Not feeling great

Well, I have been a bit slack these last couple of weeks with my blog as I was making an outfit to enter into a competition. Each year, many of the farming districts around the country have what are called field days - these are for farmers to show their produce and go see all the latest in farm equipment, technology, etc. They're actually quite interesting - gourmet foods, wines, hand-made stuff, demonstrations, animals, etc. They also have a competition called Ag Art Wear. It has to be a garment made from agricultural products or things found on a farm. This year I made a Marie Antoinette style outfit which I called 'Marie had a little lamb'. It is mostly made from wool pack (what they package wool in after it is shorn from a sheep to be trucked off to whoever is buying it) as well as baling twine and frost mat (used on fruit trees to avoid frost damage). The wig is made from silage wrap.
Anyways, it won the section, which is very exciting. I will now show it later in the year at the national competition. If it wins that, it goes off to New Zealand to compete in the internation competition. I don't think it will go that far though, as the standard is very high.

Despite this excitement, we recieved some news today which is just frustrating and a little worrying. We had a major issue for 2 years which really made us re-assess our lives. It was over and done with 6 months ago, but we recieved news today that it apparently isn't over with. Fortunately at this stage, it does not involve us and we can only hope it goes no further. I can't elaborate, but it is so hard to think 'what did we do to deserve this?' It seems that no matter how much you don't deserve something, and how wrong the thing is, you just get dumped with it. I'm tired of it is all. Life can be so incredibly frustrating.

So on to something to cheer me up, minis!! Something I did some time ago, yet to be finished:

Some of my minis

I have been a little busy of late. Hopefully when I get some photos I will be able to publish them here and explain why I've been so busy. For now, seeing as I haven't posted in a while, here are some metal minis I have hand-painted.

The radio at the back doesn't have a dial, so must fix that one day. I'm just not too sure how to go about it! Need to look at a picture of a real one to figure it out. At the front is a perfume bottle, one of my favourite metal minis. Behind it you can just see a French style candlestick. I intend painting a second one so that I have a set for my next fancy French dollhouse. Unfortunately I dropped the elk and his antler broke off.


Next are some toys I painted. I love the bear pull toy and the teddy with the green bow. They're so cute. I find painting these very therapeutic, although time consuming! I also need to add pull strings. Another thing to do when I'm feeling less lazy!

Real life-size inspiration

These pics are some of my favourites from Flickr.

I love teddies, and it would be awesome to create these in mini scale. I can dream! Perhaps one day I will think of a way to do it. I think the maths and thinking behind figuring these details out is part of the attraction of minis for me. The photo came from Jillybug's Flickr.

The next pic is a shop I think, taken from It's a chimmy simmy world's Flickr.

I'd love to make a mini version. I think I will incorporate it into my own French shoppe. The colours are superb. I especially love the little cardigans in frames on the back wall and the trinket box on the cake plate to the left of the screen. I also love the use of multiple wallpapers - very whimsical and great for using leftover pieces of wallpaper!



Lastly, I have a pic of a beautiful French house. I spend ages looking at the French real-estate websites! Some amazing places and seriously old too.

Dollhouse heaven

The most beautiful dollhouses I think I've ever seen are created by Lea.

Her houses never cease to amaze me. The detail she gets into every scene is second to none and it's so easy to imagine yourself in her little world. Her houses inspire me endlessly and now I am making a house based on her florist.

Here you can see some of her teeny cats that she makes. Their sweet little faces are priceless!

A little house to inspire

Welcome to my blog! Given it is my first post, I thought I'd post some pictures of one of my most favourite dollhouses, the lace house by Liz Le Bosse. She makes absolutely stunning dollhouses, and this is one of the best. It's so sweet. You can see the exterior and some of the rooms below.

It opens at the side as well as the back, and part of the roof lifts to access the upstairs bedroom. The last pic, the den, is one of my favourite rooms. I can imagine it as a tiny study with a comfy armchair and lady's desk. One day I will re-create this house in half inch scale.