We had a lot of house business to deal with regarding our upcoming 40th anniversary miniature show which will be on May 4, 2025 at the Fergus Sports Plex. We are anticipating somewhere between 275-300 people will come through the door and we couldn't be more excited to see each and everyone of them. I'm not yet able to announce any specific vendors but I can whisper in your ear that we will have a wide variety of vendors, some that have come faithfully every year and some new ones as well. This year, we will also have a special treat for you; we are planning to do some live demonstrations on miniature making. We're hoping to have 3-15 minute demonstrations in the morning and then 3-15 minute demonstrations in the afternoon. More on that once things get confirmed. Our member created miniature display will be a streetscape this year. Each member is creating a shop to go on the street and there will be different scales and styles. I caught a little peek of the bridal store yesterday and I can tell you it's looking gorgeous!
The February tutorial was a presentation by SD on safety in the craft room and giving your Dollhouse as much longevity as possible. SD did a very thorough research on what it means to be archival, whether the various every day things we use: glue, tape, paint, markers, pencil crayons, clay are archival, acid free or not. She also pointed out dangers that we may not be aware of that lurk in these everyday products, especially in things like resin or chalk pastels. For example, did you know that all uncured resin types give off toxic particles that can settle on surfaces around your work area and can last up to 30 days before they gas off. These are microscopic particles that you likely would not even be aware are there. SD cautioned us to NEVER have a coffee, water or food sitting beside us while using resin. She also let us know that resin can cause allergic reactions like contact dermatitis and respiratory issues if proper PPE is not used! I did not know that and while I was shocked and frantically trying to remember if I ever had a coffee sitting beside me, when I was using resin, I was extremely grateful to get that information. SD reminded us that simple PPE items like latex gloves and masks can keep us so much safer while we create our masterpieces.
I'm sorry to advise that we are still struggling with the photo glitch within the blog at Weebly and so for the foreseeable future I will not be posting any photos. I've had no help at all, on this issue, from Weebly, so I have been trying to figure things out for myself. I've eliminated photos having the same name as the cause, I did trials on whether adding photos before text or after text maybe would make a difference, whether adding single photos versus gallery style photos would make a difference and nothing seem to be the answer. For now, all that I can come up with is some kind of incompatibility between the mobile app and iOS. So .......if you're wondering what happened to all the pictures ......now you know!
Our next meeting is March 12. P is going to be teaching us how to make carrots and potatoes out of polymer clay. I'm very excited, I haven't worked with polymer clay yet, I'm looking forward to absorbing all the knowledge that P might be willing to share lol.
Be safe and if you got this big snowstorm don't overdo while you're shoveling.