The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures is very excited to announce that we will have a one-minute commercial airing nationally during primetime on CNBC this Saturday, January 21, 2012. The spot should be airing near the following times:

Saturday, January 21, 2012
CNBC (Comcast Channel 27 / Cox Channel 62 in Tucson)
7:56pm Eastern
6:56pm Central
5:56pm Mountain
4:56pm Pacific

This commercial is part of our larger efforts to expand the mission of The Mini Time Machine, which is to preserve, promote and engage people with the art of miniatures. To that end, we have established a new membership category called E-Friend to enable people from afar to connect with us and become more involved.

The one-minute commercial will continue to air in over 200 markets over the next few weeks. Additionally, a short video will be distributed to Public Television affiliates for airing throughout the year.

This seven-minute video introduces the museum and its collection. Founder, Pat Arnell, tells us about the motivation behind opening the museum as a nonprofit and what was envisioned. Meet Executive Director, Nina Daldrup, and other experts as they share insight on how miniatures are used in society- and their importance to our future. We hope you enjoy this video and share it with others.

The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures is now open on Sundays from 12pm until 4pm. Come see us!

Connie Sauve: Renovated and Restyled Miniatures
on exhibit November 29, 2011 thru April 29, 2012
The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures, Tucson, Arizona

Connie Sauve: Renovated and Restyled Miniatures is a selection of scenes created inside unique containers including a grandfather clock bonnet top, shotgun shell box, antique radio cabinet and two miniature automobiles. Sauve reinterprets each case by tranforming the shell into a space that is creatively linked to the original purpose of the container. For example, the grandfather clock bonnet top becomes Hickory Dickory Clock Shoppe filled with clocks of all shapes and sizes and complete with a mouse sniffing the exterior of the case.

Five miniatures created by Sauve will be on display at The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures through April 29, 2012 including; Hickory Dickory Clock Shop, Emmett’s Fix-it Shop, Bumper Crop Blooms, Hittin’ the Dusty Road and Daddy’s Little Workshop. Included with regular admission.

Ms. Sauve will be at The Mini Time Machine on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 2pm to meet the public and talk about her work.

Artist Biography:
IGMA (International Guild of Miniature Artisans) Fellow, Connie Sauve (pronounced soh-VAY), became enchanted with miniatures in the mid 1980s when she happened upon a little Chrysnbon peanut machine in a small shop near the University of Minnesota. Soon she discovered a miniature store and before long she had her own collection of inexpensive tiny treasure and was attending a variety of miniature workshops. Miniature dolls became Sauve’s primary interest. After taking several classes on doll making, she started purchasing doll kits and porcelain, working independently to refine her doll making skills and technique. By 1991, after selling her work at several doll and miniature shows, Sauve opened her own business, The China Doll, selling 1:12 scale miniature dolls and doll clothing. In addition to her business, she also created room boxes, dollhouses, shadowboxes, stand along miniatures and unique containers in a variety of scales for her own pleasure.

Connie Sauve applied for and earned IGMA’s Artisan status for doll costuming in 1993 and by 1997 earned IGMA’s Fellow status. After twenty years in the business, Ms. Sauve’s work is in such high demand that commissioned dolls may take up to a year and a half to complete. Her work has been featured in miniature publications around the world and her pieces are included in the following museums: The Toy and Miniature Museum of Kansas City, Kentucky Gateway Museum and Holly’s Follies Miniature Museum, Virginia.

WIN A $100 GIFT CARD OR OTHER FABULOUS PRIZES!

Kitbashing is a colloquialism used by miniaturists to describe the process by which a new scale model is created by altering a commercial kit from its original form to another permutation. This time around, the “kit” is a mini gingerbread house kit that you must “bash” to create an even more magnificent and unique gingerbread house or other structure.

Kits go on sale Tuesday, November 8, 2011 and are only $15.
Purchase of a kit also includes admission for two to the Judges Party on Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 1pm. Only 40 kits are available so don’t delay! All proceeds benefit The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures in Tucson, Arizona.

Submissions are due by 4pm on Saturday, December 3, 2011

Three winners will be chosen:

1st Place Adult
1st Place Youth (12 years and younger)
People’s Choice

 Prizes:

1st Place Adult- $100 gift card to Williams Sonoma
1st Place Youth- $50 Fandango gift card and $25 gift card to Candy Craze
People’s Choice- $25 certificate towards a sheet cake from Cake Boutique

Our panelist of Judges will determine the winners of the Adult and Youth Categories.

Judges: Museum Founder Pat Arnell, Cake Boutique Owner Mindy Illes, Tucson Miniature Society President Beth Giachetti

The public may submit their vote for most creative gingerbread house People’s Choice between December 6th, 2011 and noon, December 10, 2011. Winners will be announced at 1pm on December 10th at the Judges Party.  The Judges Party will be open to the public and refreshments will be served. Two tickets to the museum valid only on 12/10/11 are included with each gingerbread house kit purchase.

Official Contest Rules

Entries will be judged on creativity of concept and design and quality of craftsmanship. Participants must use the supplies included in the gingerbread house kit but may add additional gingerbread and other edible elements.

The house must be structurally sound and all parts must be edible. Entries must be no larger than 12″ high, 12″ wide and 12″deep.

Entries may be dropped off between 9am-4pm as early as November 15, 2011 and are due no later than Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 at 4pm.

All entries must be accompanied by the registration form included with the kit. Gingerbread houses will be on display December 6—31, 2011. 

Miniatures in Motion
The BIG World of Model Railroading

Thursday, November 3, 2011
6:30pm-8:00pm
at The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures

A presentation by Peggy and Gary Martin of the Garden Railway Society. Included with museum admission (which is only $5 the first Thursday of every month). Free for members.

Trains around a Christmas tree or a layout in the basement, that is how many remember their first experience with model railroading. Today, Garden Railroading is leading the way in the hobby. This presentation will show the many aspects of this hobby including: How to start, local club activities, layouts, types of locomotives, rolling stock, gardens and much, much more.

Tucson Garden Railway Society – Club History

The Tucson Garden Railway Society (TGRS) was started in 1994, by a group of families wanting to   develop and increase both members and outside interest in Garden Railroading. Their first major function as a club was the construction of a large Garden Railroad layout at the Southern Arizona Home Show (SAHBA). In 1998, a Charter and by-laws established the group as non-profit organization.  Membership continued to grow. In 2007, TGRS became a 501 (c) (3), non-profit organization. The purpose of the TGRS is to educate the public about large scale model railroading. We demonstrate how to build and operate large scale trains and layouts. TGRS conducts classes for those who are interested and provides displays at non-TGRS functions. Currently, there are permanent layouts at the Tucson Children’s Museum, Tucson Botanical Gardens and the UMC Diamond Children’s Hospital. More information can be obtained by checking the website at  www.tucsongrs.org

Gary and Peggy Martin Garden Railroad Biography

Gary and Peggy Martin bought their home in 1989 and moved in two weeks before Christmas.  A yearly tradition was to put an HO train around the holiday tree. Gary bought a G gauge train, which is bigger and easier to set up. After seeing a Garden Railway magazine, he started to build an outdoor garden railway. Gary joined the TGRS in l996. Today the garden railway has over 1800 feet of track, includes 200 buildings, gardens, ponds and waterfalls. It is one of the largest in Arizona. The railroad is open to the public twice a year, in November and March.