MECO Show and Sale

MECO Show and Sale
2016 Show & Sale will be the Saturday 14th May 2016 held at the Peachland Community Centre in Peachland BC. contact person Barb Janes-Yeo at 250-757-2842 barbandpaulyeo@shaw.ca

Tuesday 20 August 2013

World's Biggest Game of Tetris


If you are of a certain age, you remember this game. I didn't play it a lot, but I remember my college computer lab was often jam-packed with bleary-eyed Tetris players, listening to the very distinctive music (below), and losing hours a day making small coloured pieces line up and disappear. 



 It was often difficult to get  computer time in the school lab during those manic days if you wanted to do something trivial like - oh, I don't know - write a school paper or something. Eventually the lab staff was forced to limit gaming time on the school computers, because it was found that - left to their own devices - Tetris players would have to be block-tackled off their chairs in order to to stop them hitting those arrow keys, and further sedated to stop them from humming the theme music. This was in the early days of "computers used by the common folk" , mind, so the graphics and speed on this was cutting edge and really video games still - if not in its infancy - then probably in that gangly tween stage, and it wasn't really understood yet that people can be consumed by a game (I find this amusing that "they" found this surprising, given some individual's strange obsessions over comparatively meaningless sporting stats, but then again that is always the case when it comes to mainstream obsession and the nerdly kind, but I digress). As games go, however, this was pretty innocuous - actually a rather good game for anyone developing their spatial skills, come to think of it. Perhaps if students had been told they were actually developing their minds, the computer lab staff wouldn't have had to actually wheel some of these dedicated scholars out of the lab and dump them unceremoniously into the hallway so the rest of us could go in and finish that report we had been putting off for reasons of our very own. 

What is that you say, why am I rambling on about a fairly ancient game? Well, it is part of the reason why you are reading this blog a couple of days late. I decided to rearrange my house. I have mentioned that I have been in various stages of chaos this summer, waiting for elusive unicorn workmen, and I finally got sick of it. Well, that and I seem to have a windfall of guests coming to my house,  plus a gift of more storage arriving eventually in which an outsider would see the tornado hit by a tornado action in here, so that is incentive enough to "straighten up". I live in a fairly small house, so I have to be very creative in how I place things and  - so I don't have to re-destroy my 100 yard tidy looking for things - everything must be logically accessible and hence the Tetris comparison. It has taken me 4 days, but I think I am winning. Wheezy from over exposure to dust and exhausted from lugging surprisingly heavy treasure up and down stairs, but winning. Enough, anyway, that I can sit down and rest a bit. 

 My initial thought was to work on my Dutch baby house. I actually took my DBH out of its box, and looked at the numerous pieces I bought earlier this month. 

 Forgot how lovely it was. This is a Bespaq cabinet that I picked up at a show. 



A close up of the detailing. Really quite spiffy! 



 Each package is a room kit. Upon looking at this, and going over the instructions, I decided - this is for days when I don't have people descending on me, and especially when I don't know where a lot of things have gone since I put them away (the number one problem with cleaning, I find) and because I would like to develop some inserts so I don't have to work inside the cabinet. 

So, something I could do that would use minimum materials, but something that I would enjoy making...how about giving a doll a try? 

 
First step, making a wire armature (see video on how to make this By Regina Edmonds below, as it is easier than re-inventing the wheel, or doll armature in this case ). 


Regina uses one of her own molds with the wire. I just built my doll around the wire itself. If you are planning on following suit, I would suggest that you build up the anatomy. I had to do a lot of clay adding to get the bulges and bits in just the right spots, and one has to remember the body has to BEND in the right spots as well. I used a green cloth covered wire - my advice is to use white, it will blend a little better inside of the doll ( I found the green could be seen through the opaque sculpey I was using as my base clay). 


 I found, as I was cleaning, that I had purchased faces, hands, and feet at one point (so cleaning up your work space does have a few benefits). Some of the faces were far too big, but the second smallest one was not too bad for a face. I did use the hands, and could have used the feet had I not already sculpted them.  I might invest in a better push mold of faces eventually, as this is really for more cartoony type endeavors, but since cartoony was more what I was going for today, what  I had was fine. 

The cloth covered wire generally comes on a spool, and it can be found in the wedding section or in the floral section of a well stocked craft store.

Here is my doll. I haven't made too many OOAK dolls, but she didn't turn out too badly. Certainly better than the last doll, which looked like this...

No, stop teasing. The similarities are NOT uncanny to the above. Honestly, this was more reminiscent of my last doll, who was too beautiful to live, and didn't make it past the sculpting stage. 


A few more views. I want her to be a bathing beauty, and also she will be eventually holding a book, hence the arms.

Skipping ahead, here is my bathing beauty, mostly painted. You will note a slightly opened mouth and a belly button. These are two things that will give a little life to your sculpture, and something people forget to do - especially the belly button (remember, you can't be a mammal without one!*).

*All mammals do have one, just some mammals hide them better than others.


She has a really cute face, given the more cartoony mold I used for her. I got the ears nicely placed as well. It would have been nice to make the mouth wider and added a few teeth as well, but not necessary. 
 
The painting detailing around back.  I painted with "flesh tone" (aka what some paint company thinks Caucasian skin colour looks like) but I "pinked" it up a bit with some red, to give my bathing beauty the look of being outside in the sun too long. Bad bathing beauty, this isn't so good for your skin! 


 Hair is tricky but I learned a good trick a few years ago -  curl embroidery cotton around a knitting needle, slightly dampen it, add a little glue and let the whole thing dry completely. What you pull off the needle is oodles of naturally curly hair. It is a matter of placing it thoughtfully to your doll at that point. The nice thing about using embroidery cotton (also called floss) is that it comes in a myriad of colors. If you are a realist, you can actually get "real" hair, but I do like the embroidery floss, and it is a little more forgiving.

 She looks a little cross-eyed in this shot, but that is just bad lighting on my part. Really, I want you to notice her cute little hair do. I also added some flip flops to her feet (painted). 


My bathing beauty has taken my advice, and is sporting a big floppy hat (crocheted, modified fashion doll hat).
 D'awww! She is a sweetie!When my guests subside, I will have to make her a little parasol (as per video below) and hunt around my "already mades" and see what I have for books. I could make her a polyclay book as well, come to think of it. And shades, she will need sunglasses eventually.


Hope you have enjoyed the creation of my bathing beauty and we will talk soon! 

PS: Blogging might be a little sporadic for the next few weeks, but hopefully all will get back to business by mid-September. Hoping you have a wonderful last few days of August! 


Sunday 11 August 2013

Dog Days Of Summer



The first week of August hangs at the very top of the summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lightning, but it quivers all alone. There is no thunder, no relieving rain. These are strange and breathless days, the dog days, when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after.”
Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting



Ah, the Dog Days of Summer -that comfortable sultry time when Sirius rises at the same time as the sun, or so I am told. Today is the last actual day of the the dog days for the Northern Hemisphere. There are signs already that summer is slowly packing a bag, in anticipation of heading back from whence it came, leaving us with that feeling that it was just not here long enough. I blame July for the let down that is about to arrive. July kisses us with such passion and urgency that it makes us fall head over heels in love with summer, and we expect that first blush of love will never end.  But it does, and August is here to let us down gently.

Tonight, too, is a special night, in that the stars are putting on a show - the Perseid meteor shower dances through the sky, reminding us the universe isn't always all about us*. Hopefully you are in a place where you can see the sky - sadly I can't, because of the nagging little thundershowers plaguing my evening, but somewhere, there is a clear sky and someone gasping in awe, someone realizing just how Van Gogh must have seen things all of the time and feeling the magic of the universe in which we live. 

*there will always be those who don't believe it isn't all about them, but we can usually discount them as twits. 

 
 Back here on earth,  I am reminded this week also of a solid and implacable truth of the universe - if your house is in total disarray, you will have not one, but two sets of visitors, arriving within a week or two of each other. I am in the process of rearranging my craft room, which was momentarily a guest room, but the transplant failed and the guests will just have to make due as they have always done when they visit me, and I am madly racing the clock to get things done. Usually if my house is a good demonstration of the aftermath of a tornado, it is my own doing and I had fun making it happen - this time I am a victim of circumstances - a magical mystical creature was supposed to visit .... the "carpet guy".  This is a promise made 3 months ago, and of course something "always comes up" - this time it is my patience, or more precisely, lack of, and they can wait until I am good and ready, not the other way around. I am reasonably sure that when I am knee deep in visitors this unicorn will come to call, but as I have been waiting 3 months, to that I say fie. You heard me. Fie! One does wonder why it is okay to let someone live in an uncomfortable manner for so long at their leisure, but if these individuals were asked to do the same, but if they were asked the same they would be all indignant at the very idea (see above comment about twits). So Mr. Unicorn-smart-pants can just stay away,  I have better things to do. Or at least more pressing things to do.  Life will out.

I did, of course, manage to do a little work on my projects, and specifically my wine room. Part of that work was to order some lovely items from Karen Benson,  (okay, not "really" work, per say, although it was difficult to stop ordering...whee!) which should be arriving in the next week or so, barring any silly shenanigans by the Canadian Postal Service, etc. Sometimes I just don't feel like re-inventing the wheel or tracking down the raw materials with which I can "bash" into something suitable, so I purchased a couple of wine bottle kits (1/4 scale), amongst other items. 

Meanwhile, back on the ranch...

I made a "light fixture" (not electrified, mind you) - This is in fact two scrap book "edgings", a flat bead spacer, and a bead.
I also worked on my wine racks proper. I tried a number of different approaches to the racks, and I finally settled on rounded shelves. The bottle slots started life as a strip of paper that was glued around a dowel.
This join looks massive, but of course it is an extreme close up and the join is not as noticeable  when viewed at a more respectable distance.


I spaced the wine slots with wooden shelves. I also finished another sconce, which I think turned out splendidly. 

The wine holders, painted.  My insert and floor is not glued down, in case you are wondering - I still have to think about what I will put - if anything - on the stairs, and there are a couple of things I want to do before I put glue to paper. I have some splendid ideas for the outer box - I am thinking grape vines, maybe making the outside of the box look like a wine crate - we will see what goes down. It is always a logic puzzle, though, of what things should be finished before the next step occurs, so you are not inadvertently mucking up what you just finished (which can be heart breaking).


I have painted the white screen of the box black, which makes the screen  "disappear" to the eye, cutting out the glare. To protect it from dust,  I may insert a little plastic window as well.


This is the side shelf, too shallow for the wine, good for glasses. I think this came out not too badly. The wine glasses were made of a variety of items (beads, tooth picks, earring backs, very small circle punch outs). The silver items are earring backings and bead spacers. In the bottom shelf is a nice little shell. I have also softened the floor, which was a little bright, by "dirty-ing" it up a bit.

I can't really go too much further with my wine room until my orders come through, so I went on to a small project from my library to fill my precious time.  I landed on a 1:144 scale adobe courtyard scene, under a dome (an old American Miniaturist project, picture is from same) that I have wanted to do for awhile, just hadn't gotten around to it until now.

 I had a clever idea of using one of my "bead storage jars" as a dome, as I don't have one for myself. Of course, the ones I have are a little too small, but that is okay, I can build the insides for now. American Miniaturist used a dome from the company "Minikitz". They have them for very affordable cost.

 I did want to do this all as one solid piece, and I cleverly drafted it as such. Do you see the whoopsie? Yup, I drew the third wall on the wrong side. Yay me. No worries, I cut that off and glued it to the other side. My only issue with the pattern (outside of my own drafting goof) was that it only gave me dimensions on two wall pieces ... the third was a guess. Happily the picture was "almost" to true size, so I was able to guestimate. 

 The pieces, cut. I used foamcore for the base, and covered the rough sides with a strip of cardstock eventually. 

 Oooh, nice clean finger nails. Mom would be proud. I maintain if you aren't covered in paint and glue at the end of the day, you simply weren't having any fun!  Anyway, the pattern calls for a tile floor, and suggests going to the local train and hobby store to get flooring. Yeah, right - I am going to go out in a raging thunderstorm on a metal bike on the faint hope that a) the guy is open on a Sunday and b) he actually has something I can use....so not! What I have in my little fingers is a piece of aida cloth (for cross stitching), and doesn't that so look like a tiny tile pattern? Hmmm? Painted terra cotta and you get...

 A Tile Floor! for 1:144 scale. I have glued the cloth to a piece of cardstock, in order to stop it from fraying. 

That is pretty much where I stopped today, outside of applying a gesso covering for "adobe" to the walls and the base. I would have gone further, but humid days of course make that always infuriating drying time extend to infinity. Oh well, I probably need to get back to schlepping my craft room items back into their rightful places. 

Hope you are melting into August like one would sink into a warm bath, and hopefully your summer days extend further than you would have ever dared hope and dream...Siriusly. 

 

Until next time, my faithful companions!

Sunday 4 August 2013

Yeah, I can, but should I?

Pinterest posting and subsequent "Fail"
We have all been there. We see something fabulous, gorgeous, a must have. The whimsy takes us and we really absolutely need to have "it" because, well ...


We are all ready to get out our wallet at whatever kiosk we have just seen the Best. Thing. Ever., when some joker pipes up "you can make that, you know." *

When you hear that phrase, you should be thinking of this guy...
 
Custer, just before someone said to him "you know, I betcha anything you can win..."

 Yes, of course we "can". The question is...should we? Granted, I fall into this trap more often than I would care to admit. I see something totally amazing, but listen to that blasted voice tell me I should try to make it, I totally could.  In some ways, it is because it is a challenge, plus it has always been my fall back position  - I grew up learning one was never to buy something expensive when a cheaper alternative was available (I didn't have a Rubik's Cube, for example - I had a "Puzzle cube"  - Budgets and imaginations can be stretched to fit any alternative if you are determined enough, plus the puzzle cube was just as unsolvable as the real thing so no loss there). One thing, however, that you have to remember about that voice when it whispers sweet encouragement into your shell-like ear, and this is the important thing that will save you much tears in the long run... THAT INDIVIDUAL WON'T BE TRYING IT THEMSELVES, and have nothing really to lose by talking you out of "the thing". Over the years I have come to resist people talking me out of that wonderful one of a kind treasure because a) I do find I can't make it myself. I can only make a reasonable facsimile - I can't exactly reproduce someone's art, I can't find that exact path that led to "the thing" that made me run up to a vendor at a show and say "TAKE MY MONEY!" in the first place. There are forgers in the world, brilliant forgers, who can come close to reproducing "the thing", but there is always some tell, some hint that it isn't the real deal - for example, think just how many "new" Stradivarius violins there are, and you will see what I mean. The not quite perfect note of a copy just isn't going to cut it.

Secondly, and more importantly b) the person telling me to make it myself is assuming that I have mastery over the craft ( flattering (or perhaps an example of cluelessness about the process, but I will be kind and assume the former), but I probably don't, as it is an established fact that it takes 10,000 hours to master something,  and Sunday afternoons are never that long, even in the summer), and that it will somehow be cheaper to make it myself (never is, you end up buying enough supplies to make two dozen after spending an entire day shopping every store in town, when you only ever really wanted one and you don't have a desire to make another, and it is more stuff to find a place to store). No matter how talented we are, there are things we simply can't do, and it saves just a little sanity in the long run to admit it.  So I resist that temptation and "buy the thing" when I can afford it.

*also, you shouldn't say this in ear shot of any artist about their art, because it is actually quite rude.

Now, for something completely different - This week I got cool stuff in the mail! A few years ago a fellow Whovian and I purchased dutch baby house cabinets. If you are unfamiliar, they look like this...

These are called "Baby Houses" because they were houses that were an exact copy of a real working house - not children's toys. They were something that let young girls get a feel for what an adult working house would be like, and what you would need to stock such a house - I think that is a grand idea, actually, had I had that option growing up, I might not have made the choices  I did - thinkin' about you again, ex-husband!  Anyway, these houses are gaining popularity amongst the "go smaller or go home" crowd, working in the 1:120 scale (or thereabouts, there is quite a debate about what is the true scale for  these types of projects - I won't say which one is right of course, because these people know how to find me and it wouldn't be safe to leave my house - these are serious serious debates, people!).

Anyway, a few weeks ago we received an email from the person we originally bought the houses from, and she was able to score for us an entire houseful of  furniture and supplies for our baby houses! My package arrived this week, oh joy, oh rapture! Sadly it is in the queue right now of "things I really want to do", but I will get there. 

This weekend, however, I worked on my wine cellar in 1:48 scale. As you recall, I want it to look not unlike this: 

 I am still working on the "bones", if you will. I am making headway, however. 

 Building the insert that goes into one of the wine rack shelves. 

 The side wine rack and frame. 

 The front view of the left hand side wine rack/wall with insert. 

 Since this project is relying heavily on cardstock, I have been building supports to keep things from sagging, bending, and bowing. 

 I built this door thinking it would be good for the main room, but as I looked at the stairway to no where, I felt that I really needed to add an "escape" - again also , there is always some joker in the house that will look past your exquisite work and say "but how do the people get in and out?" and then we have to look at them like they are a simpleton,  we tell them off and they cry, and its a total mess from there.

 Depending on how much room I have, and how I feel about it all, I might make a second door as well, because I do kind of like the door opening into the great room as well.

 Quarter inch wide  strips, painted. I made my tile floor out of these, cutting the strips into further quarter inch lengths, gluing the little blocks down, and then "modpodging" the whole floor to give it a shine. 

 It looks a little wonky right now, but that is because it isn't glued down. I am starting to look like my inspiration picture, however! 

 I went off script here. My inserts weren't "exactly" cut perfectly, so they didn't fit exactly right in the cut outs. I decided I would add some depth to my inserts with some clay, and clay covers all...nice, clean...cleansing clay. 

 I wanted to make a little wall sconce.  This is not something you will find in any how to apparently anywhere on the web - a tragic oversight, in my opinion. With a little experimenting, I came up with something rather workable - the back is a bent scrap booking finding, with a "decorative" grommet from my stash glued to the front.  The "Candle" is a length of toothpick (cocktail stick, if you will) that has been glued in and then "drizzled" with a little bit of craft paint. I have also finished the stone work in the stairwell here. 


 The clay all applied, now to add a few bricks...


 And where I finished today. It was an enforced finish - I was ready to finish the stone work but I do have to wait for the clay to dry. Sadly, it all comes down to that, waiting for things to dry - dear deities, will the 1st world problems never end! Not too shabby with the progress, though. 

To Wrap Things Up, I found this little video in which the artist shows you how to make some lovely summer fruits - they aren't bad for realism  (and in fact making me sneeze for some reason). Enjoy! 


Until we meet again, my little children of summer!

Nanaimo Harbour, Vancouver Island BC