Miniaturist Tom Brown and our M.E.E. workshop on Saturday

My timeline here is probably all messed up but I think I first heard of Tom when my friend, Tina MacDonald, went to Calgary and learned to glass blow miniature wine glasses from him. It was then I learned about his youtube channel , his 1:6 scale working kitchen, and his incredible food demonstrations.

You can learn even more about him here.

In any event, Tom was one of the contestants (along with Tina and Susan - both M.E.E. members) in the first series of Best in Miniature which is available on CBC Gem. (Sorry, but it's only available to Canadians.) 

For my Canadian followers, Best in Miniature Series 2 is now available on CBC on Sundays. The first two episodes have already been shown but I believe they are available on CBC Gem (free).

Anyway...yesterday he came up from Calgary and taught two classes of M.E.E. members how to blow miniature wine glasses. I did not take the class myself (just hosted it in my building and provided lunch) but I was in and out constantly during the day, saw parts of the class and can attest to the enthusiasm of the attendees.

If you've watched the videos linked in my introduction, these will be familiar.

The Swiss Army knives are absolutely unbelievable! The third knife from the right is incredible in itself BUT there is a smaller copy of it resting on the blade AND both knives have a working locking mechanism. 

This is Tom's 1:24 rendition of his kitchen~

I didn't take any pictures of the class itself but his students were very enthusiastic and pleased with his instruction. Some were even to make their wine glasses in the short time frame of the class.

I didn't :-(  get a picture of the working lava lamp that he has made but it's absolutely incredible. 

The most wonderful and skilled young man!

Modern Art Gallery

Last summer, at one of our club garage sales, I bought a roombox for $10. Picked it up and it was flat-packed in four pieces.

When I got it home and put it together, it looked like this. Floor space 18 1/4" x 12". Looking better all the time.

There are no sides, top or front but I can work with that.

My original idea was to make the side walls from two laminated sheets of matboard but....

when I cleaned my workroom, I found this piece of masonite (?) that my dear late husband Vern had brought home one day asking if I could use it somewhere. Bless him, he always tried to help me in my creations.

With a bit of trimming, it will work perfectly as the side walls.

Last week, as I was drifting off to sleep, I thought that the tiles that I had bought from Dollarama for another project would be the perfect outside wall for the gallery. 

As always, the brass and silver version was no longer available but the lower black, grey and silver was available so I bought five of them.

So my next move will be to cut the masonite to fit the sides then cover them on the outside with the tiles.. And paint the inside walls eggshell white.

It's coming together.

 

Major frustration re the blog - think I've identified and fixed the problem!

 As you know, I haven't been posting on the blog for  a year or so. And since posting is my main impetus to get things done, I haven't been making much of anything in that time.

I knew something was wrong but couldn't figure out what it was. After checking all my settings for the umpteenth time, FINALLY identified and fixed the problem. Somewhere along the line, I must have clicked on the first choice on the left of my settings and accidently switched from Compose View to HTML view.Now have it set on Compose View and think all is now well.

Wish me luck please.

Potluck dinner vignette

Last fall, we finally were able to hold our condo potluck dinners again. And I made another vignette as a door prize at our Christmas dinner. I didn't take step-by-step pictures of the process but you can see how I did an earlier one here. BIG OOPS! Thought I was finished then I realized that I had glued the painting in upside down. Fortunately that was quickly remedied!

Workroom cleanup FINISHED (December 29, 2022)

Now to the hard part...sorting, bagging and putting all my accessories on their appropriate bulletin boards. Very satisfying in the end though when all 24 bulletin boards are back in the closet.

Workroom Cleanup AFTER (December 27, 2022)

What a difference! Not quite finished. I have three KIS shoeboxes of accessories that have to be sorted, bagged, and hung on my bulletin boards.

Workroom cleanup BEFORE (December 24, 2022)

In the past, it was my habit to clean my workroom between Christmas and New Years so I would have a clean spot to work in the New Year. Well, I realized that it's been probably three years since I did that and my workroom was simply unworkable. With all our online garage sales during COVID and a couple in-person ones this past summer, I just kept buying and buying and not bothering to put anything away properly.

Christmas scene for DS Shirley

My sister, Shirley gave me this wonderful Christmas gift box years ago. Then when I bought the Santa and elf from our club Estate sale during the summer, I knew just what to do with them. I cut the box at the two corners and glued in a green carpet on the bottom and dropped side. Glued in the tired Santa in his chair, the table and elf. Still needed a little something so I framed a picture of the sleigh soaring through the air and it was finished. She loved it!