Kit Bash!

Technically I am bashing some small shadow boxes which my lovely sister found at Goodwill and bought for me.

After examining the larger of the two boxes, and consulting with my friend Pat, who is very ingenious, we decided that the pink shadow box just needed some sprucing up.

Here is the picture my sister sent me right after she bought the boxes:

Now that my family knows I am always looking for miniatures, they keep finding some and giving them to me! I am very grateful for their generosity.

In this next photo I will show you some of my plans for the kitchen shadowbox.

We rearranged some of the minis and added the small bench, which is the bottom of a Michaels  Hutch.

Luckily I already had these cute pots, which I think are more in line with an early 1900s Kitchen Scene
The Michael's hutch can be used again, I will saw off the top, mount it on the wall, and display dishes there.
I also ordered a blue spatter Jug from Ebay and plan to add sacks of flour, sugar and potatoes!

Forgotten Memories from my Childhood

Last night my sister sent me this darling link, it is a child's project about making faery gardens. She reminded me that the two of us used to build faery gardens in the back yard as children. I had actually forgotten, but am not at all surprised.

Making a faery house is on my to do list of projects to create. Next year I am looking forward to creating some scenes that I will actually KEEP, instead of just creating miniatures and scenes to sell.

I do remember that as children my sister and I spent hours outside in the background. We created "soup", which was a mix of mud, twigs, rocks, and anything else we thought was worth adding. We played in the treehouse my Dad built for us. We climbed trees in the frontyard. We also rode bikes around the neighbourhood.

One of the reasons I am drawn to miniatures is that it gives me an opportunity to play as an adult. When we are playing we are wholly absorbed in what we are doing, it is time out of time. The ordinary stresses of life fall away.

Lately I have been reading books and articles about how adults in the western world need to play more!  According to research that is now being done, play enhances creativity and improves work performance. Why does it always come back to work performance? I think we are too obsessed with working in North America.

There is another trend in North America I find even more disturbing. Many children today are not being given time to play. Their parents fill their schedules with activities like music lessons, sports, ect, to the extent that they don't have time to play! I think this is a grave mistake. I recently read an article in a parenting magazine on the subject. I couldn't find the article online, but I did find a similar one. I apologize to my international readers if they are unable to read it! I find that if I use Chrome Browser, most international websites translate to English.

Before I sign off, I think I need to promote my Etsy shop a little more on my blog. The last item I listed is getting a lot more attention than usual! It has been listed in two treasury lists, which makes me very happy.

I am also excited that I learned a new skill this week. Jane from MiniFanaticus Blog kindly taught me how to make printie cookbooks.

That's all folks.

Enjoy your weekend!

Ruth

I think I will actually start responding to comments on my blog!

Up until now I have always responded to comments by emailing my blogging friends directly in response to the lovely comments I receive. I have liked doing it this way because often times these exchanges become a bit more personal and have led to some great friendships. But I do see the benefits of responding on my blog. Then everyone can read the comments! So from now on when you leave a comment, make sure to click on the link that says subscribe to comments by email, or check back for my reply.
And if I have a more personal reply for you, I'll still be sending you a personal email!

Hugs to all my blogging friends!

Ruth

This made helped make me into who I am today

I have written very openly on my blog about my Grandpa, who passed away in December at the age of 97. We were very close. For the last ten years, I have known that he could die at any time. Nevertheless, his death hit me very hard.

My first miniature project was a gift for his 97th birthday. He loved it, and I was so pleased that I was able to give him a gift that brought him pleasure in his last months of life. Several of my blog followers have commented that I write well. I come by that gift honestly. My Grandpa was an Irishman. A wonderful story teller and writer. My father inherited this gift. Tonight my Dad forwarded me the obituary he wrote for my Grandpa. It's well written. I am glad that my Dad emphasized the lovely qualities of my Grandpa.

What I remember most is how much he loved his family and that he wasn't afraid to show it. He was also very generous with us. He took pride in his work, and was a skilled carpenter. Surely this are good genes to inherit for a future miniturist.

I would like to share the obituary with my blogging friends. I know that some of you have recently lost loved ones or are experiencing different sorts of griefs in your own lives. It gets easier. We don't want to forget the ones we lose, but peace comes with the passing of time. I don't think that death has the power to ultimately separate us from those with whom we are tied to with strong bonds of love and memory. I'm going to insert the newspaper article as a picture, I think that will work just fine.

Left click on the article and select open link in a new window, then click on the zoom icon to read

Something new for my Etsy shop and a lighting tutorial

Hello my blogging friends,

It's amazing that something so small can take so much time to create! I have been working on this small cosmetic display for my Etsy shop for awhile. I had to get the measurements and the proportions just right, which took some experimenting.

I will show you a picture of this small item, and then explain how I take my pictures.

To take the best pictures, I was given advice from other Etsy shop owners and miniaturists. You can create a "light box" using a small rectangular box. I use a small wooden room box that I purchased second hand last year, but you can make your own using foam core. 

To get rid of the shadows in the picture, find two very bright lights (LED lights are best) that are approximately the same in terms of brightness. Then you must set them up so that they are angled towards the object you are photographing.

All of this will make a little more sense after seeing the photograph I took of my light box set up. On your camera, make sure the settings are "best". I have a digital point and shoot camera with an enhanced zoom lens  If you can afford to buy a digital camera with a detachable lens  then your pictures will look even better!

Good luck with your picture taking. It takes a bit of practise but soon becomes easier.

Hugs,

Ruth

A solution to the google reader conundrum

As some of you may know, google is discontinuing google reader as of July 1rst. Why? I do not know. I have to deal with a government agency on a regular basis and for the most part these interactions are frustrating and nonsensical. This agency had a certain way of doing things that worked perfectly fine and for some reason  they changed their way of doing things and their new method does not work at all. When I complained about this to my mother in law, wondering why they had "fixed something that was not broken", she said "They changed it because it was working!"

I had to laugh. Maybe it's the same with google! Anyways, there is a very simple way to follow the blogs you have been following via google reader. You can actually follow any blog, including word press blogs, in this way. I contemplated writing my own tutorial on this but I would actually like to spend my spare time making minis instead. So I asked Brae from otterine.com blog for permission to provide a link from her blog explaining how this is done.

Most bloggers don't mind if you include a link to their blog, but I always ask. I think this is just good blogger etiquette. Brae said she will probably write a full tutorial about the upcoming changes regarding google reader, but in the meantime, this short explanation is fine.

Here it is! While you're at it, be sure to scroll through Brae's blog and look at her lovely creations in her Etsy shop. http://www.otterine.com/blog/blog1.php/following-my-blog

Ok, time for me to get back to my minis!

So long my friends!

XX

Ruth

Tips on selling your miniatures at a craft show

I was having a quick browse through about.com miniatures when this article caught my eye. We have a Miniatures Show and Sale coming up in Edmonton in September, and it has been on my mind lately! September may seem like along ways away, but the days sure have been zipping by, and I think most of my followers can relate to the feeling of not having the luxury of being able to devote every spare moment (or even a large amount of time) to minis. There are so many other demands on our time.

This article is from about.com. Be sure to scroll through the comments left by the about.com miniatures community. They have shared some valuable tips!

http://miniatures.about.com/od/buyingsellingminiatures/qt/saletables.htm

Now I must dash as I have allowed myself an hour to devote to minis before moving onto less enticing tasks, such as housework :P

Until next time!

Ruth