Sunday, November 30, 2014

I couldn't contain myself...

...at the Australian Miniature Enthusiasts Association meeting yesterday.

I bought a trunk for Margell (even though I have the kit from the last meeting, still waiting to be put together.
Miniature vintage tin trunk.
But I figured $12 was a small price to pay for such a beautifully aged example, and I can now use it as study piece when I make my own.)
Open miniature vintage tin trunk, showing newspaper lining.
 And the trunk seemed to set the theme for the rest of my acquisitions. Kathy Brindle gave me this beautifully-crafted hat box the she made, and Adelaide Cann gave me one of her new wooden crayon cases.
Miniature blue and white polka dot hat box, vintage tin trunk and crayon box with scissors.
And there were more containers in a couple of 'bags of bits' I bought from Chell Oldfield (who was the tutor for the round-table workshop I took):
Selection of miniature vintage bags, boxes and a trunk.
 These black and white shoe boxes caught my attention in one of the bags,
Collection of four miniature vintage black and white striped shoe boxes.
 as did this lovely vintage gift box,
Miniature vintage gift box.
 and this crumpled empty Toblerone packet!
Miniature vintage empty and crumpled Toblerone chocolate package.
 And this is the rest of the contents of the jar-making kit I got from the Chell's workshop. Lots of lovely possibilities in there for stocking Margell's pantry!
Small ziplock bag filled with tiny dolls' bottles and a selection of printies for making miniature jars.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

A jarring day

One of the great things about Canberra is the fact that you can wake up in your own bed in the morning, spend the day in Sydney, and return to sleep in your own bed that night.

Today The Australian Miniature Enthusiasts Association held it's  November meeting, AGM and Christmas lunch in Sydney. I was lucky enough to get a lift up and back with a friend who was visiting her mother.

The main reason I wanted to go?
Miniature table filled with jars of jam and preserves, In front of it on th efloor is a selection of miniature empty jars, open jars, and squirt bottles.
 To do Chell Oldfield's jar-making round-table workshop.
Cutting mat with saw and sandpaper plus a tiny toy baby bottle on it.
 I particularly wanted to make a jar of Vegemite and a jar of pasta for Margell
Bottle of yellow nail polish with a miniature empty jar in front of it and a finished miniature jar of  Vegemite next to it.
 The Vegemite I finished. But I kept getting distracted so my pasta jar remains unlabelled and empty for now... 
Miniature jar of Vegemite and empty pasta jar on a worktable.
And the rest of the items in the kit? Added to my teetering pile of UFOs...

Monday, November 24, 2014

Global cuts

Having the vet visit on Tuesday meant I had to clear off my work bench to make room for him to examine Mr Nibbs.

And I vowed that I would deal with the piles of stuff that I moved off it rather than just pile it all back on. But first. while it was clear, I decided to see if I could indeed use some of the contents of the snow globe I bought that afternoon from the Typo factory outlet store:
Tiny models of the Chrysler Building, the New York Stock Exchange and a New York yellow cab on top of a table vice.
Three miniature New York landmarks for a total of $1? I'm happy. (Alas the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building didn't survive the breaking into the globe and the cutting apart of the contents)

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Little houses, at the markets, little houses made of clay.

This afternoon, while visiting a friend who had a stall at the Belconnen Arts Centre Christmas Market, I stumbled across a basket of tiny clay houses.
A large number of small clay houses, all jumbled together.
How could I resist, with a sign like this?
A large number of small clay houses, all jumbled together under a sign which says '$2 Buy a New House mortgage free'
 I chose my house...
A small clay house sitting on a hand in front of a container filled with others.
and took it home.

Where I'm now trying to decide if it should like with my full-sized decorations
A small clay house displayed next to a full-sized knitted cupcake.
or in my mini-world...
A small clay house displayed in a dolls' house between a kiwi figure and a portable tape deck and CD player.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Seidler in Sydney

Our final stop on our Museum of Sydney visit earlier this month was the Harry Seidler: Painting towards architecture exhibition.
Entry sign for the Harry Seidler: Painting towards architecture exhibition.
By this stage I was starting to suffer exhibition fatigue so didn't fully take in all the details of what was on display. But this cross-stitched picture of Rose Seidler House (created by his wife, Penelope, in 2005) caught my attention:

Cross-stitch picture of Rose Seidler House.
 as did this architect's model:
Side view of an architect's model of Rose Seidler House.
Front view of an architect's model of Rose Seidler House.
 (although I prefer Div's 1/16 scale version...)

I was captivated by this model of Australia Square, made out of Lego:
Harry Seidler's Australia Square, made of Lego.
Harry Seidler's Australia Square, made of Lego.
 (Including a tree
Close-up of a Lego tree at the base of a Lego model of Harry Seidler's Austraia Square.
 and the Calder stabile!)
Alexander Calder sculpture at Australia Square, made of Lego.
Exhibition card for the Lego model of Australia Square.
Looks like I'll need to schedule another visit to Sydney later in the year...

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

An afternoon off work

This afternoon the vet visited to check Mister Nibbs out (and, it ensued, take him back to the surgery to do some work on his teeth).
A vet looks at a cat in a cat carrier.
My boss preferred I take the afternoon as flex, rather than work from home after the vet had left. So I took the opportunity to run some errands that had been on the 'To Do' list for a while.

Buying wood filler, for example (thanks, Pepper, for the info). And 3D paint for a chest kit I ordered from the August AMEA workshop that I wanted to attend, but wasn't able to.

But the Typo factory outlet was slap bag between the hardware store and the craft shop that sold the 3D paint. What's a girl to do on an afternoon off with such temptation, except give in?
A selection of items from Typo (including a wooden Coca Cola magazine holder,a handlloom weave kit, a snow dome, tin of neon lime paint and a small orange alarm clock, Plus a small container of wood filler and a tube of  3D paint.
So there was a visit to the 'Not Quite Right' table, where I picked up (for a dollar each) a handloom weaving kit (which needs to be glued back together), a wooden magazine holder (to be pulled apart), a second packing crate (I wonder where that's heading...), a broken New York snow globe (just waiting to be broken into and harvested), a tin of neon lime paint (...) and an orange mini alarm clock,

While I was in the centre, I checked out the new Pottery Barn/ Williams Sonoma/ west elm outlet
Hand holding a very large safety pin.
And bought something very big.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Dream Home, Small Home

I'm only a week late in sharing the photos I took on my visit to The Museum of Sydney last weekend with my Co-Editor...
Entry title for the exhibition 'Dream Home Small Home'
('Dream Home, Small Home'. How could we not?)

Especially when I spotted this as I entered the exhibition:
Side and rear view of a model house in the exhibition 'Dream Home Small Home'
More info on the ready-cut cottages can be found on the Sydney Living Museums website (and of a local one, which is used as part of an artists' residency, on the TaMS website). And I'll stop there with the links, as that's a rabbit hole I could very easily fall down.
Exhibition information card for the model 'St Ives' house in the exhibition 'Dream Home Small Home'
Original pamphlet for the house depicted by the  model 'St Ives' house in the exhibition 'Dream Home Small Home'
Model 'St Ives' house in the exhibition 'Dream Home Small Home'
Side view of the model 'St Ives' house in the exhibition 'Dream Home Small Home'
 The exhibition included lots of fabulous magazine and newspaper articles and promotions featuring DIY homes from the era
View of vintage plans and magazine articles in the exhibition 'Dream Home Small Home'.
 including a number of plans available by mail order that the time, which would make modern miniaturists swoon...
Newspaper plans for a modernist house in the exhibition 'Dream Home Small Home'.
(Dream Home, Small Home
23 August 2014 - 23 November 2014
Museum of Sydney, Cnr Phillip and Bridge Streets, Sydney, NSW 2000
$10 entry)

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Sale-price Sunday

There's a newsagents I know of that sells off the bits that were attached to magazines that didn't sell. Whenever I'm in the vicinity I make sure to spend five minutes digging through the box to see if there's anything I could use in miniature. (It's like a $2 lucky-dip box but you get to see what you're getting before you spend your money.)
Box of nail art pices in the shape of miniature slices of fruit.
Today's find was a box of nail art from a Girlfriend magazine, which included slices of orange, lime and apple.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Recollect: In the city

View of the exhibition Recollect 2: Models at the Powerhouse Museum.
Exhibition sign for the exhibition Recollect 2: Models at the Powerhouse Museum.
Here are the rest of the buildings that caught my eye at the Powerhouse Museum's Recollect: Models exhibition last weekend:

Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board building: a lovely wooden model of the building, which is still standing (there's a great Flickr album of how it looks now)
Wooden model of the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board building.
Wooden model of the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board building.
Exhibition sign for the model of the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board building.
Own house, Trier Center by Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin.
Model of 'Own house', designed by Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin.Model of 'Own house', designed by Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin.
Exhibition sign for the model of 'Own house', designed by Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin.
This particularly interested me as I recently read a book on their work and lives which covered this estate, and the house was never built because they moved to Australia to work on their winning design for Canberra.

The House of Tomorrow, by Robyn Boyd.
Model of Robyn Boyd's House of Tomorrow.
Model of Robyn Boyd's House of Tomorrow.Exhibition card for the model of Robyn Boyd's House of Tomorrow.
(Which I've always thought would make an excellent dolls' house design)

And, finally, Le Corbusier's Villa Shodhan
Front view of a model of Le Corbusier's Villa Shodhan.
Rear view of a model of Le Corbusier's Villa Shodhan.
View of internal courtyard of a model of Le Corbusier's Villa Shodhan.
Exhibition card for  a model of Le Corbusier's Villa Shodhan.
If you're in Sydney any time before February 1 next year, I recommend popping in to the Powerhouse Museum to see the exhibition for yourself.