One happy lady, Good buy at Dollarama

Shirley and I went over to Mission Hill Village this morning and presented Maribel with this roombox. It was coffee time so several of the residents were there and were quite impressed. Maribel was thrilled with it!

Was at Dollarama the other day and found this great craft knife for only $2.00. Love the handle - and the fact that it comes with a cover AND it has 5 extra blades!!

A great two days!

Yesterday, Joanne and I were discussing some miniatures she was working on and she mentioned that she had tried to stencil a design on some pieces. That hadn't worked so I suggested that I probably had some decals in my stash of nail art that would work .

So I dug them all out, she came over and we found the perfect pieces.

While she was here, we took a look at some of the things I had been pondering with a view to finishing.

One was this box that I wanted to do as a door prize for our building's potluck Christmas dinner.

I remembered this great little settee that I picked up awhile back. It's a beautiful piece and perfect for this room as I don't have any matching pieces.

Then I added this little agate table that I had originally made for Mirabel's roombox.

Then we needed something to go on the left wall. Tried this little unfinished Dollarama table. But wasn't thrilled with it.

Tried this carving in the corner. NO.

Vase didn't work either.

Birdcage was dainty enough but too big.

NO!

The trunk wasn't bad but a big chunky compared to the settee.

Too big and too black!

Finally decided on this unfinished Dollarama table. Now we had to find something to put on it.

Too big!

Lovely Christmas cactus but, again, too big.

Love this one but it just blends in with the wallpaper.

Again, too big, and a bit pale.

Too small and too bright.

No. A bit overpowering and, anyway, I think I know where I will be using it.

Think I'll use the magazine rack from DS Carol here.

Finally decided on books on the side table and a readable book on  the agate table.

Used a Dollarama stain pen to stain the side table.

Then added this gold filigree runner to the table top.

Found this in my stash (a gift from Joanne years ago).

Cut it in half and bent each piece at right angles to make bookends.

Clamped a stack of faux books together and coated the bottoms with Movable Glue.

Then I glued a leaf bookmark to each side of the books.

 and placed them on the table.

Added a readable book to the agate table and added the corgi.

And a dish of licorice allsorts to the side table. Just need a pair of glasses beside the book.

And it's finished (except for the glasses that I still have to find)!

We also came up with some great ideas for another project so hope to get that one done soon.

Really should have tagged all my posts!

I realized quite some time ago that I really should have tagged all the posts so I wouldn't have to hunt through almost ten years of posts to show you previous posts about various projects.

I wanted to show my friend, Joan, my sister Carol's Quilt Shop.

So, knowing that I hadn't done that, I Googled "stalbertmini quilt shop"   I loved seeing the shop coming together.

But I still need to tag everything...and go back and catch everything up.

Sir Rod Stewart is a miniaturist!

Who knew!?!

I am so impressed. Joanne R. sent me this link. You will be amazed!

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50403561

November 5th MEE meeting

We were exceptionally fortunate to have two guest speakers at our November 5 meeting.

Eugene (Rollie) Boisselle is a retired denturist who showed us some of his incredible work making miniatures in silver and gold with the lost wax process.

One of the nativity scenes he made for his late wife and the other significant other women in his life. Each scene has 27 figures and Mary and the baby Jesus are done in gold and the others are made in silver.

These pieces are done in gold.

Cutlery and covered serving dish.

The Chrysnbon dresser set done in gold.

Pots and pans.

The Chrysnbon sewing machine done in silver and gold.

The only actual pieces that he brought eres the sewing machine and one Nativity scene as all the others have been gifted to family members but he did supply us with the pictures beforehand and he did bring two photo albums of the pieces.

All those are in 1" scale.

Our second guest works in an entirely different scale! Thomas Jacob was born in India and although he trained as an engineer, from an early age he made incredibly small carvings from chalk.
You can read more about him here.

Using only an Excel blade and no magnification, he carves these incredible pieces from pencil leads, chalk and crayons.

the ballet dancer

Marilyn Monroe's famous scene

Thomas brought us several examples of his work but they were under glass and it's hard to take good pictures. So if you want to get the full OMG impression, please go to his website and see for yourself.

Our evening got even better! (If you can believe it!).

Tina showed us the quarter scale Suffragette's bedroom that she will be teaching both here on March 7 and 8 AND at the http://miniaturegathering.ca/Ontario Gathering  on April 24, 25, and 26, 2020.

The two dolls in the scene are not included in the scene but one will be a gift at the Gathering. They are made by our own Marg Wolfe and are absolutely incredible!

 Our next club workshop on November 19. Cheryl S. will be leading members through making a choice of these nightgowns:

and the housecoat.

A wonderful gift

My DS Carol and her husband Fred came out last Sunday on their way to Arizona and Carol gifted me with some wonderful minis that she had picked up before they came out.

What a wonderful treat!

Was away...

Sorry I haven't been in touch but I went to Ontario to spend a few days with my grandchildren while Sean and Julie went to Mexico for a quick getaway.

Had a wonderful visit with Holly and Jonah. They are the most wonderful children!

One thing I did do while I was there was a jigsaw puzzle! I haven't done one for years - probably 30 or 35. Spotted this one on a counter as I was going upstairs and thought - "I can do that".

What fun!

It was a 20" x 27" 1,000 piece puzzle and I finally put the last piece in just before Jonah came home from walking Lola on Monday afternoon.

Some neat new things...

Many, many thanks to DD Leanne who took me running errands yesterday and today. One stop was at Dollarama where I got four more of the masonry tiles that I bought last week...and found these two inch metallic tiles that I hope will give me more inspiration for the sculpted hanging I plan on making with the tiles I bought last week.

On Friday, we picked up the fixings for a meal to take to DS Shirley's tonight. Leanne hung a new light fixture for Shirley then we had a lovely dinner with Shirley and family friend, Marilyn.

Shirley gave me two of these lights she had picked up for me. They are attached to a cork which contains the battery and switch.

What a thoughtful gift!