my beautiful Castle Gatehouse by Karin Foster has arrived and I'm thrilled with it.....a perfect spot for my lovely Medieval Lady with Owl (and maybe a Knight or 2).

Tea Garden progress

I'm still struggling with my Tea Garden and I'm still not sure if it is going to be an addition to the Street of Shops that I will like.

I've added cushions to the chairs, but will add trim to the edges before I'm done.

delightful NANNY by Lisa Johnson-Richards

this beautiful Nanny arrived from England yesterday and is now pushing a pram in my Street of Shops scene.

I've been talking to Karin Foster about one of her wonderful castle room boxes as a home for my beautiful Medieval lady (purchased at Arnhem Miniature Show last Feb.).  
It will be hard waiting to see what Karin creates for her.

tea garden trial and error

nothing permanent yet, still trying different looks and adding landscaping touches.....

creating a Tea Garden (?)

I am playing around with ideas for a tea garden between my tea room and corner bakery.  Trying different things to see the way it looks.  I bashed a pergola kit so it would fit. 
To be added to the setting:  grass; tiles; wall fountain; flower beds; climbing roses; chair cushions.

- - - just trying this and that to see what works.

this is the fake door from the Tea Room leading to the potential Tea Garden.  It still needs door knobs in and out.

dust cover

Since ordering a large enough acrylic display case for my Street of Shops is out of the question, I found a good compromise at JoAnn's.  A light weight clear plastic by the yard ($2.99) 90" wide.
It beats using trash bags to keep my minis dust-free.  You can just see it in this picture.
I think I'll get some more to cover my

Vermeer roombox and my General Store, too.

Well, the good news is that the company can make the display case and it isn't outrageous.
The bad news is that it's so big they'd have to crate and freight it at a cost a little more than the case itself.
Guess I won't be doing that!

made 2 kites for the Toy Shop...

I'm currently checking out the possibilities and cost of ordering an acrylic display case to protect my Street of Shops from DUST -- the enemy of all miniatures. 

I've had 2 cases made by a local plastics shop that were rather expensive.  One for my Storybook Cottage and the other for my Tracy Topps' house (Ladies' Boutique).  Then I found this Internet site   http://www.casesforcollectibles.com/  where I ordered one for my witch's garden at a much more reasonable cost.  It arrived very quickly and was exactly to my measurements.

So I'll soon find out what they'll charge to make a much larger one, if they can make it.

display table for Houseworks Street of Shops

I ordered a sofa table from Overstock. com planning to use it to display my Street of Shops.  It arrived really fast, was easy to assemble and it's BIG enough.  So there's plenty of room for the
shops and even enough space to add a Tea Garden between the Tea Room and the Corner Bakery. 
That is, IF I can ever figure out how to create one that doesn't look amateurish next to the shops.

I tried bashing a pergola kit to fit the space available but I'm not real happy with the way it looks.   
And I'm finding that elements I thought would work just fine - don't.  So I'm now re-thinking everything.

Here are the shops on their new display table:

Another doll for my Street of Shops scene

Celeste,  another beautiful creation from Viola Williams.  She will be added to my increasingly-peopled Victorian scene.

and another new doll in the Rambling Rose Tea Room

this sweet little widow lady is enjoying tea and cucumber sandwiches in the tea room of my Street of Shops.  She was another find on Etsy and made by "Mrs.Tiggywinkle"....

new doll for my Street of Shops

I found a wonderful character doll  on Etsy to add to my Street of Shops:   Mr.A. Gras, a lovely older gentleman created by Maria Narbon. 

My little street is becoming very populated, which I think adds a lot of interest to the whole scene.

New to blogging and still a novice miniaturist

Miniatures seem to be pulling me in deeper into the Internet  than I ever dreamed I would go.
At first I was just scouring eBay for miniatures to fill my Storybook Cottage done in a Rik Pierce class and  only my second project ever.  Soon I discovered Webshots where I could post pictures of my minis; next came Etsy.  Soon I was asked to join an online mini group. 
Then I stumbled upon mini blogs, miniature tours, wonderful miniaturists in other parts of the world ..... oh dear, one thing does lead to another.

a short report on my visit to the Arnhem Miniatures Show - March 2012

I returned yesterday after eight days with Molly Cromwell's tour of The Netherlands & Brussels taking in the two-day Arnhem miniature show and visits to two museum exhibits of miniatures were three awe-inspiring Dutch Baby Houses beautifully made in the 1600's and amazingly preserved.
http://mollycromwell.com/
We saw some wonderful present-day miniatures at the Arnhem show including a few treasures I brought home with me as well as a cute donkey I found in a Brussels miniature shop.
Now I will have to create a scene for a couple of them.  The donkey is perfect with the cart with the broken wheel purchased at the Show; my  beautiful Elizabethan lady with owl is by LaBelleBrigante; my Dutch girl and baker are by Saskia Maas of Het Kleine Volk.  I fell in love with her characters.
Our tour group of miniature enthusiasts were very congenial and it was a pleasure to travel with them.

Arnhem Dollhouse & Miniature Show

I'm excited about heading for Arnhem and the show.  I looking forward to meeting many talented European miniature artisans as well as finding some wonderful miniature creations to bring home!!!!
     http://www.arnhemshow.com/ap.html

a mouse house I made in a Joan Wheatley class

it is now a home for one of my Wee Forest Folk - "Quilting Bea"

a really cute and creative 'mouse' blog

http://mouseshouses.blogspot.com/

mini-mice (or Wee Forest Folk)

My love of miniatures includes MICE, especially Wee Forest Folk.  I put out holiday displays featuring the seasonal WFFs in my collection.

love the cupcake clock by Roxanne - "Baking In Miniature" on Etsy!

Toys (sign my Phyllis Hawkes)

Sweet Rose Bakery

Signs by Phyllis Hawkes have arrived for my Street of Shops: 
    "Rambling Rose Tea Room"
    "Sweet Rose Bakery"
    "Toys"

Rambling Rose Tea Room



Street of Shops - in progress

the smallest roombox will be a Toy Shop

a Tea Room (largest) will be in the center

the corner will be a Bakery

I've added a false door to the Tea Room to allow for a possible pergola between it and the Bakery
and space for 'Tea in the Garden'

wallpaper - Crystina Pink - was the inspiration for the color scheme