Update on the Glencroft and new findings!

Hi all!

I have been so busy lately, but took some time tonight to clean out my miniature supplies. I was inspired to add a couple of things to the Glencroft and to the blog.

So, without further ado, here are some pics! :)

This is a painting I've done of a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop and I *love* it. (I play guitar, too!) So, I decided that it filled up some empty wallspace *very* well in the Glencroft living room!

Just a small addition to the kitchen: a miniature Betty Crocker cookbook I received in a swap a while back. :)

I added this owl painting to the living room as well. I was feeling very inspired a couple weekends ago and did some painting. I love the 60s era band Canned Heat and one of the lead singers (who passed away at the age of 27 in 1970) was nicknamed the Blind Owl. So...while I was listening to their music, I painted a very cool owl. :)

I also painted a bear (for Bob "The Bear" Hite, the other lead singer in Canned Heat's most famous period). I also moved the bed around a bit and put the laundry basket next to the doorway.

I was tired of the empty space next to the fireplace in the bedroom, so I put a little basket in there. One of my favorite little features of dollhouses is seeing just a tiny bit of something in a nook or in a hallway. It adds a bit of realism to the scene.

 I also wanted to show you these CUTE storybooks which would be perfect for any dollhouse children's room (they are sitting on the bedroom floor of the Glencroft so you have an idea of scale). I found these in the charms section of my local Hobby Lobby. They had eye pins in them, but I easily pulled them out with needlenose pliers. They look like perfect oversize books for your (1/12 scale) kid's library.

Here's the packaging, in case you decide to look for some. :)

Miniature sightings in Ravena, NY

My fiancé and I went on a leisurely drive yesterday and stopped at a couple of smallish shops south of Albany since we were in the mood to do some antiquing.

I had seen a couple of fun dollhouse/miniature-related items I'd like to share with you.

First, there was this cute dollhouse:

And this cute shadow box:

I didn't pick anything up, but as usual, it was fun looking around! Oh, if you're in the area, these items were at the Leisure Time Flea Market in Ravena, NY. Lots of treasures here!

Findings and reorganization

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share with you a few finds I have made at our local Hobby Lobby. Sometimes I go to the craft store for one or two things, and then decide to look around a bit to see if there is anything interesting I could use for future projects. This habit, of course, gets quite expensive if I am not careful! ;)

I like to use jewelry findings in many of my projects, including Etsy goodies, and decided to stop by that department. Well, I spent some time looking at the charms, surprisingly not items I look at very often. I found some great charms that are perfect for 1/12th scale. Here they are:

On the left is a lovely hand mirror which really reflects, and on the right is a keyring with some old-fashioned keys. Both of these are now in the historical society. I placed the mirror in the display case and the keys are sitting on the curator's writing desk.

Another thing I have done recently is rearrange the herb shop. I took out everything, cleaned out the dust, and rearranged items. This resulted in leaving some items out completely to make room, but I like the way it looks now. Here are some pics:

I am finished with my work that has to be done before tomorrow and have laundry in the dryer so I am free to make some minis. But what to work on...? ;) It might be time to dig through my stash for inspiration!

Valley Dolls and Miniatures

So, my fiance and I decided to take a little day trip over to Northampton, MA last Saturday. I love a good day trip and exploring new places, so any reason to do so is a good one. :)

I found out about this place called Valley Dolls and Miniatures. It doesn't have a website, though contact info can be found here. It's run by a much older gentleman who is very nice. He has a wide array of items from the usual 1:12 scale bits to smaller scales to random toys to a VERY big Breyer horse selection. There were a lot of items there I hadn't seen anywhere else.

Here's a peek into what I picked up. As you can see by the prices, he's pretty reasonable.

This little trivet reminds me of things my parents had when I was growing up - very 70s. :)

This is a kit for a chaise lounge! I can't' wait to put it together and make some cushions for it.

This is an interesting little wall hanging that might look good in the historical society. I think I want to replace the bright shiny green cord with something else, though.

This is a kit for a miniature ecology box. I am an ecologist (marine, actually), but I think I could make something very interesting with this box. :)

And he had a number of these Chinese vases and I think this one would look great in the Glencroft bath or bedroom as both have some Asian influence.

So, there you go! If you are in the Northampton area, I recommend the Northampton Brewery for lunch! They have wonderful food, are vegetarian-friendly and eco-conscious, and, if you like beer, they have an amazing brewed-on-site beer selection. :)

Vermont haul :)

So, I promised a post about my trip to Vermont and what I picked up at the Real Good Toys Summer Clearance Sale in their factory outlet store in Barre, VT. Well, here it is!

One of the bigger things I picked up was this neat room box. The wallpaper, ceiling, and flooring can be removed and are also reversible! And the whole thing is electrified! Unfortunately this one didn't come with a cable, but Jason has some expertise in electronics so he's going to figure out what we need so we don't get the wrong polarity...

Now, the box came with the orange and blue lamps. The baskets, vases and table were purchased separately at the Outlet store. While there, I also picked up some tiny books, doorknobs for the historical society, and some gifts for friends an family (early Christmas shopping FTW!). I can't show pics of the gifts, because I think some of the recipients read my blog. ;)

The shelves below were bought at an antique shop on Route 7 somewhere north of Rutland. I wish I remembered the name of the place because it had some other dollhouse furniture too!

Now you may be wondering who manufactured this awesome little box? Well...

...that "AG" stands for American Girls! One of the women who works at RGT told me that American Girls did a short-lived1/12 scale line, but I guess it never took off? Here's a link about the series, and apparently some electronic pieces were defective. We'll see about this one. There's also some stuff from AG Minis on eBay. Lots of mod stuff, too, if you're interested.

I think these were demo kits that they had in their warehouse. They even threw in the drawer for free!

Here's a close-up of the lamps:

We also stopped at a couple of other places on the way home. One was a great little bookstore called Monroe St. Books, also on Route 7. I picked up three PA Dutch books and two dollhouse books there.

And one more place we stopped was Camelot Village just west of Bennington, VT. OMG. This place is awesome. Both my fiance and I have passed it going to and from NH on our trips to see each other when we lived apart and wanted to stop. But we *finally* visited, even though the shop was only open for about another half hour. We did a quick breeze-through. I found some dollhouse furniture, but we definitely didn't see everything. This place is really big and if you like crafts and antiques it's definitely worth the stop if you find yourself in this area! On the way out the door, I noticed a dollhouse in the window, but they were closing so I didn't go back in. Next time... :)

Here's what I did pick up - table and chair set and a bag of marbles (for etsy stuff):

So...that's it for now. It was a great weekend trip. :) Hopefully more etsy and other updates soon!

Cute mini find

Yesterday, my fiancé and I drove around the area. We stopped at 10 Thousand Villages, which is a shop that sells fair trade goods from all over the world. They have a lot of locations and are worth checking out! They have great fair trade coffee and chocolates, too!

Anyway, while there, I found a little woven pouch with six tiny dolls inside. They are perfect for mini scale stuff. Here's the pouch:

Here are two of the dolls on the bedroom mantle in the Glencroft:

And the rest in the herb shop:

They are really cute and perfect for both scenes!

And while I was in the herb shop, I pulled out the little chest I had in the center of the shop and put it in the historical society. It fits nicely in there, I think:

Now I just need to add some items on top of it. :)

Road Trip Day 3: Western PA

I didn’t get time to post about yesterday’s trip. So here we go. Yesterday, we visited Volant Miniature Shop in Volant, PA and Lynlott Miniatures in Pittsburgh (Aspinwall), PA.

I really enjoyed Volant Miniatures. Anita is the proprietor and she specializes in making custom domes of special occasions for customers. Her work is amazing! And it’s such a great gift idea, even for those who are not necessarily miniature collectors or dollhouse enthusiasts. The shop is small, but definitely a must-see. She has miniatures grouped by subject and there are a lot of modern items! I especially loved the music-related items and the sports memorabilia! Lots of realism and detail in many of the items, including a beautiful English saddle and a tiny working spring clothespin. Anita is super friendly and a joy to talk with. She also introduced us to a wonderful site called Green Renaissance, which while not miniatures-related is a great source of inspiration.

Here’s what I got:

We then drove down to Aspinwall, a neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Lynlott Miniatures is on a block of some lovely shops.

This shop is packed with miniatures and there was something to see on every shelf and in every nook. There was more great modern stuff and lots of artisan-made items. There were a lot of great dollhouses here too, some definitely custom built. I also recommend this shop for those toting along little ones as the front of the store has lots of kid friendly games, dollhouses and plush toys. There really is something for everyone here!

Here’s my haul from this shop:

Lynlott was the last shop we had visited on this trip, unless we run into another one on the way home. ;) We ended up staying in the Greensburg area and are now visiting my parents for the next several days in Central PA. :) I shared gifts with them and showed them my haul, which they enjoyed. I now have several projects to work on, some of which will go in the etsy shop, and others which will go into the historical society!

If you’ve been reading along, I thank you for joining me and hopefully this will inspire others to not only go on a fun road trip, but also support local brick and mortar shops. I found that the folks who own these shops are hard-working, enthusiastic and very knowledgeable people!

Road Trip Day 2: Chautauqua, NY

Hi everyone! Happy Mother's Day!

So, we left the Buffalo area this morning and drove down to Chautauqua to visit our next stop, Chautauqua Miniatures. What a GREAT place! It was recommended highly by other members of the Greenleaf forum so I knew I was in for a treat. The owners have actually two shops in one: the miniatures store and the Two Chixx Gift Shoppe! The latter has decor, antiques, scarves, lotion, etc. Lots of cute and fun things!

If you go to the website above, please know that what is on the website is only a fraction of what is in the shop. Both shops are in one 5000 sq. ft. two-story barn. There is so much to look at here, so if you stop in sometime, do give yourself plenty of time to look around and take it all in!

I had to really focus on what I was looking for here...stuff for the historical society, beds to dress, etc., and I definitely came away with some great finds! One awesome part of the shop were the clearance items. I found some great pieces there! They also had a section of back issues of Nutshell News, American Miniaturist and other dollhouse mags. I have some reading material for the trip now! ;)

Anyway, here's what you've likely been waiting for - the pics!

On the left is a resin figure who would make a wonderful curator of my local historical shop. Also for the shop is the barrister book case to hold reference materials and some local artifacts. Below that is a wine bottle for the Glencroft kitchen, and on top of the book case is a cute basket perfect for a number of applications.

I added another HoM kit to my collection! Also a book on wine and a wicker frame which matches some other pieces I have.

This is a cross-stick kit for "Chautauqua Lake." It was a unique piece local to the area (yay! souvenir!) and was a bargain at 3 dollars.

These are some of the clearance pieces. The cabinet was very detailed and would go well in several possible places including the Glencroft kitchen. It was $4.00. The bed was only $8.00. I want to dress it up and add a mattress.

Lots of reading material and useful projects!

They threw in this pen. :) Jay bought a few items too (Mother's Day gifts!) and gave me his pen. I think one might go in a giveaway box. :)

I did very well at Chautauqua Miniatures and am close to getting all the pieces for my historical society! I can't wait to start building now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So we are in our hotel down in PA and will be visiting Volant Miniatures and Lynlott Miniatures tomorrow. :-D Stay tuned for more!