Mini-filled Weekend...

This weekend has been a miniaturist's dream - a workshop, a fair and three new followers! You are all very welcome and thanks for joining me! So...on Saturday morning I attended a workshop using polymer clay to make French-style patisserie cakes. Although I've played about with this medium before I have never really got into it so it was most enjoyable to actually be shown how to use it and to pick up tips from the experts. Here are my creations...

and some more...

Then today it was another early start as I like to get to a dolls house fair for the doors opening! All the usual exhibitors were there with a few new ones. I never attend a fair with a fixed idea of what I will buy as you will inevitably be disappointed so I try to keep an open mind and have acquired this little lot from the fair-

- nothing too exciting, some plants and crates, a kit to make a handbag (made it as soon as I came home and two more from the leftover fabric!), another kit to make beaded handbags and some coving for Mulberry Cottage...talking of which - we're nearly there and I hope to be able to reveal it to you very soon so until then...

A New Follower! Welcome!

Hello Norma and a warm welcome to my world of miniature allsorts. I hope that you'll find something to keep you interested along the way. Your part of the world looks beautiful and I look forward to following your progress with your properties, miniature and in real life!

Quick Update

As it's been over a week since I last posted (sorry!) I thought I'd drop by with a quick update. All week I've been making the 24th scale furniture to go into Mulberry Cottage - just have to paint it all now! Then it's the soft furnishings. The lights have been connected - do you say "Awwwhhh!" too when you light up your house for the first time? - and then it's ready to be revealed. Also got a phone call from my local miniatures shop to say that the gardener I ordered for the market stall has arrived - yay!! - so will be picking him up tomorrow and no doubt having a good old rummage in the shop for any other little pickings. Other than that I've several miniatures to make for our swap group, namely some old-fashioned toys, something Easter related and my surprise swap to the group. I have a rough idea of what I'll be making so will be back with the details soon. Take care until then x

Time ticking on..

I'm still waiting (patience isn't my strong point) on the items I ordered for Mulberry Cottage and the Market Stall is pending until I can buy some miniatures at the fair later this month, so I thought you might like to see a little 24th scale project I completed some time ago. I bought a wall clock at a school fair. The clock didn't work and my sons thought I was losing my mind...but I handed over the princely sum of £2 and went home happy. The inside of the clock was discarded and I had the little case you see here. I decided that I would like to make a little kitchen scene and set about making a range, fireplace, table and some chairs from mountboard (I love that stuff!) The hardest part was getting the pulley to stay together and once that was done I cut little bits of ribbon to hang from it to look like household linens. This now hangs on the wall in my craftroom; I just call it The Kitchen in the Clock. Hope you've enjoyed this and, with a bit of luck and a visit from the postman, I'll be back soon with the grand tour of Mulberry Cottage. Until then....

Fast Forward >>

While waiting on some bits and pieces I ordered for Mulberry Cottage I thought I would move onto my Plants & Flowers Market Stall. The building and decorating were completed about a year ago (as in the first photo) so this weekend I've been making plants and other gardening paraphenalia to stock the stall. Here's what I've managed so far...

I don't really like dolls in my scenes but in this instance I have relented and am waiting on the arrival of our gardener. I want to make more plants, trays of seedlings, etc. but after a disastrous attempt at making wooden crates I think I'll wait until the dolls house fair later this month and just buy what I need. Hope you enjoy this so far!

A new month already?

Woah...where did January go? Can you believe that we are now into February? Anyhow thanks to blogging I'm two projects down and a third well under way, my swaps are all prepared ready for posting and my mini-ing mojo is well and truly back! I'm still working away on Mulberry Cottage, and when I'm not doing that I'm cross stitching furiously. "What's on the Frame?" has changed and here is a cross stitch kit that I started about two years ago.

It's by Pako, I think it's simply called Dolls House and, after all the fractional stitches of the last one, is delightfully easy to stitch. Take care, until next time x