nid d'abeille

Lots of various things, for my polar hut and for selling in my Etsy shop.

   

( many minis )

Here are some miniatures that I didn't get around to posting a while ago, plus some new acquisitions!

      

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I have at long last finished a set of specimens in jars, some to keep for Stephen's dispensary (though not for dispensing purpose, I hope) and the rest for Etsy.  

I also finished another batch of mini books.  I'm much more efficient now that I know what I'm doing.  It's nice to know what I'm doing.

No commentary, just pictures.



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A couple of days ago I was on the front page of Etsy!  At least, some of my miniature apothecary bottles were.  (First column, third row down.)  Amazing!  They sold quickly, and then I got several messages from other people who wanted to buy some, so I whipped up some new ones.  I feel really undeservedly lucky in my Etsy endeavor.  But I've just had my first repeat customer, so that's great!  I'm so glad people like my things.

Also, I forgot to mention that recently my miniature books were featured on Fluffy Bricks!  Thank you, longlongwaytogo!  I feel special and famous!

I'm mini-spamming because I'm mini-crafting quite a lot lately.  Here are just a couple of Jackish pictures, primarily to show off the new inkwell and quill I made for him.

   

( miniatures for Jack )

I've been making a ton of miniature books, filling up the bookcase that I recently made for Stephen's dispensary.  They're made with real leather and hand-marbled papers, and some have gold tooling in the labels.  They don't open, though.  They simply grace the shelves.  Or the floor, or any other surface requiring a book.

I might consider making and selling some more.  

And in case you ask, I get the leather and marbled papers from the place where I work.  I don't know where one would get such materials by retail though.



( mini books )

I made a bookcase for Stephen's dispensary (which features so prominently in the "Sir!  Sir, it's Mister Hollom!" scene and elsewhere...  What, you've never noticed it?) as well as a random jar of marmalade for him to breakfast upon.

I also adapted an old shelf/dresser thing that I've had since childhood in my old dollhouse, but I never quite liked it.  However, I found that it fits perfectly in the low-ceilinged sick bay, so I decided to use it there with some adaptations.  I think it just may be the only thing that comes from my original collection of miniatures!  Mostly because none of those things are good enough for Jack and Stephen.

     

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I made mini cabinets for the great cabin.  They go high on the wall next to the stern windows.  I also glazed the windows, at last.  I made the cabinets from scratch!  I think I'm getting pretty good at making functional pieces from scratch.  Soon I'll be able to make Stephen's "object" and his apothecary case.

  

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Yes, I know I've been spending money like a banshee (because you know how banshees like to spend that money) and moaning about being broke...  But I have never ever known the British pound to be this low compared to the US dollar (£1 = $1.35 !!!!!!!!!!  WHAT?!) and so, I have finally ordered some pieces of miniature china that I have been wanting FOREVER, before the poor pound can recover (or before the dollar can sink, or whatever's going on there.)  They're from the amazing Stokesay Ware.

Thanks, Britain!  You know I love you.  Good luck with your economy, but, um, not until my order has been processed.

 
     

I didn't order the whole tea set - there's also a gorgeous dinner service - I only got 2 cups and saucers, 2 side plates, and a bowl.  I'll set my table as if Jack and Stephen have just finished dinner and they're having coffee with their dessert, or something.  (I already have a fine silver coffee pot.)  Or maybe they're having breakfast, and then I could get a fancy toast rack...

Miniatures!  I haven't posted any in ages, but I've still been collecting and making.  In today's showcase, my current pièce de resistance is a Baker rifle for a certain special sharpiefan , a late birthday and I-appreciate-all-that-you-do and you-should-really-get-into-miniatures present, which she will be receiving soon!  Also, a flintlock pistol, sextant, yet another bottle, another bone saw and forceps, a silver coffee pot and silver cutlery set.

  

These are all things that I bought.  I didn't make them from scratch!  I just adapted some of them after taking these first pictures.

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I'm famous!  Regarde!  Mini Rivoli, aka claireric wrote a lovely post on my Aubrey-Maturin miniatures in her blog.  I'm her featured miniaturist of the month!  And reading about my minis in French is just so... lovely. 

But LOL, clicking on the instant Yahoo Babelfish translator at the bottom gives a really funny translation.  For example:

Original:

Grace Poppy tient un journal sur la fabrication des vitrines qu'elle réalise d'après le film "Master and Commander" : il y a la cabine, le bureau et la "cellule de sommeil" du docteur Stephen Maturin -  médecin-chirurgien de la marine anglaise de l'aube du XIXe siècle...

My rough translation:

Grace Poppy has a journal about the creation of display boxes she makes based on the film "Master and Commander":  there's the cabin, the study, and the "sleep cell" of doctor Stephen Maturin - physician-surgeon in the English navy at the dawn of the 19th century...

Yahoo Babelfish:

Grace Poppy holds a newspaper on the manufacture of the windows which it builds according to the film “Master and Commander”: it there with the cabin, the office and the “cell of sleep” of Doctor Stephen Maturin - doctor-surgeon of the English of the paddle of the XIXe century...

ETA:  I was wondering where the word "navy" went in that babelfish translation, since he's supposed to be in the marine anglaise, but it simply says that he's a doctor-surgeon of the English.  Then I realized it was in the part of the paragraph I left out.  Where the original ends with:

...Stephen Maturin - médecin-chirurgien de la marine anglaise de l'aube du XIXe siècle, autrement dit également entomologiste, zoologiste, dessinateur et humaniste.

the full translation should say:

...Stephen Maturin - doctor-surgeon of the English of the paddle of the XIXe century, in other words also entomologist, zoologist, draughtsman and humanistic navy.

Such an admirable navy!!!!  Just the sort of navy that Stephen would belong to!  They probably even paddle their boats facing their destination!  They sail past inestimable prizes bent solely on enlightenment and furthering the study of natural history.

I found the missing cello bridge.  It was only inches away from where it got lost on the sofa, lying there in plain view, even though I'd looked ALL over the sofa and the cushions and the slipcover.  I don't know where it's been all this time.  Hmph.

ARGH!  I've been adapting a mini cello for mini Stephen, and I finally had the bridge just right.  But I looked over to pick up something, and the bridge DISAPPEARED.  It was on a board in my lap, and then it was GONE.

IT WAS SO TINY.  AND INTRICATE.  AND NOW IT'S GOOOONE!

ETA:  I ended up just making a new one.  But ARGH.  I

For your amusement, here are some other random miniatures that I'm currently in love with.  They're not going anywhere though (they're flightless), so I'll probably buy them later when the time is right.

Fancy silver toast rack from Kerbey Lane Miniatures.  "I smell coffee, toast!"


Coping saw from Kerbey Lane Miniatures (again with the saws!  Why do I LOVE these bone saws?  Plus I'm so enamored with my own little bone saw.  And when my local dollhouse store closed, I bought nearly all of their saws so I could distress them and reshape them and maybe sell them in surgical sets, maybe, eventually... plus lots and lots of little knives too.)


Sterling silver tweezers by Taller Targioni. 

I revere Taller Targioni, but nearly everything they make is out of my price range.  These are one thing that I could afford, and it would be lovely just to have one of their items in my collection.  (Other items I love - the pistol in a box, the various mineral and butterfly cabinets (I keep imagining that I want to make a Joseph Blaine roombox, or wealthy-Stephen's-house-of-dreams naturalist abode...) and this wash stand is almost exactly like something movie!Stephen has in his dispensary with the microscope sitting on it (oddly enough).  (Can you tell that I have obsessively pored over screencaps to identify every article in that room?)  And perhaps best of all - or competing with the butterfly cabinets - I adore this simple, beautiful, perfect chair.  I adore its simplicity and cleanness. 


Cristina Noriega is the miniaturist I most admire, I think, and then probably Taller Targioni second.  But then, Cristina's things are so very  expensive and superb that it's almost like she's a one-of-a-kind artist and not a seller, to me.  She's amazing!  So if Taller Targioni is my favorite seller, then Nantasy Fantasy is close second.  They made my fabulous scales, and I'm very proud to own them.  I also love their very fine sextant!  But at $167, heh, that's just wishfulness.  There are much less expensive sextants around, and I'll be perfectly happy with one of them, truly.  And now this wish list is drifting away from the probable and possible into the wishful.

But while we're there...

Anyone got a spare $610 for Killick?
I love SP Miniatures.  (Remember them, alto2? :D)  Maybe I can get it engraved to say that the Lively preserves the liveliest remembrance.

ETA:  I almost forgot, this cello by Heidi Ott.  It's the most accurate 1:12 cello I've found (so many claim to be 1:12 but are really much too big), so I plan on getting it as soon as the great cabin is ready for it.


ETA again:  Forgot something else!  Also from SP Miniatures!  New!  Beautiful glass carboys (demijohns) which can be filled with laudanum.

There's even another miniaturist who makes wicker coverings for them!  But they're really expensive.  I'll be happy with a plain carboy.  Maybe in amber.  Or green.  Hmm.

I have ceilings!  And floors!  And a light!





linked at doll_houses, little_world and hms_surprise.