Texas Miniature Showcase 2013

Arrangement by Helen David.

Mr. T2S and I enjoyed returning to Dallas and seeing the friends that we had made last year. It was the one year anniversary of my miniature teaching career! This year, the class made little wreaths with a glitter house inside. 

The exhibits drew crowds all weekend. These are some talented ladies!

A porch scene in quarter scale by Karen Carter.

One of the clubs exhibited their chocolate shops. We enjoyed seeing how they incorporated the Eiffel Tower chocolate display kits and the chocolates made from the molds. It's a good thing that the scenes were protected by cases because they looked so decadent!

Chocolate Shop by Susan Sanchez.

Chocolate Shop by Susan Sanchez.

The Little Village glitter house kits and icicle shelf edging were incorporated into a cheerful market stall.

Market stall by Kendra S.

I met Helen David last year in Dallas. Sadly, she passed away this spring. The remainder of Helen's floral arrangements were being sold by her daughter. Helen was known for creating historically and seasonally accurate floral arrangements. Her legacy will continue as her daughter will make the laser cut flowers available through the website, helendavidflowers.com.

Floral arrangements by Helen David.

Lisa Engler (Lisa's Little Things) offered kits and finished items to complete a 1:12 coffee shoppe. It is l-o-v-e-l-y!

Preview of Our New Kits

Finally, I've seen the first robin of Spring, the tulips are poking up, and the brown snow is disappearing! It has been a long, but productive Winter. Mr. T2S and I are looking forward to sharing what we have been working on during those bleak months. 

Here is a preview of the new things that we will be bringing with us to the Chicago International Show, (April 19-21). These new items will be added to the website soon after the show. Hope to see you in Chicago!

1:12 Scale Glitter House Tower Kit

Up on the Housetop Vintage Decorations; workshop and kit

1:!2 Scale Glitter House Wreath Kit

Kitchen Shelf with Decals Kit

1:48 Scale Peel and Stick Wallpaper. Many designs are available now

Good Sam Show and The Tuck Box

The Good Sam Showcase of Miniatures in San Jose, California, was so much fun! Mr. T2S and I enjoyed meeting many new people, including Patty from Petit Orphelin. She shared a couple of her sweet, hand sculpted babies with us.

On Sunday morning, I demonstrated applying decals to dishes. In the afternoon, I had time to view a few of the pieces on display from area miniaturists. One of those pieces, The Tuck Box, was built by Don Silva. Don took measurements and photos of the life-size Tuck Box in Carmel, California and built an exact replica of the 1927 English style tea room. It was so charming, that Mr. T2S and I decided to make a visit to Carmel the following day. Unfortunately, The Tuck Box closed just before we arrived, but we did enjoy checking out the neighboring gift shop and wine bar!

The Tuck Box by Don Silva.

Interior by Don Silva and Connie Suave. Do you recognize the dishes pattern?

The real Tuck Box in Carmel, CA.

Kensington Dollshouse Festival Part 2

The Monday after the dollshouse festival was a fun day in London. Mr. T2S and I headed to the Victoria and Albert Museum. With the museum map and a limited amount of spousal patience, I quickly devised a route through the museum that allowed us to see a small sampling of the extensive collection.

Several architectural models interested me, but I was attracted to this one because it is contained within a traveling box.

Architectural model of Pitt House; Sir George Gilbert Scott and W.B. Moffat; 1841.

I like the traveling box!

The ceramics exhibition was breathtaking! You may wish to click on the images to see the details.

Dish with peas; England, Staffordshire, about 1820; Minton's factory.
Bone china painted in enamels and gilded.

Vases with naturalistic flowers; England, Staffordshire, 1830-1840; Minton & Co.
Bone china painted in enamels and gilded.

Tile panel with vase of flowers; Delft, Netherlands, 1710-1750.

Also in the V&A museum, I found the same model of my first boombox in one of the display cases. Yikes, am I so old, that a purple, plastic boombox with mint green and peach "play" and "stop" buttons for the cassette tapes, is now a museum piece? 

This colorful diva of a stereo rocked my world with Madonna, Starship, and the Bangles.  Graphic via stereo2go.com

I quickly forgot about the 80s, as we headed to Covent Garden. It was a pleasant surprise to find a Ladurée shop! And even more pleasant that Hubby and our friend indulged me with a box of the scrumptious macaroons! The three of us stood in the square and moaned with pleasure as we sampled the flavors. Not a bad ending to our trip!

Kensington Dollshouse Festival - Part 1

I'm a little late in posting about our trip to Kensington Dollshouse Festival. However I want to share some photos of just a small portion of the fantastic work that we saw at the festival.

We had a short, but pleasant trip to London. It was our first time taking part in the Kensington Dollshouse Festival. We shared a table with Andrea Thieck, whom I think is one of the most stylistically diverse artisans I've met. Everything that she makes – from watering cans to LED lighted minerals – is a perfect replica of real life! And she is a delightful person as well.

Andrea Thieck

Of course, I did a bit of shopping between helping customers. How can one fight the urge to scoop up everything in sight, when it is all new and different?? Fortunately, I was able to control myself... ahem.. to a certain degree.

New items for the kitchen of the Tuscan Villa. 

Andrea thoughtfully found the bowl in the photo for my Tuscan Villa. It is by Sally Meekins. 

Every kitchen needs a few storage containers. The leather hanging bottle, wooden bucket and wooden storage container are by S & S Eismont.

The preserved tomatoes and onions and other glassware are from Country Treasures.

Not surprisingly, one of the busiest tables was Petite Properties. I fell for a lean-to greenhouse kit. It is going to be attached to my 1:48 flower shop. And then there was the impulse buy... a 1:144 Tulip Cottage kit. It was just too IRRESISTIBLY CUTE! 

1:144 Flower Pot Cottage Kit. Photo via petite-properties.com

I met Georgia Marfels from Germany. I can best describe her work as humorously dark and magical; it makes you want to look closely at every piece. The dissected frogs brought back memories from high school Biology class!

Georgia Marfels

One of the best parts of traveling to the festival was meeting artisans that I hadn't previously known about. One such person is David Provan. He makes incredibly detailed wood turnings and metal pieces; including this window hardware. He patiently explained how to install one of his door latches in my Tuscan Villa. 

Window hardware by David Provan.

Andrea introduced me to Jana from Germany. Her books are works of art. Pictured below is the Van Gogh's House pop-up book.

Janas Minibuecher. Photo via janas-minibuecher.de

More from London in the next post!

Kensington-Here We Come!

We are just about ready to leave for our first show in London. I'm excited! To commemorate the occasion (well...to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee...really) I thought it would be fun to do a little collaboration with Ruth Stewart. She made these delightful cakes and cupcakes. Do you see the tiny gemstones? Ruth has such a colorful and fresh approach to her work; I can't help but smile when I see her desserts!

If you will be attending Kensington Dolls House Festival, please stop by our table and take a look at Ruth's work!

The Texas Show and Our First Workshop

It was a weekend of firsts for Mr. T2S and me – our first trip to Texas, our first time teaching a workshop, and our first Texas BBQ! We enjoyed them all!! Everything in Texas seems to be a bit bigger, including the hospitality.

Our weekend began with teaching a workshop. Eight fun ladies signed up to create the vintage style Christmas hutch with glitter houses. We had a great time assembling the houses and electrifying them. And I'm not embarrassed to say that I learned a lot from our students!

 

Mr. T2S and I had just enough time to set up the table before the show preview. We enjoyed meeting new people and seeing the work of some of the top miniature artists. I even had a few moments to do a bit of shopping. I was happy to see Helen David. Since I was a young girl, I've admired her gorgeous flowers that are arranged so thoughtfully. A former florist, she pays special attention to the design and historical accuracy of the arrangements and the containers. I treated myself to the tiniest stem of lilies of the valley.

Lilies of the valley by Helen David

I also chose a basket of mushrooms from Autumn Leaf Studio. Even though Mr. T2S told me that some of the types of mushrooms are not appropriate for an Italian scene, I plan to use it in my Tuscan farmhouse anyway.

Mushrooms by Autumn Leaf Studio. Basket by Al Chandronnait.

Tomorrow we are off to London for the Kensington Dollshouse Festival. We will share a table in the ground floor hall with Andrea Thieck. If you will be at the fair, please stop by and say hello!

The Online Show - Shopping in My Pajamas

How often can you shop for minis from all over the world, dressed in your pajamas? If you haven't already stopped by the online show, you may wish to drop in for a visit. There are so many dealers! I bought a couple of lovely kits from Jean Day. I'm looking forward to putting these together!

New Item for the Atlanta Show

I hope to see you in Atlanta this weekend. We'll have our newest item with us  – blue decals. They would be just lovely with some bright yellow narcissus. I think I just added another item to my list of "kits to create"!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Blue decal set shown with 1:24 scale glitter houses.