My Kind of Town II!

This is how I felt during and after leaving
                          Chicago!

This is just one of the three rooms and a long hall area lined with goodies at the Tom Bishop Show! Can you tell how far back it goes?
 There were three filled smaller rooms at the Linda Frye Show at another location

Look for the creators of this house at: TheLittle Dollhouse Company



This house was huge!



This is just to show the extensive electrical set up
 

What is so cool is all of his electrical parts are in the wooden compartment at the bottom. Those are real bricks!

The general store on the left was sold when I saw it. If I told you how much it went for I would have to use smelling salts to re-awaken you! lol



That is not the creator. Seems someone was always engaging him and
 I never got a picture of him. These two are by the same artist. Make sure you read the sign in the lower right for contributors

These sweet babies were created by Helga Sadowski of Germany
www.miniaturen-sadowski.de
ADORABLE!

Yes, her finger is in there. HAHA!

 

  

 

Anybody recognize  Karen? 
http://www.dollshouse.tv/programmes_searched.asp?skill=0&product=&presenter=55&searchbox=&Submit=Go? Click here to find out who she is!

Here are some of the things I purchased.  I was anxious to use some things so they are not here. I will have to tell about those in part III

Those are pillows on the left! Can you see the tiaras?

 

Heidi Ott shoes that actually fit my girls! Boots for my guys. Heidi Ott's son was actually the one selling them!

Unrolls to beautiful hair.
 I bought several more colors, but playing with them with my girls.

 

UPDATE!

If you look closely you can see the beak on the right.

This is where we are now! When my grands told me about it they said one egg, when I ran out and took pictures there were two eggs...now how...? It was so cute. It stretched open its mouth when I came. I guess it thought I was its mommy. I tried to get him to do it again for the camera, but I guess he was either tired or disappointed. lol There are two red colored birds that are always in that tree and squawk then fly away when I come. Are they the parents of one or all of these!  Hmmm



While I was outside taking pictures of my goodies...this guy showed up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Kind of Town! I

 I am on a few hour hiatus today, yet I just had to start posting about my Chicago trip. This week will be hectic for me as well. I wish I had time to talk about all of the fun and cool people I met and the ones I already knew at the two miniature shows in Chicago. Miniaturists rock! This was my third time in Chicago, my fourth miniature show, but my first time putting the two together. I had a ball!

There was something for everyone and every pocket. I saw minis with not so mini prices like $75,000 and others down to $1! I will not add some of the pictures of the show just yet because I want to match the creator with the project. There were so many! I wrote hints on the back of business cards so I could match them up at posting time.

Some things I did with the cool people I met there. The foods and restaurants were so awesome.   Reminding me of New York. Then, being me, there was a lot I wanted to do on my own time and schedule.

The two shows were the worldwide Tom Bishop International Miniature Show and the more intimate, but just as exciting Linda Frye Three Blind Mice show at another  location.

Would you believe there were TWO museums with amazing permanant miniature collections in Chicago?

I was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. There was so much to see and do. I did make it to the Chicago Institute of Art to see the Thorne collection. The roomboxes are authentic depictions from various periods. I will only comment on a couple of pictures as time is short at this moment. Please excuse the quality of some of the pictures. They were behind glass enclosures and flashes were not allowed.

Enjoy!

This stands guard outside of the museum

Facing the museum this is to the left. The little park is so scenic and a great place for reflection

Surrounding area of the museum. I have always loved the architecture of Chicago!

 FLASH BULLETIN!

Two grandchildren just rushed in a few minutes ago to tell me they had something to show me. Out I ran with my camera! This is what they saw!  It took several shots to get a good one, because I was afraid the parents would come back and get me. lol I don't know what kind of birds they are. But, I thank them for sharing their babies with me and my grands :-D

 

 

Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

 

 

 These are life-sized works of art I just thought you would enjoy.

 

Dorian Gray

American Gothic

 

Click on picture for a larger view

Mini Humor

Got back from the Tom Bishop Chicago International Doll Show and the same night got grands for spring break. I am exhausted. Here is something to laugh at while I regroup. Be back with tales of the show, another artist highlight and what I have been up to.

Grandmommy

Enjoy!

 More funny stuff :-)
http://www.virtualdollhouse.net/Service/Fun%20Stuff.htm#Definitions
Then scroll up.

Mastering The Bedroom

 I worked on the "big house" a little more and sharing my progress with you. My goal is to get it completely decorated inside and out so I can set up the landscaping at least by the end of the year. Hopefully sooner. Because I have so much mini stuff, I want to see how much I can get done on all of my projects using what I have on hand without buying too much more. Also, because I have multiple projects going at once, things take me a little longer sometimes.

 

This is the master bedroom. Maybe one day if I get enough nerve to add an addition to the house this will become a master suite.
 

The picture over the bed will be framed once the right one is either made or shows up. It is just taped up temporarily.
 

If I can find something that resembles a vanity table in my stash, it will be added in there. Otherwise a dresser with a nice mirror will do. I need a place to put some of the nice perfume bottles and cosmetic jars I have already made.

 

I ran a pretty magnet, I planned to use as a poster, across my daughter and granddaughter for their opinion. They both loved it so expect to see it on one of the walls also. :-) A little paint touch up, nice window treatment and we will be good to go!

This room should be finished by the end of the week. I will share with you then.
Almost there!

Both lights work. The pictures in the foreground will go up after the window treatment is added.
Why not use living room tables in the bedroom? I think they work just fine.
The hanging lamps are made from beaded napkin rings!

These are earrings that will be fitted someplace in the room. I stumbled across the jewelry pieces that attached it all to the ceiling while looking for something else lol!

These lights are great for all sorts of things! Watch how they are used here.

The lamp harp cut out and ready for fitting

Re-fitting to the right size



Hole for the loop in the light is made with a hole punch. You can see the thin wire on the top left which was threaded through the top loop of the light and twisted. Then, the wire was threaded through a straw to help keep it straight (next time I will use a thicker wire inside the straws) and it all was hot glued to the ceiling. They got a little crooked during  the photo shoot



Still deciding on side chairs. 
The choice of vanity/dresser will determine the right chair
Those are area rugs on either side of the bed. They make it look like the bedspread is sort of   draping and too big for the bed in this picture



 

 

Click on pictures for a larger view

Free Stuff for My Minis!

My favorite question on my teacher's budget was, "Are you going to throw that out?" lol That is how I acquired so many supplies for my classroom. Now, I ask for mini purposes.

Mini Enthusiasts are everywhere. Some embrace their mini selves. Others don't yet know they are one. It is not necessary for one to be a crafter or even collector to be classified as an M.E.! Just start talking about or showing your minis and you will see that mini light go off in an M.E.'s eyes. I saw it happen when given two of the items below.

If you know Grandmommy, you know I am a true miniaturist or M.E. I interpret the world in terms of minis. What can that be used for in mini world?  Hmmm.

Because of either my constant mini babbling or from asking for valuable mini leftovers, I recently ended up with these fine additions to my studio supplies!

Many thanks :-D

 

This is a really cool assortment of Glidden paint samples. Can you believe this! It was given to me by a certain large bellied art teacher ( Best wishes for you and your son who is due soon!)

This is linoleum from an apartment repairman at my daughter's building

I asked for scraps, but he insisted I take the whole roll! I think he was excited because I requested it in Spanish. lol

This the color I chose for my free paint coupon from Lowe's



It is the perfect peach color I have been trying to mix-with no success. You can't really tell, but it is painted on the rear wall.  Great coverage and a little goes a long way. This is a future store in the Mall I am making. Update coming soon! 

I tried and tried to get good shots, but these were as good as it got.
 

 Sooooo, everything in this post was free! How cool is that?

Click on picture for a larger view

FREE Half Pint Paint!

Hello friends,

Just wanted to let you know you can get free Valspar paint from Lowe's! Just enough for your next mini project. See you there!

 

Look for this magazine

Not much to get free  paint and a cool magazine



Make sure this coupon is in the magazine

Click on picture for a larger view

Artist Highlight And Eat Something Off Your Chess!

It is the week after Mardi Gras when everything has finally settled down. In the morning, I stood on the balcony overlooking the courtyard and thinking of the fun and friends of the week before. Later, at night, I  slowly stroll the courtyard enjoying the quiet and sweet fresh air.

But wait...is that a stranger lurking just outside?

What am I talking about? Go to: http://jocelynsdollhouse.blogspot.com/2014_02_01_archive.html and see Jocelyn's New Orleans Creole Townhouse. It is beautiful! It is sentimental! It is true to life! As with all of her work, it is also very detailed.

For some reason, I imagine Jocelyn working quietly on her projects with her hand tools and pencil sketches. As a matter of fact, because of her, I now try drawing things out to get a clear idea of what would work in my future projects.

I find her to be a consummate, professional artist and have seen her perform magic with the same things I have sitting in storage containers waiting for a purpose!

Make sure you look at ALL of the posts about the townhouse to find out why it is sentimental!

And check out her other wonderful projects while you are there!

ENJOY!

 

This is actually the first project that I sketched out as a result of seeing how Jocelyn does it. This is something I work on while I order parts or wait for other projects to dry. It is a Chess themed restaurant that I am building from scratch. It is the first dollhouse project for which I used the Woodworker's Guild machines.

The mirror leaning on the rear wall will be behind the bar that serves healthy snacks, smoothies and such. It will be a place where you can either play chess, participate in tournaments on certain nights or just watch and /or eat. Also, look for posted notices of live entertainment performing on other nights. 

(sorry for the dark pictures...I will try to get better ones as I progress)

 

 

Just a close up of the wallpaper

 

The table tops are actually coasters.
The floor is a real life  sized linoleum tile. I will make the slit on the right unnoticeable

 

I had to replace some legs so they will be repainted

 

The two rectangles on the back wall are door frames for the men's and women's restrooms
The bar will go between them

 

 

Click on picture for a larger view