Back to the Drawing Board

Anyone affected by all the Blogger problems these past few days? My blog certainly was, and I apologize for the fact that the post I put up on the evening of Wednesday, May 11, disappeared, as did the comments I received! What a bummer! According to Blogger, some data corruption during scheduled maintenance wreaked havoc on the service from Wednesday evening forward, and many, many folks were affected. Supposedly all is fixed now, but my post is still GONE. This has taught me to copy the text of all my posts when complete so that I have a backup.

Perhaps that post, which was a scene in the bath of my Citadel, was just not meant to be...so, instead of recreating it, I have gone back to the drawing board to start fresh with a scene in my Kaleidoscope House. I was itching to use a sleek new 1:12 scale Maisto bike that I purchased on eBay (it's all Otterine's fault!!), and it is indeed a beauty, really lovely and realistic.

And for $7.50, not too shabby!

The flooring is one of my favorite Chilewich place mats, and for the first time I decided to use the entire thing. Normally, I cut pieces out, but the K House great room can handle it, I think!

The island is completely hacked: a Bodo Hennig kitchen cabinet on its side with two Crate & Barrel coasters. What do you think? I rarely use dolls, but I decided to use one to verify that the scale of the hack worked.

Another small hack is the fireplace covering, which is a small picture frame we got at a friend's wedding over a decade ago (sorry, D & N!). I cut off the back, affixed it over the opening, and put in a Lundby plant to soften the hard lines. Ever get creative with your modern fireplaces? Mini Modern recently created one from a miniature canvas, and I loved when Modern Mini Houses papered her Kaleidoscope House one.

The lovely green vase above the fireplace and awesome design mags on the tulip table are extra tidbits from my swap with The Shopping Sherpa -- I received them last week, to my surprise. Don't you love those packages???

Credits: Tulip table, chairs, lamp, and bottom of island are Bodo Hennig; top of island is a set of two coasters from Crate & Barrel; chair is Reac; cabinet is vintage German; kitchen unit is Bozart; BMW bike is Maisto; flooring is a Chilewich place mat; fireplace covering is a picture frame; plant is vintage Lundby; magazines and green vase are from The Shopping Sherpa. Accessories are Re-ment, beads, and dollhouse store finds.

The time it took me: 55 minutes.

14 Minutes

I thought it would be interesting to time how long it took me to do a scene in one of my houses. I often mention in my posts that I do a "quick scene," and I know what that means to me but then I thought it might not mean the same to you. I consider 14 minutes in the realm of "quick." I have spent much longer on other scenes, or I start a scene one day and finish it on another.

My scenes tend to be motivated by color, so if I were to dissect this scene it would go as follows:

* Motivation: My eight-year-old son has been VERY into origami lately, and experiments with all sorts of shapes and papers. The rocket ship is a form that he has perfected, and he amazes us with all the precise folds he has memorized; he can do it with his eyes closed! He made me a super mini one, in a lovely shade of electric blue, and I really wanted to use it.

* Choose house: I chose my VERO, which is still in rehab, mainly out of guilt since I still have not gotten around to wallpapering half the house.

* Choose room: Easy. I chose the lovely sitting room with two walls of windows.

* Choose a few key pieces: My new Paul MacAlister daybed, mostly because it is a new purchase and I wanted to try it out. One of my favorite credenzas, by VERO, and a beloved Barcelona Reac chair.

* The rest falls into place: The blue origami rocket ship emboldens me to use similarly colored pillows (handmade by The Shopping Sherpa for our swap) with the more somber plaid of the daybed, something I would not have thought to do. Add one of my favorite lamps, the three sphere wonder by minimodernistas, a coffee table, side table, and rug. After putting in a plant and a few small accessories, I restrain myself from adding anything further.

* Fidget slightly with placement. Shift a pillow slightly, move the coffee cup, push the vase back on the credenza, adjust the rain boots, turn the minimodernistas lamp.

* Photograph. Take 27 photographs, and use a little over a third for the post. I never Photoshop my photos, but I do use the straightener tool to even things out if I've done the angle wrong. I sometimes crop, but not often.

* Start writing this and plug in the photos.

Check out my son's handiwork!

OK, having done this I am now quite curious how you go about your scenes. Share if you're inspired!

Credits: Daybed is by Paul MacAlister; chair is Reac; credenza is VERO; side table is an artisan piece from Fridas Fancy dollhouse store; coffee table, rug, and lamp by minimodernistas; books and large blue pillows by The Shopping Sherpa; small blue pillows are Re-ment; planter is from Manor House Miniatures. Accessories are Re-ment, beads, made by my awesome kid, ELF Miniatures, and Barbie by Jonathan Adler.