Getting there...

I've put 50 or 60 small items in bags and on my bulletin boards. Just 'housecleaning'.

My most pressing thing is to get the paintings that I made in a class that Tina taught to lay flat so I can put them in my art gallery. (Can't believe that I can't find the pictures of the actual class.)

I absolutely love these paintings BUT they will not lay flat!

In an effort to straighten the, I've turned them upside down and then applied a coat of white paint to the back of them.

Initially, that did not seem to help at all. But after several hours, the curve on the larger paintings had decreased from 1/2" to 1/4" which is a start. So I've now put them under three of my heaviest books and hope that will do the trick.

I've also put a call into Tina for help.

Came across another workshop I taught with unfinished pieces. The knife handle hadn't been painted and the ends of the cans hadn't been painted silver. You can find the instructions for the knives here. And cans for the pantry are here.

I, like so many others my age, suffer from dry eyes and use Systane to allieve that. BRIGHT SIDE: the top of some Systane bottles can be turned into mini funnels!

You can pull the top from the Systane bottle and use a sprue cutter to trim it into a funnel.

Sprue cutter which trims right up to an edge.

I'm on my way:

Still a lot to do but think I should be finished cleaning hopefully by Monday.
 

Just a little break from cleaning...

Let's face it, when you're cleaning/organizing, you will come across a kit that you just have to make...and it usually take much more time than you expect.

When I taught the club project of the spice bottles , Tina M. taught several variations of spice racks/book shelves/plate racks, etc.

This is one.

This is 3" wide by 2" tall.

The pieces set out.

I've coloured them on both sides with black marker. Surprisingly, they look almost a copper colour rather than black.

I followed Tina's instructions for gluing the slots and tabs together. I used Lego blocks to level the shelves. 
If you use the Lego in the top figuration, there is a chance that the glue may stick to the Lego and may give you a problem. BUT if you use the Lego in the bottom configuration, that won't happen.

Once the glue has dried on the shelves, you can glue the uprights in place.
 

This is such a beautiful piece.

You can find Tina on Etsy as MiniMinutia.

Step one in the clean; progress so far

About a  month ago, my friend, Cheryl H., stopped by for a short visit before she returned home to Nova  Scotia. She brought me a great bag of "goodies" as we both share a love of picking up "things"  that we can use in mini.

The top molding is 12" wide. The four corner moldings are 4" along the right angles.

Sixty polishing strips (coarse, medium, fine and superfine)

. They are on a light plastic so will work well sanding around hard to reach places.

Soccer cleats and two soccer balls.

These really had me puzzled! They're orthodontic elastics. Cheryl suggested using them as napkin rings and I'm sure there are other ways to use them. Like the variety of colours.

Cheryl couldn't resist picking up some ping pong balls for me. They make great lamp shades.
I have two posts on how to do this: here and here. Great fun and all sorts of possibilities.

These are interesting little plastic pieces that I will make into tall vases. They're 1 3/8" tall. The bottom is small and curved so I will have to slice a bit off the bottom to level it then add a wider, solid base.
Maybe coat with gesso, paint, then add some decals. Lots of choices!

These seven little containers are 2 1/4" x 1 3/8". The inner depth is 3/16". Just lovely little storage pieces.

I hope that you are blessed as am I with friends like Cheryl and sisters like mine who bring you wonderful goodies that you can use in your hobby.

In addition to sorting through the items from Cheryl, I have also managed to put away a variety of supplies and cleaned off the card table and put it away.

Slow but steady.

Lot left but a good start.

Recent acquisitions

 My DS, Shirley, picked these up for me at a garage sale on her crescent, Saturday before last.

This lovely cabinet is 16 1/4" tall including the base and top. Without the base and top it's

 15" tall, 11 3/4" wide and 6 1/4" deep with two shelves in the middle. 

This shelving unit is 22 1/2" high x 11 3/4" wide x 6

 1/4" deep. The shelves are 4" apart.

Don't know where they'll go yet.

This past Saturday, June 22, was our first annual in-person club garage sale since the pandemic. The morning was the garage sale with several club members cleaning out their stashes. The afternoon was a series of "Make and Take" projects.

It was really nice to see old friends in person and meet several new members.

I had no intention of buying anything (famous last words) but, of course, ended up getting a few things.

Liliane was selling these two display pieces that I just had to have for my modern art gallery.

 

Got this great 9 1/2" cube of glass and chrome from Barb S.. Expect it will become my new modern art gallery rather than the room I had originally planned.

This was a freebie from Marg W. and originally by former club member Joyce Buchanan

. The ball is 8" in diameter. I will use it for the setting for my miniature door prize at our condo's Potluck Christmas dinner.

Got the next two items from a new member whose name unfortunately eludes me at the moment.

These leather scraps are paper thin. I can see possibly some books bound in it or gloves or....
Lots of possibilities!

I am probably most excited about obtaining these three 12" x 3" sheets of tooling copper. The Royal Hotel, 10010 - 178 Street, Edmonton has a wonderful piece of art in the lobby that I have been hoping to recreate in miniature for years. I've picked up several things over the years that I hoped would work (none did, much to my sorrow) but I have high hopes for this. You can see a picture of it here.

Picked up this french door from Pat M. Think I'll use it to replace the current solid door between the bedroom and walk-in closet that I'm working on.

Love this little plexi and mirror piece from Marg W. Think it is actually a sales counter in 1:24 scale but I plan on using it as an end table in 1:12 scale.

Got four sheets of scrapbooking paper from the FREE table. There are two sheets of pink with tiny white polka dots, one sheet with muted pink diamonds and the one sheet of black, gray and white stripes. I do love black and white!

I do really hope that these things will give me a much needed kick-in-the-pants and get me working on minis again.

But before I do anything, I have to clean my workroom which has become very much a dumping ground for everything I've been too lazy to put away. Wish me luck!

Spice Jars

 

This is a tutorial I taught to my miniature club Miniature Enthusiasts of Edmonton. You are more than welcome to use it for your club or group of friends. Nice if you would acknowledge me but not necessary. If you need more information or help, email me at stalbertmini@gmail.com

SPICE JARS

Supplies:

The Kit

10 12.5 mm x 5mm beads (These are Creatology beads from Michael’s. They come in 5 primary colours and also 5 pastel colours.)

10 silver/gold Recollection brads from Michael’s

A label with 14 printed names of spices. These are printed on Avery 5163 labels.

Scissors and/or X-Acto knife and ruler

Glue

Toothpick

Needle nose pliers

Instructions:

This is pretty rudimentary – You cut out the label, attach it to the bead  – pop the brad in top! And Voila, you’re finished.

You can cut out the labels freehand with scissors or use an X-Acto knife and straight edge.

Peel the back off and stick the label to the bead.

 Optional (A bit more structured)_

I did cut the labels freehand with scissors but I wasn’t as confident putting them on the beads. So I found a scrap of 3/16 inch thick wood in my stash and made a bit of a jig to glue the labels on relatively straight.

 Under that strip of wood, I attached a piece of tape face-up and attached the beads to that separating them by at least the width of a bead. This gave me a bit of room to attach the labels around the beads.

 

With the beads in place, add a strip of tape face-down on top of your piece of wood in line with where you want the top of your labels.

Carefully cut your labels out, peel the backs off and position them in place below the upper row of tape. (I just use my thumb nail to separate the label from the backing but you could also use your X-Acto blade to do that.)

Remove the beads from the jig and make sure that the labels are firmly attached.

 

To ensure that the brads fit flat in the beads, take your needle nose pliers, hold them against the bottom of the brad and squeeze tightly.

 

 

Use the toothpick to drop glue in the hole and top of the bead

Pop the brad in the top of the bead.

Continue gluing the brads in place and you’re finished!