Often Christmas brings incredible surprises for me and as usual the biggest surprises are the smallest!
An early arrival was a package from Kaisa! Such a kind thought and a beautiful decoration for Christmas. She has made it with four candles and the tiniest of golden cherubs.

 Kaisa loves Tilda! She used Tilda wrapping paper and even a Tilda label - so pretty.

There was also a bar of delicious chocolate! Thank you so very much Kaisa. X

I had four presents from Oly! One was this pretty box of miniature chocolates. She has been looking at my favourites on Etsy, I think!

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 And these are amazing! Oly has stitched all these Christmas items! Aren't they fabulous?

Dear Oly, thank you so much. X

Sandra totally surprised me as well! A sweet little box with three perfectly made gifts.

Can you believe this is not a photo of full size mistletoe?

Is it my imagination or can I really smell the spicy potpourri?

Sandra, they're wonderful, thank you so much! X

I've truly been amazed by the generosity of my friends and feel thoroughly spoilt. Now I have to try to find somewhere for all my new miniatures to live - that's a problem I'll enjoy solving!

A Gift for my Blogger Friends.

This will be my last post before Christmas as I now have a lot to do in the real world!
I sincerely give thanks to each and every one of you who loyally follow this blog and have become friends even though we have never met. You make everything worth while.
It's lovely to know you're out there and unbelievably interested in what I make and say!
Here is a small Christmas gift from me to you. It's a file for you to print and make two Christmas Display Boxes like these.

Just click here to download the PDF. It's something new I'm trying, I hope it works.......
Christmas Display Boxes
Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy 2012!

All in a Day's Work

When making miniatures there isn't much to show for a day's work.
Last night I designed some boxes to hold perfume. Today I put them together and made the perfume bottles - that's it!
The amount of mess I had on my table was horrendous!
This is the end result.

They each have a matching gift tag and greetings card.

I hope you have a good mini weekend.

Still Trying to Conquer Polymer Clay

Last Tuesday, at Dollshouse Club Oly and I got out our polymer clay.
Despite mixing a tiny amount of polymer clay to make just enough Turkish Delight to fill one box, I ended up filling two boxes - then a doily - and then a tray - and I still have a pile left over!
Polymer clay crafters have my deepest respect. How they must stoically persevere until they produce miniatures of perfection!
Once my lemon Turkish Delight became too 'yellow' and the icing sugar resembled dessicated coconut I was ready to put it all away in the box for another 6 months.
Oly and I always say 'Never mind, it can go to the back'. We have a lot of our creations at the back - our front shelves empty!

Yesterday I returned to something I feel more confident with and made some new boxes for my Tea Rooms.

It'll soon be Christmas! I hope your preparations are going well.

Time has flown by since my last post and I won't even start to tell you the reasons why I've been away for a month!
Despite everything there has always been somewhere each day where I've able to squeeze in a little time for making miniatures, even if I have to sit up until 2am to do it!

 I've designed some more boxes. These all have matching gift tags.

I've put together lots of boxed gifts. Here are two.

These boxes are to keep cakes or biscuits fresh.

Fun boxes to fill shelves.

And boxes for the Ladies Shop.

I decided, as a lover of bling to add some to the oval boxes but I think maybe I over did it!

I fell in love with some gorgeous art-work by Janet. She has these lovely tickets which I have miniaturised.

They are perfect for adding to keepsake boxes.

 I did the same with her vintage cards which I've tied into bundles.

You can find Janet on Etsy HereThese are just some of the new makes that I have to find room for in the gift shop at Jilly's Tea Rooms. Others have been made for gifts to friends and some will find their way onto Etsy.
Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Oly - the other member of our Dollshouse Club - has a Blog!

Today was as much fun as every Tuesday which has recently become our Dollshouse Club Day. As I've told you on more than one occasion, there are only two of us in our club - Oly and me.
I've been trying to persuade Oly to start a blog as she has an amazing collection of miniatures and is making more all the time plus she's the one that comes up with the bright ideas most of the time.
Take a look at her new blog which she's currently building. http://www.olyslittleworld.blogspot.com/
and I'm sure you'll enjoy seeing all her miniatures - once she gets to grip with her husband's camera!
I hope you're all keeping warm now we've stepped well into autumn.

Surprise Gift!

If it's your birthday you might expect some greetings cards and a gift or two. It makes you happy to know friends and family have remembered your special day. BUT when a little parcel arrives and it isn't your birthday and you haven't ordered anything from Etsy or another website you become very curious and excited!
This happened to me today!
When I saw the return address I was so pleased to see it was from a very kind and lovely person - Sandra!
She wished me a Belated Happy Birthday which is wonderful because it makes the celebration last even longer!

Look what what was inside!

 How can she part with these?

So beautifully made - I just love them! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
If you'd like to see other things Sandra makes and collects she has a lovely blog with some very detailed photos of her miniatures here. http://samirasminis.blogspot.com/
What a great way to start the week!

Ribbons, Hearts and Baubles!

I'm pleased to tell you that the problem with my printer is solved - it was a faulty ink cartridge. I was so happy to be able to print again. I made loads more reels of fabric ribbon.

While the printer wasn't working I made some hearts to hang using cold porcelain.

And I've really been feeling Christmassy! Normally I'm never ready for Christmas so this year I started earlier.
You can never have too many baubles!

The cone candles are fun, I've made them in all colours! Other candles in this photo I made last year. My Christmas collection is getting bigger!

Also I've made Christmas cushions.

 Some of these new things are for gifts, others will go on Etsy - some already are - and I've even got some for myself!
I'm having a fun weekend, I hope you are too.