What fun!!!

 I answered my door the other night, and as I did, a voice said "Don't open it so fast. I'm not finished looking!"

I'm used to this as I have a wonderful Joyce Buchanan miniature party hanging on my door and people really enjoy exploring it.

It was my next door neighbour and her niece who had rented the guest suite for a few days. I invited the niece to come over while they were here and take a look at my miniatures.

The niece and two of her young children stopped by tonight to enjoy my work. What a pleasure to show them what I've done. 

She was a wonderful woman who, although she is not a miniaturist, has an artist's soul and appreciated the work. The children recognized some of the more unusual items in each display and were some of the best ever behaved in my experience. (Except my own grandchildren, of course.) 

Love that the daughter said that next time they came, she wanted to see my works-in-progress finished.

It was a lovely evening.

A work of art

As a rule, I don't buy other peoples' miniatures. Having said that, I do have three pieces in my collection of about 50 in my home that were made by other miniaturists. Two (made by Joyce Buchanan and Jan Mann) are hangings that I alternate on my door throughout the year and another is a Jan Mann piece that hangs on the wall of my dining room. Both miniaturists were very early members of the Miniature Enthusiasts of Edmonton.

Well, yesterday, I added another miniaturists' work to my collection. This is a Christmas miniature done by Karen Jones who was a former member and executive of M.E.E. 

From the back

From the front

The lycopodium tree with candles and ornaments.

The fireplace with garland, cards and centrepiece...and the needlepoint wallhanging.

The chair, gift bag, and the bag of wrapping paper.

The wrapping paper, ribbons and the wonderful little black dog with the ribbon around his neck and in his mouth.

Thank you, Karen, for your expertise and skill as a miniaturist. I'm proud to have this example of your work in my collection.

Christmas ornament 3

I've decided to move the tree to the centre back with the table and chairs on the right and a settee on the left.

Still having trouble wrapping my head around 1:24 scale so I originally thought I might be able to bash this somehow into 1:24. First I tried shortening the legs to the crossbar on the sides but all that did was chip off the black paint and loosen all the other joints. Simply would not work. 

So back to my stash with no luck. Then I remembered some fans that I have on one of my bulletin boards. Now I'm thinking I can use the two thicker outer pieces (1 and 5 from the left below) for the sides; three of the inner pieces (2, 3, and 4 below) for the back and the scrap of wood on the right for a seat. It's sort of coming together in my head so now it's just a matter of making it happen.

These are the smaller gifts that I purchased from Louise Z. Aren't they gorgeous! Won't use  them all but they'll make a lovely display under the tree.

How it looks so far...

If I can get the settee to work, I think I'm on the right track.

 

Christmas ornament 2

Got a bit more done...

Just realized that I didn't take pictures of the table when I finished it but it's below in the picture of the ornament so far.

Love these chairs!

Still not pleased with the height of the tree so took a napkin ring from my stash and lined it with red foil.

So I'm pleased with it now.

Pleased with the tree. Like the table and chairs but need a lot more 

 things in this. Trying out the gingerbread house but not too sure about it.

Need a bunch of gifts under the tree. You might recognize them from the dollar store where they come in packages of 12 for a dollar or so. They are okay as fillers but you need some better pieces in front of them. I may take them apart, glue down the foil and tidy up those oversized bows.
My fellow miniaturist, Louise Z., makes the most incredibly beautiful gift packages and some will work in 1:24 scale.

Unfortunately, my camera battery just died so I can't show you any of them just yet.

This project is a struggle because I've never worked in 1:24 so don't have anything in my stash in that scale.

I would like to move the Christmas tree to the middle back of the scene and  I have a piece that might work on the left hand side. Will maybe give it a try tomorrow.

Haven't decided whether or not to decorate the tree. It's so pretty as is but....

Will give it more thought tomorrow when I can try things with the camera.