Crafting together (August) - making Spaghetti Bolognese

Vorige week zijn Jolinda en ik opnieuw aan de slag gegaan met Fimo. Jolinda ging aan de slag om aardappelen te maken, sommige geschild en anderen nog met de aarde eraan.
Zelf ging ik na de pizza van vorige keer verder met het Italiaanse thema en maakte Spaghetti Bolognese met de hulp van deze tutorial van AkameruKawaii.

Last week Jolinda and I started working with Fimo again. Jolinda set to work making potatoes, some peeled and others still soiled.
I myself continued with the Italian theme after last time's pizza and made Spaghetti Bolognese with the help of this tutorial by AkameruKawaii.

Nadat ik het terras geveegd had en alle stof van de berg geblazen had, heb ik een tafel gedekt en staat de pasta klaar voor twee hongerige gasten ;)

After I swept the terrace and blown all the dust off the mountain, I set a table for two. The pasta is ready for two hungry guests ;)

We vonden het opnieuw zo leuk om met polymeer klei te werken dat we volgende keer samen knoflookbollen willen maken.

Again we enjoyed working with polymer clay so much that next time we want to make garlic bulbs together :)

Crafting together (July) with Fimo

Afgelopen week hebben Jolinda en ik weer samen geknutseld. Jammer genoeg kan Connie niet meer mee doen, maar ook met z'n tweeën blijven we actief :')
We hadden de vorige keer afgesproken dat we allebei met Fimo zouden werken. Iets dat we beiden meestal mijden omdat we het lastig vinden (a)
Jolinda ging gebakken eitjes makken voor in de koekenpan op haar fornuis en ik besloot een pizza te maken. 

Last week Jolinda and I have been crafting together again. Unfortunately, Connie isn't able to participate anymore, but the two of us will continue to make miniatures :')

Last time we'd agreed that we were going to work with Fimo. Something we both usually avoid because we find it a bit difficult (a)

Jolinda went to make fried eggs for the frying pan on her stove and I decided to make a pizza.

I used this tutorial by Maive Ferrando.

The next day I added details with pastels
and started making the next pizza :)

This weekend I made a round wooden
cutting board. I might give it another
(better) try but I wanted to take a
photo for the blog ^^

We vonden het allebei onverwachts leuk zo'n middagje kleien en waren beiden tevreden met het resultaat dus hebben we besloten volgende maand opnieuw met de Fimo aan de slag te gaan.

To our surprise we both liked working with Fimo and were both satisfied with the result, so we decided to do it again next month.

Making a paper flower pots and a jug kit

 

Making miniatures is getting more straining physically the last couple of years. And it lessened the fun I alway had. So recently I've bought some small kits at different webshops to get me back on track making miniatures and enjoying them :)
At 't Tafereeltje I've bought some flower boxes, a pizza cutter, a wooden pizza plate with handle and a kit to make nine flower pots and a jug from paper. All of which is for the Italian project.

I've make jugs and other things from paper before but never got the result I wanted so I was curious how this would turn out.
It was easy enough, the descriptions were clear and I like the effect of the paint with filler mixture.

The flower pots look very nice imo even though they are a bit smaller than I expected. But that will be a good mix with the flower pots and planters I already got. Plus need less flowers to fill them lol
I love how the jug turned out. I had choosen an olive acrylic paint and did - I think 3 or 4 layers before I gave it a gloss varnish coating.

Crafting together (June) and birthday swap

Yesterday we had our monthly crafting afternoon again. Extra special because we celebrated Connie's birthday, and also because Jenny (and her husband) from 't Tafereeltje dropped by.
Coffee, gifts and chatting ... oh my ;)

Jolinda had made this vase with gorgeous roses and some lovely baskets.

@ MiniaturenJolinda

Since Connie is working on a take away pizzaria atm and I've got a Pinterest board with lot of ideas for my own Italian project, it wasn't hard to decided what to make for her.
I went with a miniature wine rack inspired by this one (lots of similar images online):

I drew a design and made it from Balsa. 

Gave up on the rack for the glasses after the 3rd attempt and realised without it it's possible to either set the wine rack on a counter or hang it on the wall ;)

I've found some Italian wine labels online and resized and printed them for the wine bottles I already had.

Next I'd made a cork screw inspirered by this tutorial by Daniela mini though I used a spring from a pen.

It look so pretty I'm sure I'll be making another one for the wall of my trattoria ;)

Same goes for the metal signs I've made. Google provided me with lots of very nice images when I looked for 'vintage poster Italy'. Credits for the tutorial on making these signs to Fabulously Small.

Finally I tried to create a drip candle wine bottle. My first attempt with Fimo Liquid didn't work out :')
The (plastic, yes I know) bottle started to melt very soon. Since I'm used to put Fimo with paper of light bulbs in the oven, I didn't think it would work on the bottle as well ^^
So in the end I used acrylic paint.

After Jenny and her husband had left, we started crafting. Connie and Jolinda both worked on making furniture. I've started with a kit for a bay leave and did some crocheting in between. More about that in the next blog though ;)

Crafting together (January)

For the first crafting afternoon this year I was all set for working with Fimo. I'd even bought five new colours ^^
So while Jolinda was working hard on the stairs for her Greek scene and Monique was making a lot of different miniatures from Fimo, I tried my hand at making a polymer clay cane. I'll just show you some (bad ^^) photo's this time.

A polymer clay cane is a log of polymer clay that’s made with a design that runs the entire length of the log. Slices from the cane will reveal a design and all slices from the cane will have identical designs. A polymer clay cane can be reduced by squeezing and compressing. This makes the diameter of the log smaller and the design smaller. Source and more information: here 

 

I used this book by the talented Angie Scarr.

The most challenging part for me was
to cut them into very tiny slices.

I was amazed that I managed to make
one cane and even a cabbage while
the ladies were here; never been so
productive before lol

And I even made some cauliflowers later that afternoon.

I did have fun making them and I'll certainly want to do more
fruit or vegetables from the book ^^ There is definitely
room for improvement, but I think it's not too bad for a first try ^^
They might end up in the Italian project :)

Crafting together (birthday swaps) - September

Yesterday our miniature crafting trio met again. Since Monique had had her birthday during the holidays and Jolinda's will be in a short while, we'd decided to do the birthday swaps for both of them this time.
I hadn't been crafting at all since I'd finished making the red bricks for the (Italian) pavement, so to have to do those swaps was nice :)

For Monique I'd made a little playtent, a reversible playmat and a flags banner. Found the idea in the Dutch magazine P&M nr. 162, though I did some tweaking.

     

  

For Jolinda I'd made two candle sticks, a tray and a French press coffe maker for either her brocante or her French doll house.

Tutorial for the coffe maker by Easy DIY Miniatures. 

Tutorial for the candlesticks by My Miniature Madness.

The tray was inspired a similar idea from the Dutch magazine P&M nr. 163. 

After exchanging the gifts and having tea and coffee we started crafting.

Monique tried to work out how to use her new 3D pen though when that didn't work, she made Fimo canes and then some very nice succulents.

Jolinda has been participating in Thea's Summer Project and worked on one of the last items - a watering can - she needed to do.

I've made a first batch of grey cobblestones for the Italian pavement. I'm not really sure about them. Maybe they'll turn out okay after some sanding and aging, but I might just start over.

That won't be anytime soon though. It's time to continue working on the cottage again. I know I said that before, but this time I've put the Italian project away (out of sight, out of mind? ^^) and the cottage on the diner table again! :)

I've made more bricks during our miniature crafting afternoon last monday, and even more afterwards :') I'd told you in my previous blog that every single brick would be lightly sanded, and given a bit rounder corners. Seeing that whole box of brix though, while my shoulders were still straining from the brick making, I started second guessing that plan.

The bricks below aren't sanded, the ones above are. I think it would have looked a bit better, but I decided it wouldn't be worth the extra strain, especially since ther wil be some dirt and moss between the bricks and there will be bistro tables and chairs and flower pots.

So, decision made, I started right away. I glued the drawings to the base plated and started glueing the bricks in place. I'd told myself I'd do only one part, but ...

... it was just too much fun seeing the pavement emerge ;) And since we had a heatwave last week, it was impossible to do much else (a)

But now I'll take a break untill the next meeting with Jolinda and Monique, when I'll probably make the gray cobblestones.

How I made bricks

In the previous blog I showed you my design for the brick pavement I wanted to make for the Italian project.
So this weekend I've experimented a bit with making bricks. I won't bore you with the methods that didn't work for me so this is what I did ;)
(Hopefully my English will be good enough to help you understand, but if you have question or comments just let me know)

In m'n vorige blog liet ik het ontwerp zien dat ik getekend had voor het terras van de Italiaanse bistro. Dit weekend ben ik wat gaan experimenteren met verschillende manieren om straatsteentjes te maken. Ik zal jullie niet vervelen met alle mislukte pogingen dus dit is hoe ik het uiteindelijk heb gedaan ;)

I just used simple white air drying clay, and then I mixed some soft pastel (powder) with the white clay. Didn't know if it would work, but it seems to do ^^

Ik heb de luchtdrogende witte klei van de Action gebruikt die ik gemixt heb met het poeder van zachte pastels. Ik had geen idee of dat zou werken, maar blijkbaar wel ^^

I taped some baking paper on the oilcloth tablecloth so the clay wouldn't stick to the tablecloth.
I wanted the bricks nothing thicker than 2 mm so I glued two Balsa slats 2 x 2 mm to the baking paper.
The bricks I need are 17 x 5 mm so I put the slats 8 cm apart which would be the right width for 16 bricks. I made marks on the slats every 17 mm (the length of the bricks), covered a rolling pinn with cling film and mixed soft pastel with the white air drying clay untill it was the right colour.

Met plakband zette ik een stuk bakpapier vast op m'n (knutsel) tafelzeiltje, zodat de steentjes niet aan de ondergrond zouden plakken. Omdat ik dunne steentjes wilde, heb ik twee Balsa latjes van 2x2 mm met Tacky glue op het bakpapier gelijmd. Dikkere latjes (of wat je ook wilt gebruiken) zorgt voor dikkere steentjes. Ik koos voor 8 cm tussenruimte, wat in mijn geval betekende dat er 16 steentjes tussen zouden passen.
Voor het ontwerp dat ik had getekend (gebaseerd op maten van echte stenen) moest ik steentjes van 17x5 mm maken. Op beide latjes zette ik dus met potlood streepjes op 17 mm van elkaar. Tenslotte bedekte ik een deegroller (bij gebrek aan beter ^^) met vershoudfolie en mixte de klei met het poeder tot de kleur die ik wilde.

I spread the clay between the slats, using the rolling pin to get a nice, flat suface.

De klei werd verdeeld tussen de latjes en uitgerold met de deegroller zodat ik een gladde, 2 mm dikke, plak klei had.

On both ends I put little holes every 5 mm ...

Aan boven- en onderkant prikte ik gaatjes op 5 mm afstand van elkaar ...

... and carefully drew lines with a ruler and a dull blade. Better draw three shallow lines untill you've cut through than doing it in one go because the clay will stick to the knife.

... zodat ik met een liniaal voorzichtig met een bot hobbymesje repen kon snijden. Het is het beste om meerdere keren lichtjes over/door de klei te gaan, want als je in één keer door de plak snijdt, trek je de klei mee aan je mesje.

After the long vertical lines I did the horizontal ones.

Na de lengte lijnen, legde ik een liniaal tegen de potloodstreepjes op de latjes en verdeelde de repen klei in 17 mm lange steentjes. Hiervoor gebruikte ik trouwens een 8 cm breed plamuurmes, wat ook een reden was waarom de afstand tussen de latjes 8 cm was ;)

To give the bricks more character I'd carefully brushed little bits of the soft pastel on them.

Om de steentjes wat meer karakter te geven - en hopelijk een wat ouder effect - strooide ik hele kleine beetjes poeder over de klei. Dit kun je zowel voor als na het snijden doen, maar als je het ervoor doet, kan je liniaal het eventueel wat uitvegen.

I used the 8 cm putty knife to lift the rows of bricks from between the slats so they would dry faster.
When they were half hard and I could separate them one by one, I put them in the oven (90 degrees Celsius) for a few minutes but only because I was impatient ;)
I did a second batch with a bit more brown mixed with the red soft pastel.

Je kan het natuurlijk twee dagen zo laten liggen om te drogen, maar zo geduldig ben ik niet ;) Met het plamuurmes bijna horizontaal (om het bakpapier heel te laten) heb ik voorzichtig rij voor rij op getild en los van elkaar gelegd. Om te voorkomen dat de steentjes 'vervormen' kun je het beste wachten tot de klei minstens al wat harder aan de buitenkant is :') 
En het is natuurlijk niet per se nodig met deze klei, maar toen alle steentjes los van elkaar waren, heb ik ze nog een kleine tien minuten in een bakblik in de oven geschoven op 90 gr Celsius om goed te harden.
Aan de tweede partij heb ik wat meer en donkerdere tinten poeder toegevoegd.

By using different colours of soft pastel and brushing them lightly, you'll get (hopefully) a feeling of older bricks :)
Every single brick will be lightly sanded, and given a bit rounder corners. I think I need approx. 1500 red bricks, so 1000 more to make :)

Door de klei in verschillende schakeringen te bakken plus ze ook nog hier en daar met losse poeder te kleuren (voor het bakken), krijg je bij het plaatsen van de steentjes een gemêleerd effect.
Nu de tijdrovende taak om steentje voor steentje de ruwe randjes een beetje te schuren. En zelf vind ik het bij dit soort steentje ook mooier om de hoeken wat ronder te maken. 
Ik schat dat ik zo'n 1500 rode steentjes nodig heb, dus nog 1000 bijmaken en dan de grotere grijze keien gaan maken :)