make mine mini

Giveaway draw...

2012-02-17T11:58:00.003+11:00

Congratulations to new blogger Jennybee!!

The surprise package and a set of doilies is yours!

Click here to visit Jennybee's blog

"The Dark Side of a mini addict"

The winners of the remaining three doilie sets are

Debbie @ debbie's mini thoughts and creations

TINK-SONIA @ MINITINK

malu2 @ Malu's Minis

Can you all please email your addresses to me at normabennett@hotmail.com so that I can post your prize packages to you.

As promised here is the link to the online miniatures

store where you can purchase these laser cut paper doilie sets

Fairy Meadow Miniatures

Lorraine presently has two sets on the website shown here with the stock numbers, the price of each set is AUD7.90 so they are an affordable way to bring a little something special to your miniature setting.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway, and a big welcome to new followers!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My humble apologies for the dreadful quality of my giveaway draw photos - they certainly don't do justice to my handsome assistant :) I have no idea what's going on with the camera today, or is it the photographer?? Next time I think I'd better leave the photography to the expert, my assistant's mummy, Lamina at doabit

500 Followers giveaway is finally here!! CLOSED on 14 Feb - WINNERS ANNOUNCED SOON

2012-01-30T14:47:00.004+11:00

At last - my giveaway announcement!

I have 4 sets of these pretty lasercut paper doilies (1/12 scale) to giveaway,

one set for each of the first four names drawn

PLUS

the first name drawn will also win a small

The final day to enter is Valentine's Day - 14 February 2012

_____________________________________

As usual this giveaway draw is only open to Followers of this blog

(but it's not too late to become one!)

You may advertise this giveaway on your blog if you wish, but it is not a condition of entry.

Good luck everyone!!

(When the winners are announced I will also tell you where you can purchase these tiny doilies online, so even if you're not lucky in the draw you can still have some in your dollhouse.)

~ this giveaway draw is now closed ~

the winners will be announced here soon

Renovation rescue - way behind schedule!

2012-01-25T10:30:00.002+11:00

I can't believe it's 25 January already! - and I still haven't finished the dollhouse renovation that I'd planned to complete by Christmas!

When I found out that the little girls who will be the new owners of this house would be out of town for Christmas, and several weeks afterwards, there was no pressure to finish it so quickly. This also meant that I could take more time and make it look better than if I had to hurry.

Click here to read how I found this house and rescued it from the garbage truck.

Progress so far...

The bathroom will be inaccessible when the front bathroom wall and the roof go on, but it will be able to be seen well enough through the doorway. I bought the little table in a discount store for $2, painted it and added the basin, tap, etc. The basin is a bit of packaging from a box of chocolates, the faucet is made of covered wire. The toilet bowl is made from a laundry powder scoop. The shower head is made from covered wire and a couple of buttons. The shower screen is plastic sheeting with the blue plastic covering left on one side so that it looks like coloured glass. The shiny white wall and floor surface is high gloss photo print paper.

The basic furniture for the other rooms is all ready to go in when the renovation is complete - which it nearly is. More on the completion of this project later.

Giveaway coming soon!! - please wait for details!!

I haven't forgotten I promised a giveaway in January - please wait a few days for me to post the details and then you can enter :) Thanks for your patience!

Christmas Presents - big and little

2011-12-27T11:01:00.000+11:00

How lucky am I?? Lamina (@ do a bit) made me these gorgeous cushions for Christmas - the 'human size' ones are her own screen printed designs, and the 1:12 little cuties are inkjet computer printed copies. She's a very clever, very creative - and generous - gal :) Thank you Lamina!!

Click here to visit Lamina's blog to see more of her creative projects.

Photo credit : Lamina @ 'do a bit'

Guest post: by Lamina from "do a bit... everyday" - printed cushions from original designs

2011-12-21T17:18:00.010+11:00

Hi there everyone, my name is Lamina from "do a bit... everyday"!

I am thrilled that Norma asked me to do a guest post about my mini cushion makeover here at make mine mini :)

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me, leading up to Christmas ... I bought this really cute little dolls house furniture set for my sister's little girl, but I wasn't really loving the cushions that came with it! So I decided, in the midst of all the craziness last week, that I would give the cushions a makeover... Yes I am slightly insane! Not sure how I found the time but I did!

:: cushion makeover - before

I prepared the fabric by soaking it in bubble jet set 2000, ironed the fabric onto freezer paper and then using my ink jet printer, printed my little designs onto it and then sewed them up into cushions... it was very easy!

:: cushion makeover - printing

:: cushion makeover - sewing

Voila... new cute little cushions!!!

:: cushion makeover - after :)

And when you turn the cushions over...

:: cushion makeover - after

I printed different images on each side of the cushion so she can mix and match! I used my own designs... rainbow cloud, home sweet home and the cupcake designs which I had screen printed on kids tops, cushions and tea towels. It was so much fun doing this little project. I'm so please with how they look, they are so cute and my sisters little girl absolutely loved them :)

Thank you Norma for giving me the opportunity to show off my cute little cushions on your gorgeous little blog... it was great fun!

Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

Cheers,
Lamina
do a bit... everyday

The treestump house

2011-12-17T20:09:00.005+11:00

At last some pics - I finally found my camera (safely hidden in a box on my workbench). I'm just going to show you the finished piece today, I'll do a post on some of the process later on.

Nice of you to visit, please come on in.

Please join the daddy and the little boy for a cup of tea while I relax upstairs.

It's such a lovely view ...

Perfect pattern for a treehouse bed don't you think? We don't have any jungle animals around here though ...

Perhaps you'd like to take a stroll outside and meet some of our neighbourhood creatures...

Mind the step!

The little frog seems to be a bit reluctant to jump into the pond.

One of the bunnies is missing a bit of his ear, it could have something to do with jumping head-first out of the bedroom window...

I hope you enjoyed your tour, won't you come back again?
It's fun to play together.

Giveaway postponed until January - and another 'secret' project

2011-12-09T11:20:00.004+11:00

I've decided to postpone my 500 Followers and Blog Anniversary giveaway until January, I think we've all got quite enough on with Christmas just around the corner and it'll be a bit of fun to look forward to after Christmas.

I expect to have photos of the treestump house next week - it's all finished but I can't find my camera - no doubt it will turn up when I'm looking for something else.

And now I'm frantically working on another 'secret' project - I'm not sure whether to call it 'Renovation Rescue' or 'Restoration Madness!'.

A couple of weeks ago it was our local council annual cleanup where you get to put out all the big stuff that isn't allowed in the normal garbage collection. Near my house I spotted a dollhouse amidst a pile of other stuff discarded at the roadside waiting for the compacting truck to come along (it's the kind of thing that you throw a big old wardrobe in and it crunches it into matchsticks). It looked like it had been badly neglected for quite a long time but had the potential to be a nice play dollhouse for a couple of little girls in my neighbourhood - after a good scrub and a coat of paint - and I couldn't bear the thought of it getting crunched in the back of the garbage truck.

After a good scrubbing and a bit of paint it did look better, but I decided not good enough. That's when the madness set in! It now has two new sides, a replaced ground floor partition, an additional partition upstairs to create a space for a bathroom, the sizing of the doorways has been heightened and narrowed ready for doors to be hung, it also needs a new base because the house had been sitting on the curbside grass during at least one overnight rainstorm. There will also be a lot of basic furniture making in the next 2 weeks because I'm hoping to deliver it to the girls around Christmas. Fortunately I also have some bits and pieces in my stash that I can use but it's still going to be a fairly tight schedule. More on this project later. Now back to the workshop ...

I won Lidi's basket!! (and mention of a couple of other things)

2011-11-22T11:07:00.001+11:00

Recently Lidi Stroud, miniature basket maker extraordinaire, at Basketcase Miniatures offered this gorgeous shopping basket in her 100 Followers giveaway and I won it!! I'm so excited about it, it's going to be so perfect for Emily to take to the market every day (you can read about Emily here). The detail and perfection of Lidi's tiny baskets is just incredible. I was lucky enough to receive one last year on my birthday and I just love it, I'm super lucky to now have another. Thank you so much Lidi for your generousity, I'll truly treasure this little basket - it's going to give a real 'slice of life' to my French project.

Click here visit Lidi's Etsy store - maybe a little basket is just the treat you deserve for Christmas...

On another subject ... you're probably wondering if the little tree-stump house is ever going to be finished - well there has been a bit of lull in the proceedings because I'm recovering from surgery - I'm doing just fine but it's holding me back from getting busy in the workshop. However, it won't be too long now and it should be finished ready for playtime. And I'm just busting to get back to Emily's apartment above the brocante.

Also a big welcome to a number of new Followers, always nice to see new faces, thanks for stopping by.

And yes, I have noticed the number has gone a little over the 500, plus it was my 2nd Blog anniversary a few days ago, so some kind of giveaway celebration is appropriate - so many things to think about! Will it happen before Christmas? Let's wait and see...

My "secret" treehouse project

2011-11-01T11:11:00.005+11:00

Study is all over for another year so as promised here are a couple of preview photos of my "secret" project - a mini treehouse for my grandson to play with when he comes over.

I hope he's going to like it! He's a young man (not yet 3) with very strong opinions about what he does and doesn't like. I can't imagine where he gets that from, although there have been a few suggestions ;)

Come on in

and take a seat

The main idea is to make it strong and simple, appropriate for a child's play, but with enough character to satisfy me at least a little. I have some little wood and pipe cleaner people, and a few 'woodland' creatures to live in and around it. I hope it will stimulate some imaginative play.

There's still a lot of work to do yet though so I'd better get back to the "workshop"!

Great news! - we can now Follow Lea Frisoni on Blogger

2011-10-20T08:42:00.003+11:00

Are you excited about this? I am!!!!!

Click here to go on over and join up to Follow

A note on the fly...

2011-10-13T07:00:00.001+11:00

I'm nearly done - only a couple of tasks to complete and submit and then I'll be able to come out and play!! No more classes - no more books - for 4 whole months!! Yippee!! See you in the playground soon!!

A new mini blogger with fairy dust on her fingers

2011-09-23T07:46:00.002+10:00

Even the most diligent student (me!!) needs some 'time out' now and then and mine is normally spent wandering around Blogland. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this TINY tatting at a new Australian mini blog The Needlework Butterfly a few days ago...

It's not only exquisite, it's exquisitely perfect. How this is humanly possible is beyond my comprehension. The talented mini-artisan is IGMA member Beverley-Anne Miles (she has kindly given me permission to post her photos and mention her here).

Bev is no 'one trick pony' - her other accomplishments include tiny crochet, knitting, cross-stitch, petitpoint, filet lace and beading some of which you can see on her website Miniature Needlework (you can read her interesting profile here.)

As for myself, well my new work area is finally useable and I have made a start on a little secret project ... no, I can't tell you about it yet because then it wouldn't be a secret any more!! All I can say is that it has something to do with a tree and it's for a certain very short person who calls me "Grandma'" :)

Still up to my ears in boxes - and books...

2011-07-31T08:41:00.003+10:00

Thanks to you all for your good wishes re the move. It went okay but there are still LOTS of unpacked boxes sitting in the garage - not only can I not get to the workbench we can't get the car in!! :) We arrived in Australia with two suitcases - where did all this other stuff come from???????

Internet was finally connected yesterday so I can begin to catch up on what's been going on out there recently. Not sure when I'll get to do anything productive in the mini world but at least I feel that I'm 'back in the loop' again which is a good thing.

And I'm back at uni! A bit of a shock to the system after having the whole of last semester off, which was preceded by the summer vacation, so it's several months since I've had to find the discipline to study. The time off was beneficial and fun but I fear that my brain has grown a bit of mould ;)

A warm welcome to all the new faces on my Followers list! I have had a look at some of your profiles to look for links to your blogs but on many of them I can't find the link which is a shame so if you have a blog perhaps check your Profile settings to make sure your blog link is featured.

Taking time out to move

2011-07-12T15:11:00.000+10:00

We're moving house on the weekend so just letting you know that I'll probably be absent from Blogland for a little while due to moving and resettling chores and also I'm anticipating that we may have a bit of a wait for the internet to be reconnected.

A big plus at the new place is that there is an area in the garage where I'm hoping to set up a workbench - that'll be a real luxury - no more sawdust all over the living area :)

See you all soon but right now I've got more boxes to pack ...

I am entranced by a new blog "In the Court of the Gypsies"

2011-07-06T13:41:00.010+10:00

I have recently discovered Daphne's new blog - I'm totally entranced and just can't keep it to myself. Here are a few images from the cottage...

This cute little Brownie sculpted by Daphne

Pop on over and take a look: click here

PS - Daphne is about to announce a giveaway - don't miss it!

Breathtaking miniature paper artist you MUST see

2011-07-05T18:06:00.008+10:00

I just found this image of this incredible miniature paper construction on Pinterest and followed back to the source - click here to go to the source page at Merveilles en papier - the link is to the November 2010 archive where this creation appears.

Oh to have the courage and skill to even attempt something like this!

All images credited to Laetitia Mieral @

http://merveillesenpapier.typepad.fr/merveillesenpapier/

Click here to visit Laetitia's Facebook page.

Little beanbag - gift exchange with Carolyn - chapter 2

2011-07-04T14:41:00.016+10:00

Before going to New Zealand recently I looked through Carolyn's blog to see what I could possibly make for the 'girl who has everything' :) Eventually I decided on a simple white upholstered chair for the lady's bedroom in the shabby cottage. However when we put it in there it just didn't look right, this is a difficult room to work with because the floor area isn't large and the vertical space is cut into with attic gables. Carolyn got around this problem with great ingenuity, she simply slightly downsized the furniture which cleverly gives the illusion of space - and it was an illusion that fooled me! The standard 1:12 chair looked totally out of place, however you could say that Carolyn's "loss" is Liberty's* gain because it's now gone off to her (after the addition of a couple of fairy cushions), and the 'French tapestry' cushion that accessorised the chair originally went to Mona because it matches the portrait on the bedroom screen she won in my recent giveaway. *(Mercedes' daughter @ Liberty Biberty)

I had planned to make something for Carolyn's shabby cottage little boy's room too but ran out of time, and inspiration, before leaving but once I saw the room 'in the flesh' I knew just what to make for it. So I haven't been entirely idle recently (nor spending 100% of time on my Pinterest!) - here is the beanbag and vintage Biggle's books (which Carolyn and her son have a soft spot for) - made since my return - bottom pic (courtesy of Carolyn) shows them in their new home - the little cushions were made by Carolyn and already in the room.

I've also made a simple little wooden bench for the end of the lady's bed in Carolyn's shabby cottage. I'm hoping it will suit the space and that the colour will be close to the blue accents in the rug. It's not in the mail yet so here it is photographed in the bedroom of my 1:16 house with a photograph of it's 'destination' next to it - hope you'll like it Carolyn!

Photo on right courtesy of Carolyn

PS - Since this post was published Carolyn has received the bench - and here it is in place

I'm so relieved to see the size and colour are just right

And I've received a second gift from Carolyn, some more pretty plates. The florals will probably go in the shabby French apartment and the others in the modern kitchen that is still 'on the drawing board'. Thank you Carolyn, they're just wonderful.

Click here to visit Carolyn's blog (Carolyn's Little Kitchen) and see more of her gorgeous shabby cottage and her original dollhouse, a Dutch canal house.

The bedroom in my 1:16 house is empty because all the furniture is packed away ready for our 'real world' move in a couple of weeks. I wish the real apartment was as easy to pack as the dollhouse!!

I'm Pinning my heart out!

2011-06-28T15:48:00.002+10:00

I SHOULD be making minis, I SHOULD be doing laundry, I SHOULD be packing because we're moving house soon, I SHOULD be cleaning the house, I SHOULD be resting - BUT I'm playing with Pinterest.

The best that I can say in my defence is that it's research - yes truly it is - so it's a kind of work - I'm saving gorgeous pics that I hope will inspire great minis! I was ultra excited around 6 this morning because I found EXACTLY the sort of pictures I'd been looking for to show me how real exposed lath looks after old plaster falls off - it's important for a gal to know these things when she's researching/working on a mini French property that should end up with a look of 'faded elegance' - probably more faded than elegant but that's ok.

Exposed lath from Euro Antique Market blog

I'm having such fun filling my Pinterest albums with inspiring images, it works so much better than saving to a computer file. One of the features I like best is that the source URL is saved with the image so there's no problem with knowing where it came from - which can be very important sometimes. And it's fun looking at the albums of other people who share similar tastes and interests.

Click here to visit my Pinterest page, click on a board to see all the images in that category in a larger size. Maybe there's something there that will inspire YOU! I hope so.

Do you have a Pinterest album?? If so please let me know in a comment - I'd like to come and take a look.

If you don't, but would like to, let me know and I'll send you an invite.

Now I'm going to go and do something on my "I SHOULD be doing ..." list ......

Have I lost my mind? (This post now has an unfortunate postscript)

2011-06-15T12:01:00.009+10:00

This isn't a mini, it's a "standard human size" old, battered cabinet with a bin. Clearly it's seen better days but I love it. It was rescued from the workshop of an old house that my cousin has just bought. She was with me when I bought the old sideboard (below) that is now in the New Zealand cottage bathroom after some repair and painting so she knew that it would appeal to me.

I won't be painting the old green cabinet though, it's great just as it is, well I think so anyway although there are others, perhaps saner than I, who do not agree.

The green cabinet isn't the only thing she rescued from the old house - she just managed to get this old chest of drawers out of the clutches of her husband who was going to chop it up for firewood!

There will definitely be some 'upcycling' work to do here - for a start only two of the handles are intact, but it's generally in good condition (look at the beautifully shaped kickboard!) and it looks to be just the right size for the cottage upstairs bedroom, perhaps replacing the bookshelf in the corner...

Thank you Dot for coming to the rescue and saving these beauties for your perhaps slightly insane cousin :) I won't get to see them 'in the flesh' until our summer visit which is some months away - I hope she can keep Trevor and his axe away from them until then!!

Postscript

I just heard that the old bin is no more :(

It disintegrated when it was moved so my love affair with it has been somewhat shortlived. It wasn't in the dry workshop with the chest of drawers but in a laundry and had been damaged by the damp, unfortunately that didn't become apparent until they went to move it. Oh well, it is the demise of many of these old pieces that makes the ones that survive all the more valuable - there must be another one out there somewhere...

Meeting Carolyn, Mercedes and Frederica in New Zealand

2011-06-13T16:08:00.003+10:00

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.

Thanks again girls!!!

Click

here to visit Carolyn at "Carolyn's Little Kitchen"

here for Mercedes at "Liberty Biberty"

and here for Frederica at "Frederica's Little World"

I love Picnik!

2011-06-11T20:29:00.005+10:00

A lot of the time I spent working on my friend Rowan's blog last week (see previous post) was playing around with her images on the online photo editing website Picnik - if you haven't seen it before take a look and try it out - there are a heaps of free features or you can pay for Premium access. There's a lot you can do with the free ones and it's REALLY user friendly.

And it won't take the time it took me unless you too are afflicted with "perfectionitis" - here are some of the 'draft' versions of the image used on Rowan's Mexican Chowder post (using the Polaroid framing feature)

made before I decided to go totally in the opposite direction with the density of the background colour - this is the published one ...

If you haven't tried it yet pack up a few favourite images and take a Picnik this weekend - it's a lot of fun!!

I have blogged myself silly this week - but not for me!

2011-06-10T16:01:00.004+10:00

My friend, Rowan Bishop, Foodwriter

Since arriving back from New Zealand last Sunday night I've spent many hours "ghost" blogging for a Foodwriter friend I'm helping out with her brand new blog. She is my oldest friend and a very intelligent and accomplished woman but put her in front of a computer and she'll be the first to admit that all her powers mysteriously desert her. Having been the one who ~~bullied~~ talked her into starting a blog about her food and travel adventures (currently several weeks in France and Italy) it seemed only fair that I help her out when she found herself faced with all kinds of problems including having the Dashboard language change to French (I don't know if she's got it back to English yet but last I heard she was thinking of throwing her laptop out of the window of her gite). Anyway, because it's a brand new blog I have had the feeling that I've been pretty much talking to myself all week so if you'd like to join the conversation pay 'us' a visit at her blog "Rowan Bishop Foodwriter" - a word or two would give both of us a great deal of comfort and encouragement! :)

By the way I certainly can't take all the credit for how the blog looks. The basic Blogger template was styled (brought to life!) by my talented daughter-in-law Lamina who created the header and co-ordinated the fonts and colours with the cover of Rowan's new cookbook. It's been a wonderful foundation to build on and I've appreciated having her to run ideas by this week.

All that blogging elsewhere has left me with a brain that is now about as much use as a fried computer chip so I must apologise - I'd fully intended to blog today about my recent visits with Carolyn, Mercedes and Frederica but it'll have to be next week ... sorry about that because I know you want to hear all about it, and I want to show you the gorgeous little gifts these generous women gave me, but please bear with me - I'll get to it as soon as my circuits recover :)

To visit Rowan's blog click here, and here to visit Lamina

Photo of Rowan in her kitchen by Chris Hillock, Photographer published courtesy of Foodtown Magazine

Giveaway winner

2011-05-26T21:17:00.001+10:00

The draw was done by my big brother who is celebrating a 'significant' birthday today :)

All the names were put into one of his prized possessions, a World War 1 flying helmet...

Just to make sure he couldn't see any of the names we held it up high...

And the winner is Mona - congratulations!!

Mona has a lovely giveaway on her blog at the moment, click here to visit her.

Mona, please email me your address so that I can post your prize to you - normabennett@hotmail.com

Some of you will be familiar with my brother already as he's appeared here before :)

Creating a weathered look on exterior paintwork

2011-05-16T16:08:00.003+10:00

No pretty pictures for this post which is an extract from the "Complete Dollhouse Building Book" published in 1982.

I made these notes many years ago from a copy in the public library of my hometown in New Zealand and they've been tucked away in the back of one of my dollhouse 'how-to' books ever since. Susan's (Tabitha Corsica) recent comment about removing coats of acrylic from painted miniatures using acetone reminded me about it and I thought some of you may find it useful. Please note that I've never tried it so I don't guarantee the results nor recommend the method as such - I'm just sharing the information as I have it.

FOR "WEATHERED" PAINTWORK

Materials: water based house paint (NOT artist acrylic), linseed oil, buffing cloths, extra fine black sandpaper, paste wax, oil based wood stains (grey, blue and brown), brushes.

1 Paint house, including doors and windows (these may be stained). Allow to dry completely.

2 Rub a small amount of linseed oil over the entire surface using the buffing cloth - some painted surfaces may fade a little.

3 Decide on areas to be weathered. Apply grey stain with same buffing cloth. Rub into wood. Follow with brown and blue stains - overlap in some areas to create intensity and visual dimension.

4 As stains soak in lightly rub some areas (eg sections of window frames and doors - as well as walls themselves) with slightly wet sandpaper so portions of original wood show through. Apply another light coat of oil over exposed areas and reapply small amount of stain, rubbing well into wood. ALLOW TO DRY THOROUGHLY - BEST TO LEAVE IT FOR A FEW DAYS.

5 Repeat process in areas where not enough. In areas where too much sand lightly and start again, beginning by painting raw wood.

6 As a final step apply paste wax to areas chosen for greatest weathering. Now buff smooth, will look as if wind has worn away some of the wood.

If anyone tries it maybe you could let me know what you think.

Source acknowledgement: "Complete Dollhouse Building Book" (1982), Faulk and Griek (ISBN 0-672-52339-6). (I did email Kathryn Faulk who I believe many be one of the authors seeking permission to publish this extract about 10 days ago. I have had no reply as at the date of publishing this post. This post will be removed if any objection from either the authors or publishers is received).

Pretties from Jollie and my surprise Mother's Day gift

2011-05-10T17:54:00.001+10:00

click to enlarge

A few weeks ago I asked Jollie (A Little More Minis) if she'd be interested in doing a swap, some of her pretty tulips in exchange for something for her fairy house and here they are in the cutest little shabby jug along with some lovely shabby dishes she's made. We had in mind that they'd go into the French apartment but they look so at home here in the 1:16 kitchen they may well stay. A special little surprise was this pretty, delicate wreath which is also in the 1:16 house for the moment.

Everything is so lovely, thank you Jollie! As usual I'm way behind on fulfilling my end of the bargain - making something for fairies has taken some thinking about but I bought some supplies today with their little gifts in mind :)

And look what I got for Mother's Day ... a Dremel 300 + attachments!!! I bet not too many mothers got power tools on Sunday :)

Of course I'm as pleased as can be with it - all I have to do now is learn how to use it, preferably without amputating any fingers!! I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again to Jollie and to my wonderful family, I'm so lucky to have such perfect gifts.

Playing with patina "DIY" from ultra grunge to prettyish

2011-05-06T10:39:00.022+10:00

The finish on these doors is my attempt at patina similar to the real cabinet in a previous post (two below this one). Reproducing the aged finish on these doors was a bit of a challenge as they'd already been painted - originally dark green and then repainted in dark French grey. The first challenge was to cover the grey with a colour resembling raw wood, that was achieved with a mix of acrylic paint and wood stain. After that was dry it was covered with a thick coat of crackle medium which was left overnight to dry thoroughly. The top coat is a very pale grey, almost white. When that was dry on the surface, but not thoroughly right through, it was rubbed over with a damp cloth. In some cases the paint was almost removed, in others just the surface, and some places not at all. The same technique was used on the bench plus a coat of 'dirty wash' (a mix of mostly water with a little black acrylic paint added). The staining on the 'plaster' wall was done with fairly strong coffee - you might recognise the wall and floor- it's the brocante, but not as clean looking as you've seen it before :)

Like most budget 'ready-made' furniture this chair started life stained and varnished. OK for some settings but of course I couldn't resist getting out the paint brush and giving it a bit of grunge/age. It was first sanded a bit then had a couple of coats of gesso followed by a few coats of light cream and then a thinnish grey wash. Wear spots were sanded then it got a 'dirty wash' made from a little dark brown stain and lots of water.

The cutlery tray is balsa lightly stained with a thin solution of a water based wood stain (before putting a water based stain onto a piece that has been glued together with a water based adhesive wait until the glue is well and truly dry or it will fall to pieces! - I found that out the hard way). This does raise the grain a bit but since we're looking for an aged look, not perfection, I don't think it matters. I guess you could give it a light sand if you want. It was then painted with French grey acrylic paint thinned with quite a bit of water (which will tend to raise the grain again so I suggest you just relax and live with it). A slightly thicker coat was added here and there to get 'grading' of colour which imitates uneven wear of the painted finish.

The stain on the back is fairly random. Extra dirty wash was 'painted' along the top where it settles into the valleys and then runs out and down the back.

Something a little prettier, the desk is another piece purchased already stained and varnished, it was treated in a similar way to the chair above but without the grey wash. This chair originally had a pine-look seat and dark green back. After a light sanding it was painted with a 2-3 of coats of dark brown followed by several coats of light green, each one a slightly different shade, then sanded at wear points and finished with the dark wood stain 'dirty wash'. I'm not sure if it will stay this colour or get a few coats of grey wash.

The roses are cheap ribbon roses, I'm sure you've seen bunches of them in craft supply stores. The original colour was a very bright pink. They've been painted with a thick coat of gesso, it soaks into the ribbon in a random way giving nice uneven shading. I think these make nice big shabby roses to add a little colour here and there. The basket was a natural colour that I covered with gesso. You've probably guessed by now that gesso is a favourite of mine!

I hope this will encourage a few of you to play with some 'cheap and cheerful' purchased or handmade pieces to create an individual look. They don't have to be grunged/aged as much as some of these, just go for colours and finishes that will suit your settings. Most of all just have fun!

~left click the pics to enlarge ~

The white journal on the desk is by Glenda at Peppercorn Minis - she makes them in various sizes and colours to suit different settings and scales, she sells them in her Etsy store (linked on her blog) for a very reasonable price.

The portrait on the desk is one of my maternal great grandfathers, 'keeping it in the family as usual :)

400 Followers giveaway draw

2011-05-04T16:09:00.000+10:00

To say "thanks for following" I'm offering these pieces in a giveaway draw, you must be a Follower of "make mine mini" to enter. The new option of 'follow by email' complicates this somewhat - it doesn't seem fair that only those registered with 'Google Friend Connect' can enter. So if you Follow by email please email me to be entered into the draw, otherwise please leave a comment here.

The last date to enter is May 25, I plan to make the draw in New Zealand on my brother's birthday, May 26. I'm flying over on the 25th to stay with my him for a few days to celebrate his birthday and as a bonus I hope to get to meet up with Carolyn (Carolyn's Little Kitchen) and Mercedes (Liberty Biberty).

Good luck everyone!!

PS If you wish to post about this giveaway on your blog you are welcome to do so :)

Welcome to new followers - and yes I have noticed the number is at 400+ so maybe it's party time

2011-05-02T21:34:00.002+10:00

I'm always happy to see new faces pop up on my Followers list and where I can I like to return the visit and see your blogs too. Quite often recently when I go to the profile page of new Followers there is no blog showing which means that I can't repay your visit. If you've joined my blog over the past few weeks and you have a blog that I haven't been by and left a comment there then please check your profile settings - and please leave a comment here that includes your blog address so that I don't miss out on dropping by to see what you're doing :)

At the time of posting the Followers number has nudged over 400 so there could well be a giveaway announcement shortly to celebrate and to say "thanks for dropping by" - watch this space!!

More French cupboard love

2011-04-08T07:19:00.000+10:00

This well worn patina is just so gorgeous! I don't know if I can recreate it but I'm sure going to try.

and loving this old desk too

Images are from here via Karina Gentinetta

Thanks Sandy for posting about Karina including her story in the New York Times - it's definately worth taking the time to read it - it's guaranteed to lift your spirits. You can access it online here.

There's been some activity in the Brocante!

2011-04-06T16:40:00.006+10:00

Emily has been scouring the flea markets of Paris and is beginning to stock the brocante at last. There are more goodies to add, and no doubt rearranging and more rearranging, but you can at least take a peek at what's going on in there:

Double left click the pics for an 'expanded' view.

I've got lots more beautiful pieces from clever blogger friends to go into the brocante and the upstairs apartment so there are lots of credits to come but for these pictures there are just two 'blog mates' to note

Rosanna: strawberry tray and sewing box

Jody: hydrangeas (Jody's back blogging again - happy days!)

A credit must also go to Lidi Stroud, the picnic basket is one of her pieces. Take a look at her website here.

Everything else is either bought and painted/aged by me (jug and basin stand yet to get the 'treatment') or made by me.

If you don't know about Emily and her 'new' Parisian brocante you can access her story here or go to the top of this page and click on the title "How Emily Came To Own a Parisian Brocante". Settle in with a coffee and let me entertain you...

For Maria Jose ...

2011-04-06T14:10:00.000+10:00

Maria Jose (marivigano) - this little table and chair set is YOURS - you have probably given up hope that I'd ever get it made but here it is and it'll be in the post tomorrow. Thank you for waiting so patiently for so long :)

A little inspiration

2011-03-26T16:26:00.001+11:00

Ooooh, aren't these twin cupboards gorgeous? I just love the colour and the patina, they'd look great in mini size too don't you think?

Picture source: Carol Leber at http://leberpr.com/blog/?p=1382 via Gypsy Purple at http://gypsypurple.blogspot.com/

How Emily came to own a Parisian Brocante

2011-03-14T09:38:00.006+11:00

This story has moved to it's own page, please click on the title in the 'pages bar' above to access it.

My thanks to everyone who has read and commented on it :) It's been fun to write, and it pleases me very much to know that you have had fun reading it. As the Brocante takes shape perhaps we shall meet Emily again.

Answering your questions about the French facade

2011-02-17T14:39:00.006+11:00

First of all thank you very much for your encouraging comments. I honestly didn't think you'd like the 'grubby' aspect of it so much.

There are a few questions in your comments, here are the answers one by one:

Glenda re "SHOP NAME" - no I don't have a name as yet, I'll be calling for help on that one soon!

Rudoo re "THE MAKER" - well actually that's me! The facade design is influenced by one of Lea Frisoni's buildings but it's not an exact copy. I am lucky to have a son who is very good at cutting straight lines (unlike me!) so he cut out the walls and floors according to my measurements. The shop front is purchased, as is a side door and a double hung side window (not shown here) but the opening facade windows were made by me. Making them was NOT a labour of love but I do like the freedom of not having to design around pre-made parts too much.

Caterina re WHAT KIND OF SHOP - it's an antiques and brocante shop, if you click here you get an idea of how it will look, but of course there will be lots more things 'for sale' later.

Piikko re ROOMS TO RENT - maybe we could come to an arrangment if you would be prepared to 'manage' the shop ;) (Don't tell anyone but I am secretly thinking about making a Pension to go next door, maybe that would be more suitable).

THE BALCONY RAILING is available from Dolls House Emporium online, or any of their stockists, click here to see it on their website. To get the bend in it I put the end into very hot (not boiling) water for a few minutes. I used a wooden block to bend it around at first but then I became impatient and just bent it (very) firmly by hand.

Thanks again for your kind remarks!!

French facade - finished!!

2011-02-16T11:42:00.012+11:00

Well, almost... just a few final touches yet to do like attaching doorknobs, cleaning windows, adding the shop name ...

I'm not sure if I've over-done the dirt and grime, just a little :)

It certainly looks rather less pristine than it did in this pic posted last May

It's been a good project to work on recently when it's been too hot to work on pieces that need concentration and precision in measurement and putting together (although I must admit the French windows and doors fall into this category but most of those were completed a while ago) but it's way past time to tackle the 'bistro' style table and chair set that I promised Marie Jose way back in July - she must have entirely given up hope of ever receiving it by now. I might be slow but I do deliver ... eventually :)

Big Boys Build and Blog too!

2011-02-15T09:56:00.011+11:00

Brazilian Fabiano Fausto Faucz is an amazing miniature builder/artist that I stumbled on today, my favourites of recently featured posts are the 'Rancho' and the abandoned building.

Click here to visit Fabiano's blog and see his other creations including a section of a 'Favela' (ghetto/slum) which is just full of incredible detail.

Further on the subject of clever 'boy builders' have you seen Paul Smith's blog Afan Valley Miniatures yet? Whether you fancy an authentic little 'outhouse' or a grand home Paul's your man.

Click here to visit Paul in the gorgeous Welsh valley he calls home and take a look around his blog.

Photo credits: Fabiano Faucz and Paul Smith

A small accomplishment

2011-02-01T16:53:00.013+11:00

My time at the cottage in New Zealand was not nearly as productive as usual, but at least I am happy with the transformation of the cabinet I bought very cheaply on the New Zealand equivalent of eBay just before I left last year. The colour is a few shades darker than it shows in the photo (Resene 'Jasper').

It looks like it started life as a small cottage sideboard, along the way lost part of it's back and acquired a lot of bumps and bruises - most recently it was the drinks bar/workshop bench in a university student's garage - enough said! Now repurposed as bathroom/laundry storage it fits the spot perfectly...

This is how it looked before its makeover - stained and damaged top

and partially stripped front (sorry, this image is a little blurry)

The vintage wooden ladder that I bought last year hasn't been touched but I am at least happy to report that it has so far escaped being chopped up for firewood!

I had plans to launch into minis as soon as I got back to Sydney but having come from a predominantly cool and wet few weeks in the south of NZ to a heatwave in Sydney (35 today - expecting 39 on Friday) all plans are sidelined - trying to cool down is the priority! Spending tomorrow in the air-conditioned university library seems a pretty good option, classes start first week in March so a bit of preparation reading wouldn't be a bad idea - I could keep cool and feel virtuous at the same time :)

I didn't manage any blog reading time while I was in NZ but I hope to catchup slowly with at least some of the projects that you've been working on over the past few weeks. And I hope to have some progress on the front of the French brocante/apartment to show you before too long.

Lastly, a hearty welcome to those of you who have joined my blog over recent weeks :)

Happy holidays everyone!!

2010-12-22T21:32:00.005+11:00

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season - may you be with the people you love most, sharing love and laughter aplenty. If you have a personal encounter with Santa I hope it's happier than mine was in 1953!

And thanks everyone for the fun and fellowship you've brought my way this year, let's do it all again in 2011!

(I'm off to the cottage in New Zealand for a month just after Christmas, no internet access there but I hope to catch up with blogs from time to time. Unlikely to post, but you never know.... )

Postscript - my big brother tells me that I totally refused to sit on Santa's lap unless he did - which he was none too happy about - considering himself far too 'grown up' (ha ha!!)

I LOVE my Easy Cutter

2010-12-08T13:03:00.006+11:00

I was chatting to Glenda (Peppercorn Minis) this morning about the medieval tower she's making and we got to talking about cutting wood. Now, I'm the world's worst at cutting ANYTHING straight - those bread slicing machines at the bakery were invented for people like me! Give me a loaf of bread to slice and it'll end up looking wedge shaped in no time at all. I know it's all in the way you hold your wrist (they told me that about playing tennis too and I can't do that either!) but I don't have to worry about that since I got my Easy Cutter. It chomps through stripwood like a knife through butter, and it does it STRAIGHT - every time! And as you can see from the pic you can easily adjust the angle of the cut.

AND it's not expensive!! It currently retails in Australia for around $40. I bought mine online from Australian company Hobbytools here.

Midwest Products (in the USA) have a store locator on their website as well as online shopping or I guess you could Google the Easy Cutter in your country if you wanted to try to find a local supplier.

So if you're a woodworking tragic like me check this out because it could save you a lot of grief!

(This recommendation is my personal opinion, I haven't had any communication with either Hobbytools Australia or Midwest Products in relation to this recommendation.)

Photo credit: Hobbytools Australia

Congratulations to Maija and Caterina!

2010-12-04T22:37:00.003+11:00

Congratulations to new Follower Maija (winner of the French set draw) and old friend Caterina (winner of the Vintage set draw). Can you both please send me an email (normabennett@hotmail.com) with your address so that I can send the packages to you next week. I hope you will enjoy these little pieces.

Thanks to everyone who entered this giveaway, and for all your nice comments. I wish all of you 'better luck next time' :)

And a big welcome to all the new Followers of my blog!

A "must see" blog if you love French style

2010-11-23T13:18:00.007+11:00

This pretty pic is from French blog "Grange de charme" which I have just discovered thanks to Sandy at "My Shabby Streamside Studio" who told me about it yesterday. The subject of the lastest post on "Grange de charme" is Mercedes' ("Liberty Biberty") cute shabby cottage!

There are enough beautiful inspiring photos on "Grange de charme" to launch a thousand projects, click here for virtual transportation to French heaven :)

Blog birthday giveaway

2010-11-18T15:32:00.026+11:00

This giveaway is closed
- it was drawn on 4 December 2010

My blog is 1 today!!

Let's have a party - the best kind of party - one where you get the gifts ;)

Just leave a comment and tell me WHICH SET you would prefer -

the French set with the French style 'burlap' cushions and shopping bag

the Vintage set with the faded (but not quite as faded as they look in the picture!) tapestry style cushions and vintage mail

Drawn on Saturday 4 December (by the way, you must be a Follower to enter)
Draw procedure: A few of you haven't made a choice of which set you prefer (and I didn't make it clear either that I would do 2 draws, one for each set). SO I'm going to copy Marit's draw procedure, those of you who have indicated which set you prefer will each get 2 chances in the draw for that set, those who haven't indicated a preference will get 1 chance in each draw. (this postscript added 23 Nov)

Credit: The French 'burlap' style cushions are miniature versions of a 1:1 design by Michelle at Petite Coterie. Michelle generously gave me permission to reproduce her design in miniature (personal use only). Michelle has a link to her Etsy shop on her blog, be sure to drop by and take a look, she's got some gorgeous new designs.

Summer break here at last!

2010-11-15T10:07:00.011+11:00

Yay! No more thinking about classes and assignments for three whole months *big smile*

It's been a challenging semester - I've really appreciated all your comments and emails over the last few weeks - thanks so much for your friendship and encouragement.

And a big welcome to new Followers, I didn't expect to see so many new faces popping up while my blog was inactive, nice to know that you visited and decided to stay around :)

I do have one little thing to show you. Towards the end of my mid-year break I started this little beach house daybed for Marit and I've worked on it now and then over the past few weeks.

It's now in her otherwise empty beach house which hopefully we can tempt her to work on soon because it's sure to be gorgeous.

Marit has some fabulous projects on her blog including a conservatory which I just love, just click here to visit her at Black Cat Cottage. She's a really talented miniaturist, a couple of examples are these tiny wooden candlesticks, etc and the truly amazing birdcage - complete with bird - which are pieces of hers that I'm so lucky to have.

I've got lots to catch up on, in both the 'real' world as well as minis, but I'll be back to post again soon because I want to share with you some lovely minis I've received during my blog break.

Time out for study

2010-09-16T21:02:00.004+10:00

A short note to let you all know that my blog is in recess until the end of October - these last few weeks of the semester are so busy!

I'm looking forward to getting back to making minis (especially the pieces I've promised to my blog friends who are still waiting, and waiting...) in November when my summer break starts.

See you all in a few weeks!!

1:12 or 1:1 - I want this!

2010-09-07T06:17:00.005+10:00

Stine's blog (Vintage Chic) is one of my favourite places to visit for inspiration, this is from her latest post featuring Olsson & Jensen -I just love it. Olsson & Jensen have some really interesting pieces in various styles including grunge, colourful Indian inspired and retro. Click here to visit them if you're looking for something different to jumpstart your mini (or 1:1!) decor dreaming.

Photo credit: Olsson & Jensen, my source Vintage Chic

I'm so lucky! Thanks Rachel, Mimmi and Lillian :)

2010-09-06T12:35:00.014+10:00

During my 'blog break' I've been the lucky recipient of goodies from Rachel, Mimmi and my cousin Lillian. My apologies to Rachel and Mimmi for the time it's taken me to publish photos of their lovely gifts.

Rachel sent me these beautiful mats, which will find a home in my French apartment, as a very generous gesture after I sent her a small mat kit. Such generosity wasn't deserved I have to say, the kit had been languishing in my stash for some time with realistically no prospect of every being stitched so it seemed appropriate to send it to Rachel in the hope that she'd be able to use it somewhere. I certainly never expected to receive two beautifully stitched mats by return mail. You can see how skillfully they are made. Thank you Rachel!

My next stroke of luck was winning Mimmi's giveaway, my sincere thanks to Mimmi for making this lovely giveaway, and thanks to her son Noah for drawing my name as the very lucky winner! All of these pretty things are destined for my French apartment. Everything single thing is absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much!

I've also received a parcel from my English cousin Lillian who has been trying out working with polymer clay and she's made all kinds of cute little things for me. Thank you so much!! I know it's been a trial working with polymer in the summer months, I really appreciate your tenacity and your kindness :) I'm delighted to share some pics of a few of these little treasures including some fruit for the kitchen, toys for the nursery and plants for a 'witchy' hutch...

That's right, even I'm not totally immune to the influence of the 'dark side' LOL - I've made a few bits and pieces to put on a hutch that might be suitable for a witchy old woman's humble abode, Lillian's plants will be perfect for it. Hopefully I'll get to do a bit of work on it this week as I've got a short break from university. It's only one week though and I've got quite a few other things I want to do too so will have to see how it goes, but I will try to post something about it soon at least.

Thanks again Rachel, Mimmi and Lillian for your great gifts, every piece is appreciated :)

A few of you have been asking how uni's going this semester - well, it's challenging so it's taking a great deal of time and effort which is why I'm pretty quiet in Blogland at the moment. However, only a few more weeks of the semester left and then I'll be able to get all my mini stuff out of the boxes again and have some FUN!

I also need to say "Hi" to some new Followers, thanks for visiting and I hope you'll come back from time to time :)

Thinking modern? Think Ikea...

2010-08-06T11:32:00.008+10:00

Below is a link to the latest Ikea 'interactive' catalogue, you can browse online or download to your computer as a pdf file. Maybe some useful ideas/inspiration for mini furniture design and room layouts ...

http://onlinecatalog.ikea-usa.com/2011/ikea_catalog/US/

Photo credit: Ikea

Pretty gifts from friends

2010-07-26T12:40:00.008+10:00

Thank you so much Ana for these pretty jugs! The filigree jug is a 'companion' to one Ana sent me some time ago, they'll make a beautiful pair together. I'm sorry the photo doesn't do justice at all to the handpainted paper jug - I don't seem to be able to get the macro focus right today which is a pity :( The deep purple and red colours are fantastic, and the design is wonderful. Ana also sent me another lovely tatted doiley so now I'll be able to mount and frame them as a pair - how lucky I am!! Ana is an accomplished artist and miniaturist, her blog, Arts and Miniatures, has good quality photos of her incredible work so please visit her and see for yourself.

And I have a second surprise package, this one is from Flora...

Everything is just perfect for the French apartment, thank you so much Flora! A little 'shabby' and oh so 'chic' :) There are lots more pretty creations just like these on Flora's blog - click here to visit her.

The second semester has started so I'm back at university again which means I need to be "head down and tail up" for a few weeks. That'll mean I won't have much time to spend in Blogland, but I do hope to keep an eye on what's going on so even if I'm not commenting on your posts you can be sure I'll be lurking over your shoulder somewhere, sometime ;)

Kits for 1:24, 1:48 and 1:144 from "A Sheila's Shed"

2010-07-22T19:58:00.010+10:00

I want to tell you about a range of small scale laser cut kits, and other mini items, available online from an Australian supplier, Virginia of "A Sheila's Shed". This "Grandma's bed" is an example that's available in kit form in 1:24, 1:48 and 1:144 - it's so cute, don't you think? She also has some 1:144 structure kits, this is one example

These little kits are tiny 'flat packs' so the cost of postage anywhere in the world is small, and the prices of all the kits are very reasonable.

Virginia also has a selection of wooden wheels ranging from 10 mm to 100 mm perfect for carts, etc, as well as 2-D laser cut furniture legs in various designs. A range of architectural features are to come.

I have purchased some larger scale pieces from Virginia in the past, she's a delight to deal with so check out her website, http://www.asheilasshed.com.au/, and if you have any questions send her an email, she'll look after you very well.

Photo credit: I took some photos of Virginia's stall at the Sydney show in May but they are among the casualties of my memory card 'melt down' so all these photos are from Virginia's website.

My Bali holiday swap items for Roberta

2010-07-21T15:46:00.014+10:00

It has taken a long time for the holiday swap package to reach Roberta in Italy, but now that she has it at last I can reveal the contents here.
I invited Roberta to go to Bali on our virtual holiday, a place I've visited many times before. Although I'm a pretty good guide, and speak Indonesian, I thought I'd better include a guidebook, maps and phrase book for the days that Roberta wants to go off and explore by herself :) I hope too that she'll remember to wear her hat and apply the sunlotion (there's a bottle of it in the bag) - that bikini and sarong doesn't cover a lot of skin! ;) As extra encouragement for her to join me I included flight tickets as well. As you can see Roberta agreed to come along on this tropical holiday and has dropped all her things here on the beach at Sanur and has gone off to buy a cool drink before changing into her new bikini and taking a swim in the warm ocean.

It was such fun making these pieces for Roberta, and although I love 'shabby' it was a pleasure to work with some bright colours for a change, and always a pleasure to dream of Bali holidays :)

Thanks again Caterina for organising this holiday swap. I hope we can do it again next year!

(Additional comment - 22 July - the flip-flops are not my creation, they are plastic scrapbooking embellishments, but maybe someone would like to try making something similar using polymer??)

Holiday swap - thanks Karin!!

2010-07-19T07:52:00.008+10:00

Caterina's holiday swap has been such fun!
I was invited to take a 'virtual' holiday at Orr Lake in Canada with Karin F. (Karin has two great blogs "mini ramblings and musings" and "Mini Tutes From Orr Lake" - be sure to check them out). We'll be spending time fishing and making sandcastles - what a perfect relaxing holiday.

How wonderful these minis are that Karin has made for our holiday. Can you believe that the little creel basket was a 'prototype' made with nothing more than a photograph for guidance! It's so perfect! The fishing rod obviously works, can you see the little fish? The sandcastle is just delightful. Thank you so much Karin, I'm so fortunate to have received these great minis :)

There are great photos and info about Karin's lakeside cottage at her blog post here.

Photo credit: both of these photos courtesy of Karin F.

Congratulations to giveaway winners Nina, Maria Jose and Mini Pig!

2010-07-18T20:10:00.003+10:00

Congratulations to Nina (Minimum)- the winner of the outdoor set first draw :) Because of the amount of interest in the giveaway I decided to do a second draw and the winner of that is Maria Jose (marivigano). I hope you are a patient woman Maria Jose because I haven't made the second set yet (I'm sorry that it won't include a flower vase because the one in the picture is a "one-of-a-kind" that I made a few months ago).

The winner of the little couch is Mini Pig (The Flying Piglet) - congratulations! The Flying Piglet is a fairly new and interesting blog well worth checking out :)

The draw was done by my Japanese houseguest, Mikie, sorry there are no pics of the 'action' because I'm still technolgically challenged (the built-in memory card reader on my laptop isn't working and I can't find the external USB one for the desktop).

Thanks to everyone who entered this giveaway, it was fun to do it for you and I really really appreciate all the positive comments. For those who entered but didn't win, better luck next time ;)

Just to prove I haven't been idle...

2010-07-13T17:35:00.011+10:00

Some of the things I've been working on recently have now reached their destinations so I can post a few pics (some of you will have already seen them on the recipients' blogs).

This suitcase, packed ready for a trip to her favourite overseas holiday destination, Scotland, is now in the possession of Rosanna (La Casa Rossa and La Stanza Di Giuggiola) in Genoa, Italy. Unfortunately it doesn't contain flight tickets, sorry about that Rosanna ;)

Ira in Finland (merry jingle crafts) has also received her package which included an 'old and worn' carpet (actually a scan of a very old book cover) and made to measure bookcase for her dark house inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven", plus some 'old' books and printies including portraits of Poe and his young wife. All photos courtesy of Ira - something has happened to my memory card and lots of my photos have vanished :(

I've had fun making these very diverse bits and pieces, and others that are about to go into the post, or are in transit - and then of course there's the holiday swap which is close to being able to be revealed too!

Sandy's Shabby Streamside Studio under mini construction

2010-07-09T21:52:00.005+10:00

Caroline at "Shop Cinderella Moments" has started working on a 1:12 scale version of Sandy's "Shabby Streamside Studio" that I've posted about a couple of times. These pics are from Caroline's blog, she's doing a great job capturing the character of Sandy's unique little place - click here to go directly to Caroline's blog to check it out.

Giveaways (1:12 & 1:16) and welcome to new followers

2010-07-01T14:24:00.021+10:00

Firstly thanks to everyone who has decided to follow my blog recently. I hope that from time to time I'll have something of interest to share although once the new university semester starts again in three weeks my free time will be very limited again and my blog will probably go into a state of semi-hibernation. Please bear with me during that time!

And of course a big thanks to all my blog friends, old and new, who make the whole exercise worth while. You're a great bunch of people and I appreciate you all!!! So now I'd like to give something back and have at last completed a few little things to offer in two giveaway draws, one for the 1:12 scale outdoor set and one for the 1:16 scale sofa.

For this little outdoor set (1:12 scale) I used the tutorial on Lea Frisoni's blog to make the chair, and extended the idea to construct the table. They're not perfect, and are still to get another coat of paint, but I hope they have some measure of charm ;) - and don't worry - the little table isn't really leaning like it's about to fall over the way it looks in the picture! :)

This 1:16 scale backless sofa could perhaps be suitable for a 1:12 setting also. Approx dimensions are: height 2.75cm (1 1/8"); width 10.5 cm (4"); depth 4 cm (1 3/8"). I wanted to include something in 1:16 (3/4) scale because I know that several of you have houses that are that size.

Entry is open to all followers who leave a comment on this post. Those of you who were kind enough to leave a comment on my May 28 post about what to do with the side window in the Brocante have a bonus entry as promised, and Ira gets another two bonus entries because she was the first to spot that I'd mistaken the bottom of Marit's birdcage for a work of art - which of course it is :) If you wish to publish this giveaway on your blog sidebar that's fine by me but it's not an obligation.

I'll do the draw on Sunday 19 July to allow plenty of time for all who are interested to take part as there seems to be an issue of late with followers not receiving all notifications of new posts - I've seen mention of it elsewhere and I know that I'm not receiving notification of all new posts on blogs that I follow.

Remember - please tell me in your comment whether you wish to be in the draw for the outdoor set or the small sofa.

Tues 6th - comments left here today by me, Flor, Minilisa and Sagrario have been forwarded to my email, but they're not showing here. However you can be sure that I'll keep these email notifications and will make sure you are all entered in the draw whether or not your comment appears here :)

(It will be interesting to see if they mysteriously re-appear - Blogger is an unpredictable beast!)

Design credit - the image used to print the little cushion is from Janet McCaffrey's blog Primrose Design. Thank you Janet for kindly giving me permission to reproduce it in miniature. Janet also has a website featuring pretty handcrafted gifts for sale, be sure to pay her a visit :)

Marit's tiny turnings & link to bird and cage making

2010-06-26T15:24:00.012+10:00

Marit's little bird didn't arrive empty handed - he brought these lovely tiny tiny turned candlesticks, etc with him, part of a swap arrangement between Marit and I. The smallest piece is about 5mm long - it's so light and delicate that I'm afraid that if I should sneeze it would fly off never to be seen again! The package also included these pretty things...

Thanks again Marit!

My contribution to the swap will be some things for Marit's beach house.

Here is the link to Marit's post about how she made the bird and his little cage
http://blackcatcottage.blogspot.com/2010/05/bird-cage.html

Post amendment: if you look closely at the above pic, and those in Marit's post about making the bird and the cage you will see why I'm in the running for the award of IDIOT OF THE YEAR (if not the century)! If you can spot my idiotic bungle let me know in a comment! First to spot it (I hope there's only the one I'm aware of!!) will get an extra couple of entries in the giveaway that I promise is coming this side of Christmas!! ;) ["Quick as a flash" Ira's got it!]

Sandy's studio in spring, and a NY Times interview

2010-06-25T07:32:00.014+10:00

In February I posted this Christmas time photo of this gorgeous little place in the Catskills, NY, USA that is the feature of Sandy Foster's blog My Shabby Streamside Studio - a 1:1 dollhouse if ever I saw one :)

The New York Times has just published a feature on Sandy and the studio at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/garden/24cottage.html?hpw

There are great photos of how the studio looks in the spring, as well as an inspiring interview with Sandy, a woman committed to following her heart no matter the obstacles that I admire greatly on every level. Take a few moments to check out the article and her blog, I guarantee you'll be inspired too :)

Oh yeah, and the challenge is still out there - which miniaturist is going to be the first to mini Sandy's studio?????

(Click here to read my February post about Sandy's studio)

Photo credits: Sandy's blog

Arrival secret revealed - look who flew in from The Netherlands!!

2010-06-23T11:08:00.014+10:00

The sun came out for a few moments this morning so I could get my camera out and can now reveal the arrival in Sydney of this little fellow ...

You could have knocked me over with a feather (please pardon the pun!) when Marit told me that this little fellow was winging his way to Sydney!! I had admired him from afar but now he is mine, all mine - how lucky can a girl be?!! THANK YOU MARIT!!

This is the happy conclusion of a saga that began in March when I (jealously) admired a lovely little birdcage Brenda (Cozy Little House) had purchased at her local garden centre (along with some other lovely minis) and posted about it on my blog.
Then in May Marit posted on her blog (Black Cat Cottage) that she'd made a similar birdcage complete with little bird adorned in peacock feathers...

With Marit's permission I posted about her birdcage, including this photo, here on my blog and created a bit of confusion with several people assuming that the photo was taken by me and that I had the little cage, and it's occupant, in my possession. Marit thought this quite funny as she in fact was planning to send me the birdcage but wanted it to be a surprise and commented that perhaps a few bloggers may have psychic powers :)

Now, several months on from my admiration of Brenda's mini cage purchase I have this splendid cage, with beautifully plumed bird, of my very own. The skill that has gone into making this little cage and bird is simply amazing to me. I'm sure I could never make anything like them. It will be my pleasure to give them a home on this side of the world (eventually most likely in the French apartment above the brocante).

Thank you again Marit for your kindness and generosity. It is greatly appreciated.

Busy busy busy

2010-06-22T10:01:00.003+10:00

Usually I have no minis to show because I'm so busy doing uni work, now I am busy making minis but I still have none to show because they're for other people!! Yes, at last I'm working on gifts and swaps and I'm having such fun but can't show you a thing until they have arrived at their new homes.

The other reason for no photos is that the light is so bad (too many dull cloudy winter days) that I can't get decent photos of a little surprise that flew into Sydney recently that I really really want to share with you ... all will be revealed soon I hope! So watch this space...

Treasures from Synnove

2010-06-18T09:28:00.010+10:00

I fell in love with this pretty lavender Synnove (Synnoves Et Dukkehjem) made recently and asked if she'd like to do a little swap (click here to see the full picture including pretty potted lavender and gorgeous roses).

I haven't fulfilled my end of the bargain yet but Synnove generously said she'd send the lavender anyway - she didn't mention that she was sending a lot of other little treasures as well! ...

Thank you Synnove, they're all fabulous and will have special places in my mini world :)

Synnove has a very charming French house on her blog, make sure you pay her a visit!

Holiday theme swap

2010-06-16T17:17:00.007+10:00

I'm participating in the holiday themed swap organised by Caterina @ 'Le Minis de Cockerina' - this is my postcard for my virtual holiday destination, Sanur Beach on the beautiful island of Bali. Oh how I wish I could visit my friends there for real but it's just not possible this year - however the upside is that I have lots of time to make minis during my midyear break :)

I'm waiting for my swap partner, Roberta (Il Boratorio di Pitosfora) to email me with her address so that I can send her the minis for our Bali holiday - they are all ready and waiting to go in the mail Roberta!

Amazing antique 1890s dollhouse, with a twist...

2010-06-03T11:21:00.017+10:00

Click here to go directly to this post on my friend Tracy's blog to see more on this very special antique dollhouse - she's got lots of detail about it's fascinating history which I won't duplicate here. It's SOOO charming!!!

This chest is my favourite piece in the house but there are lots and lots of wonderful old minis to see. And I just love this printed lining -

Tracy's previous post has wonderful pictures of a 1900s lithograph dollhouse that you must see too -
Tracy's blog (clicking on her name will take you to her latest post) has a fabulous array of weird, wonderful, whimsical, and sometimes downright wacky! ;) old toys (and other interesting stuff)!! Don't miss out on visiting her, it's a real treat.

Thanks Tracy for permission to publish your photos here.

Now back to my university assignment .......... (I hope to be done with it in about a week so see you all soon!)

French facade - and a question

2010-05-28T07:32:00.013+10:00

At last I can show you a little progress on the French project. The walls etc are just in 'dry fit' at the moment but at least you can get some idea of what the outcome will be. There is more trim to be added, the top floor is to have two small balconies and I might add an attic, or a roof garden.

Now... opinions please!! If you look carefully you can see that on the left wall of the ground floor shop there is a window, and near the back on the right there is an open door with a window in the top half (in the photo it looks as if the door is on the back wall but it is in the right wall and is opened into the shop) . The door is there because I can't imagine that the people who live upstairs would want to 'come and go' through the shop doorway when the shop is closed (and there wasn't room to add a 'private' doorway at the front), and the window in it lets in a little extra light. I'm not sure how best to describe why I added the side window - does it make sense to say it is to add another dimensional aspect to the space??? However I'm now wondering if I should rip that window out.

What is bothering me is that when I look at pictures of Parisian streets the buildings are almost all adjoining each other. The side door is ok because in my mind it's on an alleyway, but with the window in the other side as well it means that this building cannot be in a row of connected buildings. It must be standing alone with an alleyway, or small street, on each side which doesn't seem to be the normal thing for Parisian buildings. This picture below is my style 'inspiration pic' for this project, you can see how the buildings are all joined together.

So, what do you think, just be satisfied to have a 'stand alone' building even though it goes against the normal 'rules' of it's location, or pull out that window (it is glued and plastered in but it's not impossible to get it out and the hole can be plastered over). What would you do??

As an extra incentive to help me out here anyone whose comments include advice/opinion about whether or not to take the side window out will be 'rewarded' with an extra chance in the 200 followers giveaway that's coming up... :)

I have to leave my minis to one side again now while I concentrate on finishing my last university assignment for this semester (but I will be reading your opinions on what I should do about that window!). When I come back I've got quite a bit of catching up to do! There are Awards to be acknowledged and passed on, my fair purchases to show you (and I want to tell you about one of the vendors there too), gifts and swaps to be made, and a giveaway to be organised! It's going to be a busy break :)

(The Paris shop fronts image was sourced from ebay, a copyright holder is acknowledged but I can't find the name of the artist.)

Post amendment 1 July 2010 - I have made the decision about the window. What it came down to in the end was that if it was bothering me then it had to go - and it has now been removed. I appreciate all the information and various points of view of everyone who took the time to comment here and as promised all will receive an extra chance in my July giveaway draw. However that offer is now closed (the last commenter to be included is Nancy on 16 June). Thanks for participating!

Prizes and surprises

2010-05-27T10:05:00.005+10:00

Firstly I should apologise to both Susan and Glenda for taking so long to post about these wonderful things they have sent me.

I was so lucky to receive these lovely little things in Susan's (minicrochetmad) recent giveaway, all handcrafted by her. The fine texture and perfection of Susan's miniature crochet really has to be seen with your own eyes to appreciate it. The little trug is so cute isn't it! The kitchen utensils were a surprise inclusion and really appreciated because they were just what I'd been thinking were missing from my kitchen. Thank you Susan!

A little while ago Glenda (Peppercorn minis) contacted me asking if I'd like some of her late mother's vintage cotton handkerchiefs to use for linen and clothing. I was so touched that she would think of offering me some things that had belonged to her mother. Of course I accepted gratefully (and I hope graciously) and waited for the package to arrive from New Zealand. When I saw the Customs Declaration I couldn't help thinking the Customs clearance staff must have thought it was very odd that anyone would mail a bunch of 'used handkerchiefs' :) They could never have understood that they are treasures! This is just one of the lovely handkerchiefs. Many are trimmed with beautiful lace. That's not all that was in the package - Glenda had included some of her fabulous handmade leather journals and woven baskets which I've admired on her blog many times. The little white journal (made from an old kid glove) is small enough to look 'at home' in the 1:16 house, as are the two smallest baskets. They would also be suitable for a 1:12 house too, in my smaller house they become 'medium/large' size where as in a bigger house they would be 'small/medium'. (If you would like to have a journal or basket or two of your very own Glenda has a link to her Etsy shop on her blog).

Thank you so much Susan and Glenda, I really appreciate all of these wonderful treasures.

If you don't know Susan and Glenda's blogs I encourage you to click on their names and take a look - you won't be disappointed!

Remember this?

2010-05-12T06:33:00.007+10:00

A few weeks ago I posted this pic and 'spat the dummy' about how I was so jealous that Brenda at Cozy Litte House had been able to buy such gorgeous minis, especially the birdcage, at her local garden centre. Click here to go directly to that post.

Marit at Black Cat Cottage saw that post and has made this wonderful version of the little cage - complete with a bird!

Click here to go to Marit's blog for more info on how she made both the cage and the bird - and be sure to have a look around - don't miss the tiny wood turnings she's been doing recently.

And don't forget to check out Brenda's blog too which features her lovely home and gorgeous garden.

Photo credits: Brenda and Marit

Fabulous gifts from Finland!

2010-05-06T10:23:00.017+10:00

I'm sure that there's been some sort of a time warp and it's Christmas already because I'm overwhelmed with gifts, and this one comes from near Santa's home - it's from dear Ira (merryjinglecrafts) in Finland. And if you think I've been good and resisted that chocolate bar you're very much mistaken - that's only the empty wrapper - it was delicious!!

Now for the eye-candy ...

Looking good enough to eat is the bread selection (in fact Ira's dogs think this stuff IS good enough to eat which is why her 'top secret' bakery product, the "nadas" are missing and were substituted for by the chocolate bar!)

and the sweet treats selection

AND the black and white 'home wares' selection (the little thread just right for Rosanna's sewing box)

AND the fabric and trim selection (the 'basket weave' is wonderfully soft silk)

AND the most incredible selection of filigree 'findings' I've ever seen (largest measures 5 cm, smallest 1.5)

AND a selection of art that I just adore and is perfect for the Boutique d'antiquités et brocante, and the apartment above - there's a mention of that as yet unseen apartment again... ;)

AND a selection of the TINIEST things

The little Eiffel Tower is teetering on a piece of Ira's handmade figue-coffee soap, and the little 'gold' cup on a piece of Marseille soap. The little 'ink-well' will go on the desk in the study of the 1:16 house. Isn't that little copper wagon just the most gorgeous little thing you've ever seen? And the wheels go around! Ira tells me the wagon and the metal findings are from Etsy stores. Ira perhaps you could make a comment here that includes the web address for these sellers because maybe others are interested in 'shopping' there - unless of course it's your 'secret' source!! LOL

AND one of my favourites of Ira's handmade pieces - a 'rustic' birdcage

The variety of these gifts reflects Ira's diverse tastes and talents. She is the Donald Trump of the mini world - the only woman I know who bought several mini properties, at once, on a whim! Click here to read the post confessing her shopping extravaganza :) If you don't know Ira's blog then you don't know what you're missing - visit her soon - she'll entertain you, motivate you and amaze you - often all at once.

Thanks again Ira - with so many wonderful things scattered about my mini rooms (many no more than mini-plans at present LOL - you know me - expert procrastinator and perfectionist all rolled into one - a hell of a combination!) there will always be something nearby that says "Hello, I'm from Finland" :)

My Super-lucky Saturday

2010-05-04T12:11:00.009+10:00

As some of you will already know the annual Sydney miniatures fair was held last Saturday. It turned out to be my lucky day in more ways than one!

Firstly it was great to meet up with bloggers Margaret (My Petite Parterre), Linda (Une Petite Folie) and Linda's friend and fellow blogger Jo (Small world).

Then came the surprises!

Margaret gave Linda and I one of her fabulous candelabras! I was incredibly surprised and over-joyed as I had SO wanted to win the one she offered recently in her giveaway draw.

and it comes with its very own table mat ...

What a thrill to have one of Margaret's fabulous creations of my very own :) Thank you so much Margaret, your generosity is amazing.

But that wasn't my only sweet surprise! Quite 'out of the blue' Linda handed me this lovely little box full of vintage French photographs and mail including a couple of envelopes with little photos 'peeking' out...

It will be a perfect addition to my mini French apartment - oh, you don't know about the French apartment yet do you... more to be revealed ... eventually ;) Thank you Linda, I'm really touched and delighted.

But wait - there's more!! I was a prizewinner in Susan's giveaway draw on Saturday - I'll post pics of her cute things when they arrive - meantime be sure to visit her blog minicrochetmad :)

The generosity of bloggers continues to amaze me - a heartfelt thanks to all of you - I just LOVE everything!

Linda and Margaret have already posted some great pics they took at the show, if you haven't seen them be sure to visit their blogs and take a look. I will post about my purchases and a vendor I want to tell you about soon - promise :)

In the meantime, back to the job of tidying up and referencing my assignment....

Gifts in the mail!

2010-04-23T22:19:00.009+10:00

I was so lucky to receive two lovely gifts from Rosanna this week. I knew she was making the sewing box but the little tray was a complete surprise. It is especially wonderful because I've been wanting a little tray for a long time and this one is so sweet! As sweet as Rosanna herself :)

The little sewing box has the prettiest top ...

and inside there is a tray for scissors, cottons and so on, and the bottom is lined with pretty toile paper which unfortunately doesn't show in the photo.

For the moment they are in the 'boutique brocante', but they are not for sale! Definitely not! They are there only to be admired, and to entice customers to enter :)

Thank you very very much Rosanna for your kindness, they are such wonderful gifts! How clever you are!

An overdue welcome

2010-04-23T18:36:00.014+10:00

A sincere welcome and thanks for your interest in my blog to all of you who have joined me here over the past few weeks. I hope you will continue to find something of interest :)

I moved my Followers 'log' to the top of the page when newcomers were disappearing quickly from my sidebar in order to give more time for visitors to MMM to click on your icons and discover your blogs. However there are some of you for whom I can't find blogs on your profiles so if your name is in this list please leave a comment here so that we know where to visit you (and perhaps make an alteration to your Blogger profile).

marc deruelle
AMICA
Sofia
Immunting
Louise Nijboer-Staric
Karin
celestial
Marika
Moti
lucky_little_fringer
mimusdoll
cindy
Carolina
dana mocan

El taller de Belen
littleoddsandends
Mini Beginnings
Monique
Melissa and
Sandy Foster also have no blog showing on their profiles but if you click on their blog names here you can visit them directly.

I hope I haven't missed anyone!

And a special welcome to my cousins Jan (in Queensland, Australia) and Lillian (in Lancashire, UK)

A peek at my new project, the "Boutique d'antiquités et brocante"

2010-04-19T12:42:00.007+10:00

Not yet open for business (in fact the construction far from completed!) but trying out a few pieces just to get a feel for the 'ambiance' of my new 1:12 scale "Boutique d'antiquités et brocante".

The hydrangeas are made by Jody (Peach Blossom Hill), the cupboard at the back is a 'work in progress' alteration of one of the Michael's hutches Jody sent me. Details of other pieces to come at another time - I have to get my head down now and study, study, study for at least a week if I'm to avoid an academic "kick ass award" :)

Amazing Mixed Media Mini

2010-04-18T21:44:00.008+10:00

This wonderful little "Paper Whimsy School for Fairies" is the mixed media creation of Terri at Artful Affirmations. Terri mentions on her blog that she has made two 'traditional' dollhouses and describes the process of making this little beauty as "pure fun", and it shows. The Fairy School was inspired by the book Mixed- Media Dollhouses by Tally Oliveau and Julie Molina.

To see more pictures of Terri's fairy school project visit her blog, and be sure to leave her a comment :)

(Photos published here with Terri's permission.)

Tick tock - wanna make a clock?

2010-04-17T07:16:00.004+10:00

Click here for a step-by-step tutorial by Maria.

I picked up that link from Nasu's blog - she's also posted great tutorial of her own for a different method for making an alarm clock. Thank you Nasu!!

When you don't know what else to do go play with boys...

2010-04-15T11:23:00.006+10:00

Over the last couple of days I've been thinking about the best way to put a light in a display cabinet without wiring it to the main wiring for the house.

There are two main requirements: (1) a very small power source I could hide within/behind the cabinet somewhere (2) a light source that is bright but won't get hot. That led to two thoughts: (1) watch battery (2) LED lighting - voila here it is! Coin ceiling lights like those shown here in a 1:144 scale bakery and available for sale on a model makers website that primarily supplies "boy stuff". The link to the site is here.

They also have a range of other LED lighting for mini uses, as well as other potentially useful products, so it's a website well worth taking a look at.

And another great thing is that these guys WILL SHIP INTERNATIONALLY, AND they give a 2 year guarantee AND they'll replace the light if you break it during installation! All round good guys - I think I'm in love! ;)

(Photo credit - www.modeltrainsoftware.com)

It's way past time to share the love...

2010-04-14T13:00:00.010+10:00

I was honoured to receive this award from three wonderful bloggers I love to visit

Susanne (Miniature Dreams)

Lara (Lara's Miniature World)

Margaret (My Petite Parterre)

- a sincere thanks to each of you.

I decided to wait a while to pass it on because it was bouncing around from blog to blog so fast at the time I thought I'd let the dust settle a little - but I didn't mean to let it settle quite so long that it took an archaeological dig to unearth it ;)

The rules of this award are:

1. Thank the person that gave it to you.

2.Copy the logo and place it in your blog.

3.Link to the person who you nominate.

4.Name 7 things about yourself that nobody knows.

5.Nominate 7 kreativ bloggers.

6.Post link to the 7 blogs that you nominate.

7.Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know that you nominate.

So, the 7 things that nobody knows about me, well there are probably plenty (and for many of them I'd like to keep it that way!! LOL - although it's probably surprising too how much we do reveal, sometimes inadvertently, from time to time) - anyway, here goes...

1 - I can be inclined to procrastinate as I consider a situation from every possible angle before taking action - oh you'd worked that out already and this is supposed to be 7 things you DON'T know - ok...

1a - I'm a research junkie (for example 'normal' people cite about 5-10 sources as references on 2000 word uni essays, I've been known to list 21!) That's one reason I enjoy university and family history so much.

2 - When I was approaching the end of my high school years I thought about doing a course in interior design but allowed myself to be talked out of it - now I get to have fun doing it in mini (and I get to spend HOURS and HOURS trawling decor blogs and websites like Designers Guild before actually doing anything - refer to 1 & 1a above).

3 - In 2002 I won a newspaper competition - due to my superb research skills ;) (refer to 1a above) - the prize was a 14 day European coach tour starting in London, plus Sydney-London return flights, for 2 people of course. Highlights were Brussels, a short Rhine River cruise from Boppard to St Goar, Heidelburg (where I bought a little Reutters set I saw in a shop window in the market place below the castle), Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna, Venice, Rome, Florence, Lucerne, and Paris. It was a wonderful experience.

4 - When I was a child I would sometimes go with my father to his to big workshop (he made all kinds of amazing stuff there including a set of swings, see-saw etc, for the local playground although it wasn't his 'profession') and he would sometimes let me open the tins of ingredients for gun powder (yes that's right - the explosive stuff!) and mix them up according to the recipe. Then we'd take it outside and put it in holes in the clay bank, run wicks from it, light it and RUN!! I also liked to put a little in a tin, Dad would throw the match in then - BANG! Of course I wasn't allowed to touch the matches - do you think my Dad would let me fool around with dangerous things???? LOL This activity had to be secret though - I wasn't allowed to tell my mother - I wonder why!!

5 - My mother died before I started high school, I still miss her every day. It is a great point of sadness in my life that I never got to relate to her as one grown woman to another, and that my sons were denied the opportunity to enjoy her as a grandmother. How she would have loved to knit for them.

6 - My mother was adopted. A couple of years ago I managed to track down her birth family (again, refer to no 2 above - LOL) and it was exciting to be invited to meet a whole lot of 'new' cousins. It was a wonderful experience to see where my mother had 'come from' - so many things that were so special about her - her creativity, her intelligence, her ability to write and communicate in a special way - were all embedded in these roots. And of course these are my roots too and even though I was a generation removed from this adoption I had always wondered about that family, and those ancestors, now I know about this important part of me and it is a wonderful feeling.

7 - This coming weekend my husband and I will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary - now before you start doing the math I should tell you that I was a 'child bride' ;) I'm hoping to convince the dear man that a mini Dutch baby cabinet (just like the one that Frederica has ) which retails at around NZ$80 would be the perfect anniversary present - at $2 per year I reckon it's a bargain!!!

Of course there are way more than 7 bloggers I would like to pass this award to but 'rules are rules' - my nominated bloggers are

Catherine (Kilmouski & Me)

Ana (Arts and Miniatures)

Frederica (Frederica's Little World)

Chadina (Visionary in Miniature)

Latchkey and Jonquil (Latchkey and Jonquil)

Carmen (Minishabby)

Roelie (La Petite Sofie)

Krin (More Than Mini)

Oh heck, that's 8 - well, rules are made to be broken aren't they ;)

I have also been honoured by my friend Jody (Peach Blossom Hill) with the Premio Amigo Artesano award. It's probably against the rules to pass this on (not BACK! - there's a big difference, you understand) to the person who gave it to you but how could I make a list of blog friends and not include Jody?? - and I think it's already pretty obvious that my favourite thing to do with rules is bend them ;)

The other four blog friends I'd like to pass the award to are

Annie (Obsidian Hall) and Susanne (Miniature Dreams) both of whom have had this award before I know, but heck if you can have more than one friend why can't you have more than one friendship award - especially since they have champagne on ice waiting for me to fly into Denmark on my witches broom.

I'd also like to pass it to Ira (Merry Jingle Crafts) who is hopefully making "nadas" for me in her mini bakery this weekend - if you have missed the 'nada' joke here is the post from her blog that explains it. And besides Ira is a great 'real world' cook too and a girl like me who hates to cook but loves to eat needs all the foodie friends she can muster :)

And last but by no means least to Sans (The Dollhouse Diaries) who has been a loyal and generous blog friend since the beginning.

I couldn't end this LONG post without mentioning that I appreciate all the comments, advice, encouragement, and friendship that so many of you have shown to me over the past months, you are ALL great blog buddies worthy of the award :)

Products for printing on fabric, and transfering images to wood etc

2010-04-13T06:22:00.017+10:00

I'm definitely "in the zone" for printing at the moment! If you are too please read on........

Jody (Peach Blossom Hill), who's a quilt artist as well as a mini-er, told me last night that she has successfully used fabric printing products from Printed Treasures. They have an interesting range, for information click here.

Then this morning I received an email from "Cloth Paper Scissors" magazine - the feature project contained a link to fabric paper products in their online store, to go direct to that page click here.

But they don't just have cotton sheets for printing on - they've also got organza!

Woo hoo - this may be the answer to my prayers, I want to make some 'filmy' curtains and was puzzling last night about what I could print it on.

But wait - there's MORE

Could you ask for more than a product that will transfer onto wood, polymer, canvas and glass??? Click here to go direct to the webpage.

Also a note about Cloth Paper Scissors - I love this magazine and their website is fabulous. It's free to subscribe to the website and you get access to all kinds of project information, etc. To go to the subscribe page click here.

Softie pillow for Shelby

2010-04-12T15:51:00.012+10:00

I can't show you the little pillow (13x9 cm - 5x3.5 in) I made today for Shelby because I've just done something to my camera that's caused it to have a heart attack! I'm hoping I can resuscitate it later... However, this is the image I used, printed onto fabric which was first treated to make the print waterproof (ie washable), then ironed onto freezer paper to make it possible to load it into the computer printer.

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POST AMENDMENT - TUESDAY 13 April

Oh yes I can!!

I had to reformat the memory card which meant losing all the stored data :( - but at least the camera is now working again.

Here's the little pillow....

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It's the first fabric printing project I've done in ages. I use a product called Bubble Jet Set 2000. You can get info about it and related products here (I see that they now have a pretreated fabric available by the yard on the website). I also use their 'freezer paper' which comes in a pack but I know a lot of other people just use the regular product you can buy at the grocery store.

Printing your own is a great way to produce small amounts of fabric, in the scale that you want (you can scan an original piece of fabric, scrapboook paper, etc that you like or download from the internet, there are plenty of websites where you can access images of swatches). I used this process to create the "patchwork" bed quilt on the girl's room in the 1:16 house. The fabric I used for that was a fine cotton (lawn) so the printing looked a bit 'washed out' which was suitable for a quilt that had supposedly seen a bit of wear and wash :) Today I used a piece of sturdier cotton. The crucial thing is that the fabric must be 100% cotton or 100% silk.

Scooby and friends will fly off to America tomorrow, hopefully on arrival they will make Shelby smile.

100 followers mystery giveaway prizes revealed at last

2010-04-09T17:29:00.016+10:00

Manoli (El Costurero de Manoli)and Paky (paquicheli), both Spanish bloggers, were the winners of the mystery giveaway prize draw held on 6 March to say "thank you" to 100+ Followers who had joined Make Mine Mini. (Original draw post is here.) As I mentioned at the time the prizes were a mystery even to me as I had decided to wait and see who the winners were before choosing appropriate gifts because of the diversity of interests of MMM Followers. Now that Manoli and Paky have received their gifts and posted about them on their blogs I can share them with you all here.

Manoli is an arty crafter who paints lovely flowers, has a collection of thimbles, and wishes to make new friends through her blog. With these things in mind her gift package contained an artist's notebook that I decorated using friendship as a theme, a Sydney Opera House souvenir thimble, and an Australian wildflower pen. After what seemed like a very long time 'in transit' Manoli received her package a couple of days ago. This photo of the contents is taken from her blog

Paky is a popular miniaturist with projects featured on her blog that include a small shop, a pub and a big house, all full of great minis so it was quite hard to think of something to add. Eventually I decided to make a nightgown and boxed underwear set and a small travel case to add to a bedroom. Also included was a small corked bottle of very tiny Australian seashells, and a pair of little sandals (thongs/jandals/flip-flops) for her house outdoor setting. This pic of the gifts is from Paky's blog

Congratulations again to my Spanish blog friends Manoli and Paky. Now I'm starting to think about the next giveaway....

Inspiration galore!

2010-04-08T12:53:00.009+10:00

This pic is from one of the Room Seven websites where you'll find the most gorgeous pics of kiddy clothing, bedding and bags to get you/keep you inspired. I found this website thanks to Frederica at 'Frederica's Little World' who has recently posted photos of the cutest kid's stuff, including some little jackets that she's made which she says are inspired by Oilily, a Dutch brand I'd never heard of but I couldn't resist checking it out. Their website is fun but I think the best eye-candy is at Room Seven. The founder of Room Seven is the daughter of the couple who created Oilily.

Now I'm off to do a bit more work on some minis - you think I spend all of my time cruising around cyberspace I know but I've got a couple of projects underway that just aren't 'camera ready' yet ...

(Room7usa.com is acknowledged as the copyright holder of the above pic.)

Transferring ink-jet printed words and images to wood

2010-03-31T07:23:00.007+11:00

I've been trying to work out how to do this for ages. This morning I found a tutorial on it via the Modge Podge Rocks blog. To go to the tutorial click here.

A note of caution - if you try it remember to print the words as a 'mirror image' (ie back-to-front) so that they are correct when they are transferred. Have fun!

An additional note: if you can't get Modge Podge which says on the label it is a 'waterbased sealer, glue and finish for all surfaces' and which I've used for decoupage and to seal and strengthen papers I think you could try anything similar. But maybe try it on a scrap first and see what you think.

Here is a link to another technique you might like to try. It uses waxed paper made for transfering images onto t-shirts.

(Acknowledgement - image sourced from www.countryliving.com)

The mailman's been to my place again... thanks Jody!

2010-03-29T19:14:00.024+11:00

Recently I got all pouty about how the availability of mini stuff, especially the often blogged about Michael's hutches, seems so much greater in the US than way down-under here in Australia. Click here to read the original post.

Dear Jody at Peach Blossom Hill took pity on me and kindly offered to send a mini 'care package' of a Michael's hutch and some other goodies - how could I refuse?? After some back and forth chat Ira at Merry Jingle Crafts and I both arranged to do a swap with Jody. This is the wonderful array of goodies that I received from Jody a few days ago...

Not just one hutch but THREE, two Eiffel Tower charms (sooooooo cute!), two lovely pieces of fabric, and two pretty floral printies - thank you Jody!!

Also included in the package was a beautiful hydrangea arrangement handmade by Jody that I purchased from her Etsy store, I'm so pleased with it. You can see one of these hydrangea arrangements on Jody's recent blog post -

The gorgeous little fuzzy peaches and the sofa, as well as other wonderful minis (including beautiful upholstered pieces) and lovely (top quality) fabrics, are also for sale at Jody's Etsy store, click here to visit and see them for yourself.

Bless you for your big, kind heart Jody, you're a very special lady :)

Thank you Ana!

2010-03-29T18:39:00.005+11:00

Amazing artist Ana of Arts and Miniatures recently offered a giveaway of the most beautiful little silver filigree jugs and I was one of the lucky recipients. Ana's generosity didn't stop there though, she included a lovely little handworked doily

AND a tiny oval box with a selection of Decopatch papers. I'll post about the box and the papers later when I've had a 'play' but click here to go to the Decopatch.com website, it's fascinating stuff!

Thanks again for your generosity Ana :) Click here to visit Ana's blog, there is some truly fabulous art and photography to enjoy there.

Using Photoshop for minis - tutorial

2010-03-26T14:47:00.004+11:00

Carol at true2scale, a fulltime graphic designer with a love of miniatures and dollhouses, has published Part 1 of an ongoing tutorial about how to use Photoshop in miniature making. So if you're like me and you don't know your GIMP from your Elements 8, but would like to add some skill with digital graphics to your repertoire, check out Carol's blog. She's planning a 'how-to' that will cover producing a design like the Paris stencil I posted recently. Who wouldn't like to know how to do something like that!!??

While you're there scroll down thru her other posts, I'm in love with the seamstress shop at the bottom of the page :) And don't miss a recent post entitled "A Printie for your Easter Basket" which uses a cookie box design of hers. There's still time to add one (or two) to your dollhouse Easter scene :)

See you in design school! ;)

Chadina's fun giveaway

2010-03-25T09:05:00.005+11:00

Chadina's a new blogger with a big dollhouse she's renovating/adding to, an artists heart, a great sense of humour, a funny looking dog [sorry Buddy!!] and a handsome son Jake, and she's having a fun giveaway at Visionary In Miniature - you'll enjoy a visit to her blog I'm sure so pop on over and get in on the action! :)

Click on her blog name, or here, to go directly there.

(PS I have been known to leave the blog open on my desktop to enjoy the music after I've finished enjoying Chadina's postings...)

Generous 1:1 blogger Lauri's image

2010-03-23T10:34:00.003+11:00

This stencil was created by Lauri at 'Chippys', I found it on the blog "Time-worn Interiors" and I immediately thought it would be a fabulous resource for miniaturists - I'm thinking cushions and chairbacks if printed on fabric (the background has a nice texture), or maybe bags, tin signs, etc if printed on paper and cardstock. The possibilities are limitless really.

Lauri has generously given me permission to post her image here. While that permission didn't come with 'strings attached' as for usage of it I think we should respect that it is her creation and use it only on miniature projects, and perhaps limit it to personal - I suggest it's only fair that if you want to use it on minis that you sell that you should seek permission yourself directly from her. Her email address is available through her blog.

To go to Lauri and Therea's blogs just click on their blog names above :) They are well worth a visit, lots of inspirational ideas :)

Incredible mini metal creations!

2010-03-14T21:03:00.003+11:00

How fabulous are these little creations??!! They are the work of metalsmith, artist and new blogger Catherine at Kilmouski & Me, click here to go to her blog - you will be amazed and delighted!

Glimpses of the cottage downstairs bedroom (1:1)

2010-03-12T22:03:00.019+11:00

This room is the most feminine room at the cottage, lots of roses and 'pretty' accessories. The white dressing table was 'rescued' from a barn - and it looked very neglected before it got a coat of paint (no before photo unfortunately).

The desk is actually a sewing machine table, probably from about 1940s although I'm not really sure. The machine didn't work and has been removed. There is a coat of pink paint under the white which will be revealed when I eventually get around to sanding the edges. This photo has been posted before, I forgot to take a new one showing the gorgeous shabby white mirror I bought for this corner - next time :)

This wardrobe is dark oak, it's only got one coat of paint on it at present. I'm thinking about painting it a pastel colour rather than leaving it white, or decorating it with some stencilling perhaps. (Any volunteers to finish painting the ceiling, etc?)

I bought this pretty little vintage evening bag from a charity secondhand store for about $8, and the vintage handkerchiefs from a flea market in Sydney for just a couple of dollars each. I need to find some more to use as doll house linen...

A glimpse of the cottage upstairs bedroom renovation (1:1)

2010-03-10T19:58:00.023+11:00

The wood lining is more of a golden/honey colour than this photo shows, I don't know why it looks so pink in the photo. As you can see the wood has become water stained when we had problems with rain getting in around the window, and we had the same problem with the ceiling when the roof leaked. You can also see that I've started to fill some of the holes and other imperfections in the wood (the white patches). They're hardly noticeable when the wood is in it's natural state but look awful once the paint goes on. There were a lot of them and this took a really long time!! All of the walls, and the ceiling, are lined with these wooden planks. They have been left in their 'rough sawn' state but they have been sealed and painted. Because there was a lot of water staining in various places on other walls as well as the ceiling a special sealer was need to stop it 'bleeding' through the paint. The first product I bought which promised to do just that was a waste of time and money - after 3 coats of it stains were still 'bleeding' - as you can imagine I was NOT happy! "Resene" pigmented sealer did the job with just one coat, I think it's my favourite renovating product now :) I should have bought it in the first place because I love Resene paint products and rarely use anything else.

This end of the room now looks like this (the dark wood on the right is a vintage oak wardrobe,I haven't decided yet whether to leave it like it is or paint it).

As you can see the theme for this room is beach/nautical, this tin 'sign' is the colour theme inspiration

I really like this one too

It's time to trim the trees to reclaim the view of the ocean I think! What looks like a 'door to nowhere' is exactly that - but it's the only way to get furniture in and out of the room.

I'm happy with the way the room is turning out but there is still quite a bit of work to be done, we won't be back in New Zealand until the end of the year so it makes for a rather 'long-term' project. The advantage is that it gives a lot of time to look for the right linen for the bed, and fabric for the window coverings. At the moment I'm favouring roman blinds but finding the right fabric will be a challenge I think.

Giveaway on a new blog (now closed)

2010-03-08T21:18:00.006+11:00

Ana at 'A Journey Through Arts and Miniatures' is soon to a give away these wonderful silver filigree jugs to celebrate approaching 50 Followers. Ana is an artist whose handpainted miniatures are truly amazing. Pop over and have a look! Click on her blog name or here.

You'll need to be QUICK to get in on this!! (swap now closed)

2010-03-07T13:35:00.009+11:00

Caterina is organising an Easter themed swap.

Visit her blog (click on her name above to go directly there - Google will translate if necessary) for full details but the basic info is that Caterina will organise the swap partners, the swap item will be JUST ONE EASTER THEMED MINI, (Caterina's suggestions include: Easter basket, box of chocolates, chickens, bunny, flowers - anything with an Easter/spring theme - made of whatever material you choose).

You need to 'register your interest' on her blog VERY VERY QUICKLY because she wants to make the draw of swap partners on 8 March. Also your mini should be ready to send to your swap partner by 20 March.

(Regrettably I'm not able to participate in this swap myself, I don't have anything suitable in my 'stash' and with the pressure of the beginning of the university year on my back don't feel able to commit to preparing anything in time. However, I think it's a great idea and really hope that some of you may be able to join in the FUN!!)

The Giveaway winners are drawn!

2010-03-07T10:10:00.029+11:00

My 'assistant', birthday boy Max, contemplates the entries...

It's hard to choose just one, Grandma...

But eventually he did... "What does it say Grandma?"

It says "El costurero de manoli" Max!

Max's friend Cara wanted to be in on the draw too so we have TWO giveaway draw winners!!!

It's Paky!

Max says CONGRATULATIONS Manoli and Paky!!

Manoli at El costurero de manoli has a lovely blog, she is a multi-talented crafter and artist. A couple of recent posts feature some of her flower painting projects. In her introduction Manoli says that she hopes to make new friends through her blog, I encouage you to visit her.

Paky at Paquicheli's blog is a popular and passionate miniaturist known to many of us. There's always something fun going on over at her blog.

(click on their blog names to go directly there)

Congratulations again to Manoli and Paky. I will contact each of them and then decide on what the two little gifts will be - in the meantime this remains a 'mystery' giveaway :)

Thanks to everyone for your interest in this little bit of 'giveaway' fun, and especially to Max and Cara (and 'official' photographer for the occasion, Max's mummy) for their help :)

Welcome and Giveaway Draw Countdown

2010-03-05T15:43:00.009+11:00

A sincere welcome to

Nat @ Love 'n Light
dana mocan @ http://3dayswedding.blogspot.com/
Nuria, Rossana y Norma @ Casitamini
Margaret @ My Petite Partere
Shellagh @ Ticking & Toile
Sonya @ cannellaemelograno
Brenda @ Cozy Little House
angeles @ El Rincon De Baldu
(blog names are 'hot links' to the blogs - click to check them out if you don't already know them, or it's been a while since you visited)

and Cindy and mimusdoll - there are no blogs showing on your profiles. If you do have blogs or websites please leave a note here so that we can come visit you :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Less than 24 hours to go to the 100 Followers celebratory giveaway draw!! (See post below for details.)

When I grow up I wanna go live in America!

2010-03-01T17:25:00.007+11:00

The green eyed monster has risen in me again! Every now and then American miniaturists are blogging about 'this and that' they bought for a pittance at 'Michaels' - usually things like cute as a button hutches and so on - well now Brenda over at Cozy Little House has found gorgeous minis at her Garden Centre of all places!! Is there no end to where you can find cute stuff over there in the good ol' US of A??? *pouts*

All the litte things she bought for her conservatory (a wonderful mini in itself!) are just great, but the birdcage 'takes the cake'! Click here to see the full post.

Now I'm off to sit in the 'naughty corner' and repeat 100 times "I must not be jealous of the good fortune of others." ;)

Photo copied and posted here with Brenda's permission.

Back to school tomorrow

2010-02-28T12:37:00.003+11:00

My 2010 academic year at the University of New South Wales starts tomorrow so over the next few months I'll be spending a great deal of time in this part of the campus. It's a big university, 40,000+ students, this is just a little glimpse of the place.

So ... no more 'goofing off' - but there are lots of things I want to post about the NZ cottage as well as mini stuff so although I might be a bit 'quieter' than I have been recently I certainly won't be absent, and I'll still be reading as many of your posts as I possibly can.

One of my 3rd yr Linguistics classes is 'Semantics and Pragmatics' - wish me luck on that one!! I'm going to need it!!*laughs nervously*

2010-02-26T12:58:00.021+11:00

A sincere welcome to:

Lara
aru
Maite
Ira
Koronka
Glenda
Ana Morgado
Mags Cassidy
Titti
Allison
Susan
Cynthia
Sandy Foster

(clicking on the names of these bloggers will take you directly to their blogs)

and also to Karin and Carolina - no blogs are showing on your profiles, if you have blogs please leave a comment here so that we can visit you :)

Thanks for stopping by!

(Cynthia and Sandy please note that your blogs are not showing on your profile here either, you might want to adjust your settings)

100+ Followers and a Giveaway Draw

2010-02-25T08:05:00.012+11:00

Over the past week or so I've been watching the Followers number creep up into the 90s, and every day closer and closer to the 'magic' 100... I've been a bit like a rabbit caught in the headlights, not quite able to believe what was happening!

I started this blog in November 2009 after having found the 'blog world' quite by accident. I had bought a UK miniatures magazine and in it was an article about Lea Frisoni's fabulous book Le Grand livre de la maison miniature . I Googled the book title and 'hit on' Linda Carswell's amazingly inspiring blog "Une Petite Folie" - it is no exaggeration to say that that moment has changed my life. From Linda's blog I spent days blog-hopping - I truly thought I'd died and gone to heaven! So much 'eye candy', so much inspiration, so much motivation. And most importantly a community of like-minded souls who I could see were committed to sharing knowledge and encouragement.

My first miniature project I can vividly remember attempting (probably about 8 years old) was trying to make a carpet for the living room of my dolls house by painting a mottled grey pattern on a piece of paper. To my frustration the paper curled up as it dried and I think I threw it away :( About 1984 (when we were living at the New Zealand cottage I've posted about recently) I was excited to find a couple of 'how-to' dollshouse books and launched into the mini world again. It was fun but also frustrating as it was so difficult to get materials and accessories. Basically it meant catalogue mail-order from England, an expensive and slow process and eventually I just gave up and put all my mini things away.

How different the mini world is now thanks largely to the Internet. I can browse online mini shops to my hearts content, and there is inspiration, motivation and fellowship everywhere. I Follow blogs located all over the world and my life is infinitely the richer for it. It seemed appropriate then that rather than just 'take' from the blog world I should make some sort of contribution myself, however small, and it seems that at this moment 103 of you consider it of some relevance and I truly thank you for that.

To show my appreciation I'd like to do a little "mystery" gift draw. It's presently a mystery even to me because your interests and styles are so diverse I've found it impossible to think of something that would suit everyone. Therefore I'll make a small 'tailor-made' gift package for the person whose name is drawn. I've decided to do this draw at my grandson's first birthday party on 6 March, it seems appropriate to mix two special celebrations :) I'll include the names of all Followers of my blog up until the time that I leave for the birthday celebrations. (If anyone does NOT want to be in this draw, please email me at normabennett@hotmail.com - no need to give any reason).

So, THANK YOU to everyone of you for stopping by my blog - I hope you will find something of interest here from time to time :)

Sunshine Awards

2010-02-25T06:44:00.028+11:00

Thanks to Michelle @ poppenhuis en miniaturen and to De @ De-Lightful Minis for giving me the Sunshine Award :)

The Sunshine Award Rules are:

1. Post the award on my own blog.
2. In a blog post, name six blogs that I enjoy.
3. Let your six named bloggers know that you are passing the award on to them.

So now it's my turn to "share the love" and I'd like to pass this award on to:

Amina @ http://claypaperwoodwire.blogspot.com/
Lara @ http://larasminiatureworld.blogspot.com/
merry jingle crafts @ http://merryjingle.blogspot.com/
CM @ http://myrealitty.blogspot.com/
Susan @ http://minicrochetmad.blogspot.com/
Marit @ http://blackcatcottage.blogspot.com/

What do you think - 1:12 or 1:1?

2010-02-23T18:03:00.038+11:00

How often have you looked at the work of a talented miniaturist and said to yourself "there's no way that's mini" - well here's one to contemplate...

Very clever photographing it in the woods, don't you think?

Look at this pretty interior, wouldn't you just love to shrink yourself and curl up in there with a good book? And how lovely in the 'evening light'...

In fact no shrinking would be required to enjoy this amazing creation - it's the 1:1 studio cottage of Sandy Foster whose fabulous blog is at http://myshabbystreamsidestudio.blogspot.com

Just for once instead of wanting to exclaim "It's so gorgeous I can't believe it's not real!" I think I'm not the only one saying "It's so gorgeous I can't believe it's not mini!"

I wonder who will be the first to miniaturise it??? Now there's a challenge...

(Photos copied and posted with Sandy's permission)

Is it only an old ladder or much much more???

2010-02-22T09:48:00.013+11:00

I bought this vintage wooden ladder for NZ$40 a few days before I came back to Sydney. It's an acquisition I'm very pleased with. However there are 'nay sayers' who can see only $40 worth of firewood!!

In defence of my ladder I would like to say:

(1) within 10 mins of buying it I saw two similar ladders, cleaned and dark stained, being used as display props in antique store windows
(2) a charming home accessories and gift shop presently has a similar vintage ladder, a little bigger, and also dark stained, in the window with a price tag of NZ$245! (=US$171)
(3) ladders as display units are so HOT right now - presenting exhibit no 1 (source "NZ Home and Garden" magazine)

So what do you think???

Should I-

(a) paint it white
(b) dark stain it
(c) chop it up for firewood?

VOTE NOW - leave a comment - make your opinion count!

By the way - No pressure but I'm counting on your 'positive support' in order that the ladder may continue to have a long and fruitful life! ;)

More on the New Zealand cottage...

2010-02-18T10:41:00.037+11:00

Our cottage is located in this little village 30 minutes drive from the city of Dunedin in the south of New Zealand. It has a northerly aspect over the inlet you see here to the Pacific Ocean. We've owned it for about 30 years, we lived in it full time for 4 but otherwise it was a weekend and holiday retreat. Since we've been living in Australia it's mostly been unocupied and that combined with the fact that the 'old girl' is getting on a bit has meant that recently we've had to turn our attention to some serious repair/renovation work.

Don't forget to 'poke' the photos for a better look :)

If you drive past this is all you will see as it sits down below the road line.

However, if you stop and stand at the top of the steps you will see the door so come on down and take a look around - take care though because the steps are made from old railway line sleepers and they can get a bit slippery...

Walk on by past the door, around to the front of the house...

From here you can enjoy the bush and coastal view for a moment, unfortunately it's a bit hazy today so you can't see the ocean as well as usual - and I must ask the neighbours to take the top off that pesky tree!...

Let's go down to the bottom of the yard, where the trees are, so that we can look back and see the front of the house properly...

Now if we turn around, there she is...

The poor old shed on the right has seen better days and is overdue for a coat of paint, maybe next summer.

It's a pity that the beautiful window in the upstairs bedroom has broken in the bottom left corner. Just what happened is a mystery but our neighbours noticed the lead and the glass had collapsed in the corner after a period of very strong wind. We've had to cover the broken area with a piece of board to prevent further damage. The lead has started to collapse a little in the middle at the top also so the window has to be removed. It will be replaced by a plain window, not as pretty perhaps but at least we'll be able to see the view from up there then! At the moment three little diamond shapes of plain glass are about all you can see through.

We are hopeful that this window can be restored and located elsewhere in the house.

Before we go up to the house for a look around inside I want to show you something hidden among the trees down here...

... a derelict chicken house! Isn't it cool?? Every yard should have one!

Oh dear, sorry about that...

2010-02-18T06:53:00.007+11:00

I missed a few of you in my WELCOME message! :( I'm so sorry, I forgot to check the 'beginning' of my followers list where all those with 'blank' profile photos are automatically placed by the 'computer brain' that controls such things. I suddenly had one of those 'lightbulb' moments about it in the middle of the night.

So to Carolyn (@ fabshabbyroses.blogspot.com), Jonna (@ rudoo-buggaboos.blogspot.com, Vane, tinystuffs and Marika "thanks for stopping by my blog" and please forgive my bad manners!

I should also add that there is no blog info showing on your profiles (I'm familiar with Carolyn and Jonna's blogs so knew where to find them) but you might want to check that out. Vane, tinystuffs and Marika if you have blogs please leave a comment here so that we can find you!

I hope I haven't left out anyone else!