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Chicago Mini-Show


MiniMadWoman

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This was my first Tom Bishop show and I must say 'Wow'. I attended the workshop on Friday that created the small mouse house. We worked with a product called Polyfila to create stone floors and I was very impressed with it.

Everyone at the show was very nice. My workshop instructor was excellent.

The actual show floor was intense. Very crowded. If I can say that I learned one lesson from the whole thing it was to get the tickets for the preview show (which I didn't do).

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Tracy,

Those shields you got are wonderful! And the books too! I bought some at our show very much like them only with magickal titles - I couldn't pass them up. But I think you got a better buy on them! Sounds like it was a great show. Maybe next year I'll get up the courage to fly back there and attend the show myself.. not likely but it sure would be awesome to meet everyone.

-David

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Those shields you got are wonderful! And the books too!

The shields is what really pulled me to the table there are 4 different ones. There are also royal crowns too and bird nest with birds and eggs and I got ducks frames ships boats...Sheesh they had a lot. I just wish I did not have to paint them all. I should have asked what is the best type of paint to use to paint pewter items. Does anyone know?

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I got to see the pictures by clicking on the link below your name, Tracy. Oooo, I love those sleeping baby fairies!

I get flat Rustoleum spray primer and prime white metal/ pewter/ polystyrene (I used to paint war game miniatures for friends) and then it can be painted with any kind of paint. As you know, I use acrylic paints from the tube and I use them for EVERYTHING.

I went nuts with the white metal minis at E&T and one of these days I need to paint my pair of Staffordshire dogs so they can go on the mantel of the pub (unless the McKinley snatches them).

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Here's a photo of the little mouse house I built with the instructor from Toad Hall Productions. It was a great experience.

gallery_508_238_158141.jpg

I also purchased just a few things:

-a subscription to Doll's House World (I always pick-up a copy of this when in the UK, and beg co-workers to get it for me, but now I have my own subscription. No more begging).

-a tiny statue of Bast, the Egyptian cat goddess. I have three of these ranging from about an inch up to about 6 inches in height. Now I have one that is about a half inch.

-some books

-assorted items off of a stall by the door that sold everything from dishes to food

-a book on creating furnishings using polymer clay

I went with my sister, dad, and hubby. It was really great to get together and tp share something that I love doing.

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Thanks Holly! I will try that! I did not even think about those war hammer minis. They are pewter too LOL.

War Hammer, those are gaming miniatures, they should be available from a multitude of online sources. I thought they looked like gaming pieces when I saw your pics, knowing they're War Hammer confirms it.

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Andrea, Your mouse house is Gorgeous and you did a EXCELLENT Job on it!!! Is this a 1" scale room?

Andrew, the Pewter items I have are not war hammer but hand made by Martha's Miniatures in Illinois. We have a shop in an outlet mall by me that sells War Hammer items and I forgot that they sell the paint and stuff for them too (Since they are pewter also). I might have to swing around there and get me some paints for sure.

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Andrea, Your mouse house is Gorgeous and you did a EXCELLENT Job on it!!! Is this a 1" scale room?

Actually the scale of this is some original British scale of 1:16.

We used a British product called, Polyfilla, to do the floor. Its a lot like Spackle only drys quite quickly and is supposedly less brittle. It comes in a tube.

  1. First you spread a thin layer of polyfilla on the floor or board. I'd say about 1/8 to 1/4 inch. You may dip your fingers in water and use to smooth when needed.
  2. Then we used a dental tool to draw in the stones a row at a time blending the edges as we went so that they weren't sharp or harsh. Areas that are supposed to be more "worn" are blended more.
  3. Let dry over lunch.
  4. Paint with a medium gray using your fingers. Just dip finger in paint so that just the tip of your finger is wet.
  5. Apply to floor and begin blending like doing a pastel drawing. Use a bit of water to thin out the color where needed.
  6. Add highlights using sage green, white, very light blue. Again like doing a pastel.
  7. Let dry and rub it with your hands until it develops a bit of a patina. This was for the indoor stone floor effect. It gave it a bit of shine. She explained that you wouldn't do this with an outdoor walk or patio.
The most difficult part for me was getting the paint even so that there weren't really dark areas, as well as highlighting to make it look like actual stone.

I really want to take a class with Rik Pierce to learn the Paperclay techniques. He said that he uses brushes for painting his stonework.

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Andrea --

I was so pleased to get to look at your mouse house. If I could have gone to the Chicago show, that is the workshop that I would have taken. It also looks good as a rabbit and hedgehog burrow!

I discovered how much I like decorating a mouse house a few years back. I bought my granddaughter a Cinderella house/castle cd for the computer. She was able to decorate Cinderella's castle, house, and garden. There was also a small program showing the mouse house inside the wall. Well, this was my favourite! Even when Shalean wasn't at my house, I'd sometimes decorate the mouse house.

Susanne

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Andrea, sorry not to mention before, just ripped through the thread a coupla days ago. The Mouse House is awesome. I love that sort of thing actually, and that looks great. If you like little animal type things like that I'd heartily recommend the A&E release of The Wind in the Willows. It's a claymation version done in England. Your Mouse House looks rather British with the hedgehog as well as the mouse.

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