Keeping busy in these strange times

I hope everyone is keeping safe and well while we try to weather this health scare together - while still remaining separate.

Luckily my DH and I returned from Ireland just before all this broke loose on a global scale. We have remained healthy and are limiting activities outside our home. My DH is doing any shopping needed - but then he usually did anyway so that's not such a big change. It's the almost emptiness of the grocery stores that is so surreal.

In the meantime come all of the cancellations. While I didn't mind having my dental appointments cancelled, I was disappointed to have my haircut cancelled as the length of my hair is really starting to bug me. Cancelling our St. Patrick Week festivities was one notch up on the disappointment scale but, the biggest disappointment?? - the cancellation of the Montreal Miniature Show! I so look forward to this show every year. Even though it is an 8 hour drive each way for me and my friend Louise, it's a weekend of pure joy when we hit the sales and exhibit floors.

The members of the Miniature Enthusiasts of Montreal do such incredible work. I love spending hours looking at all of the projects they have on display. Also, the ability to shop at so many different vendors is such a treat for us since the closest miniature store to us is a seven hour drive in the opposite direction (Freedom Miniatures in Kentville). Luckily the owner, Shelley, has a great website so I can still purchase anything I need between her shop and my other favourite - Grandpa's Dollhouse.

I know I have lots of mini tasks that need to be done but, rather than actually making minis, the last several days have been spent trying to sort and organize my craft room. Even though my craft room is all about minis, the task itself is Herculean! The good news is, while I'm mourning the loss of this year's Montreal Miniature show, I came across some of my favourite purchases from past shows. Once of my favourite vendors at the Montreal show is Janice Crawley. Here are some of the things I have bought from her in the last couple of years:

A teapot and two vases in the Jasperware style:

Here are the two vases next to a life-size one I own. The life-size vase is not terribly large as you can see by the Sharpie pen behind it. That gives you a sense of how tiny the two vases from Janice are. Beautifully done!

Here is a gold tea set with a rose design which is much prettier in person. I love it!

Next is a casserole dish in what I think looks like a Belleek-type finish, and a set of pottery beer mugs.

I love these Santa pieces and I'm sure they'll end up in one of my Christmas-themed projects in the not-so-distant future.

Next, I have two of Janice's china figurines. The one on the left looks very like the full-size Royal Doulton dolls my mother used to own. On the right,the porcelain-dipped lace skirt reminds me of the lovely Dresden pieces of my mother. The little china bird in front is a mass-produced piece from one of the other Montreal vendors. I just thought is was so cute.

The last two pieces of Janice's that I am showing you today are so beautiful. Take a close look at the jug on the right. The top of the jug and handle are actually a lovely swan. Janice then used blue on the body of the jug right under the swan to indicate water, with green leaves of water plants below. How gorgeous is that?

I have a few more pieces of Janice's that I haven't come across yet in my craft room clean up but I know they're in there somewhere! Janice - I sure hope you will be at the 2021 show in Montreal! I will have my wallet full and ready to be emptied!!

One vendor I only saw once at the Montreal show was silversmith Greg Matusovsky. His work, as was his father's before him, is beyond words. I was lucky enough to purchase this pair of candlesticks from him a couple of years ago. I would so love to buy more but the website on the business card I got from him does not seem to be active anymore. I hope he is still making as his work is exquisite,

So, after several hours of sorting and rearranging things in my workroom, I decided it was time to quit. Okay, I was greatly encouraged to quit when the two trays of small wooden letters I had set at the edge of my table were knocked off and went everywhere!

I didn't take a picture of the disaster on the floor - I decided to shut the lights off, close the door, and go back to it tomorrow. *sigh* The good news is that I will be sure to find many exciting pieces of eye candy that I totally forgot I had. With that in mind - I will actually look forward to tomorrow's work - even if it means starting off by picking up a couple of hundred little wooden letters and sorting them alphabetically again. Take care everyone and be sure to stay active and safe. TTFN - Marilyn

Back on Canadian soil...

It was wonderful seeing old friends in Ireland and the wedding was great - loud and raucous as could be expected, in the middle of Storm Jorge, which hadn't been expected. The wind was unbelievably high, making the rain fall sideways for a time but, they do say rain on a wedding day is good luck. As such, I'm sure the happy couple will be together for eternity, given the type of day it was. Then, the day before flying home, we got to see the one-week old baby boy of our young friends, Maria and Sean. The little guy is absolutely gorgeous. I forgot how tiny new born babies are!

It was a long trip home, leaving Dublin Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. Ireland time and finally arriving at our home at 3 a.m. Wednesday, New Brunswick time (7:00 a.m. Ireland time) having a 3.5 hour drive from the Halifax airport. We slept until almost noon then, when I checked for messages I found one from my SIL letting me know my uncle (the last one!) had passed away Tuesday night. So, I hit the road for Prince Edward Island early on Thursday for another 3 hour drive. I stayed around for a little while after the funeral then took another 3 hour drive back home to New Brunswick. Tomorrow I have a 3 hour drive to Bathurst to pick up a display for the Irish Association before taking the 3 hour drive back. I should become a professional driver! For the rest of the week I think I am just going to sleep - and do minis of course!!

Speaking of which - not much to show you since my last post since I have been away but, I had mentioned how much I was praying for an early spring. So, I thought I would take a peek through Pinterest to see what spring-related things might show up. One of the real-life trends I have always liked was farmhouse-style signage used to decorate a front porch. So, I decided to make mini ones.

I started by drawing out what was in my mind, then gathering together some Popsicle sticks and lettering I purchased at Dollarama.

After cutting the sticks to size and gluing back cross members to them, I painted them burnt sienna and I painted the letters in a cream colour.

Once the dark brown colour had dried, I covered them with an ordinary white school glue and immediately covered that with a peacock blue colour acrylic paint. After a few minutes the cracking began to show up. I left them to dry overnight to achieve maximum "crackling". Next, I sanded the edges then dry-brushed them with white to age them a little further.

I wanted to add a couple of tiny details to the sign so I glued some small green leaves to the letter "I" and I fashioned a wee tulip out of the pieces from the plastic leaves. The centre portion of the leaves reminded me of a tulip bud that had not yet opened so I painted them yellow and glued it, along with two longer leaves, to the signs.

Then I glued the letters and decorations to the boards, used a fine black Sharpie pen to write "Welcome" across the top. So, I now have four "Welcome Spring" signs just waiting for front porches to lean them against. They make me feel like spring may be a little bit closer.

On a last note, I was sorting through a box of books that we intended to get rid of and I found this one. I forgot I had planned on throwing this out - okay, truth be told, I forgot I had it in the first place. It had the instructions for knitting real-life-sized patterned sweaters but I couldn't help but wonder if I could adapt the patterns to mini sweaters. Mini knitting is a skill I have always wantd to try my hand at. Perhaps this book will inspire me to start - - - after I finish all those projects I said I was going to complete, of course! *smile*

So, I will try to keep myself on track. You all know how difficult it is for me. TTFN!! - Marilyn