Club has been busy...

Normally, our miniatures club meets on the first Tuesday of the month for a workshop and on the third Tuesday for a general meeting but with the Show and Sale on the third Sunday in September, we switch those activities so the general meeting is before the Show and Sale.

So right off the bat, we have two workshops in a row after the Show and Sale. This year we threw an all-day workshop (today) into the mix so people could get the shell of the attic started and our regular workshop will be next Tuesday.

Our first workshop was on Tuesday, September 18. We did the flooring for the attic at that one.

I think everyone went with a wooden floor but there was quite a variety of methods. Some members had bought the sheets of wooden flooring, several created their own plank floors with craft sticks, one scribed the planks on the wood, and I used the iron-on wooden veneer.

So today, we started building the actual room box. What a wonderful turnout! And the food!!!

Our club president, Tina, had done a beautiful job with the instructions for the project. She had it organized so while you were waiting for gesso/glue to dry, there was another part of the project to work on - back and forth all the time.

Tina completing her attic for display at the Doll Show tomorrow.

New member Sandra - attic looking good with floor finished and wallpaper on the walls.

I didn't get a picture of the food table but, let me tell you, we could have eaten for at least four days! And such great and tasty variety! In fact, Joanne volunteered to make a cookbook for the club if we would all submit our recipes.

I still haven't decided for certain how to  finish the inside (or the outside, for that matter) of the attic. Some people are doing simply painted walls, some have done wallpaper, and some, like Tina, are doing unfinished walls with studs and insulation.

The insulation in Tina's room (above) is made from strips of padded envelopes coloured with various washes.

There's a family experience that makes me want to go with studs, pink insulation and almost all of the walls finished with drywall but I'll see how ambitious I feel...

Because our house had blue siding, I think I'd like to do that on the outside of the roombox...

Our next workshop on Tuesday is the chimney. Tina is going to teach us how to use paperclay to make a stone chimney and paint to make the stone realistic. Good time to learn to use paperclay in a small way BUT I really want a brick chimney to match our old house. So have to think about that.

There are some great tutorials for using egg cartons for stone and brick applications at Miniland http://www.miniland.ca/building.html

The Edmonton Doll Show and Sale is tomorrow.

The Annual Doll Club of Edmonton Doll Show and Sale will be September 30, 2012 at the Edmonton Aviation Museum, 11410 Kingsway Ave, Edmonton from 10 -4  Admission $5. 

The Miniature Enthusiasts of Edmonton will have a table advertising the club. Some members will take two hour shifts and display various miniatures throughout the day. Tina's prototype attic will be on display. I'll be there with Joanne and Lorry from 2 - 4 p.m. I'm taking my Art Gallery as my display.

It's really interesting. Of all the pieces I've done, including the special projects for family: Dad's workshop; DS Marie's home;and the Camping Scene for DS Carol; Mom's particular favourite is the Art Gallery!

Oh, Shoot! Mom has a double framed painting of simple farm fences that would be perfect in the Art Gallery. It has always been one of my favourites and was done by Pete Zeiman, friend of DS Shirley and BIL Grahame. 

How the heck am I going to fit it in to the Art Gallery?

We all have a some of his work and one of my favourite/most important pieces of jewellery was made by Pete. He designed it as a family ring but we chose not to have the stones put in it. I wear it with my wedding band.

Val Corraini from Calgary (who did our Show and Sale) will be there and I understand she'll have her Miniature Collector and Nutshell News magazines so have already put my magazine list in my purse. (I forgot to take it to our Show and Sale and I'm sure I missed out on some good ones.)

a special gift

I've often told you how my Mom and sisters contribute to my hobby/obsession.

When my DS Marie came out the weekend of the Show and Sale, she dropped off my Christmas presents at Mom's - along with a couple wonderful "pre-Christmas" gifts.

One of those gifts was a sample book:

Each piece of fabric is 10" x 4". Not terribly large pieces but they'll work to re-upholster dining room chairs or pieces like this:


OR

area rugs, as trimmed and needed,

OR
trimmed and rolled for storage in an attic....

Thanks, Marie.

The Sale - and what I bought...

What a great sale! Not without problems - two dealers had to cancel due to health problems - but we had several dealers new to the show along with our wonderful regular dealers. Quite honestly, we had been  concerned that with Danielle Perry's retirement, we might have problems filling the sales floor. Did not happen at all!

The set-up:

No matter how early I make it to the Sales Room, Alex from Miniland always beats me there. VBG

Kathy Barbier (Hummingbird Miniatures) and Lori Hansen (Hansen Miniatures) setting up.

Sue Lefebvre from Calgary

Judy Mitchell

Another World Miniatures from Saskatoon and Brigitte and Kristina Simon

Mustard Miniatures (top left) Reenie's Teenies and Tiny Treasures (picture centre)

Children's Grab Bag table and Children's Make and Take table

My friend Margaret was there and gave me a lovely box of miniatures. Thanks, Margaret.

Now for what I bought! You know this is what you've been waiting to see!

Those of you who have seen my stash know that there's VERY little that I need...VBG! And I tried very hard to limit my buying to things that would work  in the Attic memorial to Vern...and the odd thing for ongoing UFOs.

These rubber boots from Reenie's Teenies will go in the attic. I already had one pair in my greenhouse but they were so perfect there that I didn't want to take them out of there. They're made of latex and are just right!

In the past when Debbie Burville of Montacute Miniatures has done our show, I've bought my one 'special' item from her.  In the past, these have been my unicorn and my nativity scene. This year it was this gold teapot for the attic to represent the teapot that the family gave Vern's parents on their Golden wedding anniversary. Debbie had the most beautiful dinner service (sorry I didn't get a picture and it's not on her website) It was $225 and if I could have fit it in my budget I would have bought it in a New York minute!

From urban dictionary word of the day: A New York minute is an instant. Or as Johnny Carson once said, it's the interval between a Manhattan traffic light turning green and the guy behind you honking his horn. 

It appears to have originated in Texas around 1967. It is a reference to the frenzied and hectic pace of New Yorkers' lives. A New Yorker does in an instant what a Texan would take a minute to do.

OK, so maybe I did go a bit off-topic! But can you blame me? Linda Austin was selling off her 1:12 minis at such incredibly low prices that I couldn't resist! Column 1: three sets of pillows and one individual pillow; suitcase/briefcase; Coleman camping stove; sleeping bag. Column 2: table runner, placemats and napkins; licorice allsorts; Christmas sign. Column 3: a wired lamp; eye quilt trimmed with lace and ribbons; knit afghan/bedspread.

(1) I can't/won't make pillows for 25 cents each. The suitcase/briefcase, Coleman camp stove and sleeping bag will go in the attic. (I've made a Coleman stove before but for $2.00, I'll use this one!)

(2) Licorice allsorts are a family favourite so like to have a supply of them on hand. Don't really need any more things for the Christmas store but the table linen set and signpost were just so cute and inexpensive, I couldn't resist.

(3) The wiring alone justified the cost of the lamp - the shade is a beautiful parchment shade and the bead base is great. The quilted piece will make a lovely crib blanket and the knit afghan/bedspread might work in the Bedroom room box if I change the ribbons from yellow to green.

I bought three of these 16 1/2" x 11" sheets of brick from Alex at Miniland. They're embossed so have a 3-dimensional effect. I think I'll be doing the outside of the detective's office/bar with them.

I really admire people who finish their roomboxes on the outside with bricks, stones, stucco, and all the other handmade finishes. But quite honestly, my interest is the inside of the roombox and I don't care that much about the outside (as you can see since I displayed it in the show as-is) so this is a good way to finish the outside quickly so I can concentrate my efforts on the inside.

There is virtually no source of wood trims here in Edmonton so I bought two packages of baseboard from Alex.

Such great purchases! Now I just have to put them away - hopefully, where they belong!

Edmonton Show and Sale part two - The Show 2

The Little Fair on the Prairie took up most of the show room this year so there wasn't a great deal of space left for regular displays but we did have a good number of them. Several pieces were by former club member, Joyce Buchanan, who had donated most of her work to the club for the silent auction we had over the summer. Many members who bought those pieces brought them to the show for display (and two of her pieces, Red Earth Pottery and the Gazebo, were used in the Little Fair Display). And several dealers also brought in displays. In fact, all of the People's Choice awards went to dealers this year!

Top row: Sunni, Sunni, Sunni, Linda Austin

Middle row: Linda, Sunni, June K., Linda

Bottom: Joanne's "So Many Books, So Little Time:, Linda Austin

Yesterday's Treasures by Kathy Barbier, my art gallery, 1:48 by June K., Jewellery by Linda Austin (with real gemstones)

Christmas scene by Sue Magnan, Southwestern room by Joyce Buchanan, kitchen by Linda Austin

Canada Day by Joyce Buchanan, my detective's office over the bar, Joanne's Gentleman's Study (showcasing several Alice Zinn pieces), furniture display by Sunni

All three of these displays were done by former member, Joyce Buchanan, and are now owned by club members.

Val Corraini (top), Luba Barnes (bottom)

House by dealer Brigitte Simon. Her landscaping is fantastic!

Dealer Kathy Barbier with her winning roombox "Yesterday's Treasures".

Linda Austin's winning vignette

Dealer Brigitte Simon's winning house

Sorry...

I didn't get the rest of the Show pictures up today. Just spent 14 hours completing, printing and binding a handbook for new members of our club. What a relief to have that finished!

Hopefully I'll get them up tomorrow.

Edmonton Show and Sale Part one: The Show

In May/June of 2011, we decided to undertake a different (for us anyway) project for the 2011-12 year. Usually we do a project where everyone is working on the same item such as this coming year's attic but this time we chose a County Fair which meant that everyone was working on a variety of stalls, booths and carts.

Some of the St. Albert members had done Pedlar's Carts a couple years ago so we had those to begin with. We had a British projects publication that showed a variety of stalls (can't find it right now to tell you the name) so that was a helpful resource and Barb S. had a couple stalls that gave us further ideas.

At our Christmas party, we chose the name "Little Fair on the Prairie" and our May all-day workshop was spent working on stalls and doing a mock set-up of completed work. At that point we knew we had a winner on our hands.

A couple members had found some great variegated cloth to cover the tables with to give them the look of grounds and we ended up with six 6' tables filled with stalls, booths and carts and an additional two 6' tables side by side in the middle which became a picnic/playground area.

After we had set up the fair last Sunday morning (quite a logistical experience!), Holly came in with 12 yards of miniature bunting she had made. It really pulled the whole thing together.

THE LITTLE FAIR ON THE PRAIRIE

Pat's J. & J. Apples, Sunni's coffee booth, June's Yummies, Natasha's baked goods, security man on bike, Wendy's cupcakes and popcorn cart

Koko's Burgers by Carol K., my "A Scoop or Two), Erika's "The Pie Man"

Joanne's Pickle on a Stick, Dolore's kissing booth, June's "For the Birds", Joanne's Whack-a-Mole, Tina's basketball toss and Joyce B.'s Red Earth Pottery

Lil's "Bang for your Buck", Joanne's faceboards, Barb S.'s Ring Toss, Natasha's Dita Von Draco tea and tarot tent, Jillian's Down to Earth Herbals and Gifts

My "The Snuggler" cart, (Janeen's kitchen which was later moved to the other displays), Sunni's "Pink" cotton candy, Joanne's "What's New" newstand, Lorry's Serendipity cart, Tina's Gone to Pot garden shop

Lorry's Chin-zee's trim and fabric, Lorry's Rosies, Laurie H.'s Posies and Pots, Barb S.'s Oh, Canada, souvenir booth

Jelly Beananza cart, Holly's Linens and Lace, Lucille's Oliver's Old Fashioned Toys (back), my St. Albert Public Library used books

Margaret's Dragonfly Arts and Crafts, my The Pedal Pusher plant stall

THE PLAYGROUND AND PICNIC AREA 

Laurie's bathroom; Erika's Punch and Judy Show; Joanne's First Aid Tent

Sunni's entrance and information booth

Gazebo by Joyce Buchanan; Sunni's pony rides; don't know who the vehicle belongs to

Playground belonging to the club

Laurie's bathroom trailer

 This year prizes were awarded to the top three People's Choice winners in the Little Fair as well as our usual vignette, roombox and dollhouse categories.

AND THE WINNERS ARE:

First Place: Koko's Burgers by Carol Kokotylo

Second Place: A Flush Away by Laurie Houle

Third Place: Bang for Your Buck by Lil MacPhee

The miniature ribbons on the winners were made by Barb. S.

I'll tell you about the rest of the displays tomorrow.