Road Trip Day 3: Western PA

I didn’t get time to post about yesterday’s trip. So here we go. Yesterday, we visited Volant Miniature Shop in Volant, PA and Lynlott Miniatures in Pittsburgh (Aspinwall), PA.

I really enjoyed Volant Miniatures. Anita is the proprietor and she specializes in making custom domes of special occasions for customers. Her work is amazing! And it’s such a great gift idea, even for those who are not necessarily miniature collectors or dollhouse enthusiasts. The shop is small, but definitely a must-see. She has miniatures grouped by subject and there are a lot of modern items! I especially loved the music-related items and the sports memorabilia! Lots of realism and detail in many of the items, including a beautiful English saddle and a tiny working spring clothespin. Anita is super friendly and a joy to talk with. She also introduced us to a wonderful site called Green Renaissance, which while not miniatures-related is a great source of inspiration.

Here’s what I got:

We then drove down to Aspinwall, a neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Lynlott Miniatures is on a block of some lovely shops.

This shop is packed with miniatures and there was something to see on every shelf and in every nook. There was more great modern stuff and lots of artisan-made items. There were a lot of great dollhouses here too, some definitely custom built. I also recommend this shop for those toting along little ones as the front of the store has lots of kid friendly games, dollhouses and plush toys. There really is something for everyone here!

Here’s my haul from this shop:

Lynlott was the last shop we had visited on this trip, unless we run into another one on the way home. ;) We ended up staying in the Greensburg area and are now visiting my parents for the next several days in Central PA. :) I shared gifts with them and showed them my haul, which they enjoyed. I now have several projects to work on, some of which will go in the etsy shop, and others which will go into the historical society!

If you’ve been reading along, I thank you for joining me and hopefully this will inspire others to not only go on a fun road trip, but also support local brick and mortar shops. I found that the folks who own these shops are hard-working, enthusiastic and very knowledgeable people!

Road Trip Day 2: Chautauqua, NY

Hi everyone! Happy Mother's Day!

So, we left the Buffalo area this morning and drove down to Chautauqua to visit our next stop, Chautauqua Miniatures. What a GREAT place! It was recommended highly by other members of the Greenleaf forum so I knew I was in for a treat. The owners have actually two shops in one: the miniatures store and the Two Chixx Gift Shoppe! The latter has decor, antiques, scarves, lotion, etc. Lots of cute and fun things!

If you go to the website above, please know that what is on the website is only a fraction of what is in the shop. Both shops are in one 5000 sq. ft. two-story barn. There is so much to look at here, so if you stop in sometime, do give yourself plenty of time to look around and take it all in!

I had to really focus on what I was looking for here...stuff for the historical society, beds to dress, etc., and I definitely came away with some great finds! One awesome part of the shop were the clearance items. I found some great pieces there! They also had a section of back issues of Nutshell News, American Miniaturist and other dollhouse mags. I have some reading material for the trip now! ;)

Anyway, here's what you've likely been waiting for - the pics!

On the left is a resin figure who would make a wonderful curator of my local historical shop. Also for the shop is the barrister book case to hold reference materials and some local artifacts. Below that is a wine bottle for the Glencroft kitchen, and on top of the book case is a cute basket perfect for a number of applications.

I added another HoM kit to my collection! Also a book on wine and a wicker frame which matches some other pieces I have.

This is a cross-stick kit for "Chautauqua Lake." It was a unique piece local to the area (yay! souvenir!) and was a bargain at 3 dollars.

These are some of the clearance pieces. The cabinet was very detailed and would go well in several possible places including the Glencroft kitchen. It was $4.00. The bed was only $8.00. I want to dress it up and add a mattress.

Lots of reading material and useful projects!

They threw in this pen. :) Jay bought a few items too (Mother's Day gifts!) and gave me his pen. I think one might go in a giveaway box. :)

I did very well at Chautauqua Miniatures and am close to getting all the pieces for my historical society! I can't wait to start building now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So we are in our hotel down in PA and will be visiting Volant Miniatures and Lynlott Miniatures tomorrow. :-D Stay tuned for more!

Road Trip Day 1: Western NY

Hi all! It's been an awesome day, and a long one too! We drove from Albany to Buffalo and stopped not terribly far from Rochester on the way. I took lots and lots of pictures which I am going to upload to Flickr and/or facebook at some point, but I will share some here, too. At least the mini-related ones!

Today's journey took us to two shops: Lilliput Miniatures in Fairport, NY and Niagara Hobby and Craft Mart in Cheektowaga, NY.

Lilliput Miniatures (web)

This shop is run by a really friendly guy and his family. Tom is the name of the owner (I think) and he chatted with us while we shopped around. He does a lot of custom work on dollhouses that folks bring in, which are shown throughout the shop. He carries mostly Real Good Toys houses, and there were a few others I didn't recognize, all seemed to be made with the cabinet grade 3/8" plywood. One in particular was a HUGE house that someone started to build with Houseworks Plans and that he plans to sell for about 80 bucks. If I had the space and the time, I think that would have come home with me...

As for accessories, he really does have a little bit of everything, including some items I hadn't seen before. I picked up a number of items, some for the historical society, and others for grab bags and some other projects. ;)

Here's what I bought:

Niagara Hobby and Craft (web)
We had plenty of time, we discovered, left in the day, even after checking in to our hotel, to visit the Niagara Hobby and Craft Mart in Cheektowaga. So we did! :-)

Now, if you're looking for a HUGE selection of dollhouses and accessories, you might be a little disappointed here. However, this place has an amazing railroad selection - all different scales, with several in-store train displays - as well as a respectable dollhouse department (for a shop that carries a wide variety of crafts!). Their prices were pretty reasonable, too.

Here's what I got:

That trunk is part of the Lincoln Line of furniture, which I would like to collect as someday I'd like to build the Lincoln Springfield Home from RGT. :) For now, I think it will go in the historical society. That little white thing is a stepladder (so cute!) and of course another kit from the Daisy House. I love their kits - they are relatively easy to assemble and look great when finished.

Also, at Niagara Hobby I found flyers for some upcoming events that may be of interest:
42nd Annual Toy Show - Oct 28, 2012 at the Hearthstone Manor, 333 Dick Rd, Depew, NY (Sponsored by Motoring in Miniature Association, Ltd)
The 31st Annual Greater Buffalo Train and Toy Show - Nov 17 and 18, 2012 at the Event Center on the Fairgounds in Hamburg, NY (Sponsored by the Western NY Railway Historical Society)

Road trip plans

Yes, this is mini related!

As I mentioned in the previous post, I will be visiting as many upstate New York miniature shops as possible and a couple in western PA! It gives my fiancé and I a perfectly good excuse (not that we need one) to visit some towns we've never been to, see some new sights, and check out some new restaurants, too.

So far, here's the list of shops we'll be visiting:
Lilliput Miniatures
Niagara Hobby and Craft Mart (which I discovered after watch MsMiniLover's video on Youtube)
Chautauqua Miniatures
Volant Miniatures
and Lynlott Miniatures

And unrelated to minis, because we like anime, Godzilla, and awesome Japanese things, we're also going to visit Joy's Japanimation in Greensburg, PA. :) Then off to my parents in central PA for some nice, relaxing family time. My mom just retired so we will get to spend lots of time together!

During the trip, I will be blogging each day about the on-road experiences, goodies I picked up and maybe some hints at a future giveaway! ;)

Speaking of giveaway, don't forget to check out Linda's Minis facebook page and LIKE it if you haven't already. At 50 followers, I'll announce a giveaway!!!

Summer is (almost) here!

Now that the semester has ended this month, I plan to do a bit of traveling. I'd really like to go to visit my family in PA. But I think I might take the long way...there's a string of mini shops along I-90 in NY, one in Volant, PA, and one in Pittsburgh, PA. I think it would be fun to go on a "mini" road trip. If I do this, I will definitely blog about the experience, with information about each of the shops, and maybe even pick up a couple of things for giveaways! I'll likely post more info on this as I plan it more thoroughly. What would you like to know about the shops if I pull this off?

If you haven't checked out Linda's Minis on facebook, please do so! We're at 30 followers (yay!) and there's a coupon code for my shop there. When we get to 50 followers, we will have a giveaway there (you have to "like" the page on facebook to participate)! So please stop by. The site is: https://www.facebook.com/LindasMinis

Hmmm, what else...I am dreaming up some new stuff for the etsy shop as well as planning my next project.

And because I like to include a pic with every post, here's a photo of some fern fiddleheads on a class field trip a few weeks ago! Happy spring!