A dead bird and other stories. 

Thank you Tara! You too! 😃

Wonderful! Thank you Dana. I hope you do try it and use it for your miniatures! 😃

Yes it's a bit sad. But that's how it goes... Thank you Beth!

Thank you so much Elizabeth 😀

Hi Dorothy! Yes, I love spring! Even though the weather is fickle. Sunshine one minute, hailstorm the next. I was going to work in the garden but there's a chilly wind, rain and hail... Inside it's much cozier 😃

Hahaha, exactly! That is such a Dutch thing to say. Alles met mate. However, I must say that in the past few decades, it seems that this 'golden rule' has been let go here too. Your question about the dining room was interesting and it was my pleasure to answer it, even though some of my answer was pure speculation on my part. Thank you Susan! 😃

Thank you Kim! 😃

Thank you Jen! I felt sorry for the pigeon too and I keep thinking it was probably one of a pair that lived in my garden. I haven't seen them these last few days. The other pigeon now has to find a new mate. But, the bird of prey (probably a sparrowhawk) needs to eat too. I thank the pigeon for its contribution to my art. Poor thing.

Thanks Tara! 😃

My pleasure Thank you for the compliment Suzanne! 😃

Yes, poor bird. But the sparrowhawk had a feast meal. I have used real marble in the past, and it was much easier to work with than I thought. In this case, I will use quite a bit of marble for the floors and it will just become too heavy. 😃

I just noticed your comment Margeau, sorry I'm a bit late. It's funny how you forget to do something, isn't it? I have realized I have to write down what I did or how I made something, even when I think it is so obvious I'll remember...I often forget. This can lead to new experiments which can also be interesting, but not always practical. I was just talking about Greece and their wonderful food culture with a friend yesterday. It doesn't surprise me that in Greece the biggest and best room in the house is a formal dining room, I think that's because good food plays an important part in Greek culture. The times I have been to Greece, I've had lovely food, simple ingredients but always fresh and delicious. Yum.

Thank you Dorothy! 😃

@@MakeMiniatures 🦋your so very welcome x

Thank you so much Mary Kay! Now that you mention it, I had heard that before. It is very cool. I was looking at the Dutch word for chairman, which is 'voorzitter' literally translated it means frontsitter. A similar origin I assume. The earliest use of the word was found in a document from 1477. It's fun to find out about these things. That's one of the things I love about miniatures as it takes me on so many interesting side roads. It means I don't get as much done because I get side-tracked, but that's okay, I'm having fun anyway. 😃

I know exactly what you mean. I am doing a Chinese medicine apothecary and acupuncture clinic in miniature ight now. (Wow~! Making miniature acupuncture needles is really hard!) There are two altars in the building: one to Quan Yin, the Buddhist patron of doctors because she is the bodhisattva of mercy and the other to the house gods. I had this 635 page book on Quan Yin anyway, so I got it out the other night while I was repainting the cheap little statue I bought of her. A side track? Well, sort of. But I've always meant to read that book and now's the time. As you say, part of the fun of miniatures is all the learning that goes with it--of every kind. @@MakeMiniatures

Wow, that sounds so interesting! I'd love to see it! Well, that book is quite the sidetrack! But if you had the book already, I'm not surprised you're making a miniature Chinese medicine apothecary and acupuncture clinic as your interest obviously leans that way. As for the miniature acupuncture needles, wouldn't the finest acupuncture needles work? Cut down of course and a new top added to it. But they come in 0.1 mm thickness. A miniature spiral grip would be hard to make 😉

Acupuncture needles are between 32 and 36 gauge--so already very thin. So to be to scale they have to be even thinner. I found some copper jewelry wire I had. Very fine but also stiff enough to stand up. If I bend over and twist one end I get the brass hilt. Then I cut off the excess and the rest below I painted silver. Amazingly it looks pretty authentic. My doll maker is putting holes in the porcelain so we can stick them in before firing. Gosh, we're a bit crazy, aren't we--but in a good way. I decided to add a rooftop herb garden to the build. Luckily I have all the books I need to I can follow to make authentic plants. I practiced Chinse medicine for 40 years.@@MakeMiniatures

Looks great! Sometimes it is hard to know when to stop! J

Glad you enjoyed it Urbania. Thank you! 😃

Hi Dale! I'm glad you're enjoying my videos. Thank you so much!

Thank you Coby! Yes, you do see the yellow quite often in those old kitchens. You do see other colours as well, but I was asked to use this colour for the kitchen (this kitchen is not for me). The black is just a hardstone often used for sinks (and floors, stoops etc.) The white marble was often used for countertops and floors as well. 😃

Thank you Julie! I'm just using an acrylic glazing medium (in my case, a Dutch brand 'Amsterdam' by Royal Talens). It helps to give the paint a better flow and transparency. This works especially well when you work in layers, but even with one layer (the veining), it gives a bit more depth to the paint. In the past, I have used just varnish for this, which also works well for transparency but not so much for the flow of the paint. Have fun experimenting! 😃