Christmas Scene Class With Nell Corkin

What a great class!  This was a bonus class for a friend and me at the Philadelphia show this year.  Nell generously offered to teach this class a second day when our other scheduled class was cancelled as a result of the storm.  We created a miniature Christmas scene in a glass dome which was all provided by Nell.
I have never worked in 1/144 scale before and it was really fun to do this project which required good light and good eyes!.  It is amazing to me how many details that can be added to this scale.  You must visit Nell Corkin's website https://nellcorkin.com/  and her blog  http://nell-miniminis.blogspot.ca/ to see her work.  You must also read about her varied artistic background.  I am always fascinated how some people arrive at creating such wonderful miniatures! Please scroll down to see the completed project!

Tiny cast chair - tweezers were a must for this class!

All items were stuck to double sided tape - I still lost a piece!

I did not take very many photos in this class so only have a few to share. We started by adding details to Nell's precast chair and ottoman.  We added the dust ruffle and then painted the chair giving it more details than I would have imagined on something so tiny!

We painted all of the tiny presents, assembled and decorated the tree. and then we did the same to the tiny dollhouse!

Nell's Pastry Display

Nell had one of her other dome vignettes to show us that was available for sale.  A tiny pastry display!

My finished Christmas vignette

This is my finished project which I was quite happy with at the end of the day.    I have photographed it all around for you to see the tiny details.  I adore the dollhouse under the tree!  The chair ended up with a ruffle with lace and wood and gilt details.  The tree with its topper and decorations were fun to do as well!

A really fun class and anyone that loves this scale must take a class with Nell if you get the chance!
And please visit my collecting blog at www.exquisiteminiatures.blogspot.com for my latest post on Helen Palenski's wonderful knitted miniatures!

 

 

 

 

 



Stained Glass Class with Barbara Sabia

This past weekend at the Philadelphia Miniaturia show in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, I had the opportunity to take a class with Barbara Sabia.  I have always wanted to take one of her classes because I would like to make windows for a future project that I have on my "to do" list.
Barbara is a very generous teacher and readily shares her years of experience with her students.  As this was a small class ( because of the huge storm), we were all able to do a different firescreen panel which made it quite fun!  Barbara had the designs printed for us and explained the process of cutting and applying the real lead tape.

We all learned to cut the lead tape and attempted to cut them all evenly - not easy!

Barbara explained the method of determining which short pieces to lay first and the ones that should have a continuous line.  It is something that must come with experience but as I worked on my pattern, it became a little more clear to me which order to lay the lines.

Once we finished one side, we then turned it over and lay the identical pattern on the other side.  Barbara did our outer edge quickly and evenly for all of us.

Barbara mixes her gallery paints to achieve the colours that she wants for her pieces.  We all had a chance to mix our own slowly to avoid air bubbles.  My finished piece has a few air bubbles!

Barbara showed us various techniques to apply the paint to achieve texture as well as how to use the same colour to achieve various shades of the same colour.

Painting my firescreen...

My first finished piece of miniature stained glass.   I thoroughly enjoyed the day and am quite happy with my result.   The day went by rather quickly and we were all able to complete our projects.  I am looking forward to doing a project of my own and will improve on the tiny mistakes made in this first attempt at this craft!  Barbara makes it look so easy but her experience shines through in her work!
It can be seen on my other blog in the post "Glorious Glass" at www.exquisiteminiatures.blogspot.com
Next post - my class with Nell Corkin!