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Wrapping Up DIY Project #23

13 May

DIY project number 23 has been such a challenge. After five months, I’m glad to say DIY project number 23 is a done deal. Well, almost. Not so much of it is hard to construct, but more because of my commitment to staying focused to get it done. When there are other things to do, crafting miniatures takes a backseat.

DIY project number 23

The structure and furniture pieces were all completed some time ago. However, I left things unattended, diverting to felting Miffy rabbits and cute tortoises in between playing golf. The finishing details were the schoolbags and ceiling lights which I decided to skip doing for practical reasons, or call it customizing, if you may.

The opted out pieces

The set will sit in the Ikea display cabinet with the other completed miniature projects. So being in the display cabinet, ceiling lights are pointless because it is too tight a space to touch anything in there. In other words, I have not turned on the lights of any of the sets for some time already. As for the bags, well, I find them too tedious to make, so I’m leaving them out now, but I may change my mind. We shall see.

I have also decided not to take a long break and will jump right into DIY project number 24, which is a much smaller set; hence, the time to complete it will not take so long. I hope I will be more focused on it once I get started.

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A Bag of Air

10 May

We love snacking on chips, and now and then, a bag of chips would be out, and we’ll be munching away. It’s not the healthiest snack, but we’ll close one eye on this.

Recently, M1 brought a bag of chips home for us to try. And try we did. When I opened the bag, it was a bag of air more than chips! Eesh, I was irked to encounter this! The audacity of the manufacturers to puff up the bag to make it look plentiful when in reality, two-thirds of the bag contains more air than chips.

The bag of air

But certain brands are a little better, packing less air and more chips. So either we eat and not complain, or not eat at all to avoid being irked.

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Oh My Hedwig!

9 May

We were out at the mall one day, and the display caught my eye. An owl specifically, Hedwig, the owl from the Harry Potter Charms Collection Series 1. How cute it looked! Although I love owls, I am not a Harry Potter fan per se, so I took a photo of it instead of making an impulse buy.

A few days later, I looked at the photo again to admire the cutie pie and thought, why not try felting it? And within days, my version of Hedwig came about. I think mine looks as good, if not better than the original!

My cutie pie Hedwig

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Big and Cute

26 Apr

As I progress with my new felting hobby, I find that the characters that I do get bigger each time. And they are just as cute. Maybe because I found a bag of beads to make the eyes, the size of the characters has to be proportionate to the beads.

Another cutie pie!

My latest character, another turtle, is such a cutie pie! A large piece does not necessarily mean harder to make – it only requires more material, which I have. I now felt each character with the off-white wool as the base, followed by color wool to dress it up.

It’s been a fun learning experience, and I find myself making a whole range of characters, unlike carving, where I stick to one or two shapes because wood is harder to manipulate. But both have their appeal, and I certainly enjoy felting and carving.

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DIY Project #23, Part 3

18 Apr

DIY project number 23 has stalled big time. Right after the Lunar New Year, I was so busy with my golf routine that crafting miniatures was relegated to become a thing of the past – a pandemic lockdown activity to kill time. My initial apprehension at my pace and fear of it stalling came true. Sigh.

I have to admit, I did not set a deadline, nor am I committed to completing the project. Hence, the stall. Occasionally, I find myself felting instead as this activity takes less time. Am I losing interest in crafting miniatures?

Bearing in mind, I still have eight sets waiting for me and a dozen more on my wishlist on the online shopping site that I intend to buy! I need to find the time, stay focused and prioritize my crafting time.

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Let the Felting Begin, Part 2

11 Mar

It is nice when I don’t have to worry about supply when I’m felting. When I first started on this new hobby, subliminally, I was mindful of not having enough wool regardless of color and was making tiny characters.

Now, this predicament is no longer an issue to bother me. The second turtle character, completed in a day, was much bigger than the first one but equally just as cute.

Bigger but just as cute
Turtle number two

Perhaps from now on, I should start felting bigger characters instead of tiny ones? They are easier to handle after all, and supply is no longer an issue. Let’s see what I can make next. Such fun I’m having!

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Let the Felting Begin

4 Mar

So I had a little bit of time despite being busy with office work, a new design project that cropped up. But to work on my miniature would take too much of my time, and I needed some creative inspiration – I started felting a new character.

Look at all that wool!

I opened up the latest wool purchase to use and was amazed at the quantity. My eyes bugged out, and my heart soared! So much wool, I’m in seventh heaven because now, I don’t have to worry about not having enough of the base color. I can even use all this off-white wool as the innards of a shape and add color to the outer layer. Cool!

And so, as planned with this approach, my latest character, a tortoise, was felted with the off-white wool for the overall shape, and the green color wool added for the shell. It’s another cutie pie to my growing list of cutie pies.

My latest creation

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The Latest Purchases

1 Mar

My latest online shopping purchase is not my usual DIY miniature kit but wool for felting! As there are already several miniatures waiting for me, I decided there was no need to hoard any more sets.

The need for consistency

This change in purchasing pattern is because felting requires one color in abundance as the base. Case in point – recently, I made so many Miffy characters that had different base colors, from white and off-white to pink – I needed to be more consistent. Hence this latest purchase. It looks like felting is giving my crafting miniatures a run for its money here.

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Stalled for a Reason

25 Feb

DIY project number 23 was moving along well until Mom came over to stay recently. She was very fascinated with all my earlier felted characters.

So I deviated from crafting miniatures to show her the felting process, and she was very impressed with my ability.

My felted Miffy family

From there onwards, I decided to continue felting and made more Miffy rabbits. This change turned out well as these characters fit nicely as students for the school setup of DIY project number 23!

DIY project number 23

Funny how things can fall into place nicely. Once all these ‘students’ are ready, I guess the school has to be done up quickly for the back-to-school in-person learning.

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On the Last Stretch

8 Feb

Wiring work is never fun when it comes to crafting miniatures. I am on the last stretch of DIY project number 23 and facing the wiring work for the lights. Even though I have almost two years under my belt doing this activity, wiring work and handling fabrics are still two big banes for me.

And this project’s fabrics, being felt and leather, are quite a task to handle! There are four bag packs that I have to do as this kit is about going back to school. This task looks even more challenging than making pillows, sofas, or bed quilts!

I have to be brave to face this; otherwise, DIY project number 23 will be incomplete and left sitting to collect dust.

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