We (my shop) are hired about once a year to work on a Newport dollhouse. It's a very popular model by Real Good Toys! This year's Newport job only involved assembling it; customer wants to paint, shingle, and finish off the interior herself. She bought the kit from us 3 weeks ago and I promised to have it assembled in 3 weeks (so deadline was today). But then my youngest daughter came down ill delaying my work; and then my middle daughter had her 12th birthday and a slumber party to celebrate, distracting me from my job; and then I came down with an illness for 4 days and missed work! Sitting at home with a fever, cough, and sniffles, I was a nervous wreck about how far behind in my work I was getting. Until my mother texted me this from the shop (where she was holding down the fort in my absence):
Not only was she helping customers and shipping out our online orders, Mom had started the Newport foundation and labeled all the parts in the kit! If I weren't infected with nasty cold or flu germs, I'd give her hugs and kisses! Lol
So, upon returning to work on Thursday I assembled the rest of the house and glued windows and railings together (they aren't glued onto the house though so customer can paint them easier).
So even though life tried to get in my way, thanks to energetic mom getting the ball rolling, one of the six customer houses is done on time and awaiting pick-up!
Welcome to my life . . . .
This is a blog about my passion: dollhouses and miniatures. This particular blog was started to follow my miniature dream: to create a Victorian Mansion. But work on my Mansion is slow. Very slow. Sloth slow. Ice Age glacier movement slow. Why? Because I am easily distracted by other personal miniature projects (I have 50+ roomboxes and 15 dollhouses in various stages of incompletion) and because I work for a miniature shop and am often up to my elbows in miniature projects that aren't mine! So, I thought, some artists work in a particular medium (woods, watercolors, clay, oils, etc.), I work in progress . . . .
Hello Lori,
ReplyDeleteMoms are the best. Great job putting together the house. It is a very handsome kit.
Big hug
Giac
N.B. I hope you feel all better!
Thank you, Giac! I am feeling much better...just in time for Spring allergies to hit! Lol
DeleteHi, Lori - I'm sorry about your illness but glad you're better and back to work. (If I had to choose between a fever and cough or a 12 year old's slumber party, I'd definitely choose the fever; I certainly wouldn't want them both!) Your mother sounds like a treasure - and a very capable one. The Newport house is beautiful. Congratulations on a job well (and timely) done!
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Hi Marjorie, Mom is wonderful and I am very lucky to have her! Funny thing is: we finished the house on time and customer came in and decided she did want us to paint it for her so the Newport is still at the store for us to work on! -Lori K.
DeleteHi Lori - I just stumbled on your blog two days ago so have gone back to the beginning to read all the way through and here I am - all caught up. I've enjoyed the read immensely. This dollhouse is beautiful. Your customers are so lucky to have a full-service miniatures shop in their area. There is absolutely nothing where I live so, as a fairly new person to the hobby, I rely on blogs like yours to learn techniques and get ideas for finishing. Thank you so much for all of your information and inspiration. - Marilyn D., Oromocto, NB, Canada
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you, Marilyn! If you ever take a trip try www.ministores.org to find mini stores along your way or near your destination. And if you ever have any questions, drop me an email (lori@happily-ever-after.biz) and I'll help you however I can! Also, Marjorie's blog (Sticks and Stones and Styrofoam), Giac's blog (Late Victorian English Manor), and Otterine's blog (www.otterine.com) are fantastic reads! I hope you are enjoying miniatures. This hobby is wonderful! Lori K.
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