Tuesday, April 26, 2011

My LED lights with batteries - first conversions

At teh Chicago show I was asked if I could make my LED lights work off batteries. Naturally I said yes and then had to come home and figure out how I was actually going to do it. My first effort turned out quite well I think. I was asked to convert one of my sconces, so the first thing I did was figure out what size battery I could hide behind it. A CR2032 3 volt button battery fit the space available. I then added some thickness to the sconce sides to largely conceal the battery and on/off switch. I added some magnets - very small magnets to the back and supplied a piece of self adhesive metal strip to go on the wall - and presto chango (and 3 hours of work) later. a battery powered sconce. My battery life test indicates that one can expect at least 3 - 4 days constant running (72 -96 hours) for the battery which I think is pretty good. The photo on the other hand is bad, but will have to do for now.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

some new lights as well

Getting some more new items ready  - this time a Deco style light fixture, which has a background made using French banding from the 1930's - we won't see anything like it again.
same light - one off one on, about 2.5" 6cm in diameter


about 2.75" or 7 cm in diameter
The second light can be a vanity or dressing table light - it would also work as a chandelier I suspect. The centre is a glass mirror. It's a tad hard to see, but the backing is a black hexagon shape. Both fixtures use LEDs


Thursday, April 21, 2011

another show so more modern furnishings

 No rest for the wicked, so I'm back in the studio preparing new items for my next sow - the KDF (Kensington Dollhouse Festival. I've made some pieces that are variations on previous work, and, of course, some completely new designs. One of the latter is this dressing table, with a beautiful piece of Olice wood for the top. The drawer is Holly with an inlay strip
Dressing table - Olive, Holly and Jatoba woods - about 4 inches or 10 cm long
Panels rotate and can be interchanged - about 6 " 15 cm tall
For this screen, I left the top uncapped, so the various coloured panels and be moved from post to post to create new designs. Each panel is about 1.16 " or 3 cm wide


inlaid shelving unit - glass is 3" - 7.5 cm long