Shiny

Insipred by a homewares store pull out in the latest marie claire, I (finally) bought shiny silver spray paint and gave my "ghost" chair a makeover....

And then I ordered a few more. (Chairs, not cans of spray paint.)

Show stash

Reac ball chair in limited edition black: $30. Armchair in brocade:$10 (part of a lot I bought for a Lundby and a Lisa chest, but might scrub up with a change of fabric). Two side chairs: $14 the pair (I'm planning a makeover on these)

White plastic bed: $7.50. Another makeover in the offing...

Black wrought iron bed with bedding: $12

(I think I'll be using the base by itself as well...)

The vintage lot: Spice rack (I assume Bodo Hennig?): $2.50. Set of Caroline's Home perspex bowls: $3. Silver bottle: $10. Bodo Hennig trolley: $10 (I didn't find this until the second day, after I'd visited the stall at least three times. I was very happy). Picture: 50 cents (part of a lot with a mirror). Recovered Lundby stool: part of lot with the two chests and the armchair pictured previously. Scooter book ends: 50 cents (Part of a lot including the white plastic basket). Telephone: 50 cents.

(See why the trolley made me so happy?)

Collection of plants on crate: 50 cents.

Knitting set: $5.

I also came home with a pile of International Dolls House News magazines, some crafting and lighting supplies and a book box which probably won't be used for minis...

Fabulous food!

I hope you're not feeling hungry...

(All food from Kim's Miniatures stall at The Sydney Show. Purchase online here (remembering the prices are in $NZ which currently works out to around 78 US cents)

Div's latest creation

Was displayed for the first time at The Sydney Show:

Like the Rose Seidler House, it's in 3/4" scale.

Div has written a whole back story to the house, which wasn't on display when I took the photos and I forgot to go back and photograph it later in the weekend. Hopefully she'll send me a copy and I can add it in here...

(Look! Marimekko plates!)

(And a brick bookcase!)

At the Sydney Show

There was lots of selling...

shopping...

and socialising.


(More details on the weekend)

Stacks of work to clear...

Means the creating has been shelved for the moment.

Current priorities

1. Finish overdue swaps

2. Finalise Moments in Miniature book for an exhibition with submissions due in less than two weeks

3. Create stock and gather all the other stuff needed for our stall at the Sydney Mini Show next month.

Most definitely not on the list:(Whoops...)

I can knit a rainbow

The perfect holiday companions: one fat library book with a short loan period and one collection of various fluffy yarns needing to be made into rugs for next month's Sydney Miniature Show.

Basket case

Playmobil plus paint.

Perfect!

A quiet corner...

... to catch up on some holday reading.

The third wall

Before I dismantled my latest scene, a set of IKEA Lillabo cupboards I bought off eBay arrived and I decided they'd be perfect for the third wall of the scene...

(I think this may be the first time I've created a scene with three walls!)

Beady eyed

A quick trip to the local op shop on the way home from the Post Office.

A $1 bag of large wooden beads. Makes a perfect stash of miniature lamp bases!

Time for bed

So it would seem that this afternoon's scene is not finished with me yet. It demanded I put the lunch dishes away, return the table to its usual spotand make up the bed. Bossy scenes, I don't know.

What will it demand next? Breakfast in bed?

White and bright

I finished the third coat on my white floorboards this morning and brought the piece upstairs just after I shot the ROUND HOLE squared gallery scene.

I was reading my blog feeds over lunch and Ellen Giggenbach's blog inspired me to try something I've never tried with a scene before. A riot of bright Scandinavian retro-style colours:
I even came up with a backstory involving a designer who works and lives in a tiny studio apartment who has invited three friends round for a celebratory lunch.This scene took forever to complete. Not only was I racing round the house trying to gather all the relevant pieces from various other houses, but filling the shelving unit was incredibly fiddly. Just as I thought I had everything safely arranged something would fall over, fall out, or just decide it wanted to be moved to another spot.
I liked the end result so much I just had to pull the blind and try some "night" shots:
(Rug thanks to Neomig, Kaleidoscope House crockery and glasses thanks to Mini Dork)

The opening...

The inspiration:
* New black painted floorboards
* A set of glam decorative accents sent to me back in February by Mini Dork (like them? She's having a giveaway!)
* Attending three friend's openings yesterday

The goods:

* Aforementioned flooring
* My standard sheet of Precision Products' plastic brick
* Mini plinths from Craft ACT's Call of the Small exhibition
* Mini Dork's pieces and a couple more from my collection
* My P-touch labelling machine for the exhibition title

The time taken:

* About 20 minutes, including time taken to try and convince the piece at the back to balance on one point!

"Little Wonders of the World" photography competition

Stitch, not for profit organisation that raises environmental awareness through the arts, is running a photography competition with categories "Green in Cities/ Greening Cities" and "Little Wonders of the World".

A £5 donation per image submitted goes to the charities Back2Earth and Butterfly Conservation.

Finalists will be exhibited in London the week of 14th May and there are £200 in prizes

For more information see The Stitch Project website.

(I'm tempted. Are you?)

I made a black floor

with the third piece of bamboo table runner I bought back in September. Since then I've also bought a (much cheaper) one at Target with narrower boards which I'm going to trial as wall panelling...

(Vintage picture thanks to Neomig, chair thanks to Claudia.)

In the pink

When I said I was going to spend some time today tidying up my studio, I meant my full sized one...Oh well, it was fun playing with a colour I don't use very often.
And try out my new bottles of paint!

Long overdue

Tonight I'm (finally) working on a swap which was due three months ago. Sorry Neomig...
(And here's a photo showing how mini reflects reality. Except, oddly, there's less colour in the mini version!)

Do you think...

... I should take it as a sign?

In which I appear to have mislaid my mini book stash

Last spotted here and (obviously) tucked away somewhere safe. And new. Since they're not in the old safe spot.

The problem with misplacing minis is that they're very very... small.

Show and tell

Yesterday was the ACT Miniature Enthusiasts Show. I almost didn't go, as I'm not feeling very enthusiastic about miniatures at all, even with the recent arrival of miniature gifts and swaps.

But go I did. The display was very small this year, with nothing that caught my eye enough to photograph.

I did buy a few things, the most expensive being a miniature Nibbs:plus lots of containers, some ferny stuff to make pot plants out of and some plain white vases that I'll probably paint with nail varnish.

I do like little drawers...

I find miniatures everywhere

Last week I was invited to a special sale evening at local furniture store Domayne.

I'm sure you know the sort of thing: glasses of bubbles, trays of yummy canapés, talks and presentations by "famous" people off the telly and special "on the night" discounts.

And freebies. In my goody bag was a mobile phone holder advertising Classique outdoor furniture. But, alas, it's 1/6th scale.
Do any of you work in 1/6th? If so, would you like two (my friend donated hers to the cause) rather well made outdoor chairs for your Blythe or Barbie scene? (It looks like the name plate can be unscrewed and prised off) I'll post anywhere in the world.

Supermarket scale

Earlier today I popped over to the supermarket for boring basics and spotted these hanging with the kitchenware:I immediately grabbed them, thinking it was time for a party to (belatedly) celebrate my 6 year blogiversary. Watch this space... (and let me know if you'd like some!)

February...

... a big fat lump of no inspiration.

(But thanks to Claudia for arranging delivery of the chairs)