Monday's making (mostly made up)

I finished the cushions (sort of, they still need to be stitched up after stuffing).

I completed the squabs for the benches (well, not quite. I only finished one set and they're taped together at the back where you can't see). 

And the Bluebird Cafe is done.

 (You know, unless you zoom out and notice all the bits that most definitely aren't done.

Or, indeed, wait long enough and watch the 'done' bits slowly undo and the whole thing trash itself).

Maybe today I'll actually really finish it?

Sunday: in the studio

You may be pleased to know that I have dug out various surfaces around the house, and not just by piling the bits into a plastic tub and setting it aside out of the way...

Indeed, I've actually made some progress. Those blue chairs, for instance: now much shorter

(and without stickers)

I continued to fight with possible decorating options, none of which felt quite right,

until I gave up in disgust and headed off for a break to read the latest issue of Uppercase. And check out Instagram.

Where this hit my feed (you can see it here, if you're not an Instagrammer)*, and I realised I had been overthinking the whole thing (as usual). And so, back in the studio, this mock-up made much more sense with the whole story of the build, which really was about a cheap and cheerful make over.

Which lead to deciding that I needed to add squabs to the existing benches,

with some cushions for added comfort... 

(*Emily Hartley-Skudder, a recent discovery for me, is a fellow Kiwi who creates scenes in miniature and then makes oil paintings of them. Visit her website to see more of her work, read an article about her, or watch a video about her work (or her time living and working in New York).)

Saturday: strange couplings

The latest Alex Asch exhibition opened at Beaver Galleries on Thursday night. I decided not to go to the opening (apart from all the people that would be there, I was concerned that I might have a glass or two of bubbles then accidentally buy something...).

Instead I popped in this morning: first for breakfast at The Palette Cafe, them for a mooch around the exhibition (where, in true Canberra style, I bumped into my tutor from my CIT design course!)

Good thing I don't have tons of money (or, indeed, space), as I lusted after almost everything in the exhibition.

 But most particularly this piece, 

with its miniature gallery containing a Rosalie Gascoigne homage inside (the concept of one of my favourite Canberra artists referencing another of my favourite Canberra artists, in miniature, delights me greatly).

And this piece, which takes up much less room and would fit in with my decor perfectly...

 But, with my wallet tucked safely in my bag, I finally left and came home to create my own bit of distressing, at a much more affordable price:

Finish it off Friday: the four-day weekend edition

Take one four-day weekend.

Add no plans.

Mix with a splash of forecast rain,

Slowly beat in a messy work table*,

 a messy work bench,

and sprinkle with good intentions left in limbo

and (I hope) you have the perfect recipe for success...

(*Yes, those are covers for my 2017 calendars. Still awaiting delivery of matchboxes from the other side of the world...)

Feeling cagey

You saw it on the blog here. (And here).

Another $2.80 find from Daiso. I picked up two as I thought the bases would make great miniature side tables.

I didn't even consider the tops. Until early Saturday morning,when my inspiration helped me picture them as awesome (over-sized) miniature light shades...

 And, suddenly, what I thought was a great bargain is an even greater bargain.

(Plus I feel the need to visit Daiso again very soon...)

Getting crafty

After getting up at sparrow's fart* this morning, I spent an enjoyable hour rummaging through stash and pulling out and arranging all the bird-related bits I could find:

(I do rather enjoy this part of the process, even though it sometimes makes me feel quite overwhelmed with the options I have!)

Then it was time for breakfast, and a trip to the hairdressers. As I left after my appointment, the car seemed to take on a mind of its own. And I'm sure you know what the next stop was...

Yes. Kaisercraft. *sigh* 

(I felt slightly better when I realised that my last visit was almost three months ago (if I use slightly creating counting...)

Once I returned home with my plunder it was time to start building yet another scene in an old favourite room box.

I decided that the story is that the owner of Buzz Bar Cafe took on a business partner who was, shall we say, a tad dodgy: and the once-successful business folded, leaving at least a million dollars owing to staff, staff superannuation accounts and the tax office (I may or may not have been influenced by discovering last week, when I had a hankering for a twice-baked souffle, that Autolyse had closed a couple of months ago for just that reason...).

Therefore the parameters of the new build were that the space remained basically the same (although I had thoughts of removing one of the back 'rooms' in the renovation, especially once I remembered that there were two versions of the Buzz Bar: the much larger original, and the (smaller) What's in the toybox? exhibition version. Which is the one I'm working with).

Luckily, I had versions of most of the fittings in white, so could happily agree that the new owners gave things a lick of paint to save set-up costs.

And I had some dining chairs that I'd picked up as part of a children's boxed set for $2 at a previous Canberra mini show that (although supposedly over-scale) I thought might work quite well in one-twelfth (if the legs were cut down a tad, the stickers removed and, possibly, a spot of repainting happened...) Did I mention that they were blue, and the backs had an interesting Mackintosh tea rooms/birdcage vibe happening?

At which stage I started my first round of playing with the options I had...

Should I stick with the blue of the chairs ('Bluebird cafe'?), decide that the owner replaced the floors with tiles and channelled a mix of Terence Conran, local (ex) cafe 79 & Fine (slightly ironic since the original Buzz Bar referenced another local cafe, Lonsdale Street Roasters), and the Greek islands? (This actually expands on a previous scene I made).

I tried a less busy feature wall and suddenly I was craving cheap fish and chips... Maybe not.

Or I could go in the opposite direction, decide that the refurb was done on a shoestring (and many op-shop and trash-and-treasure visits), and stick with what I'm comfortable with?

I'm thinking not, as it feels way too much like the last iteration of the Buzz Bar Cafe space.

Except I'm worried that since I now have a photo of a scene which includes a glittery guitar, a flying duck, a slightly cross-eyed owl and two fried eggs, I may completely lose interest in the whole thing.

(*Note suitably bird-like reference...)

A glittery guitar, a flying duck, a slightly cross-eyed owl and two fried eggs...

Inspiration. It's a devious creature. Hibernating for great lengths of time then popping up when you least expect it (usually, I find, at around 3.30 am: when you thought you were fast asleep).

And so it was this morning, when it tugged on my pillow and whispered gently 'So, how about we make a scene which contains aforementioned glittery guitar, flying duck, slightly cross-eyed owl and two fried eggs?'

The whisper became a roar as it got more and more excited, jumping up and down on my head and spewing out a stream of ideas...

I: 'Could it be a version of the flat in A street cat named Bob? Except you'd have to paint the guitar and that seems a shame...'

Me: 'Shut up.'

I: 'Ohhh! Duck and owl! Don't you have some other new stuff with a bird theme? Can we do a themed gallery wall in, oh, I don't know a CAFE? Like the Hatter's Tea House you went to last month?'

Me: (Muffled, from under the pillow) 'Oh duck off'.

I: 'Here, I'll help you with names... "Song Bird." "Bluebird." "Black bird." "Birdsong." "Birdcage." "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep."'

Me: (Grumpily sitting up to check the time) 'I'm NOT calling a cafe "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep". Everyone will call it "Chirpy Chirpy Cheap Cheap".

I: (In a small voice, tinged with pleasure at getting some reaction). 'Not even "Chirpy Chirpy Cheap Eats"?

Me: (Glares)

I: (Looks hopeful and points at the clock, which now reads 5 am)

I: (Conjures up an image of a recent birdcage purchase from Daiso could be turned into interesting cage-shaped light fittings, and of the other cages I have in stash that could add to the theme)

Me: (Sighs). 'Perhaps we could see about going with a stripy theme to mimic bird cage bars? And I guess it is about time to give Buzz Bar Cafe a makeover...'

I: (Claps and leaps off the bed to fetch my slippers)

I: (In a small, hopeful voice) 'Does that mean we get to go to Kaisercraft today?'

Me: 'No, no and NO!'

Finding my focus

Here I was beating myself up because I hadn't done much in the way of minis last month (you know, despite the usual summer heat sapping my energy, a couple of weeks fighting something off (which, as I wander through my archives, seems also to be a late-summer tradition) and then, finally, succumbing to several days in bed to finally see it off. Oh, and that small fact that this is supposed to be my hobby, not an obligation...)

And then this evening I downloaded my Instagram photos and discovered that there had, indeed, been a stream of miniatures through my life over the past couple of weeks.

First up was the arrival of what I have now dubbed The Boomerang Box:

Which contained (amongst other treats) a custom rubber stamp (which I knew about), and a miniature Shopping Sherpa tote (which I didn't!).

In true Pepper-always-the-eye-for-detail style, itcontained a miniature wallet to pay for the miniature shopping that was going to be put inside...

Later the same week, J&M and I went to a Friday-night event at Gorman Arts Centre and stumbled across an intriguing-looking exhibit by Tom Buckland at CCAS:

Titled Constellation, each peephole contained a tiny scene.

 (Which turned out to be very difficult to photograph well with a phone camera!)

There's a much better photo of the scene below on Tom's Facebook page, for instance,

 and more photos of the scenes on his Instagram page.

The eagle-eyed amongst you (hey, if you're a miniaturist, that's all of you), will have noticed some of the peep holes had small buttons beneath them. If you pressed the buttons, there was light and/or movement in the scenes.

Once again, I did the best I could with the camera I had:

Finally, speaking of videos: I had two sightings of dolls houses on screen in the past week.

First up, was in the children's bedroom of the (rather excellent) movie Hidden Figures, which I took myself to see last Friday afternoon.

And this evening I spotted this beauty in the hallway of a house in the first episode of the 70s/80s TV show Sapphire and Steel (which I remember loving as a child, when I found it cheap on DVD at latest Lifeline Bookfair):

(See it for yourself at around 18:50 of this video on YouTube)

So, as I stare at the range of bits and bobs on my desk (accumulated since the beginning of the year, and waiting to be dealt with now that it's cooler (and I'm better)), I've decided that I need to stop being so hard on myself and just try to have fun. 

(Because, really, what says 'fun' more than a glittery guitar, a flying duck, a slightly cross-eyed owl and two fried eggs? Especially when they're small enough to stick in your pocket?)