A Visit to Dollhouse World - 2013

I was so glad that Rocketman was feeling a little better so he could go with me to a visit to Dollhouse World in Suwon. I had taken many classes there learning how to make miniature Korean food. I had my friend, Hannah, call to make sure it was okay for us to drop by for lunch. The sister of the Dollhouse World owner has a coffee shop next door where I had eaten many delicious bagel sandwiches. It was wonderful to see them again.

There was something new going on in the coffee shop. Kim Hyo-Jung, was learning how to press and grind her own African coffee beans. She had someone there who set up the huge press and teach her all there is to know.  It was really amazing to see how raw coffee beans are cooked.  She gave us this bottle of her coffee.

Since she knew we were coming, the owner of Dollhouse World made me this beautiful miniature flower basket. She said she stayed up late working on it for me. I am always amazed at what she creates with clay. She is very busy right now writing a book. I can't wait to see it when it's complete.

She also gave this miniature golf bag to Rocketman.  Can you believe the detail? Rocketman was so thrilled to get it. We had a great lunch and it was Rocketman's first time eating the bagel sandwiches and he too said it was the most delicious sandwich he had eaten in a long time. We will definitely be back.

Halloween Polymer Clay!

 

Copyright 2012 Becky Meverden

 

Polka Dot Pumpkin Magnet

by Becky Meverden

Materials

Polymer clay - For pumpkin: orange, brown, white, black, Polka dots: magenta or purple

Toothpick

1/2" round magnet

3/4" round Kemper cutter, optional

E6000 adhesive

Instructions

1.  Flatten a 1" orange ball into a 1 5/8" circle.  Use your fingers to flatten the ball and  have the center thicker than the edges.

2.  Use a toothpick to indent lines on the pumpkin.

3.  For the stem, roll a 5/16" brown ball into a 1/4" long tapered log.  Use a toothpick to indent lines all over the stem.  Press onto the back of the pumpkin.

4.  For the eyes, flatten 2 3/16" white balls into teardrops.  Press onto pumpkin.  For the pupils, flatten 2 3/32" black balls and press them onto the eyes.  Use a toothpick to make two squint lines by each eye.

5.  For the eyebrows, roll two 1/8" orange balls into 1/4" long tapered logs.  Press above each eye.

6.  For the nose, roll a 1/4" orange ball into an oval and press onto the pumpkin.

7.  For the mouth, press the lower half of a round cutter into the pumpkin.  You can also use the lid of a tub margarine container.  Cut a 1" x 2" strip, use your fingers to curve one end and press into the pumpkin.  Use a toothpick to place a hole on both sides of the mouth.

8.  For the polka dots, roll 1/8" magenta (or whatever color you choose) balls and press randomly all over pumpkin.

9.  Bake in a preheated 265 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Let cool.

10.  Glue magnet to the back of the pumpkin.

 

We broke out the polymer clay while Noah was here also.  I forgot how much I love the stuff!!  I made the pumpkin refrigerator magnets and Noah made the pumpkins in the photo above.  He loved it!



I Miss Dollhouse World!!

I was scheduled for one last class at Dollhouse World in Suwon and was so looking forward to it.  Unfortunity, the owner, Jung-Mi's father-in-law had fallen gravely ill and as the wife of the eldest son, the hospital vigil fell on her shoulders.  She spent every hour of every day at the hospital keeping me informed (through my Korean girlfriend) his status and the possibility of still having my class.

But he ended up passing right before we left so I was unable to have that class.  But I did stop in one more time to pick up a few supplies.

 While her sister (who owns the coffee shop adjacent to the shop) scurried around collecting items along with some phone calls to her sister looking for things, I took some photos of all the talent.

                Then I stayed for lunch and had a bittersweet meal with her.  Her shop is so cute.

I just love this bagel sandwich of hers.  It had egg, bacon, lettuce and mayo.  Yummy.

If you every are in Suwon near Sungdae Station, stop by.  She has kits available too.  If you have two full days, have a Korean friend give her a call and see if she can schedule a class for you.  It will be one of the best things you ever did in Korea.  To get to Dollhouse World:  From Sungdae Station, walk West for a few blocks until you past a gas station.  Take a right at the next street, its' a steep one and walk.  You will see the coffee shop and Dollhouse World on the left.  You can't miss it, it's the first building when you take that left.

There is a huge miniature show in Chicago every year and she would love to go.  I'm trying to convince her to go and that I would drive down and help her with the show.  I'll let you know if she ever takes me up on it.

My Miniature Korean Pojangmacha (Street Food Cart)

I finished my Korean street cart yesterday in class.  I was amazed by the details my teacher included from the toilet paper (used as napkins) to the plastic bag that covered the ddukppoki (떡볶이) plate.  We worked hard and my teacher worked especially hard helping each of us out.

                                              I was absolutely thrilled how it turned out.

                                                     This is a look from the backside.

                                                     Side view.

         Here are my bungeo-ppang (fish-shaped bread filled with red bean paste).   Aren't they cute?

               Here's my teacher.  She knows her way around power tools.  She is really amazing!

                                                         My odeng ready for the broth.

              Rocketman showed up at the end to take me home.  He was amazed at what I had made.

 My teacher is on the left of me and her sister is on the right.  She owns the coffee shop right next door and she makes us our lunch.

Everyone is busy working.  I finished first and that was still way after 4 pm.  I finished at 6:15pm and I left happy but exhausted.  I don't have anymore classes lined up but I'm hoping to learn some more before we have to leave.

Korean Miniature Class - Street Food Cart

This is the Korean street food cart that we were going to construct in class.  Everything you see is handmade.  It was the largest class yet for me with six students including myself.  It was also the first class I had ever had that was taught by the owner.  You can see her to the right of this photo on her smartphone.

                           The first thing we did was to cut out the stools and glue them.

Next we cut out the tops of the stools and had to sand them.

                          These are my stools, spraypainted and glued together.

Next was welding.  We welded the top of the cart.  My teacher had a chart and all the pieces were cut to size.  I was lucky that she used constructing mine as the demo so I didn't actually do any welding.

The top was first cut out in cardboard and then the awning was cut out.  Both were patterns we traced.  Then we used doublestick tape to attach.

This was a piece of foamcore board without the cardboard on top which makes it soft and easy to score.  That gave the bricks their realistic look but I never know it could be so easy.  I used a pencil to score it.

                  This is what it looked like when finished and it will be the base for the display.

                                                   Next we made the fence.

The last thing we did was make the cart top.  I had a great time and I can't wait for next week when we finish the cart and make all the street food.  I don't know how we will get it all done in six hours.

I usually find it difficult to catch a taxi after class but today I got lucky.  When I got in, the taxi driver immediately understood where I wanted to go (maybe my Korean is improving).  Then he did something surprising, he changed the radio station from Korean trot to American music.  He smiled at me when he did it and I told him thank you in Korean. 

It would have been a perfect day except Rocketman left this morning shortly after 7 am to fly to Japan.  If you are keeping track, he's been gone for the past three weeks.  But at least he is home for part of the weekend, usually arriving Saturday afternoon and leaving Sunday morning.  But it's better than if we were in the States because he would be gone the entire time including weekends.  He is also less fatigued, instead of the 14 hours, it's 3.  He figures it will be crazy like this for 4-6 months.