miniatures — Page 96

Tweaking an Old Display Shelf

September 11, 2012 at 9:31 am by Claudia

As the days turn crisp and cool, I’ve moved back into my old blogging station – the den. I was using the yellow chair in the living room for several months as that was where Riley was and I needed to be right by his side. As I sit here this morning, sipping on Peet’s French Roast, shawl wrapped around my shoulders (it’s that nippy!) my eye keeps landing on this little wall vignette. (I bought the Lost Lamb print from Debra of Common Ground.)

For those of you who are newer readers of this blog, I tweaked this display shelf a few months back. It started out like this:

I really liked the carved edges of the shelf – sort of scallopy – but I didn’t want to use the mirrors. So I painted the shelf, did a little distressing and then cut scrapbook paper to fit over the glass. Very simple. But what a transformation!

It’s amazing what a coat of paint and some leftover paper can do. This shelf displays my newish miniature pottery collection. What is it about all that is tiny that I love? I am immediately drawn to miniatures. And since I love pottery and have tons of it here in the cottage but have limited space, these smaller pieces seem like the perfect thing to collect.

I want more.

They are not easy to find. But that’s the challenge, isn’t it?

I’m linking this post to my pal Brenda’s Tweak it Tuesday.

Happy Tuesday.

Zinnias, Goldfinches and a Question or Two

August 5, 2012 at 9:23 am by Claudia

My first zinnia has bloomed. Yes, I know it’s a bit late but I seem to forget to put the seeds in the ground until late in the spring. I also planted some sunflower seeds. However, the plants that are coming up look suspiciously like the purple hyacinth bean vine that I planted in pots by the entrance to the dog corral.

I seem to have a problem with sunflowers.

Last year, a blogging friend sent me some giant sunflower seeds, which I excitedly planted. Whatever it was that came up was scrawny and I never saw a giant sunflower. Okay. So this year, I bought my own seeds and planted them. Something is coming up that bears no resemblance to the photo on the seed packet. In fact, yesterday I pulled out the seed packet (which I had saved in a drawer) to make sure that I had actually planted the seeds. I did. So what gives?

On another note: I caught a glimpse of this little goldfinch, who turned out to have a mate, flitting among the weeds on the edge of the property. I shot this through the mesh of the kitchen window screen, so it’s a bit fuzzy. He’d jump from flower to flower, sometimes hanging upside down. It was like watching a gymnastics competition.

Which brings me to a question I have about birds. In the last week or so, I no longer see birds at the birdbath. There was so much activity earlier in the summer and now….none. All of the rain and bird activity had dirtied up the birdbath, so I cleaned it out thoroughly, thinking that might be keeping them away. Still no birds. It’s so hot right now, I would think they’d be using the birdbath more than ever. And though I’m indoors a lot these humid days, I don’t even see them flying around. Where are they?

What gives? Does anyone out there have any information?

I miss them. That’s why I was so happy to see the goldfinches yesterday.

Other business: A few of you asked about the cabinets and plate rack I bought for the dollhouse kitchen. They are made by JBM Miniatures. I first discovered them on this site, but they no longer have them in 1″scale. They do still carry them in 1/2″scale. On checking the JBM site, I see they are also sold out. (This is why I decided to bite the bullet and purchase them the other day.) I found Grandma Holly’s House online and they had 2 left in stock. I just checked and there is still one available.

It’s a little more money than I would usually spend, but the units are so well made and are very high quality. The drawers open and are beautifully finished. To me, they were worth the investment. If you’re interested, I would click on that link as soon as possible. Good luck!

Happy Sunday.

Work Resumes on the Dollhouse

July 19, 2012 at 10:40 am by Claudia

Most of the time, the outside of my dollhouse faces us as we sit in the living room. Since I’m in this room a great deal lately, watching over my Riley, I sauntered on over to it this morning and turned it so that the inside of the house was facing me.

Yikes.

I haven’t done any work on it for a long while. Some of the rooms are on their way to being finished, others are completely untouched and serve as a catchall for all my wood and trim scraps. I grabbed some paint and a paint brush and redid a side table that was very dark in its former incarnation.

There it is next to the chair. My friend, Heidi, gave me some furniture that was in a dollhouse she got at auction. Most of it is unusable, but a few pieces are just right – like the table.

The den is pretty much finished. I just have to add some crown molding and, of course, some decorations for the walls. (You can tell I was styling these photos – the same basket of flowers that was in the living room is now on top of the cabinet.)

The bedroom needs a bed. I’m envisioning something painted in a shabby white.

The kitchen has the Aga range and a table and chairs. It needs cupboards, a sink and a refrigerator.

The bathroom and the studio are completely unfinished.

Time to get cracking.

By the way, my darn camera has some dust under the top edge of the lens and I have to crop every photo around it. It’s not so much of an issue outdoors, but when I take photos inside the house, oh my goodness, is it annoying.

I want a new camera. I’ve said that before on this blog many times, but I thought I might take this opportunity to gently remind the universe.

Yesterday, I decided to mow the front part of the property and neglected to check the weather. 97 degrees with high humidity. Many hours later, with many breaks sandwiched in, it was finished. What was I thinking?

A little business: the winner of a copy of Night Watch never contacted me, so I drew another number and this time, the winner is Rosedel. Rosedel is a fairly frequent commenter on this blog, but I don’t have her email address. Rosedel, send me an email (look under Contact under my header) with your shipping address and I’ll forward it on to the folks at TLC Book Tours.

Don’t forget to check out my Connecticut Tourism post here. You have an opportunity to win $1000 to put toward your very own trip to Connecticut!

Tweaking an Old Display Shelf

Zinnias, Goldfinches and a Question or Two

Work Resumes on the Dollhouse

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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