Fall is finally here — the wind is blowing and the leaves are tumbling everywhere.  I am enjoying the change of season, staying inside to play with my minis with a glance outside now and then to enjoy the rich fall colors.

I had to tidy up the workspace to actually do some work and needed a project to get the creative juices flowing again after the pause from all the summer activities.

Pinterest again fueled the fire!

I have been looking at old photos of carts pulled by goats and other trained animals.  I definitely would have loved one as a kid — they have far more charm than the modern dirt bike but I am an animal lover of most furry things.

This picture really caught my eye.  I loved the curve and wicker look — how far could I go without actual building a wicker one ???

So off I go with a basic line and form to create this. A start  but much more is needed to get the feel of that cart in the photo.

So I wander about in my supplies not knowing what I am looking for — just searching.  Good grief, its the handles of a shopping bag that catch my eyes!  I swear miniature minds work very oddly.  The handles will give me the bulk and rounded edges I wanted.

Still missing the texture — so I wander about some more digging in the supplies.  I have no desire to paint it to create the wicker look — so what do I need? A textured paper does the trick!  Ya!

Needless to say it is a process to create something in your mind to an actual physical form but so very satisfying when it all pulls together.

I further the look with some wheels, a harness, and the sweetest little goat to lead my cart.  I had other animals but this one was my favorite.  It is from the Schleich line of animals found at the local farm supply store but I imagine a toy store would possibly have them.

I toyed with many ideas of what to fill the cart with but settled on Halloween items due to the time of year.  I think I might have to fill one with various cheeses later –especially goat cheeses.

Do I need to say I have created quite a mess pulling out various things that didn’t work? This is not a straight line process like the pictures present.

So I guess I need to clean up my workspace AGAIN ….. Oh well ….. as I glance at my new pull cart with a smile of satisfaction.

 

I have gotten a lot of things done this month.  It was not one big project that presented itself well in a posting.  It been a stead focus on small details that added up to something.

I greatly enjoyed my candle carousel that was on the shelf in my Christmas house.  Its a mini version of a German Christmas decoration that uses the heat of the candles to set them in motion.  I would gently blow on my mini version and watch the blade rotate the carousel. It would make me smile each time.  It was also fun to share this with my little granddaughter when she was visiting.

Pardon the pun –but it set my thoughts a whirl with the desire to create one myself but not Christmas related.  I had worked with some silhouettes on another project. So that was the beginning. Combining those ideas was the path I followed this month.  I spent many hours fine tuning to make it work smoother than the first attempt.

The trail of what if I tried this, or this, or this kept the impulse going.  I created the first one based on the silhouettes.  That was so much fun that I decided I wanted a heart one being that it was February and there were hearts everywhere.

When I finally got them to the finished stage I was so excited with my new toys that I wanted to share them.  The magic of these carousels are not captured in a single photo.  Motion tells the story.

So it lead to me making a you tube video of each of them working.  That was something new for me!  I do realize that this is super basic for some people but I hadn’t attempted one before.  It seemed very intimidating and I never had something to share that way before. It was much simpler to do that I ever dreamed.  It really made my day to learn a new skill!

Carefree Childhood Video     https://youtu.be/mtFNPdRYtIU

Fluttering Heart Video      https://youtu.be/JggH-Yo_Xxs

I didn’t have a set path to begin with but followed the breadcrumbs of experimenting that lead to my carousels and making the videos.

I do have the carousels available as kits on the website (also learned to put the video there too) and some assembled on the Etsy site, if that is of interest to you.

To end this post—

I urge you to follow a creative whim occasionally.  You might be surprised by the unexpected pleasure of the journey!