Our First Show Report!

From all indications, it was a huge success! Only one complaint about low sales, and one who found it too hard to travel. We had one of our members volunteer in the kitchen - which was available to vendors and exhibitors - and that went over remarkably well; food was kept fresh, there was always coffee and tea, and a smile and good conversation. Shows we have attended do have a kitchen available, but no one really to look after it. The member in the kitchen, who has had lots of church cookery experience, had made 44 1/2 doz. cookies and squares! We all went home with a few left-overs.

By 2 p.m., 4 hours into the show, it is estimated we had had at least 100 visitors; given the weather was depressingly wet and stormy, and a provincial political nomination convention was being held in town at the same time, that was very good for a brand-new, limited niche type of show, we think. Aside from a brief lull around lunch time, attendance was constant and steady, and no one packed up early, except for one vendor who said he had sold out a quarter of an hour before the show ended. We hope to have the actual numbers of attendees available early in the next week.

We had 6 young ladies aged 7 to 12 for the free children's class, and 4 adults for the free adults' class, also pretty good numbers; our maximum had been 10 each. It appears we may have recruited 3 new members for our club.

The newspaper article appeared in the Friday paper (a morning paper), and that brought in quite a few of our customers. A lovely article, lots of print and a couple of very nice photos; it was the best advertising we could have hoped for. Even people not truly interested in miniatures and dolls confessed to having come just to see what it was all about.

We are already thinking we may have to look for larger quarters for next year....

I didn't take any photos, as I was too busy, but some of our members did and I will try to get one or two to put on the blog. The show was miniatures, doll houses and dolls, and included antique dolls, vintage Barbie and 18" doll clothing and accessories.

Our Miniature (and Doll) Show

Tomorrow, we are being interviewed by the local newspaper in relation to our miniature and doll show, which is happening this Saturday, Oct. 22. It has been busy getting ready for it, every day brings a slew of emails with questions that need answering.

At this point, we have 4 children signed up for the free make-and-take class, and 1 adult for the adult class. That may change when the newspaper story is published!

In the meantime, I've been knitting up lots of yarn scraps to make door prizes suitable for 18" doll people and for Barbie people. And tidying the house. And starting a box of things that have to go to the show on Saturday. And....

Well, you get the idea! Back on the blog this weekend, I hope.

The Book Vignette Lit Up

The above photo is of the CMHH '15 books vignette lit up; the street lamp is also lit up, but because it is broad daylight, it doesn't show. At the moment, there is a small bookshelf outside on the sidewalk, which will be replaced at some point with a rotating book display for selling cheap paperbacks. I have to make it, that's why it is "at some point". I do have instructions for a modern version, but I want to make it look steam-punk inspired, so some thinking is required as to how I can bash my supplies for a good Victorian-looking display. I suspect bits of jewelry findings are going to find their way into that project.

A close-up of the shop interior through the window; I still need to make quite a few more books to fill in the shelves, obviously, although the shelves that show in this photo are, of course, those with the fewest books! Yesterday, I spent a day shopping in Bangor, ME and I picked up the nice little globe there, actually part of a charm, that is sitting on the central bookshelf. The other half of the charm was a pair of scale binoculars, which will get a  leather carrying case and then be displayed in the companion piece to the books vignette, this year's CMHH project (I hope).

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And I forgot to photograph a few items I picked up from an estate sale while at camp, and a hat on a stand which I got in a silent auction there. The hat and the "wicker" ottoman are for my daughter's dollhouse, as it is Edwardian in period. The writing slope will likely go into one of the Tudor interiors; it is a very fine piece, signed "MJH 79", I think. The crate of apples will go into the between-the-wars market scene, while the wool tapestry rug is going to go into this year's camp project. It is a very fine wool piece, at a minimum, 24 ct. I have worked at that count, but only in cotton floss. The wool used is likely crewel wool, it's the only thing fine enough at this scale not to have a mile of wool fuzzies stick up above the canvas base!

Other than tidying away the stuff I took to camp - some of which appears to have been misfiled by me - is all I have done mini-wise lately. We are coming up to our show in less than two weeks, and that is taking a lot of our attention, to make sure everything goes smoothly. There is a meeting this evening to see how far along we are with the preparations, and still lots to do before the actual day.

It may be a little quiet again on this blog....

Finally, Life is Slightly Back to Normal

I did not get around to posting the gifties and tidbits from Camp MiniHaHa because two members of my family were hit by the flu after I got home. However, I have pretty much tidied things up, and today, while waiting to get rid of a possible virus on the computer, I got around to taking the photos.

Keep in mind the camp theme this year was Crazy Cat Ladies, and I did warn you in a previous post that there would be cats.

Lynn M. made this metal bar cart, complete with glasses and wine bottles. She learned to solder doing this project - wish I had the courage to try that on my own! The cart has real casters.

This lovely blue distressed cupboard and fabric-lined basket were made by Marilyn D. This blue colour is one I've used for a number of "old" furniture pieces, which means I have to put on my thinking cap and design a setting to showcase them all. Hmm, perhaps the room box rumoured to be part of this year's club project....

I did warn you there would be cats! I just couldn't resist this photo of our cat, Cupcake, checking out the miniature mother cat with her kittens. Their food dishes, complete with water and kibble, stand nearby. This gift came from Liz D., and will get a space in this year's camp vignette; I think I have the perfect spot for it.

This is a look down into the secret fairy garden box Myra T. made; it is a little hard to see from this angle, but there is a tiny purple dragon peeking out from under the bush at the lower left. The frog in the walnut shell garden chair appears to be the garden's owner.

I traded one of my gifts for this 1/24th scale pottery set from JoAnne S. Next year's project will be in that scale, but I  will likely have to miss next year's camp due to family stuff. I actually got a portable work station, consisting of a self-healing cutting mat on one side and an ironing pad on the other, but as I had a larger version of that in my quilting supplies, I traded it for the above. I will have to come up with a setting for these tiny pottery pieces as well.  

  

And this is the collection of tidbits: a bag, silly funny cat pin, industrial piping shelf, cat picture, sticker, "dead" plant, camp bag with fairy wand (preview of next year's project), basket, barrel, cat backside sticking out of a paper bag, challenge in an Altoids-type tin, stacking and opening boxes, ceramic canisters, books, a set of puzzles in a box, pictures, a cat treat kit complete with teeny fish-shaped cat treats (laser-cut), cat toy, basket of felted balls, seaside montage, pencil cup (made from a pencil eraser top) with pencils, a dish of sweets, cat colouring pages with a box of colouring pencils, a prep board for a fish dinner,  funky coat rack, a teeny mouse with a transparent tail, another mouse eating cat kibbles, and printies that can be used in a number of settings. I expect I missed something, the photo is rather small unfortunately.

Some of these items will go into existing settings, others will go into this year's project and last year's, and some I have to put some thinking into. The ingenuity shown by campers never ceases to amaze me, and there are so many different craft disciplines represented here. It seems that miniaturists are also into quite a few other crafty areas, or perhaps miniatures encourage us to explore other crafts as well.

We have a couple of busy weeks ahead, as our upcoming Miniature and Doll Show is happening in less that two weeks, so there may be gaps in the posting. I did finish the street lamp, and will get a photo of that, lit up, once I tidy up the interior of the books vignette; travel over bumpy secondary highways caused the contents of the  room box to fall over. Hundreds of tiny books....