miniatures — Page 95

A New Perch for the Dollhouse

September 17, 2011 at 9:43 am by Claudia

The dollhouse is now on a ‘new’ table, which replaces the coffee table. The coffee table is now functioning as…a coffee table. Brilliant on our part, isn’t it?

This dollhouse is so hard to photograph! Since the den is tucked in behind the porch, it doesn’t get as much light as in other parts of the house. I’ve resorted to a ‘special effect’ to make this look like an artistic shot. Gosh darn it, I keep entering The Pioneer Woman’s camera giveaways and I never win!

Another angle:

I keep some of my supplies on the shelf. There’s more in those Trader Joe’s bags in the corner. As usual in this house, somehow or other a dog manages to get in the picture. Hi Riley.

His little adventure the other night seems to have left him no worse for the wear.

Today I am going to change out the front door. Wish me luck.

Have a great weekend. Ours is cool and very fall-like. And the leaves are changing. I’m ready.

Birdies, Nests, Dollhouse Miniatures; Presents in the Mail

September 9, 2011 at 10:40 am by Claudia

Part of a robin’s egg, found on the patio a few weeks ago, clearly needed to be back in a nest. This particular nest is being carried on the back of one of my McCoy singing birds.

A few months back, my friend Jill of Little Nest Studio had a giveaway. Jill is a longtime blogging friend. She is one of the nicest people I know and very talented. And she loves miniatures. I was lucky enough to be one of the winners (I seem to remember there was more than one.) Jill wanted to make something special with the winner in mind. Oh my gosh…she did.

Yesterday, in the midst of the rain, I saw a package down at the mailbox. You’d better believe I skedaddled right on down there. The box had the prettiest hand-addressed label and may I say that Jill has the coolest handwriting in the world? I’m jealous. She writes in a style that immediately says ‘Artist.’

I couldn’t wait to see what she had created.

Yes, there are wrapped presents there (check out the sweet rick rack and flowers), but first…what do I see on the right?

Oh, happiness! Some of my favorite coffee! That darn Jill knows me very well, indeed. I let out a little cry of delight when I saw this unexpected goodie. Just ask Don. He was right there. (See what I mean about the handwriting?)

Here’s what Jill created for me. Get ready to swoon.

Oh my goodness! It is absolutely perfect. Jill’s embroidery skills leave mine in the dust. When we were both part of 39 Squares, her work was consistently beautiful. A close-up of her stitches:

I’m fiddling with Picnik – no sunshine for several days makes for difficult picture taking. The blue is more vivid than this photo indicates, it’s more like the previous photo. But back to the stitching…isn’t it beautiful? I love the rick rack trim she added, as well. Frankly, this is too pretty for my kitchen. Don would forget that he wasn’t to touch it and within seconds, there would be some sort of stain on it. Have I ever told you about the mess he made of my wedding dress? Just think about spare ribs and sauce and you’ll get the picture. I will have to find a better place. Hmmm. My thinking cap is on.

What else was in the package?

For my dollhouse: this charming table (made and signed by Jill) in my favorite colors. Won’t it look sweet in my dollhouse – perhaps in the kitchen? She also sent the vase, which looks very much like the McCoy pottery I collect and display here at MHC.

Oh, that’s not all.

She also sent the tote bag and flip-flops. Adorable. Do you think Jill knows my favorite colors?

Every single treasure in this package was made with me in mind. That blows me away. Seeing all this beauty, this precise and heart-felt handwork, touches my heart. I am surely blessed by knowing Jill and I’m so grateful to call her my friend.

Thank you, dear Jill.

The sun just came out. Do I have Jill to thank for that? I rather suspect I do.

Mini Presents in the Mail

April 4, 2011 at 2:15 pm by Claudia

I drove home in my rental car yesterday. It was a Nissan Cube – funny looking, but a great little car. It really has a lot of power and my problematic lower back loved, loved the design of the driver’s seat. There’s quite a bit of storage space and lots of head room.

I liked it so much, I took a picture of it. The light was strange but sort of otherworldly and cool.

Sitting on the kitchen table were 2 packages that arrived while I was away. Today, I’ll share the contents of the 1st package to arrive at MHC. Casey of Casey’s Minis had a giveaway and I was one of 3 winners. Casey let us choose what miniature we wanted and then proceeded to make them for us. She is amazingly talented. I continually gasp at her creations. I mean, let’s face it, I am in the midst of the slowest dollhouse renovation in history! I have no idea what I’m doing. Casey, on the other hand, is constantly making miniatures and most definitely knows what she’s doing.

But I digress. Here is my present:

Gasp! (See, I told you I am continually gasping.) Casey made this wicker chair. Isn’t it beautiful? Look at the detail. Unbelievable. I had my choice of fabrics and I chose this sweet design.

She added a slot for reading material.

And she sent along some extras:

The sweetest, most whimsical ottoman – or ‘pouf’ as I like to call it.

And this basket:

I’m in love.

A side view of the chair:

Such incredible detail.

Thank you, Casey! These are priceless additions to my dollhouse. Don absconded with the cigar box in which the chair was snugly packed. So I guess he won something in the giveaway, too.

If you haven’t visited Casey, please do. The ‘tenants’ of her dollhouses, Tessie and Zar, make frequent appearances in Casey’s posts. In fact, Tessie had a hand in the making of this chair.

As you can see, I took lots of photos in different lighting conditions in order to find just the right shots of this miniature furniture. It was a little frustrating. My new mantra? “A new camera with some spiffy lenses is coming my way. A new camera with some spiffy lenses is coming my way. A new camera…”

You get the idea. Maybe one will magically appear on my doorstep?

A New Perch for the Dollhouse

Birdies, Nests, Dollhouse Miniatures; Presents in the Mail

Mini Presents in the Mail

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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