Throwback Thursday: an old tutorial

 Today's the end of the month and the end of the season so I have a pile of life admin tasks that need my attention, and was pleased that it's Thursday so I can justify a throwback post.

While checking the back end of my blog at lunchtime today I noticed that my most-visited post is my tutorial from 2010 on printing on fabric using your home printer, which I figured was old enough to share again.

But, because a photoless post is pretty boring, I decided I should pull together some photos of scenes where I used fabric I'd printed:

First up, I made some bunting from some leftover pieces from fabric I printed to use in a swap back in 2010:

In January 2021 I made the tea towel cushions from the tutorial I posted the month before, and then made a quick scene to put them in:

In February I got a bit carried away and printed the fabric for a doona/duvet cover and cushion (I can't remember if I also printed the grey and white stripey fabric, but suspect I did as it matches pretty well.)

(I'm also still loving the art above the bed, which is a plastic doily mounted in a full-sized vintage slide frame gifted to me by a friend).

July that year brought the scene I'm probably most proud of: Pushing the envelope.

(Which ended up being part of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York's Otherwordly exhibition in the online exhibition Small Realities (now, sadly disappeared off the internet).

Then in August I made a cushion based on a full-sized one I'd bought, and included it in a scene of a homeware store, playing with scale:

In September I continued with the black-and-white theme, and made a pile of cushions for what turned out to be a soft-furnishings showroom:

There seems to be a break until 2015, when I printed out a suitably-marked coffee sack to use for bench upholstery in Hideout cafe, part of my entry into the Shapeways 3D printed Miniature Houses Contest:

As part of my Daily Dolls' House December 2017 challenge, I used a cushion printed with a security envelope pattern, which I suspect I printed much earlier:

Most recently was this cushion I used in my 2020 Daily Dolls' House December challenge:

(If you're in Australia you can buy rolls of Freezer paper from USA Foods, or buy it by the piece from Spotlight)

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Not much progress around here today

 Work is killing my creativity today, so this is far as I got mini-wise:

Starting to pull together some items that may work for the dark academia room I'm contemplating to set my new portrait in: the rug I picked up and Trash 'n' Treasure in the beforetimes, the dresser I put together last month, and a Monstera pot plant from my recent short-lived obsession with the Miniverse Lifestyle plants.

I also packed up some Lundby-scale items I recently sold on a Facebook group and got them in the post, but that's pretty boring and not worthy of photographic evidence!

Monday: made and did (and mail)

 (Or did, and made, as it were).

Between last night and this morning, I cleared yesterday's scene and the fixings off the work table (they're not quite away yet, but they're sitting in the containers and the spot for minis that need to be put away, which is close enough: and as I type this I realise that this habit springs from my Dad, who had a pile of records that had been played, but needed to be put away, and continues to this day with my piles of CDs that have been played: alas in this flat, a much smaller pile which therefore needs attention much less often. But I digress...)

While I had a tray of pictures and a selection of frames out to try and match up for the cottagecore build I came across one picture in particular which spoke to me, and a frame that fitted it but was so, so wrong.

I shoved this discovery to the back of my mind while I finished the build (and because I was very aware that I had another build lined up already!) but lunchtime today saw me needing a quick win to make up for the sort of morning that makes me want to poke my eye out with a pen (not literally of course: I rather like my sight).

So a quick painting of the originally-pink frame sent to me in a swap parcel back in 2016 by Kitty and Kat Miniatures (that I don't seem to have blogged), some cutting and glueing and weighing down gave me this photo for my Instagram feed:

(And a giggle, as over the weekend someone in one of my Facebook groups returned to the hobby for the first time since the 90s and asked what basics she should get. To which I replied with a long list, which didn't include a can of mexibeans!)

It resulted in this:

which is now stirring up ideas for a dark academia scene (or, at the very least, shelfie) to counteract the proliferation of pink around here recently:

In other 'M'-related news: today I picked up another lot of Miniverse Lifestyle pots from the post office.

Which means (I think) my Miniverse journey is complete.

Sunday success

Well that took a bit longer than I expected when I made that shelfie early last month:

but with some focused effort today, I'm done (or as done as I'll ever be!).

I made the doona/duvet cover and pillowcases this morning:

(and realised that I had to come up with a creative solution for reading in bed since there was no room on the dresser for a lamp. I'm reusing the rewired Lundby wall lights from the You are my sunshine scene and deciding that these, and the other not-quite-fitting pieces, were already in the room before it was redecorated in cottagecore style).

I printed out the garden scenes, then immediately covered them up with some net panels I've had in stash for years.

and even extended the scene (just!) onto a third wall:

Which is all very gratifying, but also leaves me with a feeling impending doom as I survey my work table:

Guess I know what tomorrow's choice for Make, do and mend Monday will be!

Finish it off Friday

I think I've made my decision on the bedding, so that's first on the list for the weekend's crafting.

Thursday thank you

Today I finished listing all my deadstock perspex tables on Facebook, and have decided to take a break before I start listing the pouffes and fauxkati rugs (if just to give me some space on the work table to actually work on things!)

And I realised I'd taken photos of the contents of the fabulous goodies Cyd had sent me when they arrived early last month, had filed them on my computer, then studiously ignored them for the past 6 weeks (sorry Cyd!)

So here we go:

First up, lots of lovely furniture, including a sideboard I had my eye on back in the days before I bought my flat and gained a voracious offset account that gobbles up most of my spare cash. And more plastic stools (because we know I have a thing for plastic stools, right?)

The second photo includes a (kind of) working turntable which I adore (I took a video, but can't for the life of me find it right now!), a boom-box decorative piece, a large cool mid-century planter (which I suspect is Cyd's work, but can't be sure) and 3 ornaments that I know are definitely Cyd's work, but aren't showing on her Etsy shop, probably because she's preparing for a couple of big shows at the moment.

Next up, some more decorative pieces, including a lantern that should be quite familiar to you:

Then there's an assortment of items, including a bathroom set that's definitely in her Etsy store and that Love sculpture I've already used (also in her store).

Finally, a lovely mix of inspiration in the form of fabric, beads and bits, rubber stamps and tape:

Thanks again, Cyd for being a brilliant swap partner, and good luck with the shows!

This is progress, right?

 After a challenging day at work, and personally, I was about to give myself another day off minis, and therefore blogging.

But that little voice inside my brain popped up and asked if I really wanted to take 2 days off in a 3-day period, and what that might mean for my plan this year.

So I took a look at the work table and decided that something was better than nothing: and so unearthed the cottagecore bedroom yet again. Added skirting boards, and moved the windows down to a more sensible level (with the help of my lovely assistant),

And here we are, feeling right back where we started from (and ignoring any possible earworms):

(And that flooring doesn't look too bad!)

Start-of-the-week check in

Remember last Monday when I set myself some ambitious goals in the studio?

Are any of us surprised I didn't meet them? (But on a positive note, behold the current state of my work table!)

The cottagecore bedroom scene stalled again on Saturday when I got the urge to dig out and start dealing with my dead stock: not something that was in the plan for the week but I felt the need to run with it when it happened.

Which meant I spent a fair amount of time this weekend photographing the tables and listing them on Facebook.

And on Sunday I got a tad sidetracked with heading across town to test ride a potential new-to-me scooter:

(No: not the yellow one!)

Plus I have another couple of projects on the boil at the moment: listing some excess Lundby and other 3/4-scale furniture on another Facebook group, and, far more boringly, doing my annual full empty-out and clean of my kitchen drawers and cupboards.

So here's where I'm at as of this evening:

On the left of the worktable, the cottagecore bedroom has once again fallen into a state of (not fatal) disarray:

In the middle, I've lined up the perspex tables that I've yet to photograph and list on Facebook:

(Those ghost ones are certainly living up to their name!)

And a late entry on the right side:

because I decided this evening that just getting the main components of this scene onto the work table is a win, and hopefully a visual reminder that if I keep moving the other 2 projects along and off the table I get to have fun with this scene sometime soon.

(Don't panic about the coloured backing, it's just a demountable room corner that I used to move things down in!)

Dealing with the dead stock

My venture back to the ACT Miniature Enthusiasts club this month, and their* upcoming annual show in March has reminded me of the 2 drawers full of dead stock I've have lurking under my work table since I moved in, and that I really need to decide what to do with.

Some digging tells me that it was March 2018 when I last sold at the Canberra show, and 2016 for Sydney, so it's high time I dealt with it.

Of course, the easiest approach would be to bin it all (for the 'faux'kati rugs, tables and accessories), and deconstruct and compost it (for the pouffes made of wool, and the cotton inners), but that goes against my green-leaning approach, even though it would be a quick and simple solution.

Instead I decided to continue this year's slow-but-steady approach and work towards seeing if I could sell them on a Facebook group that I suspect I may have joined some years ago for just this purpose. First step: document what I have, and work out what my cost price for the tables was.

As I logged on to start the stocktake, I realised that past me had served me well, as I discovered a spreadsheet with a stocktake of exactly that in a folder I created in very early 2020.

Plus the added bonus of some photos I took and carefully annotated at the time:

Which means I have no excuse to not have a crack at listing them this weekend.

(*Used purposefully as I've not yet paid my membership dues.)

Making progress

 Although this might not look like much, it shows a pleasing level of progress:

Because a day off today meant that I've unearthed my work desk from the dregs of the cardboard I started sorting on the weekend.

Which meant I could use it again to experiment with my chosen option of flooring for the cottagecore build, which I think is too yellow, but attacking my sample boards with Gumption made no difference, neither did rubbing it with steel wool, and even sanding it with a sanding stick, although it made some difference, didn't seem to make enough, and I was concerned that I'd end up sanding the pattern off in the process.

In other miniature related news, I picked up some Miniverse Lifestyle pots from my post office box:

because I decided to get cheeky earlier in the week and ask my Facebook Miniverse buy, sell and swap group if anyone had spare pots they weren't planning to use, and blow me down: someone did!

I also bought ink for my printer. Which took several deep breaths to accomplish.

Floored

Although (as you can see) the bed hasn't progressed much further since yesterday (although I'm strongly leaning towards the floral on the far right to add to the existing fabric choices, so there's that), I have moved down my list in other areas.

I've done some image searching for likely views from the (false) windows, and have a few likely options to choose from.

I found more appropriate wall pieces (tidying up that stash in the process), taped them together so they won't fall over, then blutacked the wall coverings on to them.

So now I'm at the stage where I need to decide on the flooring.

Here's what I have at so far:

Option 1:

This is a bamboo runner I bought way back in 2014, which has been waiting for the right project. Although I like the concept, I'm a tad concerned about the yellow colour it introduces, but wonder if I can tone that down, either with some chemical intervention, or just the addition of a rug: or if it will be less noticeable once the rest of the room is dressed.

Option 2:

I think this is the safe option: an anti-skid mat from Daiso, bought in 2015 and previously used in a 2020 Daily dolls' house December scene.

But it makes me realise that I only addressed the 'Who lives here?'  question in passing.

Because if, perhaps, it's a daughter still living at home with well-off parents, pink carpet would be appropriate: I'd just need to amp up the other colours to make up for it.

Option 3:

I know I've used this floor covering before, but trying to search for when is slightly beyond me at this point. 

It gives me student flat or student housing vibes, and if I decide this is the way I want to go I may need to reassess my choices for window views.

Option 4:

Cork. Of course, if I decide this is the way I want to go, I'll probably need to turn it into tiles and then seal it.

Which makes me think it's unlikely to happen. Because I have a (self-inflicted) deadline.

I think I need to sleep on it (the idea, not the bed, in case you are concerned!)

One word Wednesday

Decisions.

Ticked off Tuesday

I made a list. And gave myself a sense of accomplishment by ticking off the first task!

Make, do and mend Monday: The long game

 For this week's #makedoandmendmonday I'm playing a slightly longer game, since the other end of my desk is still covered with the remnants of the weekend's cardboard stash sorting, and the cottagecore build is still clogging the work table.

So I aim to use these pieces that have been sitting in the cubby above my desk since March 2022 to clear that log jam: because to make a scene with these, I need to make some space, and to make that space I need to finish those other things, and then once I've made this scene I can put these pieces (and those!) away.

All by this time next week 🤣.

(Because March 2022 isn't when these pieces came together for the first time, oh no no no: that would have been back in May 2021 when I finished the sofa (a copy of my full-sized sofa that I started working on waaaaay back in December 2020).

Yep, definitely time to finish this off and move things along, I think. Don't you?

Sunday fun day: getting it done day

 Yesterday's very odd mood to sort stash continued into today, and so I went with it (because I'm rather enjoying getting back to a state where I know where everything is and can grab it quickly if I decide I need to use it?)

But rather than the fabric stash, I decided it was time to do a deep clean and sort of the drawers that contain my flooring, wall coverings that are too big to fit in the scrapbooking paper boxes, and miscellaneous pieces of 'useful' cardboard, paper and plastic.

Which aren't quite so useful when the latter are more like a geological stratum that a logically-organised and useful collection.

So I opened the first drawer and dumped the contents out onto my until-recently-clear-again desk, and had a moment of consternation as I realised that this whole approach could go very very wrong and close the studio for an extended period, but I took a deep breath and started sorting, thinking while I did so: what was the important property I needed to sort by? Colour? Size? Use?

In the end I settled on a mixture, and have finished the day with the drawers looking much better:

(If you're interested:

The top drawer (closed) is floor and wall coverings that I haven't used yet and are too big to fit in my scrapbook-paper boxes.

Second drawer is various sheets of plastic, ranging from placemats to overhead projector sheets (that I use for 'glass' in picture frames and, sometimes, fake windows) and other interesting bits I've picked up.

Followed by 'interesting' bits of paper and card (mainly die cut at this point for the 'interesting' and sparkly or shiny for the card).

Fourth drawer has paper: bags to the left (I mainly use these for backing framed pictures) and other bits of paper to the right (like a stack of black that I was donated some years ago: these may end up in a scrapbooking box, depending on how much space I end up with leftover in those, especially as think cardstock will end up here once I've sorted it further).

The fifth drawer has thick cardboard to the left, and mattboard and foamcore offcuts I picked up cheaply from the local framing store a couple of years ago, and have been living down the side of the work table ever since, to the right.

Finally, the bottom drawer is the same as the top drawer, but contains pieces the I have used).

I also have a very full recycling bin. Again.

I spent Saturday sorting the stash

As I sat in bed this morning with my morning cuppa, I tried to convince myself that I really should do a final push on the cottagecore scene today and try and get it completed, documented and put away.

But my heart wasn't in it, and rather than feeling grumpy while I worked on it (which is very much not within the theme for the month!) I decided that it was about time I vacuumed the studio. And to do that I needed to move the containers of fabric I'd pulled out to look for the shabby chic bedding bits on Monday.

So sorting the stash because my priority for the day, and rewarded me well as I spotted this wallpaper sample nestled amongst a stack of vinyl samples I've have tucked away for years:

My heart skipped a beat, and I had sudden thoughts of bachelor apartment bars, or kitchen splashbacks.

It's currently blutacked above the mid century modern dresser I made last month, in the cubby above my computer I use to store new(ish) items while I wait for them to 'speak' to me.

(Because I daren't jump right into putting something together because that would mean certain death to the completion of the cottagecore scene. And I guess I've just posted a Saturday shelfie, just not intentionally!)

A quick trial run

A (very) long lunch today to meet a friend to celebrate her belated birthday lead to me working back to make up some of the time, which lead to a late finish and a (slight) panic about my lack of fodder for the blog.

A discussion I had with a colleague at work this afternoon lead me to considering doing a Throwback Thursday post about one of my favourite cafe builds (and also threw up some intriguing ideas for a couple of new ones), but then I realised that posting that would take me time and energy to research back through the blog to gather the information I needed, and it would be much quicker and easier to just push the cottagecore project forward, if only a small amount.

So instead, here's a trial run I did of yesterday's recycled greengrocer's stand idea, including a trailing plant mock up (so far just blutacked into a very vintage casserole pot by Margaret Hunt that I bought from the Tinakori Fair decades ago), and some of the schoolcases from Margell Public School, which seemed like a nice tribute (and see, I managed to include some Throwback Thursday after all!):

I think I need more books. 😁

One word Wednesday

Thoughts?

I dub today #tryingTuesday...

... not just because I realised I didn't have a clear idea of the room I was building, so spent some time over lunch playing with options and feeling no closer, but also because Instagram refused to post my post documenting the options and is holding the photos hostage until it does, and because while I was retaking the photos of the options to blog them, I knocked the temporary set up and it fell apart 🙄

Now that I have the hero shot for thumbnails, let's have a look at the loose options I came up with so far: your suggestions are most welcome!

Option 1:

Here I was trying to leave the dresser set up how it was in Saturday's photo, against (what will be) a white wood-paneled wall, and was trying to fit the other objects I thought I'd use roughly where they'd go, in a way that made sense, especially as I wanted to include a 'picture wall' above the desk (you'll see this follow the desk around in every option).

I'm using a false window which means it can be easily moved as needed, and suspect I'm pushing things trying to include the round marble tables from Kmart that I blogged about last week, but they're new and I want to play with them.

In this option I feel I'm sailing perilously close to the whole 'chair next to something' approach I was trying to avoid, and feel that the desk is somewhat hemmed in (which would be fine if I decided that who lives here is a young person with little room to spare).

Option 2:

I moved the dresser (because it's my scene and I can. Or can pretend that Saturday's shelfie just missed the fact that the dresser was so close to the wall!), and swung both the bed and desk around. The reading chair and marble tables are obviously somewhere outside of the photograph's reach.

It still fits within the bounds of realism based on Saturday's photo, but does it work?

Option 3:

This feels like it might work, but alas, we've lost the marble-look side tables. I'd love to add another window above the desk but I still have my heart set on that picture wall there.

(It was about now that I realised that I probably should have factored in a bookcase right from the beginning).

Option 4:

I moved the rocking chair to be at the end of the bed, nearer to the desk, meaning that the room is more clearly split into work zone and rest zone.

Option 5:

The final change was swapping out the wicker rocking chair with a sofa that I picked up very cheaply years ago. Then I grabbed some lunch and logged back in to work for the afternoon.

But I spent the afternoon wondering: is this a bedroom at all? Was I mislead by the dresser? Is it, in fact, a lounge, or perhaps even a studio? If it is a bedroom, would the bed be better approached as a day bed?

Perhaps I need to take a step back and contemplate who lives here?

Things didn't quite go according to plan (but that's OK)

The good news is that I went to make the extra vintage books I thought I needed yesterday, and realised I had quite enough to work with already:

This is also good news because my printer has just started telling me that it's hungry for new ink: and when I went to check that it was in stock at my local Officeworks I just about had a heart attack when I saw how much it's gone up since I last bought ink, and it will probably take me several days to catch my breath on that.

The not-so-good news is that when I went to find the fabric that I'd been planning to use for the bedroom in the shabby chic apartment (don't even think of asking how many years ago that Idea started!) thinking that it would be a quick and easy solution here, I realised I had no idea where it had gone to (last spotted back in 2015 when it was still on the test bed I was using for the writers' retreat).

And when I went to the fabric stash to look for it, realised in horror just what a mess that part of the cupboard was in, and backed away slowly (but not before spotting and grabbing some lace pieces, including the originally-planned bedspread).

The good news is that I decided not to submit you to seeing a photo of the stash, and I now know I have to put some time aside to sort through the fabric storage boxes and decide what I'm going to use, and what would be better living elsewhere.

I cut the ferny bits off the fake plant length, which looks like it should work well (but didn't take a photo because I lost the light, and I figured you could just look at the picture of it in yesterday's post and imagine it looking slightly more naked.

 And I had a crack at matching up frames from stash with pictures in stash, which, as you may imagine, didn't work out quite as well as I'd hoped, but I've left them out on the worktable to consider over the next day or so.

At which point I decided I was tired and if I kept pushing the issue I might be tempted to just run away, leaving the makings of a scene on my worktable to end up covered with other things and me disinclined to return to the studio anytime soon.

The good news: I've made progress. I've discovered my next big sort-out project. I have a bedspread and a plant about ready to go. And am being sensible and not pushing my limits. Tomorrow is another day.