Painting Studio: What belongs in a painting studio is paintings! The cruel fact is that any painter can paint many more painting than she or he can sell. If sales happen they paint lots and lots more. My favorite studio (SoHo vicinity Grand and Lafayette N.Y., N.Y. ) had a painting rack reaching all the way to the ten foot ceiling with a double mattress concealed six feet up with more paintings. Most of the paintings slid out of the rack so you wouldn't have to actually paint all the minis. They are visible only at the edge. Also needed are big tables, I had about five, some made of doors for students, also rolls of paper, also rolls of paintings, rolled painting side out so that they won't crack. Most artists I know have storage problems, give the poor things a big studio space. As a modern painter I worked on the wall, no easel, and I used a sheet of glass on an old oak desk as a palette. It is easier to clean. The wall had lots of nails and lots of holes for hanging the working painting. Also most artists I know had postcards of museum paintings taped up somewhere.

Marilyn Crockett

Ava Betz

painting Chrysnbon: Certain of the Chrysnbon sets are made with a different type of styrene than the paper packaged dish sets for four and the chamber set. The white dishes that are plain and come with wine glasses have the slippery surface as are the cake stand candlesticks.

There are a few ways to deal with this. One is to lay down a base coat colour (if you want a mottled, marbled affect in the background) and just keep dabbing until the paint dries enough to stick. Then you can paint flowers or what ever with no problem on top.

Another way is to spray a thin layer of gesso onto the pieces. Has to be the spray on kind. I guess there's something in the aerosol can that helps to melt the surface of the plastic so it can grab? This method is one of hit and miss though.

Third way is to get some ultra fine, wet/dry sandpaper and give the surface a very light sanding under water.

On my web page http://www.embraceables.com/accessories.htm , Chelsea 4 and Lilac Time 2 show the troublesome pieces painted along side the more cooperative ones.

Debi in Quesnel

Painting Chrysnbon plates: if the paint is not sticking to the plastic, it is probably too thin and watery. try a brand that is thicker. not all acrylic paints are the same consistency. after you paint with acrylic on smooth surfaces like plastic or metal, you should spray it with a coat of something clear to protect the paint. otherwise it can be rubbed off while dusting.

Judy London

Green Carnations: I'm sure that most of you remember how to make the tissue flowers we made for our mommies when we were little? Making these is the same principle! First, cut lengths of green floral wire, a thin gauge, into pieces about 1 1/4" long, one for each flower you want to make.

Cut strips of white tissue paper (the kind that's used to wrap gifts) about 1/2" wide by 1 1/2" long.

Layer three strips, and pleat the paper and then wind a tiny length of green wire around the pleated piece at the center to secure it tightly.

Fluff up the paper to form the flower. You may need to experiment a bit with this. Some people like to rip their paper along a straight edge for a less 'cut' looking edge. After creating the blossom, glue the center of it to the stem with Tacky glue.

Now, here's the neat part! Using a green magic marker, touch the edges of the petals. If you do this right, the color will bleed down into the flower, making it look just like those carnations they dye green for St. Patrick's Day!

You could also do this with red, for Valentine's Day, or experiment with other colors! Have fun!

Alice Zinn

SCORCHED PANS: would holding them above a burning candle to get real soot marks, then spraying with a matte acrylic fixative work?

Loretta.Sniarowski

Painting Chrysnbon plates: I have always used Testor's brand model paints on all kinds of chrysnbon stuff and it looks great. You know the kind in the model airplane aisle at the craft store in the little glass bottles. Comes in lots of colors or can be mixed.

Karyn Zabrouski

Painting Chrysnbon plates: Acrylic paint will stick to your Chrysnbon dishes if you give them a very light coating of Krylon matte finish (product # 311) spray or some other base coat. If you don't have either of those, try wiping them off really well with an alcohol prep. If that doesn't work for you, apply a very thin coat of paint as a base coat. Expect this coat to bead up a little, just let it dry thoroughly! Then, go over it with another thin coat of paint. Repeat until you have built up enough color. Use the best quality of acrylics you can afford, or you will be applying many coats to get good coverage. Ceramcoat is good and JoSonja is better. Be sure you are shaking your bottle of paint really well so that the pigment is completely mixed with the medium Cheap paint has very little pigment in it and will drive you crazy when you work on tiny pieces. When you're done painting, either spray or paint several light coats of gloss or satin finish. The key is to keep all layers very thin.

Kathy in Wisconsin

Using jewelry: if you can find Andrea Barham's or Patricia King's do-it-yourself books at the library or bookstore, they both use jewelry bits as components for dozens of things ranging from the obvious (chandeliers, sconces, curtain tiebacks) to slightly more unusual (ormolu trim to dress up cheap furniture, crystal glassware, luster candelabra, perfume bottles, etc.). Use your imagination and think about what individual pieces resemble in whatever style you like. Maybe some are perfect as is in a modern setting to make a metal wall sculpture...maybe others can be broken down into components that are individually more useful than the whole piece would be. However, also do some research in collectible jewelry books before you destroy anything -- some costume jewelry is worth a lot of money. If you have any treasures, you might be able to keep and use a few pieces for sentimental reasons, then sell the rest to buy artist-quality miniatures.

Loretta Sniarowski

Water cooler: Seems to me you could make a water cooler using a clear plastic bottle placed upside down, perhaps an eye drops bottle.  The base could be a balsa wood block or something similar.   Not sure where to find the spigot, maybe in the mini hardware section of your favorite shop.

Jeri Moriarty, Manassas VA

Water Cooler:    I have made them out of metal.   The top I made separate so it would fit snuggly on the base.  For the water bottle itself I used empty antibiotic bottles or you could use empty insulin bottles.   I removed the air from the bottle with a syringe.   Then I put in blue colored water.   For dispenser I used red and blue beads to indicate the hot and cold.   For the cup holder I used the cap off of a syringe.  It turned out good.

Jane

Mini glassware: http://www.glasscraftuk.com is worth a visit if you are looking for glassware. Another name from U.K. shows is The Glassman but I haven't checked if he has got a site - could always try a "search".

Brian Cass

Wind chimes: It is my turn to do our monthly mini club project.  I was thinking making wind chimes would be a good club project.  I bought some "bell caps" and I thought we would glue or tie light nylon thread to each point of the bell cap and then glue a gold bugle bead on each thread.   Then I was gonna tie one strand through the middle of the cap and have a short piece of gold necklace chain coming out of the top connected by a jump ring. The part of the strand going down the middle would have a round glass bead even with the bugle beads for the clapper part, then have a sequin or something at the bottom (below the bugle bead) for the little thing that catches the wind.  I'm looking for cheap and simple since it's a club project.   You could buy brass tubing and a tubing cutter instead of using bugle beads.   I found this web site that might be of interest too: http://www.coolmini.com   If you get more info or interesting ideas, please share.

Debby in Kentucky

Wind chimes - I remember seeing some miniature wind chimes in our Ben Franklin store - I believe the longest chime was no more than an inch - they were made of metal, and they were in the "leather crafts" aisle - I assume they were to be used for making wind chime earrings, they were pretty small - I believe I even bought some (who KNOWS where they might be though....) they were near the dream catchers and feathers.

Sue in NC

Silica gel Crystals: As others have noted, the pill bottle desiccant cylinders make useful mini containers and the crystals can be used to dry flowers. Bottled in a tiny cork-topped glass bottle with a floral scrap label, the crystals also make great sparkly bath salts. Even though they may yellow, it doesn't matter for this purpose. I put them in gift baskets with scented soaps (painted TicTac mints), a tulle scrub pouf, bead perfume bottles, potpourri, a candle, etc. The baskets are the one detail every woman who sees my houses comments on -- guess we need that "Calgon take me away" fantasy in any scale!

Loretta.Sniarowski

Nuts: Try sawdust or finely ground cork. Have fun!

Tricia

Nuts: I have used bird gravel to make mini nuts. It has different colors and shapes just like ground mixed nuts.

Carol

Pillow stuffing: For anyone wanting to use salt as "stuffing. " I have never used this so far in mini's (but I probably will try it), and most people that live in humid areas probably already know this, but we have always added a few grains of rice to our salt shakers. On a rainy day or in a humid area, the rice absorbs the moisture from the air so that the salt does not clump together with moisture. I would think that this would work as well in mini's as it does in "real. "

Rusty

Casting Plaster: You could not use a rubber mold if you planned to cast it with plaster because rubber is not porous enough to absorb the moisture of the plaster. . . and the plaster would take FOREVER to dry and would probably crack or lump up. I think though that you could use a plaster mold. Just be certain that you have thoroughly coated it with a mold release before you pour the plaster into the mold. You can use a commercial mold release, or liquid dishwashing detergent or spray it with PAM or. . . . . etc.

Or. . . try this (I've never done it but don't know why it wouldn't work if you didn't need to keep the mold after one casting). Build a frame the size & shape of the outside of your model (the piece you want to copy) and press it into a smooth flat piece of regular modeling clay. You now have a frame pushed into the clay with the clay flat and smooth inside the frame. Then coat your model with oil or other mold release and carefully press it into the clay, making sure that it is in the same depth from all sides. Then carefully remove it and let the clay dry slightly (but not completely or it could shrink) and pour the plaster into that frame, over the clay. It might be best to make up a small "sample" first to see if it works.

Viola

Basic Fun Keychains; The company that makes the mini versions of all the boomer games is Basic Fun. I love their things. They also make the arcade games that folks here have talked about. Their board games tend to be a bit bigger than 1" scale, but look great in a Playscale display. I have had the Ouija board and its just great. The Mouse Trap is amazing. . . just like a full sized one. even the little guy who dives into the tub. I think Candyland and Sorry are new for this year. The arcade games are closer to 1" scale. I love the Fortune Teller and Claw game. The fooseball game almost made it into my Sixties Boys Bedroom, but I ran out of room. Basic Fun has a website: http://www.basicfun. com/

John Medeiros