Silver workshop

 Last year I've started my first Silver workshop. Which in fact was ' quite easy' since it didn't involve any silver! We where supposed to design our own bowl and cover. It meant turning a wax model of the bowl and tight fitted lid. And already work out parts of the design in the wax model. But since the wax model is very fragile we couldn't make all parts of the design at this stage. I finally achieved this bowl and when I was working on the inside of the bowl I completly ruined it, in a split second half of the bowl was gone!

So I had to start all over, but this time I knew how the lathe worked and how you can achieve the shape of your wax model so the second bowl was made in far more less time. 

After that we've turned the lid and all the pieces went home with Jens so he could get them casted in silver for the next workshop which was this October.

 

A lot of sanding and refining the pattern on the bowl and lid was the first step and get rid of the casting seams. Create screw-tread for the handle part. We also needed to solder the parts on the bowl for the handles and hinges. But there was a problem with the burners but eventualy that could be fixed and due to the time pressure Jens did that job for us during the last day.

The workshop was very interesting and I've learned a lot of new skills and discovered that working with Silver isn't scary but a lot of fun! 

And this is how it looks when it stands on the dining table.

A glimpse

The last few months I've been using my spare time to work on several projects in my canalhouse. Fitting the windows on the frontside of the house.

I finally had the opportunity to start on a small room which will be more of a walk through room with cabinets where you will find nice art pieces.
Here you can see a bit of the (basic) structure of it so far.

The other thing that I've made and which is nearly finished is the knee hole desk. I'm pleased with the size and color of it.
It will be placed in the blue room with the canopy bed.
Unfortunately I haven't found the perfect little (brass) hinges for it. The ones I've found so far are way to big for the small drawers...I'm afraid that I will have to make these myself as well somehow or do you know where to find them?
For the picture I've put a few nice little pieces on top of it.
And I'm also working on the window ofcourse since I don't want damp spots on the wood surface or a magpie who comes to visit and collect the jewelry out of the jewelrybox.

Happy Holidays

As you can see no Christmas tree this time but the gifts have allready arrived.

And a bit odd there seems to be some fresh snow in the garden!

Well not in mine, I noticed that the daffodils are blooming at this moment.

But I just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

What happens before you read a book?

Well after the part of writting and printing ofcourse. Then you start with the task of bookbinding.

I did this during a class of Tine Kreijne a while ago.

We've started with the printed sheets, which contain the text and pictures of the book.

With this tool ,that will create the spine of the book, we've started working.

Here we've put the first, which is the last section of the book, in it's place and sewn it to the treads(spine).

  

          

   And just continue till you've put all the sections into place,  yet another time consuming task.

Finished!!! But where are my glasses........??? Those characters are soooo tiny maybe I'll stick to the drawings for the time being ;-)

Denmark Tune 2015

                                       

Last week I went to Denmark, Tune for a full week of miniature workshops and meeting a lot of miniature friends. I did a 3 day workshop sculpting with James Carrington and for the first time working with silver done by Jens Torp.

Working on the hands and other parts just before constructing the dolls on the last day.

There was a new way of building the dolls so you have to get used to the techniques before something decent comes out of the clay!

My classmates which where great fun during the whole week.

Wednesday evening after yet another wonder dinner it was time to show the pieces we've made during our first class

One of the dolls I made standing in my dollhouse and still wearing the tissuepaper dress I quickly made for her just before the show, ofcourse in the future it will be a silk one!

On thursday we started with the second workshop in my case, Silver.

A new material for me to work with.

Working without a magnifying glass it was a bit difficult to do so they're not perfect pieces.

But for me it was a wonderfull introduction working with silver, which I intend to do more often!

The first stage was to make this tiny cup and sand it to get a smooth edge to it.

After that we had to cut out the one handle that we needed to solder to the bowl

And this is the result of  the workshop, the bowl is finished on the cake slicer

I have to work a bit at home and finish it during a next Silver workshop in October!

A big thank you to the organisation for creating this wonderfull week and meeting all the nice people during the week.

If you're interested here's the link to Miniatures in Tune

David Hurley workshop

September last year we had our 3th workshop, wood carving with David Hurley.

This time we would make a Tudor wall cabinet during the 3 days.

This is how we started, checking all the parts before we draw the patterns on the wood parts.

Here I'm working on the piece with the arches, which turned out to be the most time consuming part to be made. And made us think we will never finish this project in time.

Somehow that's what we think during every workshop at some point!

It's starting to look like a cabinet, David carved the numbers and my initials since these pieces where so tiny and there where no extra parts!

My finished piece, still waiting for it's place in one of my projects, yes in one of the Rik Pierce houses. But when we finished our cabinet during the workshop there was plenty of time to start on an extra carving piece.

I wanted to take my time with this piece to do the carving as good as possible.

Since we're still learning, I was pleased that I got the background so smouth this time.

When I started on this piece I had the idea to not just stain it but also paint the carving and add some goldleaf details on it. I do like the colors on it and to make it complete the panel needed a frame to give it a finished look.

It took a while to make this piece, I hope you like it as much as I do!

An empty room(box)...

These last few weeks I have been working on a small project.

I've read the article of Ray&Scott about this little roombox and the way of painting it so that it resembles wooden paneling something I really wanted to try myself. I never thought that the cardboard would look like wood but with the trimming around it it turns into "reall wood paneling".  

It was a fun project to make between the windows for my canalhouse.

And a nice new technique that also can be useful for the (future)librabry in my canalhouse.

Ray& Scott I hope it get's your approval!

But now the only problem is to deside what to put in this small roombox.

So visiting the Kensington and Rheda show will be even more fun I guess ;)

"The world in Miniature"

That's the exhibition called at 'Slot Zeist' a 17th century estate.
It runs until the 6th of April and is worth a visit!

They have the collection of the family Bavelaar on display.
Interesting to look at since it was made by 3 generations of sculptors between 1795 and 1830. And much smaller than the scale we work in these days  but full of details!

And the other part of the exhibit is filled with the work of  contemporary artists, Peter Gabriëlse, Gerard Klein Hofmeier, Piet Bleijenga and Ruben Verheggen&Eva Post.

The exhibit was a nice start of my weekend on friday, on saturday I had some time to work on my miniature projects(next post) and on Sunday I visited the Dollshouse Nederland fair at the new location in Ulft. I enjoyed the show and found some lovely pieces for my collection and I could pick up my porcelain painted ornamental plate with "Stadhouder Willem V" on it...well I did my best!

And how was your World in Miniature?

"Through the looking glass"

At last I have something new to share with you all.

In January my new workshopspace had reached a "workable" level and I had a bit of time to start on my least favorite part of the house.

Building the windows, the frontside needs 11 sliding windows.

Ofcourse I wanted real glass for the windows I found some 2mm thick glass that works really well.

Fitting the windows with glass into the frames

 I've used a cardboard template before cutting the glass.

To my surprise it turned out to be a fun project but when completely finished it's finally time to start building/decorating the rooms!

Another workshop!

On saturday, along with a friend, we start on a 5 days project given by Rik Pierce.
We're facing a lot of work and long days/evenings but so looking forward to it.
I will be making photo's ofcourse and give an impression of the workshop and my results when I'm back home.

Here's a picture of what we will be making. Isn't it a lovely building?

I will be back next week, I'll have to start packing my suitcase and tools for the class.

The wooden doll

A week ago I did follow a workshop at the Apeldoorn Dollhouse Show given by David Pennant from Teeny Weeny Teddies. His class was well prepared and a great tutor he turned out to be. First we've started on carving/sanding the wooden pieces. A lot of extra steps followed and after that we've had plenty of time to practice on painting faces. First on a flat surface and after that on a dummy before we started finally painting on our tiny dolls. She's fully poseable, well her arms and legs at least. Putting on her sleeves was a reall challenge since my own fingers got in the way constantly.

But here she is on the sofa her residence for the time being.

And here's a close up of her, it wasn't easy to get a clear picture of her.

On Saturday, at the show, I recieved this wonderfull portrait from a friend of mine!

I was totally surprised by this generous gift so again a BIG thank you!! He will get a nice place in one of the rooms but I haven't decided which one yet. So he might show up in several pictures through the house.

And here's one of the plates that I've painted, it's still not finished it needs some more detailwork like fish scales after that it can again be fired.

At the show I didn't have much time for shopping since I was helping a friend at his table.

But fortunately I can look forward to a trip to Kensington Dollhouse Festival next month.