Just like Christmas!

Last night, DS Marie and DBIL Robert came out for the weekend. Went over to Mom's for a quick visit with them. Marie told me she had some goodies for me but I was pleasantly shocked at the huge box she gave me.

First of all, there was a bag of more than 20 plain coloured gift bags!

Then there was this box of "cheese pins" for holding cheese while slicing.

Most are 1:6 scale rather than 1:12 but may be able to use some of them - especially the shrimp! (three on upper right)

Five on the bottom are these cute chefs!

Four gold and three coloured nativity scenes.

Mama and puppy:

 In the scene in the cake holder:

This is wonderful! It came in pieces so not too sure if it was part of a pop-up book or what! But there are some beautiful things that I think would work well in a scene to the side of a miniature scene such as I did in the music room.

 RL, not mini, but much appreciated!

Six packs of decorated stationery:

Back to minis. Two wonderful radios that, with a bit of work, will make their way into Joanne's radio shop!

Didn't understand these cute little 'pot perchers' at first as I was thinking cooking pot, not plant pot.

Here you can see how they work.

Don't know if I'll be able to use them in mini but I'll think on it. If nothing else, the cardinal in this one is good!

Didn't have time to post about this last night. Then today, Leslie and I spent the day at a Condo Convention. Great, informative day - and I won a door prize of six bottles of wine which Leslie and I shared.

For "Vern's Attic"

My Dad made this cart for their garbage cans years ago. When Mom moved into her condo, we 'inherited' it. When we moved into the condo, it came with us and we left in in the common area for everyone to use. I hadn't even thought of including it in "Vern's Attic" until I was told the other day that someone had been looking for it (it's been in my condo for a couple weeks) and she calls it "Vern". So I will make it in miniature and include it - and the story - in Vern's attic.

Tomorrow I'm going to dinner at DS Shirley and DBIL Grahame's with Mom, Marie and Robert.

Tuesday I'm going to a MEE workshop lead by Jennifer Izquierdo (Little Day Miniatures) to learn how to make licorice allsorts.

On Wednesday, I fly to Toronto where DS son, Sean, will pick me up and take me to Peterborough for a visit with him, Julie and the two grand-children. Jonah and Holly are making their First Communion on the weekend and DD Leanne will be joining us for the weekend. I'll return to Edmonton on Tuesday afternoon so I can be at our Board meeting on Wednesday.

SO........this is probably the last time I'll be in touch before I return.

Another Put and Take gem

This rolling sorter has been in the Put and Take for a couple weeks. Managed to resist it until this morning.

Joanne and I finally got together for dinner tonight and stopped in at Dollarama where I picked up six trays (total $9) for it. Since I've mostly been working in the living room lately, I can keep tools and supplies handy.

While at Dollarama, I also picked up three packs of silver nail stickers. Lots of variety and small pieces that will work on dishes and other accessories. Think I'll get a lot of use out of them.

FINALLY - A Bit of Fun!!

Last week I went down to the "Put and Take" and someone had dropped off this beautiful cake stand. Knew immediately that it would make a great container for a mini scene.

Since I don't seem to be getting anywhere with my ongoing projects, thought maybe this could kick start me.

At first I thought that it might be a good place for some of my Bespaq pieces but then decided I'd just grab some things from my stash and go from there.

For the base, I traced around the cover on the back of the carpet fabric then cut it 3/16 of an inch out from the pencil mark.

Dry-fitting the carpet.

Put three strips of double-sided carpet tape down...

With the protective top paper still on the carpet tape I used binder clips to hold the carpet in place. Then I pulled the paper off the middle strip and smoothed the carpet in place. Repeated with the top strip....

Then the bottom strip.

The carpet in place.

While I had the carpet tape out, I put a strip of in on the bottom of the television set (from Grandpa's Dollhouse).

This shelving unit was in my stash (made it years ago).

The loveseat was from my stash and the two end tables are from kits I got from Liz West in Bowmanville a couple years ago. The afghan was from Bonnie's estate sale - don't know who made it.

The footstool was one I refinished with gesso and paint years ago.

 The floral arrangement was a gift from Monica Lavoie years ago. The jug and wishing well and the VCR (a printie) are from my stash. The turned bowl on the middle shelf is also from my stash.

The books on the middle shelf have blank pages inside. The books on the bottom shelves are the last of my stash from Dick Tabor. A tutorial on his method of making faux books is here.

 The Barbara Brear book was a gift from Joanne; the lamp is a Chrysnbon lamp I've had for about 15 years; the TV guide and remote control were in my stash.

The sandwich is from Barb S.. Don't know who made the pear, it was in my stash as was the can of pop.

Completed scene. (Well, I think maybe I'll look for a cat or dog to complete it.)

 Under the dome...

About three hours from beginning to end, most of which was spent waiting for the coats of moveable glue to dry.

Now I have to put away all the other possibilities that I dragged out to try in the scene.

Edmonton Miniature Show and Sale

MINIATURE ENTHUSIASTS OF EDMONTON CLUB invites you to take part in their

19^th ANNUAL FALL SHOW & SALE

Sunday, September 20, 2015

10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Executive Royal Inn

10010 – 178 Street

Edmonton, Alberta

T5S 1T3

If you would like to be a dealer at our show, or know someone who would like to be, please contact me 

It's always a joy to have new dealers at the show!

We have some great displays for the "Show" portion and, as always, have a "Make and Take" table for children. You have to be early for that one as Sunni generally only has about 25 'kits' available. (These are full scenes and the children end up with beautiful work that is on display until they leave.) We also have a grab bag table for children.

Lots of great door prizes!

What are the chances? Part 2

I love it when things come together...

I don't know, if you follow me, if you also get the comments and my replies. Just in case you don't, here is the reply to my 'What are the chances?' post from Liz at Grandpa's Dollhouse:

Hi Maureen. Do you want to hear another coincidence? I just got that exact same chandelier in stock two days ago. I carry Jon's line of chandeliers, houses, etc and have met him several times (even tried to set him up with my daughter but the distance is a bit far for dating............lol). He is a great guy and I love his products, especially the Nana's House kit.

And some more great news from Liz:

Wonderful news at Grandpa's Doll House.

We are building a 400 sq. ft. store on our property so that we can have the room we need to properly display all of the thousands of miniatures that we have in stock.

We presently stock so many items, including: 

·         miniatures

·         accessories

·         our own line of laser cut kits and building supplies (we do custom orders as well)

·         landscaping supplies

·         building supplies

·         electrical supplies including 12 volt lights, battery powered lights and LED lighting

·         and so much more!!

The really exciting thing is that you will now be able to see all of these wonderful goodies in a bright and spacious new building! 

One thing that will change is the operating hours of the new store.  At present we are open by appointment only.

When the new store is open, we will be open by appointment, as usual, but we will also be posting a calendar on our website every month with set days that we will be open.

I will email this calendar to all of you at the beginning of the month and then it will be posted on the blog on my site all month long.  I hope this makes it easier for people to come in and say "hello"

and/or see what is new in the store.

I have lots of activities planned for our new space including workshops and "play days".  We will also be having a huge "Grand Opening" bash when it opens.  (watch for news in an upcoming email and on my website blog)  We are hoping to have the new store open in early to mid June.  (it is almost ready for paint now)  We have many new cabinets and shelving units that will be well lit and easy to access.

 I am SO excited for you all to see what we have in store for you.

What are the chances?!? the chandelier

In May, I posted some pictures of purchases from Chicago International. Sus wrote and asked for more information on the chandelier but Erika couldn't remember who she got it from.

Yesterday, I grabbed a copy of DollsHouse and Miniature Scene (November 2013) and started flipping through it.

Lo and behold, on page 48, there was a writeup on JMG Miniatures (Jon Gower from Florida) and on page 49 is the chandelier. It's one of ten he offers with a price range of $25 - $35 US.

He also has house kits in both 1:48 and 1:144 and some furniture in 1:12.

Worth taking a look around.

Still can't seem to get working on the attic. I thought that if I changed projects, I might get my "get up and go" back. But it isn't working so far.