Tag : miniature terrain

12 posts

Creating miniature terrain and dioramas is a passion of mine although I rarely indulge myself in it. Silly, I know.

I think one of the main issues it that I have to spray paint outdoors and it’s not really warm enough to do that 2/3 of the year. With that said, I was totally inspired to create a diorama after finding a couple Minion figures at the dollar store.

I have a coworker that is a true kid at heart. She loves Disney. She loves Minions. She loves dinosaurs…especially T-rex. So when I saw the Minions, I tossed them in my basket with her in mind. I honestly was just going to sneak and leave them at her desk randomly. But then I decided to challenge myself to a diorama.

This was what I came up with. The white structural pieces are a thick craft foam. I also used a cracker box and stir straws. I wish I had taken photos along the way but I get into a groove and don’t think about anything else.

The backing plate is a plastic card that some game pieces came in from a collectable pirate ship trading card game I believe. It pays to never throw random stuff like this away. I figured that if I fill the various depressions with unique bits that it would appear like a control panel of sorts.

The spray paint really starts to make it take shape. Provides the cohesive color to tie the whole thing together.

Next I started on the paint. Adding layer upon layer to give depth and interest. Highlighting some areas, edges and so forth.

I made a few barrels from paper cylinders that protected spark plugs. I punched circles from cracker box that were almost big enough. I filled the inside with hot glue to take up space then gently settled the cardboard circles in each end.

This slightly open appearance screamed to have something leaking out of it. I used yellow and chartreuse paint to create some sort of ooze. After the paint was dry I added Diamond Glaze to give it a shiny, wet look.

I gave some highlights to the goggly eyes and other panel pieces to emphasize the dome shaped buttons or screens.

I used a plastic plug and the metal button off my jeans pocket to create an oversized control button. I figured the crazy looking minion would be just right to be manning the control while his partner with the hard hat looked on with a dopey smile.

I love how the stir sticks work so well as piping or conduit.

When I gave her the little diorama, she almost cried. She was so happy which in turn made my day!

Secondlook

This month for Second on the 2nd, I’m sharing a post from February 2012 that still makes me laugh at how all over the place my creativity takes me. Sometimes even in the course of a day. Right now I’m just wishing that creativity would kick back into gear…I’m in a bit of a dry patch on the creativity front.

Join me for a look back…

eyes

I’ve been all over the place lately when it comes to creativity.
I think I may have Art ADD (attention deficit disorder).
Ok…some might argue that I have ADD in other areas of my life as well but the Art ADD is self-diagnosed.
I blame the other on Motherhood. Children steal you’re ability to keep a clear running thought in your head. :) But I wouldn’t change a thing.
Anyway…these are the things I’ve done in the past week.
I papered our recycling cabinet to match the fridge.
Knit another dishcloth on the loom

Knit a cowl on the loom…

Miniature terrain on a recycled CD…
Another terrain piece…
And last night I started another twirly crochet scarf because my elbow was hurting from the repetitive motion of the knitting.
Crochet seems to work my wrist more and doesn’t bother me.

In addition I’ve been washing and ironing my way through a large box of old linens. Deciding what is decent enough to save and use and what I can use in my artwork. Vintage linens and fabric are part of my idea for the Postcard Challenge book.

So, yeah…definitely Art ADD.

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That was a crazy amount of creativity in a short amount of time. It would have been really great to bottle a bit of that enthusiasm for a later date such as now!

On a side note…what do you think of my blog makeover? I was feeling the need for a change. I’m still tweaking things here and there.  Please let me know if anything is weird or not functional for you. Thanks!!

If you’ve read my blog much, you know that I’m all over the place when it comes to arts and crafts.  So for today’s T stands for Tuesday post, hosted by Elizabeth, you’re going to go on a whirlwind ride with me. What is scary is that I’ll be showing you how my brain works. You may not want to know.

Before we get started I have to say THANK YOU for all the birthday wishes for my mom. We had a nice day out together.

early morning coffeeThis morning started at 5:30am as usual. By 5:45, coffee is made and the first of 3 lunches are packed. I have 5 mins left before I wake Big J to start his morning routine. Now fast forward about 2.5 hours and I have the house to myself.  Well, Gracie is still here but she’s having a sleepover with her friends.

So what do I do with my time beyond the list that never seems to end?

cork crazy

For one, I play with corks. These are going to be a new item on my table at the an up coming craft sale.

senior pictures

I’ve been editing senior pictures for the neighbor.

bunker front

battle damage

I finished the miniature terrain pieces I’ve been working on, complete with with simulated battle damage. Did I not tell you that you might be frightened of how my mind works?

upcycled shirt

And what’s this? A pile of rags? Nope…you’ll find out about that one in a later post.

And now I must move on with my crazy day…filled with paperwork, friends, knitting, groceries, ortho appt. and lets not forget the ever growing list.

I also wanted to mention especially to my fellow T stands for Tuesday friends that I am no longer able to answer each of your comments as I had in the past. I just don’t have the time but I wanted you to know that I read and enjoy every single word.

I may be late visiting your blog but I’ll get there ladies!

What are you doing today?

 

sept cardsIf you joined me for T stands for Tuesday, you know that I had a list long enough to choke a horse. I usually do but I always try to allow for a little “playtime” each day as well.  I can’t say that it happens all the time but I am ever grateful when it does.

We have some occasions this month that are in need of greeting cards so I’ve been hard at work creating them for the events.

20130902_3343In addition, I’ve been making a bit of miniature terrain as well. While Mr. G was purging the office, I spied a few pieces that looked like they would work really well as gaming terrain.

These first three were….CD spindles. Did you guess right?

I thought they’d make good bunker or storage pieces.

20130901_3331Next came some molded Styrofoam packing pieces from a very ancient…in the computer world…CDROM drive. I looked at it an saw another bunker, nearly the same design as one you’d pay  upwards of $50 for. Crazy, right? So I cut it in half and glued it together….now I have two!

20130902_3342After adding some additional foam pieces and painting the whole works with a mix of gesso and black craft paint, I spray painted everything with my splatter technique.

I layer the colors of spray paint without letting it dry between coats.

I use a light hand with the color. It gives a rich depth of color…almost an airbrush effect.

I used 5 colors of spray paint on these pieces.20130902_3339 They were obtained from the recycle center and my folks place.

I know this is not my usual type of art but sometimes I get a very different crafty bent. This happens to be one of those weeks.

Hope I didn’t scare you off. :)

My art ADD has come back in full force.  I have many different projects all in progress at the same time and in the same small space.

20130519_2032

I’m reworking a canvas as another edition of my friend Sandy’s poem.

20130519_2038

I finished a couple of crochet dishcloths this week. Neither one is perfect by an stretch of the imagination but I’m fine with that.

20130519_2031

Journal page in progress. I’m trying to remember to leave this free of bulking embellishments as this spiral journal is filling fast and the pages will soon not turn on the tiny spiral if I keep up with the bulk.

20130519_2030

In the past week I sold 3 pieces of terrain. I’m thrilled! It has inspired me to make more. I’ve been priming and trying out different combinations for my recycled pieces.

20130519_2035

As well as playing around with foam and a plastic bottle. I love the challenge of making something out of nothing.  I’m hoping that this will look like a crashed vessel that has weathered over time.

See what I mean…all over the place! My mind is going this way and that. So many ideas, so little time and space.

20130311_1608

I’ve mentioned a time or two about how much I love making miniature terrain as well as how much I love recycling. This project encompasses both.

I spotted a rectangle of grey molded foam on the top of  laundry room garbage.  Of course, I had to grab it to see what it could become.20130311_1609

I broke and tore chunks off. Glued others on to make higher walls. Left bigger chunks to become rubble for my ruin.

In some spots, I used joint compound to smooth the transitions and cover my additions.20130311_1612

I gave the whole works a paint job to make it a cohesive piece.

I’m very happy with my trash to treasure transformation.

 

20130311_1619 copy

And the original packaging….

held an airsoft pistol.

If you look carefully you might be able to see it in the ruin.

The ruin is positioned in the same orientation as the original foam.

 

 

I’ve been all over the place lately when it comes to creativity.
I think I may have Art ADD (attention deficit disorder).
Ok…some might argue that I have ADD in other areas of my life as well but the Art ADD is self-diagnosed.
I blame the other on Motherhood. Children steal you’re ability to keep a clear running thought in your head. :) But I wouldn’t change a thing.
Anyway…these are the things I’ve done in the past week.
I papered our recycling cabinet to match the fridge.
Knitted another dishcloth on the loom

Knitted a cowl on the loom…

Miniature terrain on a recycled CD…
Another terrain piece…
And last night I started another twirly crochet scarf because my elbow was hurting from the repetitive motion of the knitting.
Crochet seems to work my wrist more and doesn’t bother me.

In addition I’ve been washing and ironing my way through a large box of old linens. Deciding what is decent enough to save and use and what I can use in my artwork. Vintage linens and fabric are part of my idea for the Postcard Challenge book.

So, yeah…definitely Art ADD.

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