A change of focus

I've not been doing a lot of minis lately, I've needed a change of focus - literally! The old eyesight isn't what it used to be . . .

So I've been having fun knitting lately. The day will come when I'll want to try miniknitting :D - but in the meantime I've started a new blog which may be of interest to any of my miniland friends who are also knitters

Peppercorn Knits

http://peppercornknits.blogspot.co.nz/

Best wishes to you all!

Glenda

Still here

Hello, everyone - sorry about the long silence. I've had a rough winter of ill health and an old problem of fatigue has re-appeared :(

I haven't done anything on my little weaver's house for ages, but the spring weather's working its magic, and I'm looking forward to starting on it again.

Thanks to those who have contacted me about being absent - it's good to have friends around the world!

Best wishes to you all!

xxx Glenda

Quarter scale

I'd like to welcome all my new followers! I don't deserve you all, as I haven't made any miniatures for many months now!! But thankyou so much for taking an interest in my blog :D
I'll have a little giveaway soon to brighten things up :)

Now that I've successfully moved house, my mini mojo has returned!! Yay!! It was hiding in a teensy corner, and pointing to quarter scale. Yikes, I said, what's going on?? That's not what I expected!
'Start tiny' it said, 'and after that it can only get easier!' Hmmm, I don't know whether to believe this.

Soooo . . . having sorted some more of my family history lately, I've become interested in the ancestors who had a woollen weaving mill in Yorkshire in the 19th century. I have no illusions that it was at all romantic or nice (a certain member of the family was shot by an employee for his harsh treatment of the workers . . .!!), but it started me thinking on the story of my new project. You need a story, don't you, to have a mini come alive? And I love weaving - I'm not very competent, but it's oh so satisfying.
And to continue with one of my favourite time periods - medieval. I just can't stay away :)
I've now got this fabulous little 1:48 kit from Bea Broadwood at Petite Properties which is to become the home and workshop of my medieval weaver (a good man, not an owner of a dark satanic mill). I've chosen this kit because it's an intermediate skill level - if I enjoy 1:48 scale, I'll try something more challenging next time :)
For the same reason, I'm going to use laser-cut kits for the furniture. I did buy one of Bea's excellent books on how to make 1:48 furniture from card and paper, and I'm looking forward to trying this, but some of the kits out there are too tempting!

Glenda
And a personal update -
Our kitten Toby who went missing - he was killed on the road :( We still have our two older cats who we love dearly.
I'd also like to apologise for my extended absence from blogging - my life got a bit serious for a while. Blogland is a happy place, and I didn't want to inflict my problems on the world :)
G

Ladies of Wales, can you help?

This is a non-mini topic :)
I have inherited these two paintings which were painted by my great-great-great grandfather in (I think) 1886.
Written on the back is 'Varney Valley, North Wales'. I have tried to search a map of Wales to see if a valley matched anything like this name, but no luck so far. Besides, if I try to pronounce Welsh, the laughter would deafen you, and my brains fall out my ears!! :D

Just by chance, does anyone recognise the place or the name? It's not too important, but it would be be nice to know :)

Sorry the photos aren't very good.

I'm adding two more photos here - Sam King's signature, and what's written on the back - it's the same on both paintings, but this one also has very faint writing up at the right saying 'June (Jan?) -86'
Glenda

A strange noise on the lawn this morning

My poppets have arrived! They didn't like the frost at all!!

Life before minis - weaving

Warning - no minis here - just me wittering on about my past craft lives!!
Weaving is a craft which I was pursuing before the miniatures bug claimed me - I haven't done any for some time now! I have two small portable rigid heddle looms, and have made a lot of scarves, most of which I gave as gifts. My favourite yarn is Noro silk and wool mix, which is so beautifully dyed, and the texture is yummy!! The three scarves at top left are of this yarn. The shawl is a moebius shawl, made as a rectangle and twisted once before joining the seam. This works so well as a shawl or scarf, as it sits so comfortably! This was made from rectangles made on a hand-held 6" x 4" Weavette loom, and crocheted together.

The white shawl at the bottom left is a true piece of retro!! I made it in the 1970s 'back to the land' era - I kept the sheep, I did the shearing myself, spun the wool and crocheted the shawl. Totally hand-made!! The sheep was part merino, so the wool was extremely fine and soft. And because the fleece was so dense, it took me ages to shear the poor sheep - it fell asleep while I was doing it!!!

I love thread and textiles - and I wasn't surprised when I did family history to find that one branch of my family were in the textile industry in Bradford in Yorkshire in the mid 19th century. It just feels right to me when I work with thread or yarn.

Life before minis - bobbin lace

Another craft dealt a fatal blow by the nerve damage I sustained 14 years ago - I was heart-broken, as this was my absolute favourite thing in the world!! I had just started in earnest to design my own lace, and was flying high when I was halted abrubtly.
I gave away a lot of lace, so I haven't got much left.
I started as most lacemakers do, with the more traditional lace techniques - point ground (that's the one with the typical fine hexagonal background stitch), torchon (the easiest, on a square grid) and tape lace.
Detail - the horseshoe shaped collar took over 100 pairs of lace bobbins at the widest part. It took over 100 hours to make.

Modern lace - my favourite, especially the lace designed by Jana Novak at Moravia Lace, and Eeva Liisa Kortelahti in Finland.

Above is a lace picture of leaves, adapted from a design by Jana Novak.

Are there any other lacemakers who also make minis out there?

Life before minis - embroidery

While they're accessible, I'm cataloguing some of my past craft works - I'm putting up some photos here if anyone may be interested. (If you want details of the designers, e-mail me.)
These are some of my better efforts at cross stitch, needlepoint and embroidery, very few of them designed by me - the raven and occult symbols is one.

These have remained out of sight for over 14 years now since I damaged the nerves in my arms, one event and your whole life changes!!
I can't afford to get them framed, and I've considered making a patchwork out of them, but I think that would look too 'patchy', lol. Has anyone done this with similar work? Did it work well?

A deer design by Jan Messent in fine wool in Bayeux stitch. I love this !!





The blue/green needlepoint at top centre is my own design.
The free embroidery in the middle is from a kit by Stef Francis, whose website is well worth a visit if you like beautiful threads - check out the kits!! The dyed silk cocoons below are from her, they were such fun to embroider!! Or you can search for 'Stef Francis images' for a quick colourful pick-me-up!

Mini-free zone

I started by searching for something, and ended up finding things I hadn't looked at for a very long time.
This clothing is based on archaeological finds - the yellow and brown is Finnish Viking (traders not raiders!), and the white and blue is Anglo-Saxon. The fabric is linen and wool, and all visible seams are handsewn in stitches known in those time periods. The accessories are modern-made reproductions of authentic pieces. The belts are card-woven.
The flared undergowns are each cut from a single large rectangle of fabric, with nothing wasted - if you spin and weave it yourself you want to use it all!
My efforts aren't totally accurate (and the shoes are modern), but it's fun to dress up!
There are also my little hoards - the one with beads is all Viking, and the other is neolithic, Roman and Anglo-Saxon.
I never found what I was looking for.

Shooting star

Woke at 5am with Sammie the cat sprawled on my pillow. Yesterday was 31 degrees, hot and dry, summer has arrived very late this year! This has dried up the sky - I just went outside and was gobsmacked by the clarity of the Milky Way. Hard to believe there are galaxies in that wave of soft white. Saw two satellites and a shooting star. Life is good.