Thinking modern? Think Ikea...

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

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"

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

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!!

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!

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...

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.

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

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

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!]