Titanic plates and great news

Today my lovely tenant informed me that the holders for the Titanic plates arrived, and the plates are already in their final setting.

They are so unusual and pretty!

She had thought about putting them on the wall, following up the stairs, but she decided that they were not really visible from there.  So instead she decided to place them on top of the parlor library:

She is very happy about how well they look, and she hopes that you all like them as well.

She then told me that after thinking long and hard about it, she has decided to let me take some pictures of her so I can share them with my readers.  I was surprised, because she is a very private creature, but she winked and said surely people would like to finally meet her.

As soon as she is ready, I will share her photographs.

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Fantasy apart, the thing is I finally was able to comission the lady vampire doll I have always dreamt about.  It is already paid for, and I am currently waiting for it to be delivered.  I am so excited, I can't wait to have her here.  The doll is a beauty, and the amazing artist that made it has created it as if she could have taken a look inside my head and produce what she saw.  I am counting the days...

A new dollhouse scene

Having visited IKEA for a number of times recently due to my moving, I became aware of a lovely item that is sold as a mini greenhouse for small plants - in case you do not have a garden and want one to protect your plants during winter (1).  It is called Socker, and it is a cutie:

I don't have live plants in my home, only artificial ones - basically because real plants tend to die on me, poor things.  I have no use for a greenhouse, but it occurred to me that it would looked like a miniature greenhouse in 1:12 scale if only it had a door.  Then suddenly the idea to create a dollhouse scene inside this cute greenhouse was set in my mind.  It is big enough, high enough, and so much cheaper than any roombox I have found online (the Socker is priced at $20 in the IKEA catalog).  But even though it was a greenhouse, I did not want to recreate a scene related to gardening because I am not good with plants.  Oh no, my lovely tenant had her own idea about what this should be...

She said she was going to open a shop: a modern shop for beauty products.  Mainly soap and toiletry products.  A place to go to buy stuff to pamper yourself and have a SPA day at home.  She already has some good ideas about the set up, and how it is going to be named.  She won't share it with me though.  She said I will have to wait until she has designed the shopping bags.

The Socker greenhouse was bought and is already mounted and waiting to be worked on.  It is wonderful that since the walls are transparent I will not have to think about wallpapers and floors, since I do not like to work with them.

I am so so excited about this new project!

(1) Funny enough, while I was looking for pictures of the Socker greenhouse to attach to this post, I came across some reviews which said it is really not very useful as a greenhouse because humidity tends to escape, and users advised to use it only as decorative item.  In case you were thinking about buying one to keep your delicate plants.

Tom Bishop's Show - a lot later than it should have been

It has been a very busy December.  Happy New Year everyone!!

With the moving, the setting up the new home, IKEA purchases and family gatherings, I have not had a moment of rest.  I was so very eager to share what I got at Tom Bishop's show, and I have not had the time until now.  But finally! Here are all the goodies:

A lot of stuff from Sophia Miniatures.  You can find all the things in the picture in her shop.  The flower candles are real wax with a wick!

A wonderful medieval candelabra from the talented Nalladris.  I had the chance to chat with her for some minutes, and she is so delightful and kind.  It was truly a pleasure to meet her.

A sack of spices from Gemma Such.  I own several pieces from this artist, she is so talented for  country-style stuff!

A pot of mushrooms from 64tnt Miniatures.

Another open book, and a fish fossil and precious stone.  I cannot find the cards from these artists, so if this is your work, please contact me and I'll be happy to credit you and link to your shop.

And finally, more glass laboratory goodies: glass containers, a jar with pipettes, and a test tube rack from Beatricce Miniaturas.  I am running out of room to put them, but I just love them so much, they are incredibly realistic!  The little glass bottle with the cork will go to a very special project I am working on.

I also got a black LED chandelier, to replace one that I had and stopped working.  This one was an unexpected purchase that my budget was not ready for, because I expected to buy one online later on, but I got a very good price and, naturally, no shipping charges.

I also bought some supplies to make parchment documents and books, and miniature glass bottles for future apothecary cabinets.  And of course, it was a pleasure to talk with María José and Mónica from LugArtpetit (the makers of my bonsais).

I just learned that there is another miniature show in Madrid in February, so I hope I can attend that one as well.

In the following days I hope I can post pictures of my life-size house.  I am very happy how everything turned out now that we have finally finished.

Moving again!

It's the never ending story!  

We are moving again to a new home.  My current landlady wants to sell the apartment, and since we are not interested in buying it, we are relocating.  Funny thing is, we are moving to one of my co-workers' apartment. She has also recently moved to a new bigger apartment, and she wanted to rent hers.  So my husband and I are now her renters.  We will be doing the moving next Monday.

I am very excited to get to decorate a new place!  My aunt is taking me next week to IKEA to buy furniture, and my friend Esther said she wanted to help us with the cleaning and assembling.  Lucky for me I still had vacation days, but I won't be having any resting, LOL!

We already ordered a new frame for our mattress - it will be delivered in two weeks, luckily we got the futon!

I am very nervous, and I want Monday to get here already!

On the other hand, my mom and I will be attending Tom Bishop's Miniature Show in two days, which will be lots of fun!  Although it comes in a bit of a hectic moment, though.  I will probably be wearing one of my Steampunk corsets, so if you happen to attend and you see me, come say hi!

Gone batty for open books!

This beauty arrived last week, but I was so exhausted from work that I could not make myself to post pictures.  Until now.

Just look at the texture of the pages!

My tenant is very happy with it.  She says there are so many lovely open books out there, but so few suited to her taste.  This piece was custom made by Athena of Gothic Miniatures.  The Kraken book is now in the parlor, so my tenant can read it.

1:144 scale dollhouse finished!

My vampire tenant was very happy today to show me she has finished her dollhouse.  The gothic chairs are made and put in their final place in front of the fireplace:

She even added a couple of rugs to the rooms.  They look more cozy now.  And the dollhouse is finally finished, except for the outside paint, that my tenant says she will do in due time.

She says doing this dollhouse was so much fun she is thinking in buying another bigger one, with more rooms to decorate.  She has her eye already in one...

Also, this beauty arrived this week from LDelaney:

A lovely open book with the drawing of a Kraken fighting a ship.  She says she has become very interested lately in issues regarding the ocean.

Memories from the past, part 2

Since my tenant invited me over to talk about the sinking of the Titanic, this morning I went to visit her.  She was already waiting for me, and she took out what it looked like an old Edwardian cardboard box.

And then she opened it...

So many figments of the past!  She proceeded to explain everything about them:

To the left, a soap ad for a brand called Vinolia Otto; they had been awarded the privilege to provide soap for the First Class passangers of the Titanic.  The ad had run in British newspapers at the time, and that is where my tenant got it.

To the right, two menus from the First Class dining room, dated 12th and 14th of April.

Three Titanic postcards.  They could be easily acquired at the White Star offices and at newspapers stands.

To the left, her First Class ticket.  She told me she was able to move from the cabin she had purchased to a suite that had been assigned to another passanger, who finally did not embark.

To the right, an invitation to attend the launch of the Titanic. She confided that she was not actually in the launching ceremony, but that the invitation was given to her as a memento by Bruce Ismay, with whom she had tea once during the voyage.  She also stated she did not like him very much.  Even though he was very polite and correct, he had an unmistakable air of superiority that she could not stand.  On the other hand, she added, the Astors were nicer.  She and Madeleine Astor became friends during the voyage.  She stated that Mr. Astor liked to play cards during the evenings, and that she kept Madeleine company while her husband was out.

A ticket to the Turkish baths.  She said she had not been in a Turkish bath for centuries, and was eager to try the experience again.  She was supposed to give one part of the ticket to the attendant and keep the other, but apparently there was no one in charge when she arrived, and no one asked for the ticket while she was there.

Luggage stickers.  The square ones were for the luggage that would be checked and to be deposited in the ship's hold.  The romboid ones were for suitcases that would go in the cabins.  Hence, the "Wanted" and "Not wanted" printing.  They gave her an excess of stickers (or maybe she did not have many suitcases) and she kept them.

And of course, she had newspapers with the infamous headlines after the sinking.

She seemed very happy to be able to talk about something of her past.  She said her daughter (the one married to the man she got the plates from) is so used to hear her talk about her adventures that none seem to impress her anymore.

I was very impressed, and I told her so.  She smiled, and said I was more than welcome to visit any time I wanted, and she would tell me more of her stories.  I asked how she managed to feed during the voyage, and she smiled and said that Edwardian gentlemen were not as rigid as history would make us think, and they had no problems about accepting invitations to visit her on her suite during the night.  She did not elaborate any further, though.

She is indeed a mysterious being...