Roadside America!

Last weekend, my fiancé and I needed to go to Lancaster, PA for some wedding stuff (including cake tasting!). On the way back to NY, we stopped by one of the places I went to when I was about 8 years old - Roadside America in Shartlesville, PA. It's right off of I-78. Here is their website: http://www.roadsideamericainc.com/.

I thought I would share with you some pictures as I remember how exciting this was when I was 8 and it's still pretty cool about 25 years later. :) (Photo credit goes to my fiancé, who, unlike me, remembered to bring his camera in!)

New Youtube video!

Here is my latest video, a tour of the historical society built last year. Enjoy!

How to finish the historical society...

No, I haven't even begun building the historical society just yet, but I have been thinking about how to finish the exterior. Since I picked up the little Canterbury kit, I have been drawn to stone. I think it this would suit this particular house the best. And since I am basing it in a small Pennsylvania town, I took some pictures of some lovely houses here in southeastern PA for some ideas. I will share them with you, in case you need some inspiration! :)

PS: We have 38 likes on Linda's Minis facebook page! 12 more, and I will have a Facebook giveaway!!! Like the page to be included!

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 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!

My next project(s)

In my last post, I hinted about my next project. I guess I can elaborate a little more on that here. :) I've had the Canterbury in a box for a while and have been trying to figure out what it's going to be. At first, I thought about turning it into a library, a tea room, a bakery, or something like that. Then it hit me! I love history and one of my favorite places to go visiting, antiquing and learning about the area is Lancaster, PA and the surrounding area. This part of Pennsylvania is full of Amish farms and museums, as well as lots of Pennsylvania Dutch history. (For those unfamiliar with PA Dutch, these folks lived in PA around the 18-19th centuries and were actually German Descendants. The word Dutch here is actually an alteration of the word "Deutsch," the German word for, well, "German." My ancestors on my father's side were PA Dutch and Irish, and the PA Dutch side had lived in the Lancaster County region at one point).

Anyway, I digress... for my next project, I want to build a historical society of a fictional town in the Lancaster area with lots of PA Dutch, Amish, and historical artifacts. This is going to be a lot of fun. I foresee a tiny meeting room, a research area, and an upstairs museum. I know the Canterbury is small, so I won't fit a ton of stuff in there, but I think I have plenty of pieces already (and in kits) that will work. Plus, this house comes with its own furniture too, so I can fill in the empty bits.

I've already picked up some stuff from an antique shop in Cambridge, NY: tintypes (to frame and put on the wall) as well as a wooden nickel as an antique advertising piece.

We have a color laser printer again  and I am going to make some hex signs, advertising and more historical photos. I've also picked up a little working wooden filing cabinet (for the research room) from Mainly Minis.

 

I can't wait to start on it. I've been itching to build lately and this particular kit is small so there's actually room to display it and I may even finish it over the summer. This build also gives me an excuse to hit the antique shops for more ephemera. :)

One more find in Cambridge is a gorgeous Japanese box:

I think I am going to turn it into a room box and perhaps sell it on Etsy. Hmm, we will see. :-)

Inspiration, the new year, and yeah, I know I've been quiet!

Life, my job, and everything else has taken over and I haven't had much time to craft. So, yeah, I realize it's been rather quiet here at Linda's Minis. My last post focused on the General Store, but funny enough, that lovely dollhouse has actually been given to my sister and her girls. After Jay moved to Albany (permanently) and the rest of our stuff came with him, we just didn't have the room. So I knew something had to go. I had good intentions with it, but I still have to finish the Glencroft (I know, I know) so one project at a time for me.

Now I've been rather inspired over the holidays. We visited PA for Christmas (my parents) and New Year's (Jay's parents) and along the way, saw lots of beautiful houses. In both central and eastern PA, there are many beautiful stone houses, and in the Montgomery County region, there are some beautiful homes covered in stucco. This led me to finally deciding to finish the Glencroft chimney in plaster over brick, and to age the tudor finish a bit. (I still have to finish shingling, which I think is my least favorite dollhouse hobby venture).

While in eastern PA, we visited a thrift shop in Birdsboro, PA. (Here is the address: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=birdsboro+pa+thrift+shop&fb=1&gl=us&hq=thrift+shop&hnear=0x89c679ea4653aa45:0x31e78b63b088be0d,Birdsboro,+PA&cid=9471547859574324149)

There is a lovely farmhouse-style dollhouse there for sale. It is 99 dollars, in decent shape, and comes with lots of furniture. It could use some minor rehab, but if you are looking for a good second-hand project, and live in the area, it was still there as of yesterday afternoon. I looked at it carefully but said no (surprisingly!) because of the lack of space and certain lack of time with the upcoming semester. Again, one project at a time for me!!!

Lastly, while in central PA, we went to Antique Depot in Duncansville, PA (address: http://duncansvilleantiquedepot.com/index.htm). They have tin dollhouses, very little furniture, but two lovely dollhouses that almost look like engineering or drafting projects. The crafters were definitely building them in the style of real houses and both that were there (as of Dec. 26th or so) were unfinished and were (I think) half-scale. I was very tempted to pick up the larger one for 150.00. Again, though. Little room at the moment and ONE project at a time!

If you live in either area, or know someone who does, and procure either dollhouse, do let me know! I hope these hints lead to a cherished new addition to a collection! :)