Magical Miniatures and Halloween Fun

So this isn't a place where I typically brag about my vacations, but I did go to Disney World a couple weeks ago, had some Halloween fun at the Magic Kingdom (my mom and I trick or treated like sophisticated adults: hit every spot in the park, and ended up with a ridiculous amount of candy), AND during one of the days at the parks I saw something worth blogging about.

A couple years ago I passed along a neat article about Walt Disney and how, like many creative individuals, he had a thing for working in miniature. After that blog post I had people in the comments asking me if I had any pictures/if I knew where to find images of Disney's miniature collection. And the answer is still No. And I've never been to Disneyland, so if the collection is there/still there, I haven't seen it. However, if you go to Walt Disney World, you may cross paths with some models and some miniature scenes, some of which were made by Walt Disney himself.

And I did take some pictures. Of course, this is not my work, I am posting it specifically for discussion purposes, and thanks to the lighting + display case you are definitely much better off seeing this in person. Until you book your Disney trip though, here are some shots of a tiny set Walt Disney made back in the 40's, "Granny's Cabin";

And if you noticed in the placard, 

working on this miniature scene indirectly led to the planning of Disneyland. How cool is that?

So there you go, miniature work, by Walt Disney.

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Now, did I mention that I had some Halloween fun while I was on this trip? Yes, well Halloween also means it's the time of year where you can find all things, "The Nightmare Before Christmas", and since that's a movie I have cherished since I saw it in the movie theater, when I was only 4, you can imagine my delight anytime that movie or those characters popped up in the parks. I ended up bringing some things home with me;

That hat is pretty much a replacement for a similar one I've been wearing for the last decade or so, the purse I plan to start using soon, and the figurines - well my mom's guess was that they'd end up in a miniature scene - Yep, she was right;

(Several Fall's worth of tiny leaves, made by me)

So in conclusion to what I'm hoping is a cohesive post, despite being swamped with work and so busy you'd think I couldn't possible have time for fun or Halloween, it turns out I can/I did. And hey, look I even had a second to make a quick scene and blog. Hooray - And Happy Halloween Everyone! ^_^

A New Place To Work, A New Place To Work On

Time to catch up on blogging - Where to Start?...Ok, first some big news - I have an art studio to work in now. ^_^   ^_^   ^_^

A few friends and I are sharing the space, so it's both huge and affordable. We started renting the place in August and plan on being there for at least the next year.

Part of me wants to post photos of what it looks like right now, but right now it's a mess and my friends and I are still working on hanging artwork/etc., so for now, I'll just show you what the place looked like the day I picked up my keys.

It's part of a much, much bigger art building in Lockport, and I will post more about it once I'm better set up to let in visitors.

 Finding this space when I did turned out to be such great timing too because the week after I signed the lease, I crossed paths with a cool dollhouse at a rummage sale. Without the studio I would've had to pass, no room at home for another big (tiny) house, but with the studio I had the space for it - Hooray;

 (It barely fit in the back of the car, but chillin' in the studio it looks so small)

 It's a Country Manor Dollhouse kit by Skil-Craft, catalog # 688. Thank you too Kelly and the rest of the Greenleaf Forum community for solving that mystery for me. ^_^

This house was so well put together, and so well kept over the years (no idea when it was assembled, but the kit is from the 70's). Damage-wise, I need to fix some railings and the window "glass" is yellowed/cracked/covered in stickers. Compared to all my troubles with the Van Buren, this is going to be such an easy project.

Since it's living in the studio, the plan is to restore it and then use it as a tiny showroom for at least some of the miniatures I have for sale. It also gives me an opportunity to do more with mini furniture vs. the 'everything except furniture' I usually sell.

Already got started, and even with the crazy schedule I have right now, I'm slowly making progress on everything. So more updates should be on the way soon.