Where Else in the World?

As miniaturists, I’m guessing that all of us keep an eye open for inspiration as we travel. Well, we’ve started our journey and I thought it would be fun to post inspirations as I collect them.

Deborah is correct, this building is in Stockholm. Find out more in comments.

Sorry, no winners yet. We found better weather in this island city. Much of the construction is masonry and I liked this cheerful “eyelash” motif over the windows as well as the other ornamentation.

Continuing with the Romance Retreat

I had a few moments this week to make a mockup of the fireplace wall and a couple accessories for the Romance Retreat.

The mockup was to determine the width of the side shelves. Right now the counter top for the closed cupboards is card stock, which I will use as a pattern for the wood tops.

More Stop Motion Miniatures

Last week I introduced you to the Tiny Chef who is soon to star in a new stop motion cooking show. Stop motion has come up a few times lately. Last week my granddaughters and I went to the OMSI in Portland to see the Pixar exhibit. Last year we saw the the Laika exhibit at the Portland Art Museum.

Laika Studios near Portland produces blockbuster films like Coraline, ParaNorman, Kubo and the Two Strings and others. It struck me that there is an interplay between what we miniaturists create and what these studios create for the films. The studios’ work ranges from rustic to beautifully constructed miniature figures, structures and scenes.

The big pink house, called the Pink Palace, that Coraline’s family moved into was on display as well as other movie scenes.

The Pink Palace, Laika.com

Have you met The Tiny Chef?

The Tiny Chef is about five and a half inches tall, and makes vegan pies in bottle caps. When I discovered him, he had an improvised kitchen in New Zealand. The kitchen was about 1:12 scale and the food is from real life, but he deftly makes it all work. When he is focused, he sings classics in his special dialect.

Photo by The Tiny Chef Show

“There’s never a dull moment with The Chef as his spirit, charm and cleverness help him deal with the unpredictable nature of life in a tiny kitchen. More than anything, the Tiny Chef is always truly himself as he finds ingenious ways to work tiny. There’s never a dull moment with The Chef as his spirit, charm and cleverness help him deal with the unpredictable nature of life in a tiny kitchen. More than anything, the Tiny Chef is always truly himself as he finds ingenious ways to work tiny.”

The Tiny Chef Show

Visitors!

And a little history. One of my granddaughters was in our city with her friend’s family. The girls stayed with us while the family did a university tour. My granddaughter gave her friend a tour of miniatures.

The first stop was the Farmhouse that my preteen daughters and I furnished. I had installed copper tape wiring and we either purchased or made light fixtures. At the time our budget was limited so we made many of the furnishings, but that is the fun part. My daughters and I went to the miniature shop about once a month to purchase a special item or supplies.