'Le salon' is taking shape

Far from finished but beginning to develop its character. 

 

So far this room has involved a few makovers! 

 

The table was originally polished mahogony, nice in it's own way but the dark wood just isn't  suitable for this room. 

 

 The two major makeovers were

 the fireplace ...



... and the sofa

 

I've had the fireplace as well as the sofa and fabric for a long time.  When each was purchased I had no idea where I'd use them and certainly no expectation they'd all end up in the same room  but I think they all look quite happy here together.  The sofa isn't quintessentially French but I think it suits this room quite well and will probably stay in spite of my initial plan to make something in Louis XVI style. 

 

The pretty pink hydrangeas are by Jody @ Peach Blossom Hill

 She has some in her Etsy store right now!

 

 

I've decided not to work on this room any further for the moment. I want to progress to the top floor and come back to this later when I have a better feel for just how I want it to be. That's not quite happening right now so onward and (literally) upward!  

French kitchen and dining reveal

At last!!  The light was bright but not direct sun this afternoon so at last I had the right conditions for a photo shoot, and a working internet connection to share the results - yipee!

There are still some small details (including lighting) to complete but this is pretty much how la cuisine and la salle a manger will look when completely finished. 

la cuisine

 

 



 



 

 la salle à manger

 

 

 

 

These two rooms are full of wonderful gifts and purchases from fabulous friends in the miniature blogging world, specifically:

 

Kitchen

Apron - Frederica

Canisters, white jug and tiny whisk - Carrie Lavender

Floral plates in kitchen and dining - Carolyn

Colourful French jug (top shelf) - Ana

Tiny plant in yellow pot - Mercedes

Tray - Rosanna Rolla - sorry Rosanna for turning it upside-down and not noticing!

 

The retro style fridge is by Dolls House Emporium (I think no longer available). It was originally a pale peppermint green, my thanks to my son who spray painted it for me - who would have thought that Warhammer paints would be so useful for a French kitchen!.  The badge is an old Frigidaire one found on the internet.

 

Dining

 

Basket - Lidi

Table - Mercedes

Cushion - Margaret

Cafe sign - Wanda

Vintage French postcards, mail and pretty box on the floor beside the table - Linda Carswell

Chair made by me but inspiration and pattern by  Lea Frisoni

 

Many thanks to all of the above miniaturists for their special contribution to this project, and to miniature bloggers everywhere for your constant inspiration with special thanks to Lea Frisoni, the Queen of Miniature Shabby French.  

 

 

Eduard's new 'old' leather chair

I recently bought this gorgeous aged leather chair from Margaret of My Petite Parterre.  

Photo from Margaret's Etsy shop 'Argus Minis'

I've always been a great fan of Margaret's work so as soon as I saw it in her new Etsy shop  I simply couldn't resist purchasing it for Eduard Culat.  He seems to be thoroughly enjoying relaxing in it! 

Clearly Eduard is the kind of guy who likes to relax a lot, last time we saw him he was relaxing in the bathtub at Emily's ...

Eduard has given the beautiful pillows and very fine lace edged throw that came with the chair to Emily.  Currently there's quite a tussle going on as to just who should be keeping the aged mirror that Margaret included with the chair as a special gift for my having been her first customer.  I was so excited to see it because I've loved her mirrors since I saw this one on her blog some time ago.  In the comments section of that post she explains how to age the mirror itself,  if you are interested in trying it out click here.

Whether Eduard gets to keep the mirror for himself, or if it'll go into Emily's Brocante remains to be seen...

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PS  Presently demand for these chairs is exceeding supply but if you want one and she doesn't have any in stock Margaret will be pleased to take an order.   Click here to visit her Etsy shop, Argus Minis, and see some of the other lovely things she has including pretty cushions and a beautiful draped cradle. 

When is a French attic not an attic?

... when it's a book-box!!  

Before Christmas I spent quite a lot of time making this little French artist's attic in a fake book (which is really a storage box) as a Christmas gift for my artistic daughter-in-law Lamina.  It was very difficult to keep it a secret as we're usually chatting regularly about the projects we're working on.

Sketches by Lamina @ doabit.blogspot.com.au
The Tale of Mr Cat from inalux.blogspot.com.au, reproduced with kind permission, visit them to see his true beauty 

The life-drawing and landscape sketches are Lamina's own work, copied from her blog.  The wonderfully colourful cat is a mini-reproduction of one of Lamina's favourite art works 'The Tale of Mr Cat' by the incredibly talented artists at inaluxe - many thanks to Kristina and Jason for generously allowing me to copy this work for Lamina's mini studio - it wouldn't be the same without the contrasting style and colour it provides. It's impossible for me to do it justice here, visit them to see Mr Cat's true beauty and admire their other fabulous creations.

Other credits are due too - the pretty jug and flowers were made by Flora, the well-worn little canister by Mercedes,  the tiny angel was a gift from Synnove.  The graphic on the box of rags is from The Graphics Fairy. 

Much as I enjoyed making this tiny attic I'm still feeling inspired by Jean Jacques Brisson (see post dated December 3, 2012) and continue to dream about creating a larger version...

Summer holidays in New Zealand

During my blogging break I spent several weeks at our cottage in New Zealand

(click on the pics for a larger view)

doing this 

on walls

and furniture

When we visit again this chest of drawers needs a lot more attention, it was a case of 'slip, slop, slap' this time to make a quick improvement so that it's okay enough to be used.  (During our absence a young couple with be house-sitting.)

But it wasn't all work and no play.

A fun highlight was a visit to Akaroa,
a French settlement about 2 hours drive from Christchurch.

The main reason for taking the trip to Akaroa was to visit a 

French shop that my sister had told me I'd love 

La Folie Jolie

Alas to my great disappointment it was closed!!

I couldn't believe it.

The only day it's closed is Tuesday, the day we chose to visit.

Next time I'm going somewhere special I'll be sure to check their opening hours first!

(You can visit La Folie Jolie online here.)

As always the end of our holiday came all to soon.

Flying over Farewell Spit (Tuhuroa), a narrow sand spit at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand, en route to Auckland to catch our flight back to Sydney.

Giveaway Winner Announced

My thanks to everyone who entered, and for your lovely comments,

and a huge welcome to all new followers.

My grandson made the draw this morning... 

Congratulations  Patrizia 

Paris in the Springtime is yours... 

When we were making the draw we didn't notice that when we shook up all the paper pieces inside the hat that Diane's name had become caught up in the plastic strap.  Unfortunately that meant that Diane had no chance to win so I want to offer her a small consolation prize (as yet unknown!).  Diane, please email me your address!

I have only recently returned to Sydney from a long holiday in New Zealand  where I had a great time visiting friends and family and working on our 'real human size' cottage.  During this time I had only occasional, brief, access to the internet so I haven't been visiting your blogs and feel that I am quite out of touch with what's been going on.  Hopefully I can catch up a bit over the next couple of weeks.  

I love Paris in the Spring-time - GIVEAWAY - NOW CLOSED

Let's celebrate New Year with a giveaway!  

This little 'I love Paris in the Spring-time' 1:12 vignette in a Paris themed book-box could be yours!

Rules of participation are simple

1  Be a Follower of this blog and  

2  Leave a comment on this post before 7 February 2012.

If you would like to mention this giveaway on your blog that is appreciated but not required.  

Season's greetings!!

Thanks for all your inspiration and friendship in 2012!

Let's do it again next year!!

Card image source http://astridsartisticefforts.blogspot.com.au/p/my-freebies.html (text added in Picmonkey)

Not sure if I can resist the temptation...

I should be working on the dining room or the salon I suppose but I've been collecting inspiration pictures for another project and my fingers are itching ...

JeanJacques Brisson - Paris Rooftops

This amazing project by Jean Jacques Brisson is all over Pinterest so some of you will have seen it before.  It's definitely high on my list of the most intriguing miniature projects I've seen and I'm sure lots of you will love it too so I thought I'd share it as not all of you use Pinterest (and therefore have many more hours in a day to do 'useful' things!). 

Click here to see the source page which has a couple of other (very different) creations of his. That page is dated Feb 2010 but I don't know when this was made. Unfortunately  Brisson's website (www.rectoversminiatures.com) seems to have disappeared from cyberspace.  The URL appears in Google cache but the links don't work.  

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Thanks Nathalie for the information that a video of M. Brisson can be found here

UPDATE

I found his new website!!

click here