Tea Time

Tea was often served in the CRM drawing room. The furniture arrangement we see in photos these days shows a tea table and two chairs across from a built in sofa. Similar furniture pieces were part of my order from Pop-Up Cards in Scotland.

During our Eugene Miniatures Club meeting by Zoom I punched them out and did a dry fit. The next morning this is what I found on my desk…

Cut and Dry

I’m not off to the salon, or searching for a simple solution, I’m just eager to make progress on the Charles Rennie Macintosh project. I grabbed my mask and headed to the local home improvement store to pick up a sheet of 1/4” MDF. They also had 1/16” basswood sheets so I added that to the cart. I dedicated this week to cutting and dry fitting the structure.

First I cut a piece for the base. You just can’t have too many measuring devices. Good thing I had them, too. It turns out my MDF wasn’t exactly square. I measured more than twice for this first cut, set up a “fence” and ripped it. The blade on the skill saw was a little coarse for mini work so I swapped it for a more suitable blade for the other pieces.

Timing is Everything

When I set out to learn new software so I could precision cut the structure for my next project, I didn’t expect a world pandemic to derail me. I did my research for the Charles Rennie Mackintosh room box. I learned Inkscape and made mockups of some interior features and I found a likely cutting machine, a CNC router, to cut the structure. Using the software for the router, I got the walls and floor laid out in two ways.

In a normal world, I could walk right into the Eugene Makerspace and talk to someone about the final formatting for cutting. But this is a new normal, the “open hack” sessions are Covid closed, only members are allowed. I went to the space anyway to get the lay of the land. As luck would have it, a couple was unlocking the door just as I pulled into the driveway. We talked at a distance and through our masks, then they led me in to look around and agreed on who I should talk to. Not bad for a half hour.

The Eugene Makerspace, is a place full of tools and typically people who have an idea they want to execute. Here are two prototypes for the annual Punkin‘ Chunkin‘.

Hello Cricut

I am a maker, so I bought the Maker. I wasn’t going to. I have the Silhouette Cameo 4, which introduced me to the world of die cut machines. I learned vector graphics, importing files and creating files for my own projects. But there was one thing missing – it wanted to, but it just couldn’t, cut wood.

The Cricut Maker went on sale and I became one of the hoards of hobbyists that grabbed one. Then I spent the rest of my time and resources collecting the essential tools and supplies. I also rearranged my mini making corner to accommodate my two Bad Girls. Yes, I even banished my Peachstone Cottage to the guest room. I threatened to banish my husband, who occupies the other end of the room, but thought that might be interpreted as overreach.

It’s Not Rocket Science, but it’s Related

It seemed that everything I did this week involved using a screen. Here’s a summary:

• Studied tutorials for Easel by Inventables
• Created a project for our monthly mini club meeting using Inkscape
• Read the new American Miniaturist e-mag which has several articles and tutorials using technology
• Watched the SpaceX launch
• Bought a Cricut on sale

For me Sunday’s SpaceX Launch was quite moving. I worked in aerospace for 23 years before retiring. No, I’m not an engineer, but I really enjoyed working with them. It was an honor to witness real rocket scientists at work, so I was excited to see the successful SpaceX Launch on Saturday and docking on Sunday.

Photo from NASA.com. International Space Station Crew in light blue suits, new crew members in dark shirts as viewed from the Mission Control Center at NASA in Houston.