Good morning

Good morning everyone! I haven't any new pictures of progress today sadly, my husband has been taking advantage of my decision to cut down my working hours and set me to 1:1 building, tiling and grouting. (it is much more fun in mini scale!).

However I have been popping in and it is about time I welcomed my 5 (!!!) new followers.
So  
Welcome, join me in a cup of tea, if you have time...

Otterine is at http://www.otterine.com/blog/blog1.php. where she is busily stitching the most glorious rug and when not doing that wastes not a minute working on other perfect miniatures!

Marion is next and is almost a local to me which is exciting. Well 2 hours or so away, which in Queensland terms is close! Marion is another busy lady, running workshops as well as working on her own minis. You can see what she is up to at http://marionsminiatures.blogspot.com/ and http://theflorist-marion.blogspot.com/ and http://marion-thewitchscottage.blogspot.com/
Marion was almost chased away as her avatar could be a photo of our hen who hasn't accepted her status in life and firmly believes she is a cat so should be eating and sleeping in the house!

If you prefer lemon with your tea, call in at Minnie Kitchen http://minniekitchen.blogspot.com/ where the lemons are freshly squeezed and there is a variety of yummy food to fill up on (if you have a very very tiny tummy)

Kat the Hat Lady http://katthehatlady.blogspot.com/ is where you would go for all your witches hats needs and I have just seen that she is bringing out a range of the most glorious Edwardian hats. Absolutely stunning.

and finally welcome to Christine with the pink rose. I can't find a blog for you, so if you have one, please send a link and I can post it, but I know you must be nice with a name like Christine.

Thank you all for following.

I have been playing with this blog, still learning, and my favourite gadget at the moment is being able to keep track of when everyone shares a new post. The problem is I become seduced seeing what wonderful things others are doing that I don't get back to doing my own!

Ready to relax

Just a quick blog post before I start work in an hour. I had decided during my holidays to try and do some mini-ing each day, even if were only planning projects. I think being creative (and I believe everyone can create, although many people don't in case their efforts are criticised) is one of the keys to a healthy mind and a happy outlook on life giving people greater resilience to cope with what life throws them. So with that in mind, after feeling really burned out a few weeks ago, I have been working on a few small projects for the cottage.

One was this chair to relax in. While simple it brings a smile to my face. I can imagine my dolls house mother sitting in the chair shelling peas in preparation to cooking for her family - did women ever really get a break in the 40s? One of my grandmother's housekeeping books includes sitting down to do your work as a necessity while 'expecting' (anything more descriptive was written in the book's sealed section) but a luxury at other times.
It was made with 2 sizes of cake wires (or possibly florist wire?) which I have had in my craft box forever, so were good to use finally.

The mat is one of a few I have made based on those owned by various elderly rellies when I was a child. I seem to think they were old then, everything seemed to have been made to last forever, so hopefully they fit in. I know that in Australia red and green were fashionable colours during the war, so at least the colour scheme is era appropriate. They were made by coiling garden twine, partly coloured with food colouring onto a fabric backing coated in glue, then stitching to secure. I was pleased with the effect.

The crochet blanket is one of the first things I made while gearing up to build a house. It is made using polyester threads and a 6mm hook with every row a different colour - never again! Tucking in the loose ends was a dreadful job. All future projects will be one colour!

I am planning on putting some of my minis in a craft display for 'e week' at our church craft group ladies morning, so the two photos are while I decide whether I prefer it draped (as suggested by another craft lady) or plain.

As I have no new followers today, I'll direct you to Alennka's blog http://dollshousedaydreams.blogspot.com/ She works at light speed creating far beyond the humble cottage! It is worth going back to her castle from the beginning.

Cheers all!

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it's off to work we go.....

Holidays are over

Alas, my 3 weeks have flown by and my holidays are over. I would like to say that I got everything I planned done but, I think like most of us, I had many plans and little idea of how long each would take.

While nothing to do with dolls housing (except that it would be useful to have one to check details!) my favourite door painting project brought a wide smile to master 13's face and put me in the top mummy ranks. 

Meanwhile I have noticed 4 new followers! Welcome!

I can't find a link for Meli Abellan, so I'm not sure if you have a blog, but I hope you enjoy mine.


For Nuria's blog http://mininuris.blogspot.com/ google translate is invaluable, although you can fill in a tea break very happily just looking at her pictures


Marie from Belgium's blog http://lepetitmondemerveilleux.blogspot.com/ is another of those really pretty collections that look so effortless.


And most recently is Beatrice http://lesminiaturesdebeatrice.blogspot.com/. Sadly google translate has let me down but visit to see Beatrice's photos of handmade clothing of the finest lace that look like they have been made for fairy royalty.

Another parcel caused major excitement yesterday when an item I purchased from Mick at http://www.etsy.com/shop/micklen arrived! Mick is one of my fellow DHE chatters and I have been able to watch his progress since he bought his first mini lathe (and quick progress to a professional level it has been too!). He had shown this mortar and pestle on the board and I fell in love with it then, so dived on it when he listed it. It is rare for me to buy something handcrafted for my dolls house, it seems so indulgent I tend to make my own or do without, but the pleasure I have received from this little item  has made me realise that an indulgence occasionally is an excellent thing! I would recommend Mick's work to anyone. The photo (which is Micks) doesn't do the perfection or the tininess of it justice and a photo can never describe how lovely it feels, like polished marble.

My house gained stairs which was something that had been troubling me, although this turned out to be so easy I wondered why I ever worried. When I look at the photo going down the stairs, I can imagine small children's feet pattering up and down. Sometimes the house takes on it's own life and I don't do things I had planned at the beginning. I think others find the same with their creations. (at least I hope they do!)

Once the stairs were done the plan was to secure the middle floor and get onto the externals, but I have now realised that I need to stock my larder while I still have easy access! (actually I need to finish building my larder too).

The more I need to do, I begin to realise that this house for me is a journey. Obviously there is a destination (which I had expected to reach 3 months ago!) but the process is so enjoyable, worrying out problems included, that I have become more relaxed about it and if it takes 5 or 10 years, well that is 5 or 10 years of pleasure I will have while building it. It has been interesting to feel that way in this achievement oriented world.

An excellent day!

Today was one of those days when everything goes right! My full size painting is nearly finished and I have had to make lots of trips to put painting paraphenalia away, happily to our back shed where I work on my dollshouse, so each trip was able to include a bit of mini-ing time. This kerosene light, based on one my husband had in his electricity-free childhood, was one of the mini projects I was able to complete and the moment of actually having light was thrilling!!!!
 
The postman brought my next excitement with a parcel all the way from Canada from my online dollshouse friend, Margaret who had made a tablecloth, placemats and napkins for me. The napkins are folded and so tiny it hard to believe they were made by human hands. They have inspired me to start dreaming about a room box with a romantic theme, maybe a proposal? Margaret actually made a setting for 6 but my takeaway container table is more suited for an intimate dinner for 2. I hunted for my silverware with no joy but found so many other treasures I had forgotten about it so was time well spent.
The roses on the table are from my garden - 'The Fairy' for those who love horticultural minis as well.

I have heaps of new followers to welcome now as well:

Going back from most recent is Lainie from http://lainieslittlethings.blogspot.com/ I haven't had time to fully explore her blog, but the glimpse I have had shows promise of much reading and admiring to do.

Next is Kim with 2 blogs and my mouth waters just thinking of posting the link to her mini blog, full of exquisite mini cakes and pastries http://kimsminiatures.blogspot.com/ and her other of gorgeous little dolls. http://itsaminiaturelifedolls.blogspot.com/ . I had no idea of the variety of small dolls about until I began this journey.

Then there is Susan who made me chuckle because I have been unofficially following her blog for a while, and when I saw her small handcrochet bear as a follower here I couldn't remember where I knew it from until I went in for a peek. Needless to say her avatar bear is a hint of the delights and inspiration you will find at http://minicrochetmad.blogspot.com/

Carolyn's work at http://carolynslittlekitchen.blogspot.com/ I just love! I went in expecting food but found so much more and everything is so pretty! I seem to manage practical and cheerful and envy those who do pretty so apparently effortlessly. My friend Cherie (she who can make an egg carton a treasured gift) has the skill too.

Cheryl is at http://aminiatureplace.blogspot.com/ and we share the same loves of antiques, decorating and miniatures. I love her 1:48 storybook cottage in particular.

I visited Daydreamer and saw so much of myself on her blog pages - we even have the same wallpaper! http://aboutmydollhouses.blogspot.com/ She is branching off to the world of castles now while I will be in my cottage for a while yet and I look forward to watching her progress.

The Dangerous Mezzo is a name I trip over every time I go blog browsing! Not only does she keep up with everybody's blogs (I know this because she comments as well) but she makes the most amazing creations and runs several blogs, a shop and a website! http://tudordollhouse.blogspot.com/  http://lunenburgartist.blogspot.com/ http://artfiredup.blogspot.com/  http://www.artfire.com/users/dangerousmezzo  http://ninascottstoddart.com/  Wow!

And http://kilmouskiandme.blogspot.com/ is just beautiful. It is full of miniature pieces of gracious living, maybe as you would expect from an artist and metalsmith. I go just to sigh over the perfection that can be found in the miniature world from the top artists.

Now to go to some of my earlier followers, there is Eva Krog, who I know has a blog because I visited it a couple of days ago, but she isn't showing from here. When I track her down, I'll post a link.
Addit: Found it! http://evasminiaturehobby.blogspot.com/

Also known to many here, from what  have been reading, is a lovely lady from My Wee Life http://my-wee-life.blogspot.com/ and Debbie, lover of all things mini including horses! http://hericusminiatureshetlandstud.blogspot.com/ and blogging with several other blogs including http://debbiestinytreasures.blogspot.com/ http://magicalminiatures.blogspot.com/ Looking at various posts, I think Debbie may be a number of people's technical support.

Miniature work has been slowing down a little as real life home painting (not to mention happily reading other people's blogs!) takes priority, but I have managed a small side table based on one owned by an elderly relative in my childhood and remembered very vaguely. Actually my strongest memory is of my sister and I playing 'house' between the top and the bottom. It must have been a very tolerant Great Aunt I think.

This one is made from a strip of walnut cut into 2 lengths and was satisfying to work out how the wood should be cut for best effect. Even though it isn't as ornate as the one I remember, it has that solid 40s feel about it, so I am satisfied.

Cheers, to all, Christine