Long time, no posts

Hi everyone and merry Christmas! It has been a busy few months with lots going on. We married in November and so I thought I'd show a picture of my dress. I don't do it justice, but I can't do much about that!



And a picture of my ring! I love it so much.



We had our honeymoon in far north Queensland, which was fantastic. We sat in or beside the pool with or without cocktails! We spent the week relaxing but also spent an afternoon snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef which was amazing. Here is a photo of the view from our little platform/balcony over the pool. I think that might be me in the pool.



And here is a picture of an old chandelier that was in a 'rustic' pub there. It was so beautiful.



We ended up having to work over the Christmas weekend, so we didn't get to spend Christmas with our family and only opened our presents today. Which was lucky as I had ordered my husband's present a little late and it only arrived today!

I also finished my miniatures.com competition entry, so I will try to find photos of it to show you all (it's not good and by no means finished!).

Some awards

Just a quick post to say a big thank you to my followers - as of today, I have 111 followers!

Also, have received some awards recently which are just lovely. Thank you to Synnove and Maria Jose.


So first up, the rules:

1.Thank the person who gave this to you.
2.Copy the logo and place it in your blog.
3.Link the person who nominated you.
4.Name 7 things about yourself that no one would reall know.
5.Nominate seven "Kreativ Bloggers"
6.Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.
7.Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know that you nominate them.

You don´t know this about me:

1. I am currently making my wedding dress - hope to finish it this weekend for my wedding in three weeks.
2. I hate my job.
3. I am obsessive-compulsive about plucking my eyebrows!
4. I long for a daybed on my front verandah to sit in the sun amongst feather pillows to read and drink cocktails as long as I like!
5. I have hang-ups about trading my old car in for a new one - she has given me good service for many years.
6. I was awarded a scholarship for my secondary school.
7. I am always cold, particularly at work.

Next award. I think it is supposed to go to 10 people.


I am passing both these awards on to all my followers and the blogs I follow. I find you all so interesting and inspiring, you all deserve a medal!

Just in time for Halloween

Thought you all may be interested in seeing Julien Martinez's dollhouse. Very very cool and detailed and grungy:




Check out all his custom Blythe dolls, if you're game! (My fiance is freaked out!!)

Quick update on French Shop

I have been a bad blogger of late. Trying to organise my wedding stuff (hating it) and working on my miniatures.com competition entry. But I've partially painted my shingles at long last! I think they need some more colour to give them some variation. Also need to paint the gutters and then add trim around the very top of the roof.



I have pretty much finished the kitchen I think, except for the addition of some very cute little crochet potholders I purchased. I need to make a little hook to hang one beside the stove.





I think when I get the roof painting finished, it will be time to move it off the work table and start something else. Something smaller and quicker this time though!!

photo challenge!!!

Thanks to those for passing on this fun challenge - the fourth photo from the fourth folder. Now I have a million folders inside folders, so it's a little convoluted for me. Anyways, it was passed on from Linda at Une Petite Folie, Donna at Never Enough Time and Jaime at A Little Roomer
.

Ok, so here they are!

Firstly, a photo I found ... somewhere. I love the bed, something like what I'd love in real life (yeah right as if I'd be that lucky!!). It's the fourth photo in the fourth folder.



Next is not my photo, it is my fiancee's (Michael). He took it when he was out fire-fighting a couple of years ago. It's an old mine. The place where he was working AT NIGHT was full of them, and of course they couldn't see them at night and because there was forest all around them. Once it got burnt and it was daylight, they realised how much danger they had been in. It was the eighth photo in the eighth folder, which is Michael's, not mine!



And lastly, one I found on Flickr I think. So very cute!! I want a squirrel for a pet. It was the fourth photo in my pictures folder, as I didn't have a 12th folder.



I'm passing on to:
Debbie at Tiny Treasures
Sabiha at Sab's Mini Interiors
Karin at Karin Corbin Miniatures
Evelien at Ejacreates.

Not finished but...

I have reached a point where I am a little tired of the French Shoppe. I think this is because a) it's taking much longer than I wanted it to, b) there are some bits I need but can't find and c) I've reached the point where there are a heap of annoying things to do!! Eg undercoating, sanding and then painting the shingles. Let it be known that I will NEVER use wood shingles again. It will only ever be either the styrene sheets or paper (or whatever else doesn't need so much prep work).

I've decided the shop will be a gourmet food store, using as many of the Lisa's Little Things kits that I can get my greasy mits on!

So here's the bedroom. I've got a few more pictures to hang and the light needs another coat of paint and the chair (which you can't see) needs some finishing.



I am considering shelving it temporarily until I can finish it. I need some bits for it that I just can't decide on/find. You know those perfect, elusive pieces of furniture??? Where are they? I figure maybe I am better to leave it until I find that perfect something and stop stressing over it.

Next is another project I've been working on. Won't say too much, but it's also going slower than I hoped, as I am waiting on parts.



Have a great weekend everyone!

Cynthia Howe delightfulness

I am considering buying a desktop laser cutter when I get my tax return this year, but then got to thinking, there are websites that offer small lot custom laser cutting... but which website did I see it on??? I went searching, and Cynthia Howe's website is one that I thought might've been where I saw it. I was wrong, but I did find this:



It's so sweet! I adore it! It's an online class that you can register for and the kit includes everything (other than accessories). Just adore it.

I also found this cool dollhouse for sale on Ebay a while back. I love the non-traditional dollhouse. I decided a while back that any dollhouse I build from now on has to open either at the front or side, unless it's a small (1/2 or 1/4 scale) one. Except for the tiny cottages/shops which can be moved easily.

It is based on a real-life French house. I'm thinking it forms a good base for an art nouveau house I will build 'sometime'!







And as for the laser cutter, I found which website it was (Karen Cary's) and need to carry out further investigations to figure out whether it's worth it.

Yes, I've been slack!

I haven't been doing too much mini-ing recently. I intend on doing some purchasing this weekend for my French shoppe (and yes I believe shopping IS a ligitimate mini-ing activity!!) and hopefully get a bit more undercoating of the roof shingles done (it's a terrible job).

So anyways, found some really cool pics recently so thought I'd share.

First up, not sure where I found this (maybe Flickr??), but it's sooooo cute! I MUST recreate it one day:




Found this one on flickr today, and absolutely fell in love with it. Take a look at their account.



Next one I found on a website for the special effects company that worked on the Lemony Snickett movie (can't remember the name of them). It would be so awesome for a witch/haunted dollhouse. Love it.



And last one, again, can't remember where I found it but love it. Such a pretty room with a modern twist. Love the colours.

New little house

I don't really like it much. Well, I like the exterior but will probably redo the interior. Which may be difficult given it is basically impossible to get the bed out - it broke as I was trying to get it in, it was such a tight squeeze. It was for the Greenleaf Spring Fling, and I just didn't have enough time to do it. I kept changing my mind about what to do, so that didn't help!

Here is an overall shot of the interior.



Next is a shot of the living area. To the right is the kitchen part. I have some better photos, but they're on my other computer. The Phoenix stove (on the far right) is now in my French shop!



Next, the bedroom.



Next is the exterior. The front has a telescope for watching ships and sand castles.



Lastly, a side shot. Not too exciting. For some reason, the stick was to be standing up.



I think when I redo the interior, it will be in the colourway of the exterior - more blue-grey and rustic colours. Also needs more seaside-y things inside.

Photos of the Petite Trianon

I could quite happily live in the Petite Trianon. This was built by Louis 16 and Marie Antoinette and was where Marie Antoinette spent a lot of her time. It was just so seriously gorgeous and many of the rooms were quite small and cosy.

This photo shows her bedroom with the fabric made especially for her.The furniture all matched and it was sold off after her arrest, but most of it was recovered and put back in the Petite Trianon (from recollection by Napoleon), except for the bed which was never found.



Next is the sitting room which was beside her bedroom. It had a panel which was on some sort of sliding track which came up through the floor to cover the window (you can see it reflected in the mirror - it's halfway over the window).



Lastly is a small sleigh, which looks much larger than it actually was. I don't think it would even fit a child in it (except for a very small one!). Very cute.

More France pics at long last!

I have chosen some more pictures to show you all - they're mostly cute buildings and some interiors that I'd like to reproduce in miniature if I had the time, patience and space! It was pretty much the basis for taking all the pictures I took in France!

These first four pics show some houses in the seaside Brittany town of Vannes (think I showed some pics of the old walled part of town in an earlier post).









Next is a row of tudor houses with shops/cafes beneath. Also in Vannes I think. Most of the places we visited had these old districts full of narrow cobbled streets and tudor buildings all on top of each other.



Next is a pic taken inside Chenonceau I think. It is a chateau in the Loire valley - called the ladies' castle I think, as it has mostly had women own it over time. It was all decorated for easter and looked great. It was a little disappointing as there wasn't much furniture but that was probably typical of the era for many of the chateaus.



Next is the bridge where my fiance proposed to me (that's him leaning over the rail). It was taken the day before he proposed.



Lastly is a picture of Versailles, not long before my camera died (dammit!). Luckily we didn't go anywhere with only one camera - my other half took lots of pics for me. It was truly spectacular and I will have to visit it again one day.

Veronique Lux cuteness

Found this awesome website today: Veronique Lux. Such very cute vintage mini toys for a little French child's room. So cute. Here are some pics:

New love is grand!

Well, today I managed to secure one of these lovely little ladies!!!



She is so cute, and I am so enamoured!

Yes, I know it has nothing to do with minis. But I had to share!

I have been working on a mini project - the Greenleaf Spring Fling but can't show pictures at this stage - obviously! I am looking forward to getting back to my French shop as soon as I am done with the spring fling.

A favour to ask....

Hi all. I am hoping that maybe someone can help me out a little. I have read the odd tutorial about making things out of builder's foam. I am not sure what this is and don't think I've seen it in Australia (and in the last four years, believe me, I have spent a LOT of time in hardware stores!!) but I would love to have a play with it. Would someone please be able to get some and send it to me here in Australia? I will of course pay for it + postage + effort required to do this for me. I will understand if no-one wants to, of course! Thanks guys!

Some pretty pictures from France

Hi all! Nice to be in contact with the world again! I am in France still, and we have not had internet access until now (10 days without internet - eek!!). So I thought I would post some pictures of some things we've seen.

This was a little cafe that we went past in Paris. Very cute!



Main Street USA, Disneyland (Paris Disneyland of course!).



This one is a little cafe we found in one of the passages in Paris, can't remember which one, but near/adjoining Passage Jouffroy. Awesome detail. The passages are basically arcades or early malls.



This is the interior of another cafe which I loved. We didn't eat there, we just stuck the camera up against the glass and clicked! It was an old railway carriage or something I think.



This one is a typical shop in Paris, but an extra pretty one!



Lastly, here is a picture of the town we are staying at now, called Vannes in Brittany. It was settled by the Romans in about 58AD! The buildings date from about the 13th century. The town is walled and has a moat. Seriously amazing.



I am so in love with the shops in Main Street USA. I am so inspired to make mini versions when I return home! I also loved Toad Hall, so will eventually work on making one of them.

Now my apologies to the lovely bloggers who have sent me awards. I am not ignoring them deliberately! It is so appreciated. It is just so nice to know that people other than my mum and boyfriend appreciate my work! I am also pleased that people still read it despite my occasional rude outburst about my frustrations with society!! Given I don't have my own computer and time constraints, I am not putting the awards on my blog, but I am passing on the compliments (and awards) to my fellow bloggers and readers who I find so encouraging and inspiring. Keep up the good work everyone!

And don't worry, I am having a petite macaron for each and every one of you! (and geez are they good!).