Shopping Therapy....

Sturbridge Miniatures Fair......

Thank you, Dear Readers, for all your kind and supportive comments on my recent posts. I am making good progress with my healing, but typing is still a slow and uncomfortable process. At the end of a day at work (which is mostly typing numbers) my hand is sore and my arm is tired. My comments on all your wonderful posts have been short or non-existent, even though I am trying to keep up with the reading. I am trying to be patient and let the healing happen, and I will be doing more exercises soon. So there is still no real progress on any of my projects to report. But last weekend was the annual Sturbridge Miniatures Fair, which is the only Fair that happens near enough to home that I can drive there and back comfortably on the day of the Fair. I debated not going this year.... but decided that I Needed the "Shopping Therapy"! And I came home with some sweet Treasures! Above you can see one of two tiny "house" boxes that were made as favors for one of the big minis conventions, and the dealer decided to sell hers at this Fair. It is smaller than 1/144th scale as the entire "house" is less than 2 inches tall!

And here is the other one... 

I didn't get a good picture of the front on this one...

 it is very detailed!

And in no particular order I will show some

 of the many little items I came home with....

Some metal platters and tiny glassware....

A set of Tinker Toys!.....

Some clocks and games.... 

all from "Wright Guide Miniatures"...

And yes, another Pony!

Meet " Copper"....

He was ever so eager to find his friends....

A beautiful dish drainer with colorful dishes....

(I think the house for this has not even been started yet.... 

still in it's box in the cellar...)

A Vintage porcelain bathroom set.... very cheap....

A handsome wardrobe....

A Lovely stoneware crock....

Two more Teeny dolls... each about 1/2 inch tall!

A couple of lovely old rugs made in Japan...

The one on the left is up-side down, so you can see the stitches...

Here it is right side up!

And last but Not least, another Robin Betterley kit....

 the Christmas Wagon in 1/4 scale!

(Do you think I will finish the Secret Christmas House before I open this kit???)

It did not take Copper long to find the other ponies.... 

(I apologize for the dark pictures... 

it has been dark and gloomy and rainy here for weeks!)

And here is a glimpse of the larger rug in Hardwick Hall.... 

I think it is perfect for this little dining area!

I hope you have enjoyed this little review, Dear Readers,

I am feeling so much better...

It is amazing what a little Shopping Therapy will do!

I am so glad I went to the Sturbridge Fair!

Not Another One....!

Stolen Moments.......

I hope you are Not Shocked, Dear Readers, to see an entirely different Tiny House kit featured in the above picture! I was pawing through my boxes of mini Christmas supplies, looking for something else entirely, when I found this kit I had bought a few years ago but never assembled. And if you are like me and are procrastinating from all sorts of more difficult tasks, then something as simple as this becomes Irresistible! There were hardly any parts, and they would go together so quickly! And best of all, the printed decorative papers that needed to be glued on would give me Practice in attaching these sorts of  papers to the constructed house! (And I was feeling a trifle nervous about gluing the papers for the Secret Christmas House kit!)

So I quickly assembled the parts 

and forgot to take any pictures of the beginning....

The entire House is less than three inches tall. 

The kit is made by "Dragonfly International" 

but I bought it through the Hobby Builder's Supply Catalog.

 

 

The laser cut wooden pieces went together quickly 

and the exterior papers were simple to glue on.

But after that, Something happened.....

 

 The attic was not supposed to be "accessible". 

But I thought that would be a real waste of space!

So I cut an arched opening in the roof paper.

And then I realized that the roof paper was not sturdy enough alone,

 and would need to be stiffened with some cardboard...

(Which was easily accomplished.)

And then I realized that while there were two printed floor papers, 

there was only one decorative paper for the ceiling.... 

but there were two ceilings....!

So you can imagine what had to be done to the unfinished ceiling!

(It did not take too long!)

And because the middle floor fit so snugly in the house, 

the printed wallpaper needed to be cut in half 

and applied separately to each room after the floor was attached.. 

So there you see, Dear Readers, 

I made only a few modifications to the kit!

And I had good practice with the gluing of the decorative papers!

Which made it much easier for me to feel confident

 about the Secret Christmas House!

 And because I was still stealing moments from all those other tasks on my list, 

I decided it was time to glue the windows into the front of the Secret Christmas House,

since the interior side of this wall would not be decorated and so 

I needn't worry about getting paint or glue on the window panes by mistake.

And then I glued the rest of the floor papers into the rooms.

Because the ceilings had all been painted

 there was no risk of getting paint on the floors by mistake!

And then I went ahead and glued the exterior wall paper 

on the right side rooms!

I had glued the window panes in last week, 

and could not attach the exterior frames 

until the paper was in place.

Here I am testing the fit with the right side in place.

And since that was looking so good... 

it was time to attach the front wall papers too! 

Here it is without the interior rooms in place....

And here they are in place.

What a difference the papers make!

Here you can see a close-up view into the Library through the window!

I still have to paint all those incredibly delicate window frames.... 

but I figure that will take me quite a while and I don't want to rush.

Well, I don't know about you, Dear Readers, 

but I just couldn't resist stealing a few moments 

to work on these Tiny House kits!

(And No, I don't have  Another one!)