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What Next?

May 21, 2016 at 9:08 am by Claudia

I ended up being at rehearsal for most of the afternoon yesterday. I really appreciated the opportunity to speak to the actors one-on-one because sometimes distance or lack of time means I have to email my notes to them. This was much better! I got home around 7:15 and had dinner with Don. But I was really tuckered out after too little sleep the night before, so I hit the bed early.

A couple of things came in the mail while I was away: one for the TSP, one for me. I shot some quick photos this morning but I’m going to have to wait on a photo of the addition to the TSP because it was just too dark. Hopefully, tomorrow.

For me, for a future project:

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This chair.

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It’s from the Etsy shop of Alices Miniatures. It came all the way from England. Alice makes wonderful furniture and other minis and her work is beautifully done. I hope to collect more of it in the future.

Perfect little chair in which to read a good book, don’t you think? I’d like a real size version of it in our office!

Some of you have been asking me about what I’m thinking of for my next project. I have some ideas. It will be eclectic modern, I think. I’m not sure whether I will use the Loft that I got from Target – I tend to want to use that to stage photos of minis. I used it for the photos in today’s post.

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(Photo from MIAIMminiatures)

My dream is to buy one or two of the MiPads from MIAIM Miniatures in England. They are very modern in design and you can buy a floor at a time, so you can build your house slowly. Right now, Elaine Shaw, the designer, has four sections of the MiPad available. But they are expensive, so I’d have to save my pennies.

I love the idea of the MiPads and the clean white palette, which would give me all sorts of decorating options. Elaine’s story is very interesting – she had the concept for these individual pads and funded it through a Kickstarter campaign. You might want to check out her site. She also sells them on Etsy.

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(Photo from the Greenleaf site.)

The other project I have in mind is to tackle a Greenleaf kit that I’ve had around here for several years. It’s the Fairfield dollhouse which is in ½ scale rather than 1″ scale. I’m not especially enamored of the smaller furniture available for ½ scale – it’s hard to get believable and/or intricate detail – but building the house would be a challenge, much more complicated than the TSP, and I’ve been looking at a lot of finished Fairfields lately. Plus, it would take up a lot less room in this small cottage! I can only have so many dollhouses. I think that’s also why I like the MiPads. I can play with them and configure them and I wouldn’t be locked into one finished, permanently wallpapered design, if that makes sense.

I’ve been doing a lot of research online because I want to start a new project soon. The TSP just needs a few additions, and it’s done. Actually, it will be done well before the June 24th deadline!

Now you know what’s been swirling around in my head lately.

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: dollhouse, miniatures 26 Comments

Princess

May 17, 2016 at 9:11 am by Claudia

Wind, wind, and more wind yesterday, which kept going until around 8 pm. I had to run a quick errand, but otherwise, I stayed in. My allergies are making me a not very happy camper. Maybe it’s just me, but they seem much worse this spring. Avoiding flying pollen seemed like the wise choice for yours truly.

So, I puttered around, mostly playing with the Top Secret Project. Don: Stop Here.

Actually, nothing big happened. Just a couple of tweaks. I’m waiting on a couple deliveries and one kit that I have to put together. Otherwise, friends: it’s almost done! And I find myself dreaming of my next project, searching eBay, searching Etsy, thinking of houses, thinking of style (modern, I believe) and knowing that I have to have something to work on.

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I added a Beatles poster. Mini Don finds the Fab Four a source of inspiration.

And, because I think I’m not  adding a roof, I thought the top of the fireplace pipe needed to be finished off a bit more.

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I didn’t place it against the wall, so it’s a little crooked, but you get the idea. I painted the inside of the pipe black and I made a little bit of black trim to finish it off. That way, when someone is standing and looking down into the room, the fireplace will look ‘finished.’

Side note: Do you ever take pictures, think they look fabulous, and when it comes time to edit them you realize they don’t? That happened with both these pictures. But I’m not about to go upstairs and take them again, so I’ll just hang my head in shame and keep on going.

So, as for the TSP, I have to add some chairs to the deck/porch. I need more albums. I’ve ordered another guitar, as well as a piece of art. I’ll probably add some food to the inside of the refrigerator. And there will be a tweak here and there.

We are close to the finish line. Very close.

I need another project!

Do any of you remember the Petite Princess dollhouse furniture that was made by Ideal in the sixties? Gosh, I wanted that furniture! I remember bugging my mom about it to no avail. I never got any. The line of furniture consisted of about 30 pieces, as well as dollhouses and room boxes. It was fancy fantasy furniture done in ¾ scale, rather than the 1 inch scale most commonly found in dollhouse miniatures. That means the pieces look slightly off scale, but you can often work around that.

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That fancy dresser you can see as you enter the door of Hummingbird Cottage is Petite Princess. I found it in a local antique shop many years ago – mint and in the box. It’s on the petite side, as befits the name, but it works in the dollhouse. It’s made of plastic, but you’d never guess it, and the drawers open. I liked it so much that I found another one on eBay and it is in the bedroom.

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Along with that lamp, which is also Petite Princess. (I’ll have to take a picture of the boxes they came in.)

At the same time that I found the dresser in a local shop, I found this:

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A fancy Petite Princess chair done in brocade. See those little gold legs? I found this in one of my bins the other day and it’s now on my desk because I like looking at it.

Let’s stick it in the TSP.

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A bit too fancy for this guy’s music studio, but it does  pick up the orange, doesn’t it?

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Girly chair. Guy chair. Both of them ever-so-slightly smaller in scale.

I’m going to use that Petite Princess chair in some project. It’s in perfect condition. Maybe in a bedroom? There are people who collect this line and I, being a collector, could see myself falling down that particular rabbit hole quite easily. But I won’t.

It does, however, take me back to my youth and my ever present hope that I’d find some Petite Princess furniture under the Christmas tree. I never did. But then again, I would have probably lost track of it all as I have of so many treasures from my childhood.

At least I have some of it now. Always a little girl, no matter what my chronological age.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

 

Filed Under: dollhouse, miniatures, Top Secret Project 44 Comments

A Bit of Everything on Saturday

April 23, 2016 at 8:09 am by Claudia

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I’m back home after a long and satisfying day working on Anastasia.

When I pulled in the driveway around 8 pm, Don had dinner waiting, bless him. What a guy! He also spent the morning putting in our new mailbox. When the guys were here working on our culvert, they had to pull the mailbox out of the ground and when they put it back in, it was too low in height. Our wonderful post person, Lori, had to lean way over to open the box. As the mailbox itself was incredibly rusty after almost 11 years of service, Don replaced the whole thing. And he mowed the lawn.

First things first: today is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. And April 23rd is also considered to be his birthdate, though we can’t know that for sure. Since a great deal of my work has to do with Shakespeare as I gradually work my way through the canon, I couldn’t let this anniversary pass without saying – once again – that I think Shakespeare was the greatest writer ever to walk this earth. I never tire of his work. No matter how many times I’ve worked on a particular play, I learn something new. He understood the human heart. He understood good, greed, temptation, passion, joy, love, jealousy, hate – everything we humans feel and fall prey to. He understood the metaphysical. He was simply a genius. Thank you, Will!

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I posted this on Instagram the other day. When we were out and about on Primary Day, I saw this in our local antique barn. Oh, my heavens. It’s a dollhouse – or rather, a doll barn – called Red Robin Farm. Those doors slide open and the inside is a barn with stalls for animals. The roof lifts off.

I did a little research and this building was manufactured by an American company – Converse, based in Massachusetts – in the early part of the twentieth century. There were varying sizes of these buildings. It looks like this one was one of the largest.

If I’d had an extra $265.00 on hand, I would have seriously considered this beauty. It’s in great condition. Made of wood.

But I must tend to other things, like this little project:

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As you can see, I have yet to deal with the front porch or the trim around the bottom of the building. And I suppose I have to put a roof on, though I don’t want to.

Decisions, decisions. Will I get it done in time for Don’s birthday on June 24th? I have ordered a few more components, but I need some sort of work table that is a bit taller than the temporary farm table I have in there at the moment. I need to figure out how to make a sound board. I’m ordering a couple of stools and I need a coffee maker. What else? A large rug to absorb sound while recording. Lots and lots of vinyl records. I want to make some sort of shelf to hold the records – something I can hang on the wall.

Can I do it? Cross your fingers.

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: antiques, coaching, dollhouse, Hartford, miniatures, Shakespeare 32 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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