Happy New Year!

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

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

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

Merry Christmas

click on the "Merry Christmas"

Christmas International Swap

"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

...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...

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!