Well today didn't pan out as planned...sorry peeps.

With a sick grandmother, sick hubby, a dove flying into my window and exploding cheese I didn't do as much as I planned today.

I'll get the next photos on tomorrow.

Todays plan

Well this morning, Mick got up for work and promptly crawled back into bed…he came home sick yesterday. So that means I have an earlier start than normal.

I even went out walking early….before the daisies had even woken up…..it was beautiful out there. A little chilly but bright blue skies and dew still on everything.

Today I am going to attempt to make the buds like this one.

Not sure how yet but I’ll have a play. The only thing I am concerned about is, the plants I am making for Nikki are dark plum, so you may not see how they fold over so well…we’ll see.

With a little luck, I’ll be back this afternoon with photos.

Paper texturing experiment.

A few days ago I posted this photo.

I was hoping that by pressing damp paper against sandpaper and weighting it down I would be able to recreate a bobbly look for the foxglove leaves.

Well ...it failed, miserably. I thought it would work, the sandpaper was really coarse, the paper is really thin and the books and trophy were really heavy. But no...so back to the drawing board.

Mick has a rasp file...I think that's what it is called...so I'll try to use that. If I place the paper over it and rub I am hoping that will give me the right effect. I'll let you know.

Foxgloves....Assembling the top.

Well, as expected for a weekend I didn’t get much done except boring house things.

I did manage to finish up the buds on one plant. I am going to do one at a time to make it quicker to get photos on here.

Now, please bear with me through this. If I am a little slow it is because I don’t know what I am doing....I am learning as much as you are. This isn’t so much tutorial with Talloley as it is letting the world, or at least some fellow miniaturists, follow my progress as I try and figure out how to make something I’ve never made before.

If you wanted to watch me make a Bird of Paradise plant that would be a different story…I can make those in my sleep.

Stopping to take photos at each stage slows things down as well. I do hope someone gets use of this and has a go and I’m not doing this for nothing.

Still, here is the little I accomplished over the weekend.

Because I find it such a pain to insert numerous photos into a post I’ve made them into one. If you click on them you’ll be able to see a larger image.

Once you have glued all the leaves onto the bud, as shown in the previous post, take some pastels in the color of your plant and very lightly dust the bud. You need the tiniest amount of chalk.

Now you need to make the tiny leaves that surround the bud.

1. Take a strip of your green paper. This is about ¼ inch wide. You won't need it this big but it is much easier to fold later.

Using a light green, very sharp pencil, draw a line down the center. This will give it the color you want and score the paper.

To be honest the final leaf is so thin you can barely see the line but it is there in real life so we’ll do it.

2. Fold the paper in half. The pencil line should have created a score line to make it easier.

3. Now using very sharp, small scissors, cut your leaf shape. Make sure the one end is very pointed and vanishes to almost nothing. The width of this leaf now is about 1/16th inch.

4. Take one of your buds and cut the wire, leaving about 1/8th inch of wire on there. This serves 2 purposes. One, in real life, the buds have tiny stems, they aren’t just stuck onto the main stem and two, it gives you something a little more substantial to attach to the main stem and allow you to bend it out later.

Glue the wire onto your leaf and leave to dry.

You will see the leaves are a lot longer than you need; this is simply for ease of handling.


Once they are dry, hold the wire part with tweezers and bend the wire so the bud bends out slightly. Now you can start attaching them to the main stem.

I had already dipped the end of the main stem in glue and paint and covered it with leaves, just as I did the buds. This creates the very top bud.

Take your buds and glue them to the main stem as shown. Place the glue onto the very bottom of the wire of the bud and a little bit underneath on the leaf.

Once it has dried you can cut off the excess leaf at the bottom.

Always allow one to dry before attempting another. And make sure there is no glue showing. It claims to dry clear but you can always still see it so make sure to wipe any off.

In this extreme close up, where the paper joins the stem looks really messy. It looks fine in real life.. honest…this is just the photo. And once the next steps are glued on you won’t see it anyhow.

I hope that is clear enough .... if not just ask. It is much easier to do it than try and explain it in words.

Here is the next step.

Place the leaves on a foam pad, the back of a mouse mat works well, and rub with the tip of a ball stylus until they curl.

Now you need to glue the leaves onto the bud.

I have only glued it 3/4 of the way up as I want the leaves at the very top to curl out slightly.

I've only shown one leaf glued on so you can get a better idea what I mean.

Once you have one leaf glued on leave it to dry before attempting to glue on any more. The glue dot is so small even the tiniest touch at this stage will move it I currently have a bunch of buds with just one leaf on them drying... Boring I know but it really is the best way.

And that will be it from me until next week. Weekends round here get pretty busy, I need to give my eyes and finger a rest for a day or so plus, I have an almost completed dollhouse on my dining table which I promised Mick would be finished and off there this week :-)

Stay tuned...

Buds and leaves

I figured if I was going to show you some pictures I may as well show you as many steps as I can. Just in case someone else wants to try and make some as well.

This is paper covered wire. If you know anything about wire it is 30 gauge...very thin. I have never seen wire like this in stores, I actually bought this from Era Pearce...an amazing miniature flower maker. You can see her website here.

The wire is dipped into Sobo glue. A white glue but much runnier than tacky glue. I leave it to almost dry then shape it with the tips of my fingers. Once dry I then dip it into the color paint I want for the buds. You can see the bottom row has been painted.

How many dips into glue and paint depends on how big I want the buds to be. Some only need 1 dip, others many.

Do you like my temporary drying rack...bamboo sticks balanced between open drawers....I do hope we don't get an earthquake today...those things rattle like crazy and I don't much fancy looking through the carpet for all of those.

And next come the leaves. This one is shown on the end of a regular scalpel blade.

You can't buy paper punches this small so these all have to be cut by hand

So now I have to go cut many, many leaves. Lucky for me these don't need to be veined :-)

Hopefully now you understand why I said this wouldn't be a quick challenge.

Foxgloves part 2

Not happy with the first attempts at tiny buds I have now decided to just make them exactly as they are in real life. A bud covered by leaves.

I was told I needed to put something to show a size comparison in the photos….I couldn’t think of anything except a match to show how small this one is. I am sure matches are pretty standard sized worldwide.

The wire will be cut off before it is attached to the main stem….I leave them on till the last minute...I have no way of holding them otherwise :-)

One of the hardest things I find when making tiny flowers is dealing with the glue. I don’t want any glue to show on the finished product so I have to be really careful how much I use. Plus these are so small I don’t have much surface area to put the glue onto. When working with tiny drops like this I put the glue on the bud and by the time I’ve picked up the leaf with my tweezers the glue has dried. So infuriating.

So today this is what I’ll be doing…making lots of little buds.

I also need to play around with leaves.

As you can see in this photo that Debbie sent me the leaves of a foxglove are all bobbly.

I am sure there is a correct botanical term for this but I don’t know what it is.

So, I have dampened a piece of my green paper, lay it on some coarse sandpaper and placed some heavy stuff on top of it.

Not sure if this will work but this is my experiment for the day.

I also will need to start thinking about how I could do this part of the plant.

See how the bud is folded over at the ends…looks like a little face to me…just add eyes :-)

I was thinking about this in bed last night and could not think of any way of making them like this.

I think I might stand a chance if I were making lighter colored ones but I think with the plum color I am using, even if I could figure it out I don’t think you’d be able to see it.

But then again, just because you can’t tell doesn’t mean I should at least try and do it properly.

I put stamen in many of my flowers and no one would ever know they were there…..but I know and that’s what counts.

Foxgloves Pt 1

Well I haven't got very far as yet but I'll post what I have so far.

Today I am painting paper for the flowers. Here you can see them hanging over my stove.

Normally I would hang them outside on the washing line. However, a Black Phoebe has decided it is his perch and I don't really want that kind of texture on the paper.

The colors are much paler than they will be when they are finished. this is just the first wash of paint.

And now we have the flowers. I have only got as far as the teeny tiny buds at the top and haven't got those right yet.

Please bear in mind that these photos are magnified a billion percent and, even though they aren't right, look far,far better in real life.

The section you see in these following 2 photos is under a quarter inch high.

The first method I tried was with floral tape.

I cut it into strips about a quarter inch wide and twisted it to make the bud shapes.

The leaves are made from tiny strips of paper.

The idea was good but I didn't like the finish so into the trash it went.




Gosh, this next photo looks like something you'd see under a microscope in science class. You can see all the fibers in the paper...I can't even see that with my glasses on.

Anyhow, for my next trick...I took cotton thread and dipped it in paint numerous times to make the buds.

Although this kinda gave me the effect I wanted it isn't quite there yet. I was thinking they'd be so small I wouldn't need to put leaves over the unopened flower and that painting them green would be enough.

I guess I should have known better and that I wouldn't be happy with that.

Also, using paint doesn't give me a pointy enough bud.



So back to the drawing board.

Award time

Ooohhh I got an award from Witch and Wizard Miniatures.

Thanks Nikki...my first award....how exciting.




I need a little while to think about this one...I'll be back...

* * * * *

So addictions huh ! Aside from sex, drugs and rock n roll…hmmm.

In no particular order except I'll start with the most embarrassing....

1. American Idol / Pop Idol. I hardly watch TV but this show is a must. I wish it were on more than once a year. I generally can't abide reality type shows but I love to watch people perform and I love to listen to music...which leads me to my 2nd addiction.

2. Music...pretty much everything except rap. This morning I've listened to Elvis, Tom Jones, Ozzy Osbourne, Queen, AC/DC and the entire soundtrack to Jesus Christ Superstar.

3. My friends…both real and online. I am still in touch from friends from school and old jobs. 2 of my best friends from many years back flew all the way out here from England for my wedding last October which was wonderful. And my online friends…I may not have met any of you but I value your friendship just as much.

4. Reading. Pretty much anything and everything…except those bodice ripping, thundering loins type novels. I am currently reading The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. Set in the 1930’s South Africa…a marvelous book that got me hooked on the very first page.

5. Travel…we both love to travel. Mick has visited all 48 mainland states but I’ve still got 4 to go. As much fun as we have together, what I love more than anything is taking other people on road trips. I get so much pleasure watching people’s reactions to the wonderful places and sights we show them. No matter how many times I’ve been there myself.

So who to pass this award onto.only 5….tough one.

1. Jodi and Richard of Creager Studios. Not only are they my favorite doll artists, Jodi’s blog is so much fun to read.

2. Gaye of Creating Dollhouse Miniatures for taking the time to compile so many wonderful videos and links.

3. Sumaiya…for taking the time to create a blog on Dollhouses by Robin Carey…..and because they are so wonderful to look at.

4. Richard of Sir Richards Tool Kit….because I love to read about tools and I love Micromark as much as he does

5. And last but certainly not least, Patti. Patti doesn’t have a blog but she creates and makes the most wonderful little people called Burrheads. They are beyond cute and personality and fun just shines from within them. You can visit her etsy store here.

And on top of her creativity Patti is a dear friend. She makes me laugh and, even though we have never met in person, I know that if ever I needed help I could just pick up the phone and call her. Isn't that what real friends are about.

5 is nowhere near enough...there are so many excellent blogs out there. Take a moment to see all the blogs I follow and you'll see many, many more.

Foxgloves.....the beginning.

I have been asked if I could make some foxgloves by Nikki of Witch and Wizard Miniatures

Well I've never attempted them before and at first glance at some photos I thought...how on earth can I make those from paper. And then hubby says "Foxgloves hmm they’ll be difficult"

Of course those are the words that make me think I WILL do that. Nothing like someone thinking I can’t do something to make me determined to prove I can. That is how Grace of Treefeathers got her geraniums :-) In fact most of my flowers started with the question from someone "Can you make.......?"

One of my other strange quirks, not that I haven't shared enough already, is that I want to be able to do everything...and get it right first time. Well I don't always get things right the first time but failures definitely spur me on.

Nothing better than a challenge I say, so bad finger be gone...I need you now. Maybe you can cast a spell my way Nikki :-)

I have decided to share pictures as I go along. I must be nuts allowing you to see my miserable failures along the way. I don't have time to do a step by step tutorial but you would get the general idea from the photos. Bear in mind that the content of first few photos will be junk until I figure out what I am doing but it will give you an insight into how I make flowers.....and in particular, at the beginning, how not to do things.

Nikki, if you see me whining about it...and I guarantee you will... please don't feel guilty. The more whining I do, the more I am enjoying it and the greater the achievement the end result is.

And Debbie...thanks for the photos you've sent my way...most helpful.

So sit back and enjoy the ride I promise this one will be bumpy but I’ll save the cursing for the privacy of my own home :-)