GOOD MORNING.

I have created a new blog and hope you will drop in to see what I spend my time on when not making mini's.

http://vicki-thespiceoflife.blogspot.com

It's all about my other crafts and hobbies. I love crafting and over the years have certainly been involved in a large variety, cross-stitch, stitcheries, painting, porcelain dolls, teddy bears, card making and the list goes on.

I do hope you will call in and say hello,   I would love to hear from you.

HARRY THE EXPLORER.

I'm sure I've told you about one of my cats called Harry and his ability to climb up onto anything in the house.

I've found him on top of the wardrobes,  book-cases,  kitchen cupboards,  shower recess. In fact anywhere he can climb up to for a better view of what's around and new ideas for somewhere else to climb!

I recently took one of the small drawers out of a cabinet to look at the contents in the kitchen when I heard an odd noise.  This is what I found.

What goes in....

Must come out!

Then I need a little rest just to show you how cute I am.

MY DAUGHTER'S HOUSE.

After publishing my last post, I realised that I forgot to show you the photo's of my creation of my daughter's house.   I made this from scratch, it looks just like her home.  The colours are the same but I didn't have the right material to replicate the wrought iron lace-work on the verandah.

I found the lady sitting in her rocking chair and told my daughter that it could be her in the future! 

 She has two cats and no dogs but I think the dogs look very much at home here. I also love the rubber boots, they feel soft and realistic.

There isn't a wicker planter and plants either but when making mini's, we can surely have some say in how we want it to look can't we?

THE REAL ME .

After quite a lot of thinking and soul searching I have decided to "come clean" and use my real name on this blog.  I decided to use the name Sandie, as my blog name when I started it. Even though I thought I had good reasons, it has become too confusing for the lovely people that I've made friends with so....here I am as myself,    Vicki.
 What a good feeling  to just be me!

I also want to show you a project that my grand-son made at school two years ago. he gave it to me last week-end as he's now 16 and  interested in other things. I have always loved it, mainly because he made it ( with help from his Dad ) but also because it depicts a miners camp on the gold fields.

Welcome to you both.

Hell and welcome to Ascension and Jazzi.
 Ascension your tiny little elves are fascinating. I can't believe they could be made so small.
Jazzi, It's lovely to hear from a "neighbor". I really like your teapots. I have a few full size ones that I've collected and would love to have several smaller size too.  I have emailed you in the hope of us meeting up soon.

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!