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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Went to Chicago, Sorry I couldn't take you ♫ ♪

What a week!?!? My mother-in-law flew out to watch the kids while I jetsetted to Chicago. I stayed with good friends, scored free tickets to The Joy Formidable's concert (my new favorite band that is UhMazing live), went swing dancing with friends I hadn't seen in 10 years, made new friends and oh yeah, went to Chicago International!!!

I had high hopes of blogging while everything was fresh in my memory, but then work, kids, Easter and my daughter's birthday threw a wrench in my mini plans. I'll try to post the rest of the trip and the fun minis I bought over the next few days. On Monday after the show, I had the pleasure of meeting Brae (Otterine). I always geek out a bit when I meet someone whose work I admire so much, but Brae really knocked my socks off. First, she drove 45 minutes across town to pick me up and then brought me back to her place where I got to drool over all of the amazing projects she's built over the last few years. Second, O.M.G. Brae's work is even better in person.

Brae truly is a Renaissance woman, jack of all trades, if I can dream it I can build it kind of gal. From a very young age she was encouraged to follow her artistic talents, learning to sew, paint and draw. Her miniature obsession started in 2009 when she renovated her childhood Lundby style dollhouse as a birthday gift for her cousin. Since then she has been bashing dollhouse kits and winning contests left and right. All of her builds feature amazing realistic details and clever structural tricks for hiding electrical components and removable walls to access smaller rooms. I was truly blown away by Brae's incredible eye for details.

I'm always curious where other people's houses live. Here is Brae's collection throughout her house. Please visit her website to see the amazing details on these houses, these pics from my cell phone don't do justice: Walnut Bay Light, Baxter Pointe VillaThe Artist's Studio, The Haunted Heritage, Baslow Ranch and The Aero Squadron Lounge.

Besides being uber talented, Brae is super nice to boot. If I lived in Chicago the miniature world would hate me as I would be pulling her away from building and blogging to go hang out. I hope to meet up with her again next year, but until then, I'll be following along and continuing to drool over her latest builds, otterine.com/blog/blog1.php/.

Monday, April 14, 2014

It's here!!! MiPad is now available!!!!

Miaim is back and open for business!! Elaine Shaw has finally brought her dream to reality, hoping to make your dreams a reality too.

"Build your miniature dream home.
Elaine's idea was to make what can be an expensive hobby more affordable, so she developed this new and exciting system to build a dolls house just the way you want it.

Choose just one floor or as many as you like whenever you want to extend.

Place each floor in the order of your choice and change the order at any time.

There are different styles to choose from (more available soon) or you can have the same floor as many times as you like, allowing you the owner a choice in the structure of the building itself.

MiPad comes finished in white matt both inside out, with white gloss floors so there's no need to decorate unless you want to. Very easy access and maximum visibility means you can see all your beautiful furniture at a glance but with enough wall space to arrange it too.

Sleek, large space, open plan, modern interior means that most floors can be used as any room, all it needs is your imagination."

Elaine is bringing dollhouses back in fashion by making more fashionable dollhouses. You can check out all of the details and order one today on her newly updated website: www.miaimminiatures.com

Monday, April 7, 2014

For the apple of your eye

The Apple House and Pear House would make cute starter dollhouses for any of your real life minis. (Although, not for kids too small as the furniture pieces could be choking hazards.)

The Apple House is just under 12" and the Pear House is under 16".

Sold by ROCK & PEBBLE for $110, the initial launch includes a set of peg dolls and free US shipping. More information at http://rockandpebble.com/