A Painted Bookcase

We didn't have much time to spare at the Sturbridge show, but there was enough of a pause late Sunday afternoon for me to go buy an unfinished wooden bookcase from Bed Miniatures. I had a lot of fun painting it. 

It was a bit shorter than usual, so I bought it thinking it might fit in the eaves of one of my attic rooms. It was just a bit too tall for the attic, so I added feet and made it a standard height instead.

I also added gold to the beading along the edge, though it doesn't show up in the photograph.

Projects with Paper

I'm really not fond of making flowers. It's strange, because I usually like working with paper. But even the simplest plant kit seems to drag on forever! Looking around my dollhouse, I noticed that it really needed plants. I'm addicted to miniature porcelain, so I have tons of vases, but they're all empty!

I started with a camellia kit from SDK miniatures. Most of the flowers ended up in this pretty wooden vase, at least for the moment. I thought the vase was painted by Janet Reyburn, but when I looked at the bottom, I noticed that the intials were RW. Does anyone know who RW might be?

 Because I knew I was making cut flowers, rather than a plant, I saved some time only adding leaves to the top of the stem. The top of a glue bottle worked well for holding them upright as they dried.

In other news, I also spent some time organizing my lace scraps.  I saw this idea at the blog French Laundry,  and thought it was a pretty idea. I aged some thick watercolour paper, printed images from the Graphics Fairy, and wrapped my lace  around. It's so fun to open up my drawer and see all the pretty cards of lace.

Don't Count Your Chickens

Last time I showed you Mom's Potato Seller. This cook plucking a chicken also sold at Sturbridge. She was one of my favorites!

I made the chicken. The feathers were all cut down from larger ones left over from my brother's fly-tying supplies.

I also wanted to show you my miniature chest. This was my graduation gift.  I've been keeping the finished miniatures I intended to sell in recycled boxes for the last year or so. It was a bit of a nightmare, to be honest. I really wanted something portable, preferably with drawers for easy access.After a bit of research, I found this machinist chest made by Windsor, which seemed like the perfect solution.

The top has a deep enough compartment for most furniture, and the front panel opens up show to eight smaller drawers, perfect for my readable books and other small things.

The drawers are lined with green felt, which helps keep things from shifting around.

Two of the small drawers came with removable dividers.

I was able to fit everything I brought to the show in the box, with quite a bit of room to spare. Coming back home, there was even more room... It's going to take a LOT of miniatures to fill this chest up!

Back From Sturbridge!

We had a ton of fun this past weekend at Sturbridge. This was the first show where we didn't lay out all miniatures we were bringing beforehand- we just kept packing them up as we made them, so we didn't really realize how much we had brought until we started setting up!
We had about five hours to set up, and we used most of that time, though we were so nervous that we probably fussed with everything a lot more than necessary. It's hard to see, but that top level was absolutely CRAMMED with miniatures.



I didn't show any of mom's dolls before the show, but she brought quite a few. This potato seller was the first doll she sold Saturday night at the preview.

His whiskers were a last minute addition two nights before we left! Mom dressed him several weeks ago, but he never got packed away because it seemed like there was something missing. Adding the bushy sideburns and mustache did the trick! His vest came from the most perfectly worn leather glove. His cart was purchased, but Mom made the potatos to fill it.

The only fly in the ointment was that the poison book box I made went missing sometime Sunday morning. It was upsetting, not so much because of the loss of the book itself, but because it made it harder to trust all the other genuinely lovely customers.

Overall though, we had a fantastic time, and are already planning to do it again next year. We met so many wonderful people, and enjoyed catching up with others we already knew. I'll post again soon.

And We're Off!

See you on Monday.

Lots of News from the Big World and the Small

I know that things have been quiet around here lately. Lots of things have been happening. I graduated from Sarah Lawrence College on May 18th. That's my younger brother and I under the tent. I was also introduced to a classmate's grandmother, only to discover that she is an IGMA Fellow who I had seen at a few miniature events but never talked with! It really is a small world!

Mom and I are also planning to have a table at the Sturbridge Miniature show this weekend! We've been pricing and packing like mad women for the last few days. This is only our third show, and it's much bigger than the ones we've done in the past, so it's all a bit nerve wracking. If you happen to be at Sturbridge as well, please come by and say hello!

In the mean time, here's a sneak preview of a few things we're bringing.

Some rustic painted furniture...

and some that isn't rustic...

 a few other things I painted, like this sign...

and watercolour paintings...

lots of  things made from paper, like this account book...

and these valentines...

We're bringing things for attics...

and playrooms...

kitchens...

and dressing tables...

 and a few things I made just for the fun of it...

I'll try to do another quick post  before we leave, but if I don't have time, I'll give you the full scoop on Monday or Tuesday. Hope we see you at Sturbridge!

Changes in Lottie's Bedroom

Back when I first started this blog, I showed a few photographs of this bedroom. Last weekend, I made a few changes. I cleaned up the room a bit, added a rug, and moved a few things around. I'm not in love yet, but the room is getting better.  The carpet was bought for Mom's dollhouse, but she recently replaced it with a few smaller, darker rugs that looked more authentic for her house.  The desk chair in there now was stolen from my gallery, but it's only temporary.

Below, you can see the room before. I loved the little fireplace, but it aways looked out of scale, rather than just small. The scrap screen in the corner came out as well. 

I moved the tea party to the old fireplace spot. Mom made the tea table from a kit. It still needs a tablecloth. The wooden dishes were passed down from Mom's childhood dollhouse. We think they may have been made by one of her relatives who did a lot of woodcarving, but no one can remember for sure! The paintings are all from Josephine Meyers. 

The big doll in the pink and blue knit outfit, and the smaller doll in blue silk were made by Lucy Coles at least seven or eight years ago. You can find her (brand-new!) blog here. The green doll by the cabinet and the white doll in the small bed (from the first photograph) were also made by Lucy Coles. The rest of the dolls came from various dealers over the years, but I've forgotten just which.
Sorry for the blurry photographs! I took them in a hurry while at home, and didn't get a chance to check that they came out all right before I had to return to school.