Tardis caketopper #1

Do you know Doctor Who and his Tardis? They are the protagonists of a British science-fiction television programme in the 60's and the sequel in the 00's. The Doctor is an alien, a Time Lord, who travels in a time machine and spacecraft with chameleon circuit named Tardis. Tardis' chameleon circuit is broken so the shape is stucked in the shape of a London police box.

A friend of mine, who will get married soon, asked me a replica of the Tardis as caketopper.
This is the Tardis caketopper making of :)

I've begun with poplar wood sheets of 0,3 and 0,5 cm thick, from the wood I've cut a square for the base, three for the roof and four rectangles for the sides.

From long pine wood sticks I've cut the four side columns.

I've taken the measures for the sticks inside the side panels, I'll go to buy them in a hobby shop.

The acrylic paint, a beautiful ultramarine, is already here.

To be continued :)

Second post

Third post

Spring 2014

Each time a season fades in the next one, I write on my Facebook pages a verse of the song "The Voice" by Celtic Woman. This time I've used one of my miniature to welcome Spring.

The idea for these Crocus flowers comes to me from a real Crocus composition on the web. Crocuses are little plants from the Iris family, they are cultivated for the saffron from their stigmas. Crocuses paint Winter and Spring meadows and woods with their wonderful purples and yellows.

Here the table of Crocus colors, their remind to Pantone colors for 2014.

Here a collage with some lovely creations from my Etsy Team :)

1. Green lace collar - Callmemimi
2. Purple ACEO print with violets - LetterapSy
3. Amethyst jade necklace - Elettrarossa
4. Handpunched butterflies in the shades of purple – VeraPaperLab

Everything sprouts again.

Resoconto Hobby Show Roma primavera 2014 - Parte 2

Next weekend I was at Hobby Show in Rome.

There were few stands but I've found some useful things.

A romantic rubber-stamp that reproduce a... stamp :D by Stamperia.

I've found a PVC mould with sealife subjects as shells and a tiny starfish that I hope to use very soon. Untill now I've handmade starfishes but this one is really tiny, less than 1 cm (0.4 in), it will be useful for the shape but I have to work to make them more natural.

Two punchers, one for little tags to put on packages I ship, the other for plants in miniature. Unfortunately so tiny leaves are difficult to find.

Finally the best purchase, a miter cutter to cut frames, wood and plastic splints.

They have a safety block, the screws you can see in the picture, and it is marked at 45°, 60°, 75°, 90°, 105°, 120° and 135°. I've tried them and cut perfect corners.

The seller was a very nice French sir, his website is Cominter-dinosaure.

I've seen also other interesting materials and tools: powdered glitters, a little cutting plotter, Japanese mold clays and a lot of PVC for moulds. The next time...

Resoconto Hobby Show Roma primavera 2014 - Parte 1

As written in another post precedente post, on last weekend I went to the Hobby Show Roma at the ADMI (Associazione Dollhouse e Miniature Italiane) stand to promote miniaures for dollhouses, the ADMI team and to do short classes with Cristina Stacchini, Daniela Messina e Roberta Solari.

ADMI stand and Cristina

Cristina's, Roberta's and mine roomboxes

Daniela's works

The item from the short classes

ADMI stand with Cristina, Daniela and me

Thank you to ADMI, to Cristina, Daniela and Roberta :)

Here we are :D

The next post will be about the little treasures I've found at that fair :)

Carnival treats

Every year, on February, I'd like to make Italian traditional Carnival treats in miniature but I cannot find the right dishes for them, so this year here you are some pictures of past works :)

These are the first Carnival treats that I've made on February 2011. A plate with "Castagnole", fried dough balls with sugar on them, and one with "Frappe", fried stripes of dough with icing sugar or honey on them.

This is a custom order that I've made on October 2011. A plate with "Castagnole"and one with "Crostoli", fried rhombuses of dough, and "Frittole" extended balls of fried dough.

Happy Fat Tuesday and bon appetit ;)

Hobby Show primavera 2014

Da un po' di anni l, una delle fiere dell'artigianato e dell'hobbistica più famose in Italia, si presenta in un doppio appuntamento annuale a Roma.

L'appuntamento autunnale è il più conosciuto, quello primaverile lo è un po' meno ma è pur sempre ricco di corsi e materiali.

On February the 28^th, March the 1^st and 2^nd an Italian fair, HobbyShow, will take place in Rome at Nuova Fiera di Roma and I'll be there with other miniaturists at ADMI (Associazione Dollhouse e Miniaturisti Italiani) stand.
There will be some short classes, for the list wee here.
The other miniaturists are: Celidonia with her amazing sculptures, Le Miniature di Eurosia with her wonderful works and Cristina Stacchini with her lovely workd, all in 1 inch scale.

My classes are two, a little shabby chic shutter

and a fantasy set.

See you at HobbyShow :)

Celidonia's tiny mice

Do you like mice? And do you like miniature mice? I would like to introduce to you Daniela Messina's mice. Made with great attention to details, they are expressive and look so real even if they are made out in polymer clay and high, on their feet, about 1 cm (0.4 in).

The mice in the pictures below are arranged inside candle holders that I've made just for them.

Daniela gives the magic touch to these works and you can visit her blog CelidoniaStudio to see a lot of other Daniela's wonderful miniatures.

You can see her little treasures in person at Miniaturitalia, the only Italian dollhouse (and other things) fair.
Not lose this mini-magic meeting ;)