Busy, busy, busy !

As usual things have been busy here :-)  

On top of working I've been away quite a bit in my campervan. We often don't get much of a summer over here so I have to take advantage when I can :-)

This is such a beautiful country and I can drive an hour away and be a forest, or up a mountain, or by the side of a lake. And it costs me little more then staying at home all weekend...so off I go :-)

I've been to quite a few really amazing weekend art / music festivals and I also went to Glastonbury again this year. Couldn't get a campervan spot this year so had to camp in a small tent..... it rained most off the time so I spent most of  it very wet but it was well worth it :-) Glastonbury still has a very hippy / arty vibe...I wish they'd show that on the TV rather than just the main stages. I could spend a week there and never see a big name band and still be happy. There are so many opportunities to learn a new art.

In between I've managed to keep up with my commissions so I'll leave you with some photos of a few plants I've made recently.

May ? Already ?

I cannot believe how quickly this year is going. How is it May already.

Maybe it is just cause I am getting older but time is really moving too fast for my liking.

Maybe it is just cause I've been busy. Whatever it is it needs to slow down :-)

I am also now on Pinterest....yeah months behind everyone else as usual. 

 Great place if you have an hour or six to look at everything you could ever imagine. 

Come over and follow me if you are on there.

Anyhooo, here are a few commissions I've been working on recently

Miniatura

It's Spring Miniatura time !

Luckily for me it is held in my home town Birmingham. I've moved to the neighbouring county now but it is still only a short train ride for me.

I've only ever been once and I am guessing it was in the 80's. Although I wasn't making back then I still had an interest in minis :-) Back then it was a very small affair in a room at a local hotel so this huge event at the NEC will be very different.

I am super excited to go...not because of anything I might buy, in fact I have no plans to buy much really but....I can't wait to meet many of my mini friends. Some of whom I've known for many, many years.

After years of chatting online we finally get to meet ....wooo !

I am still being kept busy with custom orders but every now and then I get a gap which gives me the chance to make something from my own imagination....and here is the latest....Bonita.

I have been terribly lax at keeping this blog up to date....one of those things I keep meaning to do but never got round to.

My time has been spent mainly mini making and I've had a number of commission in half scale which has been challenging but fun.

 

Here is a selection some of the custom orders I've made so far this year :-)

Click on the photos for a more detailed view.

Half Scale Dandelions

My interpretation of the Fanged Geranium from Harry Potter

My interpretation of the Flitterbloom from Harry Potter

Half Scale

 

Half Scale herb and dried flower bunches

 

Back soon with more new creations :-) In the meantime I am on facebook quite a bit so you can always see what I am up to there.

Tallulah Belle facebook

Happy New Year....very belated !

So much for my plans of being back working on the 7th January ! The best laid plans and all that.

I spent New Year camping in a very wet Bedgellert, Wales. Barely stopped raining the entire time but it wasn't at all cold so didn't stop me enjoying being out in the fresh air. I love being outside and try to remember that there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing !

 

Ive been so delayed due to having to do self employed taxes for the first time in the UK. I used to whizz though my USA ones so assumed it would be the same....hmmmm no. Once I got used to all the different terminology it was easy but I had to spend a load of time reading before I got there. Next year should be a doddle :-)

One good thing came out of it though, I learned a load about my spending habits. Actually that wasn't such a good thing !

I have spent soooo much money on 'supplies'   I had to leave the majority of  the bits and pieces I'd collected over the years in America so was literally starting from scratch again. The cost soon mounts up when you have nothing. All my old stuff didn't go to waste though, my neighbors young daughter was a budding artist and I gave her everything. She still sends me photos of the art she is creating.

So.....my goal for this year is to not buy anything new. I will carry on making but only using supplies I already have.

I am definitely looking forward to the challenge of looking at my 'stuff' with different eyes and it might make for some interesting miniatures.

New items for sale

Kitchen Nightmares !

Professor Morpheus T. Seedbender learned an important lesson last night.....

Never forget to feed them. They might just help themselves !

Beastly Botanicals

A couple of months ago I read about a competition Dolls House Emporium were running. You had to take their dollhouse kit, The Cabin, and transform it.

Wanting to get back into serious mini making this was just what I needed as a challenge. I didn't tell anyone as I wasn't sure I could do it. 

But I did.....and I came 2nd place :-)

I never thought I stood a chance of winning anything. Aside from messing about with a couple of things this was the first house I'd made. Just making it was enough for me so I was over the moon when I heard I'd come in second place. I still haven't stopped smiling.

Beastly Botanicals

….a fantasy plant laboratory owned by Dr Morpheus T. Seedbender PD (Plant Doctor)

 

Dr Morpheus T.Seedbender P.D is a botanical geneticist. 

 

Due to the highly controversial nature of his work he lives high atop the mountains. This location was picked, not only because of its remoteness, but because he has access to all the weird and wonderful flora and fauna that has been left untouched by people who never venture so far. 

 Unfortunately, the lack of oxygen at this altitude, the absence of other humans and the foraged wild mushrooms he eats has slowly sent him somewhat deranged

Having lost his mind he is totally fearless and will fuse all manner of plant life never knowing what, or how dangerous the final result will be.  

Growing up the outside of his lab you will see a Hysteria tree.

A wisteria with the added bonus of screaming banshee flowers 

which alert him to any intruders.

 

 

Protecting the front entrance to the lab are 

Papahi and Peyton Pumpkin. 

Papahi, although mischievous, is incredibly smart and partnered with Peytons’s reputation as the village warrior they make formidable guards.

  

 

 Inside the lab are some extraordinary specimens.

 

 

  

 

 Inside the cage he keeps the Pyromandible plant. 

A most dangerous example of science gone wrong. With the ability to unhinge their lower jaw they are able to bite with a force able to break bones. This plant must be kept constantly sedated.

A near miss while changing the drip feed recently left the professor with a bleeding hand and broken thumb.

In the window you will see Amanita. A beautiful red and white petaled plant. Created using Fly Agaric mushrooms to forcefully induce a symbiotic relationship  with the Pyromandible.  The drool of Amanita has psycotropic properties used primarily for the sedation of  the pyromandible. 

Sitting next to her is Marley the Rastafarian plant. 

Strategically placed that his deadlocks are out of reach of the Pyromandible but that the smoke from his cigarette is not. This also has a sedative effect on the Pyromandible.

 

The 2 plants under the round window are part of the genus Floozy.  

Floozies are an impish breed, which have a tendency to torment and tease. With their huge toothy smiles the professor finds them hard to resist and rarely chastises them. 

 

The professor claims that the 3 headed plant in the corner is a distant relative of the mandrake.

 Or was it an experiment gone wrong ?   

 

Whilst a true mandrake will scream when picked all this plant is capable of is singing constantly. In the absence of any electricity the professor  lets him stay for entertainment.

  

  

The fruit tree in the corner is a Carrow tree. 

Bred primarily to provide food for the professor, 
the marrow and carrot fusion apparently makes a wonderful soup.

The professor has a head full of ideas so I am sure this won’t be the last we hear from him, 

 or his creations :-)