Varnish vs. Shellac: The biggest difference is that shellac dries very quickly and varnish takes overnight to dry. Advantages of Shellac: Quick drying, little dust problem, easy to spray or pad, easy to repair because it dissolves previous coats, easily hand rubbed, multiple thin coats reduce runs, no bad smell only alcohol. Disadvantages of Shellac: Damaged by alcohol, takes many coats to build durable finish, less durable than urethane varnishes, short shelf life. Advantages of varnishes: Easy to brush, two coats adequate, levels nicely because it takes time to set up, durable Disadvantages of varnish: Often damaged by dust, will run, harder to rub finish, more skill to spray, requires longer time between coats. Which you use is a matter of personal preference. It is just a different look to the clear coat over wood. It is like acrylic vs. oil paint. there is no best choice. Pete Boorum |
Flip Flops: Lindsie asked about mini flip flops. By Barb makes them. You can email her at:bybarb@juno.com Alice Zinn |
Flip Flops: Cut the sole out of craft foam (trace around a mini shoe, maybe?). Then get a rubber band and cut a short length from it (maybe about 1/2"). Slit the rubber band in half, lengthwise, until about half way up. You should now have a piece something like an upside down Y... a thick piece at the top splitting into two pieces at the bottom. The thick piece will be the thong of the slipper (that part that goes in between your toes) and the thin pieces are the straps on either side of the foot. (Look at a real flip-flop if this sounds confusing!) Cut small slits in your foam slipper sole--there should be one at the toe, one at the instep of the foot, and one on the outside edge of the foot. Then glue the rubber band ends into the holes. Celeste Ng |
Printed Rugs: Donna Aldrich from Arlington, TX has scads of printed rugs, some beautifully fringed, as well..... mcminis@aol.com Molly |
Cooler: The Styrofoam that meat ( and sometimes produce) come packed with in American supermarkets can be made into neat mini coolers! It even comes in colors! Just construct a rectangular box using a sharp razor blade and straight edge to cut the Styrofoam. Use tacky glue to put it together. For the top, glue two rectangles, one the size of the outer dimensions of the cooler, one just slightly smaller than the inside dimensions of the cooler. Center one on top of the other. The smaller piece will go inside the cooler and stop the top from sliding off. Make a handle out of wire or a paper clip bent into shape. If you have any summer or spring catalogs handy, and can find a picture of a 'real' one, you can even cut out a logo like 'thermos' or 'igloo' and glue it to your cooler! Alice Zinn |
Fireman's gear: I'd be happy to order it if you can't find them in your mini store. http://home.att.net/~stuff22/index.html Gail in Orlando |
Miniature Show Schedules: Here are some of our favorite sites for miniatureshow listings. Hope this helps you out!! http://miniatures.about.com/library/news/blshowmenu.htm?once=true& http://www.dhminiatures.com/Meetings/Meetings.html http://www.myminiatures.com/events.asp Kim Sutton |
Kemper Clay Gun: Never used one but the problem is familiar. A few things totry. Dr. Bob, Delray Beach, FL. |
Storing information: When I find instructions with a pattern for making something that I want to save I print out the instructions and then save the pattern to a 3.5 disk. I then take a large manila envelope which I've labeled with the projects name, and slip both the instructions as well as the disk inside. Now when I'm ready to do the project I have the written instructions as well as the pattern in one place, and the envelope can hold more than one project. For saving just tips, save them to disk and be sure to label the disk. Marilyn, MI |
| << Wouldn't a porcelain doll maker be "ahead of the game" since most of the body parts are already done? >> I think you are probably right... if EVERY doll part had to be hand-sculpted, it would take longer (although I do think many polymer clay artists do use a mold to some extent, perhaps to have a "basic" face to work from); however the polymer clay dolls do not require the drying time of cast pieces, and the many firings that porcelain needs, so there is some delay there. Also, the dolls don't always come out of the kiln the way one hoped. Colors are not always right, and some pieces have cracked... little problems like that do occur so that the doll would need to be redone. However, an experienced doll-maker would, I think, make a couple of dolls to have an "extra" in case that problem came up. In spite of those "porcelain problems", I do think that there is more time involved in making a polymer clay doll. At least that's certainly true for me!! When I make the "model" in preparation for the mold, I find that that uses up a large portion of my time. One of the reasons for that, of course, is that I cannot make the model the 'finished' size. I have to be able to visualize what size it will become after its shrunk from firing... and then make the model just that much larger to compensate for the shrinkage (I don't always guess right... and then all that work (modeling the doll, making the mold, cleaning and firing it) is lost because it all has to be tossed out and I have to begin again and this time make SURE I guessed correctly on the size. But that's part of the challenge, and part of the fun. Viola |
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