Mini Mart: C'mon Dolly

Supplier: C'mon Dolly
Website: www.cmondolly.com
You can also find them on Etsy, Facebook, G+, Instagram, and Twitter. The owner also runs a children's clothing brand called Little Noli.

Reproduction 1st gen Licca on the small pure neemo body.

Products: C'mon Dolly is a fashion doll clothing brand, with its main focus on Blythe sized outfits. I bought a pair of galaxy print tights, a pair of gold leggings, and a pair of metallic blue leggings. I was also sent a pair of pink leggings as a free extra - how sweet is that! :) They were all really well made and great value too.

2nd gen Licca tries out the galaxy tights - this is the smallest pure neemo body and they're a bit big.

Post and Packing: I ordered through Etsy on November 3rd and paid their flat shipping rate of £2.03. My package was sent by first class mail and arrived at the beginning of this week. The packaging was so pretty I saved the cardboard insert for crafting with.

To Self-Host, or Not To Self-Host

That is the question!

I started this blog back in January and have been really getting into it, posting daily and suchlike, since August. Part of my reasoning for setting it up in the first place was it would help with my comping - it means I can enter all those 'write a blog post for x' competitions. Not that I've actually won any of those yet but, still, I live in hope. What I have had is the chance to host competitions for other people which has been exciting, enlightening, and, er, some other adjective which keeps up the alliteration.

But I want more of it - lots more!

The problem is that even as my stats have improved, my blogspot subdomain address has been a millstone around my neck. Lots of people rave about WordPress self-hosted, so I looked into the pros and cons of taking the plunge:

Pros - 

• Top level domain - and the professional perception which goes alongside it. 
• More control over appearance. You can tinker with every part of the code, use more advanced templates, and WordPress.org offers plenty of plugins which bypass the need for manual coding. 
• No or fewer restrictions on type of content, advertising, etc.
• Your content won't be removed without notice for contravening T&Cs.

Cons / Counter Arguments -

• The cost of hosting - any ongoing cost is not a cost I want.
• Blogger templates can be modified to do most things WordPress can do, without worrying about third party code and plugins screwing things up.
• Blogger doesn't stop you putting affiliate links on your blog.
• Going self-hosted isn't a fail safe way to keep your content safe, and you can easily back up your blog yourself for free.
• I like the traditional blog look as opposed to a website - I didn't grow up on LiveJournal for nothing. 

This exercise confirmed that I didn't want to go self-hosted for various reasons, primarily the cost side of it, and my own understanding of myself. The web is littered with blogs I was once just as passionate about, forever festering in the back-up engines of Livejournal and its long forgotten brethren. If I went self-hosted my fear is that when (not if) I get bored and can't be bothered to keep paying up, all my content would be lost from the net.

A tiny little screenshot I found on the web of a former blog of mine. Ah, nostalgia.
Then I heard about a halfway option. I could stay hosted with blogger and their user-friendly interface, but still have a shiny top-level domain address. This 'vanity url' is like slapping on a coat of fresh paint - everything is exactly the same underneath, it just looks better for the visitors. Even so I ummed and ahhhed over it for weeks, worrying that it would be a nightmare to implement and I'd just end up out of pocket for nothing.

Yesterday I finally took the plunge! I bought a custom domain name from 123-reg.co.uk and got my blogspot redirect all set up with help from the geekalicious blog. It took about ten minutes from start to finish, and cost under £10 for three years ownership of www.babiafi.co.uk. So far, so good!

Are you self-hosted, vanity url-ing, or happy with your subdomain?

---

For more posts like this, click the picture below:

Mini Mart: The Dolls House Mall

Check out the tiny safety pins and hair grips on the dressing table!
Supplier: The Dolls House Mall
Website: www.thedollshousemall.com

Products: I've been coveting half the inventory of The Dolls House Mall for years - I just put off ordering from them because I knew I'd end up spending a fortune. I did. But it was totally worth it! Among other things, I bought hair grips and safety pins, buttons and elastic bands, necklaces, a remembrance day poppy and a razor with spare razor blades. I was so impressed with each and every item - they are very true to scale, even the cheese grater which I had imagined would be closer to 1/8, at least.

They even make miniscule paperclips!
I also bought a bunch of printed paper products because it's so difficult to find stuff which is clear and legible in smaller scales. I got a palmestry chart, medical diagrams, a fold-out map, and stamps. I tried out the personalised photo frame service too. You send them a jpg image and they create a miniature framed photo for you. I chose a picture of Marianna (of course) and it's absolutely adorable! The picture they used comes on a sheet of 4 individual prints, so they sent me the rest of the sheet which is really cool.

No room in this house, miniature or otherwise, is complete without a picture of Marianna...
Post and Packing: The website is really easy to use, and you can check out with Paypal which is always a plus. Second class postage was £3, and my order was sent out in a thin box, so it could fit through the letter box which is such a great idea for miniatures. One of the items I ordered (a little medal) was out of stock so I was refunded and sent a slightly different medal instead. Definitely can't quibble with that!

Mini Mart: Rabbit Engineering

Commodore PET 2001N.

Supplier: Rabbit Engineering
Website: Etsy store. Website. Facebook. Twitter.

Products: The store's slogan is 'doing retro right' and it's not just talk. They make tabletop arcade machines and, via the wonders of 3D printing, Rabbit Engineering also offers miniature games consoles, ranging from the Xbox 360 Slim to the Hewlett-Packard HP85. I was really excited to find someone making miniature UK consoles like the Sinclair and ended up ordering three items.

My photos show that the scale differs between items so you need to read the listings carefully and make your own calculations. They're not as detailed as, say, the Yujin mass produced 1/6 scale consoles, but for the price the quality is really good.

Nintendo Gameboy Colour - c. 1/4 scale.
Post and Packing: I ordered on September 16th and my order arrived today (manufacture time is listed as 8 - 9 weeks) in a bubble wrap envelope, with each piece in a zip lock bag with an information sheet about the release date / specs / etc of the computer. Postage cost me £6 from the USA.

ZX Spectrum with a copy of The Hobbit - pictured here with a Re-ment television and various pieces from the Yujin Nintendo History series.

Mini Mart: Odins Miniatures

The kids check out their sweetie haul - the mummy mask and the orange ghost tub are from Odins Miniatures.

Supplier: Odins Miniatures
Website: odinsminiatures.com

Products: I always love to find suppliers who sell something a little out of the usual, and Odins Miniatures certainly fits that description. I picked up some really cool seasonal pieces, including Halloween masks, boxed baubles, and an advent calendar.

Some more Halloween antics.

Post and Packing: Postage is calculated based on the size and weight of your order. The web ordering system was a bit awkward; I wasn't given a postage option and had to wait for them to get in touch with me so I could pay it directly via paypal. Once it was sorted my order arrived very quickly though.

Mini Mart: Purple Parrot

I haven't had chance to set up a scene with my Purple Parrot purchases, so have a shot of my mum's 1/12 scale pub.
Supplier: Purple Parrot
Website: purpleparrot.org.uk  - you can also find them on Facebook.

Products: 1/12 scale houses, furniture, DIY, and accessories. The website is clearly laid out and easy to use, and has a really friendly feel with the incorporation of the 'miniments' - miniature versions of the store owners! I picked up a few odds and ends - an ink pot and quill, a set of kitchen scales, and a miniature tree for an upcoming project.


They also stock a really cool range of African miniatures. I got a banana box, a soapstone bowl, and a little mahogany sculpture of a man sitting. I was really impressed with them!

Post and Packing: Free postage to the UK mainland on all orders over £30 (some exclusions require a £2.95 surcharge). Orders are dispatched within two to three working days.

Another view of the pub.

This Week #4

Tuesday was the launch of Cwmbran's Urban Buzz - a wildflower competition you can read more about HERE - so I took Marianna along before going food shopping. The mascot of the local housing association, Bryn the Bear, was there and Marianna was more excited than I'd ever seen her; giggling, clapping, calling out 'buh, buh'. Then I realised why. She thought he was Bungle from Rainbow, her absolute favourite thing to be shown on the magic light box. It put her in a good mood for the whole day! I had an email to say I'd won my first ever creative comp (read more HERE) which put me in a good mood too.

On Wednesday I had Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee, looking at the potential financial impact of the new Welsh Language Standards - I blogged about it HERE - then there was a Cwmbran Community Council meeting. The health visitor came round on Thursday for Marianna's nine month check in. She now weighs over 18lbs and was above average for her age in most things, other than the crawling which we already knew about. Friday I went to Cardiff for the NFLA (Nuclear Free Local Authorities) Welsh Forum. There were some really interesting presentations on tidal energy, the ongoing effects of the Fukushima disaster, and more reasons why pressing ahead with Hinkley C is ridiculous. I'll probably blog on the latter at some point next week.

By the time I got back Anthony had already left for the pub, so my mum came round for the evening and we cleaned the destruction he had left behind. I have never known anybody capable of making as much mess as Anthony, and I've known myself for the last 27 years... Yesterday I finally finished off the Lollipop House (marvel at it HERE) and caught up with my comping.

☆ READING: Marianna got her bookbag from the health visitor on Thursday, so we tried out its contents - Slow Snail and the bilingual lift-the-flap book, Beth am Dorri Gair? (Can you say it too?)

☆ WRITING: The Murder That Wasn't - a man confessed to a murder in Miller's Court (where Mary Kelly was killed by Jack the Ripper) in 1926. It turned out he was just "a silly old man".

☆ WATCHING: I watched Up in the Air for the first time last night and really enjoyed it. I was in the mood for something without a conventional happy ending.

☆ LISTENING: Prides. I've been obsessed with them for well over a year now, and this week bought their recently released debut album. I literally cannot remember the last time I bought music, that's how much I love them. Every track is crafted so perfectly to my personal taste I knew it would be worth it.

My favourites are Out of the Blue and Messiah. If the video for the latter isn't nominated as one of this Yuletide Challenge's 5 Minute Fandoms there is no justice in the world!

☆ WEARING: Jumpers.

☆ EATING: Gingerbread Men - Anthony bought a 'create your own' kit and made me a Santa, a cadaver and a clown.

☆ FEELING: Stressed.

I've mentioned every post this week except Monday's - I took stock of my social media presence and set myself some goals for where I'm hoping to go with it. I even set up Klout. I'm on 53 at the moment so plenty of work to do!