dollhouse — Page 67

Minis: SquintBox, a Monthly Subscription Service

July 11, 2016 at 9:58 am by Claudia

As I was scrolling through Instagram a week or so ago, I came across a post by Kat of KittyandKatMiniatures saying something called a SquintBox had arrived at her door. What is a SquintBox? I asked. Kat referred me to this site and I must say, my interest was definitely piqued.

SquintBox is a monthly subscription service created by Darren Scala, the founder of D. Thomas Fine Miniatures (which happens to be across the Hudson River and then due south from me – time for a trip to the shop). I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but monthly subscription boxes have become very popular of late. I’ve seen them for beauty products and books and food, so why not minis? Darren calls it: Your Monthly MiniFix™ You get a box delivered to your door monthly with up to 6 different handmade miniatures inside.

Well, this is manna from heaven for this girl! I signed up and then I wrote a note to Darren who generously sent me this inaugural box to review for all of you.

It arrived in my mailbox on Saturday:

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Just after opening the box. I had to contain my enthusiasm so that I could ‘document’ this via my camera.

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This is the booklet that is included and it answers any and all questions about SquintBox.

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Lovely packaging, don’t you think? Untying the bow….

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And there’s the box. Inside?

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More charming packaging with the theme for this month’s selection: Celebration!

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Inside each of these little envelopes were the minis. Darren has put so much thought into the packaging; each of these packets display graphics for the particular type of mini inside, and on the back is a fun quote. For example, on the back of Drinks: “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson.

The little ‘Celebration’ booklet describes this month’s theme and also includes information on this month’s Miniaturist Spotlight: Michael Yurkovic of Atomic Miniature. (Darren is also having a contest for the chance to win one of Michael’s miniatures – you’ll find more information on the site.)

What minis were chosen this month?

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A retro Cosmopolitan magazine, a bottle of California Red wine, a very Carrie Bradshaw-esque Cosmopolitan in a martini glass with a lemon twist, an extension cord, candles (with wicks!), and a blueberry pie in a real tin pie pan.

These are, of course, fabulous for mini making and dollhouses, but they can also be used in crafting, room boxes, shadow boxes or simply for the joy of collecting miniatures.

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Oh my heavens. Adorable.

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Preparing for a celebration…

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I’m in love with that Cosmo! (in a real glass, no less.)

There’s lots more information over at mysquintbox (dot) com – here’s the link.

I think it’s such a neat idea! It’s a great way to discover miniatures you might not find in your local shop (if you even have one) or online. It’s a great way for someone like me who doesn’t have a stash of mini accessories on hand to build one. You can keep them, you can give them as gifts, you can add them to your dollhouse, you can use them for scrapbooking…

And via the monthly Miniaturist Spotlight, you’ll learn about all the wonderful miniaturists working and creating out there.

Darren, thank you for this wonderful idea and for sending me the inaugural box so that I could share this with my readers. SquintBox is available to all US customers, and fear not, the international launch is coming.

You can find all about the pricing options on the site; a monthly plan, a 3-month plan and a 6-month plan.

I can’t wait to get the next box, which should arrive in my mailbox by the end of this month.

If you follow SquintBox on social media, you’ll be privy to contests that are going on – this month’s is a chance to win one of Michael Yurkovic’s ashtrays – hand signed

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(Photo courtesy of D. Thomas Fine Miniatures – and the SquintBox site.)

(I received this inaugural box in exchange for my honest review.)

Happy Monday.

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Mini Dilemmas: Where to Put the Roseville?

July 10, 2016 at 9:47 am by Claudia

I haven’t touched on it, simply because it seemed wise to keep mum, but since it all came to a head yesterday, I’ll fill you in.

Caroline has been upset with me for the past couple of months. Why, you ask? Well, I’ve been upstairs in the new office/studio space working on another project. For someone else. Caroline’s house has been turned so that the front of it is facing into the den and I haven’t really had anything to do with it. I’ve barely checked in.

I tried to explain that the new project was for Don and it was for a special birthday, blah, blah, blah, and though she somewhat understood, her nose was definitely out of joint.

“When you worked on my house, you were downstairs all the time. Now you’re hidden away upstairs!”

“If I call out to you, you can’t hear me.”

Point taken. I spent some time with her yesterday, as she had an issue with the shelf on the wall in the living room – the one that was displaying some Roseville pottery. It kept falling down. Both she and I were sick of trying to reattach it only to have it fall down again and we were worried about the Roseville breaking.

After throwing around some ideas, we came up with a solution. The shelf has been taken down and the Roseville is now here:

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We even pulled the fireplace away from the wall so you could better see what we’ve done.

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We all know that displaying favorite collections together in a group makes a powerful statement, right?

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Ignore the somewhat disconcerting appearance of a blueberry pie on the kitchen floor. That’s part of a review I’m going to do tomorrow for a new monthly subscription called SquintBox:

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Tune in tomorrow!

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The living room, sans shelf. You can see another piece of Roseville on the blue table.

Caroline and I chatted for quite a while and she seems happy now. Of course, she wants to visit the new Studio, but we’ll have to ask the resident for permission. He’s very protective about his personal space!

Happy Sunday.

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Playing

July 7, 2016 at 9:22 am by Claudia

We are in the middle of a heat wave here. Both Don and I were feeling blue yesterday and the heat, which kept us indoors much of the day, didn’t help. I did go out twice to water the newish plants. I think I’ll water them three times today – the relentless heat and sun is hard on them.

I’ll admit to feeling at sixes and sevens since I presented the TSP/Studio to Don on his birthday. I miss moving minis around! I miss playing ‘house.’ I know I need to dive into my next project (building the Fairfield) but I find I’m not quite ready for that. Soon, very soon…but in the meantime, I pulled out The Loft that I got from Target and played.

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Taken late yesterday afternoon with the afternoon sun pouring in the windows of our office.

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Taken this morning.

The chair, if you remember, was a purchase from AlicesMiniatures on Etsy. The red table was a Michael’s find. The pottery was a gift from Barbara from ValueARTifacts on Etsy. The books were in my stash, and the artwork on the wall was a gift from Brae.

I don’t have a lot of minis stored away in a stash (wish I did!) like many other miniaturists. In time, in time! But I wanted to create a scene with what I do have. Gabrielle, who made the sofa for the TSP, is in the process of finishing another one that I commissioned – this time in red! That will go rather nicely in this scene, don’t you think?

If I was to do more with the Loft, I’d paper the walls. The wood grain on the walls is so out of scale! The floor is fine, but the walls have a real-sized wood grain. Perhaps I’ll do more with The Loft while I get ready to start my half-scale build. In the meantime, it’s fun to play!

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Hurrah! My favorites, the purple coneflowers, are starting to bloom.

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I know this photo is blurry and normally I wouldn’t use it. It was very breezy yesterday and I couldn’t capture this flower during a still moment, but I wanted you to see this teeny-tiny bee that was crawling around on the coneflower. Microscopic, almost!

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Beautiful ruffled daylilies.

You know, Don will be in one episode of Mr. Robot this season. I had a feeling that some of you thought he wouldn’t be in it at all. He has a nice scene with his daughter. Fingers crossed it doesn’t end up on the cutting room floor. That happened last season. (Can you tell I’m feeling a bit cynical about the whole thing right now?)

Happy Thursday.

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Minis: SquintBox, a Monthly Subscription Service

Mini Dilemmas: Where to Put the Roseville?

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