My second miniature ZEN garden vignette

 Hello dear readers,

This is the second of my three Zen miniature gardens vignettes.  It was fun making it.  The little Buddha is one of four Buddhas sculptures all of them gifted to me by my generous friend, Birgit.

Zen gardens, if they are cluttered up with too many items lose their air of serenity.  

I made this Moon-Gate from saved stems of bunches of grapes.  The bushes on the sides of the gate are from stems of dry baby breath flowers, with teeny-tiny rose-colored paper flowers glued on.  The "grass" ground is a thin piece of green painted foam.  To soften the old stems (twigs) I boiled them in water for a few minutes, when cooled down but still moist, wrapped them around a small glass pill container. These are good for small door wreaths as well.

 

"Stone" figures:  Buddha, a gift from  Birgit.  Angels candle holder, a gift from Rosa Maria. The small rock, made from styrofoam.

Plastic chess pieces make great mini pedestals.  They are easily cut and painted.

I wonder if Rosa Maria's angels look better as a fire-pit on the ground than on the pedestal. I'd love to know what you think about it. They can always go back on the pedestal. I made the box so that it can come in and out of the frame.  Here it is without the "glass" so that the inside is clear to the view.

The third Zen vignette is on its way now.  I have to start crafting Christmas and Hanukka gifts if I want them to arrive in time for my friends overseas.  Our post service is completely unpredictable, sometimes it takes a parcel to arrive at its destination longer than two months while another, posted at the same time takes only three weeks. 

The days are shorter but still hot here, the nights are cooler and it's a big relief.  I hope you enjoy cooler autumn days overseas.

I wish all my readers a pleasant and enjoyable weekend with blessings.

New gifts from Germany

Hello dear readers

It's already September. According to the calendar days should be cooler but summer decided otherwise and the days are still hot and humid.  I believe I'm not the only one who takes things slowly and easy and this is why I cannot show you much of my work.  

I was more than delighted to have received, early this week a parcel, containing incredible gifts. from my friend Birgit, who is one of the most generous persons in my blog circle.  Baalatova the witch, and Solly (Solly was handcrafted by Birgit herself) arrive to inspect the contents of the parcel, giving instructions as to how to open it without causing damage to the goods inside.

Baalatova:  Come along Solly, we can go home now.  I took this little dragon and there is nothing more for me here. 

Solly:   I'm staying.  I want to see everything my Birgit sent, especially if there are photos of my sister Rosey and my brother Flutterby.

                                                             Hi Rosey! I missed you.                                                                                                           

                                                       Wow! Three Buddhas!!!             

A Reutter soup set! How elegant. Now I can sip my soup like royalty.

I have to ask Baalatova if she can make lobster soup/

No doubt some of these frames can be turned into vanity trays. Have to give Drora the idea.  It's good that I didn't go away with Baalatova, I nearly missed this photo of Flutterby behind me.

                               

                           Hi, Flutterby! I missed you.   Marzipan!!!!!  How yummy!                   

                                   

                         

                                      Laser cuts!  Drora will know what to do with these.                     

                                          

                                        

Dear Birgit,  I haven't enough words (In English) to express my gratitude. The gifts are beautiful and your friendship is the best of all.

I wish all my dear readers a pleasant, enjoyable weekend with blessings.

No-clay miniature Chlorophytum succulent plant tutorial

Hello dear readers,

The bad news is that I have to stay home in quarantine until Wednesday next week because unknowingly I've been in contact with two persons who are diagnosed with Corona.  The good news is that I feel all right and am waiting for a Corona test right here at home. If negative, I'll be able to be free again to go out in the company of friends and family.

There was plenty of time to read books, see television, listen to music, and make plans for easy-to-make miniatures.  

In my stash. was a large packet of multicolored micro-foam balls.  I bought it last year with the intention of making "Floam" with my younger great-grandchildren.  One of my favorite succulent plants is the string of pearls (Chlorophytum).  I picked up the green balls and just glued them to a green sewing thread.  Ta-dam!

The pedestal is a huge glass bead with a punched-out paper card top.  Actually, I planned to use them for macrame.  I may still do so in the future. 

I experimented with one of the seeds in my pot puree bowl.  I just trimmed it with nail scissors.  I hope it looks like a cactus.  It will save the ladies at the center a lot of work.

I'm still working on my Zen vignettes.  Finished two more wooden boxes for the frames but nothing to show yet.

And here is something that touched my heart. In my country, it is not permitted to cut down a grown tree even if it is in your own garden.  You have to get a special permit, only if it is absolutely necessary.

I wish you, dear readers, a lovely weekend with blessings.

Translation results

First Zen garden vignette complete

 Hello dear readers,

Here is the first completed vignette out of a three Zen gardens project. My dear friend Birgit sent me the little Buddha as well as other items, all parts of her 2020 Christmas gifts.

Complete with perspex "glass".  

Without glass.  I hope to have captured a serenity atmosphere.  Below, you can see the stages of how the scene was planned.

  

The tree is made from electrical copper wires covered with masking tape.  The foliage is also part of Birgit's Christmas gifts.

 

The Japanese "stone" lantern is made from beads and bits.  (See photo below.) The wooden spool is also a part of Birgit's Christmas gifts.

I made another version of the "stone" lantern but it resulted too large for the vignette.  I'll probably use it in another larger picture frame.

The box inside the frame measures in centimeters 12 width x 8.5 length x 3.5 depth.  The frame is 15 x 11.

I sincerely hope your summer is cooler than ours. It's melting hot outside.  At least I have a good air-conditioner which enables me to keep working on my minis.

Dear readers, I wish you all a lovely restful weekend with blessings.

Gorgeous gifts from Rosa Maria

Hello dear readers,

I made many plans for this summer but became ill instead.  I had a very high fever, unusual for a person like me who almost never has a fever.  My doctor wanted me hospitalized but I refused, preferring to stay home on strong antibiotics.  I'm alright now.

A precious little parcel arrived from Spain, right in the middle of the bad days.  Rosa Maria sent me some teeny-tiny jaw-dropping sculptures which left me open-mouthed with a delightful surprise.

 

I wish I was a better photographer.  Believe me, my photos do not give these precious items enough justice.  Each of them is simply breathtakingly gorgeous.

THANK YOU, DEAR ROSA MARIA, FOR YOUR GENEROSITY AND WONDERFUL GESTURE!

Well, now that I am absolutely well and healthy again, I'm continuing my work at the home care center.  We finished 5 embroidered covers for toilet rolls.  There is a large demand for more but we are out of burlap and hope that a new supply will arrive soon.

I am also back to working on my mini Zen garden project.  In my stash, I found two small gadgets which I purchased years ago at a hardware store.  They are supposed to connect washing-line ropes. With a touch of Jesso and a wild imagination, I hope to turn them into Japanese stone garden lanterns. 

In my next post soon, I hope to be able to complete the first vignette and show you how I made this little "stone" lantern from the above gadget. It still needs some sanding.

 My dear friend Birgit is sending me more Buddhas so I'll attempt to make all three zen vignettes. (See photos on my previous post.)

I wish you, dear readers, a wonderfully healthy, and enjoyable weekend with blessings.

A little Zen garden

Hello dear readers,

For a long time, I wanted to make a little Zen garden miniature but somehow didn't find the right time to do it.  One of Birgit's Christmas 2020 gifts was a tiny Budha which is perfect for this kind of project. (Thank you again dear Birgit).  Searching for inspiration I found many photos of miniature Zen gardens.   I  picked three photos out of several on the net in order to decide which one I like best.

Of the three, I like the middle one best although it'll be more difficult to make. (Especially the stone burner.)  It will be a challenge and I'll have to try hard to do one similar to this.

I intend to make it a vignette, and already cut and glued up a wooden box for one of the four wooden frames in my stock.

Size of the box 12.5 cms width,  9 cms. length. 4 cms. depth.  Made from popsicles and tongue depressors wooden sticks, glued to cardboard and cut to size.

Four ladies at the home center are following my tutorial for making a real-size toilet rolls holder from burlap fabric embroidered with wool.  I spent a few hours making a model and finished it.  It will keep them occupied and happy for a few days. 

Meanwhile, I'm planning the next miniature for them to make after they finish this.

                             

I'm going to make a miniature one like this for the dolls' bathroom.

I wish all my followers and readers an enjoyable, well-deserved summer vacation. Stay safe and happy. Blessings!

Burlap baskets

 Hello dear readers

Although I'm teaching how to make miniatures, I still don't have enough pupils to justify spending funds on craft materials.  I spent a lot of time trying to come up with ideas on how to use available cheap stuff for crafting and recycling. 

Here is what we managed to create last week, at no cost, except for the white plastic glue that I supplied from my own stock. The burlap was a left-over scrap, also from my stock.

I forgot to take photos of the way the baskets were made. You can figure it out for yourselves, or if anyone is interested, I'll make a step-by-step tutorial.  All the baskets in the photo are made out of glue stiffened burlap. We pulled out lengths of threads before stiffening the burlap to make the handles and for trimming the ends.  The knitting needles are tiny colored foam balls pierced into straight sewing pins.

Remember the poster from my previous post here? There was enough card paper left to make 10 more pitchers.

I wish all my followers and readers a happy, enjoyable weekend with blessings.