Happy Valentine

So, what's the best gift for a miniaturist for Valentine's or any other festive gift giving occasion?

Me, I love tools..... So, Scooter was romantic. I got a miniature red rose growing in a pot. Pretty for the yard in a couple months... and a new coping saw with extra blades.... Now, there's a man who understands :)

In Other Mini News: 

Swap:

I'm almost done with the swap thingy for Carrie. Of course, no pictures til she got it in her hot little hands.

The Crooked House Contest:
I'm getting so many more ideas... wow.. and I want it to be really different. I've added parts to it. Quite a bit actually. Can't wait for Janna to send me the dolls I ordered for it. Still haven't found some of the essential accessories. But Misunderheard Art Miniatures  has agreed to tackle half scale and make some of them. Looking forward to that as well.

Sorry no pix of that til April 15 :) it's a contest, ya know

The Fairy Dwelling: 
With the weather improving recently, there are lots of walks in the park and at the beach. I'm increasing my stash of driftwood and twigs and branches. And nut shells and acorn caps, too.

Fairy Doors:
I've completed another batch of Fairy Doors, that'll go out in the world in the next few days. I'll take photos of those just as soon as I can locate the tripod. Getting old and shaky is for the dawgs

Thanks for bearing with me.

A Little Witch was Born in Sweden...

Well, real life took priority. Another surgery, another whining husband.....

And some good news, from Sweden.

We were talking on FB about half scale. Most mainstream miniaturists work in 1 inch scale. They're amazed we work in half that size, or even in a quarter... and we won't even talk about 1:144 :D

However, Catherine loves a challenge. She also fell in love with some of the witches I collect. So, on Monday she started posting in her timeline:

A little witch was born today and she'll be going home to America soon.
Then she posted a picture:

Then there were some more pictures:

The next night she couldn't sleep and she wigged and painted her:

This morning, she posted pictures of the fitting.. can't have a nekkid witch now, can we? At least not in America. In Europe nobody would even look twice :D

Isn't she just adorable???? I can't wait to give her a home <3 Thank you, Catherine Nielsson

Interference of the Real Life, and this and that

It's a MINI Blog, so I'm not really going to talk much about real life trials and tribulations. Suffice it to say, this one came from left field, unnoticed til it was too late (or almost?) and I had to deal with it, putting mini-making on the back burner.

But I am working on Carrie's swap, and it kills me, I can't post pix until she receives it.<3

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As some of you know, I've been on a quest to get myself a type of saw, every 6 year old boy in Germany has. It's a "Laubsäge". People have translated it as Jigsaw, Coping Saw, Jewelry Saw and finally Fret Saw. Problem is, people in hardware stores get glazed-over eyes and have no idea what I am talking about... And Scooter keeps wanting to buy yet another 1-purpose electrically operated behemoth...

THIS is the thing I want... does nobody in the US of A use those???? So, finally I emailed customer service at Micro-Mark, asking if they have one. 20 minutes later I had an answer from them. They don't carry them, sorry, but they included 2 links to companies who do... so, CUDOS, Micro-Mark! You just got a new customer.... though not for a fret saw ;)

In other mini-news....

I was at the grocery store the other day and saw a display of jarred fruit by Polar. Those glass jars had mock handles on the side. I know I've seen that on some marmalade jars, too. For some reason SAUERKRAUT popped into my head. A quarter scale scene in a jar. It really got me excited. *giggles* I remembered how we made sauerkraut at my grandma's when I was a kid, stomping around in the barrel like you see on old pictures of wineries. I've got the whole scene pictured in my head. I've collected inspirational pictures online of old and new barrels, and .... I'll have to put it on the very back burner.

But I love getting ideas again, from rather mundane sources.

PS: our mini mini is doing better. yay for that

Karma .... another Trip to Michael's

Some sites online are more intriguing and addictive than others... like Pinterest, for example... or my latest find, Listia.com 

It's the ultimate "get rid of your junk & get my junk" site, srsly. And it's free, or almost :) You list your stuff, and other people bid on it. If you charge postage, you send your paypal info to the winner of your auction. You get paid in credits for your item.

You use your credits to bid on items, and the only thing it costs you - if it's not free shipping - is the postage. You pay, you get new junk. Easy. Follow the link above and you get 100 start credits. You get 500 more for your first auction, and there are some other ways to get credits for free. And, for those who want more, there's a way to buy them for cash. For example, you get 50 credits for $1 when you verify your Paypal account.....

Ok, that was an explanation, not a sale! After all this is about MINI's.... and this is what happened.

Misunderheard Art had invited me to join Listia.com . Big thank you for that. I browsed around and found a mini sewing machine. Actually there were several. The first auction I lost. But I bid on a second one, put 200 credits as max and forgot about it....

Yesterday, I was on my weekly trip to Michael's. Got some odds and ends, all on sale (or so I thought), and a Singer handheld mini sewing machine for $17.99. With my 40% off, it was acceptable... I gave the cashier my coupon first, and then the sewing machine and told her, "this is my coupon item, right?" She said, "Looks like it" and rung up everything, giving me the total... $27 and change... how? hmmm.... At the car, I checked the register tape... dangnabbit... there was on item, which is $5.99 but had a bonus of a free item with it. Normally, they don't use THAT kind for discounts. This time they did.... $2.40 discount instead of $7.20
Somehow, this annoyed me, and I returned it promptly, vowing to just pay one item at a time, if it's a bigger price tag.

Today.... I was gone running errands all days. Didn't think of minis, making them or sewing at all. Came home, needed a break and checked email....

Kundry, you're the winner of my auction!

Wooooot! Karma, eh? I won the auction of the mini sewing machine, paid the shipping by paypal, and got a "super Listian" rating for prompt payment. Now, I'll be waiting with baited breath (what a weird verbage that is.. it reminds me of fish bait, and bad breath... ) until it arrives. It won't be this weekend, but hopefully not too long after. I hate doing mini with that big ol' Singer I have in the back room.
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In other news... our own little Mini has lactose problems :( they changed her formula (whatever happened to breastfeeding??? nvm. ignore that) and they hope that'll take care of that. Sigh... getting out of the hospital the day after the birth may have been just a smidgeon too soon. But what do I know? lol. My own son was born 42 years or so ago, after 4 1/2 days in constant labor... his grand daughter arrived in 8 minutes...

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Have a good Saturday everyone

PS: how cute are these? Won these, too just a bit ago.

My First Mini Challenge Participation

I did it.... I signed up to participate in a Challenge, issued by one of the mini groups I belong to on Yahoo! SmallAndSmaller.

The challenge is for a Crooked House, like this one:

We've been given the plans and some samples of finished houses.... and off we go... finish by April. They're talking about a swap, too, but I'm not sure I'm confident enough to give my "masterpiece" to someone else to "admire". I'll see how that goes.

Musings & Spice Racks

Yesterday was football. And the Chickenhawks lost in Hotlanta.... oh well... Everyone was running around with a long face here, and since the sun was shining brightly, I decided to bundle up and take the monkee on a long walk. We both deserved a treat after.

I've been doing some more research about the Haida. And I think I am getting a better idea of what I want to do there. One thing I know is that I'll be doing a lot of whittling :)

I'm half way done with my swap project for Carrie. Yay... I hope, she'll like what I'm make. I'm always so self-conscious about that... what if they don't like it... ? I guess they can always re-gift it, eh?
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Something else I stumbled upon in  my travels through the interwebs on Buzzfeed.com was a unique kind of real life spice rack alternative. I'm in LOVE with this:

Scroll down to No. 11 of 41 Projects in Jars

It looks like ol' Scooter will have a project on hand now. That should keep him busy for a day or two, since we don't have stainless steel appliances. But I do have a pantry door and a couple of cabinet doors that could use some decoration. I suppose this would work just as well with some strips of steel. I'll let you know how that worked... even if it's not exactly mini. My kitchen is :)

Fairy Gardens and "Random Acts of Fairy-Kindness"

Fairy Gardens
Today, I got the new email newsletter from Two Green Thumbs. It is  hands down one of my fav's to look forward to. I love the settings they show. And I got many an inspiration there. Today's news were especially interesting, since they now have an archive of all previous newsletters... yay... make sure you stop by and maybe even sign up for the newsletter. It's worth it!

Fairy Doors
As I was walking the dog recently, thoughts of minis and where to put all that goodness danced in my head :)
Granted it's winter and everything looks a bit drab outside. But I live in a woodsy area and there are plenty of unusual shapes around. Crooked trees, half decayed treestumps, hedges, gates...

And I thought to myself, how fun it would be to make fairy doors and place them nilly-willy at those places? A splash of color and whimsy at unexpected places... and a way to get rid of Scooter's piles of scrap wood. Can even keep him busy and let him cut roughs. He's always cutting and fiddlefarting around in the shed anyway... On the other hand, so they don't all look alike, I've gotten some inspirations from the web, of course. Just look at the stuff I've fav'd on Etsy.com . But yesterday at Michaels, I found some unfinished wooden xmas ornaments looking like bird houses, with a little hole in it. This hole can easily be enlarged and remade into a tiny window. With a bit of paint and stain, they'll be perfect.

Icy Sunshine
Well,  it's another GORGEOUS crisp sunshiny day in our little pocket of the Pacific NW. I hope it stays like that for a few more days. But I doubt we'll have sunshine and no frost. We HAVE to fix the roof over the addition. Scooter can't find where exactly it's leaking. Ugh.... New metal roof come springtime. I don't want half the house fall down around my ears.

And so it goes... I'll have some peace & quiet today and tomorrow. After all, it's Football time. Especially up here in WA... with the "chickenhawks" doing so well... Heck, I'm German... gimme "real" football...

Trapped at Michael's

Not really, but it takes forever to get checked out. I really am not crazy about all standing in one line in a crowded narrow area... not even magazines to flip thru while you're waiting. Just candy. Well, at least in Bellingham.

I was in the neighborhood and decided to peek in. How could I have forgotten the 40% off coupon? ugh.

Anyway, all sorts of things were 80% in bins outside. I found a few items, like mini pointsettia flowers with a bit of gold on them. Too big for 1/2 or 1/4 scale, but I'm sure I can make them fit on 1 inch. Maybe for a swap next winter. There were some Scene-a-Ramas by Woodland Scenics at 75% off, which will make a perfect background for taking pix of stuff for ebay and Listia. I also picked up some erasers, cause I read somewhere there was a use for them :) and finally some ornament pieces that will make great little fairy doors... more about that later.

I needed gold thread and #26 needles. Yikes, only in GOLD. How fancy :)

As I was walking by the scrap booking area, I came across 6x6 inch paper pads from "We R memory keepers". Sadly no discount off the $5.99 but it was worth the price. The patterns on the pages are small, and make perfect wall papers or tiles or .... One of them was the yellow pack "Antique Chic" (there were 3 on display, but I resisted and only got one .... so far). Sorry, if that's all "Old News" for you. For me, it was exciting.

Then I went to find them online at We R on the net and found they have all these cute patterns to download. /me is in mini-heaven.

... and in the end, I forgot the golden glass beads, I wanted to get... oh well.... time to go back on Sunday, with a new 40% off discount.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the Fairy Doors ;)

Projects and other things

Well, somehow I got into a swap of a kind, and I've had a hard time deciding WHAT to make. She gave me her favorite colors and lo and behold, I'm working on something. I'll post a picture later, so it's still a surprise when/if she peeks in here.

There are some other things I am working on:

Fairy Dwelling:
Totally from found and natural material. I envision a small village, under a common roof of some kind. I'll be able to add more little houses and huts. It will be living in a corner of my little yard, where I can't grow anything edible. Pictures of the work in progress to come.

Haida Longhouse:

A longhouse at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia

In the beginning stages of planning. Thanks to the CanadaMinis Group at Yahoo for their input. I am getting some really interesting ideas. More to come on that. Here's a link from the Canadian Museum of Civilization's page of Haida Art

If you have ideas on either of these two subjects, feel free to let me know.

It's a Mini-Blog...

How more fitting for my first post than to welcome my newest great grand daughter, Naomi, to the world?

May you find success & happiness in your life!

Love you, Oma ♥