My first destination was Paris for a few days. It's been years since my last trip there and I enjoyed the city more this time.
I've been neglecting miniatures and this blog but now I'm back...sort of. Back to the blog but just starting to work on my miniature projects again . A 3 week vacation, changes at work, and the death of a pet are the main reasons for my absence. In lieu of dollhouse news, I'll do some postings on my trip. I've got a ton of photos that I'm still sorting through!
My first destination was Paris for a few days. It's been years since my last trip there and I enjoyed the city more this time.
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Last weekend I ventured down to Seattle with the boyfriend (see his blog here) for the NW Dollhouse & Miniature Show and a little event called Emerald City Comicon (more on those in another post). Luckily, we had some time to see the Lego exhibits and even stop by the Lego store in Bellevue. If I had seen these displays before hitting the store I would have bought something for sure! As it was, I was too indecisive and went home Lego free. That's probably a good thing considering the unfinished miniature projects I have piling up. First up, the Shire by Michael Kuroda: And now the amazing Hogwarts by Alice Finch: Such creativity encourages me to get on with my Hogwarts projects...any year now :P
I've considered calling the birdcage Crow Cottage for awhile now. Except, I'm now wondering how much it looks like a cottage. I took it to my parent's house one night to work on and my mother said it's gaudy. I'm happy wih parts of it, but it can be difficult to evaluate when it's still a work in progress. Next steps are to glue in the door and make the second floor. The mdf walls have been painted and wallpapered, I did some touch-ups with wood filler, the windows completed with trim, and ribbon has been used for baseboards. As I do things, I often think here's the first and last time I do a shell floor, the first and last time I do oval windows... The end product works out but there's some swearing in the execution. The floor was a bit of a project in itself - the main components are mdf, shell pieces bought at Michaels, and Richard Stacey Mortar grout mix (cement based adhesive). I had bought the grout mix for Hogwart's stone tiles but decided to use it on this instead. The first time I laid out the pieces, puzzle-like, it didn't take long at all. However, transferring that pattern from the cardboard to the same sized piece of mdf didn't quite work and the second time the layout was slower going. I sealed the mdf with a coat of watered-down glue before gluing down the shells. The mdf simply rests on top of the birdcage bottom tray. You can see some of the steps below: I have made some progress on a few of my projects and have been thinking each week that I should blog something. Unfortunately, I didn't get anything truly finished before the end of 2012. And although, it feels like I'm getting close to finishing some houses, the more I consider the finishing touches required, the further from done they appear. Right now, I'm concentrating on completing the birdcage, Jolley's Emporium, and the Yule Tide. At least the Yule Tide is mostly at the furniture and accessories stage. In the meantime, I packed the Hogwarts roombox away and am attempting to tidy my work table (aka, the dining room table. It's a good thing dinner parties happen only once in a blue moon).
I've been sick for a week so that's my latest excuse for not getting much done. I have been working on the walls for the birdcage and the windows for Jolley's. I really need to remember to reread the instructions as I go along. More on that at another date. I was moaning to boyfriend and sister about pop up stores...specifically the Dior at Le Printemps. Ignoring the fact that I do not have money to splurge on their items, nevermind airfare, a few of the products had me drooling. The pop-up book and the snowglobe look wonderful. Although, the holiday windows in Paris are probably worth the trip itself. See the video of the Dior windows here. Dolls, miniature handbags, hot air balloons, carousels, glitter cotton candy; it's all fabulous. Luxury designer windows with dolls get me all verklempt! And don't get me started on the snowglobes. For Louis Vuitton, the VIP customers can get gifts of snowglobes and miniature trunks. Some designers sell snowglobes for store anniversaries or other occasions but how often am I ever in Paris? To start, maybe I should find a friend who lives in Paris or at least visits frequently... During some online searches for furniture templates I came across these pop-up furniture collections at Paul Pape Designs. If I do buy some and manage not to completely botch putting them together I'll write about it ;) Well, I thought I had made up my mind about Hogwarts...then I changed it again, and again. I did order some material for the outside castle walls and a bookcase to finish off furnishing the classroom. Part of the problem is if it takes me this long to do one room, how long would it take to do the 3 others I had planned for a whole tower?
Long ago I had picked out the wallpaper for the birdcage. The photo on the bottom left is of my sister's McQueen scarf. I'll use closeups to decorate the upstairs section / the bedroom. I couldn't find nice photos of it online so weeks later I finally laid it out and took some photos. They aren't great, to be honest, so I might have to take some more. For the downstairs birdcage space I found pictures of another Alexander McQueen scarf online. The patterns (especially the skulls) aren't as obvious when looking at the closeups. I do love the earthy detail of the compositions - flowers, leaves, shells, etc. For some of the quarter scale projects, I've been browsing spoonflower.com. If I sewed I'd be buying tons of fabric here! I don't know what to do about my Hogwarts project. I actually attempted some planning of a castle tower and thought I had settled on the overall design but I'm still wondering what scale would be best. My condo can only hold so many miniatures and my sister has restricted most of my projects to reside in my room once they're complete. So a 1:12 scale Hogwarts tower could take up a fair bit of space. Plus if I did it in quarter scale I could add more rooms :)
My other problem is that I've bought a bunch of things for a 1:12 tower but am only satisfied with my furnishings for the classroom. Hence, I'm contemplating making a 1:12 classroom box and doing the rest of Hogwarts in 1:4. I guess I could repurpose some of the items I had bought for another 1:12 house or sell them, which would be a hassle. Opinions? One of the rooms I was planning on creating was the office of Dolores Umbridge. However, I'm puzzled why the pictures of the office from the WB studio tour in London looks different from films. It looks like gold topped columns and pink tiles have replaced the stone walls, and the pink curtains and oversized lampshade are missing. Macy's Window Display This was the first photo I took in New York - a mini circus display in Macy's window. The circus opened after my trip was over but the ads looked interesting. I had also planned on going to the Museum of the City of New York to see the dollhouses on display there but due to weather (and grumpiness) that didn't happen. Next time. I did check out the dollhouse section in FAO Schwarz and a local shop, the Tiny Doll House. FAO was disappointing - the one salesperson was busy and there didn't see to be much stock in that area (it's just one counter and some shelves behind and beside it). The Tiny Doll House is up on East 78th St. near 2nd Ave. It has a big selection of items, except for smaller scales (I didn't see any quarter scale). I'll definitely stop by again the next time I'm in New York. This time I didn't buy much except for some gothic panels and a white owl...I found Hedwig, but am still on the lookout for Mrs. Norris. Tonight I'll be on a red-eye, off for a 2 week vacation. Right now it hardly feels like a holiday - I always get stressed about packing and the actual travel bit (getting there...I can't really relax until I've checked into the hotel or ship cabin). Sis is taking her tablet but I somehow doubt I'll be clever enough to blog on it. When I'm back I'll try to figure out how to add followers. And if people are interested I can add some vacation photos.
If I had planned ahead I would have left you-know-who with Hogwarts instructions, but it's turning out to be a much neglected project. Maybe when I get back, I'll also look into this. Now, back to packing :( Where's Vivienne when you need her? |
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