Firing tonight......

With my 'PLAN' in mind (cue twirling moustachio maniacal laughter.... mwahahaha!) I'm trying to stockpile as many little toy dolls as I can before next April.  

To this end, for the past 4 months or so, I've been engaged in a gargantuan batch of casting, which will yield somewhere around 250 little dolls, which is about one quarter of my total goal.

You: *incredulously*  ONE THOUSAND dolls.  SANDRA.... are you COMPLETELY mad?!
Me: *sniffily* Quite possibly.  But who are you to judge me?  After all, you're the one who's reading this shimmering prose drivel.
You:*grudgingly* Well yes, but I'm not the one busting a gut to make 1000 little dolls.  What on earth are you thinking?

Good point... well made.  What AM I thinking?  That's a ridiculous number of dolls.  Why would I ever need that many?

Well the answer, of course, is, I don't.  It IS a mad idea but time is running out for my possibly over-optimistic goal of taking some form of semi retirement following my 60th birthday next year.  My current downsizing exercise is part of the plan, and if it all comes off, in 6 month's time,  I will be parting with my kiln and the remainder of my molds, as well as all of my dollmaking tools and equipment.

That's the scary part..... the point of no return when I will no longer be able to actually create any more little dolls.  So, I need to know that I have a goodly stock of them in order to carry on with my multifarious projects.

You: *doggedly*  But.  Sandra.  A thousand?  Really?
Me: *quizzically*  Too much?  You think?

Well, in my insanity defence, I don't actually have to make 1000.  I have quite a few already made in my stock boxes.  But 1000 is a nice round number.  It's 100 squared.

You:*perplexed* No it's not.  The square root of 1000 is 31.something.
Me:*scoffingly*  Pshaw, pish and tish.  *surreptitious Googling*
You: *raised eyebrow*  Well......?
Me:*cough* Well.... as I was saying it's a nice round number.

Obviously, 1000 dolls is an insane number.  But I've got the bit between my teeth now so over the next 6 months I'm going to try to make as many as I can.

So.... 6 month is 26 weeks.  Allow 6 weeks for prevarication, Christmas, disillusionment, losing the will to live etc which leaves 20 weeks. 

20 working weeks so = 100 days.  
Obviously I can't cast for 100 days (I'm not THAT mad) so say..... 3 days per working week which is 60 days.

Each short casting session should yield 10 dolls so 600.  Added to the 250 currently in the kiln, plus the others in stock..... *quick mental arithmetic exercise aided by a slurp of wine* so that's...... *exultantly* DAMN NEAR 1000!!!!  

I rest my case. 

So, anyway, this is what 250 meticulously cast and laboriously soft-cleaned dolls (plus ALL their assorted limbs) look like.

Me?  OCD?  Ridiculous suggestion......

And yes, they're not all tiny dolls... there are some 1/12th in there too, as part of the aforementioned multifarious projects.

Are they ALL going to fit in here?   Probably not.

Bottom shelf.  To me this looks beautiful

Tiny limbs.... so many more though!

Tiny bit of space left for a few 1/12th pieces

I couldn't fit all the castings onto the 4 shelves, despite my scrupulously careful individual placement of each of the 250 doll bodies and the 1000  (THAT number again) individual arms and legs.  Did I mention that it all took 4 hours......?  But as I'll be doing this again (and again) the other pieces will be fired next time round.

The kiln is set to start at 5am tomorrow morning.  Which means it will be finished sometime in the afternoon.  Which means I'll be able to open the kiln on Saturday morning.  

Always a nerve-wracking moment.

If this firing is a disaster (which is always possible.... so much could go wrong) you will find me sobbing over the ashes of my broken dreams.

*sigh*

Animal crackers.....

Alongside the eleventy million other things on my various 'To Do' lists, is the continuing sorting through of my workroom, with serious downsizing in mind.

I have boxes and boxes of miniatures to go through, listing what I want to keep and what I'm prepared to part with.  

As I'd had a reasonably productive day yesterday, I decided to allow myself a small treat in the form of making up a little kit I had found and, after much deliberation, wanted to keep.  I've had it for more years than I care to admit and although I'd often perused it, the memory of an earlier, similar kit always gave me pause for thought.

Plus there was this.....

I'm not normally put off by degrees of difficulty, but when I'd dallied with designing a boxed set of Christmas crackers a while ago, they drove me half demented.

If you've ever made tiny 1/12th scale crackers you'll know EXACTLY what I mean.  They're fiddly, tricky little buggers.  It's bad enough having to make one, but a set of SIX?

Anyways.... I buckled down to 'enjoy' my 'treat' and after a modicum of muttering and a soupçon  of swearing I finally finished.

The rather lovely vintage box was the easy part....

Tah Dah!!!!

Despite my misgivings I was rather pleased with how they turned out.  Although the one at the end is a bit misshapen due to being dropped on the floor and getting squashed under my chair wheel.

I left them in my little photography light cube while I did a spot of tidying up in my seemingly always chaotic workroom and when I looked again......

Me: *accusingly* And what exactly are you two up to?
Smallest Small Dog: *enigmatically* Who?  Us?
Me: Yes you.  Leave those crackers alone.  The glue is still drying.  And why are you wearing that ridiculous disguise SSD?
SSD: *deflated* Sie.... ai thort yue woodent rekognize me.
Me: Hmmm.... so what are you up to?  Apart from no good.
SSD: *defiantly* Nuthing.  Just owt and abowt for an eevnin konstitewshanul.

I was unconvinced, but it was time for dinner so I left the camera set up on automatic shooting......

Psssst.... she's gone.  Quick SSD.....

Blimey, it's heavier than I thought!

Allez oop.... right tuck it under your tail. Quick SSD... let's hot paw it out of here

Phew..... back home safely and she doesn't suspect a thing.

*sigh*

Hmmmm...... *thinking aloud*

I have been rather lax with blog posts of late.  I can legitimately plead mitigating circumstances, including a week-long holiday with lovely friends, but I now really need to get my act together.

My 100 Day Goal is going reasonably well *cough* and daily micro actions are gradually being ticked off my assorted lists.  However I don't feel as though I'm making nearly enough progress, so from now through till Christmas I need to be more focused and determined.

Now where have I heard that before...?  

Ah.
Right.
That would be here.
*sigh*

With just 196 days till my 60th birthday the clock is ticking and the looming deadline for getting my book finished is now in sight.  I've been doing something every day with that goal in mind and today I did this.........

It might not look like much to you, but I'll have you know I had to brave our spider-infested shed to root out enough of these stacking boxes, then de-web them. *shudder*
Making the labels was the easy, fun part and trust me, there's precious few of those involved in this project.

Each of those boxes constitutes a different section in the book... all of the different doll's costumes and accessories.  It didn't look much as one side of a printed A4 sheet, but translated into 27 separate boxes, each of which is a separate chapter, it's a tad more daunting.  

Some will be quicker and easier to complete than others.  The majority of the text/instructions are already written and formatted so it's really only the photos to do.  
As I'm doing them all myself  (and I'm clearly no David Bailey!) the results are unlikely to be super professional, but as long as they clearly illustrate the various steps for each costume I'll be happy.

I'm aiming to complete photos for three costumes a week, so the entire costumes section should take 10 weeks.    
Say 12, to allow for idleness, incompetence, procrastination unforeseen contingencies.  
Then there's the other chapters, on tools and materials, basic skills and techniques, wigging, etc.  I reckon they'll be another 10 weeks or so.  

So that's 22 weeks.

Out of 26 weeks (6 months)

Which only leaves 4 weeks to tie everything all together, thoroughly proof, edit and quadruple check.

It's going to be a damn close run thing. 

And of course, I don't have the luxury of committing 100% of my work time to the task.  There is still the increasingly brazen wolf to be kept from the door, not to mention continuing with the drastic downsizing of all the stuff in my workroom.

No pressure then.......

100 days.....

There is apparently something mythic about 100.  

It seems to tick a lot of boxes in terms of the number itself.... for example it is the sum of the first ten odd numbers (1+3+5+7+9+11+13+17+19+21=100) as well as the sum of some pairs of prime numbers e.g., 3 + 97, 11 + 89, 17 + 83, 29 + 71, 41 + 59, and 47 + 53.

A Googol is the number one, followed by 100 zeros.

100 is the square of 10 

100 is the basis of percentages (per cent meaning "per hundred" in Latin), with 100% being a full amount.

100 is the sum of the cubes of the first four integers (100 = 1³ + 2³ + 3³ + 4³). This is related by Nicomachus's theorem to the fact that 100 also equals the square of the sum of the first four integers: 100 = 10² = (1 + 2 + 3 + 4)².

100 is an 18-gonal number. It is divisible by the number of primes below it, 25 in this case. It can not be expressed as the difference between any integer and the total of coprimes below it, making it a noncototient. It can be expressed as a sum of some of its divisors, making it a semiperfect number.

100 is a Harshad number in base 10, and also in base 4, and in that base it is a self-descriptive number.

There are exactly 100 prime numbers whose digits are in strictly ascending order (e.g. 239, 2357 etc.).

100 is the smallest number whose common logarithm is a prime number (i.e. 10ⁿ for which n is prime).

All of which, I'm sure you'll agree, is pretty damn impressive for a number made up of a one and two zeros. (although, obviously, I have absolutely NO IDEA what any of that means!)

Much is also made of the first 100 days of any US presidency, but probably the least said about the present incumbent the better.

If you're lucky enough to live to the age of 100, this success is celebrated by a telegram from the Queen.

But I digress.  In my last post I bemoaned my lack of grit and determination to complete a task which has been extant for more years than I care to remember.  Next year, when I hit my 60th birthday, will be a perfect storm of self-imposed deadlines and targets which, if I'm brutally honest with myself, are unlikely to be achieved.

However, I'm clearly not the only one with procrastination issues, so a helpful comment from one of my blog readers (thanks Megan!) led me to discover a programme called 100 Day Goal which aims to help hopeless procrastinators like myself, stop making excuses (too busy, too tired, don't have the correct reciprocating flange sprocket, etc etc) and Just. Get. On. With. It.

I've downloaded all the lists (I love a list) and crib sheets and I've completed my microactions sheets, which ran to several pages.  I also get to colour in a star for each day I complete my allotted microactions...... what's not to like?!

However, I was a little late to the party for the current 100 Day Goal programme, which closes today, so instead of my 100 Days ending at the beginning of December I'll be collapsing over my finishing line the week before Christmas, which isn't the best timing, but if I stick at it I'll be approximately half way to my final goal... the publication of my book.

I'm fairly sure I'll fall off the metaphorical wagon at points along the way (especially as I have a one week holiday in there too) but I just need to get started and I'm hopeful that the project will gain enough momentum that it will drag me along with it to the finish line.

Well....that's the plan anyway.  Feel free to cheer me on.... I need all the help I can get!

September......

Three days into September and already we've had two seasons.  

Yesterday was lovely.... clear, blue skies, warm but not too hot... a perfect summer's day.
Today is much cooler, with a definite autumnal feel and overcast skies.  The evenings are noticeably drawing in... it's almost dark at 8pm.  

There are just 4 months left of this year and my self-imposed deadline, which back in April seemed eminently achievable, is starting to look a little tight.  It's my own fault, I've fiddled and faffed around all summer and now I'm starting to panic.

It's simple really..... Just. Get. On. With. It.  I need to stop making excuses and buckle down to some seriously focussed hard work.  I have one commission on my desk at the moment which should be finished this week then I really, REALLY need to get my head around a work schedule which I can stick to.

Well that's the plan.  My helpful desktop timer informs me that I have 231 days until my deadine, which feels like oceans of time, but of course, the days will slip through my fingers like grains of sand and before I know it I'll have two weeks left and still no further forward.

So, I'm going to take a bit of a run at things and see if I can take control.....

What could possibly go wrong?

Busy, busy, busy.....

I seem to have inadvertently mislaid the month of August.  One minute it's the first day, then, before I know it, it's the last. Admittedly I had an almost two week holiday in there somewhere, but even so, to mislay an entire month is extremely careless.
However, to paraphrase, 'tomorrow is another month' so I solemnly pledge not to lose September in the ether.

I always think of September 1st as the first day of autumn, which in my head always consists of September/October/November.  That said, summer days can persist right into October, but the leaves are already on the turn, conkers are burgeoning on the trees and the nights are noticeably drawing in.

This year I feel a bit like that grasshopper from Aesop's Fables, who idles away the summer months while the industrious ant gathers food to sustain it through the winter.  Granted I have been busy... just not always with what I should have been doing.

That said, I have just finished a complete 'Workshop in a Box' for the lovely ladies of a miniaturist club in Belfast.

They opted to make a Deluxe Jumeau-Style Toy Doll with pleated dress, bustled jacket and elaborate silk and lace bonnet.....

Elaborately costumed workshop sample doll

Beautiful hairstripe silk jacket

Their workshop box contains everything they need to complete their chosen project, including:

• Sample dressed doll for reference
• Comprehensive tools and materials checklist
• Set of fully illustrated step-by-step instruction booklets for each club member
• Selection of kit packs in assorted colours
• Wigging packs
• Organiser's pack which contains 'spares', workshop schedule, hints & tips etc

The club will also have access to an exclusive video tutorial which will take them through the complete process of dressing and wigging their little doll, step-by-step.

So.... whether you're a member of an organised miniatures club, or one of a small group of friends who get together to make miniatures, if you would like further information on my 'Workshop in a Box' packs, please contact me for further information.

Curiouser and curiouser.....

I've blogged recently about taking a new direction workwise next year, and although I'm still uncertain about which path to take, thoughts and ideas are swirling around and gradually coalescing into a nebulous plan.

The problem is, I have loads of ideas for 'stuff to do' all the time... it's sorting the wheat from the chaff which is the hard part.  Nevertheless, the more I think about things, the more certain I am that it's all worth a go.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and all that.

So.

For the foreseeable future I'm going to have plans for two 'projects' running side by side, while I engage in one of my favourite work-related tasks.... research and development.

Or Pinterest as it is sometimes known.

I'm also toying with the idea of forsaking my beloved 1/12th scale, and taking the plunge into 1/24th.  Yes I know it's no longer the new best thing.... the even smaller, and frankly impossible 1/48th scale has stolen that crown, but I've never been an early adopter.

As a result I'm in the market for a very specific half scale house.  There are lots around but none which tick all my specification boxes.  So whichever one I decide upon I'm going to have to do some serious kit-bashing.

That's my autumn/winter free time taken care of then........