dollhouse — Page 66

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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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.

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Purple

August 5, 2016 at 8:57 am by Claudia

I am reminded every day of my love for shades of purple in the garden. It’s not something I plan. I don’t decide to go for a color scheme as some garden designers do. I just plant what I love. There’s purple phlox, purple coneflowers (lots and lots of them), purple hydrangea, purple catmint, and purple blooms on the crown vetch. There’s also a purple butterfly bush:

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Purple Liatris:

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And, much to my delight, there are purple flowers of the wildflower variety, that pop up here and there on the property.

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I’m not sure what this is called, but it’s on the property every year.

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This is what it looks like when it opens. So pretty!

Then there’s the Purple Loosestrife that pops up down by the culvert – it likes water. Yes, I know it can be invasive but in my nearly 11 years here, it’s never become a problem.

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I became fascinated by this bee. (I have a penchant for snapping pictures of bees.)

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I stopped trying to count the variety of bees on this property, including the honey bees in the catalpa. There are a lot. And that is a good thing! We need them.

I putzed around the house yesterday, watered the plants that needed watering, ran a couple of errands, and worked on the new dollhouse project.

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I put this together – the box for the fireplaces (one on each floor) plus the chimney. Lots of careful punching out of the pieces, trying to figure out the directions, sanding each piece, glueing and clamping. But it turned out well. Sigh of relief.

That was my dad’s screwdriver. I keep it up here in the studio with my tools.

Today? Mowing. Rain is due tomorrow, so we need to tackle the lawn today. And more work on this fiddly dollhouse project. I’m starting to enjoy it, though. The trick with this one will be making design decisions as I go, not my preferred way to work, but since this is half scale, it would be impossible to get my hands inside each room to wallpaper, for example. So I ordered some half scale wallpaper yesterday, after a futile attempt to find what I want in the scrapbook paper aisle. The prints were way too large in scale. I’ll need to paint as I go, as well. Yikes.

Don’t forget to stop by my post, Let’s Not Let Dryness Get in the Way. If you leave a comment, you’ll be in the running to win a $100 Visa Gift Card! #ad

Happy Friday.

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In the Mail

Creative Messes & A Quick Trip to IKEA

Purple

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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