Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad!

From my little house to yours....

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season - no matter how you may celebrate, may you have an overabundance of joy and peace.

Many blessings for the New Year!

Cyndy

Snowman Giveaway!

They're not minis, but they'll help you get your house decorated so you can get back to your minis!
Good luck!

http://jlilroomer.blogspot.com/2011/12/holiday-giveaway.html

**Congratulations to Ana Rosa!!**

Another Great Giveaway!

Talented Eva from Spain makes darling minis and is offering a fantastic giveaway for one very lucky winner. Check it out! 

http://www.mini-escenas.blogspot.com/

Fun Giveaway to Enter

Hop on over to "Honey, I Shrunk the House" for a chance to win her groceries giveaway!
http://audrasminiatures.blogspot.com/2011/11/groceries-for-holidays.html

Making Cookies

A family tradition all my life has been homemade mincemeat cookies. We even make our own mincemeat (a vegan version). After making a batch for Thanksgiving, I realized I had never made them in miniature. Like writing, I think artists best work in "what they know" so here's my mini mincemeat cookies. Yum!

This is what I've been up to lately when not making minis. Oh those oak trees provided abundant shade during the summer, but there is a price to pay. I did get some great exercise. The dog likes lying in the piles of leaves!

Scrambled Eggs or a Turkey & Swiss Sandwich?

Hooray! My order of mini plates arrived from Thailand. I love them! And I had some dollhouse foods ready to plate up. 

First, I present to you a hot breakfast with scrambled eggs, toast and a half of an orange. The eggs are okay; I've been thinking of better ways to create them. Or maybe next time I'll just go for an omelet. 

If you're still hungry when lunch rolls around, have a fresh turkey submarine sandwich with swiss cheese, onions, lettuce and tomato. I've added some chips and dill pickle spears. Everything was made from polymer clay with the exception of the chips - they are dried bell pepper seeds.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend. Today I celebrate my 55th birthday but I'm still a kid at heart!  My husband and I will celebrate tonight at our favorite Indian restaurant (he turned 58 last Friday).

Toodles for now!

Special Commission Piece Arrived Safely At Its New Home

This is the special commission piece I did for a wonderful lady in SC.

Her dollhouse bathtub is slightly larger than 1" scale; I worked from a photo of her tub, her measurements and her color request.  Everything is clay with the exception of the posts holding the faucet pieces togethers. (They are made from common straight pins.)

I am pleased with the results though for a time I wondered if I would actually get it done. The faucets themselves were a challenge. But if we don't challenge ourselves once in a while, we'll never accomplish all we can.

Toodles!

Getting Settled In

I'm finally back!  The move from GA went rather well. According to Jim, the cats "sang" the entire trip. I just had to listen to the dog snoring in the back seat!  We weren't able to move into our rental house until the end of July - it was a long, hot month of scrubbing, painting, electric work, cleaning, etc. We've since gone back to GA twice since June for more stuff. (And could easily repeat the trip several more times...) The best part about the new place is I have a small room to use as an office/craft room!  I have shelving and peg board so I'm actually organized. It's great having my own private space to work in.

I have a new office to hang my Realtor hat in and I'm so happy to be part of the Fonville Morisey team! There's been extensive training and even though I'm not a brand new agent, it's been fantastic. I have learned a lot! 

I have a commission I'm working on - bath tub faucets and spout for a tub slightly over 1/12th scale. It's coming along. I'll post photos soon. It's a challenge! I've also signed up for my first swap in many months - potted flowers! Looking forward to doing this one - I love making mini flowers!

The hot hot summer weather seems to be leaving;  Fall weather is starting to settle in here.  I love it! 

Toodles!

So Many Things Going On!

Since my last post, a lot of things have happened. I changed offices to one where I'm much happier. I spent far too long hanging on at the last office; what's the point really, when you're not happy and you're not appreciated?  There's so much paperwork involved when you change real estate offices.

The biggest event will be in less than 9 days when my husband and I hit the road, caravan style, to move to the Raleigh NC area. Yes, we're moving! I am excited and nervous! We found a little house to rent at an agreeable price, we've got St. Joseph buried in the front yard (taking every little bit of help we can get in selling this place!) and we're taking the plunge. The job market while not perfect is much better than the dismal reality here.  He's driving his big work truck towing a trailer and I'll be driving the Subaru towing a small trailer. I need all the best wishes I can get having never really towed anything before.

We've been acclimating the dog to riding in the car. Other than the vet, we've never took Bluebell anywhere before; she's been getting a crash course in the past couple weeks. Bluebell is a big girl and she nearly takes up the entire back seat in the Subaru. My house is crammed with boxes - I've got the majority of the packing done. Jim has been getting the vehicles ready, and crafted a portable house for the cats.

Meghan, in the meantime, has just begun a summer job of house sitting. It includes an elderly dog and a cat so she's in heaven. We'll be joining her there for a week or so while the rental is gotten ready. Our heartfelt thanks to Roger, Silvia and family for this great opportunity. When we get up there, the first order of business will be moving her out of her apartment. So I won't be relaxing any time soon.

Sadly, the Spring Fling project has fallen by the wayside during all this. It will be done - my husband and I are still committed. It just won't be in time for judging in July. I'll be taking the project with us.  My clay is all packed already.

This is the lovely peninsula haven we're leaving behind in GA.

Toodles for now! Cyndy

Wine and Cheese Party Swap Finished Item

The picture could have been better...sigh....Fingers double crossed that the swap items arrive safely. They were wrapped in bubble pack, put in a small box, wrapped in bubble wrap again, then put in the mailing box which was lined with more bubble pack.  Can never use too much bubble pack when it comes to shipping minis! 

 I made everything except the board and doily. The hors d'oeurves were a bit fiddly to make but I like how they came out. The crackers could have been a bit thinner - but I love the serrated edges on them.

Happy Birthday to my nephew Jake, currently stationed in Germany with the US Army.

Have a great day everyone ~ Toodles!

Happy May Day!

A fine sunny morning here. Marred only by the 'singing' of the 13 year cicadas. (If you've never heard them, it's a constant drone from sun up to sun down. If you've ever seen hovering alien spacecraft in a 1950's sci fi movie, you get the idea.) Today, to spice things up, the sound is undulating. Hmmmm.

Jim and I went to the annual seed swap yesterday. Lots of fun, great people and we always come home with an exciting new plant or seeds. (Yesterday's treasures: sunchoke plant!)  We sold some fresh from the garden greens, and a few spare plants. Like last year, I toted along my miniatures and beaded jewelry. Didn't sell any last year, but you never know. A nice young man bought a set of mini breads for his Mom in FL who collects minis. Yay! Then I sold some jewelry and more miniatures too. All in all a good day!

Ok, now back to work! Still haven't finished the swap items - eek! They have to go out tomorrow.

Toodles - have a great day!

Sunny Monday in Georgia

The Spring Fling project is still going strong. I've been busy choosing colors, picking up little things I'll need for the finished product, scouring my stash for useable items. Husband Jim has joined in with his expertise - things are shaping up nicely. Now I have to get my sanding muscles into shape.


I am still working on wine bottles - because Spring Fling isn't enough on my plate, I've joined TWO swaps due May 5th:  Wine and Cheese party and Family Portraits. The only good thing - or bad, depending on your point of view - is there are just 5 of us in each swap. Meaning I don't have to make lots of things, but I also won't get lots in return. Ah, well, it's all in fun and I always enjoy seeing what others create.

We're off to Raleigh at the end of the week to spend Easter with Meghan. She's safe and sound - luckily! One tornado was within a mile of her apartment but far enough away to keep her out of harm's way. My heart goes out to all families in the wake of this devastating storm system that tore across the US last week.

Wine Bottles - Take Two

I made more wine bottles today. I like the variety here! The very front bottle is 1/24th scale while the rest are 1/12th scale. The center bottle is open and 'breathing' - see the cork on the tile ?

I still need more practice, but these are an improvement over the last batch. I still have to print up some half scale labels.

Toodles!

Not whining

I made wine bottles the other day - quite an experience! I had fun but I definitely need LOTS of practice. When I tried to upload a photo, I got this message "server rejected". I wonder what the heck that means! I'll try again later. (We are under a thunderstorm watch which could be affecting my internet connection.)

A Nod to My Scottish Heritage

I had the opportunity to attend an online tutorial at CDHM yesterday - a kilt or skirt in 1/12th scale. I made the kilt out of a 2nd hand cloth napkin (a very recent find at a thrift store - I got three mismatched napkins for 25 cents!) After I finished the kilt, I got to thinking, I do have a doll who could model it. He's not exactly Rob Roy, so I decided to make him a shirt. Then a sash seemed appropriate. And what about the sporran? A fingertip from an old leather glove, a bit of tassell from another cloth napkin and one button later - ta da!  (Kilts lack pockets, thus the guys have a sporran.)  I'm pleased with the result. DH says I should make a tam. I'm still thinking about that... 

Toodles for now!

Cyndy

A New Scale for Me

I've recently started making half inch scale miniatures. Here are some half inch scale breads - bagged and unbagged. There's soda bread, Easter bread and a baguette.

I am still working in one inch scale as well - here's a selection of mini breads in one inch and half inch scale.

Hope your weekend is a good one - after some glorious sunny days, we've got rain...

Toodles! Cyndy

It's Here!

My Greenleaf Spring Fling house has arrived! I'm not sure what possessed me - surely not the abundance of time on my hands - but I ordered the house and will be attempting to complete it in time for the 4th of July deadline. Wish me luck - I'm going to need it. Toodles! Cyndy

Color Green Swap

I belong to Swap Shop, a yahoo group for miniaturists. And I was able to participate in another swap recently, the "Color Green Swap". I enjoy swapping; it's always fun to see other people's creativity. I made sanseveria plants (also known as Mother-in-law's tongue or Devil's tongue) and a set of perfume/nail polish bottles in 1 inch scale. This group also does 1/4 scale swaps, but I haven't gotten brave enough for that. This photo shows all the goodies we each received. Many thanks to Lynne, Barbara M., Adrian, Leslie, Barb K., Audrey and Anamari. I hope they all enjoyed this swap as much as I did. I think Santa will get the rug for his bedroom, and the quill pen for his desk. Toodles! Cyndy