Creating in Miniature

I have been playing this weekend.

Playing with ideas and wire; embroidery thread and lace; wooden beads and glue.

And the outcome?

This teeny-tiny Thumbelina of a doll. Or perhaps she's a Minpin, Borrower or Lilliputian. 

I intended to try making a matchbox-sized doll and found a wooden bead of about the right size for the head (just under a centimetre in diameter). Only, I got a little distracted by another bead...

...a smaller bead...

...a bead that was more like 4mm in diameter. And I started thinking...

Strangely enough, the matchbox-sized doll hasn't been made yet. But I have made her a little doll to play with (when I get round to creating her)!

 

This teeny, tiny doll measures just 2cm tall (just over 3/4in). She is made from very thin wire wrapped with a single strand of embroidery cotton. Her hair and ribbon are also made from embroidery cotton. Her skirt is 12mm wide lace.

I really don't know why I strive to make everything so small, but there is definitely something about miniatures that makes me smile...

 ...and, of course, there is that little part of me that wishes there really were fairies in the garden, or Borrowers under the floorboards...

Have a lovely week everyone!

Meet the bears... Wedding Bears

I've been so busy with Folksy listings, procrastination and other things that I seem to have been neglecting to give the bears the attention they deserve!

So, it's more than time for another "Meet the bears" feature so here goes...

This time I'd like you to introduce you to The Wedding Bears.

They don't have names as they were made as a commemorative gift for my brother and his wife. It was meant to be a 1-year-anniversary gift but that didn't happen, for various reasons, so it became a Christmas present instead. 

The groom's ribbon tie is the colour of the cravats and waistcoats worn by the men at the wedding and the base is covered with material from one of the cravats!

 

The photo album is a Dateman Books album, personalised with pictures from the wedding day.

Oh, and I forgot to say that they are all miniatures. The bears are about 5cm tall and the album about 4cm. 

These are photos of the non-personalised album that first gave me the idea. The attention to detail is beautiful; there is even a piece of translucent interfacing paper between each photo page just like in a real album.

I was really pleased with the Dateman miniature album and with the overall composition of this piece. My brother and his wife were thrilled too and have a lovely personal souvenir of their big day.

Bunting

This week I have been making bunting; inspired by the Liberty Scrap Challenge (here), I decided I would have to give it a go. 

After all, I still have loads of the lovely scraps raided from Mum's collection. I've already made hair clips (here) and an elephant (somewhere on this page) but my love affair with Liberty is far from over. This project has been calling to me for a while!

So here are my first attempts at Liberty bunting...

 

... not bad (though I say so myself)! 

The bottom string of bunting is sewn onto 3mm ribbon with flags at 50% of the pattern size and the top string is threaded onto No. 20 crochet cotton with flags at 40% of the pattern size. That makes the flags in the bottom row approximately 3cm long and in the top row about 2.5cm long.

To be honest, I was really tempted to make them at 25% of the pattern (flags of 1.5cm long) but luckily common sense prevailed (for the time being at least)! 

These were fiddly enough. 

Especially since for some reason I decided to sew the flags on rather than using the iron-on interfacing from the pattern. 

Not entirely sure why. 

Although, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I didn't have any. 

And a trip into town to buy some seemed so much more time-consuming than sewing tiny flags on by hand. 

My logic never ceases to amaze me!

Anyway, after a small amount of mild cursing (having tied it in knots for the umpteenth time), I finally got it all finished, ironed, trimmed and looking lovely. Ready to be photographed.

Of course, the bears had to come and have a play at this point. Only to be expected really. It is 'bear-sized' bunting after all.

I have a feeling that it's going to be hard to separate the bears from the bunting in future!

Meet the bears... Benny

There has been a strange shortage of bears on here recently, so this month I'd like to introduce you to Benny...

Benny is, I think, my favourite bear creation to date...

  ... not least because he caused me so many problems! He started life as a plain bear because I really couldn't figure out what to do with him. 

I have found some photos of the pre-Benny bear and I hope this one illustrates the problem....

Pre-Benny bear looked grumpy! You can't deny that, can you? The down-turned arms, the dark fur, the slightly-too-big nose, the down-turned mouth all shout 'grumpy'. I tried a bow: still grumpy. I tried flowers which just made things worse. So I was stumped. I was a bit concerned that I'd hit a wall: that he'd just be "the little grumpy bear" forever. So for a while he sat in his box and bothered me... 

And then one day, for some reason, I was thinking about costumes for bears. And it hit me. I knew exactly which costume this bear would like. But where does one start, when the decision has been made to make a bee costume for a 5cm bear?

I started with the jumper. With cross stitch needles for knitting needles and two strands of embroidery cotton, I set about knitting him a tiny, stripey jumper. 

The little jumper came out well and, once joined at the back, is a nice, snug fit.

Next the costume needed some wings. At this time I didn't know that you can actually buy miniature fairy wings, so I set about improvising. I didn't have any jewellery wire or anything fine enough for the task but I did have some of those plastic ties that come free with food bags... Once these had been stripped of their plastic coatings, they were perfect! They were pliable enough to bend into shape, yet robust enough to hold that shape while being wrapped with gold metallic thread!

 

The "lacy" effect was created by carefully knotting the thread. I think I was aiming at a sort of loose crochet effect (but since I hadn't taught myself to crochet at this point, this is the closest I could get!).

 

Of course, no bee costume would be complete without a headband with a couple of googly hearts attached! Consequently, another food tie was de-wired to create the springs and, after shaping them around a coctail stick, tiny felt hearts were added to the ends.

The bee costume is complete and Benny is born. Was it fiddly? Yes, soooo fiddly I almost gave up several times. Am I mad? Sometimes I suspect that I am. Would I ever do it again? No, not if I can help it!

Benny is certainly one-of-a-kind and he is no longer a grumpy little bear. He is perfectly content with his outfit and wouldn't change it for the world.

I think he was worth the extra work, don't you?

Benny will be staying in my collection as I would be very upset to part with him. If you would like to see more of my bears visit my website, my Folksy or WowThankYou shop.

Newest creation...

I have finally produced another miniature bear. It's taken a long time to overcome the complete lack of inspiration and motivation that has hovered over any attempt at tiny teddy production, but I have done it! Here is the first completed miniature of 2011.

Huge thanks to HB for inspiration - she liked the idea of a series of snowflake-inspired Christmassy bears and this little teddy has gone from idea to reality in a very short space of time. Maybe the rest of the series will follow...

 This little red bear has a ruff crocheted from gold embroidery thread. He is definitely a "he" although as yet unnamed. I'm still searching for a suitably snowy boy name...

He is 5cm tall when standing and made from red cashmere plush fabric. This fabric is delightful to work with - very easy to sew and turn (and reasonably forgiving of errors) - and the finished effect is lovely. Unfortunately I have discovered that it is impossible to photograph successfully. Without the flash the colour isn't true, but with the flash the sheen is too much for the camera! More experimentation needed...

The bear is lovely (though I say it myself!); he's come out really well. I'm not 100% sure about the ruff yet - it may change before he gets his final name...

Let me know what you think. Any suggestions or name possibilities welcomed!

Meet the bears... Christopher

I have just realised how long it has been since my last post, so it seems like an ideal time to introduce another bear.

This is Christopher. He is made from "old gold" coloured cashmere plush fabric with cream ultrasuede paw pads. His limbs are thread jointed, his nose is hand embroidered and his eyes are tiny black glass beads. He stands just 4.7cm tall. 

Sometimes a completed bear wants no embellishment and this was certainly true of Christopher. Although obviously a boy bear he didn't seem to suit a bow or any other clothing. The cashmere fabric he is made from gives a glorious textured look to his fur and it seemed such a shame to cover it up. For a little while he remained just as he was...

A little while later I stumbled across the art of crochet and, after a little practice, the inevitable happened: I began to wonder if I could crochet items in miniature for the bears. With a little perseverance and a lot of patience I finally completed a miniature blanket in turquoise thread...

As soon as Christopher got his paws on it I knew he was complete. Christopher and his blanket are now inseparable.

 

 

If you would like to see more of my bears visit my website, my Folksy or WowThankYou shop.

Meet the bears... Bella

Today I would like to introduce you to Bella.

As soon as this little bear was completed, it was obvious that "it" was a "she". Her big eyes and rounded head, set slightly to one side, left no doubt. How to dress her took rather a lot more thought. So she sat for a while (as most of my bears do) trying out a bow for size as I waited for inspiration...

A while later I saw a delightful photo of a friend's little girl. Like most small children she loves to dress up and in this photo she was wearing a fairy costume complete with wings and a wand. She was sitting looking up at the camera with her head slightly to one side....

The tiny bear's expression was so much like that photo that I knew that she would have to have a fairy costume.

So now she has a skirt made from pink and white flowers cut from Guipure trim. She has tiny bows made from a single strand of embroidery cotton and a tiny pink bead. In her right hand she holds a wand made from coloured beads and topped with a star.

Bella stands just 5cm tall. She is made from a light brown upholstery velvet with cream ultrasuede paw pads. Her limbs are thread jointed so she can stand or sit. Her eyes are black glass beads; her nose is hand embroidered with black cotton.

Bella has now been adopted and is enjoying life in her new home. If you would like to see more of my bears visit my website, my Folksy or WowThankYou shop.

New camera

I have been meaning to buy a new digital camera for AGES! Taking photos of miniatures is very difficult and my current tools are just not up to the job! I have a lovely point-and-click camera (whose only downfall is needing a film) and an old digital camera that takes reasonable snaps but cannot cope with close ups of small furry creations.

For a long time I have been relying on friends and family with SLR cameras to help me take photos of my bears but I can't continue to postpone listings until I can arrange a meeting with a camera... erm, I mean friend!

So, after much deliberation, I have finally ordered and received my new digital camera. I have trawled on-line reviews and have sought advice from camera shops. I have sifted through often conflicting opinions on the hundreds of cameras available. And what have I chosen? A Panasonic LUMIX FS16. To be honest this decision was driven by desperation as much as anything else but so far I am happy with the decision.

It arrived in the post yesterday and after waiting impatiently for the battery to charge I was finally able to start taking photos with my new toy! 

 

So far I have experimented with the macro settings and the macro zoom with great success. The camera picks up the sparkle on the bear's tiny hairs, the detail in the accessories and the image stabilisation makes the picture beautifully clear.

 

In short, I love it! Can't believe I waited so long! The photos on this blog will be all the better for it!