miniatures — Page 98

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?

Mini Baby Carriage

September 17, 2009 at 10:10 am by Claudia

This little mini wicker baby carriage was found when I was in San Diego. At Vignettes, of course. I couldn’t resist it. There are hand painted flowers along the top and the sweetest cushion inside. I don’t know how old it is, but it is definitely vintage. The scale seems to be a bit too large for the dollhouse, but I love it nonetheless.

The details on the cushion are so lovely. For now, it is in my china cabinet in the den.

Life here at MHC is a tad stressful at the moment. Both my husband and I freelance and neither of us is working at the moment – with no work in sight. I don’t know about you, but when I am feeling stressed, my worries seem to pervade everything I do. I wish this wasn’t the case and it is something I am trying to let go of. Trust, faith…I know these things are the key, but sometimes it is very hard to remain calm and trusting.

In the midst of the worry, I found out I had to get new tires for my car in order to pass inspection. And I spent an hour on the phone with the cable company arguing over an overcharge that they insisted was valid. I felt like my head was going to explode. Try as I might, I couldn’t change their minds and they couldn’t change mine. When I asked to speak to a woman from the main office who spoke with me (and agreed with me) about the problem last month, I was told that it was impossible: she couldn’t call out, I couldn’t call her….it wasn’t done. I hung up in tears of frustration, convinced I had a battle ahead of me.

A couple of hours later, the phone rang. It was a gentleman from the main office calling to tell me that he had researched the problem and that I had been ‘exactly right.’ I was dumbfounded and very grateful. I don’t know how he knew about it – I suspect customer service calls are monitored – but he took the time to take my complaint seriously, researched it, ran it by his co-workers, then called my local office and explained it to them. I will be getting a credit on my next bill. Yesterday was a long day, full of worry and frustration. Thankfully, this call ended the day and I was heartened by this man’s extra effort to resolve the problem.

Sometimes, a gesture like that can make all the difference.

Birdies, Nests, Dollhouse Miniatures; Presents in the Mail

Mini Presents in the Mail

Mini Baby Carriage

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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