. So cool! She has a great explanation of what steampunk means, but think Wild Wild West on TV in the 60s. That's the look.

More later!

Antique Store and Chrysnbon

Today we had nothing planned. My "nothing" day is totally different from my husband's "nothing" day. I should know that when we go somewhere when we have nothing else planned, we'll be gone all day.

Around noon I told my husband I wanted to go look at a dresser I'd seen in an antiques store last week. My son's dresser pretty much disintegrated a few weeks ago. The dresser I had bought for his nursery worked fine for about 10 years, but jeans and sweatshirts are a lot heavier (and bigger) than baby clothes, and over the years it couldn't handle it and finally gave up.

We got a great deal on this dresser. It's all hard wood and in very good condition. Compared to the "new" stuff, this was a great find and a good deal. Have you looked at new furniture lately? It's all particle wood unless you want to pay big bucks. No thanks. The antique stores are always my friend in these matters. I do try the thrift stores, but I tend to find better things in the antique stores.

I think the dresser is perfect for a preteen boy and should last him through the next decade with no problem. They have the matching desk at the same store. I might go back next week for it. This store had absolutely no miniatures. Darn! What kind of an antique store has no miniatures??? The one next store to it had a few, but nothing that I had to have.

So, that was out first stop. . .The rest of the day was spent driving around, shopping, running errands, having dinner at Olive Garden, and finally arriving home around 8:30pm.

Of course I hadn't done anything miniature, so I thought I'd tackle my Chrysnbon Grandfather clock and curio case kit. I'd never done a Chrysnbon kit before. The name annoys me, to be honest. I can't ever seem to get it right! Anyway, the first thing I noticed about this kit is that it was plastic. Plastic? I was kind of annoyed over that, but Casey assured me that all of their kits are plastic and are really good anyway. OK, then.

I probably shouldn't have started this, because I was just irritable tonight. Ever have one of those nights? Tonight was mine. Maybe I should have had a second glass of wine at dinner or something!

This kit didn't take all that long, but a lot seemed to go wrong. First, the clear pieces for the clock face and the curio cabinet were missing. I cut new ones from transparencies, but it just annoyed me that they were missing.Then the little shelves didn't fit quite right. I got them in there fine after fiddling a bit, but again, just one of those things.

The neat thing about this kit is that the curio case lights up. Once I got it all put together my daughter wanted to see it lit up, so I fiddled with hooking it into the tapewire in the San Fran. That was actually easier than I thought it would be. The result is pretty good. Here is a picture with no flash so you can see it really lit up. Casey suggested I replace the sticker on the front with a watch face. That's not a bad idea, but I think tonight I'll just think about that. I'm in no mood for fiddling.

Tomorrow my hubby is supposed to work on my brakes. I hope that means I will be able to be inside working in on minis. On the other hand, my son and I are going to tackle his room. That could take all day.

More Tin Can Art

Remember yesterday when I mentioned I wanted the interior of the San Fran to be eclectic? I seem to be on my way to making that happen. I've been perusing ebay,which can be dangerous, but not nearly as dangerous as Craig's List for me! But that's another story.

Where was I? Oh yes, on ebay I ran across a couple more tin can art miniature pieces. You may recall I found a nifty little tin can art chair last Summer in an antiques store and fell in love with it and brought it home for my San Fran, although it lives in the Joseph Angel shell for now.

Last night on ebay I found a couple more pieces, had to have them, and today I won them! Here they are (at least a picture from the auction). The bed has a bit of rust on it- nothing a little sanding, sealing and paint can't fix. I really love these pieces! I can't wait to get them in my little hands! I really must learn how to make them myself. . . in my spare time. . . because I have so much of it.

Anyway, tomorrow is Saturday and I have some more trim work to do and the other side of the shingles to finish. At least that's the plan. Let's see what really ends up happening.

In the meantime, let's admire my unique tin can art pieces!

A Present. . .and More Shingles

Tonight my daughter and I worked on a trinket box for one of her little friend's birthday.

I got to practice some of my painting skills on the flowers on the lid. We painted the whole box a light pink, then did a little accent work in lavender.

We took the clasp off of the front and replaced it with a ribbon closure instead. I forgot to take a picture of it, but I padded the inside and lined it with pretty, flowery fabric.

We put her name on the front, because what little girl doesn't love something with her name on it? It doesn't close all of the way because of the way I lined it, but I think it looks so pretty with the ribbon that it doesn't matter. We'll deliver it tomorrow. I hope she enjoys it!

After that little project, I went back to shingling. I'm halfway done- I have the whole right side of the house done! I'm going to stain the shingles with a dark stain that has a hint of red in it to bring out the red accents on the house.

Shingling really brings a finished air to the house. We have a ways to go, but it really makes me think about what the house will look like when done. I'm toying with shingling the top of the bay window, but I kind of like it white. I'll decide sooner or later. The bay window needs some of the red accents as well.

On another note, I'm starting to collect a few pieces of furniture for the interior of the San Fran, since I'll need a lot. I really need to name her something more appropriate, don't I? I'll think about that. Casey of Casey's Minis was talking about naming her Glencroft something more steampunk-like, so it made me think that the San Fran needs something more Victorian. I'll get there.

At any rate, I won this piece for the dining room on ebay today. I really like that it has red velvet seats, although that's easily changed, but it's nice that I don't have to change it. I think this will be an excellent focal point for the dining room.

One goal for this house is to make it sort of eclectic. The Victorian house I visited in Wilmington last Fall showed me that the Victorians valued having things that no one else had, hence a more eclectic collection. I'm not looking for a matched set of parlour furniture, for example, because I want complimentary pieces but not "matchy-matchy." This set was just too nice to skip, though. I have my eye on a couple of interesting pieces out there. I'll show you if I get them.

That's it for today! I have a few ideas in the works for the San Fran in the next couple of days, but I'll share when I have something to show. See you later!

Wiring on Hold

After the adventure on Saturday with trying to pound eyelets into MDF (remember that Mole game where you are pounding poor mole heads with a mallet?), I decided to take a break for a couple of days from the wiring.

In the meantime, let's admire the front of the Lady San Fran for a moment, shall we? This helps distract me from the fact that the electric system is sorely lacking on the other side of these walls. Oh, and I actually ordered a really nice piece for her balcony and something special for her trim above the porch, but I'll leave that for a surprise. Have you admired the front of this house adequately? Good. Let's move on then. Sigh.

Now, back to the wiring. I started researching various ways to get those blankety-blank eyelets in to that rock hard MDF, and I found that there is actually a tool designed to help do this. Insert sounds of singing angels here, ethereal strains of the hallelujah Chorus wafting down from the heavens. Well, you get the idea. Anything to help get this job done is welcome.

And here is the magical tool. According to Mott's Minis web site, here is what this baby is capable of:

This tool has been designed specifically for placement of the CK1023 series of eyelets. The awl is first used to make starter holes where eyelets are desired. The eyelet is then slipped over the awl insertion pin and pushed into place. It provides an extremely simple method of making electrical connections in hard to reach dollhouse locations. Made with a rugged wood handle formed to comfortably fit the hand. A hollow compartment in the metal shank provides convenient storage for the four insertion pins. Both shank and punch are nickel plated. Overall length is approximately 4-5/8". Instructions in package.

Yup, and all for $6.95. Well worth it, if it works. I'll have to update you on that. I really like the part about slipping the eyelet over the awl insertion pin and pushing it into place. The tool should arrive pretty quickly. Motts is pretty close, but by the time I manage to make the 15 mile trip over there, an order could probably have been sent to me three times over. I'm just short on time is all. So now I have lights, lighting tools, and trim all on the way.

I'm really looking forward to getting all the "big" stuff done so I can start playing with the "little" stuff in the interior that makes the place something special. I think my bashes on the exterior are really nice touches. Soon it will be time to bring the interior up to the same level!

Welcome Followers!

I have four followers! I'm so excited that you are here. Welcome, welcome, welcome!

First is Doreen who actually alerted me to the fact that there is such a thing as a following gadget and maybe I should turn it on. I'm glad she did. I like to write and work on my various arts and crafts, but I don't pay a lot of attention to the details of the blog itself sometimes. So thanks for showing me that trick! Doreen has a couple of blogs. First, Doreen's Miniature Projects: http://doreensprojects.blogspot.com/ and then Doreen's Miniatures: http://doreensminiatures.blogspot.com/

Next is Kellee who has seven blogs! Goodness, I can barely keep up with the two I have going and she has seven. Wow! Here is one of hers: http://kelleesminiatures.blogspot.com/ Looks like you have quite a few dollhouse projects going, Kellee. I'm guessing you are the same Kellee from the Greenleaf Forum. You meet the nicest people on that forum!

Following today is Sasha, who looks like she just started her blog yesterday. Good start, Sasha! http://sashasminiworld.blogspot.com/ I look forward to what you are going to write in your blog.

And also following today is Tallulah~Belle who also lives in Southern California and is English. Maybe I will have to meet her and have a traditional English tea- it's another one of my favorite things. I have a tea cup and teapot collection. Maybe she can teach me to make clotted cream! Mmmmmmm. Anyway, her blog is here: http://tallulahbelleoriginals.blogspot.com/ She makes some fabulous mini flowers. I am quite sure I have seen her things before because you can't forget a name like Tallulah Belle now can you?

Welcome ladies!

It's Electrifying. . .

Actually, not really. I'm frustrated and the house is only partially electrified.

I spent the afternoon and late this evening running tape wire in my San Franciscan. I've never worked with MDF and tapewire before. Frankly my dear, it's a pain in the you-know-what. Argh! I ran as many solid lines as I could. It's adding the splices where the trouble started.

You have to drill a little hole through the tapewire and mash the eyelets in. It's a million times worse than the little tiny pins you use in plywood. The eyelets don't stick, then they get bent, but mainly they just won't go in. I have a little hammer that works great for miniature projects, but these eyelet even have that hammer pretty much licked.

Once you are lucky enough to get a pair in, they still don't make a connection. It's enough to make a miniaturist crazy! The little voice in the back of my head keeps saying, "Well, weren't you going to try round wire on this house?" Well, I was, but I've never had any real trouble with tapewire before. Before now. Before the horror of MDF. I've liked working with MDF on this project until tonight when the wiring became a headache.

I got the partitions in last night. I decided to keep them even so they would match up with the other side where the addition is. Here you can see what the back looks like. You can see that adding the addition really gives me more room to work.

I believe the bottom floor room of the addition will be the kitchen. Why waste the lovely bay window on the other side to a kitchen? The top room of the addition could be the library. I just haven't made my mind up.

You can see I got a bit more shingling done on the roof over the bay window. I needed a break from pounding the eyelets and my thumb in the process. Projects that don't go as planned like this remind me why I end up taking a beak from the San Fran and start painting or doing something else. I'm going to sleep on this and cross my fingers that the connections are more easily made in the morning. Maybe the rain will help. Yeah, that's it. Rain will definitely help.

See you tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be in a better mood. My thumb hurts tonight. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

As predicted, I have done almost nothing miniatures related today. It's partly because I am freezing. Again, if you are reading this from some really cold climate, forgive me, but it is all relative, right? My friend lived in Hawaii for a few years and she got cold when it was in the low 70s after she was used to it.

So anyway, it appears something went out on our furnace last night. I keep the house set to 67 overnight, and when I got up this morning it was a nippy 60 in the house. The heat won't kick in. I guess a repairman will be in order, but it's along weekend and I hope we can find someone to come soon because Monday night is supposed to be in the 20s!

Thank heavens for our fireplace and space heater (that I had to dig out from the garage.) But it's hard to paint in a sweater, scarf, gloves and a hat! I really hate to be cold. Really! I live in California for a reason- and it's mainly the weather because with the way things are going right now no one may be able to afford to live here much longer. But I digress. Are you surprised?

I just have to share my fabulous birthday present from Randi. She's my teacher and my mentor, and really a wonderful friend. She's also the most amazing artist I've ever met. She left me a message on my birthday to stop by because she had something for me. So off I went with my daughter around lunchtime to see what the surprise was!

Randi painted me these beautiful Hydrangeas to match my poppies. I'm going to frame them and hang them side by side. She told me it took her about 20 minutes to paint them. Can you imagine? Someday if I work really hard I might grow up to be just like Randi. On the other hand, I always find a million different crafts to pull me in all different directions, so it's doubtful I'll ever get really that good at anything! I'm hoping that painting will only make my adventures in miniatures look slightly more realistic.

So it's about 11pm and I'm about to sit down and run a few lines of tape wire in the San Fran. I'm bored with shingling tonight. The little girl in me is coming out and announcing that she wants to do something else, not shingling. Well, OK then. This means I have to decide the placement of the room dividers. Hmmm. . . This could take a while.

In the meantime, Happy Valentine's day and I'll get back to you on those room dividers. . .

Shingle Bell Rock

OK, bad pun. But I did kind of rock at shingling tonight. I remember a while back on the Greenleaf forum we were discussing shingling and how hard it was to get them straight and even. One brilliant member suggesting gluing graph paper on to the roof and shingling over it. It's so simple, how did none of us think of it before? I'd love to give the person who suggested it credit- I simply cannot remember who it was!

So tonight I thought, what the heck, I'll give it a shot. I had to piece together a couple of sheets to get the roof and the dormer covered. My goal was not to have every bit covered, but enough so I could see what I was doing and to make sure it was straight. This was so much easier than trying to draw straight, even lines I can't even tell you!

Here is the first row. See how nice and straight it looks? Maybe I am just clumsy, but I can never seem to get the row straight, and it only gets worse as I move up the roof.

This is how far I got in a little over an hour. Shingling takes time! But I think my little experiment is paying off. The lines are even.

Usually there ends up being one point that is not straight or even and ends up drawing my eye to it every time. While the shingling here is far from perfect, there isn't an area where I look and think, that's terrible! I need to fix that! And you know me, once something like that gets into my head, it's rip it out or there will be no peace until I do.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, so I won't have time to mini. Just kidding! I have a three day weekend and I'm going to use as much of it as I can to get the San Fran looking like I see her in my imagination.

See you when I'm up to my mischief again!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Yes, today is my birthday. It was business as usual at first- I trained a couple of classes. But my coworkers planned this fabulous lunch and I swear I am still stuffed from lunch and cake, and it's almost 10pm! I got a great muffin and scone baking book from my boss (mmmm) with lots of pictures, and this beautiful wrap from a friend. I love shawls and wraps and this one is really gorgeous. Every once in a while someone finds something that really strikes a note in me, and this wrap was one of those moments. You know, the kind where everyone who sees it says, "That is so you!" I'll post a picture of it in another entry.

Look at what was on my white board in my office! My amazing friend, Aurora drew this caricature of me. I think it really looks like me. I like it so much I'm thinking of using it as a sort of logo. Why not? Rose Levy Beranbaum uses a caricature of herself in all her stuff, right? I know Aurora won't mind a bit. She's a great artist and a wonderful friend.

So no work on the San Fran tonight. I was contemplating more shingling, but I think I'll take it easy. We are expecting some pretty big rain storms this weekend so that means a good mini weekend. Plus it's a three day weekend!!! My goal is to get the tape wire run this weekend. Wish me luck!

Changed My Mind

Are you surprised? Sorry about the glare from the tower window. First, you'll notice I added some navy blue (I know it looks rather green in the pictures, but it's blue) to the addition windows and a bit of trim. I think it ties it all together much better.

So now I ask, what's missing from these pictures? Well, one of the things that really drew me to this house was the curvy porch trim. But to be honest, it's a flimsy piece of, well, use your own word here. I've messed with it so many times over the past year. I've broken it, put it back together, shortened it, moved it, and I never am happy with it. So tonight it went bye bye.

I also decided I hated the upper balcony railing too so it went the way of the curvy porch trim. I'll find something just right to replace it, and I'll add some trim to the porch that I like much better. It's all about making it how you want it and not doing it just because the kit is like that and the directions say so. Speaking of that, I lost the directions for the San Fran somewhere along the line. You know what? Hasn't bothered me a bit. Once the shell is together who needs 'em?

Don't be concerned that there are paint splotches on the house. I made some boo-boos tonight but I'll be doing touch up soon, once I'm sure I'm done painting trim. I also started shingling a bit on the right side above the bay. I got bored and it's getting late and shingling is much better done when one is awake.

I think next I will install the railing around the terrace. There is also the matter of the stained glass I want to install in the door leading out to the terrace. Hmm, so many ideas and projects, so little time. . .

Back at It

I was in the mood to work on the Lady San Fran when I got home from work tonight, so I sat down and did what I could in the short time I had. I installed the windows in the addition, added some corbels around the windows and did a bit more trim.

You can see the windows installed in the addition. If you look closely you can see that I added some spackle to the joint between the addition and the original San Fran, and then I sanded it, rather poorly, I might add. So that will need some cleaning up and there are a lot of areas that need paint touch ups. It's all in a day's- ahem- year's work I suppose.

Here's another shot of it. I can't help thinking that the addition looks a bit plain when compared to the other side of the San Fran. I'm thinking some fancy trim around the roof line may be in order. It needs something to tie it all together. If you have ideas, feel free to share your thoughts!

I almost started to do some shingling tonight, but experience has taught me that shingling too early in a project can be dangerous. Shingles can get broken as you move a house around for electrical and wallpapering. On the other hand, this house is so heavy I can barely move it at all, so I don't imagine I will be turning it on its head to try and run tape wire.

I'm starting to get excited about finishing this house. I want to get a table that turns so that she can be proudly displayed in my living room when she is complete. I'm thinking I will put her on a timer so that she will be shining and beautiful when I come home in the evenings.

I ordered a few things from HBS tonight. I got some light bulbs so I can make chandeliers and other lighting from scratch. I've worked so hard on the exterior of this house and made so many bashes to make it my own, I want the interior to be something really special. This means making many of the pieces myself and looking for one of a kind pieces. Gee, another treasure hunt? I can't imagine.

Up next for the Lady San Fran? Electrical, more trim, shingling, the foundation and the interior. There's a lot to be done, but I'm back at it. See you soon!

The Fruits (and Veggies) of My Labor

I think I mentioned in my last post that I picked up the fruits and veggies bowl I made in my last class. And here it is! It's a good sized bowl- excellent for a large salad bowl or pasta bowl. Plus this particular piece is really heavy!

The neat thing about serving pieces I make in ceramics class is that they are oven safe up to 400 degrees (I think) and are dishwasher safe. I don't put anything in my dishwasher that I value because my dishwasher is lousy (long story) and I'd hate for anything I work on so hard to get chipped.

This piece has lots of good examples of shading, which wasn't that easy to do in the "olden days" of ceramics. But with new paints we have a lot more control. I used Stroke and Coat on this project. Most of the time you'll use Cover Coat if you go to a local ceramics store. You can see some good shading in the pumpkin and the apple.

We just got home from watching Inkheart at the theater. I enjoyed it, but I don't think you can really ever go too wrong with Brendan Fraser. Medium is about to come on, so see you later!

My First "Real" Painting

My daughter and I completed our first "real" paintings today. I say "real" because I've never painted anything in acrylic before with instruction. I've messed around a bit, but the result of this class counts as something I will be happy to frame and hang in my home. Normally when I come home from Randi's I'm very happy with my project, but today's effort and result counts as something really special. Plus I don't usually get to take it home the same day!

I must say it was an exhausting day. I know, how is painting exhausting? But it is! This is a real, acquired skill I haven't really tried before. I had to think, think, think, concentrate, and then try to follow the instructions into something that looked even a tiny bit as pretty as Randi's sample. Light is coming from this way. . . The shading is too dark, too light, going the wrong way. This is hard work! I can only hope I will get better in time!

We started the day tracing a poppy pattern on to this delectable gold paper (it's truly beautiful paper). That took a while. But then the fun began!

Here you can see Randi helping me get the shading right on the edges of a red oriental poppy. She's like watching the guy on PBS. Here, just do this and voila! See, now it's perfect. Well, yes, but what did you do again? I don't mind- she makes it fabulous looking. I asked her today if I could just come and watch her paint sometime. Maybe some of her gift will rub off on me!

My daughter painted a small version of the picture, just the one, large flower. You may have noticed in the past that I have avoided uploading pictures of my kids (for the most part) and me (at all costs) in the past, but I figure, what the heck. I've been working on this blog for quite a few months and I've only talked with really nic people who read my stuff, so what the heck. I can go back to the old way if I feel uncomfortable, right? Plus, I rather like other blogs where people post pictures of themselves. It's nice to see whose words you are reading.

Anyway, here is my darling daughter working on her poppy. I am always impressed by how hard she works at her art. She's got quite a jump on me already, practice wise and talent wise!

Here I am working on my piece. It's funny- in the pictures it really resembles the needlework I love so much, but it is indeed paint. My daughter says these acrylics look so much like oils. I have to agree. My only experience with acrylics has been Delta Ceramcoat, which apparently is not for this kind of work at all, according to Randi. I think her words about comparing the two when I asked was something about kindergarten finger paints versus college level work. Well, gee, sorry. :) I guess I feel that way about DMC floss versus other floss when it comes to needlework, but if you don't know, well, you don't know, right?

So here it is, the final product. As always, click on the picture if you'd like to see a larger version. It will need to be framed, but it makes me smile just to look at it. I had a lot of direction and a lot of help, because if I just sat down on my own it would look nothing like this. But at least it's a start and in time I just might be able to pull off something like this without that much guidance.

Next month we are doing giraffes on illustration board. I can't remember if it was acrylics or water colors, but whatever, I'm sure it will be an adventure! We also have koi fish on black paper and both a tropical island scene and a landscape on canvas coming up.

I'm taking a break from ceramics for a while for a couple of reasons. First, I have more than five bisque pieces sitting around that need to be painted and fired. Second, I'm running out of room to store these things (although as the decluttering continues, that will get better.) And finally, I can only concentrate on so many things at once, so I'm making sure that painting gets my full (or mostly full) attention.

I did pick up my piece from last class- a serving bowl with fruits and veggies all around the rim. I'll post that in my next entry. See you then!

Really Cool Tool

It rhymes, it rhymes! Cool tool! Oh, it's a joy to amuse myself. It never hurts to make yourself smile!

On a side note, I have to mention that it has been raining for two solid days and I can almost pretend I live somewhere where there are actual seasons instead of the paradise (weather wise at least) that is Southern California. Here's a beautiful rainbow shot I caught when the sun peaked out for a few minutes. My new camera is really great! I love having it with me when I see something like this. The rainbow is behind the new parking structure they are building at our train station in town, in case you were wondering.

It's 47 out tonight, which I suppose is shorts weather for some of you, but for us it's snuggle down time on a cold and rainy night! Even my beloved fur baby Ninja is hanging out upstairs with me where it's warm and carpeted, rather than laying on the tile which is his custom on warm nights.


So, back to the cool tool. It's the Black and Decker cordless power scissors. These are great for crafting and, if nothing else, they will make short work of the worst invention in packaging in the history of man (in my opinion, of course), the plastic clam shell.

I have all kinds of ideas on how to make these work for me when I'm making miniatures. But I must tell you the absolute best part! I got them on clearance at Marshall's for $3.00! How could anyone pass up such a deal? I'll keep you updated on how they work out, but they did a great job getting those energy efficient light bulbs (the twisty kind) out of their nasty clam shell packages earlier. (I needed them to light my messy studio while I decluttered, if you remember my earlier mission.)

I am always checking out my local discounters like Ross, Marshall's, Didi's, Dollar Tree, Tuesday Morning, etc. because you never know what little treasures you might come across. Sometimes the treasure hunt is the best part!

Still Here. . .and a Word about Resolutions

Yes, I'm still here. How does time just get away from me like this? I can't believe it's been weeks since I wrote here. Sorry! It's all because I've been trying to keep to my resolution of getting more organized. Doesn't sound like that makes any sense, does it? Well, it does to me.

You see, I have this great sense of circular logic which has been going on for years. My house is a mess, so I can't work on miniatures until I clean it up, but I'm too tired to clean it up because I work all the time, so I'll rest tonight and hit it hard tomorrow. Tomorrow comes. . . I deserve a break because I work so hard all the time. . . I'll get to it later tonight. . . But then one of my favorite shows is on! (24, Fringe, Hell's Kitchen, Big Love, Lost, The Office, Medium, Ghost Hunters, take your pick.) So my resolution this year was to get more organized and feel better about my house, which in turn makes for better mornings and nights (no kids searching for lost socks, homework, that clean shirt, etc.) and then I will have time to mini.

January was a bust on that front. We went on ski weekend in Arrowhead on the weekend of January 23. That's another story. No skiing (or snowboarding in my case) because we had nothing but rain and fog and no snow. So of course I spent the first two weeks in January preparing for the trip and the last one recovering! At least that's what I told myself I was doing since nothing was getting done on the home front.

OK, so February rolls around and I'm still a disorganized mess. So I started decluttering. And more decluttering. And still more. I won't get into the particulars, but I've been a member of http://www.flylady.net/ since hmmm. . .2001 or so. I totally believe in the system but like anything else, you still have to actually follow it for it to work. If you struggle with disorganization in your home like I have, I highly recommend her site. And best of all it's free. Truly a blessed group of people on that site!

Anyway, that's why there are no mini updates, because I haven't done a single thing to my beautiful San Fran or any other project for that matter. But I can say with pride that I am writing this in my studio that actually has a floor again (who knew?) and a clean work table so that this week I can actually paint, sand or glue, as the task may require. The messy state of my room is not totally my fault. My darling daughter has that artistic streak and she never puts anything away, so most of the pile of junk on the desk was actually put there by her. We had a little chat as I put everything away and threw out 3 trash bags full of. . . well, trash!

I've got a handle on the whole downstairs- I can actually see the entire contents of my pantry and there isn't a single can, bag, or box of anything expired. The living room is clean and I actually played the piano today for the first time since Christmas, and I put a beautiful Valentine red cloth on the dining room table. Upstairs I've tackled my bedroom and this coming week the kids and I will attack each of their rooms armed with two bags (trash and charity) and put everything away.

The other thing that holds me back here is that I want each entry to be really good with cool pictures and lots of interesting copy. Well, I read lots of other blogs where there ar very short entries and those are just as good some others, so maybe I should just write and stop worrying about it!

Tomorrow is painting class at Randi's. This time we are taking a break from ceramics and are actually using acrylics on beautiful gold paper. I'll tell you all about it - I'm really excited to expand my painting skill. More soon, really I will write!