Typo terrariums

(Image shamelessly lifted from the Typo website)

I noticed three terrarium kits lurking in the Typo online new releases earlier in the week, which I found particularly interesting in the light of the discovery that Eckersley's is selling such things as well. Are we about to see a surge of miniatures as art in the mainstream consciousness?

Even with the 30% sale which was announced today, I won't be racing to buy any yet. I'll just wait for them to turn up in the outlet store...

(Further reading:
Christopher Boffoli
Isaac Corbell
Slinkachu
Let me know if I've missed anyone...)

Serene scene

 Take one Mitchymoo Miniatures sideboard, one sale-priced magnet from the National Museum gift shop (Geese 1982 by Ma Shulin, if you're interested), some mesh beads from the craft fair, an alarm clock bell and scrap booking paper from Typo and a Dolls House Emporium 'ghost' chair.

Add a roll of vinyl that you discovered in the cupboard.

Mix for 10 minutes and you're done.

A triple treat

On the way back home after taking Miss Daisy in for a service this morning, I dropped past the newsagents to pick up my mags and took the opportunity to flick through the January issue of The Dolls' House Magazine to see if they happened to have used any of my photos in it.

The answer would be yes

yes

 and yes!

(I'm particularly chuffed that my playroom scene was their top choice for November...)

Having a whale of a time

While friends and I were chatting around my dining table yesterday afternoon, I found my hands twitching so fetched my cast-on rug and started knitting.

Which means that today I have a completed object to share:

 I threw up a quick scene, as I realised how out of practice I've become.

(One of my friends who was chatting while I was knitting commented that they should be called 'Fauxkati rugs' I think I agree with her...)

I have just enough yarn left for a second rug. Let me know if you're interested in a swap (they're still legal, right?)

New toys (or The dangers of reading the junk mail)

Friday night's junk mail had me up, dressed and out the door before 8.30 this morning.

Why? Because ALDI's special deals were tools. Some of which had been on my list for quite some time, and some were more recent additions. And all of which fitted my (fairly narrow) range of acceptable colours for things that come to live with me.

I bought a digital caliper gauge,

a suction vice,

a table vice,

and a gas soldering torch kit (which freaks me out about as much as my G11 camera, which is still sitting, pretty much untouched, three years after I got it. Let's hope I pluck up the courage to use this sooner...)

There were sets of very tempting drawers in stock as well but I told myself I'm not allowed new drawers until I finally fill the empty drawers I already have. 

Big box: lovely loot

There was a parcel waiting for me at the Post Office today. I thought it might have been the business cards I'd ordered for my new role as Assistant Editor of The tiny Times.

But I was wrong: it was something much, much better:

Swap parcel, straight from the Post Office

my swap parcel from Mod Pod Miniatures! 

The first view of my swap parcel from Mod Pod Miniatures

 Care to join me for the unboxing?

With the bubble wrap removed

 First out of the box was one of her funky retro lounges with a built-in side table. With lots of colour to give me a challenge.

Colourful retro miniature sofa

 This was followed by one of her credenzas with a sliding doors. Loving this!

Retro credenza with grey sliding doors

 Next up was the first box of treasures: a picture frame, beads, bowl, selection of fabrics and battery adapter. These will be fun to incorporate into my scenes.

Contents of the first box of miniature treasures

 Three small stripy boxes followed. The first contained a retro TV, a daisy finding and a plate.

Miniature retro TV, daisy finding and plate

 The second, a set of colourful plastic storage containers suspiciously similar to a set I had favourited on Etsy,

A selection of coloured see-through miniature plastic storage containers

 And the third, a trio of her hand-made cushions.

Mod Pod Miniatures' handmade slogan cushions

 There was a giant felt doily rug

Felt doily rug

and a fireplace to go with it (how did she know that, even though it's the middle of summer, I have a thing for fireplaces at the moment?)

Modern resin miniature fireplace

 These mini coloured bottles were pretty cool

Set of nail arts mini bottles

 As was this retro clip-on light:

LED clip-on spot light

 There were Matisse post cards

Matisse post cards

 and some if the MiWorld pieces I've been interested in recently. (Yay!)

MiWorld miniature accessories set

 And, finally, more battery adapters (reminding me that I really should go buy a soldering iron, follow Mitchymoo Miniatures' instructions and learn to solder).

Battery adapters

 And here's the full round up of lovely loot I received:

Contents of my Mod Pod Miniatures swap parcel

How lucky am I? How generous is Mod Pod Miniatures?

Mini Monday make, do and mend

There was a list for tonight.

It didn't include casting on some teal powder puff yarn I picked up in a recent op shop jaunt to make another flokati rug.

It also didn't include finally printing out and trimming the bookmarks I'd compiled some weeks ago and forgotten about.

My miniature bookmarks and a flokati rug in progress

(I blame it all on the Book Depository bookmarks competition: are you planning on entering?)

Big book: tiny treasures

Last Friday I invited some friends around for a Digital Arts Dinner. And one of them arrived with a library copy of Todd Oldham's book on Alexander Girard tucked under his arm, complete with slips of paper marking the pages he thought I'd be interested in.

Front cover of Todd Oldham and Kiera Coffee's book on Alexander Girard

 Now I'd certainly been vaguely aware of Girard's work, and this book had been on my radar of expensive things I might like to consider buying one day, but my only real knowledge of his work was from coverage in the now defunct Modernism magazine, where I'd got the impression it was all far too colourful and busy for my tastes.

Thanks to my friend's trust in my ability to look after other people's library books, I had the opportunity to spend a couple of evenings this week devouring the contents.

Realising that the Girards were great mates with my heroes, the Eameses (and that Alexander even worked on the fabulous Toccatta for toy trains with Charles and Ray, and had a collection of miniature houses.)

Admiring the many mid-century scale models included.

 Drooling over the eight miniature table settings he created for Georg Jensen.

 And the miniature dioramas he created.

Dammit! This book has now cemented its place on my list of books that are essential to the collection development policy...

February flick-through

Look what I discovered in my post box this morning:

Me with the February 2014 issue of The tiny Times

My first issue of The tiny Times as Assistant Editor!

And, since Cider Teak wanted another vlog post:

For the birds

Magazine article showing plans for a bird house in the shape of a dolls' house

A quite lunch at the cafe in our building at work.

A random magazine grabbed from the pile to keep me entertained. 

A dolls' house birdhouse!

(You can request a high-res copy of the blueprints for this Ultimate Bird House by Clas Ohlson by email)

Giving away the goodies...

The happy news is that the winners are:

Calendar

Twelve months in miniature: a 2014 calendar by The Shopping Sherpa

Anna!

Bellabox of bits

Empty bellabox

Penelope!

 Chalkboard laptop toy

Adelaide Cann's modern miniature laptop toy kit, completed

 Susan!

Pile of pegs

Adelaide Cann's lasercut miniature peg kitset

Kikka N!

Poppy triptych

Dolls' house miniature poppy triptych on a wall

Rebecca!

(Well done guys, and if if I don't already have your address, can you email it to me? There's a link in the sidebar)

The sad news is I've been made aware of the legalities of giving things away on blogs, and think that future giveaways/sweepstakes/whatever you want to call them will be firmly put in my Too Hard basket...