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You are here: Home / Archives for dollhouse

Assembling, Walking, Listening & Reading

September 16, 2016 at 8:58 am by Claudia

The heat went on this morning. I don’t mind telling you, I was shocked!

NO! I’m not ready yet, thank you very much.

Yesterday was gorgeous, a simply lovely day. We took a two-mile trail walk late in the day. Earlier in the day, I put this together:

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It wasn’t hard – once I got into the rhythm of it, the construction ran very smoothly. I really love it. The wood is beautifully finished. The two holes you can see are there in case you want to hang it on the wall.

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Now I’m on a furniture finding mission – that will be fun! I want to gather enough pieces together to give Little Z a choice. I’m visualizing them in a big box with his name on it, where he can reach inside and sort through them, picking what he wants on any given day.

We wrote our little letter yesterday morning and sent it off to Zachary’s school. We won’t be there for any celebration, that is happening in the next week or so. Mere and I were laughing during our phone conversation yesterday – if I know Little Z, he won’t even be listening to the letter when it’s read aloud, he’ll be thinking or doing something else entirely. That’s how he rolls.

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Here’s the little Bose wireless speaker. It’s seven inches long and about 2½ inches high. Great sound! It sits on a charging station.

I finished reading Martha’s Vineyard: Isle of Dreams  yesterday and I felt like I was ending a visit with a very good friend. I didn’t want it to end. Susan Branch has that wonderful, warm quality to her writing. You feel like you could plop down on a chair in her kitchen and talk the day away. That is no mean feat. Are you following along on their journey to England? They should have docked by now. I’ll have to catch up today.

Actually, we have a lot in common, Susan and I. We’re both late bloomers and we didn’t meet the loves of our lives until later in life. Both of us thought that the chances of that happening were nil. And then, when you least expect it…there he is. We’re nesters. Gardeners. Romantics. We love Fred Astaire (I used to be rather expert in all things Fred Astaire.) We love old standards and the Great American Songbook. We love birds and animals and vintage and collecting. We love old movies; many of her favorites are also my favorites.

I feel like she’s a sister I’ve never met. I bet lots of you feel the same way, because she writes about things that are important to so many of us. I’ve followed her a long time. Maybe some day, I’ll get to meet her.

P.S. If any of you are being redirected to an update Adobe Flash site, please let me know. It’s been happening on my end and my suspicion is that it’s due to an ad. I’ve also got my security guys checking into it. If it ends up being an ad, I’ll disable them until we get to the bottom of it.

Happy Friday.

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Tagged With: Susan BranchFiled Under: books, dollhouse, Little Z, Susan Branch 40 Comments

In the Mail

August 21, 2016 at 10:25 am by Claudia

Red and I have problems. I love  red, but photographing it is always problematical. Whether it’s a red rose or a red sofa (as you will soon see) I can never quite get the tint/shade right.

I got a package in the mail yesterday – all the way from Australia. Gabrielle, who made the sofa for Don’s mini studio, made another one in red. For me, not Don. It’s a deeper red, but heck if I can get it to register, no matter how much I tweak it on Lightroom.

So just know that the sofa has less of an orange tint and more of a deep cherry tint.

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Not quite right. But enough of that. Isn’t it beautiful?

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Here it is in the loft. It might be a bit too long for this house, but I’m currently saving up for another house, so it may move around. Trying to photograph the loft yesterday was equally frustrating. Maybe I’ve lost my mini photography mojo? It needs some pillows, so I just might have to trot over to Brae’s Etsy shop.

Also in the mail on Friday: some wallpaper for the newest project, the half-scale Fairfield.

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These are William Morris prints in half-scale, along with a tile I might be using (lower right hand corner.) ItsyBitsyMini, where I get all my mini wallpaper, has most of their designs available in half-scale and quarter-scale as well as 1:12 scale. And their customer service is great. These arrived with a slight crease/wrinkle, which limits what I can do with them. ItsyBitsyMini promptly responded and is sending new sheets next week. Thank you!

And to top off my ‘packages in the mail,’ a big, heavy box arrived yesterday. I wasn’t expecting anything other than the sofa so I was, to put it mildly, quite curious! It was from my friend Donna and her daughter Amanda – Amanda designed the Bedrooms coloring book, remember?

Inside was a thank you card and a gift for hosting the giveaway. It was my pleasure to host it, since I’ve known Donna for such a long time. And Amanda sent me my own copy of the coloring book, so I was quite happy.

Here is what I unwrapped:

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A vintage set of Shakespeare, illustrated and in three volumes, and edited by well-known Shakespearean scholar, A. L. Rowse. Oh, my heavens!

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It’s beautifully illustrated and includes photographs from various productions. I never see this set in any shop or used bookstore. But Donna and Amanda have serious junking/thrifting skills (Donna has an Etsy shop) and somehow she found this.

Thank you, dear Donna and Amanda. I’m thrilled to have this in my library and will treasure it always.

Two brief-ish book reviews on Just Let Me Finish This Page today. Stop by!

Happy Sunday.

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Filed Under: dollhouse, friends, gifts, life, miniatures 30 Comments

Creative Messes & A Quick Trip to IKEA

August 13, 2016 at 9:36 am by Claudia

Lest you think everything is in order around here – or that every photo I take is styled.

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Yes, this is what it looks like up here in the office/studio. It’s a mess. A creative mess, but a mess nonetheless.

We went to IKEA yesterday. It takes an hour and a half to get there – it’s in New Jersey – so we rewarded ourselves with lunch while we were there. The new catalogue is out and I grabbed a copy as soon as we entered the building.

There were a couple of things I wanted to get. For Little Z:

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This dollhouse, which can stand alone or hang on a wall. It’s the Flisat Doll House. I saw it on my friend Kat’s Instagram feed and since every time we Face Time with Little Z, he wants to see my dollhouse, I thought this might be fun for him. I’m not quite sure what to do with it yet. Do I decorate it à la Paw Patrol? Or is that too limiting? Do I gather up some basic furniture that is appropriate for a five year old boy, so he can play with it? Not sure yet, but I don’t mind saying I wouldn’t mind hanging this on my  wall! But, as you well know, the available wall space around here has already been taken.

Besides some new fry pans (which we desperately needed) and some new drinking glasses, I also spotted this little piece and decided it would be perfect for storing minis:

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That’s what is in the box that’s leaning against the wall in the second photo. Now, unfortunately, I have to put it together, which will result, I’m absolutely sure, in lots of cursing.

The dollhouse is in the big blue IKEA bag. I have about 8 of these bags now, because I always forget to take the bags I already own with me when I visit IKEA and end up having to buy new ones. Since they are handy for so many things, among them, moving my crap into temporary housing when I’m in Hartford, I don’t mind having more.

There is an Excessive Heat Warning today with the heat index headed to well over 100°. I will water. I will walk down to the mailbox to get the mail. That’s it. I’m hiding indoors for the rest of the day, putting together fiddly pieces from IKEA, and…maybe…straightening things up around here.

I framed the watercolor of Scout:

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It’s so beautiful. Now, we just have to figure out the best place to hang it. There has been much discussion, but we haven’t come up with a decision yet. To be continued.

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: dollhouse, Ikea, Little Z, office, studio 50 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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