Grey girl

This quick scene started with the poster on the back wall: a card bought from Fiona Roderick at the June Handmade Market (at the same time I bought this card off her)

I added a grey mid-century sofa that I bought off German eBay about six weeks ago. One of my perspex dining tables (which reminds me: the 'Spring' range of pouffe colours is still sitting on my coffee table waiting to be sewn up. Perhaps I should rename it the 'Spring/ Summer' range and finish them over the Christmas break?)

The final touches were items from my collection: all of which you've seen before, except for the plant pot which is one of the 'light shades' I bought at August's craft fair, turned upside down.

Done and dusted*

(*Not without some swearing)

 Look! A change of level! Poles! And properly fitted day bed cushions!

The tea sign stayed. And was joined by a vintage lace table cloth (a lunch-time op shop find for $2)

The sideboard is set up for a light celebratory lunch (glasses courtesy of the latest At Home with Hello Kitty magazine: $12.95 for four wine glasses, four champagne glasses and a water jug seemed a worthwhile investment.)

It's a lovely day outside. Perhaps a walk outside on the beach is in order later this afternoon (once the UV levels have dropped a bit).

Speaking of outside, here's the wider view of the scene:

(The swearing was caused by the frustration of  working in my very hot studio after a very trying day and attempting to keep several bits of cardboard in the right place to stop light coming through, with blobs of Blu Tack which kept failing.

Often, just as I'd lined up a shot, this would happen:

I'm so over this scene... See part 1 here, part 2 here and part 3 here)

More exciting than I expected!

I was a bit excited at the beginning of October, when I saw the first images of 'my' cover on the November issue of The Dolls House magazine.

I was a bit more excited at the end of October, when my very own copy arrived in the mail (sorry, that was a Facebook-only share)

But yesterday, when I visited the newsagents after work to pick up a couple of extra copies for my archives, I couldn't believe how jump-up-and-down-in-glee excited I was to be nestled in there amongst all the 'professional' people (who, I realise, probably do exactly the same when they see their work on the news stands...*)

(*Right, Jodie?)

Christmas at the coast

So while I should be working on more important things on my list of what needs to be done to finish this scene (re-cover day bed seat and make cushions, finish and mount pictures, then complete the latest crazy plan which involves moving the kitchen side of the scene up so there's a step-down to the sun room and adding posts to hold the roof up along the edge), I find myself putzing...

... Filling the dresser shelves with crockery just so.

... Digging out one of the two miniature Christmas trees I own and playing with night scenes. 

... And finding myself compelled to visit Officeworks on the way to work to buy a packet of miniature bunting I spotted there on my last visit, which would be perfect for the windows...

Looks like it's Christmas at the coast this year.

(Edited to add: See part 1 here, part 2 here and the final instalment here)

The seaside shack

Continuing on from yesterday's post, I've printed out some grey tiles from the internet as a test to cover the original ones on the sideboard. I think they look so much better, don't you?

And I pulled out my new A3 laminator for the first time and laminated the lino paper.

I also tested a couple of bits from my stash of broken Typo biscuit and tea boxes, and decided the biscuit box is definitely a no as it suddenly makes the chairs look like they don't belong:

 But the tea box is a possible

(depending on what else ends up on this wall and in the room. Of course, there is also the possibility the biscuit box lid will stay and the chairs will be swapped out).

The other side of the scene has been extended, mainly because I've been dying to use the vintage Lundby Stockholm windows I picked up off eBay, which I thought would work with this scene.

And I've swapped the day bed seat with the one from my sleigh bed, just to test the colour:

(I'm also testing the distressed wood scrapbooking paper I picked up during my Eckesley's trip last week, which I think works well on the floor...)

Yep, I'm still happy to keep working on this idea, but suspect I'll get a bit frustrated as I realise the dearth of seaside-related accessories I have in stash to finish the scene with...

(Edited to add: See part 1 here, part 3 here and the final instalment here)

Wondering what to do (aka: From 'no idea' to 'nailed it' in nine minutes)

After a lovely lazy day yesterday, I was up early this morning sorting and cleaning (and putting lots and lots of minis away so I could see my work benches again).

But as the day progressed I got more and more antsy: I had lots of lovely clear space to create a scene on but nothing was jumping out at me as the start of a scene when I walked past my piles of treasures.

And so stopped. Decided to ignore the overwhelming possibilities at hand and challenged myself to create a scene using something I bought on Friday as a starting point.

(2.25 pm) I pulled out the pad of scrapbooking paper.

(2.25 pm) Turned it over and wondered who on earth thought it was a good idea to put a hole in a pad of scrapbooking paper, while at the same time mentally discounting the first pattern as too big to use. No worries: I had the rest of the pad to explore...

(2.25 pm) Then I turned the page. And instantly thought of lino.

(2.25 pm) So quickly turned the pad up the other way. Maybe that giant rose pattern might work after all?

(2.26 pm) There happened to be a pile of vintage German red and white folding chairs at the side of the work area, so I unfolded one and added it as a test.

(2.26 pm) Liking what I saw, I pulled out one of my lengths of skirting board.

(2.27 pm) The vintage German dresser which was lurking on the other end of the workbench looks like it would  work, if I temporarily cover the original tiles with another colour. I popped it in as well.

(2.28 pm) Spotted a Typo travel wallet that I bought because I thought the outside might make a good screen, and added it to see if the colour worked. It did, but I'll need to ponder how I can use it best.

(2.31 pm)  Rummaged around in the trusty 'new bits waiting to be used soon' drawer to see what was in there that might fit. And, suddenly, realised that I'm building a beach house scene (something that seems to be a bit of a tradition around here at this time of the year).

(2.33 pm) There was a day bed hiding behind the kitchen units on my work bench so that got added (even though the cover colour is all wrong: that can be fixed, too). Plus some trusty Typo light shades.

(2.34 pm)  And a board off the side of a Typo crate, which I think would make a fabulous beach house table (I'll probably have to cut it down unless the residents are expecting a huge turnout for Christmas lunch!)

It's all very rough and ready, but the bones are there and a bit more work will pull it all together. I just hope I manage to finish this scene before I lose interest...

(Edited to add: See part 2 here, part 3 here and the final instalment here)

The post where I get out of bed in order to make a scene of my bed so I can tell the world I'm not getting out of bed...*

I haven't had a doona day for far too long and two weekends before Christmas, on an overcast day, where I have a few excellent new acquisitions waiting to be read, seemed like the perfect time to rectify the situation.

But then I remembered the Daily Dolls House December challenge, thought momentarily about using the post I have tucked away in draft format for emergency situations and decided this was not the time to use it.

So I told myself to stop being such a lazy git, wiggled out from under Mr Nibbs after moving my piles of reading, and got out of bed to recreate my room for the second time on this blog:

(*Yes, my brain hurts, too...)

Friday finds for $5

I popped into the Typo factory outlet on the way home (my excuse was I wanted to drop into the hardware store next door to check out pegboard for a crazy idea I'd had) and spent $5 on the following from the scratch and dent table:

Light shades in a colour I don't yet have, wallpaper and flooring, a basketball and hoop, a coffee table base and some posters.

(And I thought one of the points of the whole Daily Dolls House December challenge was getting through my pile of treasures, not adding to it...)

There was only one rule

I arrived home this evening feeling a bit exhausted and, correspondingly, a bit grumpy. I got grumpier as I realised I had to make a scene to blog and as I played with various combinations that just weren't working for me, especially as I was trying to come up with something fabulous to highlight Pepper's generous gifts.

And then I took a step back. And asked myself a very important question:

What was the rule?

'Daily Dolls House December, in which I attempt to blog something mini related every single day for the next month.'

Well then. I'm not aiming for perfection. Or grandeur. Or the next cover image. I'm aiming to get back into the habit of making minis. And blogging about them.

And there's nothing wrong with making a small, simple scene occasionally.

Suddenly things got better. (Except for the bit where I spent a good 15 minutes swearing at my mini books as I tried to line them up with the front of the shelf. Then I told myself to just stop being such a Librarian, pushed them to the back and we were good.)

(Credits: 'Stone' wall: scrapbooking paper bought on a lunchtime trip to Eckersley's. Poster: Canoe dreams 'Sea of Indolence' by Alan Wehipeihana (picked up the same time as this card) Shelving unit: eBay. Vases:  Elisabeth Causeret and Kim Selwood, from Pepper. Kangaroo: Playmobil. Books: Various bought and handmade)

It's like all my Christmases have come at once* (WARNING: fawning alert)

(*Which is interesting, as I don't actually do Christmas)

Back in September Pepper from Mitchymoo Miniatures and I did a swap. We both thought the other put together a far superior parcel of treasure (Which, I think, pretty much defines a successful swap). And Pepper declared she was going to send me another, 'much better' parcel.

Guess what was waiting on my post box for me yesterday evening?

Since I don’t do Christmas, I took great delight into ripping into it straight away.

And OMFG, if anything could convert me to the concept of Christmas being a worthwhile proposition it would be the loveliness that I found within.

 I think Pepper covered all the best things in life (except, perhaps alcohol, but that’s always difficult to post...). I was more excited by the batteries than I was by the chocolate (thus possibly proving I was born without a girly gene) as I realised that meant there was a Mitchymoo miniatures  lamp in there somewhere!

I opened the boxes from largest to smallest (as a miniaturist I always believe the smallest package is the most interesting and, once again, I was proven right).

The first package I opened was a fabulous black and white tea towel for my collection. But that's another blog, so we'll move right along.

The next package was one of her fabulous credenzas.

I admired the beauty of the legs and the intricacy of the door fronts

while marvelling at what wonders the 21^st century has brought for miniaturists.

The third package contained THE LAMP!

Oh lovely lamp! Oh lamp, my love, what a beautiful lamp you are, you are, what a beautiful lamp you are! 

And three turned vases are beautiful too (I'm hoping that these aren't Mitchymoo originals as that would be yet another skill she has that I'm jealous of)

Then, finally, my attention turned to the smallest package of all. And as I picked it up I wondered if there was any possibility that there was a Ray Storey bottle inside (I'd been perhaps a little too effusive in my praise of his work on her blog, but he's been on my wish list for some years).

But of course she blew all my expectations out of the water and there were THREE! Plus an Elisabeth Causeret vase, which has also been on my wish list for a very very long time.

After the shock of it all, I had to go and pour myself a glass of sparkling wine with which to toast my very good fortune and Pepper's generosity. And start planning the ‘backatcha’ parcel.

(This could continue for quite some time...)

December dinner: step by step

Step One: Pull a set of vintage German (Vero?) chairs out of the pile of treasures.

Step two: Flick through a pad of scrapbooking paper left out from a previous scene and find a paper that works with the chair.

Step three: Have a shower and ponder what the scene will be. Think about a patisserie. Realise that four chairs and almost no cakes does not make a good patisserie. Decide to keep it simple and go with a dining room (it's been a while since you did a dining room, after all...) 

Step four: Drive to work (after getting dressed, in case you're concerned!) and challenge yourself to doing more than a room corner. Pondering the 1950s chair and the 1950s-style wallpaper, think about an updated take on traditional 1950s style. Then wonder if you could use the shed wall and french doors to create a double room, since the shed seems to be getting no further toward being finished.

Step five: Return home for work, plunder stash for accessories and set up said double-room scene:

Step six: Spend far too much time photographing the scene, before realising blobs of Blu-tack are showing and wine glasses are wonky.

Step seven: Correct wonkyness and re-photograph scene.

Step eight: Collapse,  'forgetting' to put away the pieces.

Against the grain

Remember Saturday's Officeworks haul?

Did you notice, like I did, that the grey kitten and the wood-grained paper seemed to belong together?

I also thought that the Lundby shelving unit that I painted yellow at the same time I painted that table might work with them. And I was right. (I did wonder, at this stage, if I was belatedly creating another corner of a scene I blogged in mid 2011)

After plundering the stash (both old and new) for items to display on the shelves, I was close. But not happy, as the white items read as cream when placed in the shelves. And I was worried that anyone trying to sit in the armchair would smack their head.

 So I made a few changes, and was (finally) happy.

(Although if this becomes anything more than a sideways scene remains to be seen...)