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Hello from California! :D


eskimodog4

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Hi everyone! I'm Lauren, from around San Diego, CA, and I'm just another mini fanatic, but happy to see that I'm not alone. I think I was born w/ an obsession w/ miniatures- my grandmother got me started and gave me a nursery roombox when I was a baby (family tradition). My first miniature house is the Lilliput Peaches 'n' Cream that my grandparents gave me for Christmas when I was 9 (boy, was that a suprise), and when I was 16 I built my first house- the Diana from Greenleaf (very modest starter's cottage). About 2 months later I found a solitary Greenleaf Annabelle/Pierce kit hiding in the corner of a local craft store... on sale!! It just so happened that that had been my favorite mini house for years and years so I scooped it up, lugged it home, and it's turned into a 4 yr. project (the huge time scale is probably due to my horrendous pickiness in furnishings and frequent spurts of inactivity- you know when you get to the point when you go downstairs to do a good day's work of shingling and wind up sitting and staring at your house for a half an hour?) that's just about finished- just some ceiling moulding, shingling, and paperclay magic left to do. Speaking of shingling, I ran out of the blasted stuff and called Greenleaf for more, but they only produce the yellowish-white ones vs. the cedar, orangish ones I had- anyone know how I can get out of this mess? Anyway, on to happier thoughts (really, the shingling predicament I'm in has been bugging me)- I really love seeing everyone's homes and ongoing projects; I was so excited when I found this forum! I can't wait to start sharing photos of my houses and looking at more of your amazing pictures! Unfortunately, school's starting again and shingling sessions are now delegated to the sporadic weekends for which I go home- what a bummer. I'll have to spend the down time scavenging through the miniatures section of Ebay looking for another "great deal" (and then 5 more people bid on it and it's not such a "great deal" anymore!).

-Lauren

peachesncream.gif

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Welcome to the Community Lauren! I love your house and I can't wait to see pictures of your Pierce! How many of the old shingles you need? Drop me an email and I will see what I can find. I have some but not sure if it would be enough for your project.

Again Welcome!

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Hi Lauren! It sounds like minis are a part of your heritage. I love the concept of the traditional nursery room box to greet a new arrival to the family. What a wonderful way of welcoming a baby!

Deb

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Welcome Lauren! Love your little house (especially the color)! <_< Can't wait to see more of your lovely work!

I too spend too much time "looking and daydreaming" rather than working! Oh well, that's part of it! To be able to sit and enjoy it with a nice cup of tea! :lol:

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Hi again Lauren,

Just thought of something that might help with your shingles. I ran out on my Columbian and couldn't match them either. I got the plain whitish ones from Minatures.com and stained them as close as I could to match the original ones. Then I took a slightly darker stain and stained the whole completed roof, I used a paper towel to wipe the stain on - didn't want perfect coverage. Now they look weathered and tremendously more realistic. A very happy mistake that I will repeat on future shingle jobs.

Carol

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Hi Lauren! Welcome to the board. :lol:

Are there any good mini shops in San Diego? I will be there in a few weeks, just for a day. I'm going to be on a cruise and I'm wondering if there are any good shops (close to where the cruise ships dock) that I should check out. I know it's probably a long shot, but I'd kick myself if I didn't ask and missed out on something! <_<

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Hi everyone- thanks so much for all your great posts!! I had to move back up to school last Sunday so I've been detached from my mini-house, but reading all your nice notes has been lowering my bummer level all week!

Carol- I'm completely on board w/ your shingling breakthrough. That must add a lot of texture- I'm in the process of installing (for lack of a better word) stonework on some segments of the house w/ paperclay and will paint it towards an aged, varied look. The simultaneously varying shingles will probably look even better versus the brand spanking new "perfect" effect. I am admittedly not experienced w/ staining things, but there's a first time for everything!

Hey Fov- unfortunately, there aren't many miniature shops around here- they're sort of going extinct, but there's one called "Ms. Peggy's Place" on 5063 Cass St., San Diego 92109. I haven't been there in years and can't remember how close it is to the docks- it's sort of near La Jolla, I think, but if you have free time, it's worth looking into.

-Lauren

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