The Park Bench- The First Kiss

I thought this was such a wonderful romantic story about a bench

I have one of these old benches in my garden. Mine is really in bad shape ( it came with the house when we bought it- maybe ,tomorrow I will make a trip to Lowe's, buy new slates and a can of black spray paint and give my bench a new life. Come to think of it I have a bench like this one in miniature size.

When my husband & I were first dating, we went on a walk around my sister’s neighborhood (I was staying with her at the time). A few streets away, there was a large house on a corner lot that had a park bench situated right next to the side walk and it was just begging us to stop and sit. Neil & I obliged and ended up having our first kiss on that bench.

Fast forward. Neil & I are married. It is Valentine’s Day and it’s an extra snowy winter. I come home from work, open the door to our little apartment and see an old, weathered park bench sitting in our living room. I was so confused. After asking Neil about it, I learned that he had been driving around my sister’s neighborhood each day after work for the past two weeks, trying to find the house with our bench again. It had been quite awhile since our first kiss by this point, and given that the city was blanketed in tons of snow, it made locating the bench very difficult.

He finally found the house and knocked on the door and asked the homeowner if he could buy their bench. The woman was a little confused and told him that he could buy park benches at any major hardware store. He went on to explain why he wanted to buy her bench. The woman thought that was the sweetest thing she’d ever heard and called her daughter on the phone to tell her what Neil was doing. She let Neil take the bench free-of-charge. He loaded it up into our tiny Honda CRX, drove across town, dragged it up to our third-floor apartment, and even had a little plaque made for it that says, “First Kiss, July 1, 2002.”

I feel as if I have been around the world and back

Saturday's Workshop - Garden Shed

Barb's Floral Class

Hours, days, weeks have flown by and I realized I needed to post something... so here is my latest miniature news. In June, I am taking this floral class by Barb Bohlk. Barb's floral work is just wonderful. The class will be held at the Great American Dollhouse Museum in Danville, Kentucky. Lucky again, as the museum is just 15-20 minutes from my house.

so this Saturday, I and members of my miniature club are participating in a first time work shop idea of Abby Vukovich of Evansville, Indiana. Abby is my NAME A-3 Region newsletter editor and I love her to pieces. She is so talented and when I saw this project, I knew it would be a hit. I also am hoping that this project is part of an A-3 Region event this fall to be held at the Kentucky Gateway Museum where the Kaye Browning Miniature collection is. ( Her collection is breath taking- museum quality miniatures- the best of the best) I love going there! In fact I was just there attending a lecture by miniaturist room box builder Bob Ott, IGMA member.
Add some Paris chocolates and macaroons, British tea and a few good maps and you can tell, I have been a busy, happy miniaturist!

Bluegrass Miniature Society club project

At my last club meeting, each of us was given a Michael's unfinished cupboard. After sanding,
and a couple of coats of paint, we were told, "bring your completed cupboard to our April meeting".
How quickly a few weeks can go by and I promised myself that this time I would get my club project completed on time.

I repainted mine... sanded again , painted again adding this and that. I spent forever it seemed going through little boxes of miniatures I keep on hand for quick projects.
I still need to add a doily here and there, Maybe change the plant . Turn the little mouse sideways.
A little bit of this and a little bit of that but here is where I am with this fun club project.

A day with miniaturist extraordinaire, Alice Zinn

I just realized I have not posted anything in awhile, guess I have been really busy, which, yes, I have been.
Yesterday, I traveled to the Great American Dollhouse Museum in Danville, Kentucky where a
year ago, I started the " ball rolling" for my friend, Alice Zinn from Florida, to put on a workshop here in Kentucky. Alice had been a dealer at the Tom Bishop International Miniature show last week in Chicago and a year ago we talked about her stopping at a dollhouse/miniature museum on her way home to conduct a seminar/workshop. Lori Kagan- Moore , the museum curator, graciously allowed us to have the workshop in the wonderful community room. With hot coffee and snacks , plenty of table space and everything provided for us we began. At approximately 3 pm our creations were completed leaving us time to tour the museum and do some shopping in Lori's gift shop.
How very fortunate thirteen ladies joined together from all walks of life were able to enjoy not only Alice's charm, wit and her never ending techniques and tips, we made some new friends. We chatted and visited as we created the most marvelous oriental table. Alice's friend, Loraine , who traveled to Chicago to help Alice at her dealer table also sat down with us and made a table. Loraine in Chicago took Alice's class on making an Oriental Screen, using the same technique but larger and more detailed. I have also posted several other Alice pieces using the same technique that we learned. You will also Alice's creatures... I do intend on her making me a border collie of our own, Abby.
Three other members of my own miniature club, the Blue Grass Miniature Society of Lexington, Kentucky were also part of the group and you can see them hard at work in a few of these pictures from our day of play.

THANKS ALICE FOR A WONDERFUL DAY!

Happy Easter

The story of Easter is the story of God's wonderful window of divine surprise.

New Lambs

When I tell people we raise miniature sheep, they just do not quite understand this breed called
Southdown Babydolls. This is Gracie born 10 days ago, weighing in at 6 pounds. She will get no bigger than 24 inches in height, these sheep are tiny , wooly teddy bears. As you can see in this picture of Buttercup, who had twin girls.
Gracie has become my baby, bottle feeding as her mommy was unable to give milk. We have gone from every 4 hour feeding to every 6 hours. I have brought her home and yes, she follows me just like the song " Mary had a little lamb", she follows me everywhere. She will crawl right up in my lap, snuggle in for a nap if I am sitting on the floor. Potty trained too!
So miniatures have been put away for a bit ...

Cincinnati Minature Show

Over the weekend past, I attended The Miniature Society of Cincinnati's 33rd annual dollhouse miniature show and exhibit.
34 dealers were in attendance, the crowd was wonderful, a buzz about 2010 and what is going on in this part of the world when it comes to miniatures. My connection is NAME and I do have a lot going on over the next two years. In July I travel to Seattle to attend the national convention
( there is a waiting list to be able to attend), I am traveling to Chicago for the international miniature shows, off to Cleveland mid April for a show and for a steering committee meeting of the NAME national convention 2011 to be held in Cleveland. Add in my own club's activities, a National NAME day event in Oct, several more shows and my own projects... it will be December before I know it ... her are a few pictures from this past weekend's show.. the vintage barn is now mine!

A favorite Quote

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. I'll always be with you.”

Kentucky Gateway Museum in Maysville - a miniature museum event

I traveled to Maysville, this week, to start making plans for a NAME A-3 Region event I want to host this fall and to have held at the Gateway Museum- Kathleen Savage Browning Miniatures Collection. If you are truly one of those people who can never see enough of the best of the best in dollhouses and miniatures this is a place you must visit.
Upon my arrival, for my meeting with Lynn David, the museum's Communications and Visitor Services Director , I was informed that a new exhibit was being installed in the miniature museum.
Here are pictures of what was going on and the newspaper article about it.

When you look at the facade of the Russell Theatre, each detail jumps out at
you, the ceramic tile encasing the box office, the wrought iron handles of
the double doors, all the way up to the urns topping the east and west
towers of the buildings.

The only difference between this facade and the real facade of the historic
theater is the size of the structure; everything else is replicated exactly,
all the way down to the design of the tile floor of the vestibule.

The newest addition to the Kathleen Savage Browning Miniatures Collection at
the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center has arrived and is now available for
public viewing.

The Russell Theatre miniature joins two other historically significantly
buildings to Maysville's downtown: the Cox Building and the Bethel Baptist
Church, which once stood on Fourth Street.

Browning commissioned the work to add to the ever-growing collection at the
museum and work began in May 2008, by artists Allison Ashby and Steven Jedd,
who also created the Cox Building and Bethel Baptist Church.

"It should serve as an inspiration for the community to want to save the
building," Browning said, referring to the ongoing efforts of the Rescue the
Russell organization to restore the theater, which was built in 1929 by Col.
J. Barbour Russell and hosted the 1953 premier of Rosemary Clooney's movie
"The Stars are Singing."

The next phase of the project is for Ashby and Jedd to create a miniature
which will showcase the interior of the atmospheric theater and will be on
display next to the facade miniature.

Ashby referred to the building as a jigsaw puzzle, because each piece is
individually crafted and painted before being assembled in its final form.

Taking almost two years to complete, a unique feature of this miniature
compared to others in the collection is the fact more than 1,800 of the
buildings 11,000 bricks are inscribed with someone's name, making this piece
more personal to the community than others.

The purchased bricks line the east and west towers of the theatre facade,
with the names turned inward, forming a time capsule of sorts for the
community.

In November 2009, during final work on the piece, local citizens could
purchase a brick for $1 and inscribe their name, or a family members name on
the brick, with proceeds of the fund-raiser going to KGMC and the Rescue the
Russell.

"All those good wishes are in that building, it's a good addition," Ashby
said of the brick project.

And while it is difficult to see all the fine detailing of the building
while standing on East Third Street and looking upward, the 1/12 scale
miniature allows visitors to view up close the architectural details that
went into the creation of such an elaborate building, which Barbour hoped
would be "what the Roxy is to New York."

Jedd and Ashby's work highlights such small details as the six "Comedy and
Tragedy" masks; the lions faces which serve as anchors for the chains
supporting the familiar green marquee with its heart-shaped Russell Theatre
signs at each end; and the orange and blue stripe on the bases of the
building's three urns adorning the top pediment of the building.

The couple created their work from pictures of the building, as well as
studying it from the street and while only the ceramic tiles encasing the
box office are real tiles, the replicas of the building's other terra cotta
tile work looks authentic due to as many as eight layers of paint to develop
the correct color tones and then coatings of varnish to protect the pieces.

To coincide with the premier of Clooney's movie in 1953, Jedd and Ashby also
researched movies of the same time frame so that movie posters are
accurately displayed in the display cases located near the box office.

Using archived collections of local newspapers, Jedd said the movie posters
created for the Russell Theatre miniature are actual movies that once played
to Maysville audiences.

The Kentucky Gateway Museum Center is located at 215 Sutton Street,
Maysville; for information contact 606-564-5865; to learn more, go to
www.kentuckygatewaymuseumcenter.org.

Alice in Wonderland

I posted a long time ago about this movie, how I would be there right away when it opened. I saw it on Friday and it is wonderful, more than wonderful. I will see it again, buy it and watch it again and again. As a miniaturist who lives in a magical world every day, I think Tim Burton has created magic.
But then in this picture, I am the rabbit with the white top hat on, so I guess I have been living in an " Alice in Wonderland World" for a long time.
Tim Burton's version is filled with "there is just too much to see" moments. I felt like I missed seeing so much as there truly is so much to see and take in. As always, this is an adult movie, well, yes you can take your child but there are some scary scenes, the Jabberwocky is scary and when you watch the movie in 3-D, I jumped several times in the movie as I felt I was right there, I felt I could catch the butterflies, catch the dandelion seeds floating, danced with the Mad Hatter ( oh, yes Mr. Depp is truly a Mad Hatter!). It is a must go see movie... ONLY IF YOU BELIEVE that is.

Thank you

Thanks to my friend, Roberta, who joined me in seeing Tim Burton's - Alice In Wonderland movie... see it in 3 D- the movie was beyond what I ever dreamed it would be about.
Your become fixed to the screen and every detail of this movie is a masterpiece of art in so many forms.

What a new day , a new spring can make you remember and reread..

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you.”

WINNIE THE POOH

originals toys can be found in the New York Public Library on display ..

Egg Carton Castle

I found this castle on a site called Suffolk Scrap Store. Lots of cute ideas what a person can do with "scraps" of this and that. Don't we all have a box(es) of stuff?

The perfect place to read...

Invite friends over and let them eat cake =) This coach is entirely hand crafted from solid cherry wood and white oak. All the details are meticulous and intricate, for example, the wheels are made from one hundred individual pieces, the heart shapes in the wheels are spring loaded, panels are hand tapered and beveled, the contoured panels are as durable as a boat hull and the petal-like canopy, interior curtains and upholstery are 100% silk. At Posh Tots, price starts at $75,000.

IT"S FOR KIDS!

To the Rijksmuseum we shall go.. in Amsterdam

This article and picture was sent to me by a friend, I have no idea where the article came from, but I sure wish, I was this person who could visit this exhibit..


to the Rijksmuseum. to see the "The Master Pieces" exhibition in the Philips wing. Lots of Rembrandt, Hals and Vermeer paintings with all the main works on display. Of course the paintings are nice, but for some reason we all are drawn to the dollhouses.


Seventeenth-century doll's houses were not children's toys, they were a hobby. In the 17th century, many wealthy Dutch merchants had collections of one sort or another, which they kept in display cabinets. The wives of these well-to-do gentlemen also had collections, which reflected their personal interests: often their homes. Some had large cupboards full of miniature furniture and dolls, replicas of a real home. These doll's houses were sometimes on a magnificent scale. Whenever an important visitor dropped by, the host and hostess would show their collections. The master of the house would open the drawers of his cabinet and explain the contents to his guests, while his wife gave a comprehensive demonstration of her doll's house. She would display the contents of the cupboards, reveal hidden spaces, light the lamps and would let real water gush from the fountain in the garden. Doll's house demonstrations sometimes went on for hours. for ladies, comparable to the cabinets in which gentlemen kept their collections. This is one of three seventeenth-century doll's houses that have survived intact. It was commissioned by Petronella Oortman, a wealthy Amsterdam lady. The house is remarkable in that all of the components are made exactly to scale. Petronella ordered miniature porcelain objects from China and commissioned furniture makers and artists to decorate the interior. It was extremely costly to create a model house like this. Petronella probably spent between twenty and thirty thousand guilders on her doll's house. In the seventeenth century she would have been able to buy a real house along one of the canals for that price.

Too many projects but ready to begin a tobacco barn

YES, I have too many projects going on in the studio. I have everything ready to begin building a Kentucky Tobacco Barn and I need some miniature tools. I have been searching , found a few Tom Thumb tools I had packed away and am working on my buying list for the upcoming Chicago shows.

While searching the internet for tools I found this website called the Toolchest Site and found this wonderful article. Time to share with others again...

http://www.toolchest-site.com/william-robertson-miniature-tool-chest

It’s almost difficult to comprehend that this replica of an 18th century gentleman’s tool chest, packed with tools, is only 2 inches long. It is a masterful 1/12 scale reproduction based on the Hewitt chest at Colonial Williamsburg and is by celebrated miniaturist William Robertson.

The chest is primarily made from mopane wood which looks like mahogany in scale and oxidizes similarly. The secondary wood is Swiss pear.

There are also cast brass Rococo drop handles as well as beaded backplates. It should also be noted that the miniscule lock actually works, and the label on the underside of the lid is printed on 18th century paper — in lettering to perfect scale of course.

As you would expect from something so masterfully created, the tool chest was made with the same construction as the original chest. Tool trays and drawers are fully dovetailed with hand-sawn dust boards. The dividers are v-notched and crosslapped and the lid sides are tongue and groove.

Robertson’s tool chest contains all the same tools that were found in the original. All the tools work, even the plane’s tote (handle) is set a scale 1/8″ to one side as the original. The saw has 160 teeth to the inch. Robinson says that the hardest tool to make was the folding rule with 5 leaf hinge. It is about .030″ thick and hand engraved on boxwood. Things like the shears and dividers also have nice little joints.

Also included in the tool chest are a Kent-style hatchet, claw hammer, a riviting hammer, marking gauge, five gimlets, a smooth plane, backsaw, saw wrest, divider, awl, round file, burnisher, inside/outside calipers, bevel gauge, try square, three turnscrews, four brad awls, an oilstone in its case, three tanged chisels, a mallet and a beak anvil. As stated all the tools are fully functional, with blades made of steel. Other parts are made from brass with handles made of pearwood, boxwood, African blackwood, Bolivian rosewood and maple.

The chest and tools took about 1,000 hours to complete.

A Man's Miniature World

A friend of mine, made a comment to me , "I'm beginning to get into this miniature stuff".
He had liked my presidential postings and the connection to miniatures. I have been searching for miniatures for "manly" roomboxes or settings so when I came across this diorama made by Wilco Machiels, I had to post them . I found these on Speedhunters. I have left the descriptions of the photos as I found them written on the Speedhunters website.

I AM IN AWE!!!! Read this:

Many model car enthusiasts, they start to build model cars and quickly realize that they have a long way to go before it looks like a real car. There's always the exception and that is Wilco... he started at the age of seven and has since then mastered the technique of building realistic model cars and dioramas like no other.

All the models and diorama's have been build in 1:24 scale and are made to represent the garage's from the 1960's. Wilco says "I love the nostalgic garages of the 1960's - dirty, a little cluttered and rather disorganized and untidy - I like to recreate them just the way they were". He always starts out with a model and then builds the garage around it, he often takes parts from other kits to enhance the look and feel of the diorama's.

The following is from his website....

My name is Wilco Machiels from the Netherlands

This site shows my hobby and passion, making GARAGEDIORAMAS. ( click here to go to his website) Only in 1:24 scale because this is the best scale to work in, detailed and not to big in my opinion.
The dioramas are fully scratch build made from pieces of plastic, wood andmetal. Mostly shoebox size with real 12 volt electric lighting.

I prefer garages from the past with their nostalgic looks (50-80's). I use plastic model car kits with many parts because they are high in detail.

Al my models are plastic kits from Tamiya, Hasegawa, Fujimi, Gunze, Revell, Italerei, Monogram, MPC and Airfix

The detail on this VW bus is amazing. The rust and the battered paint shows that it had a hard life, I'm guessing that it just unloaded the crate engine.

This more customized Beetle with its deep dish wheels is getting some work done on the rear. It looks like there is some welding going on, maybe a leaking exhaust?. The shop owner must have thought better be safe than sorry so he has a fire extinguisher at the ready.

This beetle is undergoing some major overhauling. It is getting a new engine and it seems that the drum brakes are getting refreshed.

This bus is getting a fresh lick of paint and maybe some rust removed around the arches. It is already rolling on some new wheels. Al the diorama's that Wilco makes feature real lighting as you can see on the wall.

Here we have a lot of spare parts that are scavenged from other models to make this diorama complete. Did you notice the Continental sign just right of the door?

This looks more like a donor car but it makes for a great addition to this diorama.

A scratch build tire exchanger.... just so you now that Wilco is truly a king amongst modelers. I'm amazed at all the details and still find new things to marvel at.

NOW THIS IS A MAN'S MINIATURE WORLD!

So to my friend, what do you think , has this caught your attention..

A new miniature idea... Noah's Ark

I made a Noah's Ark room box about 8 years ago,
it is titled " Noah and Sons Travel Agency".
The room box has appeared in several magazines . I think I bought 6 copies of those magazines, I was so excited to see my work in a magazine at a Border's book store.
I am fascinated with Noah, the story, the lessons to be learned and the number "2". How that number has related to my life is a fascinating story. I liked these quotes and wanted to share them. Now to ponder do I order this kit or keep on looking. It too can go on my birthday wish list!

Noah’s Ark Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah’s Ark…
ONE: Don’t miss the boat.
TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat.
THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.
FOUR: Stay fit. When you’re 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
FIVE: Don’t listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
SIX: Build your future on high ground.
SEVEN: For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.
EIGHT: Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
NINE: When you’re stressed, float awhile.
TEN: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
ELEVEN: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there’s always a rainbow waiting.


I found this model kit.. a tiny scale but it might do.
I did find a kit - 9 feet long for $1,500 DON"T THINK SO

Continuing to honor President's Day

To continue honoring President's Day, I wanted to share this link with you which takes you to a visit to Mt Vernon and wonderful pictures and explanations of this dollhouse replica of Mt. Vernon. Above is the real Mt. Vernon...

Two years ago, I lived approximately 30 miles from Mt. Vernon. I could see the Potomac River from my home in Occoquan. I was a member of the Mt. Vernon Miniature CLub, a marvelous group of NAME miniaturists who I miss very much.
Mt. Vernon has gone under a wonderful renovation and the visitor center is grand. Everytime I visited it, I learned something new about George and Martha ( by the way, the restaurant there serves wonderful lunches.)
I found this site by searching for George Washington clothes... I want to try and make a replica of his coat for a grand and large two room -roombox Williamsburg style I have.


http://www.justoutsidedc.com/Mount_Vernon_page_3.html

GO VISIT THIS SITE!!!!!

About this third page of Mount Vernon photos and comments .... it is all about the delightful doll house size replica of Mount Vernon that is located on the Mount Vernon estate in the Ford Orientation Center.