iseecerulean

• make lampshade for floor lamp
• fill sewing box
• make lamp for worktable
• sew and hang curtains
• make a mini iMac
• create wall art
• make teeny books
• cut down mini Coke crate to fit bottom of hutch
• make hanging plants

I spread all the mini art supply stuff out on my worktable...it's a bit overwhelming, knowing I've got to tastefully arrange it all.  It doesn't feel like fun right now, probably because I'm sick, so I'm not going to do anything with it yet.  This project shouldn't be work, it should be fun, and it won't turn out good if it's forced.

Besides which...I was thinking that I should get the curtains and all the artwork on the walls done first, because I'm going to have to flip the box on its back and sides to glue it in place.  I'd be pissed if I spent days arranging the art supply stuff only to have it all fall out when I tip the box over.

I printed pictures of my Muse Box and The Journey wall hanging you made me. They do not look the same in 2D as they do in 3D...I'm not going to hang them up, it would be insulting...I'm going to have to make new, unique, mini assemblage for the mini studio.

What I did end up puttering around with was some pencil cup/supply crock kinds of things, and the mini paint tubes I bought from an Australian lady's Etsy shop.  The paint tubes are really cool, she did a great job, but I thought they needed labels...some of my altering turned out okay, but some didn't and either won't be used or will go on the bottom of a pile of paint tubes.

The little purple pencil cup isn't one I made, it's one the Aussie lady made, I just altered it so the stuff was standing more upright.  The black one is one I bought from a miniature shop...it had the ruler and three pencils in it, I added more stuff to fill it up.  The yellow one is one I made out of air dry clay back when I was working on your hallo box...it's a replica of the coiled clay pencil cup that my nephew made for my dad in art class when he was little.

I'm feeling a lot better...not normal yet, but better...so I'm going back to work today.

It turned out okay...not my best work, but not my worst either.  It's hard to have an opinion when I feel like crap. 

I slept most of the day yesterday, interrupted by bouts of coughing that pained my sore throat so much I actually cried a couple of times.  I still hurt.  Bad.  Right now warm chicken broth is the most important thing in the whole world to me...

I woke up half an hour ago hoping I'd be well enough to go to work today, but I don't think I am...I really don't feel any different than I did yesterday...only today I've got diarrhea too.  (TMI?)

I don't feel good.  :(  My throat hurts, I'm tired and achy, and I'm crabby...really crabby.   It's been sore for a few day, but now it's really sore...which makes me super cranky...and whiney too.

I didn't get much play time in this weekend, because I spent practically two whole days at the office.  I ate soup and whined about my throat when I got home, then was in bed for the night by 7:00 both nights.  I didn't get any laundry done, and I missed Doctor Who this week.  :(

I did get a wee bit done before I went to work, early in the mornings when I should have sleeping but my sore throat wouldn't let me.

The shelf in the red buffet looking thing...the one that used to have drawers before I got it wet...the shelf is too thick, so I made a basket and a couple of books to sit on it that hang over the front to make the shelf look narrower.  I'm gluing them in, because they can't be rearranged to go anywhere else anyway.

The basket looks like it should have easy...I thought it was going to be easy...it was a major pain in the ass.  I've never sworn so much in an hour in my life.  I made it out of raffia, and decided halfway through that I probably should have used embroidery thread...but I finished it, because we were having a war and I wasn't going to lose.   (I told you I was super cranky!)

I started a shelving unit to hang above the desk too...I'm still working on it.

Remember the white shelf I bought off Etsy last summer?  I'm not going to be able to use it...it's too big, it dwarfs the hutch.  The shelf is in perfect dollhouse scale, but the $1 hutch I got from Michael's isn't...and it's already glued in.

I've got to make my own shelving unit for above the desk now...probably out of popsicle sticks.

There's an unfinished floor lamp standing in the corner behind the desk.  I was planning on making a beaded shade, like I did for the one in your 2007 Hallo miniature...but now I'm thinking stained glass.  I've no idea how I'd do that though, so I'll let the thought rattle around my head for a while.

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Here's a better view of the green desk.  I decided to leave it green because I don't know what color it's supposed to be. 

When I started on the other furniture I knew what the pieces were supposed to look like when they were done...the desk I had no plan for.  I could repaint it once a day for the next couple of weeks and never have it be done.  After I rummaged through my paint bin last night and nothing better jumped out at me, I decided the green was fine.  I gave it a coat of gloss varnish (it just seemed to need it), distressed the edges to let some blue show through, then glued it in place so I'll quit messing with it.

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I finished the easel...looked to my life size one for inspiration.  I really like how it turned out.

I'm anxious to get the curtains made and hung, the bare window is bothering me.  I could go to my mom's to have her sew them for me on her machine, or I could just sew them myself by hand.  I can't go to my mom's this weekend, because I've got to go to the office to catch up on things I'm behind on...plus, Kate's grandpa (her dad's dad) had a heart attack and is in the hospital, so we have to go up there today.  Perhaps I'll work on the curtains by hand this week during the evenings, when I'm watching TV...if I don't get to it then I'll go to my mom's next weekend.

I suppose the before I start sewing I should figure out how I'm going to hang a curtain rod...

I made a little easel...it's not meant to be functional, it's just to lean against the wall.  It turned out pretty good!  I need to give it a coat of varnish and then smear on some paint splotches to make it look used.

In the background you can see that I've painted the desk green...I decided I didn't like the second shade of blue.  I'm not sure what I think about the green yet.

I purposefully didn't tell you yesterday which rug was my favorite...but you picked the same one, as I suspected you would.  It took me a long time to find a towel with a pattern that could pass as a rug border...after all that looking and then the hassle of dying it just the right shade of tea I couldn't not use it.

I pulled and stretched and pullllled on it to make it longer before I glued it down, so I've got more coverage than I originally thought I was going to, which makes me happy.  It's got weights on it now, holding it in place while it dries.

I finished painting the desk blue, then decided the blue I used was too bright, so I painted it again in a more somber shade...it's much better now, but I'm not sure it doesn't need to be darker still.

I got an email from a girlfriend yesterday...with pictures of her adorable son (at right)...she writes:

"I have been reading your blog, although I know it's written for Susan.  You're doing some cool stuff there.  I started my own mostly for the things I make.  I have only posted one project there so far, and not much about it since I started the blog when it was nearly done, but I have just a billion other ideas rolling around in my head, so I figure there will be plenty of fodder for it.  28 Peppermint Grove"

Huh.  I didn't realize anybody but Susan was interested in what I was doing, much less reading the blog.

You know, you can comment here Melinda... Susan and I are relatively friendly most of the time.

..then I need you to give me your opinion.

I'm going to start with the three options I discarded (just in case), then the three options that are still in play.

Option one...textured felt...the color is too bland and doesn't suit the room.

Option two...fabric from my leftovers bin...yuck!

Option three...a washcloth...the color is all wrong.

Option four...a very cheap, thin, tea towel...I love the color, and I think it's the most realistic carpet texture, but it doesn't fit the room as well as option five (I can't turn it sideways, it's got embroidered crap on the other end).

Option five...a sample of upholstery fabric (I'd cut off the white trim and maybe add fringe)...I like the width, it fits the room the best, and the color is good, but the pattern, while more interesting than just a solid color, is kind of large and could possibly be distracting...

Option six...a tea towel with a pattern that gives the rug a border, darkened with tea...hmmm...I like it but I don't know why, and yet I don't like it but I don't know why...though I do know that I dislike it more than I like it.

Or...I could look for another burgundy thin terrycloth something in the width I want.

No matter which one I use I'll squirrel it under the front legs of my worktable somehow.  (Squirrel as a verb...is that a regional thing?  Do you know what I mean?)

I decided to work on my art studio miniature for a while.  I imagine I'll get sick of it in a week or two and switch back to the pumpkin/tree projects.  Since I'm in no hurry to get either thing done I guess it doesn't really matter in which order I work on them...though I'll probably end up going back and forth.  Ugh...I'm babbling, aren't I?

Anyway...I glued some furniture in place and turned a coffee table into a desk by ripping off the legs and gluing on new ones.

I had just placed the desk and blue dresser in when I remembered I forgot the rug...so I took them back out before the glue dried, played around with different rug materials, and decided that none of the several possibilities I'd collected looked good...so I decided not to have a rug, then glued the furniture back in again.  Now I'm thinking I should have put in a rug.  Sigh...