Friday, July 15, 2011

1:12 Caladium hortulanum

 the weather in Singapore has been really warm lately, and thus dampened my enthusiasm for making clay minis. so i decided to work with materials that did not melt in my hands :P

next to Eva's cute little acorn house!

i found a wonderful plant tutorial quite a long time ago, and tucked it away in my bookmarks for until i could find a way to incorporate it into whatever project that would call for greenery. you know how you would print out little projects that you hope to get to 'some day'? i have quite a number of folders of stuff like that :P for those who might want to add another project to that folder (if you haven't already!) you can find it here:

http://les-miniatures-de-victoria.oldiblog.com/?page=articles&rub=212034&nba=3

googletranslate was a great help, and i did manage to get them out within half a day (with plenty of distractions of course, courtesy of a little four-legged 'helper'). initially i was going to finish them with a satin varnish, but initial results looked too plasticky to my taste, so i switched to matte and i think they look pretty good! i don't really like round pots, prefer angular stuff so i picked out a Re-ment planter from the home centre series and used it :)

in case you were wondering what i printed it on, i used a regular old 80 gsm copy paper, but would much prefer something thinner, and set to best photo quality setting for matte papers. the instructions are pretty self-explanatory, plenty of pictures are in the tutorial!

* forgot to add earlier that i did run a green pen down the sides of the leaves to hide the white paper, i think it makes a world of difference! oh and of course that i crinkled up the paper too before i varnished it....

i'm not sure why, although i do like flowers in a 'please don't buy me flowers i prefer them in the field' kind of way, i would much prefer a beautiful green plant. i remember learning about poisonous house plants way back in primary/elementary school science, and caladiums really stuck in my mind. firstly, for the way it rolls off the tongue, and then because they just look....so happy! i really like the shapes of them, and the colours. if ever i were to own a plant (*snort* it's amazing i kept my dog fed and watered daily as it is, and she has to remind me) i would probably pick a hardy green leafy one, like these :) just don't let the kids touch it!

i hope this planter will brighten up my nook a little. going off to try and do a little 'mini-baking' now that the weather's a little cooler today :) hope you enjoyed my little show-and-tell!

8 comments:

  1. I did enjoy it, thanks for sharing :)

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  2. Those plants look really well made! I love plants in fact, of coursemines are not so huge how the ones that grow in Singapore..LOL..but are nice too.
    We are waiting in Munich airport for the last flight, in few hours: At home!!!
    Un beso

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  3. Thanks Steinworks (oops i don't know/forgot your real name sorry, don't have a good head for faces/names :( )

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  4. Eva! :D it was a very good tutorial, and the images she provided was excellent! i forgot to mention that i did run a coloured pen along the sides to hide the white papers...that i feel makes a huge difference! will edit my post after this...and of course, email you HAHA :X right now, i expect you must be exhausted :O what a loooong trip you have taken!

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  5. Awesome works! Do you conduct classes? I am interested!

    do email me at tintedsky@gmail.com

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  6. Cindy! Caladium is one of hubby's favorite plants. He likes the green plants that have interest or color in the leaves. :) I did not know it was poisonous. I guess I shouldn't lick it. ;)

    Someday, I might add plant making to my repetoire. Sounds far less messy than clay.

    You did a beautiful job, as always. :)

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  7. Que precioso trabajo, me encanta.
    besitos ascension

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  8. Love the plants! Immediately went to download and printed some copies out . Waiting for that rainy day at home when I can finally sit down and do some minis!

    You are a really good resource Cinds, and thanks for sharing them!

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Thank you for taking the time out to comment! :D