Scientist weekend

Hubby and I are now working long hours in the lab after every body has gone. I help when I can; lately I have been going there 3 hours a day, and I can not sit for a moment because of all the work that there is to do. It is practically impossible to spend all that time between experiments without thinking "How could I do this in miniature?".

To relax tension, I have made this simple but funny vignette:

Yes, in labs there are objects chained to the wall - he said that chained containers are generally made of aluminum, not glass, but I think that seeing green stuff in a glass jar is more fun! It's available in my shop, so go grab it if you like it :)

Spending all this time in the lab has given me new energy to try and make a lab bench in miniature. I'm considering the possibility that most of the stuff that will sit there is too geek-related for the non-scientist to understand (I have made the equivalent of a Kleenex box with wipes for microscope lens - they are called Kim Wipes), so I don't know if it would sell well. We'll see...

More Absinthe crafting

But this time not in miniature. This time in real-life size, and for personal use, no less!

Have you ever crafted soap? It's so much fun, and I love to do it. The down side is that I can not craft soap all the time or my cupboards would be full of bars - although family and friends get their share sometimes, at Christmas or Valentine's Day. I confess that I don't know how to do the cold process method, and that I have enough with the melt and pour system. Yes, I know it's not the same, but it works for me. And I love making, displaying and using my own soaps!

Well, having fall in love with the Absinthe scent, I wanted to craft an Absinthe soap - that is, with anise scent. It was easy to find anise oil on eBay; I bought it from Bulk Oils, and it was an easy transaction with a fast shipping. But I was dying to get one of the Victorian Blossom molds:


Isn't it lovely? I found it some time ago in Southern Soapers; I could not resist more, and bought one. And with some clear soap, lime green dye, my new mold and the anise oil, I made this:


The two white thingies inside are a couple of real sugar cubes! Not only it looks beautiful, every time I enter the bathroom I can smell the anise scent in the air...

I want to taste your blood...

The Absinthe tray has not been enough for me. This time the design is more adventurous and not for the faint at heart. I made sometime ago this design for myself, and I simply love it.

My husband asked me if I was making a decanter of wine. I said, "No, look again". He did, and said, "It's blood!". Oh yes, blood for all you vampire lovers out there. No matter if you enjoy Underworld, True Blood or Twilight, this set definitely makes a statement in any diorama.

It is available in my shop. Hurry up before somebody else does!

The Absinthe Tray is finished!

...and up for sale in my shop!

I love how it came out! I thought the tray was going to be too small to hold everything, but it's perfect.

I have been considering talking with Fake Food Decor (in case you don't know him, he makes the most fabulous and realistic fake food in real life size I have ever seen) and ask him to make one just like this for me. I would love to have an Absinthe display in my living room...

Visited by the Green Fairy

This past weekend I tasted my first glass of absinthe.

It was something I was very looking forward to do; I had read so much about this drink that I wanted to try it at least once. But alas, the local shops only had big absinthe bottles (which included an absinthe spoon too), but they were expensive (almost $60), and I did not want to buy them, in case I did not like it - it would have been quite a waste of money.

But this time my husband found a tiny bottle of absinthe - only 3.4 oz, and SO CUTE - for less than $10. I was so so excited, that I even talked about the discovery with my friend and comic-provider Justin. He gave us a tip on the only place in town where to find sugar cubes (he confessed that he loves absinthe as well) and off we went for them. Next morning I hurried over to Michie Tavern to buy an absinthe spoon. Yes, I am aware that all this stuff can be found online, but I wanted it right away. And on Saturday evening we prepared the drink and enjoyed it.

It was quite a shock to find out that the most predominant flavor was of anise. When I was younger, there was always a bottle of anise-anisette "La Castellana" in my grandparents' home; and the taste of absinthe was quite similar.

To commemorate this special moment, I am going to make an "Absinthe" miniature that will be available in my shop in a few days. Even though I have made them in the past, absinthe trays are one of my favorite things to make...

The nerve of some people...

It still amazes me at what lengths people can go to try to make sales...

I just deleted two comments. The first one was of someone that said s/he was sorry about my incident (in the previous post), and the second was the same, but it was signed with an URL of an Etsy shop - of miniatures.

What is wrong with people? I don't know that person; I have never bought from her (or her from me) or talked to her, or e-mailed or anything. What does she think it is perfectly acceptable to come here, and leave a spam? Because that is spam, not self-promotion; it is not even sympathy for what happened to me.

I may have come across her work at Etsy and out of my own write about it, hoping that she may have some success in this competitive world. I even write to the featured artists to let them know about it, and to offer to take down the post if they are not happy. But hey, since you are already "promoting" yourself, I guess you don't need my help.

I would "wish" you good luck and sign my comment with my Etsy shop URL, but your profile is not even available...

Confused

I don't know how I feel. Really.

I was browsing through miniatures listings on Etsy, and I found pieces of my work on another person's diorama. Yes. One of my cabinets has been stripped down, and the pieces used for another person to create a witch house.

No, they are not copies. The potion bottles have my design on them, the filling I put on them inside, the mortar and pestle I crafted are there.

I don't mind somebody using my cabinets to fit the design of their dollhouse. That's why I don't glue the objects down, so they can be arranged to fit the taste of the new owner, to match and mix with other objects or to display in another room.

What I don't know how to take is somebody taking my work, reusing it in another display and saying to the world: "Hey look. I made this".