Exciting times here in Nancyland. Been researching and getting in supplies for packaging and shipping, and working on the graphics for labels and such. Need to reshoot two four photos for the first kit instruction sheet, and that’s done. Then do glamour shots and write product descriptions for the Etsy shop, and actually list stuff for sale. Getting good response to the newsletter offering — thank you, thank you — and Volume 01, Issue 01 drops the first of December. Whirlwindy!
Another new species of succulent! I’m classifying this one in the sempervivum genus. Also, I’m working towards putting these (and others) into production, as both kits and potted specimens, in my Etsy shop! You can peek through the window here. I’ve been sourcing some great planters and containers for both inside and out, as well as classic terra cotta pots. Wish me focus and follow-through!
It’s come to this. I bought a stack of dollar-store foamcore and built this fortress to repel the kitten’s perpetual investigations. It looks ridiculous. Hoping the sloping top will deter her from lounging on the roof as she would do when the build was merely shrouded.
Of course, when I lifted the stronghold to work on the build… “Hey, what’s that cracking sound?”
As Paula Poundstone recounted, I can’t have nice things.
I came home to find this grisly modification to Starla Argo, whom I had thought was safely ensconced in the Sea House Warming Hut, up on a high shelf. Here’s the weird part: nothing else was disturbed.
And there’s a lot of random stuff on the stairs and deck.
When I asked Scarlett if she knew anything about this, she sniffed Starla a few times, then galloped off down the hallway.
I found her lounging in the kitchen sink. Her head was bobbing rapidly in that cat way of gathering as many perspectives as quickly as possible to assess if I was going to use my big voice again, which is why her face is a bit blurred.
It’s OK. Starla v1 was a learning prototype, and I had notes on changes to my technique and her design. But I am going to invest in some of those upright square plastic boxes I’ve seen stop motion animators use to store their models for v2 and subsequent characters.
I got a new eight-petaled punch, about 5/8-inch (16 mm). It has spawned a whole new genus of succulents. These are punched from a sage green cardstock painted with an acrylic wash. After lengthy fooling around, I prefer detailing each shape with markers.
Here’s where my documentation lapses. Profoundly. I call Sunday, North American time change, and very good California champagne.
I’m really happy with the end result, and will be more mindful to share my steps. It’s basically three punched and shaped forms, and then a lot of individually applied shaped petals. Or leaves, whatever they’re called. This version more closely approximates what I see in parts of my own succulent garden.
This is also where I *really* want to buy a laser cutter, to be able to realistically emulate the considerable varieties of succulents and cacti. What do you think? Anyone else out there enamored of miniature succulents to want to make them in their boundless assortment? Do you know of anyone already making kits?
I’ll just get the cat pix out of the way first thing.
Classic long-suffering Albie and his unwanted sidekick. All he wants to do is sleep on the bed and not be mauled. She shadows and adores and mauls him.
See the succulent/cactus hybrid hovering slightly above her sisters in the long planter? This is a new feature :) I’m adding believable stems to some of them.
This may be one of the most enigmatic photos I’ve ever published. Here are tiny stems very close up — they’re just over an inch long. They’re made from floral wire wrapped with torn strips of brown paper bag. Easy to make a gentle curve and plant.
In other projects, I got all the sizes of leaves from JMG Miniatures to make potted palms for either side of the stairway. They come five to a bag and are cut from a nice green sturdy stock. I’m not even painting them! I glued a fine gauge green wire onto the central stem of each frond to enable sculpting.
Once the glue was dry, I curled them around a fat watercolor pencil (Derwent Inktense, Teal Green 1300, not mandatory).
I gathered groups of three or four fronds, and bound them together with strips of torn brown paper bag.
I bundled three or four frond clusters around another length of floral wire, and covered the lot of them with more torn paper bag strips, and stabbed them to dry in their eventual planters. These are those ever-versatile, well-modeled chocolate brown Houseworks tapered pots to which I had given a “zinc” finish.
Here they are “palmed” and waiting for the glue to dry in the pots. I’ll cluster more succulents around the bases, tying in with the rest of the casual landscaping. I like how they both frame and add a “parlor” friendliness to the entrance. Since this is meant to be a refurbished working farm building, I didn’t want to put in a stuffy staircase banister.
In the showroom proper you can see an exquisite spinning wheel, gifted by our beloved reader BW. We’ve both agreed it’s a bit too pristine, but I’m reluctant to augment it. I need to channel my inner Sleeping Beauty for counsel.
Until then…
Been making California poppy and echeveria planters for a little while now.
I first learned how to make echeveria from this wonderful tutorial by Annie Christensen of We Love Miniatures. She uses brushed pastels at the end to tint the leaves. All the succulents in the Argo Wool Works foundation plantings were made using her method.
Lately, I’ve taken to using markers to tint and edge the various shapes punched from cardstock painted with acrylic wash, as seen above.
Also, do you see those footed flat clay planters? They’re from Falcon Miniatures, made in Thailand, and seem no longer available. If any of you know a source, I’d be very stoked :)
This afternoon I was fooling around, searching for some new shapes from the limited punches I have. I covered a bottle brush seed pod with overlapping petal shapes, and set that in a base of cupped leaves. Then I stuffed an emerging flower shape in the apex hole — I really need to look up the correct botanical terms — and… a new, fairly convincing succulent/cactus hybrid variety was born! I’m quite pleased with its appearance and will post a step-by, after I get a manicure :)
This picture of Scarlett nuzzling into Albie expresses my joy. I expect one day to stop posting so very many cat pictures, but she is so stinking cute and delightful…
Last night after woods class, I was all excited to finish the Argo Wool Works samples wall chart. I had designed it and punched quarter-inch circles from all the wool felt colors I had earlier in the day.
After gluing them on, I realized they were just too big :(
Today I re-worked the chart and punched out another batch of eighth-inch samples. I would have considered 3/16-inch, but that punch is somewhere I cannot find :/
As I mentioned, I’ve had to cover the build with a carefully folded and tucked sheet secured with binder clips, to prevent Scarlett from demolishing it. Alas, her super-burrowing powers have proven superior to my defense effort. This is her wondering why I’m using my big voice?
A showroom needs sample binders.
I have never liked using wood blanks for book pages, even for volumes that will never be taken from a case. It feels like cheating to me. So I made blank binder book blocks to fill the covers.
I did not glue the accordion-style pages together. The resulting sproinginess will help expand the binder covers and hold them in the shelves.
However. Making all blank pages also felt like cheating, so I made one binder meant to be opened. I drew a simple grid on the pages and punched eighth-inch (3 mm) circles from wool felt, which were then glued to a spread. So expressive and tactile!
Arrayed in the cases and on the work table, with another samples binder, glued closed.
Here in Northern California, we’re having our first rainfall in seven months. The light is damp gray and moody. The cats are waiting out the storm in suspended animation, with one notable difference.
Before the arrival of Scarlett, the two older boy cats never co-slept, although they are buddies. This seems to have changed, as they unite in weary affront to kittenish enthusiasms. Looks to be a cozy winter coming :)
Introducing Starla Argo, a seven-point celestial, who lives in the semi-autobiographical North Coast community all my builds inhabit.
This is a first prototype and is not fully felted or finessed. I’m happy with the proportions, but want to try out some different construction techniques for the star rays, as well as highlight colors.
I also just learned about Paverpol Craft Medium, a liquid textile hardener that seems perfect for preserving details. I want to read a bit more about it, and then check it out!
The “tin” sign above the cubbies is this old yarn label I found at the Graphics Fairy, then tinted with watercolor and glued to a flattened wine lead foil.
The pair of porcelain sheep figurines on the back wall bookcases are feves from ValueArtifacts. For which I credit and blame our dear reader Barbara W for my growing obsession. If you’ve not visited the shop, there are some treasures to be had. The tiny fish pitcher on the table is from there, as well as the sleek white and black mid-century cat duo in the front left corner.
nancyland.com 