thegoodfellas/blogset-br huggingface dataset:
Mais uma postagem da 'serie' customizando minis... :)This is another one in the 'bashing minis series'... :)Eu ainda estou arrumando as coisas que trouxe, os pacotes que chegaram enquanto eu viajava, etc. E um sofa estava na pilha... E no estilo vitoriano. Nada contra, mas como gosto mais de reproduzir em miniatura estilos mais atuais, nao curto muito esse periodo, mesmo sendo muito popular em miniaturas. Entao resolvi dar uma mexida nele.Believe it or not, I'm still organizing things I brought with me from the trip, the contents of the parcels that arrived while I was away, etc. And there was a sofa/settee on that pile... It's in the Victorian style. I have nothing against that, but as I'm much more into reproducing in miniature contemporary styles, I'm not really a fan of that style/era, even if it's very popular among dollhouse fans. So I decided to bash it. Primeiro tentei trabalhar o baixo-relevo que ja veio nele, dando uma sensacao maior de esculpido, de tridimensional. Mas nao gostei muito do resultado. Para ser sincera, nao sei esculpir madeira, rsrs...First, I tried to work on the original 'bas relief', trying to deepen the 3D feeling, giving it a more sculpted impression. But I did not like the outcome. To be honest, I don't know how to sculpt wood... :)Entao descolei todo o estofamento, cobri os entalhes, cobri de novo com um relevo diferente, pintei, refiz o estofamento com outro tecido e... este foi o resultado! Inclusive aproveitei o veludo do estofamento original e fiz duas almofadas. So, I unglued the upholstery, I covered up the grooves, covered again with some relief, painted, reupholstered with another fabric and... this was the result! I even reclaimed some of the velvet used on the original upholstery and made a couple of pillows. Ok, embora pareca, nao e que eu seja fa do estilo 'shabby chic', mas acho mais atual que o vitoriano, entao... acho que ficou muito fofo! :) e voce, gostou?Ok, even though it seems like it right now, I'm not that much into 'shabby chic' style... :) but I do think it's more contemporary than Victorian, then... I think the new settee is very cute! and you, how do you like it? . Sei que estou devendo estas postagens ha tempos, mas desde que voltei, em 26 de junho, varios compromissos acumulados esperando por mim tiveram que ter atencao. Desde coisas basicas como lavar roupa, pagar contas :), ir ao supermercado ate desfazer mala, guardar tudo no lugar certo, e... trabalhar! :)I know that a post here is long overdue, but since I came back from my trip, on June 26th, I've been handling several other errands that had been piling up while I was gone. From simple things like laundry, paying bills :) , going to the supermarket, up to unpacking and finding a place for everything, and... work! :)Bem, mas finalmente chegou a hora de contar tim-tim por tim-tim como foi minha viagem dos sonhos. But now it's finally time to share all about my dream trip.SIM, eu fui para Castine,
Maine, EUA, onde tem a escola anual de miniaturas da IGMA!!! Eeeeeeeebbbbbbbbaaaaaaaa!!! E tive o enorme privilegio de nao so ter sido a primeira brasileira la, como tambem fui a primeira brasileira a ter a honra de ganhar uma bolsa de estudos! UAU! :D Quando recebi a confirmacao da bolsa, nem queria acreditar! Acho que fiquei sem piscar e sem respirar uns 2 minutos, encarando a tela do computador, hehe...YES, I went to Castine, Maine, where there a special week is held every year for IGMA Guild School!!! Yaaaayyyyy!!! And I had the huge privilege of not only being the first Brazilian there, but I was also the first Brazilian honored with a scholarship! WOW! :D When I got the confirmation email for the scholarship, I couldn't believe it! I think I just stood there, staring the computer screen, without blinking or breathing for about 2 minutes, lol...Bem, fui a pioneira, mas isso significa que abri caminho... nao so eu, mas tambem toda a IGMA e os outros alunos esperam ver mais brasileiros por la, viu? Mais para frente vou dar muitas dicas de como realizar este sonho voce tambem.Well, I was a pioneer, but that only means I opened a new path... not only me, but the whole IGMA staff and other students hope to see more Brazilians there, ok? In future posts I'll give more tips on how to make this dream come true for you too.O tema deste ano foi "Imagine. Imagine um mundo onde voce nao tenha que explicar o que e uma miniatura".This year's theme was "Imagine"Ok, vamos ao comeco entao! Como eu participo de varios grupos internacionais (dica: falar ingles e crucial. Como a proxima semana sera de 13 a 19 de junho de 2015, da tempo de comecar a estudar o idioma ou aperfeicoar!), acabei combinando de encontrar tres outras alunas que tambem iam para Castine e peguei carona com elas. Voeei de Guarulhos - Nova York - Portland no Maine, chegando no meu destino em 4 de junho. Carolyn Denning gentilmente me buscou no aeroporto. Fizemos check-in no hotel, depois fomos fazer umas comprinhas - comprei roupas, basicamente, e almocamos no shopping proximo. Depois Frances Peterson e Mavis Cheyene chegaram tambem.Ok, let's get started on this trip then! As I participate in several online groups about miniatures (1st tip: speaking English is very important to enjoy the experience to the fullest. If you can read this, you already on your way there...), so I made arrangements to meet three other students who were also going to Castine and took a ride with them. I flew from Sao Paulo to NY (9 hours), and from there took a connection flight to Portland, Maine. I arrived there on June 4th. Carolyn Denwall kindly picked me at the airport. We checked in the hotel then went to the nearest mall for a quick snack and some shopping - mostly me buying some clothes, I was expecting cold weather and didn't have many of that kind (big mistake, lol!). Later Frances Peterson and Mavis Cheyene also arrived to
Portland.Fomos jantar em Portland, em um pequeno restaurante muito simpatico perto do mar, e depois achamos umas lojinhas super-legais ao lado, onde compramos umas contas, e eu achei uns mini-postais numa livraria na frente, que darao otimos quadros. We had dinner in Porland, at a small but cozy restaurant by the sea, and then we found some really nice stores next to the restaurant, where we bought some beads, and I found some pretty mini-cards at a bookstore, I think they'll make great paintings in miniature.Da esquerda para a direita: Frances, Carolyn, MavisFrom left to right: Frances, Carolyn, MavisNo dia seguinte saimos cedo rumo a Castine, mas pegando a estrada mais cenica, beira-mar, sem pressa alguma! Afinal, so teriamos que estar la na sexta-feira, e ainda era quinta...Early the next day we left towards Castine, but we took the scenic road, Route 1, that goes near the sea, no hurry at all! After all, we only had to be in Castine by Friday, and it was still Thursday...Onde fica Maine nos EUA e uma ampliacao da viagemWhere Maine is and in the zoom, our trip.A primeira parada oficial foi uma loja em Freeport: a loja LLBean, que vendia muito por catalogo, agora pela internet, mas tem uma loja enorme no Maine. Comprei um tenis especial de caminhada que ajuda a dar suporte ao meu tornozelo, pois meu pe ainda sofre com a inflamacao causada pelo sapato com defeito da Usaflex (longa historia, postei em um grupo no facebook...). The first official stop was a store in Freeport: LLBean. They used to sell by mail, now they sell on the internet, but they have a huge store in Maine. That's their only store. They have great quality products, and I bought myself a pair of hiking sneakers, which would give my right ankle a better support and help me heal an inflammation on my tenon. That's a long story, but basically I got it from a shoe I bought in Brazil which had a manufacturing defect that the company refused to admit...A segunda parada foi muito antecipada por Frances e Carolyn: e uma pequena loja em Wiscasset. E uma pequenina cidade historica no Maine. O seu antigo cemiterio e de 1735!!! Mas o grande lance da loja e que tem tudo para quem borda. E para quem borda aqueles tapetes maravilhosos em miniatura - coisa que a Frances e a Carolyn sao fera! - e um oasis, pois la tem todo tipo de fio de seda, tao necessario para esta escala. A dona da loja, uma senhora de 90 anos, e um docinho! The second stop was much anticipated by Frances & Carolyn: it's a small store in Wiscasset. This is a small historical town in Maine. Its old cemetery dates back to 1735!! But the thing about this store is that it has everything for petitpointers. And if you petitpoint miniature carpets, you need silk thread, which can be found there. That's Frances & Carolyn expertise! The store owner, a 90-year-old lady is so sweet!Paramos em Rockland para dormir em um hotel
la. E o jantar foi nesse pitoresco restaurante sobre um cais. Estava frio e chuvoso, como da para ver nas fotos. Mas o pessoal do restaurante foi super-legal e o chef ate preparou um prato de legumes especialmente para mim (que sou vegetariana), ja que a especialidade do restaurante sao frutos do mar.We spent the night at a hotel in Rockland. We had dinner at this charming restaurant on a pier. It was cold and rainy, as you can see in the pictures, but the staff at the restaurant was super-cool and the chef prepared a special vegetable dish for me, as I'm vegetarian and their strength is sea food.O restauranteThe restaurant Eu, Frances, Mavis e Carolyn. A garconete, que fora das ferias e professora, que gentilmente tirou a foto.Me, Frances, Mavis & Carolyn. The waitress, who off-season is a school teacher, was so kind and took the picture.Na 6a feira, pegamos estrada de novo. Desta vez, uma parada mais longa, para uma loja especial e para almocar: Paramos em Camden. La tem uma loja de miniaturas, principalmente artigos vintage (antigos). Parece ser ponto obrigatorio para quem vai a Castine, rsrs... E uma cidade linda! Como voce pode ver pelas imagens abaixo, me apaixonei pelas placas das lojas la... :)On Friday we hit the road again. This time, we had a longer stop, to go to a special store and to have lunch: we stopped in Camden. There most students going to Castine stop :) to see a dollhouse store, specialized in vintage miniatures. It's a lovely city! As you can see from the pictures below, I fell in love with the store signs there... :)O tempo comecou a abrir, dando uma ideia do calor que iria fazer dai por diante! Tanto e que vi ate gente remando uns caiaques, que animacao! rsrs...The weather changed to sunny and warm, a hint of the hot days ahead! Some people decided it was good enough to go kayaking! :) (nope, not us!)Chegamos em Castine e nos registramos na academia, mas fomos jantar no principal restaurante da cidade, tambem meio que em um cais - pois o restaurante da academia so comeca a funcionar para o jantar do Sabado. We finally made it to Castine and checked in at the Academy. But we had to have dinner at the main restaurant of the town, which is also kind of on a pier - that's because the academy kitchen only starts serving meals from Saturday dinner on.Cansada, com a bateria da camera chegando ao final e que me dei conta que o plug do meu carregador, com pinos redondos, nao serivia para as tomadas la, que eram todas para pinos chatos, sendo um mais largo que o outro... :( Passei os proximos 3 dias sem poder tirar fotos, ate que finalmente achei uma alma previnida e caridosa que trouxe consigo um adaptador e generosamente me emprestou, eba! Foi a Elisabete, outra bolsista da Suecia, um doce de pessoa, e miniaturista de mao cheia! Alias, voces vao cansar de me ouvir elogiando as pessoas de la. Todo
mundo foi super-gentil, hospitaleiro, interessado em ajudar, dar dicas, curiosos sobre o Brasil e o que eu fazia, se tinha mais gente aqui fazendo miniaturas, tudo. Miniaturista e uma especie unica, uma grande familia que temos espalhada pelo mundo todo! (e se encontrando em Castine, rsrs)Exhausted, with the camera battery dying on me I finally realized that the plug wouldn't fit the outlets... :( I spent the next 3 days unable to take pictures, until I found a generous and wise soul who thought of bringing an adapter with her! That was Elisabete, another scholarship student, from Sweden. Wise, generous enough to lend me the adapter, and very talented! By the way, you'll hear me saying over and over about how nice, friendly, warm, kind, generous people were. Everyone was interested in knowing more about Brazil, if there were more people into miniatures here, ready to give me tips, directions, etc. Miniaturists are very special people, a huge family we have all over the world (who gathers at Castine, lol)Por enquanto e so, depois tem mais, ok? :)Well, that's all for today. Soon more will follow... :)
Pois e... uns 6 meses sem postar, ne? Confesso, foi preguica de editar fotos (para deixar mais nitidas e claras, num tamanho bom para internet), redigir textos, traduzir... Cada postagem leva varias horas de trabalho!Yes, I know... about 6 months without a post, right? I admit it, I was too lazy to edit pictures (to fix the light, adjust the size for internet use), write texts, translate... Each post takes several hours of hard work!Bem, mas vamos la. :) Nesse tempo eu consegui concluir a construcao do relogio cuco. Nao foi nada facil! Alem de ter que esperar as pecas, as instrucoes nao vem na ordem de montagem. Muitas vezes a sequencia de uma etapa esta varios fasciculos depois. Muitas vezes as instrucoes que vem em um fasciculo nao tem nada a ver com a peca que veio nele. Entao tem que esperar chegar tudo!Well, let's do this. :) During this time I managed to finally finish the cuckoo clock. It wasn't easy at all! Besides having to wait for all parts to arrive, the instructions do not come in the order of the assembly. More often than not, the continuation of one step comes several issues later. Too often the instructions that come with one issue do not correspond to the parts that also come with it. So one must wait to have everything first!Isso quando nao acontecer o que aconteceu comigo, que veio fasciculo em duplicidade e outro faltando. Tive outros problemas tambem. Por exemplo, logo no comeco uma tinta veio seca. When it doesn't happen what happened to me: one of the issues came twice and another one was missing. I had other problems too. For example, in one of the first issues, one of the paint bottles was completely dry.Faltou um dos "personagens" animados. Em todos esses casos entrei em contato com a editora. Foram simpaticos e prestativos, claro. Mandaram o certo. Mas tudo isso envolve espera, demora, atrasos... Por exemplo, mandaram outro personagem, mas em vez de mandarem o que vai do outro lado, por engano mandaram igual ao que eu ja tinha! Sim, isso foi consertado (agora sou eu que estou em falta com eles, pois preciso mandar o que esta sobrando agora). Ate chegar o certo, ficou tudo parado, esperando a remessa chegar.... One of the 'characters' was missing. Truth to be told, I did contact the publishers and they were very nice and helpful. They did replace the missing parts. But it all took time, delays, waiting... For example, they did send me another 'character', but instead of sending me the one placed on the other side (the missing one), they sent me another just like the one I already had, by mistake! Yes, it was fixed (now I am 'in debt' with them, as I still have to send them the extra one back). Until the right one was finally here, everything had to remain there, taking up place, waiting...dois destros, nenhum canhoto!two 'right-handed' drinkers, no 'left-handed' ones!Enfim, antes de sair de viagem a Castine, o cuco estava nesse ponto:Anyhow, before I left
for Castine, the cuckoo was at this stage:Ja tinha deixado prontas as janelas tambem. A madeira e um compensado fino, que quebra e solta farpas muito facil. Tive que lixar com cuidado, envernizar e pintar cada janela.I had already prepared all the windows too. The wood in them is a thin plywood, easily breakable and "splintery". I had to sand every part carefully, seal, and paint. esquerda: depois de lixado, direita: antes de lixar;left: after sanding, right: before sanding;Em vez de colar as pecas, encaixar a vareta, cortar no tamanho e colar, como eles instruem, preferi colar em um dos lados, cortar no tamanho depois de seco, lixar e pintar separado e depois colar tudo junto, ja com as varetinhas no lugar. E mais facil dar acabamento assim. Ja pensou ter que lixar e tingir o buraquinho onde vai a vareta depois de tudo pronto e colado?Instead of gluing the parts together, inset the dowel, cut to size, and glue the piece to the parts/hole, as they instruct, I chose to glue the dowel to one of the sides, cut to size when dry, sand and paint while parts were still separated and only glue them all together in the end. It's easier to give parts a proper finish like this. Can you imagine having to sand and dye or paint each dowel tip after everything was already finished up and glued together? No thanks! pinos cortados e colados em uma das partes, prontas para encaixe.dowels cut and glued to one of the parts, which are ready to fit in.agora juntas da para lixar e acertar as bordas...now that they are together I can sand and make the borders even.... Tambem usei essa tecnica para partes moveis: colando antes no lado que fica fixo. Como e o caso do fechamento do painel traseiro:I used this same method to put together two parts when one of them had to remain mobile: by gluing the dowel in place first only to one side. Like the back panel clasp:parte do mecanismo de fechamento do painel.part of the back panel clasp.Antes de viajar ja tinha comecado a lidar com os balaustres dos balcoes. So consegui uma parte, porque essa foi a que mais deu trabalho! Lixar cada parte, tirar a peca, lixar bem nas aberturas (pequeno, dificil acesso), tingir, colar, envernizar, montar.... ufa! Demorei varias semanas so nessa etapa!!!!Before my trip I had already started working on the balconies banisters. I had only dealt with part of it, as this was one of the most hard-working steps of all! Each part had to be sanded, removed from the board, sanded again to smooth the sides (hard to reach openings!), dyed, glued together, varnished, assembled.... phew! It took me several weeks just to finish this step!!!Prefiro lixar antes de tirar as pecas pre-recortadas (antes e depois de lixar)I prefer to sand the boards before removing the pre-cut parts (before and after sanding)placa pre-cortada, partes removidas e lixadas, e coladas (em cima).pre-cut board, parts already removed, sanded, and glued onto each other (above).muitas e muitas horas de trabalho
ai!many, many hours of work there!Quando voltei, aos poucos terminei essa parte e coloquei na construcao principal. So que os problemas nao pararam ai... O painel frontal, sobre o qual colocamos as "pedras" falsas, nao encaixava! Sobrava no meio ao encaixar nos furos de referencia. La vou eu cortar para encaixar. Tambem sobrou nas laterais....When I came back from my trip, I slowly finished this step of the construction and added the balconies to the main building. But the problems did not stop there... the frontal panel, on top of which we place the fake 'stones', did not fit! Too big in the middle when positioned according to the placement holes. So I had to carefully saw the panels to make them fit. The side panel was also too big...As pedras, fiz de 3 jeitos diferentes: Uma foi usando bandejinha de espuma:About the stones, I made them using 3 different methods and materials: one using foam...Outra foi misturando cola com cascalho de maquetes. Fiz isso na cerquinha lateral. Ja a chamine, usei a tecnica de embalagem de ovo (como fiz no passeio da Casa Toscana). So nao fiz do jeito que eles instruem, hehe...The other one was by mixing glue and model making gravel. I used this one on the side fences. For the chimney I used the egg carton method (the same I used to make the Tuscan House sidewalk). The only method I didn't use was the one they wrote in the instruction, haha.... Mas os problemas continuaram: as abas frontais nao encaixavam no telhado, por nada nesse mundo! Sem contar que as aberturas vinham cheias de farpas! Muitas vezes eram apertadas, quando nao ficavam folgadas demais...Tive que cortar tudo de novo e preencher os buracos com massa de madeira...But the problems didn't end there: the roof ornament could not fit at all! The original holes where in completely different places. And most openings were poorly made, full of splinters. Either too tight or too large... I had to cut them in the right place and fill up the previous openings with wood filling....cade o alinhamento?oops, they don't line up!onde a abertura de encaixe deveria estar (esquerda) e onde veio (buraco aberto)where the slot should have come (left) and where it came (open slot)vendo de baixo o erro deles....viewing their mistake from below (the roof)....Varias tiras de telhas vieram com defeito. Nem fiz questao de reclamar isso, seria mais demora e espera. Preferi escolher uma que estivesse boa e usei como molde para cortar outras em papelao cinza fino. Como ja estava pensando em pintar o telhado em vez de tingir, sabia que nao ia aparecer mesmo....Several roof tile strips had huge flaws. I didn't even bother to complain about those, though. It would only add more waiting time until they sent me other ones. So I chose to pick one that was good enough and use it as pattern to cut other ones on holler cardboard. As I had already planned to paint the roof instead of dying it, I knew the difference in material used wouldn't show up