Easy image transfer methods from Karen, aka The Graphics Fairy

Karen at "The Graphics Fairy" has thoughtfully rounded up 12 easy image transfer method tutorials into one post on her blog - click HERE to go directly to it.

She also has a section on her blog now for Transfer Printables - make sure you check it out too. 

Thank you Karen!! 

Image source: The Graphics Fairy 

Christmas Presents - big and little

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'

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

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...

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

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

Click here to go on over and join up to Follow

A new mini blogger with fairy dust on her fingers

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'" :)

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

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

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.

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

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

Big Boys Build and Blog too!

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 "must see" blog if you love French style

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

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

OR

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.

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

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 :)

Pretty gifts from friends

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 ;)

Holiday swap - thanks Karin!!

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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!)

Prizes and surprises

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!