cleaning scissors

I know I've mentioned before that you can sometimes clean the blades of your scissors of  the gunk from adhesives that stick to them when you cut tape and other things by using a cotton ball soaked with nail polish remover or isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol.

Something else that works well (sometimes better) is olive oil - soak a cotton ball in olive oil and run it along the blade edge. It will do a great job of cleaning off any adhesives. Rinse and dry well and your cutting blade will in much better shape.

Mini Report

I am super annoyed at myself. Following Team Canada in the Junior Men's Championship in Russia was time-consuming...but not so much so that I shouldn't have been able to keep up here. Just was on another wave-length. For example, I cleaned out not only my kitchen utensil drawer but also my "junk drawer". 

Now, we moved into this condo 10 years ago and I don't think I had cleared out either drawer in that time - so that's a good thing...but just an avoidance move.

Last Tuesday at our club workshop, Carol K. shared with us some of her incredible needlework!

The purse kits:

A couple rugs:

The warrior:

Carol took the attic idea and turned it into this wonderful three story Tudor building:

This is Wendy's attic:

Shoot, I left this so late that I can't remember whose pieces these were:

Sandra has done some lovely work here:

 Joanne used her leftover Crayola Magic clay to do the outside of her attic - very nice effect!

Tina demonstrated the use of Wood Filler as a possible finish for the outside wall of the attic:

You can apply a thin layer of the wood filler and add swirls with your finger.

The main idea of the electrical in the original prototype of the attic is that you can hide the battery for the LED lighting in the chimney. Here Lois's husband  put the on/off switch near the battery attachment which fits down into the chimney.

Erika put this great fireplace against the left hand wall of her attic.

I just love seeing how we all start with one basic kit and end up with so many different ideas!

Six of us ordered items from Grandpa's Dollhouse through Liz's January sale. The 2 cubic foot box arrived last week (inciting another huge argument with Canada Post - yet another story) and great excitement!

Here are the packages!

 Delores came to pick her order up and I managed to get a couple pictures:

Oh my goodness, this artist's table is incredible! Wish I had ordered it!

She also ordered several grab bags - these are the contents of just two of them! Such an incredible deal!!!!

SO DARNED PROUD

of Matt Dunstone (grand-nephew), Colton Lott, Daniel Grant, and Brendan MacCuish (Team Canada) who just won the bronze medal in the World Junior Men's Curling Championships  2013 in Sochi, Russia.

It's been a VERY long week and I've learned a lot about curling over that time. These four guys did SO well and I'm so proud of all of them.

Can you even imagine being 17 years old and reaching that pinnacle - and half way around the world!!

Back to miniatures tomorrow..........

Did get a few things done on the attic....

Wednesday night, I started shingling the roof of the attic. I started with a 3/8" straight strip of sandpaper then started adding another strip of the hexagonal strip of sandpaper. I clamped those strips in place by covering them with my upside down steel ruler and two bar clamps. 

Here I have three rows of asphalt shingles in place...

And here's the up close picture....

I'm still puzzling about shingling the gable - and making sure the shingles are even throughout the roof...

Think I've figured out how to do it but we'll see how that comes together...

I did get the insulation in place on the right side of the inside attic. (Lost the pictures of that process but it included taking a paper template of the wall and working from that.) 

Once the ìnsulation was in place, I cut a paper template of the wall and transferred it to the plastic from a sheet protector. When the plastic had been cut to shape, I spread glue along the floor plate and wall studs, glued the plastic in place and stacked books in place to hold the plastic in place while it dried against the floor and wall studs.

Wonderful gift!

Jean, an upstairs neighbour, called the other night. I think I mentioned her earlier as my neighbour who makes the most incredible pysanky. So although we don't do the same crafts, we are both admirers of each other's work. One of her cousins was going to throw out a bunch of "little things" and Jean said, "Don't do that - I know someone who might be able to use them."

So she rescued them and passed them on to me! Lots of mini possibilities here!

I can certainly see some of the alphabet letters from the bottom bracelet individually in a teenager's room. My Dad made wood initials for the grandchildren so that works for me. (This particular bracelet is from Smithers, BC. What are the chances?? When my mother's family  immigrated to Canada, they homesteaded at Rose Lake, near Smithers, and my mother as born in Telkwa, BC. (and Sean taught in that area before he switched to IT)

One of my particular favourites was this pair of trophies! The one on the right is great but the one on the left also has possibilities.

Aside from all the wonderful possibilities of the small pieces inside them, the globes themselves have possibilities. The globes are about 7/8" in diameter x 1" tall so might work as covers  for small pieces in  1:12.

I also have another friend upstairs who does incredible personalized Christmas stockings for her family/friends who might be able to incorporate some of these pieces into her work.

So thanks to Jean, I'm sure that all of these things will eventually be worked into our various crafts - and rescued from the garbage.

GO, Team Canada! Junior Men's World Curling Championships!

Well, so far, Team Canada (from Manitoba with Matt Dunstone, grand-nephew as skip) has won two of twelve games in Sochi, Russia! There's an 11 hour time difference so some of the games are at 3 a.m. and I won't be up to "watch" them. But several others are at 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. so will follow many of them . When the guys played in the Canadian finals in Fort McMurray, all we could follow was the end by end results but what we're getting from Sochi are the pictures (through Sweden Thank You) of the house after each rock is thrown so it's hard not to keep watching for the results of each shot....whereas in Fort McMurray I could set a timer and go back to the computer every 10-odd minutes to get the result for that end.

I know that Matt's Mom, Wendi, and his Dad, Dean, and  both sets of grandparents, (as well as all the extended family) would have loved to be in Russia cheering the team on but it just was not possible! There was no way family members could get visas that quickly. (Which I think is really sad - and just a very political thing.)

So I guess I have to move my current projects nearer to my computer so I can keep working on them AND follow the team.

Camp Mini Ha Ha 2013

Well, the waiting is over. The registration forms and this year's project are online.

Camp Mini Ha Ha 2013

September 25th - 30th Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, Canada

Camp Mini Ha Ha is an annual miniaturist retreat, held since 2001. The camp is a cooperative event, bringing together miniaturists at every level of experience, from beginner to expert to teacher, and is designed to promote sharing while learning and having a whole lot of fun. Our teachers come from near and far, and campers from all over the world are welcome. Plus no cooking and cleaning!

Camp Mini Ha Ha is a community – everyone is involved and everyone helps out in making Camp the wonderful experience it has become.

Camp takes place every year in September at the Annapolis Basin Conference Center in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. The Conference Centre provides a peaceful environment in which to escape from the "everyday" and totally immerse yourself in miniatures. The accommodations are semi-private suites which include private sleeping quarters and a shared bath with one other camper.  Camp Mini Ha Ha offers a unique experience different from miniature events typically held

Camp Mini Ha Ha is structured around a single workshop, which begins bright and early Thursday morning and continues through the next four days allowing campers to work, laugh and learn together. In addition to your main project, there are usually some smaller projects to do as well.

In addition to the workshop, there are gifts galore and workspaces available 24 hours a day to accommodate night owls and early birds.

The arrivals begin early Wednesday afternoon and Camp activities begin after supper. Goodbyes are before lunch on Monday. L Details to follow once you are registered.

The contribution per camper covers the costs of the project basic materials and five night’s accommodation as well as breakfast, lunch and supper from Thursday morning to Sunday evening.