For Elly

In fact, I made 2. One for me and one for daughter!

See you later....

Busy, Busy, Busy Part 2

I have been really busy just recently, I had to finish my advent swap presents and then get them packaged up to send, that shouldn't take long I thought, WRONG! it took most of a Sunday. Each prezzie had to be wrapped individually, numbered and then packed so they wouldn't get damaged in the post, no mean feat. I then agreed to join the Christmas Raffle which meant making four Christmas items so I could get four back. I made some Advent wreaths which I found on the internet but I'm damned if I can now find the link, otherwise I would share it as they were really easy to make but very effective.

 

For my part I received a Christmas cactus, a bag containing some decorations, xmas baubles and some tinsel, a knitted xmas stocking and two festive teapots.

So now it's December the 10th and I have opened ten presents.

Day 1-5

and

Day 6-10

10 down, 15 to go! I'm like a kid in a sweetie shop every morning and if that wasn't enough, last week I received a package from Canada that was totally unexpected.

Karin's prezzie

plus some mini pine cones which she has sent me before, but my stocks were running low, and some ice cubes to use in mini drinks. How lucky am I?

I put the RL decs up today so I took the opportunity, while I was decorating my dh to put all the things in it that I have received over the past 10 months of being a member of the swap group, it sure fills your dh good with things that you probably wouldn't think of doing yourself.

I've also been doing a lot with Fimo, but that's another story for another day. Fimo, love it, hate it.

See you later....  

Busy, Busy, Busy.

I've been really busy on the mini front just recently, most of it is because of the swap group I belong to. There's the usual Birthday swaps but I signed up for the Xmas Advent swap which meant 25 little presents to be posted out before the end of November, Eeek! Luckily I had quite a bit of stuff that I had made that was surplus stock but I've still had lots to do. I was beginning to think I would never get it all done but I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel, thank goodness! I haven't counted but I think I have only a couple more to do, next year I will have to start a bit earlier.

One of the ladies in the swap group has just had a Birthday and I sent her a needle punched rug and some roses in red, black and white but stupidly I forgot to take a piccie of the roses, never mind you've seen my roses before. I did photograph the rug though.

I posted this out from the post room at work at 3.50pm on a Friday and lo and behold it arrived with Sally Saturday morning!! On the other hand it has just taken a little prezzie to reach Karin in Canada over 4 weeks to arrive. This was one of the reasons I shutdown my eBay shop as it was too stressful waiting for things to arrive and something that was supposed to de-stress and be enjoyable became a stress maker instead. I am much happier making things for myself and making things to sell would never have made me millionaire anyway.

.

I'm off to hopefully finish my advent stuff

See you later.....

Where,Oh Where Does Time Go?

Is it really over six weeks since I last made a blog entry? I really don't know where time goes. Mind you saying that I haven't been idle, I've been working on minis for the Thingmas Advent swap, 25 little prezzies to give to someone in the group and in return I'll receive 25, one to open every day in December. I won't bore you with piccies as most of them I've made before or it's stuff  I  had in my stash of surplus makes.

Talking of the swap group, it was my Birthday last Friday and I received nine minis.

Paula

Roz

Vicki

Pam 2

Sally

Sonia

Rebecca

Val

Mandy

Aren't they great?!! Hubby got me some perfume which he gave me a couple of weeks ago because I had run out but on my birthday he gave me a Kindle!! So I've been reading as well as mini-ing. That night we went for a meal, at our local in The Lakes, and when Steve came to pay the bill it had been taken care of by the owner, so all in all it was a fantastic day.

I've decided (I think) what I am going to do with Karin's castle. I did at first think of doing a kitchen but  then when I Googled them I realised that it would detract from the beautiful stone work and a kitchen probably wouldn't have had a stained glass window so I decided on a dining hall. Silk curtains to frame the window and a simple table and chairs. I've already bought a suit of armour and the wood to make the furniture but I think I'll hold off doing any thing until after Thingmas when we stop going to the van and I will have some free weekends. 

Last but not least, please take a look at this Blog, Blake is a young man who makes some fantastic minis and is trying to fund his way through college. If you're on Facebook  like His page as well. Young people need a helping hand in this fantastic hobby.

See you later....

A Reunion, not! But That's What It Felt Like.

You may remember a couple of weeks ago that I said an internet friend was coming over to the UK for a wedding and she wanted to meet up. This weekend, after a few false starts, both of us lost internet access, EEk but finally we made it! I know some of you follow Karin Foster and that was who came to visit with her partner,Ken. They arrived Sunday tea-time so straight away we went for something to eat at a local pub and then back to ours where Karin and I exchanged gifts. Karin makes the most exquisite castles and keeps out of builders foam and she had very generously made one for me.

The detail in them is incredible and the stained glass window is beautiful
Thank you Karin! It is much appreciated. I will have to decide what scene
to put in it but I'm spoilt for choice with ideas so will wait until I decide which best will do it justice.









We then chatted all night about everything and nothing while watching the Olympic closing ceremony, Steve and Ken retired to bed and left us to it. It was just like meeting up with an old friend but all too soon it was the following morning and after breakfast they had to go. They were then going up to Windermere and then crossing over to Yorkshire and driving down to Sussex. Last night they stayed at Thirsk and were going to the James Herriott Museum today. They fly back to Canada on Thursday and I am so glad they made the effort to drive up to Lancashire to see us.

See you later.....

Birthday Raffle.

Another sunny day in May, 4 days on the trot, can we dare hope that Summer has arrived? The DH is still away on a course so I've been taking advantage of being on my own and having a lot of  "me" time and doing plenty of minis. The swap group I belong to have a Birthday Raffle every year, this is my first year, so I decided to get organised and make a start on 4 little hearth rugs. Why 4?  because 4 fit into my embroidery hoop at once. I went for a traditional design which I'm hoping will work as at the moment they look a bit bitty.  From the back, which is the side you work from, the pattern looks quite distinct,  

But the other side looks a bit of a blur, and the stems and flowers aren't all that clear. I'm hoping it will come together when I fill in the main colour.

If not I'm scuppered!! 


We are now at the end of June and the weather has been awful, rain, rain and more rain. I'm not scuppered, I have filled in the main colour and the pattern is now a lot clearer. I don't know if you can tell from the photo but two rugs have been filled in.

I find these little needle punches rather therapeutic and as long as I concentrate I can do them while watching TV, usually on a Saturday night, at the Van watching Casualty! Lose concentration at your peril because it results in stabbed fingers, which I frequently do. 

All finished and I sat back and waited for August for the raffle to take place. We've been away to the Lakes for four days and when we arrived home last night there was a large envelope behind the front door.

Aren't they great? and the best thing is I can use all of them in my dh. I've been in swaps before and received stuff that I'd have had to have made " The Olde Curiosity Shoppe " to fit them in. Roll on next month, when it is my Birthday, and I will receive my birthday minis.

See you later.... 

Real Life Catching Up With Surreal Blogging.

Every so often Steve and I have to spend a weekend at home instead of going up to The Lakes to do running repairs on the RL house,otherwise, when we can't go up for six weeks, out of season, it is all too much! So this weekend we decided to stay at home, bad move because it looked as though the Summer had arrived,Sod's Law. Steve spent the weekend re-painting the hallway, stairs and landing and I spent it washing the suite covers which meant having the washer on 8 times yesterday and then fighting with the covers to put them back.Why the frenzy to have everything nice? because somebody I encountered on a Forum (now de-funct ) about 5 years ago, and who I have kept in touch with is, coming over to the UK from Canada to attend her partners, daughters wedding and she wants to meet!! This no mean feat on her part as it means driving from Sussex? I think that's where it is but I'm hope less with Geography. I can't wait!
So today I was determined to make it a mini day and a made a needle felted teddy bear, he's not perfect but not bad for a first attempt and I love him, despite many stabbed fingers, I can't do this without stabbing my fingers.

His mouth looks too high but that is bad camera angle and he looks blue when he is actually green, low light level in my workshop caused that problem, and I think his paw pads would be better a bit nearer the end of his arms.


One of the ladies in my swap group had a birthday last week so I can finally show you what I made for her. This one was a challenge for me as it was a wood working project and I haven't done a lot of work with wood but I needed to use my newly acquired scroll saw to make something. 


It looks like a settle chair.

But then the back flips down to make it into a table.

I hope it arrived in one piece.

You may have noticed my pictures have a frame round them, that's because I found this web site that will edit your photos for you. It's not as complicated as Photoshop but it will allow you to add text, effects and touch up your photos and best of all it's free and user friendly.

Picmonkey


See you later.....

Lost Christmas Tree.

My Swap partner with the Christmas tree kindly made another one and surprise, surprise Royal Mail actually   delivered it!

Isn't it funky!


See you later....

Time Traveller.

Writing my Blog has become a bit of a surreal experience at the moment, here I am on a sunny Monday morning in May, yes May, writing a Blog post when I know that you will be reading this in July and even more surreal is I am talking Christmas, well Christmas trees to be exact. It's all to do with the swap group I belong to, I can't immediately show you what I am currently working on as it's not fair to the recipient of the swap as it spoils the surprise. July's swap was a Christmas tree in July. I decided to make a tree from scratch with floral foam and chunky, chenille stems. First I cut the foam into a cone shape.

And then I stuck a stick in it for the trunk. Next came the tedious and boring bit of inserting the chenille stems.

I must admit I did get bored half way through and went off and did something else, which actually was just as boring but needed doing. I sorted out my DH magazines and put tutorials into a ring binder and got rid of the mags, a lot less clutter.

(Sorry about the lousy photo)

Then I got the miniaturist's equivalent of writer's block, just as a writer knows they need to write I knew all I needed to do was attach the rest of the branches but could I? could I heck! It sat on the windowsill staring at me (well it would have stared if it had eyes). for nearly 2 weeks.Then Steve had to go down to Coventry for a couple of days on a course for work and I was determined, while I had the peace and quiet, to finish the darned thing, or if not entirely finish, at least get the rest of the branches on. It was 12.50am when I went to bed but I did it!

The following day it didn't take me long to decorate it and make the pot.

Unfortunately the tree I was meant to receive went missing in the post. :-(

See you later....

Vicki's Birthday Swap.

Just a quick update today. Finally swaps are starting to be delivered and opened so I can post what I have been making. This was for Vicki's Birthday.

See you later....

Sock Monkey.

First things first, welcome to my latest follower, Anna.


Finally I can write a Blog Post and publish it! that's because I have finally done something for me and not the swap group. You may remember that at weekends at the van I do Punch needle as it's something I can throw in my craft bag without too much hassle, (I've got 4 projects on the go with that, BUT, they're for the swap group) but it gets a bit boring doing the same thing every weekend so I've been looking for something else to do but of course it has to be something with not too much equipment. I've looked into needle felting as I like the thought of making some teddies ( I've got the idea of a teddy bear shop room box floating about, but that's for a later date) and I came across a site on Etsy that sold kits to make sock monkeys OOAKTinyCuddles. She also has a website. www.ooaktinycuddles.com. where you can see some of her amazing work.I contacted Lisa and she couldn't have been more helpful, she posted it the same day and I received it the following morning. It contains 2 felting needles. enough wool to make at least 2 sock monkeys, foam pad and various other bits and pieces and instructions. She doesn't have any kits listed at the moment, I bought the last one, but I'm sure if you contacted her she would make one up for you if you fancied making one. The instructions are really easy to follow and she walks you right through everything in detail and with pictures.


So Friday night I made a start, it's ironic that the two things I decide to do at the van involve sharp needles and it wasn't long before I stabbed myself, Ouch! Once I got the hang of it the monkeys head came together quite well.

I made his body and arms and legs Saturday night.

And I finished him off last night.

I'm rather pleased with him and when I have finished the 4 needle punch items I will attempt to make a teddy.


See you later....

It Pays To Be Nosey!

If you have a Dollshouse like me, you'll know that dust is a persistent  problem. The trellis and bench which I kit-bashed a few weeks ago looked lovely sat in the garden of my dh but slowly and surely it has gathered dust. I have a large blusher brush that I bought just for dusting but it can't get into all the nooks and crannies and if you are too vigorous with it you run the risk of damaging something, likewise using the vax runs the risk of something shooting up the tube to be lost forever in the vortex of dog hair and dust. Oh I know the trick of an old pair of tights over the end of the tube but it wasn't to my satisfaction as I couldn't get up close and personal enough. I even tried one of those desktop ones that are supposed to clear your keyboard of crumbs when you've been eating at your desk, but quite frankly it didn't have enough "suck power". Was I destined to have a permanently dusty dh? 


And then I went into an office a couple of weeks ago, in the block that I clean, and it was being used to repair PC's. There were computer parts everywhere and an aerosol can, (empty)  closer inspection, I'm nosey, revealed it to be a tin of compressed air that, the blurb told me, was for cleaning watches and delicate machinery. I didn't know such a thing existed, but I had the evidence in my hands, was this the answer to my prayers?


When I got home I asked Steve if he had heard of it, after all he repairs car parts and electricals, but he looked at me as if he was waiting for the punchline. A quick search on E-bay and I found what I was looking for. Get it ordered! It came at the beginning of the week and joy of joys!! It worked a treat. My roses look as good as the day I first painted them and the whole thing looks new and shiny, I AM NOT destined to have a dusty dh. So if you have a dust problem go and buy some, and if I'm not imparting any thing new and you already knew about this, SHAME on you for not passing it around!


I bought mine here  Compressed Air Duster.

See you later.....

Lavender, Lilac and Lace.

Remember the Lavender teddies I received  for the May swap? Well now I can show you what I made.  

I made a hat box and hat.

You can't really see from the photos but the hat box is made from leather, this was the first time I had dipped my toe into millinery and I found rather fiddly although I suppose with all aspects of "small stuff" practice make perfect and easier.

We've also just had a Father's day swap. I made a leather holdall, wallet with money in, writing set and  bow tie in a box.

  

In return I received 2 hand knitted tank tops, a bottle of wine and a picture.

I can real life knit but I have never tried it small and I am in awe of people who do. I don't think my eyes would be up to it.

Well, back to the grind, house work is calling.

See you later....

Surreal Blogging.

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth but writing my Blog has become a bit surreal at the moment as I'm doing plenty of minis but because they're stuff for the swap group I've joined I can't show you what I'm working on. That's where the surreal bit comes in as I'm writing posts and taking progress pictures as I go but I can't publish them until they have been received by the people they're for, can't spoil the surprise! We are going to a wedding on Saturday, so won't be in the Lakes, so I'm thinking of taking all day Sunday as a mini day and doing something for my dh so maybe on Monday I may have something to show you. Watch this space


See you later....

Victoria's Give Away.

Victoria is having a give away to celebrate 300 followers
You can find it  Here

I'm In Shock!

If your family are anything like mine, where minis are concerned they urmm and roll their eyes in false interest. So imagine my surprise when Emma rang last night to ask if I was busy with my minis, scratching my head in disbelief, I asked "why?" Big mistake. She then informed me she was putting together a "De-stress" kit, as a joke, for her boss. She had made a little bag of lavender to calm the nerves but as her boss liked a G&T she wanted me to make a bottle of Gordons. So that was last night's task. I made a bottle of gin, a bottle of tonic and a glass complete with a slice.The only thing I couldn't make were the labels as my PC is still being fixed but they will only take a couple of minutes when I get it back.

Emma's prezzie, work for me!!

I also received  my first swap this week. The theme was "Lavender, lilac and lace" I made a lilac hat and hatbox, can't show you the piccies as they are on PC, it's getting to be a pain being without it, so I will post photos at a later date. In return I received two fimo teddies.

 

Aren't they great! They have gone straight in my attic nursery so the fur babies can't get hold of them.

See you later....

Just A Quick Update.

Just a quick update on my "Fairy Door". It is now installed in my workshop on the bottom of the units, still minus a sign because I'm still waiting for my PC to be fixed. The hope is that the fairies will come and clean  the place while I'm sleeping but I'm not holding my breath.

I've also been playing with Fimo again and made a bowl of fungi for someone at work who is mad about fairies. When I gave it to her she couldn't have been more happy if I told her she had won the lottery! Oh well, spread a little happiness.

See you later.....

Fairy Doors

While browsing E-bay the other day, I forget what I was looking for (I get sidetracked) I came across some Fairy Doors. I'd never seen them before and they are little whimsical doors that you  stick on your skirting boards. Well I just had to have one for my workshop, they appealed to my silly side, so I set about making one.

It needs a little sign on it saying "Sssh, Fairies Sleeping" but my PC is being fixed so it will have to wait. I added some fairy dust (glitter) this morning but the only trouble is it gets every where, I'm covered in it!!

I've also bought myself a scroll saw and have been playing about with that, no lost fingers, yet! I really must get on with my dh, dining room is the room in progress, and a dining table and chairs are needed, so it will be ideal for making that , when I get round to it. There's not enough hours in a day or days in a week, well where mini-ing is concerned.

See you later....

Roses, Roses Everywhere.

First things first, welcome to my latest followers and a big Thank you to all who  commented on my last post, you have restored my faith in Human Nature.


All the roses are finally finished and on the trellis and I made a seat pad and bolster cushion for the bench that also came with my magazine subscription.There is also a table that needs a little bit of adjustment but that's for a later date.

We've been up to the Lakes this weekend (what's new LOL) and I don't usually do any minis at the van because it's a bit of a hassle to take things up with us and I invariably leave something behind, I refuse to let my stash spill over to the van as well as home, but I realised I can do my punch needle at the van. All I need is an embroidery hoop, punch needle and embroidery threads. Sorted! I can't show you what I was working on just yet because it's for a Birthday swap but I can show you another Birthday swap that I made and has now been received .

A Fern In Pot

If you look closely there is a butterfly on the left hand  side.

A Dozen Red Roses.

Darned Roses again!!

And a readable book.

I'm off now to tidy my workshop as it is getting untidy again, my biggest problem is not putting stuff away after mini-ing and then not being able to find them at a later date, although I always put my tools away, got to look after your tools. So I am going to put a box on my work table and put stuff in there and once a week take time to put stuff back where it belongs, well that's the theory anyway, we'll have to see how it goes.

See you later....