The Shopping Sherpa: January 2018

Saturday, January 27, 2018

A Japanese-themed January jaunt

On return from my trip away I realised that most of the photos I took were Japanese-themed. I had an hour of so to break my trip in Sydney before I met up with my friend further north and so ran a couple of mini-related errands in the city.

I found this mural at The Galeries Victoria:

Mural featuring a cat, a Japanese girl and a man reading a book.

on the way to visit Muji to buy pill containers to try and make a trolley like Marion's.

Then (of course) there was a visit to Daiso before I caught the train to meet my friend.

And discovered that there was a suitably-patterned bedspread on the bed in her spare room:

Plastic Daiso bag filled with purchases, on a black and white Japanese-print bedspread.

On Saturday we visited the Edogawa Commemorative Garden in Gosford, even though it was stinking hot.

Japanese garden with a path leading towards a tea house.

Pond in a Japanese garden with pagoda next to it, seen through a round window.

My purchases from the trip included some bits for the build I'd left half-finished before I left: a set of blue-and-white patterned washi tape from Muji and a pen from Daiso with a kokeshi doll on the top:

Three rolls of Japanese-patterned blue and white washi tape and a pen with a plastic kokeshi doll on the top of it.

both of which fitted in very well when my attention returned to the scene this morning,

One-twelfth scale Japanese-themed display on a chest of drawers, with a rice-paper lamp. a kokeshi dolls, a plant in a blue-and-white Japanese pot and a white rectangular bowl.

(and gave me just the kick in the pants I needed to finish making the bedding, and put the rest of the scene together!)

Corner of a one-twelfth scale Japanese-themed bedroom with a cream cane bed with blue-and-white bedding, a chest of drawers with a rice-paper lamp. a kokeshi dolls, a plant in a blue-and-white Japanese pot and a white rectangular bowl displayed on it and, on the floor, a blue and white checked rug with a pair of embroidered slippers on it.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Wednesday morning 3 am

Hello inspiration, my old friend, you came to talk with me again

About cards from friends left town, in stash, for scenes yet unknown*.

And the visions that you planted in my brain, will make me insane

Unless I finish them...

Seriously though: an upcoming trip to see a friend who has shifted out of town obviously reminded my inspiration that I'd tucked a card that she'd sent me last christmas away in stash.

The card front featured a piece of Japanese fabric, and I'd always planned to work it into some suitably-themed scene. So, before work this morning, I pulled out various pieces that could added to it to become the bones of a scene called 'Trudi's spare room':

A mug of tea on a used envelope in a one-twelfth scale miniature room. Next to the mug is a card with a piece of blue and white japanese fabric on its front, a deep red miniature velvet sofa, a one-twelfth scale Yanagi butteryfly stool, three one-twelfth scale lucky cats, two one-twelfth scale cherry-blossom cushions, a pair of one-twelfth scale slippers and two pairs of one-twelfth scale chop sticks.

(A 3D-printed Yanagi butterfly stool from Shapeways. hand-embroidered slippers from Judy Foster, cherry-blossom cushions and a bento box from the 2016 Sydney show. Lucky cats from various places. And chopsticks courtesy of Mod Pod Miniature's swap back in 2015).

Tonight when I got home I plundered my fabric stash for suitable patterns to go with what I already had out:

A flat lay with three pieces of blue and white Japanese-patterned fabric (and one in red), a card with a piece of blue and white japanese fabric on its front, a deep red miniature velvet sofa, a one-twelfth scale Yanagi butteryfly stool, three one-twelfth scale lucky cats, two one-twelfth scale cherry-blossom cushions, a pair of one-twelfth scale slippers and two pairs of one-twelfth scale chop sticks. All on piece of white woven wallpaper.

Perhaps I should rename this post 'Watch this space Wednesday'...

(*sorry)

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Back in the studio

One-twelfth scale modern miniature office scene containing a credenza with a black Eames chair next to it and an artwork with leaves above it. On the credenza are three green lever-arch folders, a bowl, a vase, a potted plant and a ceramic ornament.

I figured two weeks was enough time to recover from my latest Daily Dolls' House December challenge and so I scheduled myself back into the studio this afternoon.

My plan was to start back with something simple to warm up: a shelfie, perhaps. And since setting some parameters worked so well last time, I added the following:

1. The colour scheme should work with the colours that have been predominant on my Instagram feed this week (which is a rather hilarious parameter, but why not?):

Selection of nine Instagram photos in colours of black white, green and seafoam.

2. Use at least one item gifted to me by a blog buddy.

I started with an artwork sent to me by Kitty and Kat Miniatures back in 2016, which was the right colour and also picked up the leaf theme that's been happening on my Instagram feed (doesn't everybody take 'back to work' photos of their pot plants at the beginning of the work year?!)

To that I added pieces from Mod Pod Miniatures, Catherine and my friend Hannah.

And then got a bit stuck.

A Lori credenza and an Eames chair recently picked up cheaply off eBay got me thinking this would turn into yet another office.

But I wasn't feeling the love.

Until I reached down to check out my flooring drawer for options and had to move my Lori ballet studio (last seen three months ago) before I could open it.

It was the answer I needed to turn what I thought was going to be a simple shelfie into a whole scene (I love tricking myself like that).

I added pretty much all of the pot plants I made last month. Another of the 'grass' rugs I bought at Daiso for $2.80 last visit. A black sofa I bought for $5 back in 2015, and the iron screens I picked up at Pete's Emporium (and obviously only photographed for Instagram) last year.

One-twelfth scale modern miniature room with lino floor, white walls and a bay window to the right.There is a black sofa, with an Eames stool next to it, a credenza with art works above it and a black Eames chair to the side of it. The seat of the bay window contains a collection of potted plants.

The only thing left to do was decide what it was. (I was reminded of this scene as I tried to work out what I'd built).

In the end I decided it was a client-facing area in a trendy plant hire company (called 'Leaf it to us'), based either in Los Angeles or in Cape Town (I blame Skinny la Minx for that latest thought...)

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