The Daiso dilemma

 Ah Daiso, how I love you, and your very cheap miniatures. (And how ironic it is that the only branch I visit anymore IS IN ANOTHER COUNTRY because I can't justify the $100 return fare to Sydney before I even buy anything, so only visit when I'm in Wellington checking up on The Parental Units).

In an earlier post I mentioned that for the last 2 years I've been telling myself that I'm not buying any more minis, but regularly returning from New Zealand with a few things tucked away in my suitcase. Because one of the traditions I have with my wonderful friend Sandra when I'm over there is that we do a trip to Daiso (a tradition I'm now passing on to my aged parental unit, male (APUM). Except he's not interested in the minis, oddly enough).

 On my trip over in July last year, most of what I picked up was from Daiso (the two rows on the left of the picture).

I'm pretty certain that that was the first time I'd seem the Eames chairs there, as I also took a photo comparing them to the REAC versions, which are ten times the price of the Daiso ones. (REAC on the left, Daiso on the right):

Next trip to Wellington I discovered that the chairs came in other colours, and the trip after that I found the had tables as well (plus I picked up a couple of metal ones because why not, for the price of a cup of coffee for them both?)

The next trip over, I discovered the lockers on the left, and I found the smaller ones on the right on last month's trip:

(Because obviously you can't have too many miniature lockers!)

Other Daiso finds included some industrial-looking shelving and workbench (originally designed to display model cars):

and some random bits that caught my eye:

Do you have a Daiso (or Daisos) within striking distance of you? If so does yours stock other miniatures I've not yet come across in the (quite small) Wellington branch?

Apart from my Daiso hauls, I've picked up a few other bits and pieces in the past couple of years. 

Firstly, a handful of gifts from various friends (including magnets I purloined when APUM was cleaning off his fridge),

random bits and bobs, mainly from my op shop wanderings in New Zealand,

including this beautiful handmade op-shopped brooch, which I used in the 'magical thinking' challenge scene, but  think needs to be used again in a scene that highlights how lovely it is:

And, of course, and as usual, a random bunch of ephemera I collected along the way that I thought I could use as art:

Finally, on a recent op-shop jaunt (far less fun without a car), I spotted this collection of vintage Lego Homemaker shelving units for a total of $2, which had to come home with me, even though I already have some:

(Also, in case you're wondering... Kintsuglue for the win!)

Monday make, do and mend

Trying to relearn my old rhythm I figured I'd start this week with a make, do and mend post, which would have the added bonus of clearing some more space from the shelves above my desk (always a good idea to bring a reward system into play when introducing new or reintroducing old habits, don't you find?)

Because I rediscovered a storage box with just 3 things in it: the Smart car and bath that were damaged on return from the Doll House: Miniature Worlds of Wonder exhibition in February last year, and one of the wire tables I bought from Daiso way back in 2016 which just needed to be cut down.

And using make, do and mend Monday math, 1 box with 3 items in it plus x mending equals 1 empty box and 1 happy heart!

Because the broken wing mirror and bath tap were so finickity I decided to try using a new-to-me glue that I'd bought a while ago and forgotten about until I started cleaning out my tool cart over the weekend:

(And wish I'd remembered I had sooner, as when I broke my favourite full-sized vase during COVID and considered trying the art of kintsugi to mend it, it just seemed all too hard so I ended up throwing it out).

I need to leave the Kintsuglue to set overnight, and look forward to seeing what the result is tomorrow.

Fun(damental)

Sheila made a very good point in her comment on yesterday's post when she said "I hope you still have fun with minis even if you don't blog about it. That's the whole point of a hobby after all right?".

This particularly resonated with me, as over the summer break I decided that 'fun' was going to be my theme word for this year, after a number of years that most definitely haven't been fun (although have had a few spots of it here and there).

One of the fun things that's happened this year is that I received a fabulously generous mini swap parcel from Cyd, the first swap parcel I've had since I settled on this flat five and a half years ago.

As I opened the parcel and admired all the treasures Cyd thoughtfully put together for me I felt a stirring of excitement and joy, which made me realise how much I missed both receiving boxes of mystery treasures, but also (and probably more), having the budget to put them together for my blog buddies.

Yesterday I started playing with a few of the pieces in the shelves above my computer, unwittingly choosing pieces that have all been gifted to be by blog buddies over the years:

(and sending myself a hidden message: don't forget how much you love minis. And blogging. And blog buddies. And swaps. While also remembering my visit to the original Love sculpture way back in 2006, and being pleased I now have a tiny souvenir of it!)

But there was a problem. I needed a candle for the lantern, but couldn't find my stash of miniature candles.

After 15 minutes I gave up and decided they'd turn up eventually, and it would be a better use of my time to make some more.

Which I did, thus guaranteeing the missing stash will show up very very soon.

Checking in

In my end-of-year clean up I was shocked to discover that it's been over 2 years since I last blogged, and wondered if blogging is even a thing anymore. And, for that matter if miniatures is even my thing any more.

Fortunately, I had a decent and relaxing summer break this year, which gave me the time to think about if it was time to decide to put the blog to bed once and for all, and seriously consider doing the same with minis.

The decision that I've come to so far is really an anti-decision: since I've been telling myself for 2 years that I'm not buying any more minis because a) I don't have the budget and b) I'm not using the backlog of ones I already have in stash, but then continue to come home from trips to New Zealand with just a few things I couldn't resist (mainly from Daiso), perhaps it's time for a recalibration.

I'm not sure if I'm making much sense, but am being gentle on myself because my blogging voice is very very rusty, and there's a jolly good chance I'm writing to myself.

(Which suddenly makes me realise that one of the things I miss about blogging in the good old days is that sense of community and regularly checking in with what other blogging buddies were up to. And makes me wonder how long it's been since my collection of RSS feeds disappeared, and why that happened. Microblogging, I suppose, but it's something that I should make time to look into and see who's still around from those times).

So my idea is to start by doing a round up of the small amount of mini stuff I've done since December 2021: mainly Instagram challenges which I'd hoped would kickstart my mini mojo, but deteriorated into a recycling of old images, which sometimes made me feel worse about the whole situation.

Here we go:

In February 2022, the Kaleidoscope House that I no longer own returned from its extended visit to the Doll house: Miniature worlds of wonder exhibition in Melbourne, and along with it, this carefully-wrapped parcel which contained the originals of the prints that they'd made for the exhibition:

(Unfortunately, they're still stacked in the corner of the library as I have no wall space to hang them: although someone did suggest I have a nice large empty wall in the garage!)

In March 2022 I had discovered a fabulous handywoman and as that year's (early) homeversary gift to myself, got her to come in and finally hang the art on my horribly hard plaster and brick walls (after almost 4 years in the place, that was quite a relief).

While she was here I also got her to hang some cube shelving that I've had for ages on the wall above my studio desk, with the plan that if I had minis staring at me at eye level directly above my computer, it may inspire me:

(Alas, It only seemed to inspire me to dwell on how little I was doing with them, and fill the rest of them with half-completed and abandoned projects in the hope that having them at eye level just above my work space would inspire me to work on them. It didn't.)

In July 2022, I finally made a thing, finishing the salad I'd started working on in August 2020, along with a few other small things that had been banging round for far too long:

And I didn't do anything else until the beginning of 2023, when I made a mini copy of a book a friend took the photos for:

(And photographed it in front of one of the bookcases in my library that I was pulling apart, dusting and reorganising at the time).

In March 2023 Canberra Modern's exhibition Model modern: Iconic design at miniature scale at Manning Clarke House during the Canberra heritage festival enticed me to try venture out to it, so I booked myself a ticket to the exhibition launch and panel discussion, but alas the number of unmasked people jammed in a very small (but quite fabulous) house, and the realisation that my skills with small talk had disappeared during lockdown, meant I felt deeply uncomfortable and left after only 20 minutes. And although I took quite a few pictures of the models, only one was worth sharing:

(It didn't help that I was on the scooter as I no longer own a car, and hadn't considered how cold and dark it gets in Canberra at that time of the year early in the evening :-/)

Things looked up in July 2023, as I joined in the July Mini Fun challenge on Instagram and was delighted that I not only finally used the wooden heart pieces I 'discovered' in December 2021,

but also threw together a very basic scene for a later day's Instagram post:

I was pleased that I also made a new scene for day 3 of the challenge, 'Magical thinking', but not so pleased with the result, although I consoled myself that it was a theme I'm not drawn to, and I'm very unpracticed at scene making these days:

But with the 'done is better than perfect' approach I pointed out that I'd finally used the plastic octopus I was given as a mini challenge back in 2013, that the Issey Miyake perfume bottle top I'd had in stash for about as long works perfectly as a modern crystal ball stand, and one of the chopsticks I'd received in a swap a few years ago worked just fine as an emergency wand.

I'm also still really struggling with the light in my not-new-anymore flat, and the studio in particular.

Finally, in August, while having coffee with a friend, she introduced me to a friend of hers, who happened to be one of the artists that originally created Bette Noir, the miniature gallery that lived in my downstairs hallway for quite some time and which I last bumped into back in early 2020.

He was pleased that I kept it safe and told me that it now lives in Tuggeranong Library, and that I was welcome to exhibit in it any time I want.

So I took a trip down south the following weekend to say hello and see how she was going, which was a bit weird as I've not been to Tuggeranong Library since I used to occasionally work there well over 20 years ago.

So that's me pretty much caught up mini-wise, although I've not mentioned the small number of purchases I've made since I last blogged, or mini gifts I've received (although while pulling out the photos for this post, I discovered some pictures I took of my purchases and gifts from my mid-2022 visit to New Zealand, so perhaps I can cobble together a show and tell).

If you happen to be reading this: hello! And thank you! How are you going? How's your mini-world looking these days? Are you still blogging?

Chooseday

Today's burning question is: will my new beachside scene live in this cliffside spot, or in this cliffside spot?

Or maybe even this one? (which I only now realise makes no sense if it the kitchen of the house is on the dunes, but the lounge is on a cliff).

Or somewhere completely new?

(I have no answers: I logged in to back-to-back meetings all morning, then after lunch finally returned to the chores I usually do before 9am. Which resulted in an almost-11-hour day, something I found completely ironic as when I realised I was going to work through my planned summer leave, I'd assured myself that I would make sure they were short days to make up for the disappointment.)

A week start

It was an early morning, and a long day, including a 2-hour meeting starting around the time I'd usually be logging off, especially as I'm now officially on summer-but-not-on-leave time. :-(

Because I woke up at sparrow's fart and couldn't get back to sleep, I got up at 5am and spent an hour before my day officially started reacquainting myself with the contents of my stash, and pulling out bits and pieces that might work with the pictures I pulled out yesterday (and some stuff for a couple of other ideas I've had).

Then I returned to bed with my morning mug of tea and my phone, and found a message from Call of the Small, with a link to a new Australian miniatures show*, due to air on ABC early next year:

(How on earth did I not know about this, while someone on the other side of the world did? But speaking of miniatures and the other side of the world, there's currently  another miniature-related TV show in production in Canada...)

So in terms of making progress back here, I did whitewash the coffee-stirrer frames at lunchtime, and pulled together an inspiration board for the next miniature beachside getaway:

But I'm thinking I need another layer of white, and less wash...

(*For my Australian readers, you may be delighted to recognise Jimmy Rees, of Meanwhile in Australia fame. Or was I the only one trying to stay sane over the past 2 years by cackling with laughter at his regular updates?)

Sunday funday (and I-fell-in-love day!)

 I had plans. I did indeed. But a text from a friend just after 9am suggesting brunch (alas I'd just finished breakfast, so it changed to coffee and cake), meant the plans were tossed out the window and I went out instead.

Coffee and cake resulted in an impromptu trip to Spotlight (I was strong), followed by lunch: both of us remarking how oddly normal it felt, and yet, at the same time,weird in its normalness...

So it wasn't until the afternoon that I made it home again, reminding myself that this is what weekends are supposed to be for, and, since it's Sunday, I can play.

(The vanity is looking much better today, you'll be pleased to hear, and I'll be returning to finish the scene next week.)

Today I unearthed my workspace, and in the process found a sheet of scrapbooking paper I'd picked up at the Kaisercraft store back in May (and yes, that's the second half-completed scene cluttering up my worktable at the moment!), and decided to spend some time cutting out and framing the images using some coffee stirrers I had on hand.

As I went digging for my mitre box and saw, I remembered that I'd bought an Easy cutter back in 2016 at the NZAME convention, and this would be a perfect, low-risk chance to try it out.

And I'm amazed! It was brilliant, and I love it (and not just because I realised that I could make tiny heart art from the ends of the coffee stirrers!) But I now feel a bit silly that I didn't get one decades earlier, or try this one out sooner.

So frames ahoy, and now I need to take the bits downstairs to the garage for some whitewashing (and, perhaps, some bluewashing), and then set them aside for my traditional creation of a miniature holiday house to virtually visit over the summer break.

Going for gold

 As I suspected, I ended up repainting yesterday's copper tap to gold, which I think looks much better.

And so I painted the bath tap to match. 

I also trialled 'installing' a vertical garden in the courtyard are outside the bathroom window, and am testing out some wood panelling on the side wall, and some sconces made from earrings I used to wear back in the late 80s (I told you I'd be pulling out some long buried treasure from stash: alas I broke of one of the rays when removing the earring backing, so will need to pop that back on if I decide these are staying in the scene...)

Another potential whoopsie is happening downstairs in the garage, where my plans to stain the Lundby drawers I was wanting to use as the vanity aren't quite working out as I'd hoped: although the spray-painted drawer handles are looking look fabulous.

Tomorrow is another day, and hopefully they'll look better by the time I head down to check on them...

Tippity tap

 A day off work to mark my homeversary (3 years!) should have meant lots of time to work on minis.

But alas I had a pile of life admin that needed to be sorted (and a nap that needed to be had) so I didn't get quite as far as I'd hoped. (On a positive note, Miss Daisy's boot is empty of stuff to go to the Lifeline Bookfair warehouse and the op shop for the first time in months, and I have lovely sharp knives...)

What I did manage was to cut an actual window in the bathroom wall:

(the frame was a picture frame from the, alas now closed, Typo factory outlet), and start some test decoration of the courtyard area outside.

And then I painted the sink tap (the bath one is downstairs drying after a coat of black spray paint: I figured they'd match better if they had the same base colour...).

I'm not sure I like the copper, and may end up repainting it in a rusted brown instead.

One* small problem

 Before I can start working on some long-buried treasure from stash, I need to make some space on my work table.

Because it's a bit full at the moment: with a half-built scene from May, when I got carried away setting up a scene using my newly-blackened bathroom bits.

(Including some mini bonsai I picked up at the IKEA As corner, which are supposed to go into the courtyard represented by the image in the (slightly wonky) window frame and picture):

Jolly good thing tomorrow is Finish It Off Friday, and I have the day off work (because it's been 3 years since I moved in here...)

(*Well, actually 2...)

Still going

 Me? Yes, but I've been shifted into a(nother) new team, which is currently undertaking a major project: so my plans for having almost all of December off to play have disappeared.

Daily Dolls' House December? I hope so, but the challenge this year will be shoehorning it around work commitments, plus my feelings about the whole thing are sounding oddly familiar.

After much middle-of-the-night pondering over the past week or so, I've decided that this year's approach (I won't even tie myself down by calling it a theme) will be to try and use up some long-buried treasure from stash: the end result of which will hopefully be some downsizing in the studio, and along the way remove any pressure to complete a scene each day but instead share the journey, and maybe the story behind what I'm using. We'll see.

And, finally*, the exhibition. Also still going: and extended through to the end of January 2022.

(*Because we won't mention COVID-19).

But wait! There's more!

 So late today I heard that D.Thomas Miniatures had arranged a Zoom tour through the Doll House: Miniature worlds of wonder exhibition.

Ignoring the Kaleidoscope House (which is no longer mine, and so I can't complain about their choice of furniture and accessory placement), you may be interested in 33:24, where they visit my images:

Looking good (while not looking good...)

Over the weekend, as the COVID situation across the country continued to worsen, and it looked likely that the ACT would again be red zoned for travel into Victoria*, I abandoned any hope of being able to justify (or be allowed to) travel to Melbourne to see the Doll House: Miniature worlds of wonder before it closes at the end of next month.

And emailed the curator asking if she could send me some photos of my work on display.

Not only did she send me some, she kindly allowed me to share them:

Courtesy of Annette Sheill, National Trust Victoria.

Courtesy of Annette Sheill, National Trust Victoria.

Courtesy of Annette Sheill, National Trust Victoria.

Courtesy of Annette Sheill, National Trust Victoria.

And to add to the excitement, I also discovered that National Trust Victoria have used another of my photos on the cover of the latest issue of their member magazine!

Notes for non Australian readers:

* Australian Capital Territory
* Although it's been over a year since we've had a case of community transmission, the fact that we are surrounded my New South Wales, and the ease of travel between the hot spots of Sydney and here (even when that travel is not supposed to happen), means we're lumped in with New South Wales when it comes to travel to Victoria.

Good news (but fingers still crossed)

 Soon after I posted about the Doll House: Miniature worlds of wonder exhibition at Como house, Melbourne went into another lockdown, all National Trust Victoria sites were closed, and the opening was pushed back to 11 June.

 Then (not unexpectedly), lockdown was extended.

So since then there has been some uncertainty about when it might actually open (and, in my pessimistic optimist brain, if it would open at all).

But today on Instagram they announced a new opening date in the best possible way (in my opinion, at least!):

So we have a new date: 22 June.

And I have a conundrum: do I risk booking tickets to venture down for the preview and opening, and risk getting stuck, or do I hold off for a few weeks to get a lay of the land?

We'll see.

Also: I believe they're exhibiting some of my photos in quite large dimensions, but I'm in the odd position to have no idea at this stage which ones they've chosen: so, on one hand it's a bit of a dream come true for me, while on the other I feel like a kid before Christmas with no idea what I'm going to get...

COVID times, hey?

Uppercase love

 Many times over the years since I discovered Uppercase magazine, and bought the first copy way back in 2009, I have professed my love for it. (I even have a bit of linky love for it on my sidebar: and occasionally consider creating a whole new blog category for it. And, even when times were damned tough over the years I've always managed to magic the cost of my subscription out of my annual budget).

So when I noted that the May mini makers prompt for 28 May was 'Paperclip challenge', my first thought was the recent stationery issue that had arrived, more specifically the subscriber card insert that (as always) was tucked inside with a back printed with the theme pattern for the issue. Which I had safely put away in stash with the rest of my collection of lovely patterned card for future inspiration.

And I hatched a plan to make some paperclip-themed stationery (mentioned vaguely last week) for the paperclip challenge, and was rather pleased with the result:

So, it seemed, was Janine from Uppercase magazine:

which quite made my morning, and reminded me that I had a evil plan to convince her that volume 'M' of her Encyclopedia of inspiration has to be 'miniature'.

It also made me think that it might be high time to round up all the scenes I've created so far using her subscribe cards, and pull the rest out of stash to see what ideas they give me.

So here we go:

In March 2017, I used one of the cards as a wall panel in Bluebird Cafe.

From May the same year, I threw together a quick scene using a card advertising her second range for Wyndham fabrics.

Then in November, the card from issue 35 inspired a whole co-working space.

So yes,high time I made some more scenes inspired by these seemingly-ephemeral gifts.

And worked out a way to ensure 'M' is for miniature!