The Golden Film Festival

Fifty seems to mean 'films' around here. This week at least.

You see, one of the local independent cinema chains has a 'Birthday Club' which offers members $5 films the week of their birthday. And there are rather a lot of films on my list of things to see. So I'll be spending a lot of time this week sitting in the dark feeling frugal.

Speaking of cinemas, here's Lewis's latest creation, The Egyptian cinema, on display at the Sydney Show:

And a quick video to show the full awesomeness of the lighting:

(He had me at the sight of the vintage Vespa parked outside...)

I forgot to take a photo of the inside of the ticket booth, but it contains the story details I've come to expect from Lewis, such as the counter top being worn down in the middle, and a half-finished lunch sitting in the corner.

And outside the lobby there's a whole story happening, involving a certain time-travelling dwarf:

Fifty

1. Dollars. The amount that the new IKEA FLISAT dolls' house costs. Which my friend took great delight in buying as a gift for me.

And that I put together this afternoon.

2. The age I turned today (for the second time: I decided last year that 49 wasn't a number I liked very much so went straight to 50).

Of course, I had to throw up a birthday scene in my new house before I decide if I need to paint the walls and floors to better fit with my décor...

Still at the show...

I'm feeling so far behind, mini-wise. It's been almost two months since I've had a chance to make something and it looks like it'll be a while yet before I get the chance to do anything miniature-related for fun.

This weekend I finally made the time to start sorting out the photos I took of the displays at the Sydney Show.

First up is this 1970s house displayed by Mountains Miniatures (that's the club that Margell came from: I was most disappointed that they didn't have a sales stall this year).

I realised that didn't take photo of all the rooms: probably because I thought I'd photographed and shared it in a previous year. Rebecca has, however.

Here's the upstairs hallway,

 the lounge,

 and a couple of views of the kitchen:

(The theme for the August issue of The tiny Times is 'In the kitchen': that last image is a strong contender for the cover...)

Sydney show stash: 2016

I wanted to share my finds with you last weekend, but the weather closed in on Sunday and so the lighting was terrible for taking photos. And since it's now autumn here, and I'm in full-time employment at the moment, catching the light during the week is becoming almost impossible.

Of course, the good thing about being in full-time employment is that I had more money to spend at the show this year than I did last year.

First up, the black and white pieces. These included some daisy fabric given to me by Jennifer, and some embroidered slippers made for me by Judy Foster (who also made the black and white stitched cushion that I bought,)

The  black and white flower cushions were by Dianne Cotterill, who told me she thought of me when she made them (clever woman). The white kitchenware with black edging were from Chells [sic] Miniature Corner, as were the black and white cupcakes. JWT Dollshouses & MIniatures had the white containers and bowls. The owls were from Liz (I think), and the 3D-printed plant pot, gnomes and vases were new lines from MinisByTwinMum. Finally, the crate bookcase was from Handmade by Andrea (I realised I was never going to get around to making my own).

Then I surprised myself by buying a collection of yellow items. I forgot to note which stall the cushions came from, or the bedding set. The Yellow pitcher and glasses set and the yellow spotty planter were new offerings from MinisByTwinMum, the champagne bottle and glass were from Kim's Minis, and the laundry basket from The Doll House.

There were blue items too: another bedding set, more 3D-printed pieces from MinisByTwinMum and a cheap bed and balls of wool from two stalls I forgot to note.

And more bargains: the set of stools and a fold-up table, icebox (which I want to use as the basis of a speak-easy door), and bento box came from one stall which was having a close-out sale (I took their card but have misplaced it...) The picture of the sad-looking skinny woman was $1 in a bargain box and the cushions were $1. And there's a second cheap bed, which I'm probably going to paint.

And, finally, there are the kits. (Like I need more kits). The Hoover Constellation is, once again, new from MinisByTwinMum. I didn't need the kitchenware kit but it was only $3 *shrug*. The display cases will be interesting, and I couldn't resist the wooden spoons and tray kit.

Hmmm... perhaps it's time to resurrect Finish it off Friday?

A mad month

When I said 'we're done' I didn't mean for a whole month. But then life tripped me up.

First there was the weekend I was an unorganiser at UnConference Canberra.

Then I started working on the May issue of The tiny Times which, as usual, sucked up my spare time.

 Then, before I finished it,  life got completely crazy. I came home one night almost three weeks ago to discover that Mr Nibbs had died (not completely unexpectedly: he'd not been himself since Christmas).

And when I rang to let Mum know, she told me that Dad was in hospital. So I made an unexpected trip to New Zealand to help them out.

While I was there I did manage to do some mini-related things with a friend, including a trip to the Blue Star Kiwi stall at the Wellington Underground Markets, and a visit to The Weta Cave, where we did a behind-the-scenes tour of the sets for the new Thunderbirds TV show

(which was quite frustrating as absolutely no photos were allowed. And there was much in the way of miniatures to be drooled over: including the Tracy Island headquarters in 1/12 scale. For a wee look you can check out this sneak peek video).

We also made time to get up to some mischief of the street-art variety...

Then, two days after I got back, I was off again: to The Sydney Miniature and Dollhouse Show.

I have lots of photos to share, but they'll have to wait for another post.

I'm pleased to say there were miniature acquisitions along the way. A friend went on holiday to Japan and returned with a range of miniatures for me:

And I picked up a few things at the Blue Star Kiwi stall, including a Clarice-Cliff-like tea set 

 and some tiny cupcakes iced like sheep: the perfect souvenir.

I'm just hoping life decides to settle down this month. I need time to catch my breath.