Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

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As I posted some time ago, I was the lucky winner of the annual Minismodernas room contest.  This is what I chose as my winnings:

Gorgeous aren't they?

 Again, Thank you so much Rosa for having the contest and for being so generous!

Say Hello to Trudy

Recently, I had the Butterfly house for sale on Etsy primarily because I just don't have the room for more than one or two houses in my work room.  I have had many requests as to if it was still available and if I could make another one just like it.  I would love to, but I just don't have the time and believe me it cost a small bundle to ship the thing. So rather than making a whole house, I've been toying with the idea of making a modern/mid-century modern room box to sell. Something that doesn't cost your right arm and half a leg to ship.  Here is what I came up with:

 The front porch.

 This one is just a prototype.  Hence the big smear of glue on the floor.

 Floor to ceiling windows in the back.

 Large transom window above the front door.

I call her Trudy because it seems like such a 1950's-1960's name.  I got the inspiration of the name from a character on Mad Men. She is 24" long, 10" tall and 14" deep.  Here she is "naked" with no finishes.  I'm thinking of selling her in her natural state and letting the buyer decide to leave her as is or decorate her to their liking.  She is made of 1/2" furniture grade birch plywood and edged with birch veneer.  I think she would even be sturdy enough for kids.  She is put together with wood glue and pin nails.  I would love some feedback on whether or not you think this would be a good seller and if there is anything you would change.  

Which is it?

Mid-century Modern, Art Deco or Granny?

Minismodernas 3rd Annual Modern Mini Contest Winners

Recently Minismodernas (a great source for modern miniatures based in Spain) held their third annual modern miniature contest.  The premise was to make a modern miniature scene.  The results of the contest are in.....This year's winner is....me. I was on vacation in Michigan when Rosa e-mailed me that I won.  I was so excited!!! I feel especially honored since one of the judges was the amazing Pablo Leal of Amatheria. As you may remember, I posted this scene a couple of months ago to welcome summer. You can see the details here.

 The runner up for the contest is...The Japanese house by Nadine Bedini.  You can see more details of this awesome house at Minismodernas blog.

Here are some photos of the other entries for the contest. 

 Scene Contrasts by Mandy Vlak of Mini Modern Mind.  I love the colors and that painting is awesome!

 The MiPad in Black and White by Megan of Modern Mini Houses.  This is one of the famous new MiPad rooms from Elaine Shaw at Miaim Miniatures

A Summer Scene by Irene Mont.  I like the relaxing feeling here.

The Modern Loft by Kristine of Paperdoll Miniatures.  I love how she did the city scene in the background.

 A kitchen Scene by Irene Mont.  I love the yellow and all of the details.

This wonderful modern scene by Gabrielle from In the Twelfth Scale. By the way she won second place in last year's contest.  I love the serene feeling and the light colors.

All of the entries are just wonderfully modern and very well done!

Setting up in the Citadel

No Story, just a scene in the unfinished Citadel

The tall lamp is the Tiny Tim book light, the small lamp, leather sofa, pillows, coffee table and black and white photos are by me (The Photos are from google images...I just printed them on photo paper and framed them.)  The Eames Elephant is Reac.  The small table was an Ebay find.  The area rug is a sample of Eames dot pattern fabric. The chair is by the very talented Carol of Mitchymoo Miniatures.

The Saarinen styled tulip table is by me, the chairs are Reac.

 

The laptop is Rement and the books are miscellaneous finds.

Hopefully soon I will get back to work on the Citadel.

Petrified Wood Floors

I've had several requests to know what I used for the floors in The Citadel, so I'm going to tell you what I used and how to get it.

 I get the "Petrified Wood" pattern from Formica.com  It comes in 12x12" samples.  No two samples are the same which makes for great varied colors.

 On the web site it's under their 180 FX grouping.  Note:  they will only send one sample per request so, if you need more, you may want to wait a couple of days then request another.  They will ship the sample at no charge.  

 Then I just use my Proxxon table saw to cut the sample into 1"  wide strips then into random lengths.

 Then I just glue it down.  I try to mix up the colors to give it a more varied look. 

Citadel Update

Over a year and a half ago thanks to Brae from Otterine's Miniatures, I was able to purchase the Citadel Dollhouse kit.  It's a modern dollhouse from Lolly's near Chicago. You can read more about it here and here.  It was discontinued some time ago.  I put it together a little over a year ago and it sat for a long time.  I finally did some work on it!

 The front is nearly finished.  I just need to install one more window, paint it and trim around the windows.

It he largest room, I did the same flooring as I did in the Butterfly House on the bottom floor and bamboo on the loft floor. I added a plexiglass railing and aluminum trim which is held on with little socket head screws. I also installed the trim (metal eyelets) for the LED pot lights that I will be putting in.

I made the tall wall a feature wall by adding beech wood panels with brushed aluminum in between to pick up on the aluminum trim on the railing. I also used the beech for the trim around the windows and base boards.

  I did something that I don't usually do even in real life and that is I painted the walls white.  Last weekend I went to a fabulous mid-century home tour and was inspired by the light walls and medium to light wood trim in several houses of the houses.  This house will have a classic modern vibe with mid-century influence.

I did the bamboo flooring at an angle in the loft and left the door and trim raw wood.  This door is not glued in yet because I still need to make a more modern door handle.

I also wallpapered one of the downstairs rooms with this colorful Orla Kiely inspired wallpaper from JJ Wallpapers on Etsy.  Doesn't the bed I got from Carol (Mitchy Moo Miniatures) fit in perfectly?

Wood Floors

When I posted the pics of the Groovy 70's Pad, I was asked to go a tutorial on how I do my wood floors.

To start, whenever I see bamboo mats at discount stores like Home Goods or TJ Maxx I typically scoop them up.  This also works with bamboo place mats. They come in various shades.

 This is what the bamboo floor mat looks like.  This one is about  3 ft X 2 ft.  It cost around $7.00 so you get a lot for your money.

They usually have some kind of binding and a backing.

 I tear off the backing  and the binding which leaves a light mesh that holds the bamboo pieces together.  The glue can penetrate and it will glue the floor directly to your base. Another good thing is that you can cut the entire floor at once and not have to glue down a zillion pieces of wood individually.

Then I cut it to size and use hot glue.  The only things I typically use hot glue for are siding and the wood floors. I use it because it sets up quickly and I don't have to worry about water based glue warping the wood.

Voila! Wood flooring. 

Better Late Than Being Kept By Customs!

Today is a day I was very happy to work from home...so that I was there to sign for this international package.

Recently, Carol (aka Pepper) from Mitchymoo Miniatures (The blog and the Etsy shop) and I decided to to a mini swap.  The items I sent to her arrived in good time, but what she sent me was detained by customs for a short while.

But it finally made it's way here.  I know the "custom" is to open an item a day or something like that, but does anyone really do that?  I couldn't wait to get into that box!

 Here is what she sent.

 Some great mini patterned fabrics.

 A replica of a Mid-century modern set of shelves I favorited on Etsy and an Ikea Poang chair replica.

This luxurious bed with a tufted head board and bedding.

 Here's the bed naked...still gorgeous!

This beautiful lamp and table.  I love the blue tint in the plexiglass.

A totally retro room divider and sculpture.

and personalized pillows.

Thank you soooo much,Carol.  I love and treasure every piece!

Welcome Summer

Although it's not officially summer yet, as of yesterday it's summer break for the kids.  Since we have been having such beautiful weather I decided to do a scene with a bright summery feel.

The oil painting is from Nu Fine Art on Etsy.  I just love the colors and the texture. The sideboard, yellow poufs, nelson styled clock, rug and Fornasetti styled plates are all from The Shopping Sherpa, the vases are Jonathan Adler for Barbie, the sofa, coffee table and larger pillows are Kaleidoscope house, the gerber daisy pillow and hanging light are by me, the Chaise is Reac, the silver lamp is from Minimum World and the side table is from Modern Mini Houses..

Happy Summer!