Month: May 2026

Now playing

If you read the comments section of my last post, you will have seen the dilemma of having miniature vinyl LPs with nothing to play them on.

Had to remedy that, of course.

I had a look online for vintage portable record players – actually I used to have one very similar myself, it went to university with me in the olden days when there were few other ways of listening to music.

And after a few days of creative play and problem solving, here it is:

1:12th scale vintage record player

The album covers and records are from Easy Doll Home but everything else is all my own work.

1:12th scale vintage record player

The record player is made from thin sheets of bass wood, card, and painted grey board, with a fraction of pin for a stylus. At one point I thought it was finished and I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Then I woke up at 3am thinking ‘It needs a flex and a three-pin plug! It won’t work without a plug! How am I going to do that?’

Turns out a vintage flex is quite straightforward – perle 3 embroidery thread with a bit of white glue swiped along the length to stiffen it a bit – and you can carve a plug out of layered grey board. Superglue three little lengths of brass pin into it and there it is.

I should have plugged it in to a tiny socket for the video but I think we can probably suspend disbelief for a few seconds.

vintage record player

This week, surrounded by tiny things, has been just what I needed. We currently have a long weekend here in the UK, so I’m not back to work until Tuesday. A bit more time out is no bad thing.

1:12th scale vintage record player

Normal services will be resumed at the end of May with some stitching. Until then, enjoy your weekend. I need to go and paint that little table you can see in the photos.

Shrinking

Sometimes life feels too big, and on these occasions I like to focus on something very small, and something completely different from stitching or mixed media art. Something that’s just for me and nothing to do with work or accomplishing anything.

You may remember the little twelfth-scale Sid Cooke shop kit I started last year.

one-twelfth-scale shop

The interior (about 10″ square) is decorated but needs furnishing in a more sensible way than this:

Sid Cooke shop interior

I’ve been having a little play with some of the tiny things.

twelfth-scale book and bunting

I made the shop counter out of scraps of wood and some recycled perspex packaging. The front comes off for access to the ‘glass’ shelf.

on the (real life) table

Some decades ago I had a past life as a miniaturist, and these days it’s quite a challenge for the ageing eyes. A challenge in a good way though. Sometimes I wonder if the tiny world gives me a sense of control that the real full-size world can’t.

Whatever it is, I find myself retreating into smallness at the moment and feeling better for it. And in any case, all work and no play, etc etc.

I hope you’re making time to connect with the little things that make you happy too.

New PDFs for daily stitching

After a few weeks of very enjoyable drawing and writing, the new PDFs are out. I *think* they’re ok but let me know if you find any glaring errors and I will fire the proofreader (that’s me).

These PDFs are meant to give a little help and direction with daily stitching on the days when you hit a wall and can’t get started.

There are currently four PDFs to choose from, sixty little design sketches in each volume: Lines, Circles, Nature, and Scatter patterns, with brief stitching directions for each sketch.

Volume 1, Lines
Volume 2, Circles
Volume 3, Nature (mostly flowers and leaves)
Volume 4, Scatter patterns

There’s also a blank page in each volume for you to jot down your own designs, and once you get started you will find yourself coming up with many more ideas of your own.

The PDFs assume that you are familiar with, and able to execute, some basic stitch types. My online class, Intuitive Daily Stitching, goes through these stitches in some detail and suggests various ways in which you can be creative with some simple stitches. Alternatively, you can consult one of the many embroidery reference books or free online tutorials for help learning some simple stitches.

Occasionally people have trouble accessing the download, so there’s now a ‘Help with PDFs’ page in the shop header with the following diagram and instructions:

The cover photos show samples of some of the designs so that you can see how they might look in real life. Be as creative as you like with colours and thread types.

cover photo samples

I really enjoyed putting these together, and I hope you find them helpful. Have a fabulous week.