Inspiration in funny places

The last few days have been hectic here.  Real life took over all my time and I am looking forward to a quieter couple of days.  I have mini plans for tomorrow and over the weekend so, hopefully I will have some pics to post tomorrow night.

While I was busy hoovering, I found a bracelet I had been keeping off to one side.  I bought it at a charity shop.  It is not quite the right size for my wrist but, I didnt buy it to wear, I bought it because it caught my attention.  It is more colourful than shows in the pictures/  I love the mix of bright colours and simple designs.  Unfortunately I dont know the maker.  When I saw it I could see possibilities of similar colour mixes and patterns for a variety of mini occasions and mini items.

All the beads have different variations.  I am considering the possibility of adding similar effects to mini vases, plates...

I hope everyone is having a great day.

Bed now finally dressed

Well, I am really pleased to say that the bed for my terrace house is finished.  I am very happy with the look but not so with the photos that I tried to take.  Hopefully I will be able to do the bed more justice when it is in place in the bedroom.  Unfortunately, I didnt manage to complete it till 2:30am and everyone else is in bed so, I will have to wait till everyone is awake again before I can finally put it in place.

This has taken me a lot longer than I had originally thought but, I am glad I completed it.  Now I can move on to other things on my todo list which I am so far behind with lol.

Bed progress

The last couple of days I have very slowly been making the first pillow and bottom sheet for the bed.  I am pleased to say that it all went smoothly.  I went for the slower method of hand sewing the items.  I dont know what it is but, there is something about hand sewing that I find relaxing.

The next part will be working on the main colour but, I am still undecided whether to embellish the bedding or just stick with the turnover to add more interest.  Of course, if I have time, other colours can be added by using items on the bed such as a cushion or nightie.  At the moment, I may just keep it simple and add details when more of the bedroom itself is completed.

Looking, Looking.

Things have been pretty busy here the last couple of days and today I have been shattered.  I was having a look through my fabric stash and I think that I have decided to use some green fabric that is similar to stems on the terrace house bedroom wallpaper.

While I was searching through the fabric, I found a bag with items in that I was originally going to use in the tower.  I have had a rethink and I have decided that these items will probably go in the room box I am hoping to do when I have completed my other project.  The room box will be based around Angelica (the doll I dressed a while ago).

There are two small items in the photo that I am using in the 1/24 cottage.  The smallest jug and what looks like a watercan are going in the kitchen and near the front door respectively.  While I am talking about 1/24 scale, does anyone know of any good 1/24 scale tutorials? I have tried searching but, so far I have not had much luck.  Thank you.  :)

Bed re-do

I had a first attempt not long ago at making a pillow and duvet for a bed.  While it turned out ok, it is not really what I want to use in my terrace house and the mattress material is not what I want either.  I have decided to start again. I am not sure if I have posted a picture of what the bed looked like so here it is (again if I have already posted a picture lol)

I took the mattress off the bed and removed the fabric, replacing it with a plain white material.  I prefer the plain mattress and am now trying to decide what to make next.

I prefer the look of sheets on a bed but, with the terrace being more modern, I should really be looking at making another duvet... decisions, decisions.  I am going to make a bottom sheet and a pillow in white and then decide from there what to do.

A little bit of minis

Today I started working on a list of minis that I wrote last night in an attempt to keep me on track.  I get so easily distracted just lately, more than normal.  I made it through only three of the items but, it did involve making several of each so perhaps I didnt do too bad after all.

My apologies that it is not a good picture of the perfume bottles.  The coat hangers were made following instructions in one of the AIM magazines and they were really easy to make.

I have plenty more items on my list and I have realised that perhaps I was a little over enthusiastic when I was writing my list out.  Still, I know what else needs to be done.  Tomorrow it will probably be clay items and then onto items that need sewing.  I do love being busy  :)

Pet Shop progress

I have been sorting out the ground floor of the pet shop today.  First I emptied out all the items that were already in there and then I placed the items from Debbies giveaway.

Next, I added items that I had made/bought over the last few months.  I have so slow making progress with my shop.  I still intend to buy new shelving so these are temporary homes till I have saved up and found the kind of shelving that I am happy with.  I have bought on impulse before and always end up regretting it because it wasnt quite what I had hoped.

I am feeling like I have a lot more motivation now and am looking forward to putting more planning into it and making yet more books lol.

Think I surprised the Postman

T oday I saw my postman arriving before he saw me.  He had a parcel in his hand and I knew what it was.  I threw the door open before he even arrived at the door.  What can I say? My inner child got the better of me.  He looked a little surpirsed but quickly recovered and smiled.
It was a parcel off Debbie at http://makeminemini-makeminemini.blogspot.com/  as I won her giveaway.

Wow, there are so many items, all beautifully made.  I love them all and have decided where they are all going to live.  Thank you so much, I am one very lucky lady.

These gorgeous items are all going to live in my terrace house. Arent they beautiful?

These sweet pet items are all going in my  1/12 pet shop.  I dont think the photo does them justice.  I love them.  I am going to place them in their new home tomorrow and post pictures.  

How about these for more gorgeous pet items?  These items will also be living in my pet shop.  The dog coat is exquisite.  The attention to detail on it is wow.... Debbie, all I can say is, please let me know if you start selling the dog coat.  All the items are going to be loved for years to come.

Debbie also gave me these printies.  They are so lovely.  I have been truly spoiled in her giveaway and the time and attention she has given to all these many items is amazing.

Thank you so much Debbie.  The link to her blog is http://makeminemini-makeminemini.blogspot.com/  
More photos will follow soon of all these wonderful items in their new homes.

Quiet day

I removed all the books and bits that were holding the bits of wood in place in the room and took a photo of the living room of the terrace with the skirting boards and fireplace also added.

I am looking forward to when all the main pieces are place and there are just the finishing touches left to do in all the rooms.

Next week, I am hoping to get caught up with all the real life housework and start making more progress with some more minis.

Back again

First off, I wanted to thank everyone for their best wishes for my son.  He is now back at home with lots of medicines and painkillers to take so, hopefully we will see some improvements soon  and he will be back to feeling better.

Today I glued the skirting boards in both the 1/12 terrace house and 1/24 cottage.  All the rooms are at the moment in a terrible state with books and other objects holding the wood in place till the glue dries.  My apologies, I forgot to take photos but most people will already know the kind of mess that I am talking about  :)

I also remembered to fix the fireplace that I am putting in the terrace house.

It is a dolls house emporium fireplace that I saw and fell in love with.  I am looking forward to sorting out the rooms tomorrow as much as possible.

Busy Day

This evening my son was admitted to hospital.  We are all looking forward to him coming back home and hoping that he is better enough to come home soon xx  Get well soon Cody.

So today I have not done any mini-ing so, I am going to show some photos of the kitchen items I have decided will be placed in the kitchen.

I picked out my favourite crockery, I do need one or two other pieces and am now saving for the next trip to my favourite shop  :)

I  probably wont be using the bread board shown above because I have one that I made but, all the other items shown will be placed in the cupboards.

I made these items myself and will definately be placed in the kitchen.  I am hoping to make more foods soon because I would love to make my own clay foods for display.

The Good, the bad and the wonderful surprise.

I am going to start my post with my wonderful surprise.  I have won my first ever giveaway by this very talented lady  http://makeminemini-makeminemini.blogspot.com/  I am sooooo excited and it has not only made my day but, my whole week.  I will post photos of the items and their new home when they arrive.  I feel like a kid this evening after hearing this news and wish to send out a huge thank you.  :)

The bad part is that my youngest son is ill.  We have had trips to the doctors and on for blood tests at the hospital.  It could be glandular fever and we are waiting to hear but, like every other mum out there, I hate it when my children are feeling so poorly.  I hope you feel better soon Cody.

The good is that I have finally sorted out some wood for skirting boards.  Tonight while things were quiet, I have been measuring, cutting and staining the wood.  Tomorrow I should be able to glue them all in place.  I dont have quite enough for all the rooms but, I have at least managed to sort enough for most of my 1/12 terrace house and two floors of my 1/24 cottage.

I am looking forward to being able to post pictures tomorrow of the progress on the rooms.  I just cant believe it has taken me so long to get these sorted lol.

More books and how I am now making them

Today I played around more on the computer.  I am determined to make some of my books so that they will include my own photos of my minis.  I have managed to work out how to make totally personalised books.  I am still finding it fiddly and my youngest son is poorly but, I wanted to show my ideas.

Firstly, I used my pc word processor and inserted a table consisting on one cell by three.  Then I added a title and blurb on the back using the smallest print.  I also added a photo of mine from my pictures folder.  Then I altered the size of the cells to the sizes that I wanted.

I made a separate table with more cells for the pages (these will eventually contain more pictures from my files).  These will be cut into rows and folded concertina style and glued inside the covers.

Using this method, I plan to eventually make separate mini books for each of my projects and even photo albums etc.  I have really enjoyed experimenting and finding this out for myself although, I realise that other people may also make books this way.  I am sooooo happy.  I am just looking forward to practising some more as at the moment it is more time consuming than it would be if I was more confident on computers lol.

Where did the time go?

I spent a little (but not as much as I would like), time on sorting the terrace kitchen this evening.  I only had time to set out the main furniture and add a couple of accessories.  Real life can be a bit intrusive when I try and set time aside some days.  On a more positive note, my real life house is looking a lot cleaner.

I am now thinking that perhaps I need to make changes to the table as it isnt quite right for the kitchen.  I will have to put my thinking cap on for that.

The next few days I will be going back and forth between different projects as I have a few things I need to get done and I tend to make better use of my time spending a bit of time on different things.  I will be doing my best to make sure that I get the rest of my kitchen accessories set out though, I have 4 sealable bags with food and kitchen things in and it would be good to get them in place.  :)

Kitchen Progress

I spent the afternoon and most of the evening looking at then working on my kitchen cupboards.  I really like the effect but am going to think about what to do about the cupboard handles.  Tomorrow I am going to put them in the house and add the accessories.

This is a clearer before picture.  The black material is carbon fibre body wrap that was left over from work recently done on the family car.  I decided to use it for the work surfaces.  I also decided to continue using the cooker I had already got so covered the rings to make more work surface.

And here it is all done apart from the handles which I will probably end up painting  either black or silver.  So tomorrow is fun day, adding all the accessories that I have and I must admit, I am looking forward to it.

New Kitchen to work on

I am such a happy bunny today.  I went to my local dolls house shop this morning and picked up the new kitchen units I had been looking at.  I was a good girl, I only picked up what I had planned to get.  The kitchen units, two chairs and a plastic sheet of tiles. Unfortunately I forgot the skirting board again  :(  Luckily, I have got enough to do to keep me going for a long while to come, it just means it will take a bit longer before I can say that the kitchen is finished.

I plan on using some of the tiles on the splashbacks and paint the worksurface.  I have most of the accessories for the kitchen already.  (Silly me, I forgot to take a picture of the tiles).  The kitchen and chairs are Streets Ahead pieces but, I just want to customise them a little to make them a bit more mine and to break up the colour of the wood.

New month, longer list haha...

I can see that I have a busy few mini weeks ahead.  I have projects to catch up with from online groups I am a member of as well as trying to make progress on all my mini buildings.  Today I thought I would post pictures of my 1/12th terrace house to encourage me to concentrate on making progress here.  If all things go well I will be working on the kitchen next week.  I am still undecided whether to buy a kitchen set and make alterations to make it 'mine' or just buy one or two pieces like wall shelving and a unit.  I will see next time I visit my local dollshouse shop.  I also must remember to buy some skirting boards.  I keep forgetting when I get there and get sidetracked by all the lovely things they have in there.  Then I will move onto the other rooms.  First of all though I need to see if I can get a lift there as I do not drive.  I am hoping to pop there Saturday but, it might be later in the week.

As you can see, I have so much left to do but, I am looking forward to being able to see changes over the next month. Wish me luck!