Australia Day.

I can't believe that I haven't posted since before Christmas. What have I been doing with my time?

I promise you I have been busy but just doing the things that I want to do. I love January because there's usually no commitments in my diary, so.....lovely days spent in my craft room,  in the garden or catching up with friends.  The weather has given much variety but lately, quite warm to hot.  I put a bag of sugar cane mulch on the front garden but will have to buy several more bags to finish the job.

I recently joined a new group, Miniature Haven and I'm loving it. There is a Project of the Month and for January it's items for a bathroom . As I was planning on getting serious about finishing my house, the motivation is back and I've made almost everything my bathroom will need.

The bathroom set is from the Delprado part-works that I "invested" in a few years ago. I re-painted the timber, it was dark brown. I made the towel, slatted mat, slippers, over the bath timber shelf, soap and loofa.

The soap is a tiny button on another and the hand soap dispenser is made from small beads, the face washer is fine terry towel.

 I painted over the blue motif on the suite with a soft green and made the toilet brush and waste bin too. You can't see the toilet roll and holder on this photo.

The pink towel was made from a piece of soft cotton that I dyed with acrylic paint in some water. The white one has some embroidery also.

I still have to find some small labels to go on the items in the cabinet that will go above the basin.

 I found a chair in my stash, repainted it and had fun making and placing a silky nightie and pink bra on it. I gently glued the nightie in place.

This was also fun to make. I cut out the shape of a dressing gown and glued and folded it to the look that I wanted. I left it on a sheet of plastic over-night to set. A tiny brass nail was pushed through at the top and it will hang on the back of the bathroom door.

I arranged some items on a small shelf and added a hand towel.

 You can see the basin better from this angle. I was really happy with the tiny  pink button, it makes a good bar of soap.

Christmas Wishes.

This is Nick all dressed up for Christmas with a bow in his hair. I think it suits him, I'm not sure what his opinion is but he looks happy enough. He's probably dreaming about what he might find under the tree.

CHRISTMAS TREASURES.

I thought you might like to see some more of my Christmas decorations. I bought this little break-away box a few weeks ago. It lights up and looks really sweet on the coffee table.  I would like to make a break-away box "one day".

 I have several music boxes but this is my favourite. You can see just how tiny it is, the figures are so pretty and the music is Silent Night. The case is soft leather,  the music stops when the lid is closed.

 I just love this Santa Claus and was lucky to find him in an op-shop ( thrift shop)  he's perfect and I felt lucky to be able to give him a loving home.

 I found this printie on the net so cut it out and put it together.  It's so small but I love it.

Welcome To My Home At Christmas.

I love the little houses that light up. The smaller ones in front are battery operated but I forgot to switch them on for the photo, oh dear!  My cat Harry still manages to jump up on this desk in the kitchen to see out of the window.I often discover his "re-arranging" efforts.

 The mantle-piece is a great place to display some of my favourite things.

 The crystal cabinet that my husband made me a few years ago holds one of several nativity sets and some trees that I made in a craft group last year.

 The large cabinet that my husband also made is in the hallway with our tree and old treadle sewing machine.

These are some of my beautiful lighted houses. Most are Lemax although a few are cheaper ones that I've been lucky enough to buy over the last few years.

Hello Again!

I can't believe just how long it's been since my last post.  I've been so busy what with one thing and another. 

 First there was the school exams. I'm a supervisor at a local high school for the V.C.E. exams.

 This is the Victorian Certificate of Education exams that are for year 12 high school ( last year of high school). They are held twice yearly and always using supervisors from 'outside' the school concerned.

 End of year exams are held over 3 weeks , I did 16 of them. I really love the work but it is very tiring as you must stay on your feet all the time and most importantly, keep quiet!!

 Some of the exams go for 3 hours so it's a long time without talking.

I have managed to make some new Christmas decorations though, there's always time for craft.

The little trees are very simple, two are made with paper and the other using suffolk puffs glued onto a foam shape. I've made quite a few trees over the years, fabric, felt and covered bottle tops to think of a few.
 

 I love this little angel, my lovely husband cut it out for me and I painted her and the standing angel with the beautiful wings.  I don't do enough folk art. Every now and then the mood takes me and out come the paints and brushes!

 We made these baubles at our last craft day for this year at my Probus club. I'm the president this year and also organise the craft group. We have lots of fun, laughing and talking and even managing to make some lovely craft items as well!

My Work Shed.

My first and only attempt at quarter scale so far. I made this shed at a workshop day a few years ago and loved doing it. We constructed the box and everything inside.
 Some of the tools are laser cut and so tiny but beautifully detailed. They were bought from Eclectic Echidna, not sure if it's still in business though.

I'm so nervous about starting another project in this scale but think I will order a small house from Petite Properties.    I hope to have a garden space for my beautiful garden arbour and flower filled wheelbarrow that I was very fortunate to win from Sandra at Snippets From My Studio.

The only other really small item that I've made is this castle.  The pieces were pre-cut by some-one else and I put it together and painted it.  I'm not really happy with some of the detail.   One day I might get around to fixing it.      Painting the soldier toothpicks was fun!     I'm not sure my eyesight would be good enough now!

No News.

Hello there!  I haven't really got anything to tell you, I just popped in to feed the fish.
 I don't know if I'm imagining it but the black fish always seems to get the most food, perhaps it's because he's a dark colour and stands out more.
 Anyway, I love my little fish and feed them often.
  If your feeding them as well, please don't overdo it because they will end up too large to fit on my blog page!!

 I might have something more interesting to talk about next time.  The sun is out here today so life can't be much better. Keep smiling. xx

Lucky Thirteen.

Hello and welcome to Julia,  thank-you for your comments.  I can't find a blog for you, perhaps you can send me details. I would like to see what you make and your interests.

   I spend more time than I probably should reading about what other fantastic, talented miniaturists are making.  I don't know what we did before the internet.   Probably waited to ask for information or visited the library.  But now it's all here at the click of a button!!!

An Even Dozen.

Goodness me! A warm welcome to my 12th follower Ingrid from My Dreamworld. I love reading your blog and admire your work very much.  The detail on the antique camera is truly amazing.

I can't believe that it's October already.  What happened to the last nine months I wonder.  What have I been doing with my time?  When I really think about it or read through my diary or more importantly, read back through my blog, I can see that not all the days have been wasted.

Apart from a "crook" back and the usual creaks and groans of my ageing bones,  I'm very fortunate and I do thank God for all the wonderful, positive parts to my little life.
  Fantastic family, good friends, a comfortable home filled with all the crafts, books and other bits and pieces to fill my days.  What else could I want??
I wouldn't say no to having much more money to spend but then I don't think I could squeeze many more mini's into our little house.  Would I like to be 30 years younger?  I'll think about that one and get back to you.

The Forgotten Groceries And More.

Hello to Carmen from My Little Escape, welcome to my blog.  I really like what you have done with the red lantern that you bought at Ikea. I hope you will enjoy reading what I do here.

At last! Here are photo's of the grocery items that I mentioned in my last post then forgot to include.  Since then I've made more but still sooooo many more to make before the shelves are full.

 I have already bought quite a lot of packet and tin items as well as lots of bottles and jars to fill and label.  I know some of the items aren's strictly 1950's era but they can go at the back to make the display look fuller.
It's going to take a while to make enough as I have three shelf units to stock then I can put the "shopping" away and start on something else.

My shop will be in the  1950's and I'm going to sell hardware  things too such as pots, dishes, mops, buckets, as well as fruit and vege's.  There is also a post-office section.
 I'm hoping it will look like one of those country stores that's crammed full of all sorts of interesting bits and pieces.

I thought you might like to see some photo's of my cats. I must be honest and tell you that I've got many to choose from, they always seem to be doing something cute or funny so out comes the camera again!

Bella, on the left and looking like she's whispering to Harry, is as her name suggests, beautiful in nature as well as looks. She was one of a litter from a stray cat and was born in my daughters back garden.  I'm not sure what breed she is, perhaps Calico.

This is a favourite photo of Bella. She was washing her whiskers but it looks like she's laughing.

Harry is a street kid in more ways than one!  I got him from a cat rescue place. He took quite a while to settle in when he came home. He climbed and jumped up on every surface and piece of furniture in the house and was so full of energy that we wondered if we had done the right thing in getting him.  Now I wouldn't swap him for the world.  He's settled down although he still loves to climb and has a couple of favourite places on window sills.