Gifts, Swaps & Thrills - Mercedes & Taenia

In the one week before I left for Taiwan, I sent out a few parcels and 2 more have reached my new friends from far and wide. When I was in Taiwan, I also sent out a few postcards and Taenia also posted hers on her site. This is an extract of her post on Taenias Grimmauld Place:

Hallo San!

Thank you sooo much for this beautiful creature!
I'm sure that I will find the perfect place for it in my Grimmaul Place house.
And thanks for the postcard form Taiwan.
I was very surprised to receive a postcard form Taiwan and I am very happy to get one from a place so far away from my home.

----

Love

The creature I gave Taenia is actually from a series of 12 animals of the Chinese Horoscope. This one is a goat. The 8th creature in the line-up. I bought it specially for Taenia because I was moved by her really sweet gesture in offering a miniature painting of an elephant for my palace and I thought this one will fit nicely as a mythical creature in her Grimmauld Place. I actually pick another one for her and changed my mind the last minute for the goat.

I found out subsequently that Taenia was indeed born in the year of the Goat. NOW, how wonderfully weird is that?

Shortly after I came home, Mercedes also got her parcel and this is an extract of her post entitled Tour Eiffel de Singapour!

A couple of days ago Liberty and I received some more lovely mail! This time from Sans in Singapore. In the package was the tiniest Eiffel tower! SO tiny, just 21mm (7/8 inch) tall! I had told Sans I was looking for one here but had only ever found one as part of a necklace and it was ridiculously expensive. Everyone who sees this Eiffel tower is just blown away by how small it is. She also included two sweet little candles (you can see one up there in the new blog header by the blue jug.)

A while ago Sans sent me some flowers. I used the yellow paeony looking ones in the basket arrangement on the table here. In the latest package there were some tiny flowers that I have 'planted' in my little garden.

Some of the large flowers had holes in them so they could be used as beads, Liberty has had great fun making jewellery!

There were hairclips for Liberty which she loved so much she's gone to sleep in them and a little porcelain doll - which Liberty wasn't too sure about at first but today it had joined her family of dolls and was having a great time! LOL! I'm sorry I don't have pics of everything, today turned into a crazy day.Mercedes

In the past couple of months, Mercedes and I have become regular e-pals. We write sometime once a week, sometime twice a day. Often it would be a full page of what's going on with our mini life , and then there is the quick one liner where she wrote "Go To Bed " after she saw me make a late post.

I have said it often enough that my love for miniature is a passion unshared as dollhouses are not that common here. "Hobby" is a word hardly uttered and "time"? The usual answer is "No time". And so, when my mini projects are vexing me or my usual sanctuary is giving me scarce comfort like now when the carpet I am working on looks nothing like the others', I take refuge in Mercedes' email because they invariably bring a smile to my face.

Miniatures Museum of The World-Taiwan (4)

SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 1997, MMOT's collection has expanded significantly and is apparently still growing. When I was there on the 1st day, I asked the museum shop assistant about the founders. She told me that they were away (probably in Europe or the US) to inspect more work which they have commissioned for the museum! Now THAT is a wonderful way to share a passion, I thought.

It is all the more meaningful and sweet when one view the museum's 1st ever collection, the Country Tea House and Antique Shop and then watch how that "humble" exhibit has grown to 200 over dollhouses and room boxes. So without further ado, enjoy!

Country Tea House and Antique Shop (1:12)

This 2 houses were sitting side by side in the museum.

Details of the Country Tea-House (exterior)

Do you guys have Walls ice-cream? It was very big in Singapore and I remembered a long long time ago, we had an ice-cream parlour that only sold Walls ice cream or was it Magnolia...
Nope, I can't see the bees either but its supposed to be in the basket of flowers.

This is a broken lamp-post which is not showing up well in this picture.

Details- Interior of Country Tea House
Upper FloorLower Floor
Details of Antique House (exterior)
Interior

Upper Floor
Lower Floor

This next exhibit is one of my favourites mainly for what it represents. I know many of you do not read Chinese so I will interpret this sign for you:

Title "A Housewife's Achievement"

This exhibit is by a San Franciscan housewife who had spent 5 years completing this project. Her interest in miniatures started 20 years ago from making something simple to creating challenging projects. For this house, it started with a kit from a hobby house, she then planned the design of the interiors, bought the materials and started wallpapering and flooring the house. She bought some of the more common items from miniature shops but for many of the collectibles, she could only buy them at annual miniature shows or commission artisans to make them. This project is an inspiration to us all for it shows that with patience and creativity, anyone can build their own dream house.

A San Francisco House (1:12)

This is how the house is exhibited, with the opening slightly ajar so it is impossible to take the full interior. I have therefore lifted this 2 pictures from the book to show you how the full interior looks like before I show you the rest of my shots.

Details of Interior (3rd Floor)

This was the shot I took on my 1st day.

The 2nd time I was there, I noticed that the door was slightly more ajar and managed to take the above picture, revealing the wash stand ? next to the bed. I still cannot identify what that is.

Close up of unidentifiable object

This chest is just to die for!

2nd Floor
1st Floor

The Russian Consulate (1:12)

This house is completely closed so you can see the interior only through the windows.I will end this post with something whimsical- The Faerie Forest
This is a heavily populated forest. Every corner you turn, someone is there or something is going on. This exhibit is placed at the centre of the aisle so that you can have a 360 degree view. Be prepared for loads of pictures. You may also have to strain a little to see what's really going on.

The smaller tree house with occupant on the upper branch and a lit hole in the trunk.
Close up of the little room downstairs
A really neat fire place that flickers..Turtles in the pond
A Pumpkin Feast
Walking on a tight branch
while someone is having a swinging good time..
Other frolickers


Back of the tree

Back of the small treeThe HarvestersGoodnight peeps!