D is for Determined

I am determined to learn how to make an angel's trumpet plant. This is the real one in my front yard. :D

I've been playing with paper for two days now. This morning I found a video on how to make a paper barn star.

Image from the video at foldsomething.com

If you are building a barn, these would look great in a rusty copper finish. To me, they look like the shape of a flower. Maybe even a trumpet flower?  These are my attempts so far. The flower with the leaves was made using the barn star pattern.

The hard part is getting all of those little folds going in the right direction and then curling the points of the star...

I may have to leave this for a day or so. My determination and patience need to come to an agreement!

Hope you have a good Friday!

One Lovely Blog Award

Sandie from Snippets from my Studio has given me this beautiful award. Thank you Sandie!  I have taken awards off my blog but I do appreciate receiving them. I think it is important to recognize and share the lovely work of other miniaturists too.

The rules of this award are to nominate 10-12 blogs (or a number of your choice) to receive and pass on this award. That is the hard part! Then you answer 10 questions about yourself that others may not know. That's the easy part!

Here are my nominations. I tried to chose miniaturists who make lovely little things. This is by no means a complete list!  I follow over 300 blogs so this was NOT easy!

1.   Nukkekoli Vainola

2.   Otterine

3.   Hanna & Leijona

4.   Christel Jensen

5.   Lotje's Dollshouse

6.   My Miniature Menagerie

7.   Hummingbird Miniatures

8.   It's A Miniature Life

9.   Flor & FF

10. Loten Nukkekotipaivakirja 

11. Garden of Miniatures

12. Une Petite Folie

I hope you will visit these blogs and congratulate them on their beautiful work!

Now to answer 10 questions for fun -

1. What is your favourite colour?

        - Turquoise

2. What is your favourite animal 

       -  Golden retrievers 

3. What is your favourite non-alcoholic drink? 

       - Diet Coke

4. Do you prefer: Facebook or Twitter?  

       - Blogger :D

5. What is your favourite pattern?

       - Paisley

6. Do you prefer giving or getting presents?

       - Giving 

7. What is your favourite number?  

       - 3 for my three wonderful children

8. What is your favourite day of the week? 

       - Saturday

9. What is your favourite flower? 

       - Passion flower

10. What is your passion? 

       - My family and the beach

There are no surprises here, are there?  :D  Thanks for thinking of me Sandie!  

Hope you have a beautiful day!

D is for Datura

I found this photo of the beautiful dollhouse miniature Angel's Trumpet created by CDHM artist Jeannette Bucholz of the Garden Of Miniatures. Isn't it beautiful?!

I have no idea how Jennette did this? It is amazing! I want to try to make one. :D

I have a big, beautiful yellow datura in my front yard. It is blooming right now. I picked a flower and one leaf last night. The flowers are so delicate with such lovely colors! This morning I cut the flower apart to see how big it was and how it was shaped.

Then I went to work trying to make a pattern. My real flower measures about 6" x 6" not including the stem. I used Jim's Dollhouse Calculator and figured out my little flower should be about 1/2" when finished.

I drew some patterns and cut them out.

Then I painted them using my watercolor pencils. The leaf is hand cut from paper I already had painted.
The little stamens are ivory embroidery floss that were separated and stiffened with white glue.

Here is my first flower. Close ups reveal where touch ups need to be made. :D

I will keep working on these. The leaf needs a better look. Maybe a different color too?

Hope your garden of miniatures is growing well!

Later thought:  Maybe I should try a 1/2"-3/4" star punch for the flowers?  Pinch in the sides, curls the ends? Might work? 

Flying Flowers

"Butterflies are like flying flowers."  That is what the CDHM website says.

I have never tried to make a 1:12 scale butterfly before. It is not easy, but Mariella Vitale's tutorial made me want to give it a try. Thanks Mariella!

My little "flying flower" is no where near perfect, but not bad for my first attempt. It is only 3/8" wide!

I plan to make more butterflies for the garden center. I'll be getting back to work there soon.

Hope you have a beautiful day!

I can't show you what I've been working on all week. I can tell you it is almost finished!

I thought it might be fun to see what I was doing last year on this very same day.  I was building a swimming pool!  I finally finished that little house and landscaping. It is still my favorite project.  :D

Just as soon as I get my Summer Swap gift mailed I will be back to work on the business at hand, the garden center!

I know you haven't heard from Grandma in a while...  She has been begging me to rename the garden center to "Grandma's Garden Center." "Home of Tropical Plants from A - Z."  She might be on to something?  I know she is in desperate need of some attention!

Hope you have a good night. Sweet dreams!

Deadline

The deadline is fast approaching for my Summer Swap gift to be mailed.  I've been feverishly working but have a LONG way to go!

This morning I have to stop what I'm doing and go to the tire store. I hit a curb the other night and ruined my tire. Don't ask how that happened...

So now I have to go buy a new tire and have it installed. I hate it when real life gets in the way of my projects...

Hope you have a good day!

B is for Bougainvillea

This is the second week of my floral alphabet. You might remember the bougainvillea I started in 2010?! It was never finished. This week I made a smaller plant for the garden center.

B is for Bougainvillea!

Now I have an Agapanthus, a Bougainvillea and a Calla Lilly.  I made the calla lily a while ago. It will have to count for the "C" in my alphabet of flowers.

I'm going to have to skip a week to finish my gift for Caterina's Summer Swap. My gift is going to Kaisa in Finland. It has to be mailed by next Saturday so I'd better get busy!  :D

When I finish Kaisa's gift, I will start a letter "D" plant. Not sure what that one will be?

Hope you have a great weekend!

Scallops

I want to make a scalloped awning for the garden center.  I could use paper but thought I would try this fabric instead.

First I used lightweight iron-on interfacing on the back.  Then I added Alene's Stop Fraying to the edge. I cut a pattern with my scallop scissors out of cardstock, then drew the scallops with a disappearing ink fabric marker and started cutting.

Not perfect but this might work?  Does anyone have any other ideas on how to cut scallops on fabric?  I just remembered that my new sewing machine will stitch scallops....  I may try that next?

Hope you have a beautiful day!  Today is my sweet daughter's birthday.  Happy Birthday Sharyn!

Blurred Vision

This is what is on my work table today. 

I can't tell if the photo is blurry or not?  I had my eyes dilated this afternoon and everything looks blurry to me!

Guess I will need to wait until tomorrow to do any more minis.  :D

I've been playing with Word this morning. Here is a sign I'm working on for the Garden Center. I'm not sure this will be the final design?

What I am really doing is procrastinating. I still have to paint all of the trim for the kit.

I've changed the colors of the exterior again.  I think I like it better now.

I have one hour before I need to get ready for work. Wonder how much of that trim I can get painted?

Hope you have a great day!

Little Things Learned

I learned a couple of little things while I was making my first Agapanthus. You might find them useful too?

As you can see in my last post, it was very difficult to add the flowers after I had cut and grouped the stalk together. This morning I tried a different approach.

I set up a little assembly line. A damp sponge for cleaning my tweezers. Tinted tacky glue. I used one drop of my color. I wasn't sure this would stick, but it does. This way there is no green showing on the back of each flower. The tinted glue makes cute little flower buds too. :D

While I waited for my flowers to dry, I cut my wires and smoothed out the embroidery floss I will use to wrap them.  I also started making some nursery flower pots. I'm just using plain old construction paper. Nothing fancy, they are made to be "disposable."  I recycle my real ones...

I solved another problem I had with my first plant. My paper pot was not heavy enough and the plant kept falling over. This time I added some real sand to my pots (for drainage), then a big drop of carpenter's glue. I added florist foam over that, then topped it my soil. Just that little bit of sand made a BIG difference!

You may have noticed in my first photo that my second Agapanthus flower stem is too big. I will keep working on these. I hope to have three plants ready for the Garden Center soon.

I think I will take a break from flower making today. I need to add siding to the back wall and start painting my trim. I've decided to use white. Not sure what color the doors and window frames will be yet?

Congratulations to Team USA on winning so many Olympic medals!  :D

Hope you have a great day!

A is for Agapanthus

I started my self-imposed challenge to make one plant each week from A - Z.  My first plant is A for Agapanthus.

These are some of the things I used to make my plant. To make the flower heads I separated green embroidery floss into two strands and stiffened them with white glue.  

While I waited for those to dry, I washed my hands, got another cup of coffee, and asked myself why I hadn't just bought a kit to make these?!

Carole at Wee Cute Treasures made a beautiful Agapanthus using one of Pascale Garnier's kits. Go see! :D

Inspired, I punched and shaped more flowers from my hand painted paper. There will about twenty tiny flowers on each stalk.

Then I gathered 10 pieces of one inch long embroidery floss. I tied them together in the center with wire. I guessed at the size of the flower head. I looked at Carol's flowers and the planter box she made for them. I made mine about 1.5 cm. The smaller the measurement, the more I like the metric system. :D

Next there was "some assembly required." Don't ask how long this took me. I'll tell you.When I got to this point I had spent about five hours on this one plant.

I made my leaves with photo copy paper painted on both sides. I usually use masking tape. The copy paper worked great for this plant. By the way, I discovered that "cloth covered wire" is not really covered with cloth. It is wrapped with embroidery floss. I made my own because I didn't have any and didn't feel like going shopping...

So here is my little Agapanthus. Hope you like it.  :D

You can be sure that next week's plant will be a whole lot easier to make! It will start with the letter B.

Hope you have a great day! May you have many, many flowers in your garden!

Choosing Colors

I'm adding a door to the right side wall of the Garden Center.  It will open to the patio area.

While looking for trim colors, I found this blog Explanation Required. It is a wonderful blog with lots of great decorating ideas. These are the colors Katie used in her bathroom.  I think they would be perfect for my garden center!

The main color is Behr's Dried Palm. As you can see on my walls, it is not as bright as it looks here. I may repaint my walls more like this paint sample? I love the terra cotta and the blue.

Then I have all of these little flamingos that need to go somewhere...

Choosing colors is difficult for me. I like so many of them!  I still haven't decided on the interior colors. Maybe flamingo pink? :D

Now I need glue on more siding and paint trim. Can't wait to start building!

Three Palms Garden Center

I finished my three palm trees and added siding to this exterior wall.  I'm trying out different trim colors now.

I'm not sure about the coral. It may be too bright. I may try a turquoise blue instead?  Any suggestions?

We had a terrific time at the zoo yesterday. I forgot to take my camera. I loved the "enrichment experience" they did with a tiger.  They had a big hank of meat hanging from a tree. Then they let the tiger out and we were able to watch him attack his breakfast. It was amazing!

Hope you have a grrreat day!

Garden Center?

There is a place near where I lived in Florida that I absolutely loved to visit. Blodgett's Garden Center. They have been in business since 1936. Not only is the staff very knowledgeable, they have the most beautiful selection of plants and anything you might want for your tropical garden.

I went there yesterday, virtually, and found inspiration for my "General Store Kit."  Yes, I am changing my mind AGAIN. I will build a "room box" coffee shop later. I'm going to use this kit to make a little garden center.  :D

I have two palm trees finished and painted one exterior wall with Behr's Dried Palm paint. I think I may add vertical siding?

I have difficulty making multiples of things. Once I finish something I really don't want to make another one like it.  Not sure why?  This project will challenge me to do that.  I will need multiple plants, multiple pots, multiple tools and gardening supplies.

It will probably take me 52 weeks to finish this one. Maybe I should name this project the "Fifty Two Weeks Garden Center?"  In Florida, you can garden 52 weeks of the year. You need to pull weeds for fifty two weeks out of the year too.

This is about all I'll get done today. We're going to the Birmingham Zoo this morning!  I haven't been there yet and am so excited.  Hope you have a lovely day!

One Palm On Deck

Good morning from the deck of the Adelaide Beachy beach house.

This tree won't stay here, but I wanted you to see something that is finished for a change. 

The little orange tree, the wreath and calla lily as well as the roses were all handmade. Sorry for the blurry photo. The sun is just coming up this morning and I have only had one cup of coffee...

I like making plants and flowers. I had an idea yesterday to make one tropical plant for each letter of the alphabet each week.  After 52 weeks I weeks I would have 52 different plants!  A for Amaryllis, B for Bromeliad, C for Calla Lily etc. Okay, maybe 26 weeks? That would still be a lot of plants!

See how easily I get sidetracked?!

Back to work on the palms. P is for PALMS. No more excuses. Hope you have a great day!

Cutting and Carving

Seven leaves cut.  Fourteen more to go...

My new plumber's wrench worked great for adding texture to the trunk. Much easier than the little screw driver I tried yesterday!

I have more rings to carve.  Then I will try the boiling water soak. Hopefully, I will have at least one palm tree done by tomorrow?

Hope you have a lovely day!

Palms In Progress

I've been painting palm fronds this morning. Now it's time to start cutting. I'll need to get out my magnifying lamp to finish them.

I'm also trying to turn a wooden dowel into a palm tree trunk. I scraped it first with a small screw driver to add some texture. Then I cut rings using an old file. The top is carved with my Stanley knife.

Palm tree trunks are not always perfectly straight.  I read on a model railroad site that you can soak the dowels in boiling water to make them bend a little.  I'm going to see how that works next.  Then I will drill a hole in the top of the dowel to add my leaves.

I have this photo on my desk top for inspiration.  Hopefully, my little trees will look something this these?

I like the look of a palm tree in the sun.  The fronds are brighter than the ones in the photo above. They are more like this one found on Flicker.

Looks like I will need to do more hi-lighting on my leaves. I'm only making three of these larger trees.  Right now I'm thinking that is a very good thing!

Hope you have a beautiful day.  I wish I could go hug a palm tree. :D

Update:  After I've done all of this work, I found this great idea!  Using feathers to make palm trees! I may just start over?!