Welcome to my blog

If you enjoy finding a lot of different outlets for your creativity, then we may just be kindred spirits.
This blog is an outlet for my interest in miniatures, crochet, plastic canvas, and many other various arts and crafts.

I also love walking, taking digital photos, and most recently, have rediscovered an old love...bike riding! I purchased an amazing new bike, a comfy Townie by Electra this summer, and have been having a grand time exploring the area as though for the first time. It's like being a kid again!

If you enjoy any of these things too, pour a cup of coffee and tea, sit down, and join me.


Take care!
Kat

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Crocheted Ron Weasley and Sweater

Crocheted Ron Weasley
Hello!  To continue with my Harry Potter theme, here's Ron Weasley, with removable Weasley letter sweater.

Crocheted Weasley sweater
I love the colors in Ron's little sweater; they seem so Weasley-ish, lol.

Crocheted Ron Weasley and Sweater
Ron himself is tiny, but a bit taller than my Harry Potter doll.  He's about 5.5 inches tall.

Ron Weasley
Ron has bendable arms and legs because I stuffed them with pipecleaners (cut in half, folded over, and twisted so they're more durable).

Freckles
 I gave him lots of freckles, but only the larger ones show up.  He has glass eyes, and his hair was embroidered using two different shades of yellow and orange.  His little nose, ears, and mouth were embroidered as well.

Ron having pumpkin juice
Here's Ron relaxing, enjoying a tiny bottle of pumpkin juice that i sculpted out of polymer clay.

Crocheted Ron Weasley and Harry Potter
Ron and Harry are relaxing in front of Hagrid's Hut, waiting for the half giant to come home.

Harry having pumpkin juice
Here's Harry with his pumpkin juice.

Hot Butter Beer
I decided to try making hot butter beer.  I know most of the recipes use cream soda, but in my mind, butter beer is hot and creamy, like hot chocolate, only tasting like butter tart filling.  So I put some brown sugar and becel in a pan and cooked it until it was carmelized, then added milk and vanilla and heated that as well.  The result...absolutely yummy.  It was soooo good I wanted more today, but was out of brown sugar, so I tried it again using white sugar and a spoon of molasses in order to simulate brown sugar.  I added a spoon of low cal becel, vanilla, cooked it up, and yummy again, lol. It's too fattening to drink very often, even with the low fat becel, lol, so it will be saved for special occasions only.

Hagrid, Harry, and Ron
Here's Harry and his pals, ready for adventure.

Ron
Ron looks like he's ready for Hallowe'en, lol.

Harry and Ron 

Ron

Ron resting

Harry and Ron playying
.I had fun with this project, and the boys look like they're having fun too. Maybe too much fun.  I"d better stitch up Hermione soon so they can get some school work done ;-).
Take care!

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Harry Potter miniatures in polymer and Harry Potter crochet

Harry Potter miniatures in polymer clay
My obsession with all things Harry Potter continues, lol.  I sculpted these miniatures out of polymer clay.  The snitch feathers are bits of down from my Cockatiel, Noel...he was happy to share :-).  I used colored clay for the snitch...yellow and gold, marbled together. It's so tiny it's hard to get a photo to show the details.  The sorting hat was made by mixing bits of gold, yellow, green, and red clay.  I dry brushed brown over it to give it a worn look, and am happy with the way he came out.  The wand was super easy to do, using gold and bone colors.
Plastic canvas fireplace with polymer clay snitch, wand, and bear on mantle
I put the snitch and wand on the mantle.  There's a tiny bear in the centre; but he's so dark it's hard to see against the brown background.



Polymer clay wand, baby mandrake, sorting hat, and snitch
 Here are all of the polymer clay HP minis I've made so far.
Crocheted Harry Potter with Needle felted Hagrid in Plastic canvas Hut with polymer clay items
I searched high and lo for a pattern for a Harry Potter doll small enough to fit into the plastic canvas dollhouse, but in the end, had to make him up myself.  He's a bit taller than 5 inches, when standing on his toes, lol.

Crocheted Harry Potter
I made Harry's arms and legs flexible so he can pose and hold things.  Here he is with his wand.

Crocheted Harry Potter in plastic canvas Hagrid's hut with Needle felted Hagrid

Harry and Hagrid

Harry and the Sorting Hat

Crocheted Harry Potter

Polymer Clay sorting hat with sparkling magic potion

Potions in plastic canvas cupboard

Crocheted Harry Potter ami with polymer clay snitch and wand
I had a lot of fun with this project.  I love this photo (above) of Harry with his wand and golden snitch.  I plan to make little Ron and Hermione next.

Harry Potter and snitch, crochet and clay

Harry Potter crocheted doll

Harry Potter and Hagrid
Bye for now!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Sculpting Grinchy Christmas Ornaments

Polymer clay Grinch, Max, and Cindy Lou Who in plastic canvas dollhouse
The other day I made my first baby mandrake in polymer clay. I had so much fun I followed up with a tiny polymer cat, dollhouse size.  I posted them on facebook and was asked if I could do the Grinch and his friends.  I didn't know if I could or not, so said I would try, and this is what I came up with.

Sculpting and painting the Grinch who stole Christmas
 I did the Grinch first.  He's the biggest sculpt, at  inches tall.  I used flesh colored clay and had to paint the parts.  The white paint didn't want to cover for some reason.  Painting the tiny features was a pain, but I like the way he came out; his face is so expressive.
Sculpting Max, the Grinch's dog
I decided to try to use colored clay next, to do Max, the Grinch's dog.  Here's the head and body shapes, ready for the oven (above).

Teeny tiny Cindy Lou Who in polymer
I used flesh polymer clay for Cindy Lou's face, but used colored clay for the rest of her.  She is VERY tiny...most of her height is hair, lol.

Polymer clay Grinch and Cindy Lou wWho
Here's Cindy Lou and the Grinch next to a Canadian Quarter, and a sewing ruler.

Grinch and Cindy Lou in Polymer Clay
I'm happy with Cindy Lou's little face; I gave her a snub nose and a shy grin.

Christmas decorations, Grinch style, in polymer clay
Max was the hardest to sculpt, because of all of the tiny pieces.  His ears fell off. His legs fell off.  His antlers fell off.  Sheesh!  I had to use liquid sculpey to get everything to stick together, but even then, his antlers were a problem. I eventually made the thicker antlers that you see in the photo.  Poor doggy looks like he has a tree trunk on his head, lol.

Cindy Lou and the Grinch 
Here's Cindy Lou and the Grinch by the fireplace in the pink plastic canvas dollhouse.  The dollhouse is way too big for them, but I couldn't resist.

Max the dog with fake antlers

Grinch, Max, and Cindy Lou in polymer clay

Polymer Clay Grinch and friends

Polymer clay Grinch, Max, and Cindy Lou Who

Polymer clay Christmas ornaments in plastic canvas dollhouse
I'm having a lot of fun with polymer clay, but am not thrilled about painting the eyes.  I'm happy with the Grinch and Cindy Lou but think Max needs to be repainted so his eyes are more expressive and soulful.  These eyes just don't do it for me.  I hate to retouch him though, as my paintbrushes, even the smallest ones, seem absolutely huge next to these guys. I had to use the end of a toothpick to do the pupils.


Thursday, September 12, 2013

Sculpting a miniature polymer clay cat

Miniature polymer clay dollhouse cat with flocking
I am learning how to sculpt in polymer clay.  This is my first polymer clay cat. I'm really pleased with the way she came out, except for the nose and mouth...I really need a magnifying glass in order to do the tiny details.  Tomorrow I'll touch it up, but for today, here she is, resting on a plastic canvas bed with crocheted pillow and afghan, in a plastic canvas dollhouse.  The house is not quite dollhouse scale so the cat seems big, but I wanted her to fit nicely with modern dollhouse dolls so I made her that size.
Sculpting a cat
Here she is when I first started.  Not very pretty yet, lol.

Painting sculpted cat
I painted her yellow and white but she looked too cartoony, so I decided to try flocking. Of course, I don't actually have flocking, so I had to make some. I simply grabbed some  yarn, wool batting, and scissors, and cut away until I had tiny fibres.  Then I used white glue and a toothpick to glue it on.

Dollhouse cat, handmade with polymer clay
Here she is with her flocking; much  nicer, I think, than with plain paint.  I used white, cream, and two shades of yellow.  The eyes, nose, and mouth are painted.  She's just the right size for these modern dollhouse dolls.

Hand sculpted polymer cat in plastic canvas dollhouse
Here she is under the covers, hiding from the dog, lol.

Hand sculpted mini polymer clay cat with flocking
I took this photo with the quarter to show scale, in case people aren't familiar with the little dolls. This cat is very tiny.

My dog Mac with mini polymer clay cat, lol
My dog, Mac fell in love with the cat and watched avidly while i made her, so I put the cat down so he could get a closer look.  He's such a big, gentle guy.  He was fine with the cat on his paw and back, lol.  He's always been very gentle with his stuffed toys.  I hope he doesn't think this cat is for him though, lol.

Mac and clay cat

Polymer clay cat resting on standard poodle, lol
I posted some photos of the baby mandrake and cat on facebook, and was asked how much I'd charge to sculpt the Grinch.  I wrote back saying I didn't know if I could do it or not, but I'd try, and the lady asked me to also try the Grinch's dog and Cindy Lou Who.  I'll try the Grinch tomorrow.