Pink, part two

After pulling out far too many choices for the notice board from my boxes of paper treasures

I narrowed it down to a selection that told me more about who lived in the room, then took a photo before gluing anything down to check that it all worked together OK.

The owner of this room's name starts with E (Elisabeth?) and she's a designer (or perhaps a design student) who would dearly love to live in Paris.

(I borrowed the chest of drawers from the Mickey apartment) 

Pink in progress

Today I returned to the stack of magnetic frames I bought a week or so ago, intending to make a proper scene with one (hopefully trying out the idea I had of using them as bulletin boards)

I started by laying out the frame couple of pieces I thought would work as the bones of the scene: the stripy scrapbooking paper bought on the same day as the frames, and a recently finished flokati rug, destined for my stall at the March mini show (and, if I get organised, an Etsy shop)

In my stash of as yet unused pieces, I find the bed I bought at the May show last year, and a door I bought at the same time I picked up this window. Looking good, in a slightly Adler-ish way...

So I set up a test corner, using some vinyl I discovered in my flooring tub. And I realise a couple of things:

1. As I only have two pieces of the stripy paper I'll either have to stick to a very small scene, head back to Typo to see if they have any more packs I can buy or decide to use the paper as a feature wall. I think I'll pick the easy option and go with a feature wall.
2. I forgot to buy door hardware when I bought the door. Duh! And I don't have any in my stash. So I'll either have to use something I have on hand, shoot the scene with the door in such a way that you don't notice the lack of handle, or leave the door out completely.

While I ponder my options, I cut the backing for the bulletin board and attach it to the frame

 then weigh it down to dry.

I guess I'll spend the waiting time cleaning up my worktable. Again.

Deery me

How lucky am I?

I won Mini Dork's Dotsam stag head giveaway recently. It arrived last week with some extra padding in the form of a selection of beautiful coordinating cushions.

The timing was impeccable, as I've been writing the first of a series of articles on mass customisation and miniatures for the Australian Miniature Enthusiasts Association magazine, and was able to include it as an example of the use of 3D printing for miniaturists.

Thanks Mini Dork, and happy (belated) five year blogiversary!

And then, as the sun started to set...

Giant grass bunnies found their way onto the cafe patio.

Art or topiary? I'll let you decide.

A quick test scene

My new house told me it was actually a cafe called Pavilion in the Park which sells ice creams, drinks and light snacks.

Alrighty then.

Tempted as I was to race off to Toyworld after work and buy up all the Sylvanian Families ice cream and sweet cart sets they had in stock, I decided I was a mature adult who had the ability to be patient.

So instead I came home and emptied all my Lundby scale houses of suitable tables and chairs and did a test scene to see if my idea worked...

All Vero Vero exciting!

Ten point to Call of the Small for her guess on yesterday's post: yes, it's a Vero bungalow/summer house (the  Zerlegbar, to be precise). Another one from my list of holy grails.

No time this morning to furnish it, but I have have plans for tonight...

An excellent mail day

 (Although not everyone would agree with me...)

In the tradition set by Call of the Small, I shall entice

(and possibly frustrate)

you with a sneak peek...

Friday finds

Pay week. Friday. There was only one thing for it: head to see what was new (and cheap) at Typo!

I picked up a scrapbooking paper pack ($5) and magnetic photo frame ($2.50). I'm very tempted to go back and buy some more frames tomorrow, turn them into notice boards and sell them at the two miniature shows I'm hoping to have stalls at this year...

Unfinished

It was the sort of weekend where I went in with good intentions but spent most of it not really doing anything at all (except trying to catch up on much needed sleep. And, somehow, devouring the entirety of Downton Abbey season one in one sitting)

 

This scene-in-progress has been waiting for attention since Friday: it's loosely inspired by a picture blogged by Pia Jane Bijkerk quite a while back.

Except her scene is all very wintery and mine was supposed to be all rather summery. I thought the (as yet unused)  bed I bought at the Sydney show would be a perfect start, and planned to add light vintage summer sheets made from an old lace-edged hanky I had tucked away.

 

But do you think I could find it? Alas, no (and there's a chance I could have taken it to our work art group along with my other old lace bits and it was used by someone else). And so the empty bed remains waiting for me to come up with a Plan B (or just put it away).

 

The plastic sheep "footstool" arrived with a set of toy eggs I bought from Trash and Treasure for a friend. I don't have the heart to shift him yet.

A quick scene

I'm hot. And tired. And grumpy. And have been fighting off a headache for two days. Not the most creative of circumstances, really.

But I challenged myself to make a quick scene in lovely cool colours in the hope it would make me feel cooler (it didn't).

This scene was built around the globe. Which I spotted, attached to a necklace, on a rack of half price items at the department store across the road. 

A mini globe for $7.50? I can live with that...

Guerrilla dining

Every few months, when they're between exhibitions, the owners of the Editions Gallery organise a guerrilla dining event in the gallery.

 (Recognise the third revamp of this workbench?)

(Thanks to Shreeya for inspiring today's scene)

Editions

A new gallery just opened in town.

(Owned by the same folk who own Limited)

(Credits: Chair by In the Twelfth Scale, vintage table from eBay, rug made by me. 'Art' made from some bits found in a $2 bag of plastic toys from the op shop. Spray painted silver and black.)

Room with a view

I bought a new window from the dolls house shop last weekend and spent some time yesterday microwaving it and pulling off all the zhushy bits before undercoating it.

 You see, I'm after a more industrial look and I think this hacked version fits the bill rather nicely.

The view out the window is a shot of Grafton Gully in Auckland from Urbis magazine issue 69. And the frosted effect on the glass is the bottom of a packet of Buzz Bars that I've had tucked away just in case (the empty packet, not the Buzz Bars!), so it's a very Kiwi space.

I originally planned to paint the window matte black but now I'm not so sure...

(Perhaps I need to head back and buy a second one?)

Sweltering

Summer's definitely here. Today's forecast is for a top of 39 degrees (102.2 for my American readers) and it's already 29 (84.2).

So I made myself a cool, breezy garden corner to hang out in.

(Pity I don't have one of these in real life.

When the heat gets too much I head across the road to the beer fridge in the liquor store to cool down...)

I called this scene 'waiting'

But what for?

Is it an upmarket real estate agents? A hotel lobby? Or, maybe, a cosmetic surgery clinic?

Treasures from Typo

Back at work today after the summer break, and fortunate to have the use of a friend's basement car park (our current parking arrangements have my usual car park a good 10 minute walk away).

Which meant only one thing: a long lunch break, spent somewhere that I usually couldn't get to,

I chose the Typo factory outlet store, something I discovered late last year on a rare trip to DFO. Typo is one of my favorite stationery haunts and cheap Typo is a dream come true.

Today's haul: two sets of fridge magnets and two sets of laser cut plywood pieces. At $2 a set:

Enough inspiration for many scenes to come.

It wasn't until I got back to work that my poor wee brain started working properly and suggested I should have bought an extra set of the ones that they had a lot of. For a giveaway.

So, assuming that when I get back to Typo in the next day or so they still have extras, I'll give the first three sets away.

If you're interested, leave a comment telling me which set you'd like:

• The French set
• The love set
• The cloud set
• (Sorry, they only had one of the black and white set)

I'll draw the winners on Sunday night (Australian time). And will post anywhere in the world.

EDITED TO ADD: This giveaway is now closed: I bought enough sets to give all entrants the set(s) they wanted, so you're all winners! (If I don't have your postal address, please email it to me)