I craft year round, but when fall opens the doorway to winter, I spend even more time creating than I do during the warmer spring and summer months. Part of it is the simple fact that I live rurally, and when the snow flies, the last thing I want to do is shovel a path to the car and drive to town on icy roads. Finding something constructive to do inside where I can watch the snow fall and keep my fingers from becoming frostbitten is high on my list.
One of my newest and favorite hobbies is working with memory glass and miniature frames. The Ranger Ink Company has created a complete line of various sized glass with matching frames that are easy to turn into miniature masterpieces. The glass, originally microscope slides I have been told, are pre-finished with rounded edges, and fit simply and easily into frames that are also sold by the same company.
What you put in the frames is what is so much fun though! I actually paint miniature portraits to encase in them, but your imagination is really your only limit. If it can be slid between the two pieces of microscope glass, and still allow the glass to fit in the frame, go for it! Pretty pieces of scrap sized scrapbook paper, photographs, dried flowers, or greenery, even collectible bits of ephemera. Do keep whatever you use as flat as can be. Inserting thick objects just will not work, especially as you go to insert the pieces of glass and contents into the frames. Keep it thin, and keep it flat is the best advice you can follow when creating your own memory frames.
Each framed piece can be done single sided or double sided, all depending on what you plan to do with the finished piece. For example, if you are creating an ornament, you might want to place pretty scraps of Christmas paper on one side, and a snapshot of a loved one on the other side. If you are making a keepsake necklace, and you have two kids, then put one on each side. I paint a portrait for one side, and then back it with a slip of pretty scrap paper that will match the colors in my painting, or I have been known to paint each side, so no matter which way you flip the frame, you are looking at a portrait. You can do the same with whatever you choose to put in them. One sided, or two sided, they look great.
Assembling the frames around the glass slides is very simple. Each frame has a simple to open strip that slides through a pre cut notch in one side of the frame. The strip is easily bent up and slid either into or out of the slit. Once the strip is out, you carefully fold open the sides of the frame and insert the two layers of glass and whatever it is you are inserting between the glasses. Next, close the frame ever so carefully back around the glass slides and contents. Slide the strip back through the slit and fold down. If you do not close it tightly, the frame will be a tad bit loose and this is not good. You want to be sure that you bend the strip down as tight as you can.
Once the frame is complete, you can then choose to use them as a necklace, ornament, or even as a fun addition to your keychain. If you want to create a necklace, they can be hung from a traditional chain, from colored ribbon that coordinates with whatever you have placed into the frame, or even on necklace cording sold in your craft store. For a keychain, finish them off with a simple key ring. Ornaments are easily made with a bit of yarn or ribbon. The only limits to what you put into them, or how you display them once they are finished, is only the boundary of your own imagination and creativity. If you have been wondering what to give that hard to buy for person this upcoming holiday season, be sure to check out the Ranger Ink Company memory slides and frames.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Monday, January 01, 2007
Joining the Lionel Club
Okay so last year at this time, what with all the hoopla surrounding the movie The Polar Express, my husband and I decided that this Christmas we would buy our son his very own model train set. He's only three years old, so this would be something that we would supervise, with the idea that we would buy him a new car for the train every Christmas.
So I started researching train sets. My father actually owns the Lionel Polar Express train set so I thought, why not check out Lionel? I had no idea what I was in for. What an array of styles, it was all so confusing to me. And I had no idea that a starter set would run me in excess of two hundred dollars. Maybe a high-quality train set wasn't such a good idea after all.
But after researching it a bit, I came to the conclusion that it would indeed be a good investment. What little boy doesn't love trains, after all? And a maintained Lionel set can last a lifetime. I checked around and even took my son to a local museum that features a huge 0-gauge train display every Christmas. That display runs just about every Lionel make you can think of. I decided, because me kids are so young, to go with something festive and fun. I checked our local Allied Hobbies shop at the mall and came out with a reduced price North Pole Central set. It came with Christmas-themed cars and a box car that plays 12 Christmas carols. The front light works, a whistle blows and smoke comes out of the top (if you add the smoke fluid, which we did). My son (and daughter) were thrilled when my husband and I presented the train set to them tow days before Christmas (we figured why let Santa get all the credit).
I started checking out the Lionel website and became engrossed in all of the cool accessories that you can buy. I have my eye on a Christmas tree farm, but it's 60 bucks. Obviously, this train thing can get pretty expensive.
A quick check on eBay will show you that Lionel trains are very collectible-- and big business. A part of me wants to buy The Polar Express set, as I know it will be highly sought after once it's sold out. It's a pricey one though, at nearly 300 dollars. But if you're looking for hard to find pieces or an old piece from back when you were a kid, eBay is a great place to check, as are antique stores. But authorized Lionel train dealers are really the best place to look, as the salespeople are knowledgeable and can really help to guide you.
So how will we expand our family's train set? Well for starters, I may invest in the North Pole Central expansion pack. It comes with the maintenance supplies, which we'll need to buy anyway, plus several more Christmas-themed cars and a train station accessory. It costs a little over a hundred dollars but it seems to be a good deal.
After that, I may buy some other types of cars or maybe another complete set that isn't holiday-themed. A few contenders are the Santa Fe Railroad and the Pennsylvania Flyer. At the very least we'll buy a new car and some additional pieces of track. My husband also thinks we should join the Lionel train club. The membership is inexpensive, I think it's around 20 dollars a year, and you get newsletters and catalogs and it generally keeps you in the loop as to what's going on in Lionel world. The Lionel train website is also very informative, with pages on how to buy a train, the different types, etc.
I think trains sets look best when they're fully accessorized. I plan to buy some houses, lampposts and other things to make a little village for our train set. And although we just packed up our dear train set yesterday, boxed it up like it was nice and new, we'll probably dust it off again before next Christmas rolls around. The look on my son's face when that train goes round and round the track is something that is priceless to me-- and I just can't wait 365 days to see it again.
So I started researching train sets. My father actually owns the Lionel Polar Express train set so I thought, why not check out Lionel? I had no idea what I was in for. What an array of styles, it was all so confusing to me. And I had no idea that a starter set would run me in excess of two hundred dollars. Maybe a high-quality train set wasn't such a good idea after all.
But after researching it a bit, I came to the conclusion that it would indeed be a good investment. What little boy doesn't love trains, after all? And a maintained Lionel set can last a lifetime. I checked around and even took my son to a local museum that features a huge 0-gauge train display every Christmas. That display runs just about every Lionel make you can think of. I decided, because me kids are so young, to go with something festive and fun. I checked our local Allied Hobbies shop at the mall and came out with a reduced price North Pole Central set. It came with Christmas-themed cars and a box car that plays 12 Christmas carols. The front light works, a whistle blows and smoke comes out of the top (if you add the smoke fluid, which we did). My son (and daughter) were thrilled when my husband and I presented the train set to them tow days before Christmas (we figured why let Santa get all the credit).
I started checking out the Lionel website and became engrossed in all of the cool accessories that you can buy. I have my eye on a Christmas tree farm, but it's 60 bucks. Obviously, this train thing can get pretty expensive.
A quick check on eBay will show you that Lionel trains are very collectible-- and big business. A part of me wants to buy The Polar Express set, as I know it will be highly sought after once it's sold out. It's a pricey one though, at nearly 300 dollars. But if you're looking for hard to find pieces or an old piece from back when you were a kid, eBay is a great place to check, as are antique stores. But authorized Lionel train dealers are really the best place to look, as the salespeople are knowledgeable and can really help to guide you.
So how will we expand our family's train set? Well for starters, I may invest in the North Pole Central expansion pack. It comes with the maintenance supplies, which we'll need to buy anyway, plus several more Christmas-themed cars and a train station accessory. It costs a little over a hundred dollars but it seems to be a good deal.
After that, I may buy some other types of cars or maybe another complete set that isn't holiday-themed. A few contenders are the Santa Fe Railroad and the Pennsylvania Flyer. At the very least we'll buy a new car and some additional pieces of track. My husband also thinks we should join the Lionel train club. The membership is inexpensive, I think it's around 20 dollars a year, and you get newsletters and catalogs and it generally keeps you in the loop as to what's going on in Lionel world. The Lionel train website is also very informative, with pages on how to buy a train, the different types, etc.
I think trains sets look best when they're fully accessorized. I plan to buy some houses, lampposts and other things to make a little village for our train set. And although we just packed up our dear train set yesterday, boxed it up like it was nice and new, we'll probably dust it off again before next Christmas rolls around. The look on my son's face when that train goes round and round the track is something that is priceless to me-- and I just can't wait 365 days to see it again.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Model Train Jargon
If you will be starting a model train collection or if one of your children wants to begin one, then you should familiarize yourself with the terms associated with model trains. The hobby has a jargon all its own, and you will want to know what you are talking about when you are purchasing model trains for your new collection.
Here are a few of the basics to get you started. Remember to look up any unfamiliar term or ask a salesperson, especially if you are planning to purchase something immediately. You do not want to get it home and then find out that you have bought the wrong item.
The cab is one of the most important terms you can understand. You probably have seen a cab without realizing what it is called. It is the handheld (usually) device that model railroaders use to communicate with their trains. The basic cab will have stop and go but more deluxe models have stop, go, speeds, and other features. Older model train designs used a cab bus as a hub for all of the model trains being controlled by cabs in one design. Today, most people use a wireless connection, which is much easier to maintain.
The caboose is a term for one of the cars on the train. Over time, people have started to think that the caboose is necessarily the term for the last car on the train, but this is not true. The caboose is identifiable because it is the place in the train that holds the crew. Usually it was the last car on the train but not always.
The catenary is the overhead wiring that you see sometimes over train tracks. This wiring system was in place to help control the path of the electric trains as they pass over the tracks.
If you are not familiar with electricity, then you should become familiar quickly if you are planning to build model railroads. A circuit is the pathway of electricity, and this circuit emits electrical current anytime it is connected. A circuit breaker on a model train is the same as in your house. It is an electrical protection mechanism put in place on the cab to halt all current to the train if the system becomes overloaded. Frequent overloading means that you need to change your electrical set-up or you are risking a fire.
An MU is short in model train jargon for a multiple unit. It is a way of connecting several locomotives operating independently to a single cab. An MU is something that you really need to know about if you are planning on massive train designs.
Markers are the name for the lamps you will see on trains in old movies. They were the way of showing that the train was ending and to give others an idea of where the train was. Today many slow-moving vehicles are required to use a flag or triangular sign to show that they are slow-moving and that they have cargo (such as lumber) hanging from their rear. The only place you will still see markers will be on the model trains. Trains today use EDTs, or end-of-train devices, and some trains have built-in lights so that they are not swaying in the current the way the old-fashioned markers did.
A module is a standard layout for a train. Model trains come in various scale sizes, but you can identify each scale size by its lettering. For example, there are O scale trains, and anytime you see that designation, you will know that the train is the same dimension as other O-scale trains. The benefit of using modules is that they allow you to change parts or add to other standard model sizes easily because the parts will fit together.
These terms are just a few of the ones you will need to know to get familiar with model trains. You should spend a few hours at least learning these terms before you begin to purchase or put together trains. It will save you a lot of frustration in the long run because you will know what you are doing instead of finding out that you did things wrong or the hard way.
Here are a few of the basics to get you started. Remember to look up any unfamiliar term or ask a salesperson, especially if you are planning to purchase something immediately. You do not want to get it home and then find out that you have bought the wrong item.
The cab is one of the most important terms you can understand. You probably have seen a cab without realizing what it is called. It is the handheld (usually) device that model railroaders use to communicate with their trains. The basic cab will have stop and go but more deluxe models have stop, go, speeds, and other features. Older model train designs used a cab bus as a hub for all of the model trains being controlled by cabs in one design. Today, most people use a wireless connection, which is much easier to maintain.
The caboose is a term for one of the cars on the train. Over time, people have started to think that the caboose is necessarily the term for the last car on the train, but this is not true. The caboose is identifiable because it is the place in the train that holds the crew. Usually it was the last car on the train but not always.
The catenary is the overhead wiring that you see sometimes over train tracks. This wiring system was in place to help control the path of the electric trains as they pass over the tracks.
If you are not familiar with electricity, then you should become familiar quickly if you are planning to build model railroads. A circuit is the pathway of electricity, and this circuit emits electrical current anytime it is connected. A circuit breaker on a model train is the same as in your house. It is an electrical protection mechanism put in place on the cab to halt all current to the train if the system becomes overloaded. Frequent overloading means that you need to change your electrical set-up or you are risking a fire.
An MU is short in model train jargon for a multiple unit. It is a way of connecting several locomotives operating independently to a single cab. An MU is something that you really need to know about if you are planning on massive train designs.
Markers are the name for the lamps you will see on trains in old movies. They were the way of showing that the train was ending and to give others an idea of where the train was. Today many slow-moving vehicles are required to use a flag or triangular sign to show that they are slow-moving and that they have cargo (such as lumber) hanging from their rear. The only place you will still see markers will be on the model trains. Trains today use EDTs, or end-of-train devices, and some trains have built-in lights so that they are not swaying in the current the way the old-fashioned markers did.
A module is a standard layout for a train. Model trains come in various scale sizes, but you can identify each scale size by its lettering. For example, there are O scale trains, and anytime you see that designation, you will know that the train is the same dimension as other O-scale trains. The benefit of using modules is that they allow you to change parts or add to other standard model sizes easily because the parts will fit together.
These terms are just a few of the ones you will need to know to get familiar with model trains. You should spend a few hours at least learning these terms before you begin to purchase or put together trains. It will save you a lot of frustration in the long run because you will know what you are doing instead of finding out that you did things wrong or the hard way.
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