Heavenly

Our lilac bush has come back to life this year after some careful pruning and love from my husband, who has done an amazing job of keeping our yard lovely. He gave me a little clipping this weekend and it really smelled heavenly. I felt inspired to use a few sprigs in a scene.

Odd that they would end up in a somewhat dark A-frame cabin, but then it all made sense. I still had lilac-colored silk papers on the upstairs walls, and the earthiness of the place helped to bring it all together.

Curious about the bed? Well, lots of soap dish magic here -- the base is a marble soap dish (you can see it more exposed in this scene from a while ago), and the headboard is a modern chrome one. I covered the middle section of the A-frame window with a card illustrated with tree branches that came as packing material in a large shipment of books at work. I saw them when I unpacked a few boxes and knew I could make use of them eventually, and then a colleague passed along some too, thinking I might find them useful for my minis! The "crest" above the headboard is a neat little object that I got with a vintage set of furnishings some time ago. I don't think it was ever intended for minis, but obviously the seller saw potential...!

You'll see that I like to change furnishings and other accents around when I am shooting my photographs; in this case, I changed the bedside lamp from a brass one to a silver and moved around the little "baskets" by the bed (they are actually napkin rings stuffed with cut pieces of natural sponge). I couldn't quite figure out which configurations I liked best, so you'll see my thought process at work here ;)

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Credits: Bed is made of a marble soap dish base and a chrome soap dish headboard; coverlet and pillows are handmade by The Shopping Sherpa; round side table is Re-ment; crest is a vintage find -- not sure what it was originally meant for; brass lamp is vintage Petite Princess and chrome lamp is vintage German; baskets are napkin rings from West Elm, filled with natural sponge; side table in corner is Concord Miniatures; red couch is vintage Brio; cork side table is from Michaels; desk is made of a vintage Lundby table top with a piece of soap dish packaging as a top, and base is a napkin ring from Crate & Barrel; desk chair is Reac; rug is Peppercorn Minis. Accessories are AG Minis, Re-ment, Manor House Miniatures, ELF Miniatures, and eBay finds.

The time it took me: 48 minutes

A-Frame Corner

I took my vintage A-Frame off the top storage shelf for some play yesterday. I hadn't really touched my minis all week or weekend, and I felt inspired to go back in time.

The house has been sadly neglected by me; it needs some touching up and renovation. The acetate inserts in the windows have paint drops or markings, courtesy of the prior owner, and much of the wood edges of the house are chipped and nicked. I also stripped mostly all the wallpaper off when I initially got the house, and have not replaced it.

OK, self-imposed guilt trip over.

For the sloped wall in the nook-like space on the main floor, I gravitated toward a remnant of a brown and creme vintage 70s wallpaper from German eBay (not from Claudia, as I had thought!) It's lovely, no?

The pattern is a bit large, but I cut a swath and put in a minimal amount of furnishings. I even economized by using two zig zag Reac chairs as a book shelf, having seen many innovative shelves lately such as these:

Pulseline by Salomonsen Design

Sum Bookshelf

Quad Shelving Unit

Asymmetrical bookcase

Designed by Francesco Passaniti

I'm drooling just looking at these...makes me want to commission an artisan to create one! Perhaps for my birthday...hmmm...

Finally getting around to my scene:

See that zebrano wood flooring piece? That's a gorgeous sample from Amtico International, a company that I found out about from the ever-resourceful Pepper. I got some other samples that I hope to use soon.

By the way, you likely know by now that photography is a big part of the appeal of doing this blog, since it enables me to "bring you in" to my little world. Hence, I have a deep affection for my camera, and cameras in general, especially *mini* cameras!! You can imagine the thrill of finding these wonderful little key chains from Lomography in JaZams, my great local toy store:

Incredible, right? While I didn't use them in any scenes yet, I will soon. They likely will be a bit large for 1:12, but definitely workable!

Credits: Console and stools by Paris Renfroe; lights are Lil' Bratz; bookshelf is made of two Reac zig zag chairs; planter is Manor House Miniatures, and plant is from an aquarium plant set; wood flooring is an Amtico sample, and wallpaper is from German eBay and from an Asian-themed scrapbook paper book from Michael's. Accessories are AG Minis, eBay and doll house show finds, handmade by The Shopping Sherpa, from my Mom, and Manor House Miniatures.

The time it took me: 34 minutes