miniatures — Page 91

Macros and Miniatures

December 27, 2013 at 8:22 am by Claudia

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Early morning at the dollhouse. Perhaps some leftover coffee cake along with your coffee? The owner, whose name is Caroline, by the way, is just plain tuckered out after all the Christmas celebrations. She has a couple of days off and she’s planning on kicking back; reading, crafting, listening to music, watching old movies.

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I’ve mentioned this lovely tray before. I got it from Léa Frisoni, an amazing miniaturist. She has a shop in Paris (someday!) and wrote a book Le Grand Livre de la Maison Miniature (The Big Book of the Miniature House.) When I ordered the tray, I briefly considered ordering her book, but the cost of shipping was so high that I couldn’t do it. But recently, while emailing back and forth with my friend, Norma, a miniaturist who lives in Australia, Norma mentioned that she got the book through Amazon. Oh boy!

I did some sleuthing, found it at a shop in this country, and sent the link to a certain someone I live with.

Hint, hint.

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And here it is! It’s a gorgeous book, with lots of photos of Léa’s work, along with instructions for all sorts of things; building a house, building furniture, flooring, paneling….

It’s in French. I studied French for many years but my skills are rusty, at best. Thank goodness for Google Translate. I am anxious to start in on some of the projects. It’s so exciting to have a sumptuous coffee table sized book on miniatures.

In fact, it’s on the coffee table in the den as I write this.

I also got these Macro Filters for my camera (another link that was emailed to a certain someone.) Jen suggested these when I bemoaned the lack of funds for a macro lens for my camera. These are an inexpensive alternative to a macro lens and I’ve just started playing with them. They’re useful in all sorts of places, but most especially in the dollhouse. Thanks so much for the tip, Jen!

Lazy describes our day yesterday. And, most likely, our day today. We both read a lot during the day, Don put salt down on the driveway, we took a walk (it was cold!), we watched my copy of Swing Time, my favorite Astaire and Rogers film.

Last night’s sunset, unedited and right from the camera:

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Happy Friday.

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A Miniature Lollapalooza of a Day

December 19, 2013 at 8:32 am by Claudia

Yesterday was a Miniature Lollapalooza of a day. The mail brought 3 packages addressed to yours truly; I was very excited to say the least.

I ordered some plates from Carrie Lavender, who lives in Australia and has an Etsy shop. I chose them because they each had a bird in the design. They’re made of ceramic and are quite lovely – Carrie shipped them very quickly and they arrived here much sooner than I had even begun to hope for.

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(Sorry for the shadows, I took this picture in the late afternoon.)

There is a method to my madness. I knew exactly where I wanted to use them.

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Right here on the wall in the den. I had that visual firmly fixed in my mind and I was determined to see it come to life. The little bird plate in the middle is actually the saucer that goes with that mug on the table (made by Sofia in Spain.) I decided it needed to join the other bird plates.

The owner of Hummingbird Cottage loves birds and collects bird plates. Do you blame her?

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In this shot you can see I’ve since rearranged the placement of the plates. I like this placement better.

Don’t you love the way our little white Christmas tree is reflected in the window?

Don looked at the plates on the wall, then looked at the whole dollhouse and said, “Can we move in? Can we squeeze in there somehow?”

I wish we could.

I also received a package from Judy and one from a faithful reader of this blog, Maryanne. Judy’s contained some lovely sheep (you know I love sheep) and some ornaments and a vintage edition of Shakespeare’s plays (Don can’t keep his hands off it – it’s so lovely) and a couple of items for the dollhouse. Maryanne sent me all sorts of minis; food items for the kitchen, little mini Christmas presents for under the tree, little animals, and a piece or two of furniture – it was a treasure trove! (Maryann, I’m sending you a thank you note in the mail because I don’t have an email address for you.)

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This dry sink came from Maryanne. The drawers and cupboard door open. Isn’t it lovely? The wrapping paper, bows and ribbon came from Judy.

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Adorable with a capital A. I figure the owner will be wrapping things in her craft room, don’t you?

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Judy also sent this mini carton of Egg Nog. Let the holiday celebrations commence!

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And one of the many little minis in Maryanne’s package was this rolling pin. I added that piece of furniture that the mixer and rolling pin are on to the kitchen the other day. The owner simply didn’t have enough counter space and she likes to bake.

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Little packages from Maryanne.

I. Love. My. Dollhouse.

I. Love. Miniatures.

There, I’ve said it.

And I’m so grateful for the wonderful and generous friends who think of me and Hummingbird Cottage. So many items in this dollhouse are from generous friends and, just as in my life-sized cottage, every item has a story to tell. The dollhouse is enriched and made beautiful by those special gifts. One day I will do a post on these treasures and I’ll tell their stories. Thank you, dear friends.

Today’s Holiday Bokeh:

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The little white Christmas tree in the living room. That’s the hydrangea in the foreground.

Happy Thursday.

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Misadventures & Miniatures

December 12, 2013 at 8:33 am by Claudia

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Yesterday? A day fraught with challenges. For starters, I’m still struggling with this sinus thing and I feel yucky much of the time. Nevertheless, I looked at our upcoming schedule, along with the predictions of a significant snow event Saturday into Sunday and figured it was time to get the Christmas tree. That went smoothly. We had the tree picked out in no time. When we got home, we stopped to have some lunch and then we hauled the Christmas decorations out of the shed, along with the tree stand. Along the way, I realized I had wrenched something in my lower back, which was evident when I was going up and down the stairs. Drat.

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Then it came time to bring the tree inside and fit it in the stand. This requires crouching on all fours on my part. Stuffed up head. Aching back. Try as we might we couldn’t get the stand to lay flat. The legs were uneven, which was perplexing as we had used the stand plenty of times in the past. We tried bending them this way and that and eventually Don started putting pressure on the legs with his booted foot to try and right the situation. He didn’t have his glasses on and stomped on a metal leg while my middle finger was still under it. I screeched in pain. There was a lot of bleeding and a chunk of skin missing from the tip of my finger, but thankfully, nothing was broken. It’s painful and my finger is covered in bandaids, making typing a wee bit difficult. Don felt terrible, of course, but it wasn’t his fault. These things happen.

He had to go back out and buy a new stand.

Decorating the big tree will not happen until tonight or tomorrow night. But it’s very pretty. The little white tree, as you can see from the first picture, has been put up and looks lovely.

The other day, my little package from Spain arrived. Spain! How exciting! What was in it?

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Be still my heart. Miniature plates made out of ceramic, in the most luscious vintage patterns.

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A cup and saucer.

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Another cup and saucer.

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And a matching platter.

Oh my lord. Clearly the owner of Hummingbird Cottage loves china, especially vintage china. She swoons over beautiful, old-fashioned patterns. She haunts antique stores and flea markets, looking for more china for her collection.

Does that sound like anyone else you know?

I’m not sure where these will eventually end up but I’ve been playing with them.

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These pieces are so beautifully done, I can barely stand it. Swoon-worthy. Just as in my life-sized house, there is limited space here in the dollhouse for china.

Will that stop me? No.

These pieces of china came from Sofia’s Etsy Shop – Twelvetimesmoreteeny. She does exquisite work. Stop by and feast your eyes on the loveliness. I could go nuts there.

Happy Thursday.

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Macros and Miniatures

A Miniature Lollapalooza of a Day

Misadventures & Miniatures

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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