Since I took forever to complete DIY project number 23, I decided to play with it. Being my only classroom setting kit, a little role play for some fun. As I happened to have three felted Miffy bunnies (I gave the others away), they are the perfect size for the classroom!
The little classroom
Add in Hedwig, the learned owl, to teach the classroom – this little fun makes up for the lengthy duration I took to complete the set. If I had more felted characters done up, I would have one busy township bustling with activities. All those DIY sets that I have completed would have a better use than just being in the Ikea display cabinet.
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.
The itch to buy something from my favorite online site surfaced not too long ago. Although there are more than a dozen DIY miniature sets on my wishlist, I thought it was not a good idea to buy more yet. I have to be sensible and not give in to impulse buying.
Besides, I already have eight unopened boxes waiting for me – acquiring more does not seem practical. Let’s not forget the current DIY project number 23 has not seen any progress since January.
But the itch had to be addressed. So I bought covers for my golf clubs, specifically, my three utility clubs. As the driver, 3- and 5-woods already have the same family type of covers, I bought similar ones to match. The more, the merrier to make them one big family!
My doggo covers and three with tags!
The only difference is size and color, and tags for easy recognition. I love my golf set covers – they look good, and I feel good.
Today is a public holiday, yet another one. Malaysia has lots of public holidays, and sometimes it is a disruption. Typically we do not appreciate it because it disrupts the work schedule.
But of late, work is sporadic, so a public holiday is perfect for golf. What this means is that the DIY project is untouched yet again! Oh well.
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.
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 cuteTurtle 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!
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 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.
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.
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.
Angieneering 
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