Blog Posts - Ontario Miniature Enthusiasts of Guelph Area

Our new season has started

9/21/2023

On September 13th, we began our 23/24 season of meetings and it was so much fun to catch up with everyone. So much has gone on during the summer break and we all had lots to discuss. We also welcomed a new member, Sharon R, to our club. This year, many of the members will be making a "She Shed" and several will be doing their own projects and catching up with unfinished projects they have at home. Our Shed components were designed and cut out by member Edna C and were passed out at the meeting. Those of us who will be doing the shed now get the delightful experience of trying to decide what we wish to do with them and how we wish to decorate them. As one of the members who will be building this project, I look forward to deciding what to put in mine - I don't know yet. I have several ideas and can't choose between them. I may have to toss a coin, lol.
On the Sunday immediately after our first meeting, we had our Bazaar at the Puslinch Community Center. Over the course of 3 hours, we had a great turnout and there were lots of things for everyone. Below are two pictures taken during the show. I had the opportunity to speak with several of the shoppers who drove a long way just to come and they had a wonderful time. The Vendors were also pleased and I think a good time was had by all. Of course, many of us were on the lookout for things to add to our Shed projects and it was the perfect venue for that.

My week at Guild School

6/24/2023

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of driving to Castine, Maine for the first time to attend Guild School. I had been accepted to the school as a scholarship student and was thrilled that I could go. First of all, I wish to say a huge thank you to the organizers of the school as they did a terrific job of trying to make sure everything ran smoothly and to the scholarship committee who accepted my application.

I had a wonderful week there meeting people I had met online, and meeting new people. Everyone was very welcoming and friendly and made me feel at home immediately. I decided to take Beth Freeman-Kane's peacock class, which was a 36 hour class. I loved this peacock the second I saw it in the Guild School publication detailing the classes offered. I was skeptical that I could make on that looked like a proper peacock, but must say that Beth is a fantastic teacher. She was always calm and supportive, while giving tips on how to create the best finish no matter which section of the process we were working on. I had never painted before, other than one color finishes on something but I wanted to learn how she created this lovely bird. By the end of the week, I had a lovely bird that I could be proud to say I had made and I couldn't be more happy!

Every day of Guild School offered new experiences and lots to do if you had energy after class. The food was good and, with the breaks and three meals, it seemed they were constantly offering food. The ice cream area was a very popular spot and they offered wonderful flavours. I took some time and wandered down to the town several times during the week and enjoyed browsing the shops. I was treated to my first lobster roll by my friend Lucille who I had given a ride to Castine with me. Since I was driving, I gave a ride to two people Lucille and Darryle, and had lots of lovely conversations in the car as a result. It certainly helped to pass the time both there and back. Graduation night was terrific and it was to wonderful to see the work everyone had done in the various classes.

Jonathan David came up with a wonderful idea to honor Annelle Ferguson who was celebrating her birthday and had contributed so many wonderful petit point designs to the miniature world. He approached many people about bringing their stitched pieces based on Annelle's classes or designs and we ended up with a display that was almost 4 tables long entirely filled with pieces she had either stitched herself or others had stitched using her patterns. I had stitched a cute sampler for the display but, with all of my time spent getting my house ready to sell and moving, couldn't get it finished. I did show it to her later though. She was thrilled and utterly surprised to see the huge display. I took a video of the full display when I had some quiet time in the exhibit room that shows the full extent of the display. Here is the link if you wish to see it: Tribute to Annelle

I had a wonderful week and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I would love to return someday and hope to be able to do so. For anyone who thinks they may wish to go, you should really try to get there, even if it is only once, because it is an amazing experience. The scholarship program, designed to help people who are not able to afford to go, is very easy to apply for and getting one is not based on who you know, but is truly based on your skills and often by how many applicants they get in any given year. If you don't get it one year, apply again.

In closing, I have attached 3 photos. The first is the full display of all of the peacocks made in Beth's class this year and the next two are of my bird. I learned a lot about shading and polymer clay in the class and hope to be able to apply some of that knowledge to my future projects.

The Bazaar will be held again this year!

5/17/2023

What a Wonderful Show!

5/17/2023

This past few weeks have been a blur of activity for me, but I finally have a chance to sit down and reminisce about our Annual Show. Due to the emergence of several Miniature shows and social media, interest in Miniatures is again on the rise. We are pleased to say we had a wonderful show this year, both for the Vendors and the Shoppers. Several new Vendors joined us this year and our hall was packed!

There was a little something for everyone interested in Miniatures and the members did a fabulous job helping to make this year's show a success. Our Member's table held a display memorial to one of our founding members, Mary Carolyne Curl, who sadly passed on and will be sorely missed. We were also able to display 2 sets of projects this year. Prior to Covid in 2019, our members worked on a "Kitchen in a cupboard" project but were never able to display it. This year, they were able to display both that project and the one we all worked on this year, a 1/12th scale flower cart. A few members did that cart and created a much smaller cart in 1/4 scale.

Our show is already booked for next year and will be held on Sunday, May 5th so mark your calendars!

We have also decided to hold the Bazaar this year. It will be held at the Puslinch Community Center on Sunday September 17th. Any who wish to have a table for our Bazaar should contact Janet Harvie using the email address: [email protected]

We hope to see you there!

May is coming!

4/7/2023

Only 30 days to go! Are you ready to come to the show and see what we have this year? I know I am getting excited despite being in the middle of a house move.

This year we have many of the vendors you have come to enjoy seeing at our show, along with some new ones. Come on out and give them lots of support. Our wonderful hobby needs to see some new vendors to help us continue to thrive and grow as miniaturists.

Please visit our Annual show page to view our list of vendors who will be coming so far. This is updated as more vendors sign up, so keep checking back! Hope to see you there. I'll be one of the many members walking around with a yellow shirt on!

Our Annual Show is fast approaching!

3/19/2023

All of the members are hard at work making flowers and their flower carts to be ready in time for your annual show. We are getting excited and looking forward to the show this year. We have an added bonus in that Briar Neilsen (a contestant on Best in Miniatures 2023 show) will be a vendor. We are happy to be welcoming back many of the long-time vendors as well. Check our our Annual Show page for more information.

Our February 2023 Meeting

2/15/2023

Our February meeting was lots of fun as we learned how to make awnings for our carts! This skill was taught to us by club member Janet H and everyone who participated was able to go home with a nice awning and a new appreciation for how a simple technique can produce a wonderful addition to our carts.

Pictured on the left is club member Pat J. holding the prototype awning made by Janet to show us how it should look.

There are now only 2 in-person meetings left before our Annual show in May! Time to really buckle down and get flowers made for the carts. Our Annual show will be held this May on Sunday the 7th, so mark your calendars. We will all be displaying our carts there so you may see what we have worked on. There will also be many of your favorite vendors, along with some new ones to show your their miniature wares.

If you wish to see more photos of our February meeting, please check our our photo gallery located here.

Our January 2023 meeting

1/13/2023

Yesterday, despite the fog several of us braved the weather to meet at our new meeting time. It was so nice to catch up after the Christmas festivities and all of us appreciated the extra time we had available to us now that we are meeting for 3 hours. Everything was more relaxed and we were able to view/accomplish many more things without feeling rushed. We packed a lot of fun and learning into that extra time. A great choice!

To the right is a photo of Marg L's wonderful flower cart. She has spent a LOT of time working on it and creating various flowers. It is an amazing creation and definitely an inspiration to all of us. If you haven't been making many flowers, now is the time to start increasing your efforts as May will be here before we know it. Maybe this photo will also give you inspiration.
More photos of the cart may be found on our Meetings Gallery page.

We would like to welcome a new member to our group - Susan S braved the fog to meet us and will fit right in with our group very easily!

Susan is a member of IGMA and has worked on miniatures for quite a while. Her favorite aspect of miniatures is pottery and wood turning, so she will bring new skills and ideas to our group. Already, we learned something from her when she showed us how she likes to keep her miniature tools and paintbrushes.

She has two of these long fabric holders that roll up and tie to easily store and view all of her tools and paintbrushes. What a fabulous idea and so easy to pack away. The black unit with clear zippered pouches holds many items that don't fit properly into the roll up fabric holder. She had her tools laid out and packed away in seconds! It certainly gave me an idea for my tools and I mean to make the roll up ones. They are also available online for purchase and she will look them up for us. I took a brief look on Amazon and found some similar but not as long.

The black one, I believe, is either a makeup case or a knitting/sewing accessories holder. Either would work.

Pat J demonstrated her Stamping Up die cut machine to show us how easily she is able to cut out flowers or leaves for miniature. It was amazing! She was able to cut several layers of tissue paper or other papers all at once, to make many flower parts quickly. Certainly faster than punching individual ones by hand!
For those who love making flowers, this would be a great tool.

Marg L demonstrated her method for shading flowers when cut out of coffee filters and it was fun seeing how the colors of the markers bled down the paper and faded to create a much more realistic flower. Certainly something I will try more of!

To view all of the photos relating to this meeting, please check out our Meetings Gallery.

Our next in-person meeting will be on Thursday February 9th from 1pm - 4 pm so mark your calendars and cross your fingers that the weather cooperates better then!

Gathering to make Roses

12/9/2022

Yesterday we had a wonderful meeting where we gathered to make roses for our flower carts. The kits were made up and taught by Pat J and yielded these lovely roses. They could be made open fully such as these ones by Phyllis G, or with some shaping, they can be made as if the bud was just beginning to open. Everyone was able to make at least 1 flower during our time and take home the components to make a few more.
As a bonus, Pat J celebrated her birthday that day so a wonderful cake was brought in by Ruth C to help her celebrate.
Our next meeting will be via Zoom on December 22, just in time to wish each other a Merry Christmas before the festivities and chaos begins for us all! For those members who are unable to join us on the 22, we would like to extend warm holiday wishes.

Some miniature stitching

11/19/2022

Just wanted to share some miniature stitching I have been doing lately. The first photo shows my Christmas Rug stitched on 48 count silk gauze and contains 38,633 stitches!

The second photo is of a little cushion I also stitched on 48 count gauze. It measures about 1 1/4" (3 cm) and has 3600 stitches.
Do any of the other members have anything they wish to share on our website? If so please email me with the photos and a description of your project(s) so I can share them with everyone.