Meet Jazz the Greyhound

As you may remember from the last blog entry, I really wanted a greyhound for the art deco house.  I could find several miniature greyhounds in 1:12 and one in 1:48, but nothing in 1:24.  (Trying not to whine.)  I looked at charms, but they tended to be too small.  I found a 3D printed greyhound in 1:24, but it was running and not really what I was looking for.  Finally, I decided to try making one myself.  Polymer clay really is not my strength, but I did OK on the animal heads for the Roosevelt library, so I figured, "Why not at least give it a shot?"  I looked at other miniature greyhounds to get a sense of what I wanted mine to look like.  She is made from polymer clay and then painted, and I added microbeads for her eyes. 

I know she is not perfect (and some areas proved tricky to sand, so there is some roughness in close-up), but I am actually pretty happy with her.  Her name is Jazz, and she immediately hopped up on Shannon's chair and made herself at home.

I also tried making an art deco club chair from an SDK kit.  The kit comes with gray suede paper for the upholstery, which was not the look I was going for.  I had a tie that I thought would be perfect, but now that it's done, I'm not so crazy about it.

I think the upholstery is just too dark against the black wood and maybe a little too thick with the brocade texture.  I do have additional kits for a chair and a sofa, but I really need to re-think before I make them up.  I have a nice silvery gray satin tie that might work. 

I could also get thin white leather, which I think would look stunning, except I was planning on doing a black-and-white floor, and I'm afraid that would be too much black and white.  Thoughts?  Suggestions?  Any advice would be welcome.

Hope you are all getting a chance to enjoy the season and that life is not too crazy!  

Back to Art Deco

Hope you all (those who celebrate) had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I ate way too much, but definitely enjoyed the good friends and good cheer that accompanied the holiday.  Our friends solved the murder mystery, as well as all of the codes and puzzles we threw at them along the way.  😊

Again, not much time for mini-ing, which I hope will change now that we're past the major holiday, although since we have another one coming up in less than a month. . . .

I have continued to play around with dressing mannequins.  I have two versions of a 1920's dress:  Day (with cloche hat)

And Evening (with headband).  

The day dress was never intended.  I was just playing around with some fabric from a tie to test my pattern, and ended up liking it so much, I formalized it into a day dress.  The purple dress is made from silk from Mood.  I love their fabric swatches; they're usually big enough for me to experiment a bit, without costing an arm and a leg.  (Swatches are $1.50, compared to buying a yard of fabric at, say, $35/yd.)  I think the fringe I used for the skirts is actually eyelash yarn/ribbon.  I got it from Dragonfly International and just love it.  (It's their silky fringe, TR23.)  For the cloche hat, I used this tutorial.  However, felt was way too thick for half scale, so I ended up using flannel instead, and it did a pretty good job.   I added a big red flower to give it some pizzazz.  

The hat stands are made from two of the larger round beads from that wonderful set of wooden beads I used for the Christmas ornaments.  I added toothpicks and round woodsies for the bases, puttied in and sanded the tops, then used a permanent black marker to draw a bob on each stand.

And those beads!  I don't know how many of you remember the Julie Andrews movie "Thoroughly Modern Millie."  As I struggled to get the beads to hang the way I wanted them to (and didn't always succeed), all I could think of was that scene during the opening credits where Millie's beads will just not hang straight like all the other girls'. 🙄

Both dresses are destined for Etsy, but I have saved the pattern so that I can make one for the art deco house as well.  The nice thing about this dress is that it slips off the mannequin, and I can put it on a hanger or lay it on the bed.

And speaking of the art deco house, I'm hoping to get to do a mock-up of it while taking some time off over Christmas.  In preparation, I started making up some furnishings.  I find it's helpful to have actual furniture to place in my mock-ups, as it gives me a sense of whether I have the proportions correct.  I started with the lovely art deco tub chair kit from Red Cottage Miniatures.  I have to say, it went together beautifully.  When the pieces are glued together, there are shallow channels designed to exactly fit the fabric-covered card stock pieces (helpfully pre-cut by Shannon).  I used the Brodnax leopard-print silk in half scale for my upholstery, and I love it against the smooth black finish of the chair.  I've paired it with the half-scale art deco hourglass table from JBM Miniatures, topped with a martini I've borrowed from the Merrimack.

Here it is next to the mannequin with my flapper dress.

If only I could find a half-scale greyhound/whippet to lounge in my chair, all would be perfect. *sigh*

I'm making up a few other pieces, as well as working to fix up some things I already have, and I'm still working on the Etsy store.

Have a great week, and thanks for stopping by!