Minis4u Trials & Tribulations

Soo Much Fun - Not Enough Time

2011-10-03T01:14:00.000-07:00

I am totally enjoying the last few months making my first little 1/4" house. I have not finished but thought I would show you some of my progress.

I still haven't completed the paint work on the outside or inside for that matter, but thought I would mention that I love working with Das Paper Clay

I still need to do more paint work on the thatch roof as well as the walls as the walls and bricks have not been painted at all.

I have learn't a lot about LED lighting along the way, this house was to have 2 lower rooms and stairwell plus the fire place with working lights. The lights were going and looked great, but some problems with the resistors resulted in the bulbs blowing all at once. Totally upsetting but never mind, I seem to always have something go wrong, but on the positive side it wont happen again.

That's another trial taken care of on my journey. Will post more photos after the weekend as I am going to be working on it on Sunday.

Well I have been Busy (LOL)

2011-06-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hi again

Have not blogged in a while but that is because I have been really busy in the doing mode. I held my first show in April and had a great time. Unfortunately in my rush the pictures I took turned out really badly - will work on this next time but here are some pictures that turned out okay.

Since then I have been working on a Petite Properties 1/4" cottage which I will blog on next time. I am going to try and electrify all rooms with LED's so that will be interesting.

I also attended a Rio Cox workshop making a corset on mannequin, bra and knickers and also stockings. I will not photograph the stockings due to my embarrassment (glue where there shouldn't be glue).

Really interesting processes of what can be done with a bit of lace, imagination and fabric stiffener. Here is a photo of what I made - don't look too hard. I really enjoyed making these but it is very fiddly and frustrating at times when learning.

I Have Had Time To Play!! Yeay!!

2011-02-18T22:18:00.000-08:00

I found some time to play in the weekend and decided to get out the Dukit.

Dukit has been available on the New Zealand market for some years now and is made right here in New Zealand. It is considered to be one of the strongest clays, it withstands washing in an automatic machine really well with out going dull.

Baked at a higher temperature than the other clays it also has a tendency to "sheen". This can be combated by baking with an aluminum foil cover over your work and will also wipe off after baking.
The Hue colours are very good with this product so mixing will enable you to get a true mix of colours.

I decided that I would try and make a bear and a duck. Now I will post a photo as long as you promise not to laugh. They definitely need practice, but for a second attempt I thought I did okay, the duck will look cute on the end of the bath and the bear will tuck up on a shelf somewhere.

The back of the bears arms and legs are not even when viewed from the back, my trial to some extent I think was the heat of summer and softness of the clay, the laws of physics applied, whilst adding a limb I found I distorted areas that before I thought looked great. It is summer here and the clay was rather soft and in my hands even softer.

One tip that helped me from a fimo expert was to put my hands in ice every now and again while making my items, but I had already made my items by then, definitely something to try next time.

One tool I would not be without though is my pasta machine, it is just fantastic for conditioning the clay effortlessly. I really enjoy clay and can't wait to make more projects! Here are my little creations. I can only try and get better.

I hope everyone is enjoying there minis and if you have any Fimo or Dukit tips for me, could you take pity and let me know LOL.

I Don't Get Enough Time!!

2011-01-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

Hi Mini Friends (MF's)

Can you sympathize with the statement above - Just not enough time.

Whether it be children, family, work - we just don't get the time for creating and when we do it is interrupted excessively, (for me, by gorgeous little people who want, who knows what!).

This is one of my main trials and where a lot of my tribulations occur I would say. However, in saying this I wouldn't have my life any other way and I am very lucky with the support I have.

Here are my main interrupters (admittedly they are all a bit older now, but this is one of my favourite photos). I cherish every interruption, already the time has flown and these we cherubs are now 8, 6 and 4. I am the first to acknowledge you can never have too much time with your children!! and family.

The best way I have found to do my hobby (is in the bad light of day, when you are really tired (LOL)) that is when they are in bed. Or what I enjoy most is the lets all get our hands dirty and muck in on the mini's, which is lots of fun. We get the clay out and hop to it, the only problem is I don't really work on my main project due to helping the kids, but I do sort of get my fix.

Wonderful husbands also get the big tick for allowing me the time, and can be ever so helpful sometimes with ideas. Thanks to my husband Mike I get a lot of support.

This is the small city where I live, Palmerston North. Which is in the North Island of New Zealand. I am currently organising a Doll Teddy Bear and Dollhouse Miniature Show here for the first time. Wish me luck MF's. This is my first time at it, and the show is on at Easter Weekend.

Business, and show organising, not to mention children are taking up a lot of my hobby time at the moment. So if there are any expert show organisers out there who can share some of there expertise I would love to hear from them and save some time for sure. Share your expertise.

One day soon I will be able to catch up on my UFO's (Un Finished Objects).

Till the next time.

How Did I get this Wrong?

2011-01-16T10:33:00.000-08:00

Tell me someone out there must have had some Mini Oopsies at one stage or another. I was working on the same project as the paper clay post and decided to use Rectangular Ceiling paper to decorate my ceiling.

This product is amazing, so fantastic to work with - easy!! Aha. You simply submerge this product in water for around 30 seconds and after sealing the MDF surface that you are applying it too, you lay the paper down and gently roll out any air bubbles, wait for it to dry after 24 hours or so and hey presto, Magnifique.

Mmmm, well it goes with out saying my Mini Friends (MF's) that if I didnt seal the clay for my bricks, you know I didn't seal my ceiling either.

However this wasn't a problem, constant rechecking throughout the drying period allowed me to ensure no bubbles remained. I have later found that sealing the MDF does help with this - Aha I see a trend forming here?

Any way, just a few bubbles is not a big enough muck up for me, no MF's I need to put it in the wrong spot don't I. In a normal rectangular room where you would center the paper, this project was a bit different.

I needed to offset its position due to the front of the room box having an inset door entrance which encroached on the ceiling, the tricky bit was in my haste I applied the paper to the wrong edge and had a big gap at the back and where it was supposed to miss the entrance way, the paper was slap bang in the way - there you have it - my tribulation.

You will never guess however what I did - I re wet the paper, I delicately peeled it off and yes I repositioned it. Once dry I then painted it as you can apply any sort of finish to this amazing product and it will take it. I was amazed, brilliant - I over came this trial without having to spend another cracker on something I had already purchased. The elation I felt, and no one would ever know I thought! Here is a picture of the repositioned paper.

You can purchase different designs of this paper including a quite nice Victorian Ceiling Paper, they really look nice. Photography isn't my strong suit sorry, but I am hoping miniatures is someday - Mmmm.

Take Care out there and Happy Minis to you.

Welcome, Glad You Could Make It

2011-01-15T14:52:00.000-08:00

I am having a play with paper clay and I have to say I am having some fun but here comes the trial part of my tribulation with clay.

It's wet, it is molded, it is detailed - Yes!! it is a masterpiece, (come back the next day) and WHAT, where did those cracks come from - oh I mean craters. Yes my Mini Friends (MF's) devastation has hit me like a wet fish.

Bricks for my building project - I rolled the clay to 2mm thick, I glued the clay to my wall with Aleenes Tacky Glue, I marked out the bricks in the clay and then stippled them for texture with a toothbrush, the markings for the bricks were deep so gave the bricks depth. - I thought they were magic!! Just colour them and then they are perfect.

Next Day - the cracks were unbelievable - But that's okay (NOT!!, I thought, I can fix this (don't want to, but I can)). So in went more paper clay to fill the cracks, re stippling and no longer do I have the perfect picture I left yesterday, but a great fix up job of today. I know now that gluing the clay on does not seal the MDF at the same time. No, no MF's I now after my steep learning curve know to seal the MDF first and the cracking is reduced significantly. My sealant of choice was Modge Podge

I also know now that you will never eliminate all cracking using paper clay which for brick work I think just added to the rustic age of the brick. I then used a Grey paint wash to paint the whole brick surface, this needed to be done a couple of times as just when i thought I had covered it all, once dry it there were lots of areas missed.

Lastly I coloured the bricks with an array of different brick colours and applied them with a cosmetic sponge, delicately so the brick colour didn't seep into the Grey mortar lines. My work is not perfect by any means but I was happy with my first overall attempt of bricks on my building. Here is a picture. Sorry about the picture, will try and take a better one.

If anyone has any tips, would be great to hear them, may save me masses of time, however I am really keen to do another brick building as I think with the things I have learnt I can make a much better job. Talk soon MF's