Day 7 - More things that go bump in the night.....

We all had a restless night last night.  Thankfully it wasn't due to any more nocturnal wanderings of the wardrobe goblin, but when all the brouhaha had settled down, and as I was trying to get back to sleep, I was reminded  of one of my favourite Thurber stories, which I read and loved as a child.... The Night The Bed Fell.  If you are unfamiliar with James Thurber, I would strongly recommend that you read at least one of his short stories, and the New Yorker has obligingly posted the one in my link above.

Anyways... back to last night.  

I was roused from a deep sleep by Small Dog jumping on the bed at around 4am.  This is unusual for her as after her pre-bed strokings, she generally repairs to her comfy nest on the floor by the bed, occasionally making excursions around the house during the night, presumably to check for enemy incursions.

PP, sensing that something was amiss, reached out for her and found her to be soaked to the skin.  For some reason, she was immediately convinced that SD was covered in blood, and shook me properly awake to ask what had happened.

"I don't know" I replied, groggily, fumbling in the dark for SD who was standing accusingly in the middle of the bed.
"What do you mean you don't know?" 
"Errrmmm.....I was asleep... I don't know what happened"

By this time, PP had switched on the bedside light, to reveal one very wet, very unhappy Small Dog.  She was indeed soaked to the skin.

But how?

My sleep-addled brain ran through a series of likely scenarios.... 

*We had been burgled and the felons had hot-footed it out the back door, leaving it wide open when SD had chased them outside, into the rain.

*PP's son had bravely decided to give SD a very late night bath.

* There was a hole in the roof and water was pouring in.

* She had somehow tipped over her big water bowl in the kitchen and had helpfully mopped up the resulting mess by rolling in it to act as a small, furry sponge.

Granted, some of those scenarios were less likely than others, but you try piecing together a wet dog mystery at 4 in the morning.

By this time, both of us were convinced that something was badly amiss, and PP raced round to Small Dog's basket, in which she discovered an empty glass, and the bedding similarly soaked.

It then became apparent that in my sleep, I had knocked my water glass off the bedside cabinet, drenching both SD and her bedding.  Presumably she'd had a very rude awakening!

PP stripped the sodden duvet and blankie out of her basket and made her a dry nest.
All the while Small Dog stood in the middle of the bed, glaring at us with her best "how very dare you" stare.

PP dried her with a towel and peace was eventually restored, although SD displayed no inclination to return to her bed, curling up beside me, while I stroked her and attempted to soothe her ruffled feathers.

She did eventually stalk off to her bed, where she further expressed her displeasure by scrabbling around and digging it up for a full 10 minutes before settling down and finally falling asleep.

Sleep was slower to return to me, and this morning we had to be up early to run some errands so I was somewhat irked to emerge from the shower room to discover this on my recently vacated warm spot...

Her eyes were closed and she looked asleep, but the position of those ears spoke volumes...

SD: DO KNOTT EVIN DISTURB ME!!!  Sumwun nokkt me ovr the hed then tryd to droun me in the middul of the nite so ai am KNOTT. GETTEN. UP! 

Day 6 - Dollmaking basics - Casting

Once the slip has been thoroughly sieved and mixed, it has to be left for several hours (or preferably overnight, to allow any air bubbles to rise to the surface.  If there are any bubbles in the slip they can cause tiny pin holes on the surface of faces and bodies which are a nightmre to deal with.

All of my tiny porcelain dolls start out as a few thimblefuls of slip.  Porcelain slip for miniature dollmaking is specially formulated and available in a range of flesh tones as well as white and other colours, which I use for different toys.

I'm currently casting a range of toy dolls, including ballerinas, vintage china dolls and other assorted microdolls.  The complete casting batch will be carried out over several weeks, and will also contain toy porcelain animals, marotte heads, Punch & Judy puppets, nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters.... all the toys I create in porcelain.

Before I start, I prepare the work area, spreading newspaper to soak up any spills.  Because tiny doll moulds 'set up' so quickly, it is only possible to cast a few at a time.  From pouring the slip to releasing the mould takes around 10-15 minutes, depending on the air temperature, humidity, how dry the moulds are etc, so if I try to do too many at once, I run out of time to get them all open.  For this reason I usually cast up to 5 at a time.

First, I always check inside each mould and remove any dust or dried porcelain slip with a soft brush.  The inside of the moulds are easily damaged and any marks will transfer to the casting.  The mould below is for one of our most popular toy dolls and it's possible to see the head/torso, arms and legs outlined in the plaster.

Once checked, the moulds are tightly re-banded to prevent any seepage of the liquid slip between the seams.

The pour holes are tiny, so the only way to ensure that the porcelain slip gets all the the way inside the mould without drying out halfway down, is to use a syringe.  I insert the tip of the syringe inside the mould and  very slowly and carefully fill each cavity

Just before I begin filling the first mould, I set a timer for the amount of time I judge will be required for the casting to set up.  This varies according to several factors and is where over 25 years of experience comes into its own!  When the moulds are poured they are left undisturbed until the timer goes off.  During this time, water is absorbed from the slip by the porous plaster and the slip changes from liquid to solid becoming leather-hard greenware.

Now I have to move quickly.  If I leave the greenware in the moulds for even a few minutes too long they will dry out too much and crumble when they're handled.  The castings must be just dry enough to easily release from the mould, but not too dry that they're unworkable.

Again, many years of experience will tell me whether the mould will release and open easily.  Trying to open the mould too early will result in the casting ripping apart.  Perfect greenware should release smoothly with every piece intact.

Once the mould is open, I gently remove the castings, one at a time, starting with the smallest, most delicate pieces first, usually the arms. Using a scalpel blade, I trim off the excess formed by the pour holes, and make stringing holes with another of my favourite tools.  As soon as the greenware leaves the damp mould, both the air and the heat of my hands accelerate the drying process so I have to work quickly, while still handling the soft, malleable pieces very carefully.  If the greenware is compressed, distorted or otherwise damaged at this stage it will be ruined.  Porcelain has a 'memory' and will revert to its damaged state even when attempts are made to restore the original shape. 

 If I have misjudged the time, or there is any delay in opening the mould, this is the point at which the tops of tiny arms will break off, or cracks appear in bodies so this part of the proceedings is always a little tense.  If the phone or doorbell rings I can't abandon my task, which is why I always give an all-points warning to everyone in the house that I'm doing a casting session and can't be disturbed UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, short of a life and death situation.

Today's session involved making stringing holes in the limbs and the bodies but other dolls might require the excision of tiny eye sockets, provision for articulated heads or other modifications to the basic structure.  The prepared pieces are then placed on a board to air dry thoroughly, usually over several days.  

Next week.... soft firing and soft cleaning.

Day 5 - Dollmaking basics - Preparing for casting

Last time I did a batch of casting was late summer last year, and it was hot, which made the job of working with moulds and casting slip marginally more pleasant.  There's not much pleasure to be gleaned from handling cold plaster moulds, and even colder porcelain slip during the winter months.

But first, because the tub of slip has been sitting in my casting cupboard, undisturbed for several months, I had to go through the tedious process of conditioning and resurrecting it.  Stored slip settles in its container, going thick and gungy at the bottom, with a layer of watery liquid on top.  It is unusable in this state, so it needs to be thoroughly sieved, several times, and stirred to within an inch of its life.

As my slip pot was only about a quarter full, I also decided to prepare a new batch to add to it, figuring that it was as well to be hung for a sheep as a lamb.

Preparing slip is a messy business.  

As previously mentioned, porcelain slip is incredibly slippy and gets absolutely everywhere.  It's cold and slimy and intractable and it takes a long time to make it workable.

The first step is to cover every surface with newspaper, including the floor.  A little slip goes a very l-o-n-g way. 

These days, it is supplied in boxes, which hold a heavy duty polythene bag containing 3 litres of slip.

Back in the good old days, slip was always supplied in large, wide-necked plastic tubs, which made the task of pouring and stirring so much easier, but progress has dictated that poly bags are the way forward so nowadays this is what you get......

Just as it would do if it were stored in a tub, the slip settles in the bag, going thick at the bottom and watery towards the top.  However, the bag does have one advantage over a tub as it can be kneaded and pummelled to mix the slip.  This takes some time and is roughly equivalent to a 1 hour upper body workout.  It's much harder work than kneading bread dough but is probably excellent for conditioning bingo wings and flabby bits.

When the bag has been suitably pummelled, its time for the first sieving......

Despite the thorough in-bag pummelling, there are still lots of lumps and gloopy bits that must be removed in order to produce a smooth, creamy slip.

Who would have thought that three and a quarter litres of porcelain slip would take up so much bowl space?  The old and new slip need to be very thoroughly mixed together as there is likely to be some difference in colour between the two different batches.  So there needs to be about an hour of sieving and mixing, mixing and sieving until every tiny lump is gone and the slip is one homogeneous colour.  It can then be transferred back into the plastic tub and marked with the date. 

Voila!

Tomorrow... the next stage, casting

Day 4 - Tah dah!!!

So, during my casting session yesterday, I used the odd 10-15 minutes here and there to press on with my little French house to go in La Mignonette.

For lo.... it's finally almost finished!

I can't believe it's taken me nearly 4 years, since buying the kit to getting round to actually putting it together.  It's been a challenge, as any 1/144th project would probably be, but I've really enjoyed it, and am very pleased with the results so far.  It should go beautifully in my shop of dolls.

I still have to install the lighting, which will be even more of a challenge.  I toyed with the idea of putting it in before decorating but decided that would be more problematic than doing it afterwards.  I have some very, very tiny led light chips which will run from a button cell battery which I'll hide under the table.  I'll have to drill three tiny holes through the back to slip the wires through, and I still have to think about what to do for lampshades, which will also have to be similarly tiny.  I'll have a rummage through my box of 'findings' tomorrow to see if anything suitable presents itself.

I also want to furnish it, probably in a rather grand, French style.  So I'm hunting for some 1/144th laser cut kits which I could alter to suit.  

With regard to the rooms, at the moment I'm thinking of having a salon on the ground floor, dining room on the first floor, and bedroom on the second floor, although that might change if I find some wonderfully perfect, must-have furniture or accessories.

Tomorrow I'm minded to give an overview of the first stages of porcelain dollmaking.... the casting process. 🙂

Day 3 - Hi ho, hi ho....

... It's back to work I go.

*sigh*

That's the trouble with taking time off... it's always a bit of a shock to the system when it's over.  

Having partially blitzed my workroom yesterday, today I'm girding my loins to start on a batch of casting.  Not my best favourite doll-related activity at the best of times, it's even more of a mission when it's cold.

Porcelain slip is funny stuff.  

Not funny 'Ha Ha'.  

Funny peculiar.

It's aptly named as it is very, VERY slippy and gets everywhere.  In colder weather it's particularly unpleasant to work with, takes longer to set up in the moulds, and is generally more uncooperative than usual.  My hands will be coated with it.

I'm aiming to do an hour's casting each day this week, interspersed with other things. Working on my little 1/144th French house, having a proper sort out in La Mignonette, starting some new dressed toy dolls, and planning a 'Box of the Month' thingy which came to me as an epiphany yesterday.

More of that anon....

In the meantime, should anyone need me, I'll be in the workroom, up to my elbows in porcelain slip.

Day 2 - All good things....

So here we are at the last day of the holidays.  Tomorrow it's back to work.

With a vengeance.

However, before I can get back into the workroom I will first have to empty it of all the miscellaneous stuff which has been stored there over the festive period.  Empty boxes, wrapping paper, assorted baby paraphernalia and various post-Christmas detritus.

Then, when I've cleared the decks, I want to do some further work on my Twixmas project... a rather lovely 1/144th scale house, destined for La Mignonette, my Parisian doll shop.

I bought it at Kensington in May 2012 and it has been waiting for inspiration to strike in order to tackle it. Granted, 4 years is quite a long time but I'm sure that most miniaturists have a multitude of projects either in the pre-planning stages, or awaiting completion.

So please, don't judge me.

The front is a clever combination of layer upon layer, to produce a richly multi-dimensional, miniature architectural marvel.

This is my progress thus far.... I still have to fix the balcony railings in place before I can move onto the mansard roof. Then there's the main body of the building to complete, including wonderful wall, floor and ceiling papers, plus, if I can manage it, battery powered LED lights.

When it's finished it should look something like this... only in very pale blue to match La Mignonette.

Inside there are three sizable rooms.  I haven't quite decided what they're going to be yet, but the search has begun for 1/144th scale furniture kits.

I'll be working on it throughout January... amongst other things! 

30 day blogging challenge...and a super giveaway!

Two years ago I did a January 30 day blogging challenge, which required me to post every day throughout the month. I'm minded to do it again this year, particularly as in 2016 I only managed a measly 38 posts, which averages out at an even measlier 3 per month.

Whether or not I'll manage to complete the challenge is another matter entirely.

To be honest, there's not that much of interest for me to write about.  Unless you consider porcelain casting, soft cleaning, workroom tidying and bedroom clearing to be the stuff of literary inspiration.

Granted, Small Dog may flit in to dispense the odd 'bon mot', if she can bear to tear herself away from either her cosy nest in the office, or her staging post in front of the fire.  So don't hold your breath. It is January after all, and according to the front pages of several newspapers yesterday, we're due for an icy blast any day now.

So here's to getting off to a good start in 2017.  And in the spirit of Christmas, New Years and new starts, I'm having a very, VERY special giveaway.

Selection of three kits - value £48!!!!

The Deluxe Doll Kit will make a doll in this style

Toy Doll Accessories Kit will make 20 items

Complete Micro Wigging Kit

This wonderful selection of kits (yes all three of them!) are up for grabs.  Of course, there may be a few teensy, weensy things you have to do to be eligible to win, but as we all know, there is no such thing as a free lunch.  

Although Small Dog might beg to differ.

Step 1 - Sign up to follow this blog.  Naturally you will never want to miss a post *ahem* so in order to avoid just such a catastrophe, simply enter your email address into that little box near the top of the page, titled 'Follow by Email'.

Step 2 - Comment on this blog post so that I can enter you on the list of entrants.  If you comment as someone peculiar (it does happen) please leave your actual name in the comment.  

Step 3 - keep a lookout for follow-up January posts, a few of which will contain a 'call to action' in the form of a quiz or competition, which have to be answered correctly to qualify.

I expect that over the course of the month the list of potential winners might gradually be whittled down somewhat, but on 31st January, Small Dog, in her capacity as 'Hedd of Markitten & Komewnikashun', will announce the winner of this superabundance of Tower House Dolls kits.

So.... good luck, and have fun!