Therapeutic Strawberries

I tried all day yesterday to write a wonderful tutorial for a stair railing template that I created in Cricut Design Space, but after two attempts I finally just gave up because it was just too difficult to mange 12 different screen shots of the process. The post would assume anyway that readers were familiar with Design Space, so it wasn't meant to be a lesson on how to navigate the app. Here's how I began the post:

I am at a place in the Manchester where the projects are huge and work intensive—as if outfitting a kitchen with hand built cabinets wasn’t: flooring, lighting, and the stairs. So I am focusing on the stairs now. I ordered materials this morning that weren’t in my stash, but I have plenty to keep me busy until supplies arrive. The next step will be to paint the stair pieces and perhaps windows, doors, and trim while I have the paint out. 

 

My stairs prep began by watching Julie Warren’s video on how to assemble the stair railing and treads again. She has some great techniques that will improve my assembly. I struggled so much with Blue Farm House and the Bellingham stairs, but now I think the Manchester stairs will be so much better constructed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riPAzzwWZvY

 

I am not good at math or most anything that requires numbers! I’m an English major –MA. I know words. I don’t know numbers, especially fractions, reading rulers, and converting fractions into decimal points for the Cricut Maker. Julie Warren taught me how to use metric measurements, especially when I have to find 3/32 or 16/64 on a ruler. With a good metrics ruler, I find that my metric measurements are much more accurate and easier to calculate. I may measure in inches to get an idea of size, but I use the metrics measurement on the Circuit which uses centimeters, so you will find my measurements  here in centimeters. I decided to create a template for the even placement of the spindles on the railing base to eliminate all that tedious measuring and probable mistakes.

 

Today’s project is to create the railing for the second floor, which will be in the center of the floor. A wall is supposed to line up with the stairwell, but I’m moving the wall, so I will need a 

3- sided railing. Certainly it would be easier and perhaps quicker to use a ruler and do simple math to space out the spindles, but I decided to cut a template for the spindle placement and with this template now made, I will have it for future projects. 

There will be more on assembling and installing the stairs once my supplies arrive and I have all the pieces painted.

Fresh Strawberries

We have been eating a lot of fresh strawberries lately, but I saw a miniaturist artist on an Instagram post create a package of super market strawberries using the gum blister packs as the plastic box that strawberries are packaged in. I keep forgetting to look for the gum when I'm in the store, but at least I have the strawberries made.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y9mY6ndtes)

I watched this short video on how to make the tiny berries and that's how I've spent part of the afternoon. My berries are not as tiny, but I think they are fine.

 Supplies: 

Fima Oven Bake Polymer Clay: Red for the berry; green for the stem and leaves

Various Tools: Needle tool and stylus

Roll a very small amount of clay in the palm of your hand in to a ball then pinch the bottom into a cone shape. Your berries will very in size and shape, just as they would in fresh from the garden. If you are not happy with the shape, you can refine it until you are pleased with it.

Once the berries are shaped, take a small amount of green clay, soften it by rolling in your palm then roll it into a snake to begin shaping the leaves. With practice you will soon develop a technique of getting more uniform shapes and sizes. I use the needle tool to cut the leaf off the end of the roll then gently tap it with my finger to flatten the leaf. I lift it off the surface of the tile with the needle tool and put it in place on the strawberry.

The prepare  stem end of the strawberry, I make a dimple with the small end of the stylus where I will gently push each leaf. I use 4-5 leaves for each strawberry.

To texture the strawberries, I use the needle tool to gently poke the surface. 

Fimo bakes at 275 for about about 10 minutes depending on the density of the object. I've just started using this toaster over which has very confusing dial settings, so I sort of guess. I use an oven thermometer to monitor the temperature. I baked the strawberries about 10 minutes but the heat kept climbing, so I took them out of the oven sooner than I had wanted to.

And here they are. Fresh strawberries that we can snack on during the day. 

  

I am still new at using polymer clay and I'm certainly not very artistic, but you if you are a stickler for detail, there are some great youtube videos to will show you how to create more realistic strawberries. 

We have been out of sorts this week for another reason. We lost our Golden Boy, Jennifer's 24 year-old palomino quarter horse. He was down last Saturday morning when my husband when out to feed the horses and he  couldn't get up. Sparing the details, Sundance had broken his leg. He was living on borrowed time anyway, suffering from an old injury. Jen came close to putting him down last summer, but with medication and magna wave therapy and a weekly deep tissue massage, she bought him more time. Her uncle gave her Sundance when he was only 18 months old. She broke and trained him and when we moved to the acreage 12 years ago he came to live with us. We adopted the pony as his companion and for the grandkids, who is now 34 and not doing the best either. As my friend  said, it doesn't matter if you lose a gerbil, a dog, cat, or a horse, the loss is devastating. Those of us who have companion animals know all too well that pain and agony. We are all doing better now; time helps. I just haven't had much UMPH to work on the Manchester, but a fresh bowl of strawberries may just do the trick to get me back into the swing of things.

 I'm thinking about making strawberry short cake like my mom used to make with Bisquick--out of clay. What will you make this week? 

Thanks for joining me.