mini ramblings and musings

Ooops sorry about the broken link

2012-01-24T12:13:00.002-05:00

The correct link to get to the Frills and Fancy ezine is: www.frillsandfancyezine.com

2012-01-23T23:41:00.005-05:00

I'm very fortunate to count among my friends a lady who is a consummate doll maker & costumer.

Where I struggle with dressing a mini doll using an actual clothes pattern, Dana can take a scrap of lace or a tiny piece of material and make not just the most amazing clothes but actually do it on the doll.

Not only is she the owner of MSATMiniDoll list, a Yahoo group that, although having been online for 20(?) years, continues with daily moderated discussions, but now Dana has taken on a new venue as a continuation of her talents, an online magazine called Frills and Fancy Ezine.

Here's how Dana's reasoning for doing this:

Life provides an endless opportunity of visual stimulation. The different perspectives that an artist takes in, keeps in visual memory and creates at a later date is astounding! For those of us with less then perfect memories ... tear sheets (or a simple notebook filled with photos, magazine pages, or doodles) provides a wonderful *scrapbook* of ideas.
The launch of this FRILLS AND FANCY magazine tackles this very subject. Our take this year, is providing you with TECHNIQUES rather then tons of patterns. AND ... before you start to question the logic of this ... may I point out - that there are literally HUNDREDS of doll tutorials/patterns online for free. BUT the basics, or tricks, tips or techniques IN ORDER TO GET TO THE NEXT step are somewhat lacking! We aim therefore ... to provide short techniques, tips and dollmaking tricks that are universal in most doll patterns. AND for the die hard dollmaker, YES there will be at least one full doll tutorial in each issue.

For anyone interested in costuming 1:12 dolls ...and doing it well, the site to subscribe is here.

A Wonderful Charity Giveaway

2012-01-16T22:58:00.002-05:00

Susana Lopez del Toro is not only having a giveaway but also donating the value of the item to charity.Muchas Gracias, Susana!!

Almost forgot, the link to Susana's blog!

Is there a Secret to Selling?????

2012-01-06T11:42:00.006-05:00

Lately I've been in discussion with other miniaturists about making a go selling your creations. It's an interesting conversation because if you ask 100 people, you'll get 100 different answers including a lot of "I don't knows". What works for one person doesn’t always work for the next person!

So how do you manage to sell an item that you're made? ...and more to the point, if it doesn't sell, does it mean the item is rubbish? ...or that you aren't any good as its creator?

My stepdaughter, Jen, has made me very aware of the importance of social media marketing which has become so integral in our lives that it's now said any company that doesn't avail itself of online resources is doomed to failure. While at the moment that may seem drastic, I have a feeling it will become total reality in the near future.

But getting back to you and I as sellers, we're just the little insignificant artisans trying to be seen in today’s doom and gloom economy. If you added up the hours spent creating whatever it was you did last, you'd know that you could never sell it at even the minimum hourly rate.
If you're like me, you really don't think about the money; what you're doing is for the love of creating, to able to use your gift of artistic ability... and of course it's nice to think that someone values your ability enough to buy from you. Receiving money to buy new supplies doesn't hurt either!

All of which brings us back full circle: how can you market yourself? Because let’s face it, it's not the tiny tea set, the cake, the....whatever it is you make, the bottom line is, it's you that you're selling. Once you've established a name for yourself, your creations seem easier to sell. Why else can a "known name" artisan command the big bucks for an item; I'm thinking of the Kivas and Linda Cummings and Betsy Niederers of the miniature clay foods... although I'm sure that if you asked, they'd tell you they don't find it that much easier; they’ve just been at it longer.

The most important marketing strategy seems to be networking. The more places that you join and become known at …and more importantly show off your creations, the better your chances of success.
There are blogs, yahoo clubs, facebook and twitter to name just a few. From what I’ve read about Social Media participation, here are some different uses:

Content creation - blogger
Content sharing - twitter
Connections - facebook
Community building - facebook pages, Yahoo groups

Facebook, for instance, allows you to create a business page; there are even apps so you can sell directly from your fb page.

You could sell from your blog …just create a separate page for sales. The problem I see with that is if your followers read your posts through the Google reader, they’ll never see the other pages that you’ve made. You could post a link within a regular post but usually only your followers are going to see it and then only if they’re caught up with their blog reading.

So what then? Do you sell from eBay? I’ve heard that if you’re a newbie eBay seller, eBay and its monetary company PayPal, hold the money you’ve received until after your customer leaves feedback.
You could create an Etsy store. However keep in mind that both Etsy and eBay will favor the buyer’s word in the case of a dispute.

One nice thing about Etsy, they very frequently send out emails giving help with selling and if you do your homework, adding lots of the “correct” tags to your sale item you do actually stand a chance that your item could come up in a Google search as well as a search from within Etsy. But here again, the operative phrase is “doing your homework” and that includes getting to understand one of the major concepts of online selling: keywords to help the search engine crawlers find you. Having great photos, well rounded descriptions etc, and your item might even end up being featured by Etsy.

There are places like CDHM that will do your marketing for you …for a price. But to my way of thinking, that defeats the purpose of selling in the first place …unless you sell multiple items, command large prices or can't/won't do your own marketing.

The bottom line is: if you’re a newbie seller, it takes almost as much time doing research, creating the correct (for you) marketing strategy and then using your chosen venue correctly as it does making your creation. The biggest no-no seems to be, simply churning out emails of the same item over and over and over again. People will just tune out or even worse, get annoyed with you.
And now that I’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest and/or got you thinking, I’ll step away from the dais and get back to my studio.

Steampunk

2011-12-28T21:57:00.004-05:00

Since Steampunk means using Victorian steam engine machines in a futuristic setting, just about anything goes. I've seen lots of really great costumes, totally cool jewelry, very imaginative orreries ....those are the mechanical devices made using gears and cogs to show the planetary movements. But again how do you show steampunk when creating a very stationary roombox? That was my dilemma....

....and my solution:my Victorian era says gray stonework, dampness and a propensity for growing moss...while steampunk says watch gears and aging machinery the watching eye is just a bit of spoof...Steampunk can represent something totally different to each of you.

....that's the beauty of imagination! It means there's neither a right nor a wrong.

Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallows

2011-12-21T06:44:00.011-05:00

I recently asked my friend, Frank about his favorite dessert and he promptly told me it was sweet potato pie topped with marshmallows. Apparently it's known as "Soul Food" in the Southern US and although Frank isn't black, he does hail from Missouri.

Here in Canada, yams aka sweet potatoes are just becoming popular mainly because of pre-packaged foods coming across the border. I can't ever remember having ever eaten one but I had heard they're very healthy. When I googled them, the first thing I learned is that yams and sweet potatoes are actually two different vegetables. Up here we call them yams but in much of the States they're known as sweet potato and surprisingly there are quite a few different types grown throughout the world; the yams sold in our grocery stores are the orange fleshed, reddish-brownish-orangish skinned sweet potatoes masquerading as yams. They’re even more common than the standard sweet potato, sweeter, and containing a healthy starch that's great for a diabetic diet.

Now you might be wondering what all this has to do with miniatures and dollhouses!

I've long been in the habit of buying a real life food to get my clay just the right color when miniaturizing and so having googled my fill of recipes (for the ingredients) and photos of sweet potato pies (so I'd know how they looked), I set off to the local store to buy a few yams.

Once you've figured out your clay, what then, do you do with whatever you've brought home? Last year I bought at least 8 different types of squash but never had the desire to taste any of them....mostly because I'm not a very experimental cook and luckily I have a large composite bin.

This time, however, I was determined to do better and since I had to roast at least one yam so I could see if the baked changed color from the raw, I decided to find out whether they tasted as good as everyone claimed. I mashed my roasted yams with some butter and maple syrup and served them that night for supper. My husband, who categorically hates all vegetables and especially those he's never tried, pulled a face but surprisingly ate the rest without another complaint. My first taste made me realize why: they taste really good! I've even bought some more to mash and take to a Christmas potluck dinner.

So Frank, thank you... for "forcing" me out of my comfort zone!
For anyone else out there, who's not quite sure this is the right type of dish for them. Try it out on your dollshouse people first:I have three more preps, available in my Etsy store.

Steampunk

2011-12-18T10:38:00.005-05:00

so what does the word steampunk really mean? Wikipedia tells us that...

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, and fantasy that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. It involves a setting where steam power is still widely used such as in Victorian era Britain or the "Wild West"-era of the United States. Works of steampunk often feature futuristic innovations as Victorians might have envisioned them, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, or art as seen by a member of a rebellious counterculture group. The technology includes such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or the contemporary authors Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld and China Mieville.

Huh!!

So how would ...could you show it in a miniatures setting? What do you use? Do you create something that could conceivably be used by your miniature people?
Or would you make it so futuristic that it has no rhyme or reason for being?

....and while you puzzle it out. Steampunk is generally shown using watch gears, wheels etc. ....if that helps.

I LOVE it!

2011-11-28T20:13:00.003-05:00

....with those words, my customer announced the arrival of her ruins and sent this photo to me:
As an artist, there is no greater praise than to see your creation enjoyed!

Less than 45 Days til Christmas!

2011-11-12T09:44:00.003-05:00

I went to my first Christmas show this week. Decorated theme Christmas trees everywhere you looked, two string orchestras ....one with a lady singing Christmas carols, a bit of wine and cheese, hot chocolate or coffee and the aisles overflowing with shopping carts loaded high with purchases. I read in the paper that this season will be the worst for retailers but at the show, you could have fooled me!

These are some photos of the Biltmore House in North Carolina, USA featuring Christmas traditions and folklore of France, Germany, India, Egypt and Italy with elements of the Vanderbilt family’s own Christmas traditions mixed in. On the front lawn, a 55-foot Norway spruce is lit by 45,000 tiny white lights.
Designed by Richard Morris Hunt, America’s largest home is a 250-room French Renaissance chateau, exhibiting the Vanderbilt family’s original collection of furnishings, art and antiques. The Biltmore estate encompasses more than 8,000 acres including renowned gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture.

The Biltmore modern-day Christmas celebration is modeled on the first 1895 Christmas, with an elaborately decorated, 34-foot tall Fraser Fir dominating the Banquet Hall.
How super would that be to miniaturize!

Endings and New Beginnings

2011-11-10T21:43:00.005-05:00

My ruined castle is finally finished!

I hope I've given it enough of a damp and dank atmosphere to make Dracula feel at home.

....and the roombox give-away has closed as well. Congratulations go out to Aukje Tibbe in Holland who makes incredible needle point! We've talked about certain things for her roombox ....like steampunk! I had secretly hoped she might go for it and she did.
I am totally excited to start! So stay tuned.

A CSI Moment

2011-11-01T21:41:00.001-04:00

This photo probably makes you think of Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffin show. What a nice old lady, you're thinking right?

Her name was Frances Glessner Lee and back during the 1940s she created a series of crime scene roomboxes for the Baltimore Maryland police force. They must have been extremely authentic because the dioramas were used to teach inexperienced police officers about different types of death scenes, as well as encourage them to use careful observation to spot "indirect" evidence for crime reconstruction.

You can read all about her amazing miniaturist career here

New WIP....in time for Halloween and a Give-away Announcement

2011-10-28T14:59:00.006-04:00

Some time ago I had a customer ask me to make a roombox for her 1:12 Dracula rising from his castle. She also wanted a graveyard to show off some additional ghosties & skeletons. I immediately thought about how perfect a ruined castle would be....
Although there's not much more to do, other than make the interior of the ruins look just that little bit more dark and dank & give the graveyard grounds a spookier look, I doubt I'll have it ready this month but....
.... since Halloween is almost upon us, I thought I'd show you some more Work In Progress photos:

I didn't want Dracula feeling lonely so I added 3 little friends flying close to the stone walls....

So now for my give-away news..... unfortunately this is for facebook followers only:
I intend having a give-away of a 7"x9" roombox when I reach 100 likes on my OrrLakeMiniatures facebook page (winner to pay shipping).
Every person following gets one entry so you'd have a 1in100 chance of winning.

click here to like my OrrLakeMinis page

WIP #2 - Finished

2011-09-29T12:50:00.006-04:00

At first glance, it seems fairly traditional, right?Well turn it around & look from the other side.... The doll that you see here wigged & dressed was done by my 11 year old granddaughter, Jade!
I'd taken her with me to attend 2 workshops in Quebec this summer. Being a very artistic person, I thought that not only would she enjoy them but we'd have great fun along the drive ...and we did!
Natalie came over from France (www.provenceminiatures.com) and Helena from Belgium (www.dollsinminiature.com) to lead the workshops. I didn't sit by Jade; in fact I left her on her own to do or not, or even how she wanted to work in the workshops.

So the doll and the Halloween goodies on the table inside the pumpkin are all her own doing! All I've done is put everything together and made the surround. Plexiglas cover and the wooden frame aren't shown as I just couldn't wait to show photos ...I am just so proud of my Jade!!!!

And here you can have a look inside the pumpkin where the Trick Or Treat table sits loaded down with goodies

(the white line in the photo is an edge of the glass cover)
Oh by all means, take a closer look at all the little fimo goodies that Jade made... there's a tea service, a haunted gingerbread house, decorated cupcakes in the 2 boxes at the back, a Halloween cake, a jack-o-lantern filled with treats; she made the jar lids and painted all the faces on the goodies.
The spoon in the bead jar and the Spooky Times newspaper sitting on the top step were a prezzie from Ketsia (another workshop participant) and the eyeballs (in the glass jar) were made by Louise Belair at whose house we stayed.The laughing pumpkin is another bead but Jade chose logo at the back and painted the table
Love you, Jade! So so proud!!!

WIP #1 - finished

2011-09-21T18:42:00.004-04:00

well... finished except I still have to make a frame & build a plexiglass cover for it. But since Christel sent me that very nice comment I didn't want to keep her waiting.
May I present to you, Haggartha & her new home:

That's right Christel! Bet you never thought to see her ugly puss again did you?
You see everyone, I bought Haggartha from Cristel Hutson at least a year ago.
I can see having spent the past year in a dark cupboard has done nothing for her attitude (Haggartha's not Christel's LOL).Here she is offering up an lovely red apple but look closely at the firepit.... Our delightful hag uses bones to fuel her fire.and if you're really curious about where that bone supply comes from, just look at the other side of her house. Either big rats gnaw on bones or it's Hagartha's delivery boy.

My clay is still drying; I've no idea how long it will actually take and while it did crackle, I think I should have mixed it more and had it smoother.
Here you can see the steps leading down into Haggartha's basement abode. I think the clay could also have done with more acrylic paint to give it a deeper darker brown but live and learn!Since my gourd came with no attached stem I added my own. What you see here is a rubberized "plant stem" that was once part of a Halloween wreath. I added the spider (it's that dark blob). The snake is one of those soft squishy toys that one of the boys left for their Nana to use (they just don't remember it that way); I had my choice of the soft green one you see hanging, a bright pink one or a soft purple one.
I'm not sure if I'll keep the gecko at the base of the stem.

So there you have it!
One less WIP, approximately 3 million left to do!

WIP #1

2011-09-20T20:41:00.005-04:00

Both Jade and I participated in the MSAT Dollvention this summer so in other words we made the same items to place on our Halloween goodies table. Not only that but I promised to make roomboxes for both of us.
I just couldn't see making both roomboxes alike so while I decided Jade's would be shown inside a pumpkin, I also decided that mine would show the darker side of Samhain.
At this summer's arts festival, I found a pumpkin shaped gourd that looked for all the world like it was moldy. Unfortunately it's much too small for my table.
Originally I had thought to enlarge the inside by carving into the base and have most of it seem underground. I even thought about using a smaller table. But finally I opted against having anything inside.
The next problem was how to attach a rounded door. In the end, only having the door ajar meant that I didn't need hinges and with the floor painted black, no one can see inside the gourd house.I used Magic Sculpt to secure the gourd to its base. Since I really hate to waste material, I epoxied the stairs and the firepit stones to the base.
Some time ago I stumbled across a website for taxidermists that contained a great tutorial for making dried and cracked riverbed mud. I knew that's what I had to have for my base but no way was I going out to find mud, and then sieve it to a fine powder. Instead I bought a package of natural air-dry clay from the Dollar Store. I'd used it once before and swore never again but for this project it seemed perfect.
I added a bottle of cheap white glue and some Burnt Umber paint and proceeded to mix the three ....and mix ....and mix ...and add more glue ...and mix ....add more paint ....and mix until I thought my arm would drop off.
It was still slightly lumpy but I troweled it onto the base anyway.and then I added a few sprigs of dried moss and a well-weathered log.

All that glue is supposed to make the clay crack as it dries. So keep your fingers crossed and while my mud is drying, I started on Jade's roombox

Serendipity

2011-08-29T11:30:00.009-04:00

Do you ever wonder about things happening for a reason?

I went shopping with a friend last week & we talked about spending a weekend in St Jacob which has a big Mennonite community so she could buy a quilt. Two weeks ago another friend and I drove to a barbecue in my car and afterwards we realized that she had left her chair in my car.
Saturday, Ken and I decided to attend an auction where a bunch of radios were advertised. The auction turned out to be filled with junk and of the radios there was no sign. We left but because we were so near by, we decided to return the chair that had remained in my car all this time. When our friends mentioned about the Creemore Copper Kettle Festival being held that same day, we all thought it'd be a fun outing.

Creemore is one of those tiny towns common all around here; its only distinction is the micro brewery located in the middle of town ...that still uses a copper kettle, hence the name of the festival.
The entire main street had vintage cars parked on either side. Just amazing to see some of the cars from the 50s and 60s!You'd need a double parking spot for them in today's parking lots and the insides, OMG!Some have back seats larger than single beds today! It's always great fun talking to some of the owners too. I have so little interest in cars that I can't tell one model from another, but I do love looking at yesteryear's cars!
We stopped for lunch in a lovely little pub in the middle of town; the fact that we first had to wait for a table to become free and then "for the chef to catch the chicken" for our gobbler salads, hardly mattered. It gave us all the more time to enjoy a taste of the new Creemore Springs beer making its debut.
Eventually tho, we continued on down the street, stopping to sample honey ginger elixir and watch a demonstration of how honey is extracted from the combs. Then we took a brewery tour led by one of its founders and had another small sample of beer. We finally left with a ball cap for Ken and a T-shirt for me (both with the Creemore Springs logo) and a 6-pack sampler of beer. Guess that free sip of beer wasn't that free afterall. LOL

Just before heading into the beer tent to listen to some great entertainment, we toured the quilt area and the quilters hard at work
Quite a wide variety of quilts were shown

In a lot of these little farm towns this is still a viable occupation. Along with the lovely demonstrations was the requisite quilt raffle to raise money and I thought of my friend who so badly wants one.

Even I would have loved to have any one of these fine examples:
A pictorial quilt
This pattern is "Court House Steps"... the quilt was made from old clothing by a 16 year old, "great, great aunt Jane", in approximately 1880; the lady died in her 80s and upon her death, the quilt was given to her brother who then used it until his death at age 87. From there another relative who inherited it, placed it, washed and wrapped, into a cedar chest where it remained for an additional 46 years. What an amazing story!
I don't know what most of the quilt pattern names are but that certainly didn't stop me admiring the wonderful colorsWhen I saw this "chicken coop" quilt, I had to restrain myself from reaching out to make sure there was no real wire on it.Even the strips of cloth so accurately resembled feathers.
Then there were the stitches to admireI got tired just thinking about doing them.

This quilt has been in the same family, since it was won 85 years ago; made by the ladies of the town's Baptist church who each paid 10 cents to have their name put on it. Then it was raffled off. Tickets apparently were sold for an additional 10 cents or 3 for a quarter. When you consider the hundreds of dollars ...and in some case thousands of dollars that a quilt costs now, it was quite a bargain for 20cents!!

...and then came an even older hobby demonstration:
a walking wheel:a wool windersome tools of the trade and a few finished productsand the lady whose hobby it is When I admired the lace on her blouse, she admitted to having owned it for 50 years!

After a fantastic time at the beer tent listening to the band and watching an amazing demonstration of how one gentleman drank a stein of beer while doing a hand stand (without touching the stein with his hands!), we left Creemore and ended our day with a huge steak supper. Even Luna, my furbaby, who received the remnants of my incredibly sized steak in a "doggie" bag when we arrived home, spent a long time devouring it.

It's been such a busy summer...

2011-08-22T21:36:00.001-04:00

....I'm almost glad it's coming to an end! uh, no not really

This summer there hasn't been much time left over for miniatures between family visiting, get-togethers with friends and those two wonderful workshops that I took and the new friends I made. Then it seemed like I spent most of August recuperating, doing nothing.
So now here I go again...
Several months ago, I traded this castle roombox for a goth Alice in Wonderland.
Yeah, yeah, OK, I know.... another UFO idea! but I had this absolutely fabulous, out-of-this-world idea for a woven basket chair that would be perfect for an Alice teaparty scene. So as per usual I'm gathering all my things together.....!
This month, one of the forum groups that I belong to, needed funds to keep the site alive and I donated this roombox to the causeand another member decided it was a must have, as well. I offered her a few choices such as stone coloring; she chose sandstone but I guess it was a hard decision because now she also wants a second roombox made of grey "granite".
So I guess the busy-ness will continue. The timing couldn't be better and the weather's co-operating beautifully; we've got sunshine and the temperature's not too hot, just perfect for stone carving outside! Much too messy inside.

Count Down til Christmas

2011-08-22T20:35:00.004-04:00

Seems strange to think about Christmas when we're still in the throws of summer. Apparently there're only 125 days until the Big Guy comes bearing presents.

I was out doing some yard work today, tidying up after a much needed rainstorm. On either side of our property, we're bordered by very large shrubs with branches that have a tendency of reaching out where they don't belong. I had quite a few that needed cutting off which brings me to the reason of why I mentioned Christmas.
My wayward shrubs produce mini cones. As I cut the branches, I saved all the cones that I saw.Although most of them are green, I'm sure they'll eventually turn brown. Looking just like regular sized pinecones, they're the perfect size for miniature Christmas wreaths.
If there's wreath making in your plans & you'd like some "pine"cones.... mine are free for the asking; or just about free as all I'd ask is for you to pay the postage.
First email gets them. Please include your address so I can figure out shipping.

...if anyone is interested

2011-08-20T11:40:00.004-04:00

I have one of each of the baked and unbaked lobsters for sale$15US + shipping.

I also have a couple of calamari prep boards$25 + shipping.

If you're interested please email me. Otherwise they will be listed on eBay this week.
Just got a commission to build a castle roombox. That'll be my third. Yeaahhh!
This was my first:
...and my second

Ludditism

2011-08-16T23:24:00.003-04:00

Luddite:

n.
1.Any of a group of British workers who between 1811 and 1816 rioted and destroyed laborsaving textile machinery in the belief that such machinery would diminish employment.
2.One who opposes technical or technological change.

Hubby and I finally got new phones. Our old ones were only three years old but between the batteries no longer lasting and my grandkids laughing at us for using antique devices, it seemed long overdue.
First came the careful choice about which provider to use ...and the astonishing discovery that in Canada there really isn't much difference between any of them.
Next came the decision of type of phone to get: I wanted an iphone; Ken wanted to support the Canadian manufacturer RIM & get a Blackberry. In the end the sales rep convinced me that I could do just as much with a Blackberry. I picked a Torch; Ken chose the Bold.
Last but most important came the choice of plan. Ken has long been a social butterfly, subscribing to Twitter, Facebook and whatever other social networks are out there. Took me a lot longer & I'm still only on Facebook ...and that because I accessed his Facebook account when Ken was having problems logging in. Once on, I never got out. I can see(read) what family and friends are doing much more readily than I ever could by phone or email.
My plan entitles me to receive emails. I get approximately 100 each day; it used to be mainly jokes at first, then I got into miniatures and started joining Yahoo forums and that's where most of my mail comes from now.
Ken's plan brings all the social networks to his phone.
Neither one of us have any other data plan figuring that if we're anywhere with free wifi we can surf more extensively ....besides I just bought a little 4lb notebook with 4 hour battery usage. This means that for 2 people, we make do with 3 laptops, 1 notebook and our new phones! Life is tough isn't it LOL!

The sales rep assured us that we'd probably spend the evening playing with our new toys; I insisted I'd be much too busy on my laptop. I was wrong!! Not only did I play all that evening but the next day and the one after that.....
I take my phone to bed & when I can't sleep or wake in the night (ADH causes sleep issues), instead of reading a book, I now read emails and check out what the other side of the world is saying on Facebook. I love my phone!
When waiting for my friend to finish shopping, I sit in my car playing on my phone. Once when I was laughing at something I'd read, I looked up to see a man in the car next to me looking rather strangely my way.
I play while standing in a queue.
I play when I arrive too early somewhere. I love my phone!
I've also discovered that the phone camera is almost as good as my actual camera.
Now having said all that, I am still a total newbie. My stepdaughter is moving back to Canada & needs furniture; today I took a picture of some night tables that I thought she might like to have. I could have easily transferred the photo to my laptop and sent her an email but instead I spent the entire afternoon trying to pull all my contacts into my phone ...not easy to do as Blackberries do not like separate address book folders. By late afternoon, I did manage to send my message from my phone with the photo attachment but I also ended up with a gigantic contact list and a new membership to a blackberry forum so that some day my phone contacts can become manageable again. Hmmm, more emails!

Poor Ken! First he discovered that the Blackberry Bold isn't as finger friendly or as see-able as the Torch so the morning after we'd gotten the phones, we exchanged his model for the same as what I had ....while waiting, I played on my phone.
Then for some reason, Ken seemed to become lost with the technology. It took forever to get him to set up his phone message retrieval. I am positive that he'd much prefer to go back to his old phone that does nothing more than send/receive calls. The more his phone is capable of, the less it works for him.
He has the same problem with his computer. Having passed typewriting 101 in high school with flying colors, he's now constantly frustrated that his typing apparently makes the laptop skip and zip off to nether regions. I'm positive that it's more a wonky keypad than his fingers but after a while of being frustrated anyone would begin to doubt themselves. And now comes the added frustration of not being able to use his new phone.

How do the elderly manage in a technologically driven world? It's no wonder I'm hearing so many complaints about kids doing nothing but play games or interacting so much on their networking sites. A friend ended up taking her 12 year old daughter's phone away. By her reckoning, the girl had made 13,000 texts in one week and that during a school week.
Surely it's not that our brains atrophy so much as we age that it becomes harder and harder to learn new things. I think it's more the case of practise makes perfect; either that or become a Luddite which is what I've jokingly started to call Ken.
Oops! Sorry gotta go. My phone's beeping; I think I just got another email ...and we all know how rude it is to ignore those.

Sculpting Aids

2011-08-09T12:58:00.005-04:00

Sometimes it's better to work from a photograph than a tutorials. A method that works for one person does not always work for the next person:

Following the tutorial, this is how my lobsters came out:
I thought I'd better take a photo before they get totally smooshed! I see they've already lost a claw each.

These were made using a photograph:
No comparisons as far as I can tell!

Second Workshop, Coaticook Quebec

2011-08-08T23:50:00.012-04:00

We left Ontario on the hottest day of the entire month ...so hot in fact that records were broken: 38C / 100.4F with a humidex of 43. The car's air conditioning could barely keep up.
This workshop consisted of the same kits as the first one that I attended so this time, my granddaughter would take it. I merely acted as chauffeur.
Quebec is a lovely province that I've been to several times; one of the differences from Ontario are seeing the houses with their stairs on the outside.
We stopped overnight in Chateauguay and managed to do some clothes shopping the next morning before heading off again.
Of course we couldn't drive past the covered bridges without taking photos.

Even the countryside was greener than what we had left behind. Ontario consisted of strawlike lawns. Not only had we had hotter than normal temperatures but we were undergoing a mini drought as well ...something that Quebec obviously was not.Coaticook, where we were headed, is a village not far from both Montreal and the Vermont border.
This time with only three "students" per class, Natalie and Helena had a much easier time giving individual attention and Dana finally got her long awaited shot of all of us in PJs... We had a marvelous time; the food was delicious and the company exceptional. Mornings and evenings, we sat around the kitchen table; most all of us in front of our laptops. What would people do without those LOL!Our hostess, Louise, has an enormous studio, one that I would love to have. One entire wall was dedicated to doll molds. Unfortunately once again the time went by all too quickly before Jade & I were back on the road.
We had come via Canada, but on our way home we wanted to drive through the US which Jade had not been to. Fortunately at the Vermont border crossing, we were permitted through; although my daughter had gotten a passport for Jade, she neglected to provide me with a letter permitting Jade to travel to the States with me. So we were quite lucky.
For most of Vermont, the Appalachian mountains were shrouded in mist but the rain held off.The fastest route to New York state means taking the ferry at Lake Champlain ...another first time of many for Jade.Once in New York state my GPS decided that we should discover as many single car lanes and rural routes as possible as it navigated us through the Adirondacks.
We stopped overnight in Syracuse where I took advantage of shopping at Hobby Lobby. Unfortunately since we only have a Michaels craft store, I tend to overspend. But finally we reached Niagara Falls, which neither of us had explored from the American side. The Falls are roughly divided between Canada and the US with Canadian Horseshoe Falls being the larger of the two.But you can get closer to the Falls on the American side!
We were told that if someone were to fall into the rapids above the falls, they would have only 3 minutes to escape before being swept over. Of the sixteen people known to have gone over only 11 lived; the youngest was a 9 year old boy who accidentally fell in and the oldest (1901) a 63 year old retired school teacher who lied about her age (why?). Several people have even gone over twice! I was quite happy to see it close up but from land.
It really is an awesome spectacle!

We did the Cave of the Winds, which isn't a cave at all but lets you walk right next to one of the smaller Falls. We went on the Maid of the Mist. These boats bring tourists from both sides of the border right to the edge of the Horseshoe Falls.

Then all too quickly the day was done and we headed for home. But not without another lecture from the border crossing guard...

Initial Workshop, Long Island New York

2011-08-03T09:39:00.006-04:00

Well I don't know... airports and I don't just go well together!

I arrived with more than a comfortable 2 hour time frame until my actual flight but my first problem came up immediately: I never knew that you couldn't fly into the US without a destination address! Thankfully I at least had my hostess' phone number. By the time I phoned to Long Island and then ....again! went through the process of printing my boarding pass, there was a humongous queue ahead of me (people like me with ADH do not do well in lineups) and followed immediately by a pre-customs clearance line-up, 7 S-bends long.
Since we were having a sales table, I had some of my polymer items with me as carry-on and since I was being honest & declared that I was bringing approximately $100 worth of goods into the US, I had to go through an extra baggage search.
I brought out my items; the customs officer looked at them, looked at me and then down at them again and finally at me once again ...all with a very puzzled expression. Finally she waved me through with the admonition to next time not waste their time & just note I was bringing in "samples"! I should have known; I'm so very used to my friends having a glazed expression on their faces when I mention miniatures! LOL
One last check-in and finally more than an hour after arriving at the airport, I'm finally sitting in the departure lounge. So much for reading my library book that was due in 6 days.
My plane leaves at 10:55. Obviously I didn't notice the boarding time because at 10:15, I decided to take a bathroom break and see if I could get some breakfast. I, like most Ontarians, am addicted to Timmies, a coffee shop located at every street corner. However the airport Timmies was located on the other side of the walkway ...inaccessible to me! I had to make do with a coffee that was definitely past its sell by date. So the fact that I managed to spill almost half before adding the lid to my cup seemed minor.
Back in the lounge, I was just getting settled & pulling my book out when I caught part of an intercom message regarding something about LaGuardia. Naturally curious I questioned a boarding attendant who on seeing my pass, immediately got on her walkie talkie to cancel the call to remove a no-show customer's luggage. Reason: customer had arrived. ME!!!
This is not the first time I have had this sort of thing happen to me. Once in San Torini, needing to take just one more photo, I missed the launch to take me back to my cruise ship that had sailed without me & that was just at the edge of the horizon by the time I got to the harbor. I had to be ferried aboard my ship by a Russian cruiseship launch.
11:05 and we are in the air. It always amazes me when I see Toronto from the air. The city stretches as far as the eye can see; from the ground it never seems quite so large.
By 11:15 we are already crossing the Fingerlakes region of New York state and within an hour, the plane is flying above the Empire State building and Ellis Island, made famous as a historical immigration check point. Then to my delight, the plane made a full U-turn and I got to see the other half of the city: the Brooklyn Bridge and Liberty Island, among others. I'd been to NYC several times before but have never flown in; it's marvelous to have that bird's eye view.
My hostess Fran & her son picked me up and dropped me at their house, leaving immediately again for another airport run ...this time to JFK airport.There would be 14 of us, coming in from France, Mexico, Canada, Belgium, Utah, Maryland, Wisconsin & Florida to name just a few. Amazing when you think how far the internet has brought us!We spent the rest of Friday chatting & getting acquainted.;Since we were such a large group, it was decided that 4 of us would stay overnight with Caroline who lived just an hours drive from Manhattan aka downtown New York City... 15 minutes from Fran's house. Long Island is only 120 miles long with Manhattan at one end and the famous Hamptons at the other end. Until now I had only ever been in Manhattan. It amazed me to be driven within minutes to the beautiful rural country side of Locust Valley in Nassau County.(this is a view from the rear of Caroline's yard.)
Now remember until then I'm just a dumb Canadian hick who thinks of the entire island as being New York city. I was totally flummoxed! Caroline lives in a subdivision where the minimum lot size is 5 acres. Oh my, you should have seen the house!(my bedroom is at the top left)
I could have and actually did get lost between my bedroom and the bathroom. Caroline's ensuite bathroom is larger than my bathroom and 2 bedrooms combined. She calls it living in the woods!! This was the view from my bedroom balcony:
After that the remainder of my stay was anticlimactic but well worth any hassles. Natalie was a wonderful teacher. We did the Halloween Goodies table with her on Saturday and dressed & wigged our witches with Helena on Sunday. Both ladies made everything come together so easily, I could almost imagine that I was a long time doll maker.Can't show you my table as I still haven't finished but (famous last words!!) I will have them done by Halloween!
In between doing our projects the wine flowed over-abundantly and the food would have satisfied a small army! I came home weighing an extra 4 lbs.
Since I wasn't due to depart until mid afternoon on Monday, I got to do a tiny bit of shopping, coming home with a light weight notebook to add to my existing inventory of two already(still) working laptops and a new appreciation that Japanese sushi means more than just California rolls.
Of course where would I be without a final airport saga. My plane sat on the tarmac for over an hour ...most of which time had to be spent sitting in a totally uncomfortable upright seat. But at least my luggage arrived back home with me unlike one of our group who was only flying back to Florida.
When I landed at Pearson International at 8pm, it was like walking into a steam bath. Long Island may have the same temperature as Toronto but they have nowhere near the same humidity!

To Fran and Marvin, a big thank you for opening your home to a bunch of strangers so we could become friends. To Marvin for working your fingers to the bone, being a wonderful chef. To Caroline for taking home four bedless waifs & making them feel extremely comfortable. To Natalie & Helena for your patience & for extending your knowledge.
Of course last but not least, a huge thank you to Dana, of whom I would have liked to have seen more (nudge nudge wink wink) and who organized the entire workshop.

I wouldn't have missed this for the world!

Giveaways I missed

2011-07-05T05:27:00.002-04:00

For some reason I missed Sonia's giveaway; I did have a tab for it opened. Sorry about that! It ends July 10th so hurry to enter!

July-August Give-aways

2011-07-04T11:54:00.003-04:00

ends July 8th
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ends July 10th
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ends July 14th
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ends July 15th
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ends July 16th
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ends July 18th
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ends July 22nd
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ends July 27th
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ends July 30th
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ends August 1st
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ends August 12th
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If I forgot anyone, send me your link and I'll add you to the list!

Well, summer's finally here...

2011-07-04T09:17:00.011-04:00

At last we're getting continuous warm weather and lots of sun! Very important when you consider the sort and length of winter that this part of Canada gets.

Seemed that this year July 1st, Canada Day, was celebrated with the kind ecstatic enthusiasm that's typically American rather than with the normal Canadian laid-back style.
Wills and Kate, the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge are in Canada; our newspapers are daily filled with her wardrobe choices (made me do some clothes shopping as well LOL). The Pride Parade was as controversial and colorful as always. There were fireworks everywhere including next door that made our house boom like we were under attack.
We had our first summer party during the holiday weekend. Whenever my step-daughter visits from England, she asks for a get-together with her friends and their kids. Our section of lake was absolutely filled with kids, including the ones from next door. What more can you ask for, from waterfront property: great sunsets and everyone enjoying themselves!

I don't think I've had as busy a July in a long while, as I will this year. I have one week to get ready for an AllThingsMini beach party swap as well as make some prezzies to bring with me to Long Island NY.
I'm going to my first doll makers convention & I'm totally excited ...especially since I don't consider myself a doll maker. Then as soon as I get back from that, I'm off to another one in Coaticook Quebec ...except this time it'll be my granddaughter participating (just my sneaky way of getting her interested in miniatures) She's a very talented and artsy 11 year old who just graduated from Grade 5. Here's what she and I will be making:
...not only a witch but also a table loaded with offerings for Halloween. Jade and I will be travelling by car through Canada on the way there and the US on the way back. Should take a minimum of at least 10 days, depending on where we stop and play at being tourists. By the time we're home again, the month will be over!

Then today I read that Caterina was going to hold another international swap this summer. I haven't missed a swap of hers yet, so busy month or not, I knew that I just had to find a bit of extra time.
If you're interested, you have until Saturday July 9th to join in:Click here to enter.

Well guess I'd best started but before I do, here's some promised photos of the Humpty Dumptys that I made last month:
The poor guy on the right will have to remain a WIP for the foreseeable future, still needing an Eton collar and ribbon tie...

who's the lucky girl!....

2011-06-25T09:07:00.003-04:00

I am & this is why: I just won a hyacinth, my favorite springtime flower and an old fashioned bread box from Pei Li.
Don't they look fab!! I'm determined to work on my bread box kitchen in the next few months so that bread box will come in really handy. Oooh, a pun!

I've got to admit Pei Li or as she terms herself, the miniature patisserie chef, is truly a patisserie masterchef. Working entirely with air-dry clay she comes up with the most wonderful bakery creations. If you saw that photo on it's own, wouldn't you think it was real?

Frankly I've never tried air-dry clay. Maybe one day, once all my fimo's used up. I think there's a big difference in the texture that you can achieve with air-dry that you can't replicate with polymer clay.
If you enjoy a good read take a look at Pei Li's blog, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
Pei Li, thanks again!!

Follow Up

2011-06-10T08:56:00.006-04:00

There's a new Hobbit movie in the making. Wonderful video with an additional movie trailer:

By the way, I actually did start my craft studio clean up on Monday & have been working in there every day this week.
So far I've supplied the Goodwill with approximately a years worth of stuff for them to sell; removed 2 double sized shelving units and 3 single units; taken out a bank loan to buy bins ...and I could really use more still! I converted the closet for shelves to house the bins. I can actually walk the perimeter of the room but not in the middle yet!
My stuff has spilled into 3 other rooms of the house and unfortunately I have no hope of getting finished before the end of next week.

To be fair.... before you think me a right pig & one of those hoarders you read about, let me explain that for the past three years, not only have I been housing craft supplies for miniatures but also the smaller antiques that I sell ...in a room that's maybe 10x12 feet.
I finally got to the point where I had small shelving units in front of large ones. For about a year now, I've made do with a worktable space not much bigger than 18 inches square. I'd started working at my kitchen table again and wasn't happy about my newly remodelled kitchen being messy all the time.
With the economy so poor recently, I've been trying to sell the antiques that I already have and not buy more. This week I had a run on Royal Albert china but didn't have a clue what to replace it with. Because I sell antiques on a part time basis only, I've never bothered with inventory control. Unfortunately going to auctions sometimes means that you come home with box lots containing the one item you really wanted along with many more items that you didn't. So far I've found enough items to not only fill up that one market shelf but also to change the display on two other shelves. So I'm really pleased!

I have only one problem: I have a clay class with Kathi Kuti this weekendKathi is a most talented sculptor who sells at the Bishop show; I have one of her dormice and a white rabbit. Some day I hope to make an Alice teaparty scene.
She's agreeable to me making 2 Humpties as long as I supply my own clay for the second one. My problem is all my clay as well as my chalks and my tools are buried in the remaining mess in the middle of the room.

If I find everything, I'll show you my Humpty on Monday and my room whenever, LOL. Wish me luck!!

Help I'm Buried Alive and Can't Get Out!

2011-06-03T11:52:00.004-04:00

Ever since I got my life back, I seem to dissipate my time browsing my email groups ...or my google reader ...or eBay. Then there's always Etsy to look at...

I mean, I have finally finished that ski slope mountain of dirty laundry & you can again see my kitchen table. I've dug my new garden bed and planted all the plants that I brought with me from the other house. I did build my raised veggie planter and should be expecting peas and beans, red onions and kohlrabi, lettuce as well as a variety of herbs any day now ....but the one thing I haven't yet gotten started on is my studio/craft room.

I am now bearly able to get past the door.On the other hand, maybe today is too nice a day to work! I was just sent this auction notice:

ITEM# 7762

Large architects model or child's doll house 1850 to1900. This house was either made as a prototype for a larger commission or is the largest doll house we have ever come across. Measures 68 inches wide at the sides, 70 inches at the base, 31 inches deep front to back of the house, 45 at base, 60 inches to the top of the roof and 64 inches to the top of the chimneys. Original working doors and window, staircases and fireplace. In need of some restoration.
You can see more photos by clicking this link. This could be yours for a ridiculously cheap $8,500US.

Oh!

Maybe I'll just make a start on my room.....

2011-06-02T10:53:00.003-04:00

Isn't this the most awesome little flower! My favorite too, a hyacinth: the best of all the spring bulbs because of it's wonderful aroma.
Pei Li is offering this as a giveaway on her blog.

I won! ....dancing a little jig

2011-05-29T10:14:00.006-04:00

When I was little, I never had much use for dolls. But teddies were a whole different matter.
At night, you could snuggle in bed with a teddy, tell him your hopes, dreams or troubles & they never betrayed your trust. I still have my old teddy even though his paws are threadbare & the straw stuffing's poking through.
I've since collected lots of other teddies, softer & better dressed but they'll never outshine my first love. In fact I used to have a really large collection but when we moved to our current house, I downsized somewhat but kept enough teddies to occupy most rooms including my kitchen and every once in a while, I still ask for a teddy as a birthday or Christmas present.
I read several bear makers blogs and each time, they create a new bear I drool. I've never owned a OOAK handmade bear. Maybe some day....

Today I was just about to close my laptop and start my day, when I discovered an email from Joanne of Desertmountainbear. I won her book give-away:
Here's what Joanne wrote on her blog about this book:

"While I was at the Philadelphia bear show I went to a talk given by Joan Greene. She was one of the first bear shop owners in the US in the 1980's. Her shop was in Berkeley California. This book is about the days of her shop. The people she met who's stories she never forgot. I sat in the front row of this talk and listened to her stories of bears lost, of people who never gave up looking for them. I tried so hard not to cry, but I did, her stories were so beautiful. I know I was not the only one.
I purchased this book from her and had it autographed to give away on the blog. I opened it on the plane on the way home to look at it. I ended up reading the whole thing. And I tried so hard again not to cry on the plane, the stories really touched me."

What a fantastic start to another rainy day! Now if only CanadaPost holds off with their strike long enough for me to get my book!!

Joanne, thank you so much!! I will treasure the book. As for the rest of you, if you're a teddy lover, take a look at Joanne's website for some of the most adorable guys ever. I've been reading with interest how she made Marana in her little nest. Teddies sure have come a long way!

Psssst, Don't tell anyone...

2011-05-23T10:22:00.004-04:00

....here's something I don't tell too many people: I love teddy bears. I used to have a huge collection but then I downsized somewhat. I still have them in just about every room of my house, just not as many.
I'm subscribed to a number of bear makers blogs & whenever they show off a new creation, I just salivate. Those type of bears are all OOAK so I could never hope to buy one. But I live in hopes that maybe I can win one.
Keep your fingers crossed for me; I'd love to own/win May-Bee. She's only 6.25 inches tall:
made by Ginger and the latest give-away on her blog

Once upon a time: Part III

2011-05-17T18:27:00.003-04:00

....in our last episode, the owners had just gotten their house back. Fortunately the tenants had not only moved out of the house by midnight of the day their eviction called for but had actually taken all the filled garbage bags that were seen by the side of the garage throughout their last month of tenancy.

The owners gave themselves one month to get the house back into a shape where they could put it up for sale & reasonably expect someone to buy it. But before they could start, they had to remove all the original building materials that the tenants had taken down ...all of which was stored in the cold cellar located underneath the front porch. Nowhere did they find any sign of the supposed mold! However, what they did find was a seat from a car and a baggie with some tobacco(?) remnants in it. All of the materials filled a large trailer and off it went to the dump. Now they could get to work.
But wait... during a lunch break taken on the front porch, they spotted a hash pipe on top of the hydro meter. Hmmmmm stranger & stranger....

By the end of the month that they had given themselves, there was still lots to do.
Some of the updates to the house were normal such as having painters come in; parts of the hardwood floor needed stripping. Some were not: walls had to be rebuilt, ceramic floors finished off and everywhere doors along with their frames added. But most of their contractor's time was spent changing electrical wiring so that for instance, the light switch for the walk-in closet was no longer 3 rooms away.
Then there were the surprises such as the electrical outlet located directly below the bathtub....

In the end it took almost 7 weeks before they were done. They'd had to spend much more than what the tenant asked for in his invoice. But finally they could get their lives back instead of spending 7 days/week fixing, cleaning or acting as builder's helpers.

So, as we come to the point in all stories that reads: "and they lived happily ever after", in our story there are still questions to be answered:
1. Will the sales price reflect all their hard work?
2. With the housing market slowing down again, will they get an offer & sell?

Stay tuned.......
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I hope you enjoyed my little story! For course, you realize that because of libel laws, all characters in this story were entirely fictional!
I have a bathroom tile reglazer coming in tomorrow but after that, it's back to minis and boy, am I glad!

Once upon a time: Part II....

2011-05-15T15:25:00.009-04:00

The owners felt badly for the tenants who had originally wanted to buy the house when they first moved in and so, on advice of the realtor, they gave the tenant a very reasonable, well below market value price for the house. The tenants kept insisting that they almost had financing together and so the owners waited to hear. But when several weeks went by without any word from the tenants, the owners again asked how the financing was coming along.

They were very surprised when an invoice arrived for them from the tenant requesting $9,200 for renovations (including labor) done to their house; now remember that none of these "renovations" were made with owner approval or even city building permits; nor were any store receipts included. The invoice listed costs for such things as:
1. a new deadbolt lock for one of the doors; effectively locking the owners out of entry to their own house.
2. rental of a jack hammer used to cut a hole in the basement concrete floor so a bathtub could be installed.
3. cost of a jacuzzi bathtub ....which unfortunately had non working jets.
4. cost of 32 sheets of drywall (for anyone not familiar with building a house, this would have been enough drywall to redo the entire house) needed to repair a supposed mold problem in the basement. But it only included 2 tubs of drywall compound. Normally that much drywall would need many more tubs of compound.
5. cost to update two basement rooms (+ bathroom), effectively making a new apartment for the adult son to live in. In legal terms, this would be called sub-letting.
6. Cost of one year "every weekend and evenings" labour.
The last paragraph in the invoice read: "We would like this money by money order, bank draft, or certified cheque by ........., at which time we will contact the hydro company to get a final bill and clear your account." You see, the owners had left the account to heat the house in their name.

As you can imagine, it took some time for the owners to digest this. The Brits have the perfect saying for this: gob-smacked! They went from being incredulous, to speechless, and then anger. For a few days they did nothing. Then came another letter which read in part "As yet I have not heard from you regarding the letter sent to you. Either you agree with what was written and are prepared to write us a cheque or you are contesting the letter. Either way I need to know and would respectfully ask for a response by ....... If I haven’t heard from you by that time then I will be sending all relevant documents to the appropriate authorities for arbitration on my behalf. Certainly they will be looking at sub-section 34 of the Landlord tenant act." It also included a letter purporting to be from an out-of-province relative asking that the tenants be reimbursed "for the cost to improve your property . Keeping in mind, the Lord said "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", and "I will bless those that will bless you and curse those that curse you"."
All this had the owners worried and they immediately looked up sub-section 34 but after reading it carefully, it became obvious that it was only the title that had a some-what relevance, meaning that the tenants hadn't bothered to read past the title. As for the biblical warnings, legally they consituted a threat.

After much discussion, they finally decided that they needed some legal help. The first thing they were advised to do was take their builder and do a thorough home inspection, taking as many photos as they deemed necessary.

Next a letter was hand-delivered to the tenants that told them to cease & desist from any further damages and re-iterating the eviction date.
Not 24 hours later they received an email from the tenant stating that "I am absolutely shocked beyond belief how you have escalated our situation without warning. I am insulted by the memory of my father, a professional plasterer, who worked along side me on this project. Recently passed. Please respond by e-mail. I will not be answering any phone calls."
At this point the owners were well beyond shock! Now not only were they damned by God but also about to be haunted by a dead plasterer. BTW the term "plasterer" has not been used for about 70 years in this country.

It became a battle of wills to keep from responding! One week later, they received another letter: "I have complied with your request to inspect the premises with your contractor, and can only assume all is well. Please respond in a timely manner concerning this."
The final email came just weeks before the tenants were due to leave the house, giving the owners 24 hrs to contact the tenant or face the threat not only of a civil lawsuit but also of having a contractors lien placed on the house.

Then just days before the end of the tenancy, the tenant's employer showed up at the owners door, complaining about having to listen to the tenant's ranting and asking the owners to please put an end to it.
Meanwhile the legal firm had the tenant come in to sign release forms which obviously were not signed and probably will never be signed. In the message to the owners, she mentioned the tenant had asked her a "very inappropriate question" which "gave her the creeps ...not an easy thing to do". The owners very much wanted to be "flies on the wall" & hear what that question was.

Finally on the last Sunday of the month ....but several days before the end of the month... the tenants moved most of their things out. They made sure that they left just enough stuff inside so that the owners couldn't legally re-take possession. However they did leave 2 windows open and the heat held at 19C; at that time the weather was barely above freezing.

By the first of the next month, when the owners walked through the front door, they were greeted by a stack of bills including a $400+ hydro bill straight from collections threatening to cut the heat if not paid within 10 days; another current one came shortly thereafter.

Hooray! The owners had their house back. But that isn't the end of their story......
STAY TUNED FOR PART III.....

Just a Teaser.....

2011-05-15T12:16:00.004-04:00

All good stories (real life or fantasy) begin with:
Once upon a time, ...a house just like this one was rented out.
For the most part because the owners trusted the tenants and the tenants "usually" paid their rent on time, the owners didn't think to inspect their house. This was their first rental and being trusting people, they were sadly naive!

Until almost three years later, they decided that the time had come to sell the house and so they explained to their tenants that on the following Saturday at 2pm in the afternoon in the middle of January, they wanted to come through the house with a realtor.

However on that Saturday, they had to wade knee deep through the snow left unshovelled in the driveway to get to the front door. On the front porch sat a huge overflowing can of old cigarette butts and when they were admitted to the house, they discovered that the bedrooms were still occupied (and so could not be viewed), every spare inch of kitchen counter space was overflowing with dirty dishes and pots, the furnace room entrance was blocked by an old fridge, the original laundry room had been moved to another part of the house .....so that the bathroom could be enlarged without any one's knowledge or permission and the new "laundry room" could also not be viewed because the floor was deeply awash in dirty, dingy, so-called laundry. This was not the only so-called "renovation" that had been done by the tenant; unfortunately no changes to the house had been finished and so could not be called anything other than damages!

Needless to say the owners were in shock and dismay while the realtor, shaking his head in disgust at the house, announced that this house could not be sold in that state of disrepair.

There was nothing else to do but serve an eviction on the tenant that gave him 60 days to vacate the house.

to be continued.......

Oh my....

2011-05-13T23:25:00.004-04:00

Just checking in for a brief moment to see if blogger left my blog be. I've been reading about all the problems everyone's been having.

Bear with me; I should be posting again by next week when I'll explain exactly why I've been absent for so long.

Hello to all my new followers who joined in my absence. Great to have you and hope that you'll find something to interest you. But right now it's way past my bedtime & I have another full and early day tomorrow.

So I'll see you all next week.....
hugs

Just popping in quickly...

2011-03-08T10:51:00.005-05:00

to show you what I received from Kaisa. I had actually thought my skis were lost in the mail & I wouldn't have blamed the post office for keeping them. They are exquisite!
And not only that but Kaisa sent along these extra goodiesI didn't even realize that the scrabble box opened until I found a tiny scrabble letter on my table.
Kaisa, thank you so much!! I have a winter theme box in mind where your skis will go and your prep board will go into my vintage kitchen on baking day, if I can ever find the time to finally get started.

As some of you know, my kitchen has undergone major real life renovations since Nov. Other than for the structural work, I acted as builder's helper to keep costs down; now that this is finally done and just when I thought I'd be able to get back to minis, another major crisis is happening in my life, not of our choosing this time however ...that will involve a great amount of time and effort.
I hope, if things work out, to be back to minis sometime in May and to start my bread box kitchen then. Yup! that's the one I meant to start in the spring of 2010!
I'm going to make a bigger effort to stick to the plans I have for making some specific room boxes instead of just letting them remain as ideas floating in my head and not get side tracked by all the lovely things I see some of you making.
I hope to be on facebook or here every once in a while ....but I'm not sure how much time I'll have. I'll keep reading all your blogs so watch for a comment now or then.
In the meantime, have a lovely spring!
hugs

Creativity, Inspiration & Copying...

2011-02-28T19:18:00.003-05:00

Well, I certainly picked a controversial subject!
Opinion appears to be firmly divided between people who are sellers and those who are hobbyists; by the comments that I received, it seems that many more sellers are affected by copiers than I thought.

I don't want to harp on this topic; it appears every so often & I think I mentioned it once before. It was not my intention to do more than remind people that giving credit is simply good manners. Now having said that, it's sometimes extremely difficult to remember where your inspiration came from.

A couple of years ago, I made a fimo mouse sleeping inside a real size teacup; I placed a letter to Santa and a plate full of cookies & carrots next to him. I just knew I'd seen that before but couldn't for the life of me remember where. Several months later I found the original. It had been an image on a Christmas card.

On a miniature site, well known for its Saturday tutorials, the lady whose pumpkin pram started this latest round, showed off her latest creation. I saw her post, fell in love with her creation & proceeded to make one just like it ...and then posted my version almost directly below hers. Who knows how long it had taken to perfect hers. Obviously mine looked nowhere near what it was meant to be; as we say here: close but no cigar! But the lady in question got extremely upset. So maybe long standing feelings of guilt caused me to dust this topic off again.

Here's a few email quotes sent to me about it. I'm not going to name names and I hope the people who wrote them won't object:

"It (i.e. copying) certainly shows no imagination, no original creativity and NO TALENT."

"I would rather have the creativity and have everyone copying me than to NOT have the creativity and have to copy everyone else."

"I say create and be happy. Be inspired and give credit. Don't blatantly copy."

I think that says it all! So nuff said!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let me show you what I've been making lately:

These were inspired by a tutorial from Kris of 1inchminis. Here's the link but before you point your finger at me, let me just say that there were a lot of baskets that didn't make it and a lot of sewing baskets made before I was happy with my adaptation.

Oh and by the way, here's what Kris wrote me: "This is the best compliment you could give me, taking a tutorial and making it your own. I love it and I am so glad to see you using the information." Thanks Kris!
Now isn't it nice when you give credit....

For Shame!!

2011-02-25T09:09:00.003-05:00

Definition of COPY - An imitation, or reproduction of an original work

Now I know that the miniature world is really an imitation of the real one and we are all copiers in some respect but that does not mean we can blatantly copy what another miniaturist has made without asking for advance permission or giving credit after the fact! It definitely does not mean you can copy to make something to later sell!

I can tell you right now what the result will be: no one will want to show what they're making; most blogs will cease to exist; and this wonderful miniature community of creative artisans will implode & fragment.

All I've heard lately are upset miniaturists who feel betrayed by copiers.
My baby dragon with the butterfly on his nose was copied ...except I didn't find that out until much later because I do not follow the lady who copied me; I do however follow the lady who copied the first copier. I showed my dragon on only two places: on my blog and on a forum that I belong to. The dragon was made following a tutorial but the idea of having a butterfly sit on his nose & having him reach up to it, was mine.
I have seen witches' potion bottles and other accessories copied. And now the latest is a pumpkin pram. I'm not going to name names. That's not my place.

All I'm saying is take heed! If you like things the way they are, if you enjoy seeing what other miniaturists make and being inspired by them, if you take pride in your work and want to show it off, then give credit where credit is due.

Look what the mailman brought....

2011-02-20T11:15:00.002-05:00

Chelle, thank you so much for your friendship which I truly value ...not to mention unexpected prezzies in the mail! (ears and tails arrived unbroken LOL)

What a Crazy Winter!

2011-02-19T11:14:00.004-05:00

It's been a really weird winter with ups and downs quicker than bungie jumping. A week ago Thursday we got 11 inches of snow overnight.
Then as soon as we got the deck cleared off, the weather turned mild!Open patches appeared along the lake shore. But as you can see we still had a tremendous amount of snow leftand since our roof is metal we really had to be careful when walking along the side of the house. When the snow slid off, it sounded more like mini avalanches. My deck was inundated ...again! Only this time with heavy snow & chunks of ice.

Last night there was a weather warning out for our area telling of up to 100km strong wind gusts. Every time I fell asleep a gust of wind would rattle the house and wake me. At about 2am I finally gave up. It was just too scary to close your eyes! We were finally downgraded to 70km winds and I don't really know just how strong the winds were but at times I could literally see the glass in my picture window moving in and out.
These photos were taken at about 7am, when we finally went back to bed. With all the trees around us, we were extremely fortunate that only small branches came down. And now as I write this ...it's almost noon and visibility once again is reduced with big chunks of snow falling.....and all this within 9 days!

First swap of 2011...

2011-02-09T21:56:00.002-05:00

was with Kaisa in Finland; she wanted some toys to put in her toy shop in exchange for a pair of her skis. Of course I never could see any sense in only making the right number of required items. I always make more.
The orange caterpillar pull toy, the polar bear and the clown in the middle went to Finland. By the way the bear is fully jointed. I meant to make tiny 1" jointed dolls as well but they just wouldn't agree to that.
The other toys are meant for my Gathering sales table. By the way, that London Gathering I mentioned is being held in London Ontario. I'm not quite the international jet setter that some of you thought LOL

I'm almost finished the 20 items for the memory trunk swap. Can't show you those yet but as soon as I take a photo, I will show you the totally unexpected parcel I got from my friend Chelle. Chelle, I'm totally blown away.... wow!!

Who's the lucky girl!!!

2011-02-09T09:55:00.004-05:00

...and I get to go both weekends!!

Activities include these fun events:

-FULL Day Fimo food/treat Table class by Nathalie Gireaud
-FULL Day Witch doll class by Helena Reijnen
-2 small round table classes
-FRIDAY Sales Table open to all
-LOUDEST (most colorful) PJ AWARD
-DANA's wigging demonstration
-JIL's needlefelting demonstration
-plus other participants skill demonstrations (I thought I'd demonstrate making hollow fimo Jack-o-lanterns)

HELENA from Belgium and NATHALIE from France will create a special witch and halloween table filled with fimo goodies as a joint effort. One class Saturday, One Class Sunday - with two more round tables by these teachers as an additional activity.

AND what makes this event so special (differing from our last minidoll convention in Las Vegas) is two very lovely ladies (Fran S from NY and Louise B from Quebec) will be hosting this event in their large homes!! SLUMBER PARTY anyone? A truly girl weekend get away! Wine, women, French cooking and time to relax, create and bond.

WoooooooHoooooOo!! What a way to end the winter blahs! Now all I need to do is finish my February memory trunk swap items, make enough items to sell at the London Gathering in April, find a wildly, extravagantly colorful PJ for July, and make about 30 jack-o-lanterns, and...

2011-02-02T20:59:00.003-05:00

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Here's hoping for a quiet, peasceful year...

Waiting...

2011-01-31T22:42:00.005-05:00

It's not too often that I'm at a lack for words. But I sure have been this year!
Every time I think of something to post about, when it actually comes time to sit down & write, I can't think of a thing to say. ...and it's not even like I haven't been busy.
My renovations are finally drawing to a close. It's been 3 months. I hope to be able to sit in my kitchen again in another month. Amazing how such a little thing can manage to take so long.
I'm waiting for my toys to reach Kaisa in Finland so I can show them here. I'm in the middle of a memory trunk swap.
Here's something else I'm waiting for: Spring!!
See the temperature: ...that was the high today and yesterday. This morning at 8 am it was actually -25C / -13F and now the weatherman predicts 3 snow storms by this weekend.
Even the birds are fluffed up trying to keep warm.
But things aren't all doom & gloom. Here's some things that arrived in the mail todayDo you see what I see? A tiny moon, a little witch on her broomstick, chocolate mice, Harry Potter chocolate frogs. No? Well you will once I paint them.
Those little lovelies were sent by my friend Kat-the-Hat-Lady. Kat makes the greatest hats I've ever seen. From Alice in Wonderland to witches peaked hats and currently she has a line of fab pirates chapeaux. All that & she also finds time to write a mean blog. You can check it out by clicking on the link. Thanks so much Kat! Lovely to have you as a facebook friend.
Oh now that I think about it... maybe that's why I don't have much to say these days: too much time spent chatting online.

Successes but also Some Failures...

2011-01-16T20:00:00.005-05:00

....been a while since I posted last.

Christmas was really hectic especially when you consider that my kitchen had to be emptied, was turned topsy turvy, and is still in the midst of renovations. If you've never experienced it, renovations are a bit like being pregnant. You can look forward to it. You're thrilled at the end of it all but by golly, while it's ongoing, it is a royal pain.
I never got my Christkindl market stall finished; it's packed away & I'll work at it again this Christmas. In fact it's been hard to get motivated and do anything. But I did....

I made this... It's commissioned & going to be used in a book.

I took Beginners Wigging. This involves a simple hair style called a wigging cross. Literally it means placing 2 hanks of hair, front to back and then side to side, on the dolls head to mimic the real life growth of hair.
I'd heard from a number of people that most beginners start off with too much hair. So I tried to avoid that...
...and ended up with a doll who has alopecia. This was also the first time I took the hair out of the package that I was able to smooth it ....and never again.
Once I brushed back the hair, it looked like a doll with a cap on. I was afraid to tie the hair back with a ribbon; so I loosely braided it. ....very crookedly as you can see, meaning to fix it the next morning.
Now all this time I had kept my doll under wraps because I figured right from the start that I wasn't going to be a superstar in the wigging world over night. I have a hard time styling my own hair!
Of course since glue doesn't stick to plastic wrap, the next morning I couldn't continue. My wig wouldn't sit on the wrapped head but I couldn't get it to sit properly on the bare head either. Thus ended my first wigging ~~disaster~~ ...errrr .....ummm attempt. My second attempt was even more disastrous and this is my third.
As far as I'm concerned it still looks like a cap and nowhere near anything resembling a hair style. However when I showed these photos ....only in order to properly ask questions, I was told I had passed and was now qualified to begin interim wigging. Imagine my total shock & amazement when I read that! What... that poor effort got me a pass??? I would have rated it an "F" rather than a "C-". I think subconsciously I must have expected to have to create a Louis XIV wig.
Take a tip from me: do NOT wig a doll at the same spot where you work with clay! I thought I had cleaned but every time I sit down to clay now, I'm finding blond viscose...

Making Doll Eyes

2011-01-16T10:57:00.002-05:00

making doll glass eyes tutorial

polymer clay doll eye tutorial

bead doll eye turoial for cloth & clay dolls

The start of my 2011...

2011-01-01T16:30:00.006-05:00

Hope everyone's New Years eve was a good one.

For me it seemed between rum & eggnog drinks, family stresses, kitchen renovations & large meals with family/friends, it's all contributed to an extremely fast weight gain
...of about 3lbs.
.....on top of the extra 5lbs that I couldn't seem to get rid of this year.
......on top of the extra 8lbs that I accumulated over the past several years.
I could barely get my never-before worn New Years Eve pants zipped up; my top was a loose one that ended just below my hips.

The arrangement was to meet the rest in our group at a local Chinese buffet restaurant. We've gone quite frequently; there's always more selection than you could ever sample. Or want to!
Back in our car & on our way to the dance, my zipper broke. No problem! My top covered it & the button held.

I drank nothing but water at the dance.
Of course what else would you do at a dance but dance! I must not have tried on the pants when I bought them; they were rather long & so I needed higher heels than normal ...either that or trip over the hems. Halfway through the evening, the spot on my tummy below that pant button, started burning.

The mix that the DJ played was horrible. Lucky for me!!

There was a meal served at 10:30. I really wasn't hungry and stuck to my water.

We were 6 couples in all who have known each other for many years; we had a lovely time. Ken really enjoyed himself. Usually he's my DD (designated driver) but last night we felt it better that I drive. Unfortunately the fog was so thick it was hard to see at times. All week, our weather has been warmer than normal & this morning we woke up to rain. Most of our snow has melted. We've set new warmth records. Predictions for this coming week, however, are for colder weather, flash freezes and lots of snow.

Last night I could barely get my shoes off, my feet were so swollen. This morning I still have a dark red bruise next to my bellybutton.

Monday, Ken and I, ...we both suffer from the same lack-of-willpower / eating-out-too-often affliction, ....start our new Smart-for-Life diet. For 15 days, we will eat only a small sensible dinner, drink 64oz of water and when the munchies hit, we're allowed to eat up to 6 of their cookies. Sounds great doesn't it? Daily caloric intake ranges from 800 to 1200 calories. Each cookie is a blend of amino acids, fiber, and vitamins that offers appetite suppression and reduces hunger cravings throughout the day. This diet specializes in a quick weight loss.
Two years ago we did the Isogenix diet for 9 days & lost 10 and 15 lbs respectively which in my case lasted for almost a year. I'm hoping this diet will work just as well.

Dieting seems to have become an obsession for most people. There's the Atkins diet, cabbage soup diet, high protein diet, gluten free and grapefruit diets, South Beach diet.... there are more diets than selections at yesterday's restaurant. Not for us, that old standby of plain old healthy eating!

...and that's the start to my new year. I've even found some really appetizing recipes to use with my cookies. Apparently I can make fruit cobblers or chocolate parfaits with them. All I have to figure out is where to buy calorie-free, fat-free marshmallow dips and chocolate syrup....

2010-12-31T08:05:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year!

may it bring you everything good ....in miniature, of course!

2010-12-27T10:14:00.009-05:00

I hope your Christmas day was a happy one and that Santa was as good to you as he was to us

Thought I'd just pop on to show you the lovely gifts I received from Rosa in the International Christmas swap. She sent me some extras like this lovely cathedral painting
A Halloween centerpiece made with real plants
...not one but two toys
... a basket filled with the most exquisite mushrooms and blanched asparagus, an angel pyramid
and if that weren't enough ....look at this table runner!! The photo just doesn't do it justiceRosa, thank you so much! I love it all.

And here's what I sent to my swap partner, Natlaie

2010-12-23T12:28:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to wish you all the very best wishes for the season. May Santa bring you your hearts desire.
Your fellowship and your comments have made this blog what it is; you keep me posting and striving to do and show my best work. Your blogs are not only a pleasure to read but also a constant source of learning. Together we're shrinking the globe to a common village ...well, afterall we're all into miniatures anyway LOL

Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo; Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo; Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan; Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok; Glædelig Jul; Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!; Ruumsaid juuluphi; Hyvaa joulua; Joyeux Noel; Froehliche Weihnachten; Kala Christouyenna!; Buone Feste Natalizie; Boas Festas; Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto; Feliz Navidad; God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År

If I've left anyone out, then let me wish you a Very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Seasons Greetings.... and as Tiny Tim put it so eloquently: God bless us everyone!

My Christmas starts tomorrow; we spend a day with my family and the next day with Kens family.
I'll be back before years end to show you what lovely things I've sent and received in the international swap; my Christkindl market stall is still a long way from being finished and I'll show you my excuse ...of which I'm exceedingly proud.

May you all have a wonderful day(s) filled with family and friends....
big hugs Karin

2010-12-11T11:09:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas

click on the "Merry Christmas"

Christmas International Swap

2010-12-04T21:40:00.004-05:00

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things":
Remember I needed to make 1 Christmas gift, 1 toy and 1 gift representing autumn for the Christmas swap.

I was a day late sending off my swap gift to Natalie. No less than a day later I got my gifties from RosaMaria Can't show you what I made for Natalie until Christmas and in turn I won't peek at mine.But finally, it's mailed and I can get back to my Christkindl market stall.

Not finished by a long shot but here's what I'm thinking: the bottom shelf will hold boxes of candles, gingerbread, sparklers. Amazing how much time it takes to glue a printie box together. I'll put toys on the middle shelf while the top shelf is for creches, Christmas ornaments, etc. Still need to make gingerbread houses and hearts, more teddies, boxes of cookies; if there's room I have Advent calendars, pop-up books....

In case you wondered

2010-11-28T22:45:00.007-05:00

...where I've been hiding, I thought I'd better touch base. Rosanna's Christmas swap will be ready for mailing on Monday; I'm still working my way through the Christkindl Market Stall. It's all stained and I'm in the process of filling the lowest shelf with product ...all printies as they won't be that visible.

I've had to switch to a different type of building project that was meant to start in the spring but unexpectedly got started early due to the availability of our builder. This is what the first 8 x 18 ft of my kitchen looked like, after we emptied it of furniture on Friday:

Because we were so determined to buy a waterfront home in this area three years ago, we bought a house with some ...lets call them flaws. Our house began life many years ago as a very tiny, non-insulated summer residence and each successive owner had added to or enlarged it here and there ...including the roof. At one time there were 3 layers of roof, one over the other, each slightly larger and differently angled.
After our first winter, we replaced the roof; unfortunately two years later we're still working on it ...but this time from the inside!
Of course with a fully furnished house, this can be somewhat harrowing. What you see ...or not see in this photo is a 7ft long table with all the bits and bobs piled on top. And to make it even more "fun", we've had to partially empty an upstairs storage room so a retro vapor barrier could be sprayed into the attic...
So what you're seeing in this photo is the result of that, another room turned into a storage pile. This was the view Saturday morning. The blue tarp kept the remainder of the kitchen "clean". and this is what came to light, a prior build that gave new meaning to "building code". All the existing ceiling framework had to be removed ....in pieces. Above that we had our new roof with its scissor trusses. This part of the kitchen was meant to have a vaulted ceiling from the time we had it built and since the far wall and all my cupboards are pine, my new ceiling will be clad in pine as well. The other three vertical walls will be drywalled ....which I will have the privilege of finishing and then painting.We had planned to finally put up our Christmas tree this year. It would have been the first time in 3 years. Thankfully we'll be celebrating both the 24th and the 25th of December with family at their homes and who knows maybe next year we might even be able to invite everybody to our house...

2010-11-24T10:25:00.002-05:00

a little birdie told me...
that in the USA, the third Thursday in November is a special day where all over the country, families sit down to dinner at the same moment - halftime. ....So I thought I'd wish all my American friends...

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving

...may your team win and your dinner be joyful!

Best Laid Plans

2010-11-23T09:44:00.005-05:00

...don't always work out no matter how hard you try! The other day Nikki Rowe, who I follow avidly because she makes the most incredible wizardry accoutrements, showed some books on her blog that she'd made with faux leather covers.
Now you may remember my writing portfolios a while back,which I originally tried to make using leather; I just couldn't stop my leather from cracking. So faux leather got me very excited. I had a Dickens Carol Christmas swap coming up and got the bright idea to make some account ledgers that Bob Cratchit might have used.
Well long story short, I asked, Nikki replied & sent me her how-to. Turned out to be extremely easy to do which was fantastic as there wasn't enough time left to put my original idea into effect for making Tiny Tim stools & crutches. I got my ledger covers finished in two easy sittings! I'd already printed off the account pages. My intent was to have the ledgers open & send a tiny ink well and a quill pen as my swap contribution. Next morning after leaving them to dry overnight, I realized that I'd made them too wide. At that point, I could have resized the printed pages but now I was really under time restraint, and totally frustrated.
I made something else ...which of course, I can't show you until my swap partners receive them. Rushed to the post office with my parcel, only to be told that the zip code marked on the box was unknown. I was on my way out of town for the weekend so I couldn't even go back home to check for mistakes. It seemed like one of those hair pulling situations where no matter what you do, it goes wrong!
Yesterday morning I checked, the post office was wrong, my zip code was correct and off the parcel went!

Now just because the book covers didn't work out for my swap doesn't mean they're garbage. I'd made an extra one with the imprint of a dragon on the front that could be used as a wizards book and if I ever want to show a stack of books, I'm all set. Thank you sooo much for your fantastic tutorial Nikki!!
I'm now going back to my Christkindl market stall while I still can. Turns out that with less than a month til Christmas, my kitchen will be torn apart by the end of the week for some long planned renovations.

Queen Mary's Dollhouse Part 2

2010-11-21T22:57:00.000-05:00

Queen Mary's Dollhouse

2010-11-21T22:29:00.002-05:00

"This is a wonderful video of Queen Mary´s Dollhouse. There are close-up pictures of many details and the dialog is filled with interesting descriptions.

It opens with the background of the palace photographer and then the first 10 minutes are about the dollhouse, so get a cup of coffee or tea, relax and enjoy this trip."

Unfortunately it's in English only but even without sound, the photos are amazing!

Royal Collection

Enjoy!

We've had our first snowfall...

2010-11-19T11:57:00.002-05:00

and I am so not looking ready for it!

OK, OK, so I exaggerated! We only had a light dusting of snow overnight but it feels like those photos.

Flowers....

2010-11-17T22:38:00.004-05:00

Remember this Kathryn Gray workshop that I did... It was my first time doing flowers using laser cut paper ...actually my first time doing flowers of any kind! When I emailed to thank Kathryn for such an incredibly easy workshop, we discussed different types of materials and she recommended that I try some cold porcelain. Here are some photos of plants that she made using CP:If you didn't know better, wouldn't you think these were real hops:

For any of you fortunate enough to go the Chicago Bishop show in April, Kathryn will be teaching this pretty English garden workshop:
I think Kathryn's photos have finally convinced me to try cold porcelain. I'd never be able to get fimo that thin!

If you need some flower making supplies, laser cut or CP or just friendly advice, check out Kathryn's site at Templewood Miniatures.
Happy flower making!

2010-11-16T18:10:00.003-05:00

Look who arrived at my doorstep today.
First came Little Noel, the Christmas mouse:
I have long been a fan of Robin Joy Andreae. Although her needlefelted animals are larger than 1:12, I think next year, Noel will be pulling the Christmas sleigh into fairyland. Robin is currently showing a new little mouse on her blog. Thank you for Noel, Robin. She looks even better live than she did in photos.

At the same time, Haggatha arrived in a puff of smoke, holding out her poisoned apple.With her came her familiars: a raven perched on her shoulder, her grey rat prowling the cooking pot and her wooden staff.Haggatha is a Christel Hutson creation. She's not a pretty creature with a wart on her nose and a number of teeth missing; she even has a greenish tinge to her skin. Haggatha is destined for a particular witch's emporium that I've been thinking of for more than a year.Again, if you'd like to see more of Christel's wee faes and other not so gentle folk, have a one of Christel's blog. I also have one of Christel's impish faes.

2010-11-16T10:49:00.004-05:00

Started my Christmas baking:
Ken complained very bitterly ...although he's supposed to be on a diet! So today I'll making mince meat tarts for real.

Teeny Tiny Creches

2010-11-15T10:16:00.004-05:00

Remember this creche?Finished it's 5/16" wide by 1/4" tall Those trees were supposed to be at the back & I think my star is upside down. Someday I'll have to remember to read instructions before gluing!
These are my 3 creches as well as the Tudor house. I won't paint the two smaller creches; a coat of paint makes the tabs too thick to insert. I was happy just to fit the pieces together!!!
At the far right is a lantern. At least I wasn't so quick with the glue on it; I've only laid the top on the lantern so if I want, I can place a light inside. I do have 2 lanterns so may hang one on each side of the market stand.
The house is a Tierneys Kit that I bought second hand. And the paper in back of this photocontains the instructions ...part of which reads:

Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier fur is perfect for straw effect on the painted wall and on roof for thatch.

Now I sorry.....can't you just see me walking the streets with my scissors in hand asking people if the dog they're walking is a "Wheaten"!

Starting My Sales Items

2010-11-12T19:27:00.004-05:00

The design for the market stall is really quite ingenious. The roof, front counter and front wall can be glued on after the back shelves are filled. I'm just finishing off the siding so I thought I'd start on the items that I'll have for sale at this stall:
Isn't this an incredible size! I'm in awe of people who regularly work in this scale. BTW the gentleman that I bought this kit from, sells as small as 1:1000!

This is supposed to become a 3 story Tudor dollhouse. It's 1:144!! By the time I have all the shelves filled I may have to ask for new eyes from Santa...

2010-11-11T10:40:00.006-05:00

When a soldier comes home, he finds it hard.... ...to listen to his son whine about being bored. ...to keep a straight face when people complain about potholes. ...to be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work. ...to be understanding when a co-worker complains about a bad night's sleep. ...to be silent when people pray for a new car. ...to control his panic when his wife tells him he needs to drive slower. ...to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying. ...to keep from laughing when anxious parents say they're afraid to send their kids off to summer camp. ...to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather. ...to control his frustration when a colleague gripes about his coffee being cold. ...to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog. ...to be civil to people who complain about their jobs. ...to just walk away when someone says they only get two weeks of vacation a year. ...to be forgiving when someone says how hard it is to have a new baby in the house.

The only thing harder than being a Soldier.. Is loving one.

Eleventh Hour, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Month

2010-11-11T08:28:00.002-05:00

Back in September, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School, did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.
When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.
'Ms.. Cothren, where're our desks?'
She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'
They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'
'No,' she said.
'Maybe it's our behavior.'
She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'
And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms. Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.
The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'
At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.

Twenty-seven war veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall... By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned..
Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'
By the way, this is a true story.
Wear a poppy to show your respect and never forget that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by war veterans.

Christkindl Market Stand - Beginning

2010-11-10T20:12:00.005-05:00

I received a German magazine article about a year ago that describes how to build this type of market stall ...including movable shutters.It's a good thing that I know the rudiments of building because the instructions were a bit beyond my language skills. So I mainly worked from the photo and the parts list that showed sizes.
Here's where I am currently. Probably not the best photo...
And here's what I've learned from this build so far:
1. It's easier to work in centimeters than in inches; you can be so much more accurate.
2. In the magazine, the stall is made from scored plywood; I thought it would be more realistic to use craft sticks. Halfway through gluing the floor, I remembered why I swore never to use them again ...none of them are the same exact thickness, most aren't straight and it's almost impossible to get them level without sanding!
About that same time I discovered that our small sander is buried at the back of the garage behind all the patio furniture ....where I can't get to until spring and that our other sander no longer worked. Maybe Santa can bring me sander attachment for my dremel ...hint, hint I've been good, Santa!
I thought that it would be nice to have a decorated Christmas tree in the vignette. The tree at the left came from the Dollar Store. This is the one that I'll decorate while the one on the right which is a Lemax will become part of a tree lot.
This build is so easy I'll have lots of time for all the tiny ornament kits that I've collected.

Rusty Tub Workshop

2010-11-10T19:55:00.002-05:00

Remember the flower workshop that I mentioned doing? I really felt daunted since I had never before made any flowers! ...and of course I screwed up with the azaleas. But boy was this ever easy! Here's my version:

2010-11-09T07:15:00.003-05:00

Isn't that a gorgeous picture!

"Christkindlmarket" or "Weihnachtsmarkt" usually held in the market square, is associated with the celebration of Christmas during the four weeks of Advent and originated in Germany and Alsace in the Late Middle Ages. The Vienna "December market" actually dates back to 1294.

From what I understand, the religious reformer Martin Luther began the tradition of Christmas present giving. Before Luther, the exchange of Christmas presents took place on the Saint Day of St. Nicholas (December 6). Luther, having 12 children, would tell them that on Christ's birthday the Christ child (Christkindl) rewarded good children with presents. The Christkindl, a romantic, fairy-like being, dressed in white and gold, with golden hair topped by a golden crown became a forerunner of Santa Claus.
When I was small, I set my shoes ...polished! outside my bedroom door & during the night St. Nicholas would fill them with fruit and candy. Then at Christmas, Santa Claus would magically fly through a window (we had no chimney) and bring me toys.

Popular attractions at the market include a nativity scene crèche, Zwetschenmännchen (figures made of decorated dried plums), carved nutcrackers, angel pyramids, traditional Christmas cookies such as Lebkuchen, a type of soft gingerbread, toys, books, Christmas tree decorations and ornaments.
Traditionally the most famous of the wooden Christmas ornaments were made in the Erzgebirge region of Germany which although originally a mining area, saw a decrease of those types of jobs beginning in the 16th century. Because the mountainous region was also rich in natural resources, a new tradition of wood carving began and here is where the first carved nutcrackers were made.

I have long wanted to build an old fashioned Christkindl market stall. It's going to be my next project.

2010-11-08T21:43:00.003-05:00

A couple of people asked about the tutorial that I mentioned on creating a cast iron look so here it is:
DIY tips: Fireplace Fender

2010-11-08T07:56:00.003-05:00

Well things just keep getting better & better.
The other day I received this month's magazine; as soon as I saw the cover I knew it was something I had to make.You can buy it as a kit form as well but with the exchange rate & the shipping costs, it just becomes too expensive! The next day my girlfriend & I went thrift store browsing and look what she found for me:It's absolutely perfect. I'd only need to add a different top & bottom so I could have the 4 little outer scenes. Then yesterday I found a tutorial to make an "iron material" look ...because I sure can't afford that stove either!
Then in addition to all that I won Robin Andreae's Noel the mouse on ebayWouldn't it look fabulous pulling a Santa sleigh!
Hmmmm lets see that's two more to add to my Christmas projects list. I think I've now got enough for the next 5 years.
This year I'm making a Christkindl market stall. CDHM had a tutorial Saturday on how best to make "Lebkuchen", the German gingerbread; I've bought all kinds of great wooden ornament kits to go into the stall. Guess I'd better get started ...only 46 days til Christmas!!

Oh BTW, during our browse we also found this itemIt used to be a candle holder but I thought it would look perfect outside my winter garden that's on my summer project to-do list.
Got all my flowers finished for the rusty tub scene too.

2010-11-05T11:01:00.004-04:00

It's been a great month for me! Not only did I get my castle finished but I also won two giveaways:
These goodies came from Donna Hager, in time for the Halloween party. Donna, thank you so much! Please hop over to Donna's blog and look at the wonderful bears that she also makes and sells at her web site.

Then this little package arrived from Jennifer:containing some fancy soaps. Reminds me that as of today there are only 49 days until Christmas! Better get shopping. Check out Jenn's other items at her etsy store as well as her blog

And finally the AllThingsMini Halloween swap arrived. Normally I am the last to receive my parcel and by the time everyone has their swap items, it's time to start the next swap.
So I'd better stop posting and get started.
I have a Christmas item, a toy for Christmas and one item that says autumn to me for Caterina's Christmas swap (due date Nov 29th) and something pertaining to Dicken's Christmas Carol to make for the next AllThingsMini swap (due date Nov 15th). It'll be nip & tuck as to whether I'll make it!!
And as if that weren't enough here's the November workshop at Minis4allThis is the third workshop I've signed up for without having time to complete one of them! Shame on me, eh!

Castle Handover

2010-11-05T09:22:00.003-04:00

Thought you might like to see my daughter's reaction to "her" castle:

The photos were taken at her work. When I arrive she set the castle down & we went for a coffee. I'm sure we weren't gone more than 15 minutes but when we returned, there were at least 6 people eyeing the castle up & down, trying to figure out what it was made of. Good thing I'd encased the interior! LOL

Halloween Party Draw

2010-11-01T21:17:00.005-04:00

I've entered all your names in order of comments for each day. Then I used a random number generator:

Ascension would you pick out one of the pumpkins and email me with your choice and your address:
I've crossed out the pumpkin on the far right; it was picked in a swap I'm doing with Chris from Candid Canine. They're all hollow and have a lid that's removable.
Thank you all for coming to and making my Halloween Open House such fun!

Halloween Party Oct 31st

2010-10-31T09:24:00.002-04:00

Skeletons of souls,
We are in the mist,
Satan has devoured that flesh to the bones... Upon your bed you sleep in pain
for nightmares whirl within your brain.
You waken with a fearful start
as horror grips your heart. You sense a presence standing there,
then all at once it meets your stare.
It waits within your room
and with it dwells your doom... They’re coming to get you, do you know who?
They’re white and bony just like you.
Noisy, rattling, very thick.
They’re long and skinny just like a stick.
Under your bed you have to go.
The skeletons are coming, you know. But evil things, in robes of sorrow,
Assailed the monarch's high estate.
(Ah, let us mourn!—for never morrow
Shall dawn upon him desolate !)
And round about his home the glory
That blushed and bloomed,
Is but a dim-remembered story
Of the old time entombed. There the traveller meets aghast
Sheeted Memories of the past—
Shrouded forms that start and sigh
As they pass the wanderer by—
White-robed forms of friends long given,
In agony, to the Earth—and Heaven.

Click to watch the slideshow of the build.

Last day to comment to be entered in the draw for your own hollowed out pumpkin.

Halloween Party Oct 30

2010-10-30T07:43:00.001-04:00

Are you just about ready? Only one more sleep to go Here's a bit of trivia for you:

86% of Americans decorate their homes at Halloween.
Upwards of $1.5 billion is spent on Halloween costumes annually and more than $2.5 billion on other Halloween paraphernalia, such as decorations, crafts, etc. More than $100,000 of that is said to be spent online.Halloween is the third biggest party day of the year behind New Year’s and Super Bowl Sunday, respectively.
Approximately 82% of children and 67% of adults take part in Halloween festivities every year.
Haunted houses are creepy fun, but also big business. The haunted house industry rakes in $300 million to $500 million dollars each year.

How about costumes?
From earliest times people wore masks when droughts or other disasters struck. They believed that the demons who had brought their misfortune upon them would become frightened off by the hideous masks. Even after the festival of Samhain had merged with Halloween, Europeans felt uneasy at this time of the year. Food was stored in preparation for the winter and the house was snug and warm. The cold, envious ghosts were outside, and people who went out after dark often wore masks to keep from being recognised.

The name Halloween dates from the 16th century.
Halloween is the 8th largest card sending holiday. The first Halloween greeting is dated back to early 1900 and today consumers spend around $50 million dollars on Halloween cards each year.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the first official citywide Halloween celebration in the United States happened in Anoka, Minnesota, in 1921.

Candy anyone?
Candy corn was revolutionary when it was first created for the simple fact that it was tri-colored.With an estimated $ 1.93 billion in candy sales, Halloween is the sweetest holiday of the year, beating out Easter, Valentine's Day, and Christmas. In fact, one quarter of all the candy sold each year is purchased between September 15 and November 10 making it the sweetest holiday of the year.

Trick or Treating:
The first incidence of the word “trick-or-treating” appearing in print comes from Chicago in 1927.
Kids have been walking door to door in costumes on Halloween night for centuries, but it’s only in the past few generations that they’ve shouted “Trick or Treat!” when doing it.
The custom probably has several origins. During Samhain, the Druids believed that the dead would play tricks on mankind and cause panic and destruction. They had to be appeased, so country folk would give the Druids food as they visited their homes.
An old Irish peasant practice called for going door to door to collect money, breadcake, cheese, eggs, butter, apples, etc., in preparation for the festival of St. Columb Kill.
Also a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.
A traditional food eaten on Halloween was barnbrack, a kind of fruitcake that can be bought in stores or baked at home. A muslin-wrapped treat is baked inside the cake that, it is said, can foretell the eater's future. If a ring is found, it means that the person will soon be wed; a piece of straw means that a prosperous year is on its way.

Bobbing for Apples:
Apples were the sacred fruit of the goddess, Pomona, goddess of the harvest, and many games of divination involving them entered the Samhain customs.
Bobbing for apples began as a Celtic fertility rite. Unmarried people would try to bite into an apple floating in water. The first person to bite into the apple would be the next one to marry.

The Witch, her broomstick and black cats:
The witch is one of the central symbols of Halloween. The name comes from the Saxon wica, meaning wise one. When setting out for a Sabbath, witches rubbed a sacred ointment onto their skin. This gave them a feeling of flying, and if they had been fasting they felt even giddier. Some witches rode on horseback, but poor witches went on foot and carried a broom or a pole to aid in vaulting over streams. In England when new witches were initiated they were often blindfolded, smeared with flying ointment and placed on a broomstick. The ointment would confuse the mind, speed up the pulse and numb the feet. When they were told "You are flying over land and sea," the witch took their word for it.
They kept a black cat as their familiar to help protect their powers from harm.

Pumpkin Facts
In 1584, after French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence region of North America, he reported finding "gros melons." The name was translated into English as "pompions," which has since evolved into the modern "pumpkin."
Pumpkins have been grown in North America for five thousand years and are indigenous here.
They are fruits. A pumpkin is a type of squash and is a member of the gourd family (Cucurbitacae), which include squash, cucumbers, gherkins, and melons.
Of the pumpkins marketed domestically, 99% of them are used as Jack-o-lanterns at Halloween. The carved pumpkin is perhaps the most famous icon of the holiday.

See you tomorrow for our last party day.
Remember to comment to be entered in the draw for your own hollowed out pumpkin.

2010-10-29T09:40:00.001-04:00

Does anyone know how to network my blog on Facebook & add a widget?

Halloween Party Oct 29

2010-10-29T09:14:00.000-04:00

A dark Cave. In the middle, a Cauldron boiling..

. . .Thunder. . .

WITCH #1: Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d.
WITCH #2: Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin’d.
WITCH #3: Harpier cries:—’tis time! ’tis time!
WITCH #1: Round about the caldron go;In the poison’d entrails throw.—
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot!

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

WITCH #2: Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

WITCH #3: Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
Witches’ mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock digg’d i the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron,
For the ingrediants of our caldron.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

WITCH #2:Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These lovely ladies and their steaming soup kettle were made for me by the very talented Sans in response to a Halloween swap a few years back.

Remember to comment to be entered in the draw for your own hollowed out pumpkin.

2010-10-28T21:26:00.006-04:00

I have now officially resigned from the Luddites!
I've done something I thought I'd never do...
....I am on Facebook.

Giveaway....

2010-10-28T19:56:00.003-04:00

Arantxa's First Give-away

Don't anyone enter!! I have the water jug to the set she's giving away & I really want to win!

Halloween Party Oct 28

2010-10-28T07:43:00.001-04:00

Help yourselves... hope you brought an appetite; there's lots to go round. I ordered a couple of jars of leeches from the Slash & Hack Drug Co or you could have some slices of pickled hearts. Over at the corner are some toadstools; I understand the red capped ones are especially good tasting. We could start with some finger food... Is this the first time food ever gave you the finger?
Aren't these great! Edible worms! The recipe is at the bottom in case you want to make some. Oh and I also have a crusty booger balls recipe ...but no photo!

Remember to comment to be entered in the draw for your own hollowed out pumpkin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Worms
Yield: 100 worms
1 (6 ounce) package raspberry gelatin powder or 1 (6 ounce) package grape flavor gelatin
3 (1/4 ounce) envelopes unflavored gelatin
3 cups boiling water
100 flexible plastic straws
1 tall slender 4 cup container (same height as extended straws)
3/4 cup whipping cream
12 -15 1/16 drops green food coloring

Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 20 mins
1 In a bowl, combine gelatins.
2 Add boiling water; stir until gelatins completely dissolve. Chill until lukewarm, about 20 minutes.
3 Meanwhile, gently pull straws to extend to full length; place in tall container.
4 Blend cream and food coloring with the lukewarm gelatin mixture. Pour into container, filling straws.
5 Chill until gelatin is firm, at least 8 hours, or cover and chill up to 2 days.
6 Pull straws from container (if using a carton, tear carton away from straws). Pull straws apart; run hot tap water for about 2 seconds over 3 to 4 straws at a time. Starting at the empty ends, push worms from straws with rolling pin, or use your fingers; lay worms on waxed paper-lined baking sheets.
7 Cover and chill until ready to use, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
8 Worms will hold at room temperature up to 2 hours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crusty Booger Balls
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
14 ounces flaked coconut
1 (8 ounce) package lime gelatin
1 cup ground, blanched almonds
1 teaspoon almond extract

Prep Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
1 In a large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, coconut, 1/3 cup of the unprepared gelatin, almonds, and almond extract.
2 Mix well with a large mixing spoon or rubber spatula.
3 Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for about an hour or until mixture is firm enough to mold in your hands.
4 Scoop by ½ teaspoonfuls and shape into various-sized booger balls.
5 Place them on a baking sheet, lined with a sheet of waxed paper.
6 Make sure they are all slightly different, just as each and every booger is unique and special.
7 Place a second sheet of waxed paper on your work surface and pour remaining unprepared lime gelatin on the center of the waxed paper.
8 Roll each ball in gelatin to coat well and create a thin outer layer.
9 Then place back on the baking sheet.
10 Return boogers to the refrigerator for and hour before serving, and store any extras in the refrigerator.

Halloween Party Oct 27

2010-10-27T09:48:00.002-04:00

Wow, you guys sure wore some great costumes! Costumes probably date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when folks believed that if they disguise themselves as spirits, the restless dead walking the earth would pass them by. It’s only in recent days that the costume repertoire has expanded to include superheros and fairy princesses. Maybe our kids desperately need to ward them off, too?
Between costumes, decorations and trick or treat candy, North Americans spend more than $6 million. Apparently Alice in Wonderland costumes sold out early; next in popularity are Buzz Lightyear and Harry Potter characters this year.
Ken & I are going to hand out treats at my stepdaughter's house so they can both take the kids. Nobody comes to our house; we're too far out in the country. It's so cute watching the littlest ones in their costumes ...oh and speaking of little ones, pet costumes are a big industry that's growing bigger all the time.

OMG a face only a fur baby mother could love!

Is it any wonder there are more dogs biting their owners!

these guys are making me hungry! Why don't you help me bring out the party food....

Remember to comment to be entered in the draw for your own hollowed out pumpkin

Christmas International Swap

2010-10-26T13:53:00.002-04:00

Well it's now official. I'm getting my Christmas gifts from Spain(?)Google translate seemed to have a bit of trouble so I'm not 100% sure if I'm right when I say Spain but they're definitely coming from RosaMaria. Oooooh I just love continental gifts!

And I'll be sending mine to Natalie Frank who lives in Spokane Washington USA. I peeked in at her Scarlet Sails blog. Seems Natalie specializes in needle point. I'm just not sure what her other interests are. Hmmmmm guess that leaves my choices wide open!

I'm going to need 1 Christmas gift, 1 toy and 1 gift representing autumn. Any one have any suggestions?

Just to let you know...

2010-10-26T12:07:00.002-04:00

Julia is having a 250 follower give-away. Originally I thought to just show it on the side bar of my blog ....and I have put it there as well.
Julia is the lady who showed up with the wheelbarrow full of pumpkins, all the way from Wales. She & her hubby do the most amazing buildings that are one reason for me following her blog. Congrats on achieving 251 followers, Julia! If you want a chance to own her sampler, click here.

While I was in Nova Scotia, I tried doing a petite point sampler. My grandmother used to do the most incredible embroidery, so I figured "how hard could it be". Well now I know! As soon as I'm ready for more eye strain, I might even finish it so I can show you.

Halloween Party Oct 26

2010-10-26T08:50:00.008-04:00

Hello come on in! Oh no, you're not the first to arrive. Janice, Margaret and Chelle are already here; Pammmmmy came all the way from Nova Scotia shhhh don't tell anyone: she's supposed to be working on her castle & I heard she hasn't even unpacked it yet!
Julia sent over a wheelbarrow full of pumpkins. Thank you Julia; they're lovely....just follow the pumpkin trail in the garden. Lori and Ascension can show youWe're just carving some more pumpkins. Did you know that the tradition of using pumpkins started in America because they were cheaper than the traditional Irish turnips? I even heard that some Irish used to carve out potatoes.
Oh yeah....., it all started in Ireland. Apparently there's an Irish legend that tells of a man named Stingy Jack, who invited the Devil to have a drink. When it came time to pay, he convinced the Devil to change into a sixpence, then instead of paying for the drink Jack kept the sixpence and stored it beside a silver cross, which stopped the Devil from changing back.
Old Jack wasn't stupid! He made a deal with the Devil before letting him free so the Devil couldn't harass him. Next Halloween Jack died and was turned away from the Gates of Heaven because of his evil ways.
He went to the Gates of Hell and the Devil told him to go away since Jack had made him promise not to claim his soul. Jack didn't want to leave because it was dark and he couldn't find his way. The Devil tossed Jack a glowing coal and Jack put it inside a turnip, and ever since with this "Jack O' Lantern", Stingy jack's lonely soul has been roaming the faces of this earth.

The other story that I've heard says that October 31st is the day where the curtain separating the dead from the living is thinnest and the light from those candles ward evil spirits away from the houses.
I can't imagine carving out a potato. I have enough trouble working on a pumpkin...When I was a kid, we just hollowed out our pumpkins so we could burn a candle in it. You knew when people ran out of candy to give away because they'd blow the candle in the Jack-o-lantern out.
Now pumpkins really get carved! Wow. ...and he even gives you instructions so you can make your own.
http://www.villafanestudios.com/pumpkins.htm

I do have some squash if you want to try carving them...oh and please don't carve the large one. I have other plans for it.

Remember to comment to be entered in the draw for your own hollowed out pumpkin.

Halloween Party Oct 25

2010-10-25T08:14:00.002-04:00

well hi! ....come on in. I think you're the first to arrive. Didn't think anyone would be here this early so I'm not quite ready hehe.
But that's OK, I was just going out for more pumpkins to carve. Wanna come?
The shop down the street has some nice ones. Maybe you could help pick out a couple...or we could get them out of the fieldsafter all they're everywhere...hay bales decorated as jack-o-lanterns....advertising or just decorating the house like we're going to do

Remember to comment to be entered in the draw for your own hollowed out pumpkin.

Lets Build a Castle out of Builders Foam...

2010-10-23T11:39:00.004-04:00

Still need to blacken the fireplace somewhat, and grunge up the corners but basically I'm done building.

Now to dress it up!
As Chelle said, I brought home enough goodies to fill 1-1/2 castles and originally I thought to make this into a knight Templar castle but as always, I let the building tell me what it should be. I'm allowing myself a week for this.

I'm really happy how the build has turned out! I almost wish I were keeping it but I know from experience that after admiring it for a week it would get relegated to a corner & forgotten. Better to give someone else the enjoyment.

2010-10-22T09:12:00.003-04:00

We woke this morning to the first light dusting of snow! Looking at the photo, you might not think much of it ...but this is way too early! We normally don't get anything until November.
Do you believe in harbingers? Two days ago I saw the fattest, most wooliest wooly caterpillar ever! In case you didn't know, it's said that you can predict the winter by the thickness of the caterpillar's coat.

My castle is finished except for one door and the fireplace. I should have photos for you tomorrow. But first I think I'll go stock up on food in case we get snowed in.....

Doll Class

2010-10-21T12:02:00.004-04:00

Friday I took a 1" doll making class. One of the few classes that I've taken where all my expectations were met & then some!
It was Lindsay's first class and she made a marvelous teacher. Here's some of the items that she brought to show us:So you can see just how small her sculptures are, these pieces are sitting on the lid of my water bottle.
Lindsay's studio is WonderChild Studio. I've made it a clickable link.

Lets Build a Castle out of Builders Foam

2010-10-18T10:12:00.004-04:00

I feel awful today. My throat is raw. I'm congested and I feel like crap! Why do you only get sick when you can't afford the time to indulge in being miserable?

I've started with my floor first. Even though I will probably use more or less the same colors for the entire castle, because I work in "sections" (outer walls, inside walls, quoins & crenellation, inner turret room & stairwell), the finish will always be slightly different.
I used a basic "country maple" color for the entire floor and applied at least 8 or more washes over top, working from dark to light. Each wash was daubed on using a small piece of natural sponge. Remember to let each color dry before adding the next one... With that many washes, you don't have to be very precise with your colors.
If you're going to work this way, don't forget to cover each finished section before starting on the next.
This is the main wall for inside the stairwell. I've painted the "grout lines" with a mixture of black & burnt umber to help emphasize each individual stone. If you're making your stonework look this old, remember that back then they either set one stone (cut precisely) onto the next or their grout was made from the same material as their stones.

Halloween Party here!

2010-10-17T09:42:00.003-04:00

I realize that not all the world celebrates Halloween so I thought I'd throw a typical bash so you could all see what your part of the world is missing ....and maybe you could the same for me at Mardi Gras time (which we Canadians don't celebrate).
I plan to start Monday the 25th and continue until Sunday the 31st ....Halloween Eve. I'll have creepy party food, history, traditions and hopefully some surprises.
Just so this won't be too boring for those of you who've grown up with all of this, on November 1st, I'll do a draw of names from everyone who left comments during the week of the open house. Followers only, sorry!

One vote per comment; one comment per day. So you could have up to 7 chances. What's the prize, you ask? How about your very own Jack-o-lantern...
Please stop by ...bring your friends; everybody's welcome. No RSVPs needed.

Lets Build a Castle out of Builders Foam

2010-10-16T09:26:00.006-04:00

The castle prototype had a fireplace that extended out from the back wall.
But from all my reading, I knew I wanted a large imposing fireplace similar to this one: that I found on eBay but with a listing start of $99, I also knew that I'd be making my own. Here's some of the images that I collected:
don't remember whose this is
loved this one but I didn't think I could manage a corner fireplace.
I even collected kitchen vent images.

This is what I ended up withnot as imposing as I imagined but not too bad in scale with the rest of the castle. It also meant I didn't have to add the extra pieces to the back wall ...not that anyone will see them.
Real life has been imposing on my time lately so I haven't a photo to show the carved fireplace. Sorry!

I think after this there's only painting left to do. Just as well because the castle's new owner is expecting it no later than the end of the month. (You didn't think I'd keep it, did you? No room at my house for something this big.)

Give-aways

2010-10-15T20:33:00.002-04:00

This is Eva's give-away. Make sure to enter soon; the drawing will be held Nov 1.

And as for me...
I passed 250 followers! Stay tuned; I hope to finalize my give-away mid week.

Translations

2010-10-14T09:40:00.003-04:00

I've added a "flag" translator to the top of the page for anyone reading this blog. I always assumed that Google translates automatically but perhaps different people read this blog in something other than a reader or via Google dashboard.
Took me a little while to get the html code working correctly as I only have limited coding knowledge. I'm still assuming that Google translates automatically since Google help was no help whatsoever! I did, however, find a couple of site with the code written & ready to copy.
So this is for Gemma, and anyone else who needs the translator: He añadido un traductor 'bandera' en la parte superior de la página. ¿Podría usted, hágamelo saber si esto funciona para usted. Gracias por ser tan interesados

abrazos Karin

Christmas International Swap

2010-10-13T21:20:00.002-04:00

I think this is the 3rd international swap that I've participated in, initiated by Caterina. They have all been such fun and there've been some wonderful miniaturists joining in!
This time the requirement will be to make 1 Christmas item, 1 toy and 1 item that reminds me of autumn.

If you want to join in, you have until October 23rd to leave a comment on Caterina's blog.

Lets Build a Castle out of Builders Foam

2010-10-13T10:10:00.003-04:00

Although no fireplace, stairs or other internal room items have been added, you might be at the stage where you have some gluing to do...Remember that not all glues are alike; some do not! work well with foam, styrofoam, plastics etc! In this photo, you can see where the glue has eaten away at the foam. All I wanted to do is fill in gaps & instead I got bigger gaps. LOL
For this project, regular wood glue or 'The Ultimate' craft glue works sufficiently to hold these pieces together.
Oh and while we're on this subject, I should add that straight pins work so much better to hold parts together than just using the green painters tape.If you look closely, every part is being held with pins. I tried to put them in the "mortar joints" where I could, to avoid the need to cover up holes. Sometimes you just can't avoid it.

Canadian Thanksgiving Day

2010-10-10T09:12:00.007-04:00

This is the weekend that Canada celebrates Thanksgiving.
We're having our family dinner on Monday: turkey and ham, acorn squash, carrots, mashed potatoes with gravy and for those with a hollow leg there's a choice of desserts (apple pie, pumpkin pie and apple crisp with whipped cream).

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Halloween Party and You're Invited!!!

2010-10-10T04:50:00.003-04:00

Kat the Hat lady is holding a Halloween Party at her blogsite. Sounds like fun! If you want to come too, here's what you need to do:

All you need to do is to post something Halloween on your blog page between the 30th October to the 2nd November. It can be photos of your miniatures, things you have made, or things you have collected. You could show photos of pumpkins you have carved, maybe a ghoulish cake you have made, perhaps a list of your favourite monster songs or Halloween jokes(clean ones please), favourite movies, even photos of your family dressed in Halloween outfits or whatever you like. The funnier the better!
Then visit her special blog page and leave a comment with a link to your Halloween article so everyone who visits the Haunted House can then visit you.
She's running the party from the 30th of October to the 2nd of November to allow everyone the chance to take part and visit everyone's blogs over four days.

Ken & I have been invited to a party on Oct 30th... so of course I insisted that we dress up. Our hostess is well known for getting into the "spirit of things" so I knew she'd be dressed up. I found a cute pierrot costume while I was in Nova Scotia and on a recent thrift shop visit, I found an adorable kids lion costume. The lion head is large enough for an adult to wear so I'll keep that as well as the tail and discard the costume body. Ken insists that when we arrive, I introduce him as my ~~main~~ mane man.
This is one celebration that I've loved as a child getting enough candy to fill a large garbage bag several times over, as a mom having to make costumes out of ordinary things because the bought ones were too expensive and since then decorating the house to scare trick-or-treaters coming to the door.

Trick or treat, smell my feet.
Give me something good to eat.
If you don't, I won't be sad.
I'll just make you wish you had!

See you there.....

Lets Build a Castle out of Builders Foam

2010-10-09T19:17:00.002-04:00

OK time to add some windows.....

Make sure that the hole you cut for your window is slightly smaller or cut on an angle so that the window doesn't fall through.
Since my one castle window that can be seen from the front is the one that I got from Rik Pierce and was actually meant to be encased in paperclay, I sliced some of the foam away so it will sit just as deeply. My other window comes from the UK; if you ever want anything Tudor, I highly recommend buying from Angela Downton. I've bought quite a number of things, furniture and well as parts, from her: her prices are fair; her merchandise is professionally finished and beautifully made. You can't go wrong!

WooHoo: Prezzies and Give-aways!

2010-10-08T20:16:00.003-04:00

Lookie, lookie ...aren't I the lucky girl:
A while back I complained about wanting to buy a pair of the Doll Cobbler's hip wader for my Fishing Hut but the eBay seller wouldn't ship to Canada. This week an envelope arrived containing waders that Chelle made for me. She & I have from time to time exchanged surprise packages but this definitely tops it! What a lovely, generous & kind thing to do.
We met on a UK forum that long away gave up the ghost but have managed to keep in touch. Someday I'd like to go to Britain, so we can meet for real.

....and tonight when I opened my email, I discovered that I won this
from Donna who makes the most adorable bears and in her other spare time LOL is completing Rik Pierce's Fair Rosamund's Bower which contains the door surround and window with the gargoyle pillars that I'm using for my castle.
What a small world it is!