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.)