rest in peace Fabulously Small...

What's happening? The Oldtique Store is closing up shop? But it has never even opened! 😬

Yep, it's the end of the road for Fabulously Small. I will keep it up, but I won't be adding new posts. And of course the final post on my blog should be illustrated with a closing of some sort, and that's where today's scene comes in.

Remember the kitchen and its messy state in July? ↷

click the image if you like to check out that post

It was the precursor for this post, the wrapping up of Fabulously Small, packing it up in a sense.

Don't worry, it's not a sad thing really. It's the natural progression of anything else in life: something is born, it lives and or blossoms for an amount of time, to then transition into another form. I decided to use this post to put together a last scene and just having fun with it, as usual 😃.

some of my 'antiques'

As you can see it's a section of the store-part* of the Oldtique Store, in a simple yet realistic-ish mock-up: cardboard and scrapbooking-paper + prints for the facade, walls and flooring – instead of the properly built one with wooden floor and mortared brick walls I had planned to create for it – to see it at least in that way. With two printed store facades to be able to create a realistic photo-shoot.
*since it would also have had a toilet, kitchen & storage space in the back as well as an alleyway on the right, see my design plans

And b/c it's in a closing out/moving state, it only required a display of some of my miniatures in a boxed or ready-to-go way to showcase it.

I did make a clipboard with a to-do-list (using an image I found online and then - digitally - filled out the first page with some checked off boxes), which was fun. It has the ballpoint-pen I made in 2013 and I dove up from the depths of my miniature pile, lol.

And I thought it would also be nice to create an open/closed sign for the entrance.

The stage is far from perfect, but I'm very happy with it.

Especially the spiral staircase, even though in this limited set-up it leads nowhere, hahaha! And I will finish it one day, getting the spindles fixed somehow (see my previous post); without most of the pins. Which, with quite the effort, I had managed actually, but...

with the spindles glued, before I attempted to glue on the 3 railing parts

....when trying to get the undeep railing holes glued to the little pins on top, it mostly fell apart, it had taken too long already and I really wanted to wrap things up. I will get it right, which shouldn't surprise anyone who has followed me for some time and paid a little bit of attention 😉.

Like, remember the miniature laptop-plug with that hair-thin (that's including the insulation) electrical wire that broke off inside of it?

click the image if you like to check out that post

While I only had a normal soldering point, which is wayyy too big for that, as well as no soldering experience either 😇. It took a while and it was nót easy, but I fixed it b/c I was determined to.

And remember my working vintage fan with tiny workingswitch?

Yeah, that was Murphy's Law in full force on top of an already more than challenging project with its micro-motor, the tiny switch I made for it and the far too small space to work behind it. But I did it, despite parts - and even the whole thing - breaking several times due to that silly Murphy that made me have to redo things over and over and over again;

and thèn for it to work how I intended (without experience in electronics); etc. But I kept on it and the result was so fulfilling!

Everything I've had to put to the side for longer, always had a very good reason for not (being able to) finish(ing) it, yet. Like my 12th scale laptop 😀

Also, my creativity isn't going anywhere. It had already transformed into other areas and ways the past years, which will always change and evolve, the way I know it was meant to.

fast-food dinner in the Oldtique Store 😉
with a tube (I made from a paper straw) with the 'for rent'-poster on the floor

all the inventory has been moved out with some of it outside to put in the car

I still lóve miniatures. It will always be a passion of mine and I'll do what I can to create at least some of the things I'm still very excited to finish or bring to life whenever that may be, for myself. But I think it's time to pull the plug when it comes to this blog and new posts, for multiple reasons.

In fact, one of those reasons is it was time for me to move on and for quite a while now. The reason I still posted the odd thing these last several years is b/c I genuinely love to create miniatures & scenes and post them, however sporadically that was possible and even if no one would see it.

 

transformation of the plastic 'trolley'
(? I don't know how you call that, in English, or my own language, lol 😁)

It's how I started all of this in the first place: just for me. Mostly for practical reasons: as a visual, a place to keep and see my progress and have my creations 'stored', by themselves or in scenes, and easy to access.

It was never about views or followers and anyone finding and enjoying it just a bonus, never the goal. See my welcome post from 13,5 years ago. Wow, 13,5 years... I thought it was about 10 or maybe 11, I must be getting old; well, actually I am, hahaha!

And someone who has been all over my blog, invisible to others, for not so kind reasons, actually did me a huge favor in this and a lot easier for me to close it out for good. Which helps me focus on other things more and better without this platform taking away from that, so: thank you. You know who you are.

Not too long ago I did discover the statistics for this blog and I was surprised it even reached as many views as it has, all around the world, and I thought it'd be nice and fitting to add the most relevant ones to this last post.

I know maybe not many will ever see this, if only b/c of my low activity of the past years, but I like to officially close it, even if it's just one person who now knows its status, instead of left wondering. And if anything: properly close it for myself.

the poster is in Dutch (it says: 'retail space for rent') I created by using
a real one I had found online for regular real-life retail spaces as an example I liked

And how better to do that than with a recap of the past 13+ blog-years? So I took a (generous) selection and compiled a little video, just because I really enjoy creating those too 😀.

I LOVED being here and doing this and I want to thank each and every one I've ever connected with, inspired, entertained etc, with and through Fabulously Small and my creations, it did make it a lot more fun.

I'm closing this post with a short video of my radio controlled car. I've had it for years for the purpose of having it drive the miniature street the Oldtique Store is on once I had built it, and so I used it for this scene instead 😁. Although it looks very good (I think), it's a cheap thing, meaning a bit shaky in operating (especially because I was also holding a cardboard plate in one hand to keep out the reflections of my windows in the car windows, lol)

THANK YOU, for your kindness, enthusiasm, friendship & support and for your own wonderful posts, creations, creativity, inspiration, tips and stories all those years. It has meant so much to me, more than you know. Unfortunately, for different reasons I've not been able to visit or engage on your blogs the past several years much at all, much less the way I wanted to and have in the past.

To me, it's not a sad day, but one to leave behind the old and CELEBRATE the new, like New Year's.

Closing out what is no longer meant to be a focus for me and shift it fully to things within my possibilities that better suit where I am now, with new talents to roll around with. And how fitting that's the timing I happened to be able to finish it (because I had wanted to do that much sooner, but too much got in the way 😬).

what a pleasure it was staging this scene: it was quick but so much fun

For whoever finds this post (and made it to this point, lol 😜): follow your heart, your inspiration, what you truly love & are most passionate about in whatever way you can and you will always be on the right path, for yoú.

Stay FABULOUS!

Bless you all beautiful souls, much love ♥ Monique, aka Fabulously Small