My Ren Faire gown!

Here's the gown I made!













(the queen complimented me! Goal accomplished!)

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Mini pumpkin scenes and the Renaissance Faire!

So this weekend was full of projects being completed. On Saturday, my mom, grandmother, and I visited Shellie's Miniature Mania for a class. We had a blast. My grandmother, who is not a miniaturist, was so thrilled to complete her scene. I'm told she carefully glued in each tiny piece do she could bring it to Church. She had more than one person interested in taking it off her hands! (If a spoon did go missing, Grandma, I'll bring you one - I have plenty in my house). I'm so glad that she had a good time. I'm already thinking of more crafts we can do together!




Mine:



My mom's:





A big accomplishment this weekend was the Renaissance Faire. For the last month, I've been painstakingly sewing a costume for the faire. I usually go as a peasant because it's a lot cheaper to dress as a peasant! Still, I've always wanted a noble-woman gown, so I decided that since I do sew, I might as well! The fabric wasn't cheap, and the sewing wasn't easy, but I finished. I got tons on compliments and people even brought their friends over to see the dress. The queen herself complimented me!














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Shellie's Miniatures classes

Hi, all! We just finished up at Shellie's. I brought my mom and grandmother, and all three generations had a blast! We made these adorable kitchen scenes inside a pumpkin. As usual, I did my own thing and didn't exactly follow all instructions, but that's how I make it mine! I'll probably be adding some more to the scene, but here are some pics so far:

Travel photo contest!

I've never felt as beautiful as I do when I see myself in one of James' photographs. He can make so many things beautiful through his lens. It was he who taught me to see the beauty in something ordinary or mundane. Now, this amazing photographer is in a photo contest for the Mercury News. If you like his photo, please vote for it! He deserves it!

http://yourviews.mercurynews.com/mycapture/photos/Image.aspx?ImageID=1192988&EventID=1255625&CategoryID=23000&CollectionID=0&Sort=

I'm still here!

So, yes, it has been awhile. The lovely Maren of Bright Canary (brightcanary.blogspot.com) has been ever so diligent at checking my blog. But alas, I have no new posts for her to enjoy!

Well, just what have I been up to you may wonder. I now work for an ebook company (yay!). I've been working on not one, not two, three, or even four, but FIVE books (what can I say? I'm an overachiever). I've been making a full courtier renaissance gown for the Nor Cal Ren Faire, and it's shaping up to be the most expensive dress I own - by far. Oh! And I'm working on a new mini (and now I get to what this blog is all about!!) Yes, a new mini for Christmas. I can't give away details yet, but it'll be straight out of a fairytale (wink, wink). I should take this moment to say that I've decided to write for AM every other month vs. every month. It will be a bit more manageable that way.

So, since I've teased you all with my newest project, what else can I actually tell you about? Well, I've had a bit of good fortune! A friend of mine, Ann, had some dollhouse items that had fallen into her hands, and she decided to give them to me. What were these items? Nothing less than two HUGE dollhouses and two boxes of tools, supplies, and pieces of furniture!!! It was like finding a treasure! Thanks, Ann!

Recently, I also took on a "mini" project. One warm (too warm for this) afternoon, I had the overwhelming sensation that the absolute best use of my time would be to tackle the playhouse shed that has wall-to-wall junk cluttering its every corner and make a studio for myself and my mini projects. My plan was to get this all done in a few hours. This is what it looked like before I started. Am I crazy or what?





Well, after something like 4 hours and throwing out my back (when did I get old enough to throw out my back??), I managed to turn one corner into this:






It has electricity, which is great, but it also gets really hot/cold and has bugs. Oh, well! And don't be fooled - the other side is still a disaster!

Coming up on Big in the Mini World: October is National Miniatures month! I'll be going to a miniature class and convention, so stay tuned!

Lots of mini love!

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A request

Hi, all. James’ good friend, Reid, recently learned that his little boy, Liam, needs a kidney transplant. Liam has had trouble since he was born, but still manages to have a beautiful little smile (as you can see in the photo on the site). They estimate that the procedure will cost quite a bit, so they’ve set up a donor page for him. Anything you could give (including just a prayer) would be appreciated.

Here’s the site:

http://cota.donorpages.com/PatientOnlineDonation/COTAforLiamH/

Thanks! I'll be posting more mini news soon! I've been doing project after project!

Inspiration

I recently went to Disneyland and had a great time!! It inspired q quick mini project - a Mickey antenna ornament. Like?



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New buys from a consignment store

Hi, all! There's this great consignment store that is nearby. It's only opened once a month, which makes it kinda special. It was open this weekend (yay!), so I stopped by.

I first went because I was told by a friend that there were minis. When I went, I first saw a cabinet with beautiful mini porcelain dolls. I told myself that I had to be sure to go back to that cabinet once I had found the other minis. I especially wanted to look at this one beautiful doll with blonde ringlets, a blue dress, and a perfect porcelain face. She reminded me of the doll, Emily, in The Little Princess. Unfortunately, I forgot to revisit the spot.

A few weeks later, my parents gave me an Easter basket like they did when I was a kid. Inside was the little doll! They had gone to the same store and saw the same doll even though they didn't know I had admired it. When I turned the little doll over, there was a name tag. It read "Emily" just like in the movie!

I've gotten several items from there since. Some things are overpriced, but some are underpriced. It's hit or miss. Today, luckily, was a hit. I bought an adorable companion for little Emily - a handmade bear with a "B" on his bottom. I also got a plaque that I'll put swords on, a phone book, dishes, glass display cake stand and cover, a N.A.M.E. board for hanging spoons or keys, a beautiful crown, a blanket, and a little garbage can. I was about to checkout when the owner showed me more minis!



















You'd think that I had got enough, but I went back the next day. This time, I got a globe, a display arm, another teddy, shrink-wrapped Christmas tableware, a gorgeous jewelry box with shells on top, a glass display case, a mug that looks just like one that my friend has, a bowl to match my pitcher, and a bottle of Purex.


















The weirdest thing happened though. I had put my bag of minis nearby, but had not touched them in at least a half an hour. I was starting to fall asleep when I heard a faint noise. My boyfriend, who was sitting nearby on his laptop said, "What was that noise? It sounded like glass breaking, and it sounded like it came from your bag." I pulled out my minis and found that sure enough my glass cake cover had just popped. It was now in 4 pieces, but nothing had moved! I tried o apply pressure to it to see how much pressure it would have needed to break - but I couldn't break it! Creepy....

This event happened on the first night, so when I returned to the store the next day, I told the owner what had happened. She smiled and said it was probably the ghost of the previous owner (a woman) thanking me for buying her mini. I'm not sure breaking something so I can never use it is a thank you, but the idea was sweet none-the-less.

Anyway, I'm happy with my purchases, but still a little weirded out! I'm currently working on a scene for AM, so I hope that goes smoothly!

Kitchen gets a fresh coat of paint

How many times have I altered my kitchen anyways? Seems like a lot! It is my favorite room, so I enjoy working on it. Admittedly, it hurts to hold my arm in weird positions as I try to paint in those tiny areas!

When it comes to the kitchen walls, I've tried brown paint, brown paint with green painted stripes, wallpaper (that I wouldn't glue on in fear of it becoming too permanent), and now red paint. I figured that color shouldn't be something to be afraid of, so I whole-heartedly embraced it by painting all the walls a very basic red. When others saw me painting, they were hesitant that the color would be overwhelming, and that may have been true if the room wasn't packed with white furniture and appliances. The red wouldn't nearly be as overpowering once the furniture was added back in. I like the finished product (though I need a new oven hood). What do you think?




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Birthday party

I decorated my little house with an outside birthday party.



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Been awhile!

Hi, all! Wow! I haven't written in awhile! Sorry about that. I've certainly been keeping busy - and that includes working on minis!!!

I have quite a few AM articles in the works, but here is a sneak peek. I had fun taking these with my iPhone.

I made a bunch of mini animals that were replicas of real animals in my life.

My mini Kiba and a pic of the real Kiba. This kitty was discovered by Missy up in Idaho. Missy's motherly instinct kicked in and she adopted the cat as her own. She even tried to get him to nurse!



Missy and a pic of the real Missy. She always gets in the garbage, so I added some garbage in her mouth.



Cuddles and a pic of the real Cuddles (and Peter Cottontail). These are wild bunnies who live in my boyfriend's backyard. We've named all of them, but Cuddles is my favorite.



Look familiar??
Arthur, the real Arthur, and Harold, the gopher that I rescued with my boyfriend.



Speaking of mini: say hello to my baby cousin, Alexa. Isn't she cute?



Talk to you all soon!

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