Miniature Monday: Lemon Tree

Last week, a group of us got together to work on lemon trees.  One of my friends put the kits together for us and we spent the day at her house chatting and turning wire, paint, clay and paper into this:

My very first miniature lemon tree! I love it. The only thing I would do differently next time will be to put more branches in, but I am very pleased with my first attempt.

The branches started out as about 9-10 pieces of wire, twisted together and coated to look like wood.  Then the flowers are assembled with each being glued on individually, as are the leaves.  The lemons were last.  I kept having to make sure they were hanging properly.

The friend who put the kits together and hosted us doesn't have a web site, but sells at shows and through other vendors.  Here's a sampling of her work: Artistic Florals by Arlene  and Artistic Florals 1/2" scale- she is awesome!

A great resource for pre-punched petals and punches is Hanky Panky Crafts( http://hankypankycrafts.com/ ).  I've purchased many of their punches and books.  I have to warn you though, miniature plant and flower making is addictive!

Thanks for stopping by!

Miniature Monday: Flower Shop In Progress

I've been taking some of my plants and flowers out of their packaging to furnish this shop I have in progress.

Thanks for looking!

Miniature Monday: Minis for My Merchant of Granada Marketplace

I have been collecting miniatures to use in my Merchant of Granada roombox.

When I go to miniature shows, I have an idea of which projects I am shopping for.  This helps me to stay focused and actually finish the miniature scenes I have in progress.  I don't usually give myself a budget, because when I see something I really really really need, I buy it!  Of course I know I don't "need" anything, but who could pass up a beautiful miniature?

That being said, in between shows, I'm able to "shop" in my own workroom! I love that.  I've gathered all of my recently purchased goodies and those from my stash for this project. I lay everything out, then pick through them, trying different combinations in the scene.  I then let it all sit, make changes, and repeat the process.  Four days to make the structure and three months to decide on what's going inside.  I have to laugh!  It takes me a while to decide, and I often just tack things down and not glue them in place.  I thought I'd share a few pictures of the goodies I've laid out so far!

 

Some of these items are jewelry charms.  The two multicolored tables are from Bespaq.  The pottery, hand made by various miniature artisans.   I love the handwoven baskets. If you have any questions, please let me know. 

 

Thanks so much for looking!



 

Miniature Monday - Beads and Miniature Hookahs

I wanted to try my hand at making hookahs for my mini marketplace scene.

There was a lot of bead and jewelry finding sorting and selecting (and lots of shopping too!)  This is what I've come up with so far:

I started out with a wire twisted at the bottom so it wouldn't fall out of the silver bead.  These beads are laid out in the order I strung and glued them onto the wire.





This is the finished product!

Some of these are not complete.  When I couldn't decide what to do next, I left them alone and will take another look later.

I also made a bunch of perfume bottles and jars.  I really enjoyed this adventure.

 

This is my absolute most favorite Hookah.  I just have to put in the hoses and it's DONE!

 

Thanks for looking!