Thoughts of Christmas

Focusing on completing at least one of my many unfinished projects I took my little Christmas carpet to my friend's house today where we had our 'dollshouse club' together.
I started making this carpet when I went to Sharm for Christmas 2008. It's a free pattern from Dollshouse World and is small enough to get the whole thing, including skeins of thread and scissors into a very small plastic box. Very useful for packing into a suitcase and likewise, a beach bag!
Like so many projects of mine that queue for completion it hadn't seen light of day since my return.
And so, today I was thinking of the Christmas I started this and looking forward to this coming Christmas when I hope to finally place it loving inside my Christmas house.

Room Boxes

Thinking room boxes would be quick and easy projects to do I set out to make a little tribute to each of my off spring. I made and collected together as many of the toys and books they'd had as children, right up to their interests before they left home. I decorated the boxes as their bedrooms had been and filled them with as much as I could remember to capture the personality of each, including our pets and the odd discarded sock on the floor! Finding some of the items was difficult and I came across others I wasn't really looking for but I was wrong about room boxes being quick!
The box shown is for my youngest son who always had fireworks and pumpkins on his birthday as he was born on Halloween. He loved bits of wire, elastic bands and monkeys! His favourite food was spaghetti bolognaise (made by Linsminis) and the babies were made by Carol Illingworth (who sells on ebay as 6689katie).

Patchwork

If I had to choose between all my interests, it would be miniature patchwork.
I have a passion for cotton fabric - the smell, the colours and the patterns. Fine cotton handles so well for miniature work and produces clean, crisp results.
I cut squares of fabric a little bigger than needed and tack each one to a half inch square of paper. I lay out the design on a cork board where each piece can be stabbed down with a pin until needed. Then, with right sides together I over-sew the squares together in rows and then over-sew the rows. To complete the quilt I back it with a piece of cotton.
After 1/2" squares I got smaller to 3/8th" squares and finally hexagons with 1/4" sides.
Hand patchwork is relaxing to do, needs very little fabric and the whole project can be carried around in a sweet tin. Many of my patchworks and mini carpets have been done on the beach or by the pool on holiday for this reason.
I sometimes buy sample packs of fabrics and I have a dear friend who makes the most beautiful full size patchworks and she saves me all her off-cuts.
It's a clean hobby, and other than a few stray threads, it doesn't make too much mess.

My Work Space - or Lack of It!

It's meant to be a big thing in ones life to be able to admit to needing help - and I do both - need help and admit to it!
I hold my hands up to being totally unable to keep on top of maintaining a tidy work place.
Lack of time plays a huge factor.
The other is that I have too many hobbies in one room. I'm into full size patchwork, knitting, crochet, cross stitch, genealogy, I make cards and, photo albums.
And, miniatures isn't one hobby, it involves clay, tiles, wood, sandpaper, glues, fabric, threads, yarn, needles, paint, paper, findings, tools of all descriptions, beads and junk like clear plastic sheets, tissue, boxes, card, polystyrene balls, and old fish tins; all of which you have a plan for one day.

Of course these things need homes, you now understand my problem? My room isn't small but I have to keep buying more boxes to sort out and store in. I've got to the stage where I can't tidy up because I'm still using things. Any suggestions considered!

Painted Dresser

I was very pleased with myself today because I'd achieved what I set out to do and it all went very well until I finished painting and distressing a horrible over varnished wooden dresser with 'glass' doors.
Having removed the doors and sanded off the varnish, I painted it white a few times and distressed it. Eager to fill the shelves I excitedly looked for the accumulation of tea packets, china, cutlery, cakes and desserts that I've either bought or made - and I can't find them! Anyone that knows me and my work room will not be surprised...... one day I'll shock you and post a photo of it!
Meantime here's a photo of the cupboard with two tea packets I made from my fruit tea, and a sweet bear I made from a kit.

Dollshouse Club

I've moved home more than a few times in my life; I've had fourteen different addresses. A cousin once told me that I was using up all the pages in her address book.
All my previous moves were were in England, and mostly in the the south east until the last one when I moved here, to Granada, Spain.

Not that unusual one might think, lots of people settle overseas these days but this move was more remarkable than any other in one way.....
I moved home almost two thousand kilometres away to meet a lady who also moved from England to the same area and has all the same hobbies as me!
I have friends whose hobbies are knitting or sewing, scrapbooking and digi-scrapping, some do cross stitch, make cards, and of course collect and make dollshouses and miniatures BUT I've never met anyone else who does them all!

Oly and I got on from the start and usually have a 'making' day together each week. We both have enormous stashes of fabric, wool, polymer clay, embroidery floss, beads, heat guns, glues, cutters, glitters, paper, and such. One always has whatever the other needs, even inspiration when it's lacking.

Today in a sweltering garden we made hands for displaying gloves and bracelets, and heads and shoulders for hat displays and we even made a few cake bases and soaps!
We are happy little bunnies working away in our own, and probably the smallest Dollshouse Club in the world!

Never Ending Miniature Projects

I didn't sleep well last night largely due to the planning going on in my head. Now that the visitors have left and a new week has started, I'm free to spend my days mini-making. But what to make? where to start? All the ideas I have and I want to do them all - now!
Never having been one for finishing anything, I have projects everywhere, half started. I had been painting furniture and made the most of our very warm days sitting under the new pergola and actually got a lot finished!
I have said that the ladies shop is ongoing - well, so is the tea shop. I painted a table, shelving and a magazine rack for that, as well as the magazine rack, basket and dress makers dummy for the ladies shop.
You may have just noticed that I mentioned magazine rack twice; that's because I had two of them made for me by my lovely friend Bob who makes me anything I ask, no job too small as it were, or too difficult. He's an absolute marvel. I now owe him breakfast, lunch and tea when we go to the Ali Pali fair in October.
As we're on the subject of fairs I want to show you the fabulous cakes I bought from Karen Kirby of Karen's Miniatures when she was here at the Nerja fair. They are beautiful.

Neither the Ladies Shop or the Tea Shop are yet built. Just two buildings still flat packed but I have emptied a huge shelf in my display cabinet for the ladies shop and half a shelf for the tea shop just so that I can get all my miniatures out of storage boxes and actually look at them!

A 'Me' Day

The house guests have now left and I'm waking again in the morning, feeling excited about what I'm going to be doing for the day.
As my husband is on holiday from work I showed willing this morning and put some washing in the machine before I started on my miniatures, broke off to hang out the wet sheets and broke off again later to make him sardines on toast.
He's happily putting up garden lights and even happier that I'm doing my own thing because when I'm busy I don't talk to him, or point out where he's going wrong. You know what it's like - very difficult not to mention that one of the lights is flashing and one isn't mounted straight but hey, I've got garden lights, a happy hubby and time for myself.
Here is a photo of a ladies writing box I made from a Spanish magazine Miniatura.