miniatures — Page 92

It’s Still Christmas Here at the Cottage

December 30, 2013 at 9:17 am by Claudia

In a small act of defiance:

Mondayfinalbokeh

Another Christmas photo. Because, for us, the Christmas season is still here. Try as I might, I can’t understand removing all traces of Christmas as soon as that particular day ends. What?? It seems so abrupt, like pulling a rug out from under someone’s feet, or dangling a beautiful treat in front of someone’s eyes and just as it gets close enough to be fully experienced, it’s gone. Poof!

To me, the Christmas season lasts until New Year’s Day. To others, it lasts even longer – until Epiphany. And last night, as we were watching the Kennedy Center Honors and admiring our beautiful tree, we decided it will stay up until at least this Friday, which will be January 3rd. I’m in no hurry to get rid of the tree. I’m in no hurry to get rid of Christmas. This is one of the reasons I wait until the second week of December to decorate. I want to experience the holiday season fully and if I chose to decorate too early, I’d run the risk of getting tired of it all much too soon.

Of course, I know very well that everyone has different traditions. But, to me, the holiday season doesn’t end abruptly at 12 am on December 26th. I can only remember a couple of times in our almost twenty years together that we took down our decorations before the New Year and that was because we had to leave our house for work out of town.

Didn’t like it.

Though I am tired of all the Christmas decorating posts, however beautiful, that have been going on since right after Thanksgiving. So I promise to post only this one photo!

We had a lovely visit with our friend yesterday with stimulating conversation and lots of laughter. It ended much too soon. As always, when someone we know and love sees the house for the first time, it was dark and rainy. Go figure. When we first moved into the cottage, we were treated to a visit by Don’s brother and his wife. We were so excited to share our house and our beautiful property with them; they had been such a source of support for us as we made the move into home ownership. They drove up here from NYC, where they had been staying on business, and it rained torrentially. A rain the locals ended up dubbing ‘a hundred years rain.’ You could barely see anything for the rain. It didn’t stop until they had left to return to the city.

It’s happened repeatedly since then. What can I say? It’s strange, but true.

Practicing some close-ups of the dollhouse (forgive any specks of dust you might see):

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dhshells

dhwickerchair

dhfireplace

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dhsofa

Happy Monday.

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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.

leasbook

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?

dhplateslights

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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It’s Still Christmas Here at the Cottage

Macros and Miniatures

A Miniature Lollapalooza of a Day

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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