Short, nerdy and oddly attractive, that's me!

This book was waiting for me at (other) work this morning. I love unexpected gifts for no reason from friends. Not sure what she was trying to tell me though...

I also had a rose delivered to my desk today. Don't get excited: it was from my (female) Executive Director, from her garden, and everyone got one. After the brush of redundancy at my other job this week I initially freaked out a little as I thought it might be some Bachelor type thing (who didn't get the rose?!) Then I tried to figure out if there was any meaning to who got the red ones, the pink ones and the yellow ones. Then I got sidetracked by the realisation I had gained the magic password which gave me access to the back end of the website and have some fun which made me forgot all about the roses... (Nerdy? Moi? Never!)

Speaking of fun, friends and I attended the opening of In the Can and The Dawn Waterhouse Collection (no web page) at CMAG this evening. Champagne was drunk. I ruminated on the feeling that I was oldest sibling witnessing Christening of newer sibling(s). More champagne was drunk. Taph and I discussed the fact that. with the demise of the ANU Film Group programme mid November, maybe I should start counting the cost per glass of my champagne consumption at CMAG openings over the two years I bought my membership for. I accidentally drank another glass of champagne as I considered this. I ate some of the popcorn from the machine they had set up then accosted the CMAG Marketing Manager and muttered "gizza job" half jokingly, gave a tour of my exhibition to a lovely couple of people and then wandered off to Borders and Koko Black with more sober S. And bought nothing but a latte.

It was a good day.

The not $120 socks

I finished the lounge socks and I learnt some stuff:

1. Photographing black angora socks is bloody near impossible. I suspect even Jane Brocket would have trouble (although I guess she might artfully pose them in a bed of black pansies or something). Instead here they are posed on my bed: 2. Knitting with the good stuff spoils you for life. I'm knitting another pair of lounge socks out of Caressa. It's awful.

3. Angora goes a very long way. When I first weighed the wool (with bands still attached) it came out at 190g. "Enough for one perfect pair of lounge socks" I thought. As I started knitting I mentally composed my blog post. "The $120 socks."

I knitted.

And knitted.

And knitted. Still on the one pat of yarn. I knew Happy Spider said she'd combined two balls into one pat but this was getting a bit ridiculous.

I finished the first sock still within the first pat of angora. And felt rather confused but also guardedly hopeful: maybe, just maybe, there'd be enough left for a second pair of lounge socks for me...

I finished the second sock. There still seemed to be a inordinate amount of angora still in the bag.

I weighed the socks: 60g on the nose.

I weighed the rest of the angora: 115g. I'm thinking if I make then slightly shorter in the leg and leave off the extra 1.5 cm of length I added to the foot I might be able to squeeze 2 more pairs out.

Damn! "The $40 socks" really doesn't have the same ring to it, does it??

Swanning about

It's not Crown Lynn (well I'm pretty sure it's not, as it's a rough surface where as the Crown Lynn swans I've seen are all smooth) but since it looks the same I'm guessing it's made from those "overseas moulds" they used to make the Crown Lynn ones with.

Whatever, for $10 at my local Vinnies, I decided this not-Crown Lynn swan was better than the rather more expensive real mccoy!

My Sculpture by the Sea pictures are up

over at FLICKR.

I'd stay and chat but I'm due at the movies in 15 minutes...

Modern Miniatures on Monday: a house to keep me company for the next few months...

My fifteenth house, the Triang V, arrived three weeks ago but I haven't had a chance to blog it until now.It was in better nick than I'd feared and there were some added bonuses that I either hadn't read properly in the listing (like the original box, assembly instructions and a price list of other Triang items available at the time) or they hadn't mentioned (the chimney! All the missing broken doors and windows!)

Here's the only intact door:isn't it fabulous?

I always knew the house was a fixer upper from the original auction photo but it's all fairly easy stuff. Removing the original owner's scribbles.Fixing the roof.Sorting out a few structural repairs, both insideand outand, before anything else, giving the whole thing a jolly good clean!

Join me next week as I start the restoration.

_________________________________________________________________________

(Part one of a series about the renovation of my Triang V bungalow. Read Part two, Part three, Part four, Part five, Part six, and Part seven.)

Not fair, really

for me to disappear for the weekend and then come back and just post a list of stuff that came in and out over the course of the week.

So to keep you interested while I sort out a pile of stuff (including the photos I took today) here's a peek of what I saw in Sydney:

Seven Things Spring/ Summer 2008 Week 8: Enough

Mae West famously said ""Too much of a good thing can be wonderful".

And William Morris said "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful"

I often use both quotes but over the past week or so, after helping a friend get rid of 95% of her possessions before she moved overseas, I'm realising they may be the crux of my ongoing fight with clutter.

You see, I find many many things useful and/or beautiful. And when they only cost a dollar or two it's way too easy to bring them home from the op shop. It's something I'll be working on when I have enough time. (There's that word again!)

I knew fairly early on this week that I wasn't going to hit target (again), basically because I didn't have the time to go through things like I do most weeks (and no, it wasn't just because I was spending my time shopping...) I consoled myself by remembering I do this 6 months out of the year so there will always be weeks where things don't go according to plan, and, besides, failure is often much more interesting than week after week of success. (Besides, I wasn't the only one)

In:
* 2 books, 1 DVD, 1 box and 1 vintage pill vial, 1 book, 1 MPlayer (Sunday's buying frenzy)
* 2 (black and white) cat toys (undocumented extras from Sunday)
* 4 vintage black and white daisy containers, 1 large white heart button (gift from Janet)
* 1 miniature cross stitch picture (from my Grandmother)
* 1 vintage copy of Rumer Godden's The Dolls' House (eBay)
* 7 Johnson Brothers fruit plates, a huge pile of wool (1200 grams in total) which I'll call 11 balls and 3 projects' worth, 1 CD holder, 1 wooden animal ornament thingy (op shop)
* 1 book and a banded ball of Anny Blatt Gardenia (another op shop)
* 1 Wallpaper magazine (newsagents)
* 1 white wire storage thingy (gift)
* 2 (more projects) worth of cheap Caressa (plus one random ball I didn't realise I'd bought until too late) from Kmart Marrickville. Bought in a sort of "I want to join in too" frenzy which resulted in a major case of buyer's remorse back in the car. Until Princess B and friend told me to shut up as it was only $20...

Total In this week: *gulp* 47

Out:

* 1 iron and water jug, 1pair very dead shoes, 1 broken chubb lock: bin
* 1 Real Simple magazine: gift to a colleague plus 3 Real Simple magazines: Lifeline Bookfair
* Sydney cushion cover which I bought thinking I'd make it into a bag (it'll never happen): back to the op shop
* Joke present hand held sewing machine: also back to the op shop

Total Out this week: 10

Shake-it-all-about:

* 3 lounge socks knitted for friend's birthday presents (that's three socks, not three pairs)

Net items out so far during Seven Things Spring/ Summer 2008: 50

Oh, and I forgot to mention last week that PinkLil is playing along this month...

Spots and socks

On my desk today, and instilling feelings of love and happiness:The recent shopping frenzy continues with the acquisition of these fabulous black and white spotty Manila folders, new in at Officeworks. I'm so happy as I've been looking for interesting black and white folders for work for months.

There were two false alarms along the way: once at Dymocks Melbourne where I decided their set was cute but not cute enough to be worth what they were charging for it (I even revisited them 4 months after my first visit just to be sure) and the other at Target, who had a new range of what looked like black and white stationery but which, on closer inspection (twice, at two different stores in case it was just the lights - I was pretty desperate for it to be black and white), turned out to be black and a very light blue.

Also on my desk is a half knitted lounge sock using that glorious Anny Blatt angora. Knitting this is like heaven and everyone at (other) work who saw it yesterday had to stop and snuggle with it.Maybe I do now understand why people are prepared to spend silly amounts on yarn (but I'm very happy these socks are costing me $10, not the $120 cost to the original buyer!)

Smooth Operator

This is a picture of my iron's bum: A peeling mess. I've been idly considering replacing it for a couple of months but really couldn't be bothered.

I even found myself at Kmart last weekend and, noticing they had 15% discount on their irons, had perused what they had. But then that "get me out of here!" feeling took over and I bolted.

Then I read this post over at Hyena in Petticoats raving about the Sunbeam Ultura 55 platinum and realised that it was the exact same model I'd contemplated in Kmart. Hmmm...

After the usual google search I spotted that Sunbeam is offering $10 cash back on it as well. Which pretty much made my mind up.

So back I went. But (of course) Kmart had sold out of that particular model, hadn't they? Not to be beaten so easily I hotfooted it to Myer and asked about price matching. Which they said they'd only do if the Kmart had stock of the item. Cheekily, I got Myer to call Kmart in Tuggeranong (20 minutes away) in the hope they had stock, which they did (hurrah!), so I got to buy my iron cheap without having to get in the car, let alone drive across town.

And the final price (after cashback)? $40.96. Around 30% off :-)

(Speaking of Kmart bargain hunting, check out what Taph's been up to!)

Fabulous frugalling

Sometimes you just have to heed the call of the op shop: and yesterday I'm particularly glad I did.

A quick lunchtime dive through my fave Northside haunts netted me:

Seven Johnson Brothers fruit plates. Well eight actually but one had a large chip on it so was binned as soon as I got home.

I'd first seen these about a month ago as part of a tea set and tried to get them to sell me only the plates but as they had just arrived that morning they said no. I wasn't prepared to pay $35 to get my seven plates (and re donate the tea pot and cups and saucers) so said I'd be back in a couple of weeks and if they were still there we'd have a discussion.

So I did and we did and the plates were mine for $7*. I'm very happy as I only have 4 of this size, picked up from David Jones who told me at the time they were the last in the country. So now I have too many of them but having three spare is rather useful.

500g Caressa yarn (partly knitted), 250g 8ply wool (which must be quite new as the label declares real wool), 180g 12 ply Norspun yarn and a vintage 25g ball of Patonyle (that last one's for Taph): $7.50* the lot.

* 4 energy saving lightbulbs: $1 each

* And, finally, for 15 cents each, a selection of vintage Canberra postcards including my favorite:
The lack of a Playhouse Theatre dates this as before 1965 (and well before I suspect as in the same batch there is a postcard of the Shine Dome with no lake in the background which means they have to be pre 1963)

(*Guestimated as when I took the plates, the wool and an ornament up to the counter the woman looked at the pile and then at me and said "Fifteen dollars?")

For anyone who was traumatised by Wing

This literal video version of Take on me should help you recover:

(Thanks to Pixiegenne )

Gotta have Gotland?

You're in luck! I received my first shipment of the new Lundby Gotland house yesterday.

The house includes the outside bathroom and shower, the cane swing seat, the divan with drawers and drop down bunk, the kitchen unit and shelf above it and the drop down table (with dart board in the reverse) Also included are 5 lights and a girl doll.I also have the family set in stock right now.

The first shipment of Gotland to Australia sold out and the next shipment is expected around November 8th.

Once it arrives I'll be listing the other packs (furniture, accessories, family, pets and garden bits) and also giving you the chance to buy the whole lot together.

The perfect Christmas gift for yourself!

Unexpected pleasures

I'm feeling so very lucky at the moment.

Yesterday afternoon as Tania and I pulled into my drive we both said "Oh! Look! There's something on the doorstep!"

I generally like somethings on the doorstep (there are exceptions) and this time was no different: A little souvenir from Janet's trip to Queensland. Fifty cents for the lot, she tells me.

The indentations on the top had me (and Janet, when I talked to her) intrigued. I reckon they're egg holders, with space round the edge for salt and pepper. The discovery of a white power inside one of the containers made me think it might solve the riddle but it turned out to be baking soda (Janet was quite shocked that I happily wet a finger, dipped it in and had a taste)

I'd love to hear if you have any further leads on these little containers!

Then, in this morning's mail, there was an intriguing packet from my Grandmother in New Zealand. Which, when opened, revealed this: Awww shucks....

Traps for the unwary

So last night I charged up my new Mplayer and, to test it out, dumped the contents of my (rather sparse) music folder onto it and retired to bed to read.

Life was peachy. Somehow I'd managed to drag down the Yarnstorm BBC "pinny porn" podcast. "This is good" I thought as I settled further into the pillows. "Testing out the podcast capability. Besides, I haven't heard this for a while". I turned a page in my book.

Then there started a track that sounded like a cat being strangled. And I realised I'd got something my father emailed me ages ago which I forgot I still had: Wing singing Dancing Queen...

I may never recover.

My mad weekend (or why it's been a bit quiet round here recently)

How did it get to be Sunday afternoon already?!

Oh, hang on, it's coming back to me now...

Friday night: Drinks at Tilley's to mark J's beginning of long service leave followed by a last minute decision that we all wanted to go see The Counterfeiters at ANU Film Group after all and a speedy relocation a few suburbs further toward the lake.

A broken night's sleep as someone over the back was having a party. Now, I'm usually very happy to hear people singing. But by 1:30am I was getting just a tad grumpy

Saturday morning: saw the delivery of 5 cartons of Lundby stock for my eBay store which caused much sorting and loading. Plus there was some washing (particularly of the trousers I wanted to wear to my floortalk in the afternoon) and a phone catch up with Sis.

Into town at noon to pick up a copy of Portishead's Third from Landspeed Records (I've been looking for a second hand copy for a while and finally gave up) then on to lunch and gelato with J, M and S followed by my second CMAG floortalk.

Home for an hour to sort out emails then it was off to a games night at Happy Spider's place with good food, good wine and good company. Unfortunately I kept getting distracted by the knitting to my left (the owner of which had expressed a vague interest in learning to knit and before anyone knew what had happened there magically appeared in her hands a set of needles and some very nice wool. She achieved impressive work for a beginner, especially as she had to keep putting her knitting down to play her turn.) If that wasn't distracting enough there was the spinning happening directly behind me... And my newly washed by Happy Spider (six times!) so no longer losing colour Anny Blatt black angora was calling me plaintively from the other room where I'd sent it to play with Happy Spider's stash while I was busy.

Wine, wabbits and wool. What more could you want for a perfect Saturday night?

(Maybe some sleep? Another party, a little further away but with a steady doof doof doof bass which was still going when I woke up at 5:40am this morning...)

Sunday morning: I finally made it back to the Jamison Trash and Treasure for the first time in far far too long (thanks to the lovely Tania who announced she'd pick me up at 7am)I think I was quite restrained. 2 books (Dressed to kill: 100 years of Fashion and Knitting by Anne Bartlett) at $5 each, 1 DVD at $6 (to replace my video copy) 1 black and white stripy hat boxette ($1) and a Ford Pills container full of vintage needles ($2). So $19 in total.

We retired to Black Pepper Cafe just after 8am for breakfast and free coffees courtesy of my coffee card.

Later in the morning I dragged myself kicking and screaming into the 21st Century by buying myself an MP3 player for Christmas*. Kicking up my heels up with joy and screaming with laughter, actually as I bought an MPlayer after first seeing one a few months ago in a catalogue and deciding it would be the perfect antidote to the ubiquitous iPod:While I was in the Christmas spirit (and had the ability to wangle a 25% discount out of Borders - who, by the way, swore black and blue that not only did they not have this book, they'd never had it and were unable to order it in as none of their distributors had it either: kind of odd as I found not one but two copies on the shelf...) I bought a book I've also been lusting after some time.

I think the two go quite well together, don't you?

( * I always ensure I buy myself fabulous Christmas and Birthday presents: it makes sure I'm guaranteed to get at least one thing I really want!)

Seven Things Spring/ Summer 2008 Week 7: Stuff and nonsense

I'm actually quite surprised I managed as well as I did with the Seven Things Challenge after the mad crazy week I've had. Obviously I've hit my stride and am keeping my fingers crossed that it'll continue through the next few months...

In:

* 1 US Elle magazine, 1 Madison magazine (subscription)
* 1 Sydney Morning Herald First Australians DVD
* 1 miniature dining table and 4 chairs (eBay)
* 2 pairs black trousers, 2 black and white stripy long sleeve Ts (there's the spring uniform sorted!)
* 3 items dolls house furniture (eBay)
* 2 black and white envirobags, 1 packet black and white napkins and 1 pen: gift from a friend
* 2 books from Booklore (which sucked me in on my way past to have lunch at Tilleys)
* 7 items dolls house furniture (gift from one of the people at my floortalk)
* 1 Urbis magazine (newsagents)
* 1 jigsaw puzzle which was supposedly in transit through my house between one friend and another friend, who was taking them to the rest home her mother is in. This jigsaw had a picture of the Canberra docked in Sydney harbour. It had to stay !
* 1 Portishead CD which I finally bought retail after months of trying to find it cheap.

Total In this week: 31

Out:

* 1 very tatty business card holder: bin
* Wardrobe cleanout caused by above purchases: 1 skirt, 2 suit jackets, 1 grey cardigan, 1 rain jacket, 1 appliqued evening bag: op shop
* 1 black and white fabric belt, beyond redemption: bin
* I cleaned up my memento board. 3 flags from three years' worth of Eurovision parties in Melbourne (since I can't remember which year is which, why am I keeping them?) 1 dead glow necklace from what I assume must have been a good night out (don't know since I have no memory of why I kept it!), 1 large feather which ditto must have meant something at some stage, 2 postcards and 1 Christmas card which have also lost their meaning and 1 cruise card for a cruise I didn't even enjoy: bin and recycling.
* From the bathroom "travel stuff" drawer: 1 horrible comb a friend gave me on a trip once when I forgot mine, 1 hotel shower cap and 1 vial of "Moisture Mist": bin, op shop, op shop
* 1 Gotland dolls' house and 4 boxes of furniture for it. Sad but true. I gave away a free Lundby dollshouse. Sorry, I tried very hard but for some reason my heart never sang when I looked at it. My heart gave more of a muffled sigh of resignation with a twang of disappointment: Offered back to my distributor who asked me to drop it off at Thumbelina to use as their display house.
* 2 black coathangers (flimsy and ugly): op shop
* 1 garden shed which came with my Triang V bunglaow which I'm pretty sure isn't Triang: gift to a mini friend.
* 1 Chicks with Sticks: It's a Purl Thing book: lent to a friend who will give it back to me to pass on to the local high school knitting group when she's finished with it.
* 1 dead sock: bin
* 1 National Archives envirobag: given to someone I had drinks with to save his BookLore purchase from getting greasy fingermarks at drinks
* 1 miniature display thingy, 12 balls Sean Sheep Hokitika yarn: given to a mini friend who mentioned she loved crocheting hats with novelty yarn
* 12 back issues of Real Simple magazine: Lifeline

Total Out this week: 56

Shake-it-all-about:

* 2 rows of Time Thief Watch Cap when I bumped into Taph at a seminar
* 1 Powder Puff Flokati rug for a mini friend who wanted one
* A little helping out with a brand new knitter's work.

All rather underwhelming, really...

Net items out so far during Seven Things Spring/ Summer 2008: 87

The kindness of strangers

After today's floor talk a lovely lady called Jean came up to speak to me.

Jean told me of her sister's childhood dolls house Dol -Toi furniture. And then reached into her handbag and pulled out a small plastic bag.

"These are some pieces I'm not keeping. I'm afraid they're not very exciting..." she said but was drowned out by my yelp of excitement when I pulled out these from under the (granted) not very exciting wooden table and chairs:A Triang Spot-On lawnmower and garden roller! Which I don't have and are a perfect match for the Triang V Bungalow I'm working on at the moment. Actually, they'd be perfect for the Triang house in the exhibition but I doubt Dale and Rowan would be too happy with me asking them to add them...

Playing (to a rather full) House

Welcome to all the readers who have clicked here after reading the article in today's Canberra Times. I hope you enjoy your visit and come back soon (there are links at the bottom left if you wish to subscribe with a feed reader of your choice)

I thought you'd appreciate some links to where you can learn more about my collection and modern miniatures in general...

Your first stop on the tour of The Shopping Sherpa's miniature world should probably be to read the post I wrote a couple of years ago about why I collect modern: Corners of my Home (mini version)

Then you might like to look at the houses in the CMAG exhibition more closely and read about their backgrounds in my Parade of Houses blog posts. More photos of the houses in the exhibition can be found in my FLICKR exhibition photos set

If you're still intrigued by the concept I run a Modern Miniatures FLICKR group with photos from collectors and creators around the world.

Have I inspired you to start your own collection of modern miniatures for either yourself or a small person in your life? In that case you'll want to read where to find Modern Miniatures Part One (houses) and where to find Modern Miniatures Part Two (furniture and accessories) before heading to Thumbelina Miniatures and Gifts at Gold Creek: she has an impressive range of Lundby and other miniature treasures.

While you're out that way you should duck across the road and visit the mini wonderland that is Cockington Green. (I'm just assuming it's still a miniature wonderland: embarrassingly I haven't been there since I had a film camera which dates it as at least 8 years ago. Something I plan to rectify in the very near future, I promise!)

David Jones toy department also stocks a limited range of Lundby.

If it's not a fully fledged miniature obsession you're after but just one of the fabulous 1/12th scale miniautre chairs in the display cabinet on the wall I have good news. You can get them locally as well! James down at Victorian Dolls Houses (hmmm.... I think he needs to change his name or move many miles southward...) has them all in stock (but not yet up on his website). Prices (from memory) are in the range of $15 to $25 a piece. Drop him an email for more details.

And I couldn't finish this round up without mentioning my eBay store where I have all discontinued Lundby Gothenburg items at 20% for the next month to celebrate the exhibition. I also have a range of Lundby Gothenburg, Smaland and Stockholm items with damaged packaging with discounts of between 25% and 40%.

Right, I think that leaves you enough reading and clicking to get on with. Now I need to go create some "eclectic art and craft" to live up to Megan's article...(Thanks Megan for such a great write-up and Mel for the fab photos!)

I can smile at the old days, I was beautiful then...

So there I was, tucked safely up in bed. Nice and early as it's a big day tomorrow: Canberra Times article (hopefully), CMAG floor talk.

And I'm thinking about life back when I got my first dolls house...

... The next door neighbours who were actually distant relatives, and the after school cocoas I had there...

... The woman across the road who knitted aran jumpers for money... Angela I think her name was...

... The big storm of 1976 and all the vintage cars in the shed at the top of the street that got smooshed...

... Walking to school so I could spend the 6 cents bus fare on a popsicle...

... Getting a (most probably illegal) dub to the local pool with Helen-next-door on her motorcycle...

... And sliding down the bank in my swimsuit and getting in trouble with my Mum for getting big holes in it (suit, not bank)...

... But being so happy with the hand-me-down brown skirt with big white buttons Helen gave me...

... Buying Misty magazine every week at the shop down by Blenheim Road Roundabout...

The same shop where I'm sure I bought wool to knit outfits for Daisy and Barbie. Which I sold at three more shops in the area. Was it really the same shop?

Other memories flood my mind. Blenheim Road Roundabout shops... The Fish and Chip Shop with the woman who had numbers tatooed on her arm...

(Was this why I had an infatuation with the Jewish Holocaust or did I remember her because of the infatuation? In my memory, Yes. But I was only Eleven....)

Heading the other way from home, the shortcut I took through the empty lot to the dairy and the shock I felt when someone dared to build a house and a fence there!

The two children's libraries I belonged too: at Church Corner and in Hei Hei. Oh - and the shop at Hei Hei shops that sold softdrink in large glass bottles for about the cost of your bus fare to school. And they would keep the unfinished bottle for you to return for after school....

Of course, the area isn't covered by Google Maps Street View. I'm so spoilt being in Australia. I mean, I can't even find proof that there was/ is a pool in the area. Let alone a Fish and Chip shop. Or a shop that might have sold wool and comics at the same time.

And I'm scared to go back because I know it will all have changed beyond recognition....

Sometimes you don't know what to say...

The world has been weird lately. Hearing about people I've not thought of for almost a decade. Strange coincidences that can't be explained. Thus is the world of Web 2.0 (and Life 2.0) I suspect...

The contents of my camera are of no help. I won't share the photos yet as if they make no sense to me I doubt they'd intrigue you.

Having said that I have to say I find it odd that when I touch base with someone who I haven't talked to properly for a while I feel like we're both Japanese businessmen: bowing low, we offer our blog addresses and understand there may be no contact for days: until we've read each others' history on the blogs.

Even though last time we were friends in the same post code was pre all this "Web 2.0" stuff...

Tuesday's news chez TSS (and surrounding areas)

1. Watch out for a Canberra Times interview on the exhibition, probably later this week. I'll keep you posted and will try to load a copy up here...

2. ABC 666 radio are running an outside broadcast from CMAG on Thursday 13th November from 1:30pm. And you're invited to come along if you're interested!

3. In the nearest thing to knitting news you'll get round here at the moment, The Front Cafe in Lyneham are still as rude to Stitch 'n' Bitchers as they were in September last year. Just thought you'd like to know...

4. And, finally, flowers. Is it terribly bad of me to have done thisto the bunch I was given on Saturday?

I'm not usually a widget fan but this one just had to come live on my blog...

Modern Miniatures on Monday: Childhood treasures

This is the book that I believe started my modern miniature obsession: Venus and Martin Dodge's Dolls' House Do-It-Yourself Book. This centre spread in particular caused hours of staring and dreaming. The bright yellow kitchen! The swing bin, iron and coffee machine! To my mind it was just like Queen Mary's Dolls' House but somehow obtainable. If you lived in England.(Or were prepared to wait until you were much much older and had discovered eBay...)

And here are a few items from my childhood collection which have survived many years (and an international move): Top to bottom left to right:

* Pillow case which I embroidered and sewed from a piece of fabric I found in the hankie pile in the hot water cupboard. What I thought was just another piece of ripped up dead sheet waiting for winter colds turned out to be Mum's prized bread making cloth. She wasn't too happy... (There was also a matching sheet and a pillowcase with a different design on it but I seem to have mislaid both for the moment)
* "Sampler" which I embroidered in 1979 (it says "Worked in 1859 by Mary Louise Brown"). The frame is light cardboard, coloured in with felt tip pens...
* "Music ringbinder" and "English ringbinder"
* Daisy doll plastic mirror: I was never allowed Barbies, but every Christmas I got a new Daisy doll. Dashing Daisy the ice skater was my favorite!
* Silver spoon and lead mug which were one of the few pieces that were in my next door neighbour's dolls' house when I got it.
* Under the mountain and Book of cats. Which means these books (and the rest in the picture) must have been made around 1981/82.
* Three lots of fabric on bolts. I think I made these around 1985 when I bought a miniature singer sewing machine.
* 7 plastic tea set items which came with the first house.
* My Diary. Private!
* Daisy doll hairbrush.

Do you have stories and/ or pictures of your childhood dolls' house? Or perhaps your story is about the house you never had? I'd love it if you emailed them to me and I'll share them with my readers.

That's so yesterday...

Want to see more exhibition coverage (and photos?)

Here's the official CMAG site

Happy Spider's coverage made me happy since she seems to be the only one who didn't make me look like Moonface from The Magic Faraway Tree!

I'll add more links and photos as they pop up...

** Edited to add **

Canberra's Got Style's official coverage is here
Button Beauty's mention is here
Ye olde classic knitting shot can be found on Unravelled
M1K1 came up from Sydney for the weekend.

Opening Shots

Flowers:Posing for official pictures with the Museum Director, Swedish almost-Ambassador and his wife:Friends in black and white at the ceremony:Friends (not in black and white) looking at the exhibition:Nice shot:Old photo of me:And new photo of me:

(All pictures courtesy of Paparazzi Princess NinaRibena)

Seven Things Spring/ Summer 2008 Week 6: Steady as she goes

In:

* 2 vintage suitcases
* 2 black cotton knit hoodies
* 1 National Archives bag
* 1 periscope (gift from The Parentals for so I can see over the partitions at work)
* 1 Canberra poster (free from Regatta Point)
* 1 tray, 1 spanner set, 1 table top ironing board and 1 lint roller (gifts from a friend who is heading overseas)
* 1 Inside Out magazine, 1 Home New Zealand magazine, 1 Elle Decor magazine (subscriptions)
* 1 Real Simple magazine, 1 Living Etc magazine (newsagents)
* 1 Buzzin' Fly: 5 Golden Years CD (eBay)
* 1 pair cream and black knitting needles and 3 singles which I'll count as 2 pairs (op shop)
* 1 CMAG badge that was pinned to my bunch of flowers at yesterday's opening

Total In this week: 21

Out:

* 2 socks which grew big holes when I put them on: bin
* 1 copy of the excellent Shoe Money by Maggie Alderson: given to a colleague at work
* 1 old black cotton knit hoodie, 1 paua shell, 1 restroom sign (don't ask), 3 bracelets and 4 necklaces I never wear, 2 merino cardigans, 2 matching short sleeved tops, 1 fluffy jacket, 1 red zip front jacket, 1 Wine to go bag, 1 orange (!) chinese-style top I didn't even realise I had anymore, 1 knitting pattern, 1 non-black and white tea towel and 2 non-black and white hankies, 2 rings: donated to the op shop.
* 1 duplicate Dollshouse World magazine: given to M1K1

Total Out this week: 28

Shake-it-all-about:

* A big fat zero

Net items out so far during Seven Things Spring/ Summer 2008: 62

Saturday shout-out

The exhibition's been getting some linky love over the past day or so:

* Rooruu at Patterning the World (who, unfortunately, won't be able to attend today's opening due to dental dramas)

* Taph at Unravelled

* Thanks to Ninaribena at Canberra's Got Style, the houses are featured on Desire to Inspire

* And they also made Apartment Therapy!

Thank you all for your support and comments.

So what's a girl to do the morning of her Opening Day? Shop for a new dress? Go to the hairdressers? Get a manicure?

Nah, I'm taking M1K1 on an op shopping tour...

My To Do list is like the grass in my back yard:

long and very very boring...

Don't expect to find anything exciting here til Saturday at least (and later if all the people at my opening with cameras are late in posting!)

Parental Visit Day Five: The final day, with fake openings, flowers and feathers

Fake Opening

(Because the Parentals won't be here for the real one on Saturday...)Flowers

Because a Canberra-based blog isn't a Canberra-based blog without Floriade photos (even if it takes three years to get them)...Feathers

Because it was pretty exciting to see cygnets for the first time:And then we visited the Walk In Aviary because The Female Parental Unit likes birds so much (there were no Gallahs though...) Fake smiles all round(Everyone's happy, although The Male Parental Unit's not sure about all this nature-stuff...)