Having a specrapular week

So I'll be holed up at Margell for the (very) long weekend.

A miniaturists' morning tea at Margell

My fellow Australia Miniature Enthusiasts Association stall holders popped in for morning tea on their way back home to Sydney.

Suddenly having a miniature school on my dining table made complete sense...

...followed by a crazy miniaturist's handbag reveal

I have felt my handbag getting more and more out of control over the past two days as I've dashed from place to place and stuffed various things into it.

Tonight I arrived home from setting up my stall at the ACT Miniature Enthusiasts Fair and Dollhouse Show and remembered that I'd been given a bar of chocolate. Could I find it in my bag? No.

There was only one thing to do: turn it upside down to empty it out completely and return it to some semblance of order.

And what did I find?

Yeah, that's not going to last me terribly long...

Finish it off Friday frenzy...

(Clockwise from top left)

New side tables/stools arrived just in time for tomorrow's show. Coffee-sack fabric waiting to cover a bench for the cafe build. A job to apply for. Money stuff to sort out. Chocolate to eat. And a radiator to install.

I wonder which one should I start with?

A wee bit exciting

The front's finished and the floor is in. No disasters so far!

In the miniaturist's kitchen

I know I'm not the only one... :-)

(And no, the blender has not been used for paper mache. Yet.)

A testing time

While the second coat of varnish was drying on my cafe front this morning, I ducked out to run a couple of errands.

First stop was Officeworks, where I got my front window signs printed onto overhead projector plastic:

(A test that worked out beautifully and cheaply).

Then the hardware store to buy a test pot of paint. I'm checking if I can cover the front wall of the cafe with sandpaper and then paint it.

 I'm also checking out the two cans of granite paint I have to see which would look better for my foundation (once they're dry I'll also see if I can paint over it with the cream).

Now I'm off to cut the floor to fit, and make a radiator...

A cardboard cutout

Walls!

Table and chairs,

bench seating, pillar and radiator,

and a quiet corner.

The front (without a slope on the laneway):

And again, with a slope:

Which to chose?

On one hand, I like the idea of using the window sills as a ledge to support the table tops (possibly having them hinged so they can be put away at night. Which I couldn't do if I added a slope to the laneway:)

On the other hand, I suspect having the added detail of the slope will add an extra 'zing' to the look of the final piece...

I'll continue to mull the decision over while I work on some other things.

A decision (or two)

Before I add the second coat of varnish to the shopfront, I need to decide on the interior measurements so I can cut the walls and floor to start working on while the varnish dries.

But first, I should decide if I want to include the gentle slope of the laneway outside my inspiration to my build, or leave it flat (and, I suspect much easier. But also more boring...)

Another coat of varnish

While I was varnishing the inside of the shopfront, I figured I should try an extra coat on the front of the door to see how it looks.

And it looks better.

Dammit, now I have to give the whole thing a second coat.

BIG KIDS: Tiny Worlds

While I was waiting in line at the newsagents to pay my bill, I spotted this magazine in the kids' section: what caught my eye at first was that it seemed quite out of place in amongst all the pink and plastic.

What made me pick it up was the tag line:

I was impressed. I have heard over and over again that our hobby is dying and children just aren't interested, so it was heartening to find a kid's art magazine focusing on tiny things.

Especially tiny things made by kids.

 (And tiny things kids can make!)

 Plus there's a pull-out poster. Always a good thing.

.Well done all round, Big Kids Magazine.

In the 'better late than never' category

May I introduce the *ahem* Spring/Summer 2013 collection, in a range of bright, fun colours?

If a more sophisticated look is more your thing, there's the new 2015 range which has a metallic, earthy undertone:

Check out the range in person at the following shows:

ACT Miniature Enthusiasts Miniature Fair and Dollhouse Show

Saturday 28 March 2015 10 am - 4 pm

Weston Creek Community Centre. Parkinson St, Weston, Canberra.

Admission: Adults $6, Children aged 5-12 $3, Children under 5 free.

Sydney Miniatures and Dolls’ House Fair

Saturday 2 & Sunday 3 May 2015 10.30 - 4.30 pm

Hall of Legends at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre. Olympic Boulevard, Homebush, Sydney.

Time: 10.30am - 4.30pm

Admission : Adults $7, Children $3.

An attempt to justify breakfast out as 'research' (and make you not notice the lack of noticeable progress on my build)

I met friends at Ona cafe in Manuka for breakfast this morning, and took some reference photos for my own cafe build:

(I like the pops of colour with the accessories, and the chair pad made from an old coffee sack)

(Black ceiling with hanging plants.)

(Distressed brick at the top of the wall, suspended ceiling with pot plants. And roof trusses.)

A feeling of achievement

It was a bit scary yesterday afternoon as I taped up the windows of my storefront ready to... well, do something with it.

On one hand I was freaking out because I was worried that I would balls it up (but then I told myself it would all be part of the story and I could either fix it or put a rush order in for a replacement).

On the other I didn't quite know how to approach the finish on it. Coloured wax? (I was concerned the door handle wouldn't stick to it). The wood finishing cloths I bought for the TBAG box? (Too messy.) And then I spotted a tin of walnut-coloured varnish I've had for so long I have no idea where it came from.

Now I have to decide if I like it with just one coat (for a more rustic look) or if I should dare to add a second and potentially regret the decision...

Meanwhile, I painted the first coats on my cafe chairs and stools (with similar trepidation). And am wondering if the copper was a bad idea. I'll reserve judgement (and a second coat of any of the colours) until the build is further progressed so I can see what works best.

There's still a tonne of work to be done, so I'd better get back to it.

(Pity I don't have one of these to add to the scene...)

A slight change of direction

Yesterday afternoon I had several errands to do in the vicinity of the hobby shop, so dropped in for more spray paint (I swear it's like embroidery floss: no matter how many colours you have you never seem to have the right shade(s) for your latest project).

I'd pretty much decided on copper and black for the chair colours, but found myself drawn to a metallic green, with the idea of turning the black mesh into a vertical garden and using the green as a spot colour.  So a bag of greenery was added to my basket.

On the way home the green kept niggling at my mind. Until I realised why: The Switchboard Cafe was mainly green, And I just happened to have a plan to recreate it (or something close) using the shopfront I bought from The Doll House when I was in Melbourne in August last year...

If I could pull this off I could finish off many Fridays at once!

So, here's the (new) rough plan:

Cafe chairs and small tables/benches/something along the laneway in the front.

I can still use the pallets on the wider wall inside: I'm thinking I can 'hang' the table off them and perhaps have shelves above. Unfortunately, this means that  the 'coffee' table will have to wait for another project.

The high stools can go along the window inside, with a narrow shelf to put the coffees on

and the narrow end of the space can have something comfy to lounge on.

 I think I'll call it 'Hideout'.

A few additions

At the end of January I met a friend in town for a coffee. We went to a new place called Coffee Lab, where I snapped this picture for future mini inspiration:

(Mainly because I still hadn't worked out what I was going to do with the pallet coasters I'd picked up from Typo back in November and thought this would be interesting to try).

Yesterday I pulled the pallets out, used a handy ruler as a stand-in for a coffee counter and added some industrial-looking plastic pieces I'd picked up on my last trip to Daiso (I think they're supposed to go in a pot-plant pot to stop things falling out the bottom).

The table I made in June last year seems to be the perfect fit, as does the round black Kinetic Patterns tealight holder I bought at Handmade Market last year (I'm not sure it's printed by Shapeways, but the designer is certainly on there).

 Now I have to decide what colour(s) to paint the chairs and stools...

Shapeways' 3D printed Miniature Houses Contest

As most of you are aware, Mini Dork is running a content with Shapeways to promote 3D printing in the miniature world.

I hadn't planned to enter (even though I have a good number of pieces from Shapeways) as I have many other priorities before the closing date, But with an unexpected week off work, I've decided making a scene is just what the doctor ordered.

The first step is digging out all my 3D-printed pieces...