The Shopping Sherpa: Miniature garden balcony or patio

Showing posts with label Miniature garden balcony or patio. Show all posts

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Throwback Thursday: Let's go outside

It's taken a couple of weeks, but finally, here's my round up of miniature gardens, balconies and patios. I made the executive decision to include scenes made by other people as well as my own (but am sticking to my decision to include only domestic spaces, not communal or wild spaces).

First up, from the 2007 ACT Miniature Enthusiasts' show is this scene which still makes me laugh when I see it (I believe it was by Mandy Bates: can someone let me know if I'm remembering incorrectly?)

One-twelfth scale miniature scene of a man inside a house with a beer in his hand watching a football match on TV. Outside the ranch sliders in the garden, three gnomes are lined up sitting on mushrooms, watching the match through the glass.

A couple of months later I shared how I'd made an old project of mine: city and beach balcony scenes created in two matching IKEA box frames (sadly now long discontinued...)

Two one-twelfth scale modern miniature balcony scenes in box frames. On the left is a city balcony, with sprayed concrete walls and floor and a corrugated iron balcony wall. On the balcony is a folding wooden chair with a laptop on it. On the floor is a cordless phone, a mug and a stovetop espresso jug. On the beach balcony is a white director's chair with a woven hat on the back, a magazine on the seat, and a pair of jandals and a glass on the floor. The balcony overlooks the sea and some cabbage trees.

A one-twelfth scale modern miniature beach balcony scene in a box frame On balcony is a white director's chair with a woven hat on the back, a magazine on the seat, and a pair of jandals and a glass on the floor. The balcony overlooks the sea and some cabbage trees.

A one-twelfth scale modern miniature city balcony scene in a box frame with sprayed concrete walls and floor and a corrugated iron balcony wall. On the balcony is a folding wooden chair with a laptop on it. On the floor is a cordless phone, a mug and a stovetop espresso jug.

Back at the ACT Miniature Enthusiasts' show the following year, I was taken by this greenhouse created by Ann Dowdall (wife of James of Victorian Dollhouses):

One-twelfth scale miniature green house with a man in a hand-knitted jumper working inside and a dog watching from the doorway.

In 2009 I went to Melbourne, and to ACMI's Setting the scene exhibition. Where I took some sneaky against-the-rules photos (and a video) of the model of Villa Arpel from the film Mon Oncle. (I still feel bad about that... but not bad enough to take them down. :-/)

Model of a modernist villa from the film 'Mon Oncle' with a garden containing a pond with a fish fountain in the middle.

Speaking of films, the next year while visiting Wellington I was invited to visit the film set (in miniature, of course) for the New Zealand movie Second-hand wedding:

One-twelfth scale miniature scene of garage-sale items outside a garage.

One-twelfth scale miniature scene of a yellow Mini van in a garden. It's back doors are open with two cardboard cartons on the ground next to it.

In 2012 I was lucky enough to hunt down and buy a Brio 1960s bungalow, one of my 'holy grails'. And had a party to mark the occasion.

Patio at night, with a table covered in bottles and glasses, surrounded by mis-matched chairs.

Another 'holy grail' was marked off the list in 2013 (no party this time, just lots of ice cream...)

Vintage dolls' house patio with stonework pillars and paving, and planter box full of plants. On the paving is a set of white outdoor table and chairs.

Here's a mid-century modern patio scene I started making in 2014, based on some wonderful pieces sent to me by Mod Pod miniatures in a very generous swap parcel at the beginning of that year.

Aerial view of a one-twelfth scale modern miniature paved patio area with a mid-century modern sofa and a Jens Rison webbed chair and various accessories.

Alas I never finished the scene, as after finishing a miniature version of a La Gardo Tackett garden sculpture

One-twelfth scale mid-century modern garden sculpture made of a stack of white-painted angular beads.

I got flumoxed by working out how to bash standard french doors into mid-century modern ones. (In fact, I found one of the doors on my boxing-day clean up...) We'll add that to the list of things not finished and move on, shall we?

Five month later I celebrated my 9th blogiversary with a party at Margell Public School. And what a party it was!

One-twelfth scale miniature school house exterior with a bunting strung across the verandha spelling out 'blogiversary'. Chairs and a table are set up outside the school, while on the veranda is a guitar, a ukulele, a bottle fo wine and a wine glass.

One-twelfth scale miniature veranda scene with a school chair holding a recorder next to a guitar and on a bench next to that a bottle of wine, a stack of sheet music and a ukulele.

Early-morning shot of a one-twelfth scale model school veranda, with a broken railing, a table with an empty plate, and a school chair with an empty wine glass on its seat.

Early-morning shot of a one-twelfth scale model school veranda, with a school chair with an empty wine glass on its seat and a bench with a toppled glass on it and an empty wine bottle under it.

And later the same year there was a different veranda, this time on the HBS Creatin' Content 2015 build (which ended up on top of the fridge for a couple of years until I resurrected it recently...

Dry fit of a dolls' house shed kit, with stained weatherboarding taped to the sides and pergola posts and struts taped in place.

In January last year I did my annual complain about the summer heat,

One-twelfth scale modern miniature paved patio with a Jen Rison webbed chair, a side table and patio umbrella. On the side table is a potted plant, a fan, a pair of sun glasses and a glass of water. On the chair is a magazine.

using pieces from earlier builds mixed in with Lundby pieces that worked well in 1/12 scale.

It was a quiet year blog-wise as I dedicated my brainspace to settling into a new job, but Spring saw me trying to kick-start my mini obsession with this scene (inspired by a swap parcel from Kitty & Kat Miniatures):

One-twelfth scale modern miniature wooden park bench in front of a white brick wall. On the bench is an IKEA catalogue, a bowl of chips and a white, green and orange cushion. On the pavers next to it is a pot of daffodills, and perched on the back of the bench is a cockatoo eyeing up the chips.

and this scene, pulled together with a breezeblock wall I'd bought from Tiny Bungalow (whose website, alas, seems to have disappeared since..)

One-tweltfh scale modern miniature garden chair and plant in front of a miniature breeze block wall.

That very same wall featured in the post where I finally finished the Alvar Aalto trolley 900 which had been taunting me for a very long time.

One-twelfth scale modern miniature Alvar Aalto Trolley 900 set up for drinks.

Finally there's this whimsical pop-up bar: I'm not sure if it's finished or not...

Three 1/12 scale modern miniature stools in the shape of apple cores around a table made with a slice of tree with bark still on it, on a round mat of fake grass. In the background is a bar with a red watering can on it.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Thursday and over thirty (degrees*)

I had all the best plans for today's Daily Dolls' House December post.

That is, until I stepped out of the air-conditioned comfort of our office building and into the muggy summer heat. And wilted.

On the bus on the way home (air-conditioned, so my brain was working again), I came up with a devious plan which involved no making things, but rather a continuation of last year's round-up posts, informed by yesterday's post.

And so I came up with the idea of creating a Throwback-Thursday post on the subject of outdoor spaces (I decided that this would only include domestic spaces, not communal or wild spaces. So, for instance, my street-art scene or the wonderful New Zealand bush created by Nigel at Tawhiti doesn't fit the criteria...)

Except it turned out to be probably more work than just creating a scene would have taken.

And so I've ended up just leaving this picture from 2013 (aptly titled 'sweltering') here, and planning to add the rest later:

One-twelfth scale modern miniature patio scene with wire chairs, a gazebo and many plants.

(Preferably a cooler later).

(*℃. which converts to over 36℉)

Sunday, December 03, 2017

Sunday: fun day

While I was putting away my goodies from last weekend's Daiso haul (sorry, links seem to be beyond the ability of my poor old tablet, along with resizing images and adding alt text: all of which I shall come back and fix up when I'm back on the laptop) [EDITED TO ADD: Daiso haul,] I spotted one of the plastic apple charms I'd picked up at Pete's Emporium in New Zealand on my last trip. At the time they reminded me of a cross between the Philippe Stark gnome stool and the Third Drawer Down giant corn cob stool, so I thought they'd make a fun addition to a scene.

Instead they because the basic of a fun scene, along with the round grass mat I bought at Daiso and a wood slice I got for free from a craft store many years ago (balanced on the head of a wooden mallet I found in my stash of useful bits and bobs I might need one day).

It's decided that it's going to be a pop-up bar when it's finished. The fun colours reminded me of a stash of cushion tops I had cut out and waiting for attention. And since the whole point of Sunday fun day for me is just having fun, and I'd unearthed the sewing machine in yesterday's cleaning frenzy, I decided a little sewing was in order.

1/12 scale modern miniature cushion fronts in bright colours and retro design, piled on a work bench next to a pair of scissors, some loose threads and a piece of plain fabric.

Which was just as well as it meant I could take the cushions along to a coffee date with a friend, and turn and stuff them while we chatted.

Cat-shaped pencil case with 1/12 scale modern miniature cushion covers spilling out of it. Other cushion covers wait to be turned on the table top, next to a pair of tweezers and a (full-sized) cup of coffee.

Friday, October 13, 2017

Finish it off Friday (and I deserve a drink!)

In the spirit of 'done not perfect', look at what I (finally) finished this evening:

There are still a few final touches I need to sort out, but for now I'm just going to bask in the glow of awesomeness I feel in wrestling it to completion.

Thanks Kikka N, I love it!

Monday, November 28, 2016

Life's a breeze (block)

Saturday morning saw another of my miniature 'holy grails' ticked off the list, with the arrival of this breeze-block wall, new to Tiny Bungalow's shop.

Hmmm.... perhaps it's time to finally finish off this scene?

Sunday, September 04, 2016

Spring

Modern dolls house miniature scene of a garden bench with cushion, a bowl of chips and an IKEA catalogue. On the back of the bench a cockatoo eyes up the chips.

Modern miniature patio scene with a park bench set up for an afternoon spent reading the latest IKEA catalogue.

(With thanks to Kat for the rug and chips, which inspired the scene...)

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

One-word Wednesday

Modern dolls' house miniature patio with market umbrella, mid-century woven chair with a magazine and table with a glass of water, sunglasses and a fan on it.

Temperature reading for Canberra, showing a temperature of 38°C at 7pm.

Hot.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Porch post

After the weekend's trip to see Ann from Victorian Dollhouses, and extra roof beams ordered cut and in the mail to me (thanks to the amazing Karen at JWT Dollshouses and Miniatures), things are definitely looking up on my HBS Creatin' Contest build..

So much so that I ventured into the next step: building the pergolas for the sides.

The first trial is bodged together with bits from the kit that I don't think I'll be using, just to get an idea of size.

Dry fit of a dolls' house shed kit, with perspex and weatherboarding taped to the front and pergola posts and struts taped to the sides.

Ideally, I think the pergolas should be double the width, so my writers can sit outside when it's raining without getting wet, and even move their desk onto it on fine days, if they feel like a change of scene.*

Dry fit of a dolls' house shed kit, with stained weatherboarding taped in place and white sliding door frames fitted.

I also cut down the centre wall to fit and was most chuffed to find that my dodgy cutting isn't so obvious when the wall's in place.

Inside rear view of a dry fit of a dolls' house shed kit, with a central wall installed.

Inside front view of a dry fit of a dolls' house shed kit, with a central wall installed.

Speaking of chuffed, I returned from my weekly digital sabbath to find this in my inbox:

Etsy notice celebrating the first sale in my shop.

(*While looking at this picture of the sliding door frame installed without the doors, I suddenly saw a future version of the build with the pergolas covered in and turned into a tiny bathroom and kitchenette area. Oh dear. I'd better forget that idea as quickly as I thought of it...)

#HBSCreatinContest2015

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The morning after

That

Modern dolls' house miniature scene of a pillow and blanket on a sofa.

was

Modern dolls' house miniature verandah with a plate and a wine glass strewn around, and a broken railing.

quite

Modern dolls' house miniature verandah with a wine bottle, plate and wine glasses strewn around.

some

Modern dolls' house miniature verandah with a wine glasses and plate lying on the bench.

party

Modern dolls' house miniature interior scene with a wheelie bin, a crate full of wine bottles and a wine cask in front of it.

Modern dolls' house miniature kitchen with empty glasses and plates strewn around it.

Modern dolls' house miniature post-party scene with empty serving platters and plates on tables.

Modern dolls' house miniature post-party scene showing a piano, guitar and recorder, plus a broken chair.

(Whose stupid idea was it to store the bed behind the piano to make more room?)

Sunday, February 15, 2015

(School) house party

And so the day of the party finally arrived. The bunting is up. And everything's ready for the first guest.

And here you are! Welcome! You're right on time!

Miniature dolls' house school with bunting reading 'blogiversary' tied to the front verandah.

Do come inside.

Entry to a miniature dolls' house school with garden chair and a table outside.

View through the front door of a miniature dolls' house school, showing the kitchen with a selection of drinks arranged.

There's heaps to drink. Grab a glass.

Kitchen of a miniature dolls' house holiday home, with glasses and plates arranged ready for a party, and various drinks on display behind.

Would you prefer non-alcoholic

Selection of miniature dolls' house non-alcoholic drinks arranged in a kitchen, ready for a party.

or alcoholic?

Selection of miniature dolls' house alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks arranged in a kitchen, ready for a party.

There's quite a spread to chose from (I'm expecting rather a crowd).

Selection of miniature dolls' house party food arranged in a living area, ready for a party.

There's even a specially-iced cake to mark the occasion. We'll cut it later in the night when everyone's here. In the meantime, help yourself to something sweet,

Selection of miniature dolls' house cakes arranged on a desk, including one with the number 9 iced on the top of it.

savoury,

and, of course, there's lots of cheese.

Miniature dolls' house finger food arranged on a coffee table, including a bowl of chips, a cheese and grape platter and a bowl of fudge,

Miniature dolls' house cheese platter on a table next to a pile of plates, In the background is a seating area.

Take a seat, if you wish. I'm sure more guests will arrive shortly.

A miniature dolls' house living room seating area, set up for a party with finger food on the coffee table.

A miniature dolls' house living room, set up for a party with food, seating and plates arranged.

My muso friends were tuning up earlier and have just ducked into town to collect a couple of last minute things. They'll be back soon and then things will really get started.