otterine

I once again went to a Paint Nite event at a local restaurant and brought a mini sized canvas instead of using the provided canvas. The mini canvas was made using a textured note card glued to mat board with spray adhesive and then coated with white acrylic. I had to leave off some elements due to the scale change, but it was so fun! I already have a ticket for a future painting event.

The horse hitching post was an unfinished metal mini from the local shows, and I added a wood base. I swapped the silver ring for a black one to better match the painted finish.

The pump was an unfinished metal mini from the local shows, and I had the bucket in my stash. I built the platform to hold both pieces. When I added the resin (Acrylic Water from Walmart), it leaked through the bucket. I led a path of it over the edge and let it do what it wanted. A happy accident. There is also a droplet from the spout.

The grass mat is Wild Grass Forest Floor by Heki from Scenic Express (they call it Pasture TurfGrass on their website). These particular grass mats are pricey, but the high grass with variegated coloration is spot on in scale. The sheets are only 6" wide, though they are 17" long, so there are places on the landscaping board that always need to be pieced. These are my favorite to work with because of the backing, which is a clear, rubbery substance that makes it more flexible than the paper-backed grass mats. (Here is a post on working with the grass material.) Since I had leftover branches, I stripped the leaves from them and littered the ground. Full post here.

I made an autumn tree this year using the same wire and putty technique I've used in the past for the trunk. Having a sparse tree meant it took less time to create, which helped with my tight deadline.

It was a lot of work, but I will definitely make another screen door in the future.

A dear and talented friend made me some stamps for my post office. She included real life size prints of the original inspirations as well.

A dear and talented friend made me some stamps for my post office. I've set a few on the ledger from Looking Glass Miniatures. There's also a cat food jar by Jane Graber for when Chester gets the munchies.