Not from the mini shop

The pre-Christmas Handmade Markets are on again this weekend and, as is my habit, I popped along to find items for mini use.

 I bought three cards which I'll use as posters on walls. Plus picked up some (free) postcards with images that I can cut out and use as well. (Obviously I have a think for magpies at the moment...)

James from Victorian Dollhouses was there too, introducing a whole new audience to the handmade possibilities of the miniature hobby. He says he's quite amazed how low the level of awareness of the hobby is among people he speaks to at the markets. Here's hoping we gain some more mini modern converts!

Speaking of converting, on the way home from the markets I had to swing past Officeworks to pick up some printer paper. And, as usual, I checked the aisles for items that I could re purpose for my scenes.

I found some great grey and white wood grain paper and a pile of cool erasers that I could have fun with.

Slim pickings

First week back at work after leave plus Daily Dolls House December challenge plus Friday night drinks equals the dawning realisation that I need to blog something and have lost the light.

Light! Aha! Perhaps I can share a little something that I picked up yesterday lunchtime from the National Portrait Gallery store:

It's a slim book lamp.

(Which is kinda like the Flat Stanley version of the Tiny Tim book light I blogged about back in 2011.)

Lofty aspirations

I realised this morning, as I threw this scene together over breakfast, that I don't often do 'masculine' scenes.

The inspiration: A lunch-time trip yesterday to the Typo factory outlet (of course!) with a work friend. I bought two things: a pack of scrapbooking paper ($1) and a dead alarm clock ($2). Both of which ended up being used in this scene.

The intention: As I spotted to palm mural paper, I was already plotting to use it in a scene with the black wire bed I bought at the 2012 Sydney show. And have the bed in a state of un-made disarray (also quite unlike me).

The execution: I tried using a concrete floor (since I was reusing the space where my shed was sitting) , but the colours weren't quite right and, with the Navi chair I originally hoped to use as a bedside table,  things started to feel a little bit like a prison cell that had been 'cheered up'.

So I swapped in the black floorboards and they looked a heap better. After trialling several chairs I settled on the Eames, especially as I loved the ambiguity of if it is an original or a cheapy copy from Officeworks.

I'd dismantled a canvas I bought from Typo ages ago and kept the internal wood: a quick wipe with some raw umber paint (using an old pair of knickers from the rag box) gave me the posts, with a suitably weathered look.

And then it was (after I finished my now-cold breakfast) simply a matter of rummaging through my boxes of miniature accessories with the eyes of someone who might just live in a loft apartment with an unmade bed and a chair for a bedside table.

 The burning question: Do you think this apartment is in the same building as the white and bright apartment I blogged about in April last year?

(I'll let you toss that idea round)

Waiting on Wednesday

It's been a while since I did a waiting room scene and even longer since I worked in orange.

But since I recently picked up a vintage Bodo Henning orange cord lounge suite on eBay and discovered it matched rather well with some paper from a pad of scrapbooking sheets I picked up at Big W a couple of weeks ago, the scene was set (as they say...)

(Lounge suite: vintage Bodo Hennig. Coffee table: vintage Modella. Pouffes: Lundby. Plant: Diana Cotterill. Lamp: Mitchymoo Miniatures. Side cupboard: Rement (painted). Statue: Irwin Interior Decorators Set. Vases: Dolls House Emporium. Wallpaper: Grace Taylor vintage scrapbook paper. Floor: bamboo table runner.)

A Tretchikoff on Tuesday

I picked up this Tretchikoff magnet in the gift shop at The Dowse Museum while I was in Wellington last week. Rather than have it languish in my stash, I thought I'd throw a quick corner together using it as the inspiration.

Perhaps I'll return to elaborate on this idea later. Or perhaps not.

Map Monday

Way back in October, I was inspired to make a scene (still unfinished, alas) by a picture of a vintage New Zealand map I ripped out of a magazine.

I'm pleased to say I finally finished making the map:

 I cut around the picture and stuck it to some light card backing, leaving space top and bottom to glue some bamboo from a Japanese hanging a friend gave me. Finally, I cut a length of vintage cotton from my cotton reel collection and attached each end to the back with permanent stickers.

Yep, that looks suitably vintage. Now to finish the shed it's supposed to be hanging in...

Limited 4tunes

Dear poor, dusty, neglected blog,

I know I've been absent for a while longer than I thought I was going to be. But to make up for it, I've come up with a crazy challenge: Daily Dolls House December, in which I attempt to blog something mini related every single day for the next month.

Can I do it? There's only one way to find out...

So, to kick things off (and just in time for Christmas, for those of you who partake in it), here's the latest pop up shop, Limited 4tunes:

Aimed at the hipster and student market, the stock is cheap and cheerful. (If my Australian readers find it reminds them a little of Typo, that's probably because the scrapbooking paper on the wall, the pink frame on the left and the pouffes (previously part of a felt garland) all originally came from there)

There's a DIY section of the store, with paint, wool, books and magazines,

plus a place to gather and create.

There's also homeware, 

including a range of light shades plus plastic flamingos for your front lawn.

(For previous versions of the shop see August, May and last December.)

The story of a shed (Part two)

Today was an odd day, and I really didn't expect to get any work done on building the shed (I went to see an advanced screening of About Time. It was good. There was a dolls house. And lots of miniature-scene inspiration).

I moved a few things around. Decided that somewhere to read,  lounge (and possibly nap) was essential.

Then trial-fitted a couple more bits in the kitchen area.

And was about to head to bed with the book I'm reading when I decided to try the whole 'Go on, just spend 15 minutes measuring some things out before you head off' approach.

So 15 minutes turned into side walls... 

... a kitchen window...

... and a front wall. 

(Which, of course, will have the french doors mounted this way round so they open outwards.)

(We'll ignore the fact it's only taken three-and-a-bit years to use the screenboard and cloth tape I bought (and never used) for Call of the Small, shall we?)

Op-shopped objects

Following my good luck at the Trash and Treasure Markets back in August, today I had the (mini) op-shopping fairy with me.

On the way home from the dolls house shop (yes, I succumbed to the temptation), I took the opportunity (geddit?) to pop into a couple of op shops at the other end of town.

Where a grand total of $9 netted me this:

Bamboo runner and placements to pull apart to harvest thin wood strips ($2 the lot).

Four sets of standard mug/ toothbrush and toothpaste and two sets of tools: 50 cents each.

(I think these are supposed to go on the ends of cords on clothing but will make great mini containers): 50 cents each. 

Two sets of head plaques: 50 cents each. 

Routemaster bus key chain: $1. 

And, finally, a set of sticky letters (because you can never have too many letters!): $1.

The story of a shed (Part one)

The initial inspiration

A vintage swan vase bought off eBay (the closest thing I've seen in miniature to the iconic Crown Lynn swan), and a picture of a New Zealand map ripped out of a copy of Yen (which I'd only bought for the CD on the cover), got me thinking of creating a New Zealand-inspired scene.

(And seemed like a good time to try out the rug that came with the IKEA Huset set to see how it worked in 1/12 scale) 

I added a few recent acquisitions that I thought might work, and then got sidetracked for a few days.

Stage two

My miniature Navi chairs arrived on Wednesday and made me (finally) finish the legs from the trestle kit I bought at the May show. To add a rustic-style top to the table, I pulled apart one of the damaged tea boxes I'd picked up at the Typo factory outlet.

And was happy to discover the side of the box was the perfect size for the table top:

I just needed to stain the sides to match.

At this stage I started to suspect the scene's theme was less about New Zealand and more about how my Kiwi heritage shapes me. And my favourite black-and-white-and-vintage theme was in response to the unease I feel that one of the most un-like-me scenes I have created was chosen as my first international magazine cover.

When I added my 'concrete' floor

and started experimenting with wall options,

I remembered the shed concept I was playing with in the final part of The Yellow Table Tales. And the next part of the puzzle fell into place.

Playing with the pieces

The vintage German cupboard just wasn't fitting in properly for me, so I swapped it out for an Expedit-style bookcase, which I felt fitted with the IKEA rug much better.

(At this stage, I must admit, I was tempted to recreate the Scandi studio shot using the colour scheme  I'm more comfortable with. That's an idea I might just return to: it could be fun to create a series of scenes based on different people moving in and out of the basic studio space, similar to what I do with the Limited pop-up shop every three months or so...)

 On the other side of the room I tried a vintage German cupboard unit I haven't used yet, but found that, although it worked colour-wise, it was a bit overpowering.

 Luckily, there was a sink unit as well, which worked much better (and meant that my garden shed had running water: very useful for tea making and brush washing!) You'll notice I momentarily  trialled swapping out the map and moving towards a more black-and-white look for the space, but I felt it deadened things too much so went back to the original plan:

A window above the sink added light to the space and balanced the grid pattern of the book case opposite, as did the french doors I dug out of stash. 

So now, it would seem, I have to build a shed. And decide if a run to the dolls house shop is in order so I can buy weatherboarding for the outside of it, or if I'll go down the cheap and cheerful route and declare it's made of asbestos or plywood.

Perhaps I should stop for a cup of tea and another perusal of the book My Cool Shed for inspiration?

Latest news

It's been a wee bit quiet round these parts lately: my mind's been other things (including a new job). But I have news!

News items number one

I finally have miniature Emeco Navy chairs, something I've been after for many, many years.

Many thanks to Etsy seller Amparo, who was able to accommodate my request to tweek her kitchen table chairs for my needs.

News items number two

I sorted my work table, which has been covered with a mountain of fabulous things to play with for many weeks, and has been so overwhelming every time I've looked at it than I've run away rather than create a scene.

News items number three

The Dolls' House magazine chose one of my photos to use on the front cover of their November issue. (Anyone who's been reading this blog for a while would understand the complete irony of it being their Colour Issue...)

 Oh, and there's an article on my yellow table challenge inside as well.