Tamra Brogdon, Mishawaka, Indiana was introduced to a new tool - the glass swizzle stick. The rounded ball ends on glass swizzle sticks or on stirrers from your chemistry lab class are perfect for shaping your paper flowers and they do not leave gray residue from the metal embossing tools.
Deborah Willis, Regional Coordinator, recently attended the Summer Daze workshop and sent in several tips from instructor James Larrow:
1. Sanding. Don't forget that old trick of using a paper bag to sand over painted wood pieces. This removes the burrs from the wood after it has been painted without damaging the paint.
2. When painting don't forget to paint all 4 sides, even it they won't be seen. Painting all of the side prevents/reduces warping of the wood.
3. When using a miter box, saw in one direction only; in other words, place the end of the blade nearest the handle on your wood piece and cut pulling the saw towards you. Lift the blade, and repeat until you've cut through the wood. In other words, don't saw "back and forth".
4. James said this is an old carpenter's trick: To check that a box you are building is truly square, measure diagonally from each set of opposing corners. If the measurements are identical, your box is square.
5. And last but not least, MEASURE TWICE CUT ONCE.
Colleen Chute, in Michigan, sent in a few just to get us started...
ALTOIDS CANDY CONTAINERS - the bottom container makes a perfect paint pan for your mini rollers - it's the exact right shape.
LEGO BLOCKS - these are wonderful little tools for squaring up joints when you're gluing - your kids will never notice if you swipe a few!
OOPS - A GLUING MISTAKE? - If you've glued something together and discover it was the wrong two pieces or they slipped out of alignment and you didn't notice, stick them in the microwave for about 10 seconds. This will soften the glue and with a little wiggling, you should be able to get them apart.
SPAGHETTI!? - yep - it's the perfect "pick-up" tool. Break off a short piece, suck on the end, and then use it to pick up those tiny flower petals, beads, whatever little bits and pieces are driving you crazy.
SPEAKING OF BEADS... When I'm working with beads or things that love to roll off the table, I dump the ones I'm not using yet in the center of a roll of masking tape (which is always laying out on my worktable - they're still easily accessible but they're not going anywhere.
HERE ARE A FEW TIPS FROM THE MOST RECENT A-3 NEWSLETTER - all from Toledo Area Miniature Enthusiasts club members (for those of you who aren't A-3 members):
LANDSCAPING - To eliminate the "flat" look in your landscaping, glue paper napkins or paper towels on your board first with diluted white glue. You can add more layers here and there and/or push the paper around with the glue brush to hump it up. When dry, paint the appropriate color - green, brown, etc. - and then add your landscaping materials.
TWIG FURNITURE - Twigs must be dry - you can dry them in a 200-300 degree oven. The twigs can be strengthened with Minwax Wood Hardener that you mix 50/50 with acetone. For glue, use a tacky glue and Zap-A-Gap, along with the spray accelerant that the Zap-A-Gap company makes. If you have a bad or messy glue joint, you can paint the glue with a mossy green-brown colored paint or glue bits of moss or tiny dried flowers over it.
SANDPAPER SHINGLES - Draw lines 1-1/4" apart (for 1" scale) on the back of your sandpaper sheet. You can use straight scissors to cut them out or use a scalloped scissor for a more decorative shingle. Then paint them whatever color you want your shingles to be.
ANTIQUING - For an antique look on your pictures or other paper products, dab washable brown marker on your finger, then in white glue. Touch the glue to the edges of the picture/paper and let dry.
