The Cloud-Pruned Pine Has Been Re-Shaped

While we were in southern Alberta in May, I spent Mother's Day afternoon in Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden. The garden was designed and is still maintained by Japanese garden specialists, and I got to see some wonderful pine trees there. This one is just off the side of the azumaya (gazebo) at the site.

My Japanese pine will be a single trunk, as my garden is quite a bit smaller; the idea, according to my Japanese gardening book, is that you should be able to see through the tree, so that the areas of foliage look like green clouds, and the trunk and branches should have a pleasing shape. My vignette has the tree in a tight corner, which means I had to shape it carefully to fit; also, it has to leave enough room for the hydrangea bushes underneath to get their sunshine. As well, the branches can't be too close to the (faux) house wall.



The top of the tree will hang over the fence a bit, while the foliage will fit within the corner without getting in the way of the gate or the plants. This is the same tree I put together earlier, with one of the branches cut off and the trunk lengthened. It stands on its own and fits neatly into the corner; the far branch will stand just proud of the slatted side window on the side wall. Next up, I have to prepare the bases for the foliage. Once that is done, I can paint the trunk - right now, it is just floral tape and fine wire over the heavier base wire.

Our heat wave has ended, which means I feel more like working. I hope to get back to this in the coming week, but as it is soon time for my visiting daughter to head home, I hope to also spend some more quality time with her, as it will likely be a year before we will be able to get together again....

Some New Acquired Minis, and One I'm Working On

While I was out west, visiting my children, I happened upon an antiques mall's annual outdoors flea market/antiques sale. The very first table we came across had minis!



This lot was being sold for $1 each, but the man selling wanted to get rid of things, so he said if I bought five, I could have one free. Free is good, right? The sewing machine doesn't have a purpose yet, but I thought I could probably use it somewhere. The other four pieces, all of them pencil sharpeners in another life, will work very well indeed in one of my steam punk settings, with a little bit of paint here and there.



This second batch was being sold out of a carton, at 25 cents each or five for a dollar. The watering cans can go into the flower shop, my younger daughter covets the canisters (I thought I had three of them), and the log carrier could go into any number of projects. Right after I purchased these and the ones above, a Chinese lady and her adult daughter bought all of the other pieces in the carton!



My daughter-in-law had saved some small items from crafting, so my Christmas market stall (being planned for when I am caught up) gave me a box of tree ornaments and some wreath forms; with a bit of help, these should find a good home in that (eventual) setting.



On Wednesday, I actually mini'd with my mini friends; I began the wire form for the cloud-pruned pine I want to finish off my Japanese vignette, but it is too small. So back to the drawing board.



I will incorporate the roots into the trunk, perhaps add a couple of branches, although I have to keep the hydrangea plants in mind, and wrap floral tape, then foil, then more tape, etc. around it when I like the height of the tree. The unwrapped loops are where I plan to place the foliage. Luckily, I have lots more wire in case things go horribly wrong....

And no, I haven't quite finished my sweater; I have to sew up one shoulder, do the collar, and then see if the sleeves are long enough for me - hopefully that will be done next week.

I Haven't Disappeared....

...but I did join a knitting group, with the result that I pulled apart a heavy Aran sweater I made years ago, that never did fit. I am almost done with it, half the sleeves and the collar are left to go. As it became summer here very suddenly, in less than a week, I am trying to finish it before it gets too hot to knit.

I may need it when I head for the Bay of Fundy on July 1st.

See You Soon!

For the next little while, I will be away from my computer, so there won't  be any posts for a couple of weeks. I am still trying to learn the tablet, but I have yet to figure out how to post anything from there. Guess I'll "read" myself to sleep while on the road.

We were interviewed at the Moncton Miniature and Doll Show on Saturday in connection with our group Remembrance Day Project. Many photos of the project were taken; it will be interesting to see what gets published eventually.

Seedlings on a Shoestring Part 3

Quite a few children come to the Moncton Miniature and Doll Show every year, and they do like to buy miniatures for themselves. This year, I decided to do some items specifically for the kids, things they might enjoy and which they could purchase for a small amount of money.



Although technically not seedlings, these little plastic bouquets in vases made of various beads, with painted paper leaves, will hopefully find new homes this Saturday. They look pretty good, and may even sell to some adult collectors!

The flowers themselves are pulled off inexpensive plastic plants, and I have kept them as they are pretty good as far as one-twelfth scale goes. Along with these little flower pieces, I also packed up some early fruits and vegetables, and some pots and pans and the like that I decided I would probably never use. However, a child with a few dollars might enjoy having them.

We'll see! Good news is, the TransCanada Highway is open once again, which means I can leave early Saturday morning rather than have to travel via the long detour, and pay for a hotel, on Friday. I hope the rain stays away....

Seedlings on a Shoestring 2

Today I assembled a small grouping of forced hyacinth bulbs in tea cans; this particular project has been around for a number of years, notably on a Dutch site that is now unreachable, and on the Spanish Advent Calendar several years ago.

The photo is not good; although it printed right side up, the flash insisted on going off and I didn't center the photo. I hope to assemble some inexpensive vases of flowers for the children that like to come to the show, and as they will be simple, they will also be affordable for them.

The flower heads are made of quinoa seeds, wire, and paper; the bulbs are polymer clay, while the printies are from the internet. That's it for today!

I hope to feel well enough to go to a mini afternoon tomorrow....

This Is Several Days' Work!

I am not even going to try and figure out why the photo is suddenly sideways; however, I suspect the Carpenter-in-Chief has fiddled with my controls again. This is a week's worth of polymer clay baking, interspersed with being sick, feeling better, going away for several days, and being too tired to figure out how to rotate this photo!

There are pies, tarts, donuts and petits fours pastries. I experimented with liquid Fimo and oil paint for icing, and it worked very well for the white and chocolate donuts, but the pink turned out looking too much like, well, flesh; it has been repainted and glossed.

The petits fours are decorated with candied violets and angelica pieces; I first made these years ago for the baker's stall of my market. Clays change fairly frequently; soft clays and I do not get along, but the harder, professional clays do not really seem to be available here in town. I'll have to talk to staff at my local artists' store....



And the carrots are sideways too, of course. I am going to just leave it for today, but will, hopefully, have it sorted again for the next post. There are floral pieces on the go.