Still in a strange haitus, thanks for your support in the last few posts everyone. I know we all get this from time to time :D Nature has filled in quite a bit for me for this one.
Last week I dragged a friend to the beach, and then embarked on a long mini beach combing session. Apparently it looked a bit strange and he suggested (if there is a) next time we should wear white overalls and fence the beach off, because it looked like a "crime scene investigation" was in progress. Not surprised either, finding tiny shells involves getting your eyes as close to the sand as possible and then carefully picking over it...I'll get him to take a photo of me in action! Many people walked past and the odd dog got in the way, I don't remember much, just lots of coarse sand with the odd nice shell in it.
The Shells are a mix of Dogwhelks, Periwinkles (ridiculous amount of those), Flattops (Gibbula..) Cone shells (Turritella..) and cowries.
Driftwood twigs. You can break driftwood twig into smaller sizes and then sand the ends. The starfish are made using thick wire and soldered in the centre, the tips are rounded off with a file and then sponge painted.
I REALLY, REALLY LOVE THESE! Miniature Japanese style glass floats, made using crochet thread and marbles. I made one for Genevieve in a swap, though I've perfected them a bit since then, particularly the colour, Genevieve, if you want a refit, get in touch! I used a brilliant video and picture tutorial by Sharon Ojala, which you can see below. Instead of using a wire ring, I made a loop in the middle of one of the eight threads needed.
Lovely little beach finds! Tiny limpet shells, sea glass and coral weed. The pretty little spiral one is a Gibbula Umbilicalis (thank goodness for Google :D )
Edit :-
I was just reading that a stunted version of Coral weed grows in high shore pools, which makes it perfect for miniatures eh? This is the skeleton of the plant, washed ashore.
Crates with rope handles (lollypop sticks and linen thread)
Er...yeah. getting there. The tomato leaves and flowers are from a Georgie Steed kit. Instead of using the red beads supplied I made little tomatoes with fimo, which came out a little RED! I had made the plant up, but then decided it was far too big and took it all apart, next time maybe....... :D
I almost managed to see this happen in a rock pool, but unfortunately there were two crabs fighting over the same shell, so I had to watch it on youtube instead..I should have flipped a coin for them and removed the loser :D
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