Here I am again......

As I was clearing out some of the items in the craft room, I ran across my modern tables made from pizza "thingies" that you sometimes get in the middle to keep the box lid from touching the food.

Anyway, I spray painted two of them silver and topped them with stained wood circles. The circles are a little smaller than the span of the legs but I think it makes it look more modern this way.

 

 

 

Here is a picture of my niece and her new hubby...

 

Hope everyone has a good week!

 

Hi, everyone.....

Been a while since I have posted, I know.

My niece was married at the beginning of this month and we have been so busy with that. Also, my husband has had to take early retirement due to his health so I have lots of extra "jobs" round the house now. It takes just about all of me to work full time and do that, so.....my minis are suffering.

I am having a major clear out of my craft room and actually the whole house needs good clean, so I will be absent from the blogger world for a little longer.

I will show you a project that I worked on over the winter, though.

 

 

I bought some acrylic mirror in the auto department of WalMart, which is easily cut to size.  The bottom picture (sorry for the blur) is shot at a strange angle to get the details but it makes it appear to be un-matched on the side mirrors. I assure you it is level with the other side when viewed from the front.

Anyway, I framed it out with thin card then painted it gold. I stongly advise keeping the plastic film on while working as the mirror can become easily scratched, which is why I decided to antique it after all. After the frame is dry, remove the film and use a scruffy old paint brush to stipple and dot black acrylic craft paint around the edges at random. Make sure the brush is dry and dab off the excess onto paper towel so you have only a tiny bit left. Some of the paint will get onto the frame, too, but that is okay as it will add a little antique finish. Don't antique too much, though, a little around the edges is best, I think. I glued a little stand to the center back of the middle mirror to keep it from tipping backwards.

The vanity tray is gold color middy braid (purchase from the sewing department at Hobby Lobby) glued around an oval Woodsie; then lined with light olive color suede cloth or fabric. The box in the middle with the clear stones is a vintage necklace clasp I discovered on ebay; the jar on the left is a clear pony bead topped with a nail polish painted then decorated scrapbook brad; the jar on the right is the knob from a pocket watch winding stem. These make perfect little decorative accents. I found a small batch of these on ebay while searching for pocketwatch hands/parts.

 

Hopefully I will be able to finish my Spring clean and get back to my minis, which I so dearly love.

Until then, keep mini-ing to keep your sanity!

AM I CRAZY?

Does anyone know why we can't upload pictures from our pc anymore?
I had to open a Picasa web album to be able to place the peacock room pictures on my blog.....
I thought perhaps it was an issue with IE and upgraded to version 9 but that did not help.

I hate that version, too. It would be better if I could hide my favorites and then call it back up with one button like I did on version 8. I may just not know how......???

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR VERY NICE COMMENTS ON MY MINIATURES.
I DO HOPE TO BE ABLE TO POST MORE OFTEN AND PUT MORE TUTORIALS UP.
WE'LL SEE........

PEACOCK LANTERN

HELLO OUT THERE IN BLOGGER LAND.....

LONG TIME NO POST!

I finally finished one of my lantern rooms; the black colored one with the wide black stripes on the back walls.

I made it into a peacock reading corner.  



Stem wire makes the quill; eyes are reduced pictures cut out and glued to the end of each wire. Paint the wire with white. Run a thin bead of glue along the edge of black cotton fabric, let dry and cut a strip about 1/2 inch wide. Pull threads to ravel the edge as shown. Glue the strip to the "back" of the wire and up around the edge of the "eye" and back down the other side. Let dry and then trim at a sort of jagged edge; highlight with a gold marker/pen and place in a vase.



BIRDS ON A WIRE..........TREE

Finally finished the birds Christmas Tree...

It does not photograph well as the ornaments are so light they keep turning in the slightest breeze.

There are Silver, Gold and Copper color birds.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!



2012 CHRISTMAS TREE

Working on another Christmas Tree with birds as the theme........

I found these beads years ago in FireMountain Gems or Shipwreck Beads (can't remember which) and bought them specifically for bird ornaments. They are called "Party Beads". I have tried to find them again and sad to say they are no where to be found online.

Anyway, they remind me of the vintage glass bird ornaments from long ago.

These can be made from pearls or any other kind of 4mm round and 4mm x 9mm(?) teardrop shape beads.

3mm or 4mm jump rings seat the head on the body using a drop of super glue.

No hole beads make the eyes (fill in the bead holes on either side of the head), 32 guage brass or silver wire makes the curlicue and hanger on the top of the head, a tiny snip of 28 guage wire makes the beak and silver or gold metalic thread makes the tail feathers.

Hopefully I will be able to finish this before Christmas.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, for those who do celebrate it. I have come to think of every day as a day for giving thanks, though. I know a lot of people all over the world have a really tough time but there are still many blessings we can be grateful for. I thank God everyday that I woke up and if I should not wake tomorrow then I know my soul is secure in Jesus Christ. That is the greatest blessing of all!

Early Christmas.....

Made a tiny wire tree with ornaments for a friend and wanted to share a picture.

The Santas are made of 5mm painted (red nail polish) and 3mm plain pearls. The hats are teeny 1/8 punches of white felt and a red seed bead to top off. The belts are black buttonhole twist thread highlighted with yellow acrylic paint for the buckle. Snowmen are 4mm and 3 mm plain pearls with a black sequin and black seed bead to make their hats. They wear red thread scarves.

Details are added with acrylic paint.

All are threaded onto straight silver jewelry pins and the top curled over for a loop.

The tiny trees are snipped-into-shape points of chenille stems stuck into gold painted e-size beads. Had to add jump rings to the tops of these for a hang loop.

There are 18 arms on the wire tree with one in the center (total 19) to hold the 18 ornaments (6 of each) plus the star.

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I am hoping that our issues will be resolved soon. My husband has had to take early retirement on disability due to his Multiple Sclerosis. It is a big adjustment for both of us.

Lots of details to cope with!

Anyway, not a lot going on with my minis but maybe things will settle down before long.

Merry Christmas to all of you out there!