Etsy Tin Foil Hat challenge entries

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Tin foil hat challenge

More crazy crafting fun, suggested in an Etsy forum thread to make a hat from aluminium foil. As my craft work is mostly small scale and doll based I made this hat which is being modelled by one of my Tonner Wizard of Oz witch dolls, her slightly green skin and silvery hair seemed to suit the style of the hat.

This made a welcome (short) break from the real life tasks that fill my time recently. Thanks for suggesting it Eclipse.

Is it a bird - Is it a plane ?

Art and craft can be FUN. While tidying I came across this creation that I made years ago after I visited an art exhibition. The artist created strange creatures and scenes, part animal and part machine, using quite basic materials. I loved the work so much when I got home I wanted to play around and make my own animal-machine.

Is it a bird - Is it a plane? is created from polystyrene egg shapes plus polystyrene sheet, card, paper, a plastic model propeller, google eyes and metallic effect paint with pink holographic paper shapes stuck on.

Don't be serious - let your hair down and do something crazy occasionally.

Decorative 'plaster' work for dollhouses

While in the D.I.Y. store today I was reminded of a recent MIDS forum conversation about ways to add decorative plasterwork finishes to ceilings etc. in dollhouses.

One very easy way which costs nothing is to use cut out shapes from embossed wallpaper. You can pick up sample pieces which are large enough to provide enough motifs for a dollhouse at most D.I.Y. stores (you can always get another sample next visit if you need more). I collected the two samples shown today.

Simply cut out the motif you want and glue it to the ceiling then paint over it.

In England there is a traditional method of decorating the outside of houses in Suffolk and North Essex called pargeting and I added motifs in this style to the front of one of my dollhouse shops using embossed wallpaper cut-outs.

You can also paint these motifs and use them on greeting cards.

CLARICE CLIFF Sugar shaker/sifter

Size: Height 5 1/2" (140mm). Base diameter 2 7/8" (73mm)

A challenge to the painter of miniatures. The crocus design is repeated on both sides with very slight differences as is to be expected with hand-painted pieces.

During my childhood visits to my grandparents I slept in the front room and this sugar shaker was on the mantelpiece as an ornament.

I loved it and would examine it and admire it whenever I stayed there, the sleek shape and the brightly coloured stylised crocus flowers appealed to me, but I had no idea what it was, in fact I thought it was one half of a pair of salt and pepper pots.

When my grandmother died and her house was cleared I carefully wrapped it in newspaper and put it in a box that was being taken to my parents' house. That was the last I saw of it for 24 years.

My Mother couldn't find it and it became a mystery where it had gone.

During this time I discovered that it was a Clarice Cliff "Bizarre Ware" sugar shaker/sifter of the "Autumn Crocus" design first produced in 1928.

I had read the biography of Clarice Cliff and learned about her work and her Art Deco designs and become an admirer and realised what my missing treasure was - these pieces can fetch hundreds of pounds in perfect condition (which this one is) so it was indeed a small treasure that was lost.

Clarice Cliff has become so popular reproductions are now made but of course I knew mine was an original by the years it had stood at my grandparents' house.

My old bedroom had been left as a storage room, some of my own things were still there including craft items not in use that I hadn't really got space for when I moved to my present house which I took there to store "temporarily" and other oddments had been put in there out of the way by my parents. Last week I finally got round to emptying it and behind the box with my enamelling kiln in was another old tatty cardboard box full of oddments in old yellowed newspaper and there at the bottom was my sugar shaker, it was grubby but washed up well revealing its beautifully hand-painted design in all its brilliance.

Of course I'm not going to sell it, I treasure this link with a woman who was a truly innovative and successful artist and the days of Art Deco which still look startlingly 'modern'. It also brings back childhood memories of staying in the cottage in a sandy lane with woodland in front, waking to the dawn chorus and seeing the bright crocuses on the shelf.

Maybe one day I will have an Art Deco dollhouse or room-box and attempt to paint a tiny crocus sugar shaker just less than 1/2" high to go in it

Old Oil Lamp

While cleaning this old oil lamp that has been in the family for many years and several generations I thought what a great miniature it would make. These photos and measurements are provided for anyone wishing to create a scale miniature. Findings and beads, polymer clay, wood/plastic turning or any combination may be used to create a likeness to add to a Victorian or Edwardian dollhouse scene. Working from book photos usually has a drawback in not providing the necessary detailed shots or measurements.

Selling Again ?

It seems hard to believe its two months now since I had anything listed for sale in my Etsy shop.

No sign in the foreseeable future of me adding any listings either.

There has been no time for any art or craft work, in fact I'm not sure I can even find half my things now. Sorting, moving "stuff" and tidying have become a daily way of life for me, I have spent a small fortune on clear plastic storage boxes to re-pack everything neatly into, I'm sure I could open a wool shop in my summerhouse, I thought I would never get it all rounded up, sorted and bagged up. Now I am going through books and model railway rolling stock - much more fun than big bags of wool.

Model railways were my early love, I've always wanted a proper layout and yet have never had the space for such a permanent large structure. Boxes of buildings, vehicles, animals, people and scenery (trees etc.) have been gathered over the years with the aim one day of having a miniature village with steam trains running past. Now I find myself with not just the one train I have owned for years but a large box full of locos and rolling stock plus track and controller that I have acquired and my thoughts are returning to my ambition I had thought was dead and seriously considering having an extension built on the side of my house to accommodate a large layout.

Unfortunately it will never be anything like Pendon.

If you get a chance its a wonderful place to visit even if you don't care for trains the buildings are incredible and despite being small they will give much inspiration for ways to improve the realism of dollhouses. They also publish a range of useful books on building modelling techniques.

Dollhouses actually replaced my model village idea.

Although a collection of a few dollhouses are individually much bigger than oo gauge buildings they take up less space and are more portable than an entire village layout even in a small scale. Like a railway layout they offer the interest of being able to make small individual items which are eventually combined into something much bigger overall.

My garden is also keeping me very busy as I prepare it for a major make-over in the autumn and spring. The alstroemerias I had to move to clear the space for the summerhouse have settled into large pots and are making good growth, three plants have been given away to friends and it seems I will have more extras to share. I also purchased five new varieties by mail order and these are growing well in tubs ready to plant out next year.

I have realised that dollhouse miniatures were taking over my life and now I am spending time on other things I'm really enjoying myself, I know I will never give up dollhouse miniatures completely but like any addiction you can become far too preoccupied without even realising its happening until your life is taken over and instead of being a real pleasure its something you just "do" every day.

Its a good thing to take a total break, feels strange at first but after a few weeks you re-adjust and get used to living a more varied and interesting life.

There's no doubt I would have struggled on keeping my shop on Etsy running and tried to fit in sorting and gardening as well and would probably have become depressed and miserable when the shop became a chore. However when somebody maliciously "purchased" every item in my shop without paying (of course) and immediately left a string of negative feedbacks it created a convenient stopping point. Admin restored everything within a few hours and I opted to not have them relist everything for me but to leave the shop empty and the refunded listing fees as a credit balance for me to use should I find time in future to begin selling again.

I'm sorry to those who collect my miniatures and those who have asked for specific items to be made for them but I can't see any listings being made until winter sets in and I can't enjoy my garden and summerhouse without being soaking wet and freezing cold.

I might even have to make and list some crocheted items to make a dent in that wool mountain.