miniatures — Page 72

On the Road and Mini Roseville Pottery

April 22, 2016 at 8:09 am by Claudia

Greetings from Hartford. I headed to the city yesterday afternoon, as I have an all-day rehearsal ahead of me and trying to get here during the morning rush hour would have been a futile and frustrating endeavor. As it was it took me longer than usual to reach Hartford due to evening rush hour traffic.

I spent most of the evening watching the news coverage of the untimely death of Prince. Shocking. Much too young. And so continues a year of untimely deaths in the music world.

Before I left, Caroline asked me to take some pictures of her newest finds. As I was packing and running around the cottage, I told her I had to do it quickly. (I don’t know where her camera is, but surely she can afford one?)

4-22 miniroseville

Oh my goodness!

I’m trying to curb my immediate reaction, which is pure jealousy.

On the left, Peony. On the right, Iris.

I have a few pieces of Peony, but not a one in Iris. I asked Caroline where she found them, but she refused to reveal her source. We watched the movie Spotlight the other night – maybe she thinks she’s a reporter?

Spotlight, by the way, was excellent. The Martian, on the other hand, was not. (Why, I wonder, was every astronaut, every employee of the Johnson Space Center, and every reporter impossibly young and beautiful? And that was the least absurd aspect of the movie.)

But back to the mini Roseville.

4-22 ontheshelf

Caroline quickly rearranged her shelf to add the Peony piece to the mix. You can see the Blu Tack that secures each piece. That will have to remedied at a future date. I had no time to deal with that as I had to get on the road.

4-22 onthecabinet

She placed the Iris vase on top of the cabinet, but didn’t really like it there. She has since moved it to the mantel.

I’ll get a picture of that when I get back home.

(Thanks to reader Mickey who sent me a link to this shop, SP Miniatures, where I found more of the Jeannetta Kendall miniature Roseville pottery!)

And now it’s time to get ready for rehearsal. This will be the first time I’ve seen the cast since the announcement that Anastasia is going to go to Broadway. Very, very exciting!

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Top Secret Project: Oh, That Orange!

April 18, 2016 at 9:11 am by Claudia

Don: Do not read any further!! Stop here. xo

Don was out and about yesterday morning, so I took the opportunity to work on the TSP, along with cleaning out the big garden bed. Spray painting was on the docket, which has to be done outside, so I painted, then started raking out the big garden bed in between coats of paint. I managed to get it done and hide all traces of my activity before Don came home. (I even finished raking out the garden bed.)

When I went to Lowe’s the other day, I was also looking for just the right color of spray paint for this:

10-19 fireplace

Do you remember this little project that I made last year? It’s from a tutorial by Kris at 1 Inch Minis.

As I was ready to dip my toes into the TSP once again, I thought this would be a good start.

I taped off the interior of the fireplace, went outside with spray paint in hand, and sprayed two coats of orange paint. After it was all dry, I hand painted the interior.

4-16 tsppaint

To my surprise, it worked! I love, love the way this looks!

The paint is by Valspar. It’s Premium Finish Interior/Exterior High Gloss (paint and primer all in one.) The interior paint is from FolkArt – Black Metallic. I already had that on hand.

When I look at this fireplace, I see an A-Frame house built in the sixties – perhaps a ski getaway, or a house on a lake. It brings back memories, that’s for sure.

4-16 TSPfireplace1

Now, doesn’t that just make you smile. I love the way the orange shows up in the Beatles canvas. On Paul, of course – my young girl crush.

4-16 TSPfireplace3

The pipe will look straighter when I can attach it to the roof, which has yet to be painted. To be honest, I love the way the light pours in the TSP without the roof. I’m not sure yet if I want to put it on! I’m pondering that one.

4-16 tspanotherview

In the TSP: a mini guitar. Outside the sliding doors: Don’s real-life guitar stand. Real Life meets Miniature Life.

I told Don I was real excited about ‘a secret thing I worked on while you were away.’ He is eager to see the finished product so we have now set a deadline. I will have it done by June 24, his birthday. I mentioned that it would look finished but that I reserved the right to tweak it as necessary.

So now I’m making lists of Must Haves.

It felt good to do something, to accomplish something. Ever since my dad died, my creative spark has been missing. It’s slowly reemerging. Slowly. That makes me happy.

4-16 DHlivingroomwithroseville

A late afternoon shot of Caroline’s living room with Roseville pottery.

I have a book review up on Just Let Me Finish This Page: I Let You Go by Claire Macintosh. I won’t give away anything except to say the this is an incredible read. Stop by.

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Mini Gifts for Caroline (I’m Not Jealous. I’m Not.)

April 16, 2016 at 9:10 am by Claudia

I guess it’s no secret that Caroline has a boyfriend. This is rather a big deal because she likes to stay unattached. She has a busy schedule. She’s fiercely independent. She earns a good salary and bought her house a few years ago. She travels. She likes her own company.

She’s kept the whole thing fairly quiet (she’s very private.) I respect that, having been through much the same thing when I first met Don.

However, yesterday she called out to me and asked me to drop by Hummingbird Cottage. She wanted to show me something. She was clearly excited. I’d venture to say she was almost giddy.

He had given her a present, seemingly out of the blue. “Look!” she said. “He gets me!”

4-16 minirosevillefromadmirer

Oh my goodness! Bravo! He definitely gets her.

I can see why she was so excited. Two beautiful pieces of Roseville in the White Rose pattern. I have one piece in White Rose. Caroline now has three!

They’re beautiful.

I watched as she walked around the living room, searching for the best place to display each piece. The shelf that holds four pieces of Roseville is rather crowded, so she needed to branch out.

4-16 peachrosevilleontable

She moved some things off that little blue table and replaced them with the salmon colored jardiniere. She thought, and rightly so, that it worked with the rug and the Aubusson pillow on the sofa. Beautiful, Caroline. (She does have good taste, doesn’t she?)

Now for the vase.

4-16 rosevilleonmantel

Ah. The mantel. It looks lovely there. (We won’t go into my jealousy over Caroline’s mantel. It doesn’t speak well of me.)

A closer look:

4-16 rosevilleonmantel2

I love it. In fact, (yes, the green-eyed monster is rearing its ugly head again) I’m rather coveting that vase. Note to self: must check out White Rose patterns on eBay. STAT.

I tried to get a good photo of the living room this morning so I could show you how the Roseville is placed throughout the living room, but the light is lacking. I’ll get one this afternoon. I have to say that the Roseville adds a lovely, warm, vintage touch to the room.

This guy sounds like a keeper.

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

On the Road and Mini Roseville Pottery

Top Secret Project: Oh, That Orange!

Mini Gifts for Caroline (I’m Not Jealous. I’m Not.)

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives