Monday, June 13, 2011

Meeting Carolyn, Mercedes and Frederica in New Zealand

I had a great time during my recent visit to New Zealand to celebrate my brother's birthday, it's not often that he and my sister and I get together as we live far from each other - they live pretty much at opposite ends of New Zealand while I'm on the other side of the Tasman Sea here in Sydney. Being able to meet up with some special New Zealand miniaturists as well was a real bonus.


When I discovered that Carolyn (Carolyn's Little Kitchen) lives not far from my brother visiting her was a definite 'must do' during my trip.  We had a great afternoon together, the time went much too fast - and what a surprise it was to discover that we both love purple, as you can see by my scarf and her cardigan - it may look black on your screen but trust me, it's definitely purple!  It was a delight to see her original dollhouse (the Canal house in the picture) and the shabby cottage that I've watched come together room by room through her blog.
Carolyn had some lovely surprises for me
  
The breakfast tray and plates are soooooo pretty!

This boudoir tray will be perfect for the French bedroom

As well as her Etsy store Carolyn also has an online minis store - well, actually at the moment it's offline because it was brought down by a hacker some months ago :(  I fell in love with the French slippers from The Dolls Cobbler that  Carolyn showed on her blog a little while ago and fortunately she had some on hand so how could I resist buying these beautiful little real leather shoes.......



My next big treat was spending several hours with Mercedes (Liberty Biberty) in Auckland when I transited through on my way back to Sydney.  To my great delight Mercedes invited Frederica (Frederica's Little World) to join us for lunch.  Enjoying a delicious lunch with Mercedes and her family (including cute as a button and very funny Liberty of course!) and Frederica was the perfect end to my New Zealand visit. Here we are in the Auckland sunshine in Mercedes' front yard

It was great was to have plenty of time to enjoy looking at Mercedes' fabulous projects: the barn, the shabby cottage, the Nylon's big house - and how exciting to meet Mr Nylon as he relaxed on his front porch!  

 How lucky I was to receive these pretty gifts from Mercedes
 


I've long admired Mercedes' shabby tables, now I have one of my own, the pretty paper minis and canisters are by her as well. (Sorry about the lighting problems in this pic)
These pretty little children's jackets by Frederica are just delightful - and they're mine!


Such lovely things from such talented and generous women. 

It was a pleasure and a privilege to have Carolyn and Mercedes welcome me into their homes, and to have Frederica take the time to visit.  I never imagined that my decision to start this little blog some 18 months ago would lead to friendships with such warm hearted and talented women as these.

21 comments:

Flora said...

Dear Norma, I see that you celebrate your birthday as it should be: valuable meeting friends and sharing your best interests :-)
Of course, I wanted to be a fly, to flutter between you and listen the speeches :-)
Thanks for publishing the picture: it is beautiful and fascinating to see the faces of people away who are fond of :-)
Mini hugs,
Flora

Eva said...

Dear Norma,
I am happy that you have had a great time. It is fabulous to share our hobby with other talented miniaturists :)
And the gisft are sooooooooooo beautiful!1 I am green of envy...LOL

rosanna said...

Hi Norma, how great to meet friends, to put flesh and bones to virtual images. You all look s relaxed and happy, it was a wonderful meeting I know for sure.I'm very ery glad for you, have a nice day, minihugs Rosanna

Catherine / Mooghiscath said...

C'est là que l'on voit qu'internet est un bel outil de communication qui permet de rencontrer des gens merveilleux .

Mercedes Spencer @ Liberty Biberty said...

It was great fun for Frederica and I to have a like-minded miniaturist here Norma!
Liberty, Fred and I thoroughly enjoyed our day together!
Mercedes

beachcomber said...

the gifts you received are adorable!
cheryl x

Anonymous said...

I love all the gifts you received Norma. Gifts are always special but I think they're extra special when in miniature.

x

Garden of Miniatures said...

Hi Norma,happy to see that you have spent a wonderful time by meeting all these friends ;-)! The gifts you received are really lovely,everything has a special charm !Jeannette x

Anna said...

It is lovely to see people having a good time, and also so nice to see that "blog-following" does lead to and perhaps sometimes include some real friendship, too! Thank you for sharing!

Claudia said...

How wonderful, Norma! It must be such a delight to meet with fellow miniaturists. Your gifts are so beautiful. These are definitely talented ladies.

xo
Claudia

Susanne said...

Thanks for sharing, Norma, it´s so nice to see you and our miniature friends together. Wonderful gifts! You are always welcome here in Denmark too, with or without your broom stick ;-0)
Love, Susanne

Unknown said...

You have talented friends. Such beautiful things they have given to you. Great. You have much luck.
Regards from Craftland

Heather said...

What a wonderful trip! So glad you enjoyed yourself.

Lataina said...

It looks like you had a wonderful time. How exciting to actually meet blog friends in person. All the gifts you received are beautiful. Enjoy!!! =)

Leah - The Inside Story said...

Sounds like you had an enjoyable trip. You sure are a group of talented ladies. Your gifts were gorgeous! Leahx

My Realitty said...

What fun! CM

Unknown said...

Norma, it looks like you've had an amazing journey. It's nice to read about the trip and your meetings with blog friends.
Mona

lamina @ do a bit said...

Love all the little things... thay are all so cute!! LOVE the little canisters.. wish I could get them in big human size :)

rose cat cottage said...

Hi Norma! such nice meetings with so great miniaturists! and you have received such nice minis... I am thinking now on our side of world about the meeting in Paris next week-end that I wil miss again... not so much occasions to meet people from bloggerland:((( Enjoy your day I like you new header picture:) Doei, claude

Carol Mittlesteadt-Kubrican said...

Norma, how wonderful that you were able to meet Mercedes and Frederica while visiting your brother. Isn't this blogging community an amazing way to make friends? Thanks for posting the pics. It's nice to put faces to blogs! Lovely gifts from generous ladies. Lucky you!

Glenda said...

Lovely ladies, gorgeous gifts, and friendships enhanced!!