Latest townhouse MOC

Just a short update post as I have finally acquired all my orders from Lego and Bricklink.
I decided to add another townhouse to my existing two, with plans in the pipeline for another one at least before my next show.

This is it, completed and in context with the others.

(the one on the left :))

Gold Coast Brick Event, Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, 19/20th September 2015

My first ever event as a displayer... and I can honestly say it was INCREDIBLE!

It was really a fantastic experience to spend the weekend sharing my creations with anyone who wanted to come along and see them... and there were HEAPS of people... almost 10,000!

I thought that people wouldn't really stop to look at my display as it was only very small, particularly by comparison to some of those around me. But I was pleasantly surprised to see just how many people took the time to really look at all the stories I had created in my display, and very encouraging to hear such positive feedback on some of my own designs. I had one lady who was so enamored with my houses that she came back not once, but three times, even dragging one of her friends over. She was lovely. There were some twins who were about my age who spotted a vehicle they owned in my display and they were very excited because they hadn't seen anything else that they owned in any other display! I had a lot of questions like 'Did you design these' and 'How long did it take?' 'How many bricks are there?', but I was certainly more than happy to have a chat to anyone who wanted to talk! I also had, a little disturbingly... a large number of people ogling over my Cafe Corner, asking me whether it was 'real' and where I had got it from... and I'm fairly sure they would have tried to make me an offer for it!!! Yes it's real, it was my 16th birthday present and it ain't going ANYWHERE!

But enough waffling on... here are some photos of... Murstenville! (Brickville...)

 Here are some photographs I took of others' displays also :)

This is who I was next to... Adrian's awesome city!

More of Adrian's city

Oh and a bit more

Just some more....

Michael's awesome scale habour... never fails to amaze me

Donna's Hogwarts... incredible (sorry for the finger I was in a hurry to take pics before we opened)

Hogwarts express/Hogsmede

I can't remember this displayer's name, but this is an awesome scene

More from the same scene

Josh's street scene - it was his first time displaying too and I think he did a really awesome job! (so many minfigs argh!)

The Doctor and Rose in Cherie's display.

As is customary, I also took some artsy photos of my display. The awesome fluoros at the venue really help with the clarity of the images, which is nice. 

Running across the road

Busking for days!

I really like the fact that Adrian's display in the background makes it look as though I have a Ferris Wheel :P

A bit of classic black and white glamour.

I was fortunate enough to be paid quite handsomely for the weekend, and so all those funds are going towards making my display the full two table minimum. 

This is the progress so far:

Murstenville now features a town centre, farm, park, and beach. 

Very happy with the barn I raised :P

Closer view of the farm

The beach!

Basketball and a playground.

My basketball game was really just used as a filler at the Gold Coast, but it was so popular that I decided it needed to move forward in the display! There are still lots of things missing, I would like to put in some traffic lights, more people, a couple more townhouses and sort out the big green emptiness in the top right hand corner, but I have until March to figure everything out!

You probably won't hear from me for a while, so until next time, adios!

A very exciting update!

Well hello again! It has been rather a long time.

Since the end of May, there have been some very exciting events in the world of Emma!

Firstly, and probably most importantly, I passed the one-year milestone at work, and got to see one of the first houses I had design input into complete! It was quite surreal and an amazing thing to be able to walk through something that started as scribbles on a piece of paper. This is the facade:

In Emma's Lego world, there have been some MASSIVE developments :)

Firstly, I posted some pictures of a town layout that I thought I might apply to display with... and even before I applied I made changes:

Although it isn't particularly easy to see in this photo, I swapped some things around... owing to the fact that I created a new shop in between Cafe Corner and my terraces. I also added a pizza shop next to the basketball court. I also brought my favourite MOC forward. 

I entered these photos and a couple of others, and was thankfully accepted to display at the Gold Coast Brick Event on 19/20th of September. I continued working on my display until the very last minute, and it changed even further to its' final displayed form. This was mostly owing to the fact that I acquired a new Detective's Office modular; getting that was quite an experience, but too long a story to tell!

More Photography

I have had a bit of fun taking some more dramatic shots of my set up. I am really pleased with the amount of detail I have been able to get into the photographs. It's fairly impressive what a desk lamp and an iPhone camera can achieve :)

The first depicts the shadow of a lone figure walking in a rather messy street. I like the fact that this shot gives a bit of context, particularly for the next image...

This is a close up of the figure's shadow. I like the fact that the subject of the photograph is actually the shadow rather than a figure itself. I think it adds to the atmosphere. 

I also think that the paper and the broom give a nice touch.

But I think the thing I am most proud of is the fact that you can see the real dust that has accumulated on Cafe Corner's pavement as it has been sitting in my bedroom, and it just adds that extra layer of realism to the shot.

This one is really all about the angle of the camera. I still think this is my favourite MOC ever.

This one has a little happier subject matter. Happy family :)

I now just wish I had more buildings to take awesome photos of... one day haha!

Full display photos

Some months ago (actually last year) I posted some photos of what I had hoped to display. I didn't get around to it because I started working full time and so plans had to go out the window. Now that I have the thing set up I think it might actually be worth displaying.

The positive thing is that all of the buildings apart from Cafe Corner are MOCs.
The negative thing is that I don't really have the much by comparison with other people. I feel though that the fact that I have actually put time and effort into designing and constructing my own buildings is worth something! Anyhow.

Here is the old, for comparison:

And the new

I think the most significant difference is that it is much more cohesive. Think before that it was very bitty. By having a second terrace MOC, I am able to have a transition between Cafe Corner (which has an incredible amount of detail) and some of the other models that I have. 

I have also chosen to make a MOC out of the two creator houses that I have. I know that noone else will have any of these models (except cafe corner, although I cannot remember whether I have seen another one...) because they have come from my head!!!

I also like the fact that there is a real mix of old and new sets in here. I have the caravan, which is a 2014 set and I have Paradisa Barbeque (although it isn't actually set up, the minifig and the pizza are in the display :P) which was my very first set, and I think is about 1997 vintage! That also means that I was only 5 when I got my first set, so that makes me pretty happy. Proud collector for 18 years!!! 

I think the only real issue with me displaying would be that I would talk everyone's ear off, because I do like to talk about my creations. I suppose I also have doubts about whether anyone will actually stop to look at it, because it's not all that huge and in your face. I have been toying with the idea of setting a challenge to see if the kids can spot all the owls (might give them a Harry Potter Lego sticker if they find them all...) because there are an ABUNDANCE of them (that's what you get for being a HP freak XD)

I think that is all for now. This post probably made absolutely zero sense aha.

A return after a long hiatus

I have been rather lax in my blogging, mostly due to the fact that I work full time, and have moved out of my parent's house, so time has been rather short.

In the past couple of weeks though, I have found some time to actually BUILD which has been fantastic. I haven't had this much freedom since I was about 12, so it is really cool to have a go at building from nothing.

I now have a set up which I am very happy with, and have spent the past week taking candid photographs of it. Here's a few :D