Cafe Noir

A few months back I had made a vow not to buy any more containers for miniature scenes until I had finished some of the ones I already had on hand. However, one day I was in World Market and saw a glass terrarium that immediately spoke to me.

I had an instant vision of the mini scene I wanted to put into this black and glass terrarium. I decided it would be a black and white scene. I already had some of the things I needed in my stash, primarily two sets of cafe tables and chairs. It took awhile to find the other things in my vision.

The Texas Miniatures Showcase in Dallas was of great assistance in my quest. EBAY helped a lot.

Finally, late last week the final piece arrived in the mail and tonight I set out to create Cafe Noir, a little out of the way place to get a cup of coffee and a little something sweet to eat while you read your newspaper or your book or just look into your sweetheart's eyes.

(Very difficult to get good photo angles. I hope you get the idea.)

LSW

I Have No Idea

I am still alive and kicking, believe it or not. However, I am still bone weary from the perils of May, so am keeping a low profile.

I have miniatures on the brain and the desire to dive into a new genealogical project, but my mind refuses to focus and I know that it would be folly to try either until the fog clears.

That doesn't keep me from creating new opportunities and putting more pressure on myself. I went to the Antique Mall today, just looking for a place to spend a pleasant lunch hour. I really did not intend to come home with another container for a future miniatures vignette, but as soon as I saw it, I knew I was hooked.

It was labeled a glass and wood display box. It has a curved glass top, slightly smoky in color, and a mirrored back wall.

open

closed

I am waiting for inspiration. It speaks of a ballet studio, but I'm not interested in ballet. Maybe a garden scene. Perhaps an art exhibit.

I have no idea what the future holds for this great little box. Mysteries are always fun. We will just have to wait and find out.

LSW

Turquoise Moon Revisited

New minis to add to an existing dollhouse. New camera. Time to revisit my southwestern flavored store, Turquoise Moon.

It started as a plain dollhouse shell that was sitting in a now-defunct store in Fredricksburg, Texas. The trim on the front put me in mind of the stores I liked to frequent on trips to Colorado. I also had quite a nice collection of miniature pottery and southwestern minis collected on those trips west. The name of the shop I borrowed from a little place sitting on the side of the road between Montrose and Ouray, Colorado.

I wanted a store that sold everything, from fine art to Indian kitsch. I decided the good stuff would be upstairs. The room at upper left became the showroom for my pottery collection. The pots came from all over Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Some are museum quality pieces and others are just mass produced minis.

The room at upper right has some fine pottery miniatures and my two mini kachinas. A third kachina is in the cabinet because it was an ultra fine miniature with a removeable mask. Brother found that on one of his trips. He also found some mini pottery shards that I also keep in the cabinet to prevent them from disappearing in a tiny crack. The upper rooms also showcase three mini bronzes and a 1/144th scale adobe scene.

The room at lower left is the room of inexpensive tourist fare. Mexican pottery, baskets, Indian rugs and the like. If you aren't an art collector, this is the room where you might find something you could afford.

Last, but not least, is the room at lower right where you would pay for your purchases and shop for Native made jewelry. I found the squash blossom necklace minis in a shop in Santa Fe. They started life as a pair of earrings. I paid a price that was most dear at the time, but I've never regretted the purchase. What is a southwestern store without some silver and turquoise jewelry?

(Look closely at the left of the counter and you will see the tiny dog peering out from behind.)

Next to my knitting shop, Turquoise Moon, is at the top of my favorite projects. I continue to add to it as I find new items that fit its design. It contains some of my best miniatures, including some true works of art. Wish I could shop there.

LSW

Tea and Art Enhanced

When I saw the miniature kimono, I knew it was probably going home with me. Even though my "Tea and Art" room was completed long ago and quite full, I just felt like I would have to figure out a way to add the kimono to the scene. It would be such a nice companion to the painting of the Oriental lady in the red kimono that started the whole idea in the first place.

I was sold on the kimono even before I saw the back and the fabulous obi in the contrasting blue.

So the kimono came home with me and tonight I carefully removed the glass cover and began to rearrange. I had two other things to add to the box, so long as I was in there. I had picked up a new Buddha head, which is hard to see here, but it is sitting on the floor in front of the smaller of the glass cases.

And, if you look carefully at the floor beside the kimono, you will see a Siamese cat. I don't know why it had not occurred to me before, but the roombox was missing my signature. I always include an animal of some kind in my scenes and I had overlooked that point with this one. When I considered just what kind of animal would fit, I naturally decided it had to be a Siamese cat.

I'm not sure why I hesitated so long. The kimono was meant to come home with me.

LSW

Rich Golden Butter

Still on the subject of miniatures, from time to time I find great little pieces to add to a kitchen vignette that is to be constructed inside a wooden breadbox. I have been fortunate to find some really outstanding pieces by talented artists and I'm getting close to putting the whole thing together and finalizing the project.

The trip to Dallas netted me another great addition to the project. If you are a miniaturist, you undoubtedly know about Judee Williamson and her business partner Nicole Walton Marble. Judee is the authority on dressing beds and Nicole works magic with wood. I had no idea that I would be able to afford to add one of their pieces to my collection, but when I passed their booth, I spotted a little butter mold. It reminded me of the full-sized antique butter mold in my own kitchen and it reminded me of my grandmother who made butter and sold it to the local grocery when I was a little girl.

I wavered. I wavered until the lady (who turned out to be Nicole herself) remarked that it was the last one she had. I broke a record pulling the cash from my pocket and the little butter mold came home to take its place in the kitchen project, which I hope to be able to present here soon.


Marvelous piece of work.

LSW

Mini Bliss

Just back from attending the Texas Miniatures Showcase 2009 in Dallas. What fun! The hotel runneth over with other mini-addicts and two large show rooms were packed with dealers who were selling unique mini-treasures you just can't find anywhere else. Well, that's not strictly true since many of the dealers have Internet websites. However, I certainly prefer to see what I'm buying up close before I plunk down my money.

And money I did plunk down. Right and left. I brought in two small sacks to show for it and only another miniaturist can understand the investment that represents. I brought home things to add to almost all my current projects and some of my long since completed projects. (Are projects ever really completed?)

I acquired cakes and sweets to add to my black and white tea room which is the current project in progress.

I acquired a 1/4-inch scale spinning wheel to add as a novelty display in my 1-inch scale knitting shop.

I acquired a cowhide chair, a pair of Talaveras candlesticks and an Indian basket to add to the Southwestern store.

I acquired a pair of Groucho Marx glasses, an oil drum and a still to add to the M*A*S*H mini Swamp I am planning as my next project.

I acquired a Mexican pottery bowl and a pinata for the Mexican Restaurant that is also a current project in progress.

I acquired some landscaping items for the cemetery box, which will soon hit the work table.

I acquired a fancy fireplace for "Inn the Pink", my Bed & Breakfast project.

I acquired some booty and swords for the Pirate ship.

I acquired a line of wash for a washroom project I have in mind.

I acquired a kit for a dollhouse sized terrarium that I have no idea where it will find a home, but I needed that terrarium and the kit was much less expensive than the completed ones they had for sale.

I acquired a couple of cats and a chihuahua.

I acquired a lovely kimono to add to the Oriental art vignette.

And last, but not least, I picked up two and a half years worth of old Nutshell News magazines that predate my several years' worth of issues from the 1970s and 1980s.

Oh, yes, I acquired photos:

My newly acquired stash

An outstanding dollhouse on display that is hard to believe.
It is a mini mansion and contains $5,000 worth of custom stained glass.

The floors are inlaid wood and the curved staircase is to die for.
There is a greenhouse on the top floor with leaded window skylights.

Another dealer had room boxes full of great detail.

I was particularly taken with the Mad Scientist's laboratory.

And I loved the old garage.

This is an event that is great fun for those of us who think tiny. We have been unable to attend the last couple of years because it usually clashes with a family reunion I refuse to miss. The reunion was shifted to a different date this year, so we hustled ourselves to Dallas and drowned our senses with inspiration from the work of true mini artisans who are so talented they almost make you feel like you yourself are all thumbs.

We were delighted to hear that next year's Showcase will be held on a later weekend in May and we will be able to attend again. Can't wait. I will be pooling all loose change beginning today in anticipation.

LSW

Family Downsized

One of the miniature projects I'm collecting for is a genealogy roombox. I have in mind for it to be an office scene and contain miniatures of the things with which I spend the majority of my free time. Like computers, notebooks, maps, history books and so on. I already have a little envelope full of miniaturized versions of my family photos, which I intend to have in frames and scattered about the room.

While I was in Dallas, I spotted a couple of dollhouse frames that reminded me of some real frames on my stairwell wall. These include my great-grandfather Elmo at the top and...

my grandmother Lucy's baby photo at the bottom. (You will notice a certain Mr. Mojo had to be an active participant in tonight's blog photos.)

The photo in the middle is an adopted ancestor. I purchased the frame in an antique store because it was a perfect match to the one holding my grandmother's picture. I had intended to use it for my great-grandfather's picture that had no frame at the time I acquired it. When I sat down to remove the photo that came with the frame, I just couldn't do it. I did check the back of the photo for any identifying marks and discovered one word written in pencil, "Duff". From that point on, "Aunt Duff" has been an unofficial member of the family. I kept browsing antique stores until I found a suitable frame for Elmo, one that did not come with a photo.

Tonight I experimented until I had copies of Elmo and Lucy in appropriate frames for my mini-scene to come.

I'm not compulsive about my miniatures. Not me. Should I mention that I am also intending to have a row of notebooks with my actual family names on the spines?

LSW

Slightly Less Scary

The count on the dollhouse books is in at a mere 108 volumes. This includes some fiction set in the vicinity of a dollhouse. It occurred to me when I encountered those that I have some fiction set in the atmosphere of fiber arts that did not make it into the official count in the needlework spreadsheet. There is a mystery series by Maggie Sefton that involves a nosy amateur detective who owns a yarn store and a series of novels by Debbie Macomber that involves a group of knitters who meet and knit together at a community yarn store. That will probably raise the count in the previous post by another dozen volumes or so.

In addition to the books, I have years of magazines - Nutshell News, Miniatures Showcase, Miniature Collector, American Miniaturist and Dollhouse Miniatures in the dollhouse category and Vogue Knitting, Knitters' Magazine, and Interweave Knits in the knitting category.

At one point I had this vision of one day owning a yarn store and maybe with a few miniatures thrown in, and all this collection would be available to give ideas to my customers. Alas, every time I really wanted to explore that option, the economy took a dive. Every time the economy looked like it might support such a venture, I was involved in other things. At this point it seems like it will never happen. My vast reference library exists for my pleasure alone.

As reference libraries go, I have one last frightening category that I don't think I am going to inventory. My huge bank of Texas history, Baylor history, assorted county histories from across the nation and genealogy reference books could never be big enough to scare me into slowing down the acquisition of volumes for that section. I'll just add more bookcases. Who needs empty walls?

I envision my elder years involving a lot of sitting in a large comfy chair, surrounded by books on the subjects I love.

LSW

Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum

My inner child kicked in again today. I've had my eye on an item at the Round Rock Antique Mall since the first visit and kept talking myself out of buying it. Until today.

I decided at lunch time that I would go see if it was still there. It was. And it was on sale. I just can't resist a good deal. The original price tag was a wee bit too high, but the dealer renting this booth was having a 40% off sale. I mean, that's almost half the original price.

So I caved in and now I'm the owner of my own pirate ship. It's a one of a kind, handmade creation that is roughly 1:24 scale. It has port holes. It has a galley with a table and benches. It has a below-decks room. It has a crow's nest. While the interior will be nigh on to impossible to alter (for lack of access), there is quite a bit of deck space that can be accessorized with pirates, parrots, treasure chest, kegs of rum and telescopes.



I've said before, it's hopeless. I have a thing for miniatures and I refuse to grow up.

LSW