Behind or A-head!

Hi there. I am feeling a bit behind with the schedule I had set myself for doing toad stall but I do have a head - a toad's head that is.

 

Actually toad also had a body earlier today but that has ended up in the bin so I only have a head to show you. I don't know if this head will belong to the final toad in my project. I may try some other techniques for making a toad yet. I consider the options to be polymer clay, paper mache or fabric sculpting. This one is made from polymer clay and has been painted.

 

He looks a little sad without a body. Maybe by next weekend. I travelled to see family yesterday so haven't achieved much this weekend. I really must get more disciplined and try to do some miniatures in the evenings during the week.

 

Toad also has a cart for his fungi collecting. He really would love to pull it along but unfortunately he needs a body for that! I will attempt to give the cart a worn and rusted look.

 

 

I had a lovely time at a second hand book sale with two of my sisters, my husband and daughter yesterday. I do love books. I picked up some great books but two I am really happy with are two old DMC embroidery booklets. I certainly think some of the alphabets, borders and little designs will come in handy in the future for miniatures.

 

 

 

Well I have neglected the housework all day trying to make a toad so I had better get some washing folded and put away and get my daughter ready for school tomorrow - she has just been on school holidays for two weeks and spent the last week away staying with family.

 

Update:

Well, the intention was there but my husband and daughter have just advised we are going to watch a movie - oh well, the housework will still be there tomorrow!

Easter Break Comes To An End

Well my extended Easter break has come to an end. Back to work tomorrow. It is currently 10.00pm on Wednesday 8 April. However, before I head to bed I thought I'd just give you a quick update on what I have achieved since my last post.

 

In between housework, spending time with my daughter and other every-day necessities I have managed to do a list of some things I want to try to make for the Toad Stall project. I don't have a lot to show for it yet but below you will find a little trial stool made in the form of a toadstool which is a footstall for the bigger woodland creatures or a seat for the smaller ones, a Del-Prado chair with its seat cover removed (I am going to use the chair as a planter), some fabric which I have painted 'swamp green' that I am going to use to make some bunting from with little pictures of toadstools painted on them and the start of some fimo fungi. I won't cook them yet until I have made some more. Not much to show, but it is a start.

Don't forget my giveaway - link at the top right of this page. I am enjoying watching the names roll in.

 

Now I want to jump to another project, my bookshelf project. This project has been waiting for me to make up a lot of Paper-Mini book kits - perhaps after the Toad Stall project! While I am trying not to buy any miniatures because of my current financial situation I couldn't resist buying two little books when I saw them on a local auction site. They are The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. My Mum loved The Secret Garden as a child and as an adult she enjoyed watching the movie. We had both also recently read A Little Princess not long before she died. The books have blank pages inside but are lovely quality and came from TreeFeathers. The books have found their way onto my bookshelf as have a few books that came from Mum's place and a few I found when I was sorting through my miniatures recently.

Still lots of shelf space to fill.

Well I had better sign off and get to bed. It will be hard enough getting up to go to work tomorrow morning after having a few days off without having a really late night. It is already 10.20pm.

Toad Stall, Fly Agarics and GIVEAWAY!

Hi all. I know I did a post yesterday but I told you I was excited about this project.

 

Last night I did a cardboard mock-up of Toad Stall. I won't build the real Toad Stall until I have a feel for whether this size is going to be big enough for everything I come up with for the stall. I also have to decide whether I will add some landscaping around it. I will probably raise it off the ground and add a few steps to start with. In the meantime as I work through this project you will just have to imagine this mock-up is a rustic shambolic dilapidated cabin in a woodland environment! Of course I have no idea how I am going to create that look yet - luckily we live these days with a thing called the internet and I am hoping I will find a lot of handy tutorials on-line.

 

Birgit of Bi Wu Baren on the Blog made a comment on yesterday's blog post saying "Don't forget about fly agarics!" Do you know what fly agarics are? I didn't. Once again I am thankful for the internet which informs me that "Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric is... the quintessential toadstool...large white-gilled, white-spotted, usually red mushroom, one of the most recognisable and widely encountered in popular culture". Thanks Birgit - I love learning new things.

 

Birgit also commented with reference to 'Toad' - he must have a name! That I had already thought of. I had decided I would open it up for my blog readers to give Toad a name. While Toad has not been created yet I think it would be nice for him to own a name when he arrives. He will be a dressed character toad so put your thinking caps on and give poor Toad a name.

 

The person who submits the name I choose will be able to choose from some of the items for sale at Toad's stall - I promise there will be some goodies to choose from before closing date of 8.00 am Sunday 3 May (New Zealand time). Hopefully I will also reveal Toad on that date.

Conditions of the Giveaway are to be a follower of my blog and to just have fun with your imaginations!

 

Just as a teaser of what may be available to choose from, some of the things I have in mind are: toadstool planters such as the one pictured below; jars of honey and swamp-water ale; fungi bouquets; woodland wreaths, pictures, mobiles, little shadow-boxes with fungi set in them, baking and all sorts of 'found' containers and items planted with fungi and other woodland finds.

 

I look forward to hearing any name or names you suggest for Toad and any ideas you have for items for the stall.

Enjoy the rest of your Easter weekend everyone. I'm off to make some fungi!

Toad Stall

At last I feel excited about a project. The seeds of this excitement were sewn when I won the wonderful hutch from Jane. I had a desire to make a small project to house it in. Shortly after I made my first little container of fungi with snails which I really enjoyed doing. I kept mulling over ideas but I couldn't get anything to really gel. I had visions of an abandoned house but while I had plenty of ideas and knew the hutch would work well in that sort of project I just couldn't quite ignite that burst of motivation and creativity I knew lurked in my hidden depths.

I casually mentioned this to my husband one day and he suggested I do a stall - a toad stall - i.e. a toad selling toadstools from a stall. My imagination was sparked. I loved the play on words.

I've spent a bit of time on Pinterest gathering ideas and setting up an ideas board for the project (I love Pinterest!). I thought about working on the project and then sharing it with everyone but I couldn't wait. I just wanted to get it out there to my blog friends and share my excitement. I still have to make the toad, I still have to make the rickety porch of an abandoned cabin and all the toadstools and fungi and the things toad will make with them for his stall. However, I am excited and looking forward to making a start on the project. I just hope I can create what is in my mind's eye.

So at this stage I don't have anything new to show but I will share the little back-story I have come up with. I have the next three days off so perhaps I may have something to show soon.

I have lots of ideas buzzing around in my head but I'd love to hear ideas from my lovely creative blog friends too.

 

Toad Stall

Toad, a kindly and creative woodland toad, stumbled across the abandoned cabin while playing hide and seek with his woodland friends. "This is it" he cried in an unusually high pitched croak. His friends stopped. They immediately knew what he meant. Toad, who had a passion for growing toadstools and fungi and making things from them, had long wanted to set up a stall. Toad had no interest in the cabin itself, it was the dilapidated porch that caught his attention. However, Toad and his friends ventured into the cabin. Toad started jumping up and down even more excited. He couldn't believe his luck. There was still some old furniture and bits and pieces in the cabin he could use for creating items for his stall and he was especially excited to see an old weathered hutch complete with one or two fungi and some broken crockery. Finding old pieces of crockery and other items left by settlers who had abandoned their homes was another of Toad's loves. He could never understand why the people didn't stay in such a lovely environment after the local mine ran dry - there was even a lovely swamp where he had set up his home. His friends smiled to themselves as Toad sat on the porch muttering plans to himself and they vowed to help Toad see his dream come true. Apart from anything else they knew Toad would reward them with some of his famous honey and swamp water ale with just a pinch of juiced toadstool added for good measure.

WATCH THIS SPACE!

 

Hutch by Jane of Minifanaticus

 

My first attempt at fungi and snails

Happy Easter

Hi my friends. Just a quick post to wish you all a lovely Easter weekend. I don't have anything new to show you but I do have a few days off over the Easter break and I hope to get some miniatures done. I have a little project in mind.

I've been feeling a bit weighed down by life recently and it has zapped my creative energy but I can slowly feel it coming back. Hopefully in a few days I will have something new to add to my blog.

In the meantime I will share last year's project with you again.

It all started when Mrs Rabbit decided they should do an Easter Egg Hunt to keep their large family entertained on Easter morning.

Here is Mrs Rabbit wrapping the last of the Easter eggs.

She then dragged Mr Rabbit out into the yard to hide the eggs. They even tucked a few up by the bird house for their feathered friends. I'm sure the little mouse will be successful in finding one too.

It is now 8.40pm on Good Friday here in New Zealand and we spent the day with family in our home town an hour away from where we live now. For the rest of the Easter weekend we will just relax at home.

Happy Easter everyone.  I hope you all have a lovely Easter with family and friends and can have a bit of time to just relax and enjoy the things you love doing.

It Was Supposed to Be a Pretty Flower Planter!

Birgit from BiWuBaren left a comment on my previous blog post this morning which included the words:

 

"And now I foresee an extraordinary increase of the miniature snail population in New Zealand...".

 

I had to have a little chuckle to myself as indeed yesterday some little snails did take up residence in my craft room and I am sure there will be more to come. Once again thank you Jane for the idea and inspiration.

 

Yesterday I decided to honour a challenge made by my friend Susan and create a flower arrangement. I decided to do an outdoor planter with some flowers - at least that was the direction I was heading in when I started out. This is what I ended up creating:

 

I am sorry it is not the best picture. It is very dark gloomy weather here at the moment. We had a good thunder and lightning storm last night.

  

I made two other little planters at the same time so hopefully some flowers might find their way into those today.

The Hutch

It has arrived. I was expecting to have to wait at least a couple of weeks for the hutch to travel all the way from the USA to New Zealand but within a few days it has arrived. Exciting!

 

For those who haven't caught up with the news I won a Minifanaticus giveaway - see details of the giveaway here.

 

http://minifanaticus.blogspot.co.nz/2015/01/minifanaticus-theme-hutch-giveaway.html

 

My response to Jane's giveaway question was:

 

"... I would love to see it (the hutch) as a wood colour rustic hutch to go in an abandoned house that has been taken over by creatures, whether they be fantasy or mice and birds, perhaps the odd broken cup and saucer plate, old jar of preserves, etc. Maybe some fall leaves that have come through a hole in the roof. ... I would have fun creating a little scene to place it in."

 

I was blown away when I found out I had won the hutch and when I saw photos of the completed hutch on Jane's blog. I was even more in awe of Jane's work when I opened the parcel this afternoon and saw it for real. It is fabulous and also came with some extras.

 

This is what I found in the parcel:

The contents of the parcel.

 

 

Isn't the hutch just fabulous - wonderful detail. There are mice, butterflies, snails, fungi, moss and plants, broken dishes just as I had imagined and wonderful autumn leaves. The mice are even flocked.

 

The extras included were:

 

Beads and jewellery findings.

Flower soft and green flocking.

Some greenery and flowers.

Some fun Halloween and Christmas embellishments.

Some gorgeous ribbons.

Some stickers and decals.

Components for creating leaves, flowers and butterflies similar to those on the hutch.

The card from Jane.

 



Jane would have to be one of the most encouraging, caring and sharing miniaturists I have come across. You really must have a look on her blog site. I have to say I love her fun slightly quirky creative ideas.

 

It was great to have a real good look at the hutch and see how Jane had made things. I was excited when I saw the cute little snails as I have recently been given the below bag of tiny shells by my friend Susan and I can't wait to have a go at making some little snails using some of the shells.

 

 

Of course now the challenge is on. I have to create a little scene to house the hutch in. Thanks Jane for a great dose of inspiration and motivation.