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You are here: Home / Archives for miniatures

Lilacs, Orange & Movies

May 1, 2016 at 9:14 am by Claudia

It is going to rain for the next three days, so I ran outside yesterday to check on the ‘status of the lilacs.’

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Oooh! They’re blooming!

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You’d better believe I was getting as close to those flowers as I could in order to get a whiff of that heavenly scent.

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Now that the daffodils have bloomed and the lilacs are just about to be in full bloom, I can say that Spring is finally here.

Yesterday we did something we rarely do. We went to the movies, and not for the discount matinee. The back story is that a movie has just come out that features a close friend of ours and we knew we had to see it. We wanted to see it. So we drove across the river to a neighboring city to catch the 12:10 matinee. Tickets? $20.00. A bottle of water and a modest size of popcorn? $13.00.

What the heck?

$33.00 to see a movie? This is why we don’t go and instead, wait for the movie to be On Demand on our cable network or on Netflix. How do people who routinely go to the movies afford it? We sure can’t.

And then we had to sit there and watch a bunch of commercials and previews for television  shows. Really?? I can see that at home. Unbelievably annoying and, unfortunately, no mute button (something we freely use during commercials.)

More and more I feel like one of those older people who say, “Back in my  day…” Heck, I remember going to matinees when I was a kid – double features, no less – for a grand total of 25 cents.

Another reason not to go is the noise/texting/selfie ridiculousness that goes on, but thankfully, there were few people in the audience and they were all older, so no problem on that front.

On the TSP front: (Don, stop here.) I had an epiphany about a color choice, but now that I’ve executed the whole thing, I’m having some doubts. I may have to change it out.

I made two table tops for a working desk/console. Don likes color and, as I mentioned before, I have been thinking that the other side of the room needs color. And I want it to be cheery. So I made two table tops and painted them turquoise, which is a color Don really loves. So far, so good.

5-1 tabletops

Then, to weigh them down and keep them from warping, I used an old standby:

5-1 shakespeareweight

It helps to have a heavy volume of the Bard on hand.

Earlier in the week, I had purchased a couple of dowels at Michael’s and I decided to use one for the legs on the table. Now, unlike a lot of miniaturists, I don’t have any power tools (except a 25 year old drill) and no place to store them even if I did have them, so I have to resort to a hand saw or my trusty Easy Cutter. I measured out eight legs and cut them as best I could.

Here’s where I think I made a mistake – paint color. I was debating whether the legs should be black or silver or white when I thought…”Orange! Like the fireplace!” Turquoise and orange look great together so why not? I grabbed my can of orange spray paint and went to town, then I glued the legs on (a pain in the tush) and let them dry overnight.

You see, I wanted the studio to be cheery and bright and full of color – an inspiring place in which to create.

Here’s the end result.

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Does this look too circus-y to you? Keep in mind that there will also be a computer monitor and a mixing board on top of the longer table. I took the legs off the keyboard because I’ve seen so many home studios with just the keyboard on the work surface and I like that look.

5-1 tablesTSP2

There will also be a modern swivel desk chair (in black) at the desk, which will help to cut some of the color. And there will be guitars somewhere on that wall, as well as some artwork, all of which might help to balance out the orange legs and end up making that whole wall look quite colorful.

Which I like. And it does help to define the working/recording area of the studio as opposed to the lounging area. And the eating area.  There will also be a rug on the floor, though I’ve not made the final decision on which one I want to buy.

I could always change out the legs, but I think I will hold off for a while until I tinker with the rest of that side of the studio.

Now, I’ll close so I can go upstairs and stare at the desks. And ponder.

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: flowers, garden, miniatures, movies, Top Secret Project 56 Comments

Daffodils & Espresso

April 30, 2016 at 9:04 am by Claudia

Due to the freakish and unexpected snow and ice that hit my gardens and plants as they were already coming out of the ground, some things haven’t bloomed and I don’t think they will this year. For example, my yellow daffodils that live on the edge of the woods. I check them out every day.

Nothing.

But my other daffodils – the ones that are in the big garden bed – don’t come out of the ground as early as the yellow daffs, and I was hoping against hope they would bloom for me.

4-30 daffodils

They have. I must admit giving a little squeak of happiness when I saw them. They’re so delicate and pretty.

Getting these shots required some precarious balancing on my part. Worth it.

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Slightly different angle, different setting. These were planted long ago by a previous resident. Thank you!

We mowed the front part of our property yesterday – what we call ‘tag-team’ mowing. Since our front yard is very expansive, one of us will do about 4 long passes, then the other will take over, etc. Since we alternate, it doesn’t get nearly as tiring. We can only do this, of course, when both of us are in residence. We still have to attend to the Back Forty, but it rained all night last night and the grass will be really wet, so we’ll probably wait until tomorrow.

Don: Stop Right Here!

A couple of items arrived in the mail the other day. The little kitchenette has some updates:

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The light wasn’t entirely cooperating with me, as it was just about to start raining, so it’s a little less crisp than I would like, but you get the idea.

Expresso for the resident, as well as a stool to sit on while drinking coffee and munching on cookies. I love that pop of lime green on the stool.

I’m working on something else, which should (fingers crossed) be finished today. If it is, I’ll take some pictures for you. I’m very excited about this little project. I got so excited yesterday, I could barely contain myself and I have to wait until June 24th to reveal it to Don.

Deep breath, Claudia. You still have some more projects to finish before this can be considered finished.

I love miniatures.

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: flowers, garden, miniatures, Top Secret Project 40 Comments

TSP: Splashes of Red and Orange

April 28, 2016 at 9:11 am by Claudia

Don: You know the drill. Keep Out!

There were only two items in the mailbox yesterday; two boxes designated for the Top Secret Project. As it happened, Don wasn’t home so I didn’t need to sneak them into the house.

First up: I ordered a couple of items from Brae’s Etsy shop. Brae, if you remember, is the brilliant miniaturist who blogs at Otterine. Brae told me she was throwing a few extra items in the box along with the order. She’s a gem. Here’s what I ordered:

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I fell in love with these wonderful pillows that were made by Brae. That shot of orange in the modern print is perfect for the sofa, don’t you think?

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And these lovely potted boxwoods, also made by Brae. I love the way she’s aged the pots. These have been on my Etsy wishlist for a long time, so when I decided to order the pillows, I added them as well. I’m thinking one will be on the front porch/deck – maybe both of them.

Here’s what she added to the package.

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This wonderful bamboo rake, which is now residing in the Roof Garden on Hummingbird Cottage

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Bottles of wine and a magnifying glass – wonderful!

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And this print, taken from a calendar, which I would love to use as artwork in a future project. (Yes, I’m already planning one.)

Thank you, Brae!

The other box was from a company in England, Tumdee Dollshouse Miniatures. Love the name ‘Tumdee’ – it sounds so whimsical!

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Could you die? Oh my goodness. Don would love a life-sized version of this guitar. It came in a mini guitar case, but the case is out of scale, so I’m stowing it away. I’m going to hang the guitars on the wall, I think.

And the other item, which turned out to be a bit disappointing, was a microphone.

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The stand is fine, but the microphone itself is huge. I am sort of a stickler for things being in scale, or as close to scale as possible. It matters to me. I’ve seen another microphone out there that is more accurate in terms of scale but it’s really expensive and I’m not going to pay that much money for it. So, I’ll have to figure out what to do. (It’s looking more like a megaphone to me than a microphone!)

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Yesterday’s instagram photo – isn’t this cool?

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Gosh, I love this project!

Next project – the desk/work table. I’m going to start on that today. I’m debating whether I will stain the wood top or paint it aqua (a color Don really likes). I might paint it because I’m thinking the other side of the room, which is the recording/working/singing area needs a shot of color.

Here’s my big challenge, trying to make something like this:

solid_state_logic_726488x1_nucleus_daw_controller_1289916196000_741439

This is from B & H Photo/Video’s site. FYI, it’s the Solid State Logic DAW Controller. I’m using this just as an inspiration photo. I need to build a tabletop version of something like this, so it looks like the resident musician is mixing and doing all sorts of technical stuff with his recordings. Any ideas on how to construct this, fellow mini lovers? Any ideas would be MOST welcome!

If it’s too difficult, I’ll have to come up with another idea. But I’d sure like to pull this one off.

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: miniatures, Top Secret Project 40 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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