This and That

Hello to all, a warm welcome to new readers!  After being quiet for so long, suddenly I have so much to say ;^)

Recently, my husband surprised me with a seemingly odd request for a miniature pizza.  For you? and Why? were the first questions off the top of my head, followed in my thoughts by the Hawaiian pidgin English word "niele" (pronounced knee-eh-lay), meaning "nosey" - haha.  Evidently, his dad, who passed away years ago, had been on his mind more than usual; probably due to an upcoming trip to his hometown, San Francisco.

Of course, I would complete the request.  I loved my father-in-law, a very kind and gentle soul, who enjoyed a good pizza.

Gorgeous wine bottles by Hanneke Verheem.

Making the pizza inevitably led me off the polymer food track.  Nothing mind-blowing, not worth oohing and aahing over.  Just fun and useful projects that were dormant for a long time.

 

The yin-yang symbol is Bliss Miniatures' logo.

A server of some sort was needed so I cut and shaped a simple zebra wood platter.  It was finished with walnut oil, which transformed the light-colored wood with the dark, "striped" grain to a rich chocolate brown; perfect for highlighting the colorful pizza.  Instead of signing the platter, I decided to carve my initials and date.  I didn't have the proper tools but did the best I could with various X-Acto blades.  My crude process sparked an interest in carving...add miniature carving tools to wish list.

That gnarly thing middle left is a walnut, in case you were wondering.

The platter reminded me of a few inexpensive spoons, purchased a while ago, that needed refining and finishing.  Sanding was done by hand, as I was unsure whether or not my Dremel would snap the spoon,
even at its lowest speed.  I tried to replicate the grain and color of olive wood.

While choosing varnish and paint, I spied the decal transfer fluids that have been sitting untouched for more than a year.  Should I?  I did!  The images of the blue Italian and sunflower designs had great resolution.  The images were cleaned up and sized on Photoshop CS6, then decals were printed, cut and applied to Falcon porcelain plates.  The process was a bit tedious though the results were worth the effort.

The collector in me would no longer remain at bay and broke out with a vengeance a few months ago, determined to collect!  My wish list is very long...sigh.  Instead of fighting back, I cut loose just a wee bit and came away with wonderful pieces, some of which appear in the photos below.  My favorites - the beautiful wine bottles by Hanneke Verheem.



Metal colander, ladles and slotted spatula by Yukio Kawai of TYA.  Wooden kitchen tools (in pitcher) by Patie of minisx2 at Etsy.  Bread knife by Danny Shotton.  Food, sunflowers, wood boards (except the striped cutting board on tabletop), and transferware plates by me :^)

The lovely turned bowl with the scalloped edge has engraved initials "LM".  If anyone knows or knows of the artist, a comment identifying him/her would be much appreciated :^)

Happy Autumn, everyone...