welcomehomeminis

My goodness! I didn't know—I was sick and missed the show in November. He has all my very best wishes for sure!!!

Rik Pierce is the nicest person! Every miniaturist I've ever stopped to talk to at any mini show has plenty to say, but Rik Pierce will talk your ear off if there's no line behind you. My daughter and I get a huge kick out of his enthusiasm, every year we re-"meet" him.

Oh, that makes me sad! Like Selkie says—I hope it goes better in the summer!

I yawned when I first saw it. Then I looked a little closer and saw that curved roof. Ooooooh. VERY interesting. It hasn't spoken to me yet to tell me that it wants me to do something with it, so maybe it doesn't. But darn, that roof keeps making me think about it. It's an intriguing design. They done good!!

Yep. I've been to Philadelphia Miniaturia, and the most important thing to say (echoing Jane) is wear good shoes, your dogs will be tired if Orlando's anywhere near Philly's size! Other advice, unless you're a millionaire— —bring a list and (try to) stick to it—you can wind up spending your whole budget on something that you just "had to have," that you never knew about before that very minute, and then not have dough left for what you needed/wanted when you get to the tables you were looking for; —eat lunch or a snack before you go in, it's big and being hungry just makes you rush and wrecks the enjoyment of it; —bring pictures, measurements, and/or color swatches, for anything at home you're trying to match to or fit with... just like in real-life furniture shopping, the one thing you're sure is medium-tan and only 42" wide will turn out to be orangey-brown and 60" wide when you bring home something non-returnable that'll supposedly go perfectly with it; —have a budget, and if you're like me and prone to forget this advice, then —bring cash and leave your cards at home. At some shows, vendors are a lot more happy with cash anyway, though at Miniaturia most or all seem to be able to handle cards, but you know how cards trick you into thinking they're still doing fine when they're really on life support? That will happen to your card at Miniaturia. I'll readily admit that I bring the cash I budgeted for plus a little extra in case there's just that one unexpected thing or in case I see a fancier whatchamacallit than what I budgeted for (I'm actually pretty good about not using the extra $$, but the thought of not having it if something unbearably wonderful is there makes me panic)... but after realizing that even lists and budgets are not enough when confronted with all the wonders of a mini show, I've decided that cash-only and no way to cheat and get extra cash is the most sensible for me. I love my hobby, but I hate buyer's remorse! Take a look at Philadelphia Miniaturia's workshop list for an idea of who you might expect to see, if the same folks are running it. I haven't taken any workshops there, but the lineup usually looks pretty neat.

Well, it took me forever to edit my album and make it public but I finally did finish... sort of... today. Phew! I saw this post right after we had to hand in our entries and I was trying to use wanting to see what you all were wow-ing about as my push to hurry up and finish my album. Yeesh, I guess I didn't push myself hard enough—has it already been almost a month? So I took time this afternoon to hunt down all the entry albums I could find and like everybody else, I'm blown away. Every year I love seeing how wildly different the ideas from one simple starting point are... but wow, wow, this year's are just extraordinary! Congrats to everyone who entered, and thanks for sharing your photos.

Me, I use construction adhesive—the stuff that contractors use to hold up drywall and such on RL jobs. It comes in a caulk-type can that you use with a caulk gun, or with some brands you can get it in a large squeezable tube that doesn't require a gun. (More expensive that way but much more handy—and all in all, anything you get at the hardware store is cheaper than most craft-glue solutions.) It's fairly fast-grab, doesn't drip, run, or warp whatever you're adhering, has good flex (can even span small gaps) and long-term durability, and of course it can handle the weight of mini clapboards. As well as siding and flooring and other "flat" applications, I've also used it to roof a mini house with real slate. Works great. The only thing to remember is, since it's fairly thick you want to have a popsicle stick or putty knife nearby to smear it thinner than how it comes out of the gun before placing the clapboards, unless you've got great muscles and can push it to spread thin on the house.

Wow, it's beautiful. I love getting inspired from real work like that. A very inviting "little" place!!

Very grand Colonial! Patience and an ebay alert? Or maybe it's your (first? next?) scratch build? Ooh, the possibilities! Happy mini-dreams in 2015, Robin!

Oh, sorry, I probably wasn't clear. I have a Jefferson! Perfect for a Federal, can be made to look like anything from a clapboard New England house you'd see on This Old House to a stone-covered Pennsylvania Federal that George Washington or John Adams might have rode out to, to escape Philadelphia's summer malaria episodes.

I'm not giving mine up, I'm not, I'm not! But I do highly recommend the Jefferson for other Federal period addicts like me. Very adaptable. You can get old-in-box Jeffs on ebay, with patience, at a very nice price. (Just looked now. You might not need patience at the moment. )