21st Birthday!

I was 21 on the 28th June!
So I travelled home on the 27th, back home to Oxford and I had a fabulous time with my parents and my birthday (who was 18 on 1st July)! Double celebrations all round!

My mum and dad bought me an iPod so now I can listen to my music whilst creating crazy paint sculptures or mini's for my dolls house!
Rob (my partner) bought me two Heidi OTT dolls, which I shall be doing a product review for soon! (I will also compare the size differences of a 1/12, 1/6 and a 1/3 scale doll! They're BIG!!!)

I'm not a big partying person and I don't like the taste of alcohol, so I went out for a really nice meal at the Limoncello (in Abingdon, Oxfordshire) and it was all home made and SUPER DUPER YUMMY!!!

Then on Sunday we all went out again for another meal for my brothers birthday! :P

Then tomorrow (Wednesday 4th July) me, my partner and all my friends are going to the Thai Elephant in Leamington Spa!!!!

So much food! But it's all so good!

Inspiring Post and Blog

Just did a random search for retro dolls on Google just to see what comes up and if any of it is inspiring. Well today I found this;
http://patchworkunderground.com/inspiration-sunday-is-maryann-roy/
This is a blog about a woman who loves to sew and be crafty! Well she found these pictures which eventually led me to this blog/website;
http://www.maryannroy.com/index.htm
Here is her blog: http://maryannroy.wordpress.com/
This is a blog/website for a woman who creates items for 1/6 scale! It is truly amazing and so inspiring, it has really given me lots to think about! I really wish I could get started on my house, but unfortunately funds are holding me back, so in the mean time I will be planning the layout/measurements etc so that when I am able to afford to start I can go full steam ahead!!! :D
This is an example of her work:
(I hope she doesn't mind me using her image) :S

This piece of furniture has inspired me to create a similar piece for the bedroom and the colour is amazing! The colour really reminds me of some of the old furniture that Lundby and Triang used to make! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!!!

Product Review: www.minisquare.com

A couple of weeks ago I ordered from www.minisqaure.com a retro inspired coffee table and a bowl, well today they finally arrived!

They were very well packaged and arrived nice and quickly!
This is what I received...

The minute I saw this piece advertised on the website I knew it was the perfect piece for my dolls house! Fantastic design and the scale is just perfect as sometimes you do get overly large or small pieces... And it was only $13.00, so about £7.70! Fantastic!

The only downside to the piece is the finish, it has been stained a really dark dull colour and appears quite 'dusty'. Now I'm not really sure how to correct this... I might have to either repaint/respray it or try some bees wax or varnish, maybe even recover it with veneer?

The other problem with it is that it's not quite straight and even, I thought it might have just not been straight to the eye so I checked it with a right angle tool and it it wonky... So I am thinking of either just leaving it as it is or pulling it apart and re glueing it so that it is perfectly square...

I'm not sure if I am being too picky or not but I am a bit of a perfectionist. But I did only pay $13 for it, so I guess I got what I paid for...

The second item that I ordered from them was this little bowl!It cost me just $3.75, so around £2.40! Amazing value for money I thought and the pattern is simply gorgeous! It really fits into the whole modern/retro/Palm Springs feel that I am going for!

I can't really fault this piece at all, the only thing is maybe to have a larger range of crockery with the design on! That would be awesome! Maybe I can make that though...

Here are the two pieces together...

I really love the pieces that I received, not quite 100% on the furniture but the accessories are amazing! 

I hope you liked my first of hopefully many product reviews!

How Do You Store/Display Your Dolls Houses?

I recently stumbled across this link;
http://www.dollshousespastandpresent.com/magazine13june2012p13.htm

And it made me think how I store my dolls houses/furniture/accessories, how do you store your houses? I have at least one in each room (except the bathrooms and bedroom), and I even have one (my first) still at my parents house...

I wish I could have a basement like the one in the link above, you could build your own mini street of houses! Sort of like Wysteria Road from Desperate Housewives :P

I am awaiting some pieces of furniture through the post (from America so they may take a while) as well as some Heidi OTT dolls (which my partner bought me for my 21st next week!), when I receive them I shall be doing some product reviews! 

I also own some BJD (ball jointed dolls), in 1/3 and 1/6 scale, so I thought it would be interesting to have a photography comparing the scales of my 1/3, 1/6 and 1/12 dolls!

This is Ava, my 1/3 scale (60cm) Obitsu doll! She came unpainted and I since painted her face and applied eyelashes!

Check this out...

I just found this really inspiring collection of images...
http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/modernminiature/Interesting

Some really inspiring pieces!

What's this thingy?!?

I see people are clicking this +1 Google thingy...

Can someone explain to me what it is, I have no idea :P

Thanks :D

My Mini Mod Pod: Ta Daa!

My Mini Mod Pod: Ta Daa!

This is an amazing house that someone had made, (finally found the finished photographs of it) :)
Doesn't it look amazing! It really does resemble the houses of Palm Springs and other such houses of the mid-century!

My Mini Mod Pod: Atomic Bungalow Update

My Mini Mod Pod: Atomic Bungalow Update

This is a fantastic house which someone has made from scratch!!! It really reminds me of the houses that I so love in Palm Springs!
Maybe one day I will make my own house based on the architecture of Palm Springs...

Review: Dolls House and Miniature Scene, Issue 216

I had recently stopped buying any Dolls House magazines due to money and the fact that all they really seem to talk about is period houses.
So I was in my local hobby store and noticed a really modern front cover for a dolls house magazine; I had to have it!

Issue 216 of 'Dolls House and Miniature Scene' featured a really interesting and inspiring article all to do with modern miniatures and how much the world of miniatures is starting to change.
The opening statements read:

'Modern and retro doesn't come from a catalogue. Rebelling against an age of cheap mass production, these modern and contemporary furniture designer's from around the world revere the art of handmade, creating one-off pieces that are sleek, bold and minimal.'

'If you are a 19th century purist, you may shiver at what appears to be cold and stark....'

The article has sparked my imagination and products that I had previously bought for the house are now set for eBay. I am now planning on making a lot of the pieces for the house or adapting kits/miniatures readily available or having one-off's built for my house.

It was so nice to see a dolls house magazine with something modern! I really hope that there will be more like this in the future! (Fingers crossed)...

The article also provided me with some excellent links to companies that sell modern/retro miniatures, such as:
Elizabeth LePla
W: http://www.elfminiautres.co.uk/

Paris Renfoe
W: http://www.prdminiatures.com/

Kari Bloom
W: www.miniature-retro-mission-furniture.com/kari_bloom

Peter Tucker
W: http://www.roomboxes.com/

Ann Nyugen
BLOG: http://amazingminiatures.com/
SHOP: http://amazingminiatures.etsy.com/

I have also discovered some amazing blogs and etsy sites:

Amatheria
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Amatheria

Mini Modernistas
http://minimodernistas.com/dollhouse/index.php?route=common/home

Minitures by Annina (Blog)
http://anninagunter.blogspot.co.uk/

Minima Miniatures (Blog)
http://minimaminiatures.blogspot.co.uk/

Minis Modernas
http://www.minismodernas.es/

Mitchy Moo Miniatures (Blog)
This features some amazing tutorials!
http://www.blogger.com/goog_1090003231


http://www.blogger.com/goog_1090003231


http://www.blogger.com/goog_1090003231


http://www.blogger.com/goog_1090003231


http://www.blogger.com/goog_1090003231


http://www.blogger.com/goog_1090003231


http://www.blogger.com/goog_1090003231


http://www.blogger.com/goog_1090003231


http://www.blogger.com/goog_1090003231


http://www.blogger.com/goog_1090003231


http://minimodpod.blogspot.co.uk/

I hope that these links help you as they have helped me! They have all proved inspirational in one way or another :)

My next post will be taking a look at 'Dolls House and Miniature Scene' Issue 217, where it takes a look at how to create a modern look and provides some really useful links to other blogs and shops!

Welcome To The My New Blog!

Hello everyone!

Thanks for finding my blog.

So what's the aim of this blog then?
Well has been set up to document my ongoings with my most recent dolls house as well as provide product reviews, hopefully some tutorials and anything that inspires me that I want to share with you all.

When I say 'recent' dolls house, I actually bought it about a year ago now and haven't touched it since because of lack of inspiration/money etc...

So this is the house...

Yes I know it's not very modern looking and it is a Victorian style house, but I couldn't resist it and it has so much charm to it!
It is a hand built house which I bought off of eBay, there isn't really much to do to the front of it, I will probably just give it a picket fence and repaint the door and trim.

Inside the house...

For the last few years I have been really interested in retro furniture/houses, in particular Palm Springs.

So that's where my inspiration initially came from...
I have loads of books as well to do with retro furniture such as G-Plan and houses, but here is my favourite advert from one which I would like to use as a poster in the house...

Such an amazing advert, I love the curves and the silhouettes, just amazing!

Another idea I have had is using a film advert for 'Attack of The 50ft Woman' in the house as it is from around the era which I am interested in and it's quite funny to...