The Shopping Sherpa skites (vlog test number 2)

I've mentioned the local Typo factory outlet a few times on my blog and have shared photos with my Facebook friends. This morning I ducked out there to pick up something I forgot to buy on yesterday's trip and decided it was time to share the sorts of treasures I find.

(For my overseas readers, Typo describes itself as a 'one stop concept store filled with supercool gift ideas, fashionable stationery, awesome room-bling and other irresistible products', and carries similar pieces to Modcloth)

These are old photos, but should give you an idea of the sort of things that can be found at the factory outlet:

The great thing about our local outlet is that it pulls the 'scratch and dent' stock in from shops throughout New South Wales. And regularly offers a 'fill a bag for $5' on these pieces. I'm very good at packing...

(I'm not so good at getting round to using things I find. Or making sure my head remains in frame. But that's why it's a test, isn't it?)

... in which Wendy is heard to say '1:15th? My arse it's 1:15th'

There was much excitement 'round these parts when it was announced that IKEA were creating a set of dolls house furniture including some of their classic pieces.

I facebooked IKEA last weekend to see when they'd be in stock in Australia and discovered they already were. And, luckily, a friend was in Sydney and planning a trip there.

So you can imagine my excitement when she dropped them over tonight. And the look on my face when I realised they're not 1:15 at all:

 (Wendy, in the land of giants...)

Having done some maths, it seems that they are 1:7.76 scale. Or thereabouts.

Anyone want to buy some (almost) Barbie-scale IKEA furniture? Silly me, ordered three sets based on the information I'd read,,,

Buzz Bar (Yellow table part 3A)

After making brunch, I decided to continue work on the cafe I started tinkering with this morning.

The first step was moving it across the room as it was feeling very cramped set up in the spot I usually use for making scenes. This gave me the opportunity to put flooring down and wall coverings up.

The left side of the build is still very much a work in progress, using a counter and table from my collection, wrapped in paper (I'd planned, at the very least to laminate the paper but forgot. And as the build continued I started to think the coffee bean paper is probably a mistake and should be replaced with some black corrugated card instead.)

I'm really enjoying being able to stretch out with the length of this space. And am ignoring the fact I haven't got the skirting boards in yet!

The menu I printed off the internet looks much better against the black walls and I like the shelving I've added along the wall underneath which is used as a juice station.

And the sneeze guard? One of my clear perspex hall tables turned on its side. Genius (If I say so myself).

An up-to-date toilet facility is through the door at the rear (which is currently without a door handle: whoops!)

 The right side of the cafe hasn't changed much since this morning's mock up. I plan to change the table legs and buy some black plastic shot glasses (like these) to use as stools, but these will do in the meantime. The feature wall is a design by local artist Kate Ward.

Doesn't it look like a nice relaxing spot to have a break from shopping

(or catch up on some work)? 

Outside I've created a scene using some street art I photographed in Braddon, not far from where one of my inspiration cafes is. Can you see it through the window?

Finally, here's the whole scene set up on my work bench. I think I'll leave it there for a while and tinker with it.

Creating a cafe (Yellow table part 3)

The recipe:

1. Take one yellow table,

one pinch of colour inspiration from lunch at The Blackbird Cafe in Sydney and one pinch of colour and layout inspiration from a recent breakfast at Lonsdale Street Roasters.

2. Mix gently and let settle for several weeks.

3. Add one day off, several coasters and stand-in pieces,

some temporary cardboard test walls,

a few random test accessories (and one eBay buying frenzy for glasses and cups, which is quite ridiculous as it will be several weeks before the package arrives and I want this completed NOW!)

 plus some temporary printouts of ideas for the walls.

4. And it looks like the beginnings of a recipe for success...

For Ysé

 A closeup of the top of the Crailsheimer box that came with my vintage German haul:

and the number on the side:

I'd had such huge plans to make a pile of scenes this weekend but I've had an exhausting week and instead spent all yesterday in bed reading design books and will be spending today cleaning the (full sized) house so it looks like someone cares lives here.

So....what was in the cupboard?

 Three pots of flowers!

And now I need to start on Yellow table three. And, possibly, four and five...

Testing, testing, testing...

A large carton of vintage German furniture I bought off eBay arrived yesterday morning.

My friend Kaet has been telling me I should start vlogging.

And Rebecca was keen to (virtually) share the opening of the carton.

And so I bring you TSS vlog test #1: Vintage German furniture unboxing:

(I didn't expect it to be so long. Perhaps I should rename it 'The Shopping Sherpa's Miniature Home'?)

Mid-week news

There is excitement in the air at The House of TSS this week.

Firstly, I popped up in The Huffington Post again yesterday.

Secondly, I'm in discussions with a major international newspaper which is wanting to publish a photo essay of my work.

Thirdly, for those of you who read this via your feed reader, you might want to pop over to my new page and have a look (excuse the smell of new paint and piles of sawdust and tools: it's still very new. And, hopefully, very temporary. Let's call it an online pop-up shop, shall we?)

Yellow table 2

In a slight deviation from the plan, before I got to creating a room based on the yellow table and the tea towels I bought yesterday, I remembered the scrapbooking paper I picked up for a song at Eckersley's some  weeks back.

And wondered if I could come up with a home-schooling or playroom scene. A bit of a challenge since I don't usually do children's rooms so didn't believe I had much to work with.

But I dismantled today's earlier scene with the table, leaving just the table and the plain walls. Pulled out the paper and started by creating a feature wall with it. White floorboards seemed like the right match and so down they went.

At this stage I went downstairs to do the dishes, giving my subconscious time to think of options. Spied the undercoated hutch in the dining room and decided that would work well as a storage cupboard. Back upstairs, a rummage through my box of chairs resulted in a lovely mismatch of items and the scene came together:

 I call it 'Snack time'. Thus ensuring I don't have to decide if this is a class room, a home-schooling scene, or a playroom. :-)

 I used coloured pins for temporary handles on the hutch which I think pulls the table and hutch together visually. (I managed to use in my recent magnet purchase, too!)

 A sheet of corkboard made a suitable wall covering for the second wall, and highlighted the hutch and contents.

 The other end of the room is a play and reading area.

(And, currently, a bit of a mess...)

Yellow table 1

So, before I get sidetracked with new ideas incorporating my recently-painted yellow table, I threw together a quick scene using my original inspiration:

I call this one New York City boy. It started with a length of printed felt that came back in a bunch of fabric I took to use at hAbitAt 2013. Perfect to turn into a rug.

Checked rug? Yellow table? What else could I do but put together a scene inspired by a New York City taxi? Except, as I searched through my stash of accessories I came across a Keith Haring print that Amazing Miniatures sent me as part of a swap a couple of years ago (which I can't recall having used properly yet). And the scene turned into a more general hat-tilt to New York. (Note the big apple in the corner...)

Miniature-eyes

In my last post, in reply to a question from Hunky Dory, I talked about where I get my modern miniatures from. And I promised to talk about  'miniature-eyes' (as opposed to 'miniaturise').

Today a friend and I visited the local factory outlet mall so I could show her the Typo factory outlet. And, since we both need more exercise, we did the whole loop, Including the homewares hub. 

I, as always, made a bee line to the napery to check out the black and white tea towel situation and what placemats and napkins that I could use in miniature.

And decided, after making a few purchases, that this is as good  a place to start talking about 'miniature-eyes' as any. Here's what I bought from Freedom Furniture's sale:

 Two shiny silver and one red placemat ($8.46 each: I see floors and wall treatments), two rubber 'Carnival' coasters ($3.74 each: cool wall art or table tops) and a fundraising magnet ($2.21: wall art)

At Adiars, this three-pack of tea towels caught my eye:

$6.95 for the set and the yellow would work perfectly against the yellow of the table I spray painted last week.

My friend was quite amazed, saying 'You can see miniatures in everything!'. And that's the thing. You can. Just as long as you're looking right.

(This does make it a bit of a problem when you're working with people who wear business shirts and ties which would make excellent miniature upholstery and bedding. There is no polite way to say to someone you hardly know 'When that wears out can I have it?')

A good question!

Today, Hunky Dory left a comment on my last post:

Do most of your things come from Australia or do you shop 'round the globe? You always find such cool things and it seems so much here in the US is not really very modern.

And I realised it's been almost six years since my post on Where to find modern miniatures. (Six years! How did that happen?! But look how much our little community has grown in that time...)

So, the short and sweet version of my answers:

Do most of your things come from Australia or do you shop 'round the globe? 

 I shop around the globe.

You always find such cool things and it seems so much here in the US is not really very modern

You're quite right, but it's the same anywhere, I think.

And the longer version:

I'm lucky enough that the only dolls house shop in Canberra, Victorian Dollhouses (such an unfortunate name, don't you think?) is owned by people who have an understanding of modern, even though they have a love of (much) older design.

(Yay! I finally get to use the photos I took way back in December!)

Apart from occasional visits to Victorian Dollhouses, the only 'local' buying I do is at the two shows I go to each year: the Canberra show each March (a very small affair, with very little that can be defined as modern at first glance) and the Sydney show each May (the largest in the country. Which, sadly, isn't quite as exciting as it sounds...)

BUT

(and it's a big but) because of the reading of interior decoration mags (Yay! to our local library service for giving us access to many online editions through Zinio for free) and blogs, I can see how more traditional items can be modernised.

I also have an eBay 'super search' which pulls up all sorts of interesting things but I have to say that, over the past few years, I've not been using it much as a) I've been a bit broke and b) I seem to have priced myself out of the market with such intensive marketing of modern miniatures as a hobby.

But, sometimes, on a quite Sunday, I go and have a rummage. And not just on eBay Australia. But also the UK, US and German sites. Finally, my background in information management and linguistics makes sense: I was training to search for dolls house treasure!

I also steal like an artist (odd, because that's what I am: and you are too, but you've probably not realised this yet)

So, to pull this all back to the post the question was asked on. Here's the photo of what I was working on over the weekend  (and I have to admit I felt a wee bit odd sharing it):

And here are the back stories:

'Zimmer frame*' (or desk), desk and school chair: Otterine mentioned them on her blog. I immediately went to eBay and bought the lot. I'm sure we'll approach them differently. (*The fact a Facebook friend mentioned 'Zimmer frame' makes me think in a whole new direction. Loving me some miniature kismet)

Hutch: You first saw it as part of my Sydney Show stash this year (and possibly remember its twin from the shabby chic room)

Sleigh bed: A gift from Jennifer. Always planned to be painted with blackboard paint but sidetracked along the way and now, suddenly, silver?!

Table: Another Sydney Show purchase, always with repurposing in mind...

Bird house: Oh man, this was last seen here in 2007. And, since it was originally bought to go in a house I no longer own, and isn't my current style, has languished in my box of bits for years. Monday night, while reading Elle Decor online, I spotted a white birdhouse and realised I already had one. Just not painted yet...

And I now realise I've probably only only answered half of your question. Next time I'll talk about 'miniature-eyes' (as opposed to 'miniaturise')

Unless someone else takes up the Talking Stick?

Minis, not meals...

What do you mean, you use your dining table for eating meals?

I use mine for drying spray-painted mini furniture in the warm...

A questionable exercise

While I was putting away the pieces from my last scene I spotted a couple of things I'd picked up weeks ago from the Typo factory outlet lurking in the piles of things to use.

And, suddenly, there was another scene. 

Can you guess what it is?

Here's another clue...

It's the office of a lady P.I.!

(Perhaps it's our big game hunter, who has upgraded her office since we last visited?)

Thinking outside the box

While cleaning up my workbench earlier in the week I came across a vintage cardboard box I picked up from an op shop months ago for a whopping 10 cents: 

It was nestled beside some shelving from a recent eBay order. Which became the starting point for a new scene:

 (Especially when, as my sorting continued, I came across this image by Hannah Riden that  I'd pulled out of a New Zealand art calendar given to me by my Parental Unit (female).)

 And so, this morning I pulled the rest of the scene together, using the rustic boards from my New York loft scene, but on the wall this time.

 It's the snug of a New-Zealand-based man of the world.

Or something!