Sunday, February 17, 2013

Plants Saturday... Sunday ?

Yesterday I had a play with making some plants.


The green fern was a Jeanetta Kendall laser plant kit.

The daisies are an experiment in recycling some scrapbooking flowers cut up. One lesson I have to learn is that when I am reasonably happy with something to leave it alone. I made the daisies and I was reasonably happy with them for a first experiment, but I had to keep playing and ended up with big black blotches in the centres. I think it is worth some more experimentation though.

The wicker chair was my first attempt at miniature wicker work back in the 1990s (it was a workshop taught by a Jeanette Dungan at the 1994 NZAME convention) and the cat is an old metal mini.

I am so enjoying getting back into miniatures and my fingers are starting to get used to working with such small pieces again. The skills are slowly coming back to me.

It is now Sunday and my daughter has been invited to a friend's place for the afternoon, so I find myself with a free afternoon.

What should I do today...

(PS: I'd love to hear from anyone who has some tips on successfully photographing miniatures).

4 comments:

  1. Very nice to catch up with your blog. You have quite a collection pof houses in your work space. Lucky girl!
    Nice that you and your daughter are beginning to work together. My grand daughter and I have lots of funding projects together. Last weekend we made a fairy door. It was to go to the garden but ended up in her room.
    Finn also likes making food , pies etc. I have quite a collection of buttons that look a bit like pies so she enjoys painting them .
    Keep mini ing!
    Janine

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    1. Thank you for your comment. It is nice to hear you and your granddaughter do minis together. I love the sound of fairy doors - sounds fun. I loved looking through your blog. You have a lovely house and I am enjoying following your progress with the garden items. I have a hankering to make some garden miniatures when I can think of a good project.

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  2. A friend sent me here thinking I would enjoy your blog. She was right! Love your flowers and I agree with the stop-messing-with-it, I do that, too.

    As for photographing miniatures: use Macro setting, usually represented by a small flower. Use a tripod and the delay so the camera is as steady as possible. Use multiple light sources, to avoid heavy shadows. And lastly, use a plain,solid background. I prop my stuff up on my bed, on a small table, with the plain white wall in the back, then set a mini tripod on the table (you can get these at Dollar Tree for a $1!) and then I take the picture. If I am down in the studio, I try to use my super macro setting, so that the nonsense is out of focus. Feel free to check out my blog and I hope this was helpful!

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    1. Hi Lyssa. Thanks heaps for the photography information. I used to do a bit of photography as a hobby, but like miniatures I have had a long break from it. Time to dust off the tripod I think and set up a proper area for photographing my miniatures. I must look at getting a miniature tripod but I live in New Zealand so will have to find somewhere local that stocks them. I have a quiet evening planned as my daughter has gone to a friends place for a sleepover so I look forward to looking through your blog.

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