Category: modern miniatures

Floors, Brickwork, Walls, Circus!

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I use great books to weight the flooring as it dries flat. I like to think some of the principles and observations seep into the wood and inform the structure.

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I filled the voids in the walls with foam core (smooshes into the corners nicely), thin kraft cardboard (looks like MDF, sandable) and wood glue (dries hard). One of the side walls has a large arch that used to open into another room; it’s since been bricked over.

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The century-old oak beams are still visible on the interior walls. I whittle-aged them without stabbing myself. Oak is way denser than basswood :)

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Oopsie! I mis-measured the height of the arch :/ The century-old oak beam supporting this wall is/was/will be, um, custom fitted.

Then I spent a lot of time staining and sanding. The weather today was mild enough —and not raining! —that I could do it outside. That was nice.

The exterior walls are clad in vertical board-and-batten, stained daffodil Keli yellow and classic gray.

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Looks like the circus came to town!

“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”
—Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

 

Interior Floor, Brickwork, Lighting!

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I’m using Kiwi Scuff Cover in white to stain the interior wood floors. This is one coat. I wish this kind of applicator was available for all stains! The planks are my beloved Rustic Clapboard Siding Strips from HBS/miniatures.com.

Here it is trimmed.

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And again the next morning, with a third application of Scuff Cover, before final weighting to dry flat.

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I love the light this morning, with a break in the clouds between storms. (Pacifica just declared an official state of emergency from all the big wave damage to our sea walls and cliffs :(

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I’m using my gruzzy pot of gesso as mortar and plaster for the brick walls. This is the first coat. I expect I’ll finish with very light sanding and a wash of mildly warmer white.

And, yay for me!

lighting_plan_012316My first ever lighting wiring plan. Big learns ahead.

Inner Walls

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The interior walls of the 2016 build are exposed brickwork, which will be whitewashed, with star-shaped tie irons from Old Mountain Miniatures. The bricks are all salvage from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. More than this is not known.

Considering

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I wasn’t going to lead with this picture, but it’s affecting everything I’m trying to do, as is the way with a large jagged wound on a primary finger. I was playing Prey Under The Covers with my usually gentle cat and one of us miscalculated… It’s a 3-bandaid kluge :(

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And now, presented without justification or explanation is my beginning foray into the HBS 2016 contest base kit. I almost always order a second kit for parts, but somehow didn’t this time. As you can see, I’m mid-trial, but I can’t really go much further, or even see if it will work at all, until additional parts arrive. It keeps collapsing.

My consumptive work deadlines are over — met, even! — and the startup company I’m working with has officially launched, so I can share a peek of what I’ve been doing (logo, packaging, manual, web imagery, panel design) for the past few months.

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This is from their website. Watch the video! Very cool stuff.

Yipes, Stripes, Stuff

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This pattern variation appeared after watching 20,000 Days on Earth, a good, if mildly self-indulgent film chronicling memory, writing and performing — made unbearably, poignantly tragic by the recent death of Mr. Cave’s son, Arthur.

One of my favorite scenes is Warren Ellis’s recounting of Nina Simone’s backstage pre-performance requests. Many thanks to Austin Kleon for pointing us to this worthwhile talkie.

Then the next day I woke up and David Bowie was dead. I am sad.

I made a little yellow table from the stain test. This shot is for Keli.

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I don’t often do adorable, but when I do, it’s one of Janet Granger’s tea cozies. I love this design (and the cat one). The only thing that’s sad is that it’s worked on 32-count silk gauze, and there’s more gauze show-through than I’d like to see. I might actually go back and do full cross stitch (rather than tent), or start all over on 49-count with silk. Probably when monkeys fly out of my butt, as Wayne so cheekily observed :)

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And since I’m stuck on miniature needlepoint, at least until I start a new build, all you sewists, beaders and book artists should check out Thread Heaven, a quite effective thread conditioner in a wee cobalt blue box that has made my stitching tangle-free. A merciful reprieve. Because science! And, as their site proclaims, it’s non-petroleum-based, and vegan :) ? !

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Wait! Everything just changed:

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Looks like it should arrive near the end of my current, um, fierce vigorous fiery set of work deadlines, so yay!

 

Stain Test, Yipes Stripes, Storm

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Keenly considering staining the as-yet-undetermined exterior cladding of the 2016 HBS contest build this daffodil yellow from MinWax. Waiting for it to dry so I can sand the test pieces, maybe build a little table. It’s a compelling color, yeah?

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Have reached one inch (2.54 cm) in width on the Yipes, Stripes rug! Contemplating adding a red in. As I mentioned previously, variations of the black-and-ivory motif will recur every inch or so.

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Back-to-back storms continue to blow through much of Northern California. This day there was a lull in the rains, and the combination of King and high tides + storm surge was pushing in 15-foot waves without cease. Some crested 30 feet, and twenty minutes down the coast there were 50-foot wave faces at Mavericks (!) It was, is, as is said, EPIC.

Cats are getting tired of all the wet, though.

Here’s a slightly different view of the beach (and more of this month’s splash image).

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Yipes, Stripes!

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First of all, my cat wants to welcome you to 2016.

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Second, I needed a project to fill time and quiet my twitchy fingers before the next build. Although I fully intend to get back to the Animals rug, last seen somewhere around here:

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It’s been hibernating in an old soft cotton pillowcase for like a year. I love this thing, but stitching it requires a lot of concentration. But as John From Cinncinati suggests, I need to get back in the game. My ideal project right now is something I can fit in between work, and not have to read or follow a chart. While still deriving all the benefits miniature needlepoint stitching brings me.

So I came up with this, sized to fit on the 49-count silk gauze remnant I have on hand. Behold, the beginnings of the Yipes, Stripes rug.

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It will be 2.5 x 6 inches (6.35 x 15.25 cm) when done, using Gütermann silk thread. I’m making up the design as I stitch along, although variations of the black and ivory motif will recur. Feels good to be nimbling up my fingers again :)

2016 Build: More Messing

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Here are two more janky models of build ideas.

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I’m really interested in this one, with the slanted roof balanced by a very large triangular dormer (is that the right term?) opening the main room ceiling. I envision zinc vertical panel roofing, a windowed front, and old oak beams, rafters and posts. Lots of reclaimed and re-purposed building materials.

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This one, right away I want to add three or four feet to the overall height. And skylights in the main room and a tall fireplace surround on the far wall. Still liking the idea of a semi-enclosed porch and entry way. This roof has an extension running along the back; why I’m not really sure. No deck, leaving more room for landscaping on the project base.

But what I’m really obsessed with now is prefab modular homes, specifically the work of Blu Homes. Feast your senses and design sensibilities. I expect you’ll be seeing a lot of their ideas coming through this next build.