Pegged

Another set of  Adelaide Cann laser-cut miniatures picked up last year and not given away as planned.

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'It was a long day and I lost the light' Thursday

But, look what I found to make up for it: an Adelaide Cann kit from the Sydney Show in May last year, which I'd planned to give away and got sidetracked before it happened:

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Wonderfulness on Wednesday

My friend Cider Teak returned to work yesterday after a month-long jaunt around Europe with her family.

And she bought me souvenirs! Including minis!

 A little itty bitty Venetian glass angel,

 and bigger Venetian glass bottles

 (with a certificate of authenticity).

Plus, she recalled my lack of beer for poor old Santa and remedied the situation while she was in Germany.

 So, in the spirit of pay it forward, I've decided to offer the box that she gave me my not-really Christmas presents in as a giveaway.

Obviously, mailing an empty box to someone is a bit silly, so I'll fill it with random treasure from my stash that can be inspiration for making minis. What exactly will be a surprise but I'm pretty certain there'll be a lot of bits from Typo.

Want to be in the draw*? Leave a comment on this post before midnight on Monday February 3 (Canberra time).GIVEWAY NOW CLOSED

(Extra for experts: If you're the lucky winner perhaps you could then refill the box and do your own giveaway! We could then follow the adventures of the box as it travels around the world spreading inspiration...)

Almost eight years!

Doesn't time fly when you're having fun? Next week my blog will be turning eight, so I figured it was time to start planning presents.

Since my second calendar print run arrived this morning, I thought it would be nice to put one aside for one of my blog readers.

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(* The small print: Recipient must be prepared to send me a photograph of where their calendar ends up being hung for my mad plan)

Here's a scene, alas not miniature.

How my desk looks after a three-day weekend spent working on The tiny Times:

 And, wouldn't you know it, I have a flat inspection tomorrow. I'll think about that soon: first I need to eat some lunch.

My attention is elsewhere...

Although my rule this year is that I'm not online on Sunday, this week I made a special case as it's a long weekend and we have a magazine to get to the printers.

I spent most of my day in my PJs, getting to grips with how Publisher works and coming up with what I hope will become standard layouts for various parts of The tiny Times (if, of course, my esteemed Editor agrees...)

You know how I said I was a bit slow sometimes?

Here's proof: today I went to visit Cockington Green. Almost three and a half years since I said I really should go back again.

 But it was worth the wait, as I have a tour with Sally, the Director. (That's her finger, pointing to some carvings she made on the Palace of Darius in the International Section.)

I met one of the groundkeepers, who was cleaning out the pond on the golf course

and, a little later in the morning, trimming trees outside one of the cottages.

 But my favourite part of all was being able to visit the workshop where the buildings are created.

 To see how it's arranged,

 (No, not that sort of turkey...)

and have Sally explain how the buildings are constructed in order to withstand being out in the elements and how they factor in repairs and replacements.

I have a ton more photos, but also have a feature to write for The tiny Times: the whole reason for me being out there in the first place.

Hopefully I'll be able to share the article with you when it's published...

Art store minis

During a lunchtime run to Eckersley's with a colleague on Thursday, I was quite amazed to find they have a miniature section (they may have had it for quite some and I've not noticed, as it's in a spot I usually don't pass on my way to the paper section.)

I was intrigued.

They knew about scale, but there were only figures,

trees

and cars in the range.

Plus (even more confusingly)

a range of 1/12th scale flooring.

I now feel the need to spend some time stalking the back alleys of Canberra to see if any pieces have been created.

(Or I could just ask the guys behind the counter how sales have been...)

Alarm bell bowl

Yesterday I dismantled a couple of mini alarm clocks I picked up from the Typo NQR (Not quite right) table on Friday.

This morning I brought the bells upstairs on the way to do something else and dumped them on the work table.

This evening I got home, saw that they were upside down and  perfectly bowl-like, and wondered why I'd never thought to do that before:

(Did I mention that I'm a bit slow sometimes?)

At the movies

I spent both Saturday and Sunday afternoons at The National Film and Sound Archives' Arc cinema, escaping heat while watching fabulously inspirational architecture movies from their Utopian cinema: concrete cinema series.

On Sunday I arrived early so took the opportunity to have a wander around their gallery, having realised I hadn't been in it for years. Gotye's Fractured Heart sculpture kept me entranced for quite some time, and when I finally tore myself away I turned the corner and found this:

Yep, it seems there has been a Tegan the Vegan display on at The National Film and Sound Archive for about six months

AND I HAD NOT NOTICED.

Shame on me. Shame. Stop motion animation, created just across the border. No excuses at all.

(If you're interested, you can watch the trailer on You Tube

and buy access to the full, 13 minute film on Fillim for $US4.99.)

The production company's website has some interesting behind the scenes pictures of the set, which is mainly in 1/5 scale (with 1/25 used for outside scenes)

(Including info on how they created the house).

And some fascinating behind-the-scenes production information including a time-lapse video of them animating.

Miniature eyes (the op-shopped version)

Another visit to James at Victorian Dollhouses this morning—to research a feature for The tiny Times—meant another visit to the op shops of Tuggeranong.

Vinnies did me proud: the selection below cost me $8.40.

Double-sided scrap-booking paper, eight sheets at 5 cents each:

Bead garlands in both clear and silver, pulled out of the 50 cent box.

(Close ups so you can see the detail)

The David statue ($2) is for James who had just been telling me how difficult it is to find statues for a miniature room he's working on. The magnet and mirror were also out of the 50 cent box.

And this printed bamboo table runner was $4. I love how most of it has faded down to fabulously muted colours (obviously someone had kept a vase in the same place for the entire time they'd had the runner on display: the contrast makes me even more pleased about the fading on the rest of it.)

A mad plan

On the way to work this morning I did my first calendar delivery, to Ampersand Duck (you'll probably remember her from her work for the Call of the Small exhibition. Still available for purchase, btw...).

When she collected the package from where I'd left it balanced on her mail box she texted to say 'Wow, the calendar is exactly what I needed for my studio (although it feels too good to use)' which made me very happy and I replied that I looked forward to seeing it in situ (after offering her a wine-soaked version, which she sensibly turned down)

A short time later, this image appeared on her Facebook feed:

(image courtesy of Ampersand Duck)

I replied 'Squee! Also, is it madness to want to recreate this scene in miniature? Perhaps next year's calendar could be comprised of scenes recreating where this year's calendars ended up hanging...' and an idea was born.

I'll have 13 of my 2014 calendars in the wild, a number which fits perfectly the number of photos I need for a 2015 calendar. How much fun* would it be to ask each recipient to send me a photo of their calendar hanging up so I can create a miniature version of the scene?

Just in case, I made sure to get pictures of two of the calendars distributed to work buddies today:

(*'fun' may mean 'complete and utter craziness', depending on your interpretation)

A very hot date which ended up a bit of a damp squib

As the heatwave continues (a high of 38 °C (102.2 °F) today and, worse, a low of only 15 °C (59 °F) overnight—and I live in an un-air conditioned house) one bright moment was the arrival of my Vistaprint calendar order in my post box.

Until I noticed this:

and this:

(I'll let you imagine the wafts of stale red wine emanating from the package)

When I got home and unpacked the box I found that two of the calendars looked like this:

(as did most of the envelopes that came with my newest greeting cards. The cards, fortunately, are fine)

So I've had to re-evaluate and cut the list of recipients I had created for the calendars.

That's the bad news. The good news is I'll need to make another order.

But, to be picky, I'm not terribly happy with the back page.

I think I'll explore other options next year. Anyone got any recommendations?