The finger

So this is my version of the popular picture of a miniature scene with a God like hand coming in to make adjustments.
I was leery of my bitten nails showing...
I call it "The Finger"... 
Have a nice day, C  ; )

My Manifesto, and I'm sticking to it...

Amid all the turmoil in the world... (do you think Momanned El Baradei will prevail in Egypt? wikipedia him if you need to...)

Are blogs supposed to be apolitical?

Not when they are called "Left Coast Mini".

Gee, I thought the lesson of WW2 was that politics in every day life was never to be forgotten.

And the lesson of Korea, and Viet Nam was "pay attention".

So my current diversion from all this World Wide trouble is the Dylan House by Brinca dada. Did you see the video on Call Small's latest blog?  http://call-small.blogspot.com/ 

 It looked like a "cat's cradle" string structure being played out, so simple. If only life was.

Meanwhile, I am going to make a Green Barbie house.

Don't tell me a "green Barbie house" is an oxy moron. I will prove you wrong.

 OK that is just how we roll on the Left Coast... I'm just saying... C

Moderne dollhouses

This is a house in the hills near me. I love the sleek Moderne Design. It was built in the late '30's. I especially appreciate the contemporary color scheme the new owners gave it.

This house is from the Bethnal  Green Museum, in Britian, built in 1936. I have never seen it but it is on diepuppenstubensammlerin's Flickr stream, to see more of her pictures click here.

http://diepuppenstubensammlerin.blogspot.com/

 by Henri Colbert  go here  http://modernminihouses.blogspot.com/search/label/Henry%20Colbert  to Megan's blog for more.

 This is a combination house I made from an old Triang House Facade spray painted stainless steel and my MH1 by Wes Christensen with a few panes of glass and a conservatory roof thrown in for good measure. Sort of a Moderne Mashup.

Wish I could find this one! I think it is a Triang. let me know if you know otherwise.

When I drive around Northern California I see so many examples of revival architecture. It is humerous how many different styles can be on one street. Sort of like a Hollywood set.

My very street is a Tudor, then a French Provencal, my Colonial, then a new Tuscan mini mansion. Come visit me and you'll feel like you've been around the world!

Have a nice weekend, CM

OK here's the new plan...

I am going to adapt this style of modern house
found at this site http://www.kabmurungraya.net/2009/04/20/custom-designed-contemporary-homes-2009/

to this style of Barbie house by Imaginarium

The positives?  I'm going to keep it in my room at my daughter's house. It's her guest room but mostly I'm there. Everyone calls it Nana's room.

The negatives? I probably will have to get my little assistant her own copy so I am free to do what I want to mine. She saw this picture and oohed and ahhed partially leading to yesterday's post. 

P.S. This is all your fault MiniDork for showing the fun possibilities using 1/6 scale on your blog. Yes it is, none of the fault is mine...
really. Say it with me now, "That's my story and I'm sticking to it..."

So look at this item currently listed on ebay # 370478001395 ending in 5 days from now: 1/25/11.
It is the original metal and wood Barbie furniture. It has the lines of the German DDR furniture I love. Very cool.
 (Hey if you just bought the "Buy it now" couch  just like the one above but without cushions that was listed under this one, tell us what you plan to do with it?) C


Uh oh... look at these 1/6 scale from Minimodernistas!

http://minimodernistas.com/dollhouse/index.php?route=product/category&path=47

Go here to see more! 

PS: I just noticed ELF makes 1/6 scale kitchens too! Yipee!

Barbie on the Brain, it's pink but I'm seeing red.

I have Barbie on the brain... Barbie is 50, younger than me. Who IS her plastic surgeon? And I do mean plastic.

I have her on the brain because my little assistant is receiving Barbie clones merchandised by the Disney Company, such as the Pantheon of Princesses (Snow White, Belle et.al  see post below) for presents now, and a Barbie ballerina is slipped in now and then AND SHE'S 4.

 You know how I feel about the sexualizing of children, and especially girl children. Not a healthy idea.



By the way, does anybody know who Simone de Bouvoir is? (author of "The Second Sex" which basically started Feminism) Where is the Simone de Bouvoir doll? It could have a turban and a really short, ugly male doll named Sartre.

AND on top of this, I watched Toystory 1, 2, AND 3 this weekend.


Toy Overload. Wasn't the second movie a riot how they portrayed collectors? MIB much.
Tell me did it make you cry when the children grew up? (Bathos or pathos?) My head is spinning with the stimuli and I loved the sassy portrayal of Barbie and Ken.

So, I am trying to figure out when to get My Little Assistant a Barbie house as her friends are getting them now and she wants one.

 I made her a miniature 1:12 scale replica of her own house before she was born. Here she is at 2 trying to fit a double bed through a bedroom window.

The first time she saw a little wooden Strombecker couch, at age one, she put it under her diapered bottom and sat on it. It disappeared under her. She knew what it was but hadn't developed cognitive spacial relationships yet. That taught me a lesson. Nothing fragile or sharp here.

Going in reverse from miniature to big.

But please do not show her this post about Doimo Cityline children's furniture from Italy for real girls.

Introduced to America in the past 5 years it is still hard to find.  http://www.doimocityline.com/  (go here to see all their childrens' rooms products).

Made in collaboration with the Mattel Company it celebrates Barbie's 50th year...

Talk about confusion. "Am I a Princess or a Barbie?" these girls must be asking themselves.

So I guess you can do all Waldorf toys all the time, but you will have to have security like an airport at your kid's birthday party to keep Barbie from slipping in.

Hmmm, what to do. C

Miniatures and small children.

Obviously miniatures are not for small children. Obviously.
Unless they are in the environment. Like if they live in your house.
My house is infested in that way.

The above scene was done shortly after that last post. It was preceeded by a lecture in baby talk about the importance of SHARING! "Sharing is caring" as they say at preschool.

It does not matter how child perfected the toys you give them are. They are more attracted to yours. I am thinking of you LemonCadet and your quest for a dollhouse for your daughter...

Please notice 2 things. The Amazing Miniature shelf is very well made. And Cinderella (like Mrs. Santa) has great taste in furniture choosing the Eames Lounger. They both like PDR too.

I have found that Mini Bloggers are good sharers. Haven't you?

The problem arises as it did after my Christmas staff party when the cushion to my favorite Barcelona chair disappeared. I'm hoping it will show up. It is a major part of pulling off my designs.

Sharing my miniatures with this small child allows her to explore her creativity.

Her sharing with me shows me how many boundaries I have accumulated in my life and how refreshing it is to be SO outside the box. For example this doll was named "AngelinaballerinaAuroraSnowWhite". I just call mine Colette. Maybe She should be "ColetteEamesManetMichelleO."?

 C

You can tell it's a good toy when you can't stop playing with it!

I am loving this midcentury design of Amazing Miniatures' shelving unit. Go to the post below to see her blog and etsy address.
I will be playing with it and adding pictures throughout the day. C

Repurposed nail polish bottle and electricians tape

for mid century lamp.

When I was in about 6th grade my Mother's best friend was an Interior Decorator. They would redo our house once a year adding the latest style element. I think they reached their pinnicle of success with the "Hanging Lamp". My Mother had a gold one with a swag chain in the livingroom and one with a blue and green patina in her bedroom.

 I thought we were very elegant with a large blue glass bowl on our coffee table. I will admit that the furniture I inherited from that time is perfect now. It is upholstered in blue and olive green damask patterned material. But, please tell me swag lamps are NOT about to make a reappearance in fashion. Some how they make me shudder.

Credits: Amazing Miniatures' midcentury shelf, Reac Eames lounger and ottoman, (see Oese I finally got a black one) rement notebooks, Southwest Miniatures vase, vintage miniature books, sea shells, Michael's craft paper for wallpaper, electricians tape for lampshade, and it's chain, stolen from my elder daughter's costume jewelry. She will never know and she is too busy to read my blog... C

Amazing Miniatures shelf, I LOVE it!

Go here to see more of Ann's amazing work!    http://amazingminiatures.com/blog   It looks so good in the MH1. I saw it showcased on Modern Mini Houses blogspot.  

 Forgive my haste today, I have been staying at my older daughter's house and her computer is down, so no access. AND the plumber is here at my house today... The bright spot? This fabulous shelf was in the mail box. Yipee! I cannot wait to collect midcentury looking items for it. You know the divider in the Imagination house set? It reminds me of that. C

Breaking News: "Thing o matic" Maker bot arrives, not a joke it's real!

What is a Thing o matic? It is every  miniaturists' dream.

Acting like a computer printer, it is filled with plastic instead of ink. Put a picture on the computer, send it to this device and the "Thing o matic" builds it in 3 D!
Do you know what this means? You could create any chair, any design, in any color you want!

Now can I get my silver wire chairs?

The inventor calls it the democratiziation of manufacturing.
You know all the times we wish we had a miniaturizing machine. It's here! 
(It is too expensive now, but just imagine in a year or two? Soon... we can all have one!)
Go here to see more:  http://wiki.makerbot.com/  CM

Lamps from Modern Mini Houses

Playing with my toys,

Credits: Sculptural lamps by Modern Mini Houses.
See her site here:    http://modernminihouses.blogspot.com/

Other credits: Colette Caco doll, Dwell magazine from minimodernistas, contemporary garden stool. cell phone Delph Miniatures.

GLASS TILE IN THE KITCHEN

This is my first scene of 2011

This is the tile I chose for my 1/1 kitchen. I love the new horizontal glass tile. I think it looks sleek especially with stainless steel appliances. So it was laying on the table and I just had to make it into a kitchen scene. I am also experimenting with printing a picture of it to paste on the backsplash after these sheets go up on the wall. It looks like that won't be very soon though.

How much do I love this table set?

Credits: PDR kitchen, Minimodernistas table and barrel chairs contemporary french door refrigerator, Rement milk, Mighty World microwave, stainless steel stand, plates and cappucciano maker, Delph espresso maker, placemat from a silpat mat.

What kind of minihouse are you anyway?

You know those silly blog tests? Like, "Which Jane Austen character are you"? ( ok, I actually love them...)

Well, I made one up. Let me know if anyone else has done this.

Answer the 5 following questions, and give yourself points accrued.
1, for the first answer, 2 the second and so on.

1. What is you favorite chair:
Eames Lounger
Rietveld chair
Fainting couch
Chippendale chair
reed mat

2.What is your favorite music:
Beonce and Lady Gaga, Telephone
Sinatra, The way you wear your hat.
Strauss, Blue Danube
Beethoven, Moonlight Sonata (thank you Pubdoll)
fife and drum

3. What artwork do you like best?
Keith Haring
Arshile Gorky
Manet
Gainsborough
Cave paintings

4. What Disney Heroine are you?
Rupunzel from Tangled
Tiana
Belle
Tinkerbelle
Sleeping Beauty


5.Which meal do you prefer?
miso soup and sushi
Cheese burger and fries
pasta bolognese
turkey and mashed potatoes
Prime rib and Yorkshire pudding

Answer Key:

5-9 Modern

10-14 Puppenstuben, retro  (from http://www.puppenhausmuseum.de/puppenhaeuser-50er-11.html )

                     15-17 Traditional
               

18 Victorian

19-25 Antique

So, it turns out that I am Tiana sitting in an Eames chair, eating sushi, listening to Sinatra, gazing at Keith Haring.

Ha ha! let me know if you are who you think you are?  ; ) C

Update: Sorry Rebecca, I had to change the order of the foods. Not to stereotype you, but are you the Yorkshire pudding sort?

update: chatting on the phone with Doris Nathanson, surprise, surprise she's modern! C