Lisa_F

Just spoke with Kelly - she got the house & made it home! She sounds very excited with it. Might be a few days before she can get online but she promised to tell everyone all about it as soon as she can!

Talked to Kelly a little bit ago & she's on her way to get the house! Yay Kelly!!! Wish I could've gone with her but it wasn't in the cards today - too much other stuff on the schedule. Can't wait to see the house in person - she's sooooo excited to be getting it! A feeling I can so understand - having & being able to begin working on your "forever" house is better for the heart & soul than the most expensive therapy out there!

Thank you everyone, for your help in naming my house! So many wonderful names, but I think I've found her name! You're right Morgan, I needed to be patient & listen to her - she had a name all along, I just wasn't paying close enough attention! La Vie En Rose it is! Thank you Debora! (now I just need to learn how to pronounce her name!) I had never heard that name/phrase before, but in researching it after reading your post, I saw it means "life in pink" or "through rose colored glasses. I sat & thought about it for awhile, and although it was a beautiful name, I wasn't completely sold on the idea until I went back & read the draft of a blog post I had written about first getting the house. Right there in the draft I had written "I must've been looking at her through rose colored glasses". Reading that was like getting hit over the head with the name! lol! That's what she wanted all along! So thank you!!! Speaking of the blog, I've finally gotten around to publishing my first two posts. If anyone is interested the link is in my signature.

I've never been a vendor at a mini show but I used to own a soap & candle business & frequently attended shows as a vendor so I can offer a little perspective from a vendor point of view on shows in general (most of which you probably already know since you've done other craft shows): 1. Wear comfortable clothes/shoes. It's usually obvious when a vendor is uncomfortable, but it's not so clear about why they are - and it just makes them appear unapproachable. 2. Bring plenty of change (1's, 5's 10's etc.) You don't want to lose out on a sale because you can't make change for the buyer. 3. Bring enough inventory. I can't tell you how many times in the early stages of my business when I lost out on the potential for a lot of sales because I underestimated the inventory I would need. This can be hard because you don't always know what will be popular at that show - so when in doubt, bring more 4. Make sure your booth is inviting & pleasing to look at. You have to entice them to come into your booth before you can make a sale. At the same time make it clear (with signs, etc) whether or not "hands-on" shopping is okay. In some booths shoppers are encouraged to handle the merchandise, in others it's a recipe for disaster. Both ways are totally appropriate as long as the shopper knows what's expected. (at the last mini show I attended there was a booth that had no signage, nothing to indicate that touching an item would incur the seller's wrath and I watched the seller tell 2 people to put things down in a very irritated manner - and both of those people walked away without making a purchase. Could've been avoided if buyers/lookers knew what was expected of them at that booth). I've attended a few miniature shows as a buyer and from that perspective I would suggest: 1. clearly mark the prices for your items. When i walk into a show and start looking at all of the vendors booths, I may oooh and ahhhh at a table that has beautifully handcrafted items, but if the items do not have marked prices I am not apt to make a purchase from that table. I tend to have the mind set that if the prices aren't listed on or with the items then that means they are probably verrrrrry expensive and I don't want to embarrass myself by asking & finding it's more than I can afford & walking away without making a purchase. 2. If your items are fragile, delicate, etc., have a way to package the items so that the buyer can safely carry it around after purchasing it. It doesn't need to be fancy or expensive - just something to protect their purchase (several vendors I've purchased small items from have used small condiment cups with lids to pack purchases in.). 3. Smile, make eye contact & be approachable. If you look like you don't want to be bothered then you probably won't . 4. Bring business cards for potential future sales. At the last show I went to I missed out on buying an item because the person ahead of me got to it first and it was the only one the vendor had brought. I asked for a business card so I could contact the vendor to purchase one after the show. Business cards put into shopping bags with buyers purchases is also a great way to advertise your business.

I have the impress molds from Malcolms as well and I've used them (stone; brick & shingle molds) with DAS clay and the molds worked beautifully with the clay. The sugarplum in my gallery was done with these molds & DAS clay. Edited to add: the pictures in my gallery don't do the molds justice - I take awful pictures - the bricks & shingles look really nice in person! lol

Wasn't there another house, the Mary Kay house? Perhaps that wasn't the name of the house, but I remember a very large foam core house that was just amazing! Edited to add: Yep, SallyG did the Mary Kay house & it is absolutely awesome!

My sentiments exactly. I wish I had thanked them after each & every publication because I enjoyed each & every one. While I always read (and enjoyed) every single article in the Gazette, it did not occur to me to thank the hard working contributors for their dedication & creativity and for that I am truly sorry. I hope that someday the Gazette will return and if it does I know that I personally won't take it for granted again.

Mary, I will keep you in my thoughts & hope to see you back here as soon as you feel able. Big hugs to you!!!

Thanks for the help everyone! I think I'm going to go with Blogger. It seems like it will be easy enough to use - for a beginner!

Yep, I was able to view the main page that Dean gave us a link to, I was just curious about the base kit itself. It will probably be up tomorrow & I need to just learn to exercise a bit of patience! lol!

Love the design for this year's fling! Just one question though, on the link to the main page of this year fling I see pictures of (with "add to cart" buttons when you click on the pictures) for all sorts of new goodies, but not the (option to buy) house itself. Is the base kit located somewhere else on the site or is that happening tomorrow? I'm not jumping the gun here (really!), I was just looking for the dimensions of the base kit.

Absolutely beautiful Brae!

Thanks for the suggestions so far everyone! Each name would definitely suit her, but I'm still open to other suggestions. I have tried coming up with a list of names myself for her, but I'm afraid I'm just not terribly imaginative when it comes to naming her. I don't know why I'm fixated on having the word rose in her name, because I just keep getting stuck when I try to come up with something using that word.

Afternoon everyone! Today is a good day! I was able to sell off the miniatures & houses that I wasn't able to keep anymore (due to a lack of space) and now I have room in my dining room to work on my "forever" house! As soon as the mini's sold & were out of the house I set up a work space on the dining room table & now I need to put my thinking cap on & figure out exactly what I want to do with the house. I need help naming the house though... I kind of know which direction I'm going to go with the house, but for the life of me I can't think of a fitting name for her. Can you help? The house is a Lawbre Shadowcliff, Right now it's just in it's primed (mostly) state, but eventually she'll be shades of pink & antique ivory, with a rose theme throughout the house. I'm thinking shabby chic, before the "shabby" if that makes sense. She's going to be frilly, feminine, and more modern than victorian era (lady who will reside there inherited it from her grandmother so there will be some antique items left behind). Ideally I'd like a name for her that incorporates the word "rose" somewhere. Any ideas??? Here's a photo of her as she looks right now: I have the hinged wall panels, windows & trim for her, but they're all boxed up waiting for when I had space to work on her.

Beautiful chair!!! I may have to try one in the near future! Love the kitchen cabinets on the blog too. So many great tutorials on the blog!

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'm going to spend a little time looking around the blogging sites & give it a go! Very excited to give it a try - not that I think I have much in the way to offer as far as how-to's or anything like that - mostly I just want a way to journal my adventures (or misadventures) with the dollhouse & I figured if someone else enjoys reading it on occasion, that will be an added bonus

Lol Holly, I daresay i've made a few more than 50 posts already But thank you for the reminder, I'll check it out!

Can someone recommend a good blogging site? I've never had a blog before but I truly enjoy reading blogs about miniatures and following along as someone blogs about their dollhouse build. I would like to try creating one to blog my adventures when I start working on the Shadowcliff. Is there a user-friendly, easy to set up & load pictures blog site that you would recommend? Thanks!

Thank you for the warm reception everyone! It is so wonderful to be someplace where everyone is so nice and caring!!! Karin, thank you for the link to the Gazette article. I probably did read it at some point over the past year but to tell the truth the way I've been feeling over the past year, it's hard to remember. Reading it tonight was like reading it for the first time. I've bookmarked the page now though, so I can refer back to it whenever I need to remind myself to take care of my own emotional well-being, and for pointers on how to do it. It's an outstanding article. Thank you.

I'm not currently working on a mini project, but I hope to be working on my Lawbre Shadowcliff in the very near future. I need to clear out a bunch of mini stuff to make room for a little work space in the dining room, so I'm trying to work on that now.

I love fairy cottages! And gnome cottages! And... Well heck, I don't think I've ever met a cottage I haven't fallen in love with! lol! But in all seriousness, I would love to someday do a fairy cottage and place it in my terribly neglected garden. Not sure how it would survive all of the Washington rain though.....

Thanks Holly! Mary Anne, we have two (extremely spoiled) pugs, Daisy & Molly. They are definitely the sunshine in my life!!! 'Course, I could do without the constant shedding and toys all over the floor, but when I look into their sweet faces, none of that matters! lol! For anyone interested in taking a peek, I've posted a link to the craigslist ad under the ebay & craigslist links.

Thanks everyone, it feels great to be back. I won't bore anyone with all the details, but with my life having been turned upside down, I spiraled down into major depression & most days it was all I could do just to do what had to be done. Mini's definitely took a back seat during that time. I've been struggling for awhile on what to do with the majority of mini's I'm not going to be able to keep and for a long while it was just easier not to do anything with them at all. But now that I've made the choice to downsize my collection, use the proceeds (hopefully) to purchase mini supplies for the houses I'm keeping and daydreaming about how wonderful it will feel to work on the Lawbre, I'm definitely seeing brighter days ahead!

What a lovely couple & the decorations are outstanding!