The last project of 2012

 

It's the  last day of 2012 and I've just finished my last project of this year. I just made it in time and I just had to show you some pictures of it. It's Noah's ark and it has about a hunderd tiny animals on it, grouped in pairs...there are elephants, horses, birds, camels, lions, apes, cows, to many to mention.

 

 

The whole ark measures about 2,5 inch in length and 1 inch in height.

 

It took some time, cutting, coloring, pasting and it was loads of fun to do. I'm rather pleased with the result.

 

And now I'm off to have a typical Dutch newyear's delicacy the 'oliebol' but not before wishing you all the best for 2013! Let's make it the best year ever!

 

 

The perfect gift...

Hi everyone!

How was Christmas for you? I had a wonderful time filled with friendship, togetherness, laughter, fun AND gifts under the tree.

I joined the international Christmas swap that Caterina had organised and look what I recieved!

A perfect miniature jewelry box made by Stephanie living in Spain...

...filled with beautiful jewelry; necklaces, broche, earrings and even a tiny ring...

...the drawer hides even more goodies...

...with a mirror in the lid and painted in nostalgic colors!

 

It's an amazing piece of art and the details are stunning. Thank you ever so much Stephanie, you're the best and made me a very lucky girl! If you would like to see more of Stephanie's miniature creations make sure to check out her blog  http://lasminisdeestefania.blogspot.com/

There's a lot of great stuff to be discovered there and I guarantee you'll be amazed at her talent, just like I am.

 

And thank you Caterina, for organizing the international swap again, it is so much fun realizing that all over the world people with a common interest are making gifts for one another, putting time and effort in it just to bring a smile on the face of the recieving person they don't even know. Isn't that the ultimate Christmas spirit?

 

I see a bird...I see snow...I see a mouse

Nope, not another tutorial today...

After decorating the house for Christmas, doing the tutorials I promised and sending off my Christmas swap for Rosa (which she recieved and already opened...you naughty girl!!) I decided to spend some more time at needle felting. It's my latest addiction, I absolutely love doing it. It's calming and so much fun!

Meet the three latest cats I made...

They will be listed soon in my webshop but first I want to finish some of the miniatures that are still on my to-do-list. Why oh why does time fly so fast when you're having fun?

 

Another tutorial: a deer lost its head

 

 

This is the second tutorial I made for the calender I told you about yesterday. It's a deerhead made out of cardboard to hang on the wall, it might look difficult but I assure you it's do-able so why don't you give it a try? I made the deerhead in different styles: a classic brown version, the white one you see above and a shabby chic pink one.

Click on the deerhead  and you'll see the instructions and templates needed to make your own.

Enjoy!

Let's weave a wreath!

How is everyone? I just love this season, it's cold outside and it gets dark so soon ... we even had snow!  I'm  switching to a snuggly state of mind here. Yesterday we trimmed the Christmas tree and today we'll put up the sparkling lights outside. I even replace me hot coffee for hot chocolate and light up the fireplace as soon as daylight vanishes. I found the box with Christmas cd-s in the attic and I'm singing christmas songs all day...jingle bells, jingle bells and all I want for Christmas is you..uuu..uuuuh...

Besides that I've been busy with some promises I made. The swap I made for the International Christmas swap that Caterina organized is finished and on its way to Spain. And I've been busy with making a few tutorials for an adventcalender. The calender is published on a forum for miniaturist I'm member of. I decided to post my tutorials here after they have been 'revealed' on the forum. This way you can also try them out.

The first one is a wreath made out of ribbon

And now for the tricky part...I made this tutorial in pdf and have absolutely no clue how to post that on a blog. So, here it goes! If you click on the picture with the door you should be able to see it.

Knock..knock...

 

Keeping my fingers crossed this will work!

 

The winner is...

Hi all!!

I'm sorry I made you all wait so long, it was a busy day and we only got to the draw of the give away late in the evening, which also explains the dark photograps and the sleepy appearance of our son.

 

Our youngest son had lots of fun folding all pieces of paper with the names and putting them in a basket. He took ages to pull out one of the papers and was able to give a last tired smile for the picture. Then he was off to bed...

 

 

And the winner is:

Jannet from Jannet's Country Cottage

http://jannetscountrycottage.blogspot.com

 

Congratulations Jannet and could you please contact me at famschaap@upcmail.nl to give me your address?

 

Thanks everyone for participating in this give-away and for your kind comments.  It surely won't be the last give-away!

 

Don't move and say cheese!

Yes! I've done it...

It's so difficult to take good photographs of miniatures, no doubt you know what I mean. But I finally got the pictures I needed for the webshop and listed the cats.

 *Huge sigh or relief *

There they are...strike a pose! Waiting for new homes.

 

There's other great news: I recieved my first blog-award! YIPPIE-DEE-DOOOO!!!

Thank you very much  ShellbyFay !
I'm feeling mighty proud all of a sudden.
Wheeee..I got my first award (doing a little wave all by myself).
 

About giving and recieving gifts

It's going to be a busy day..I mean week...nope...a busy month :)

I've been a little under the weather the last couple of weeks, it started with a cold which unfortunately developped  to a huge lanryngitis and bronchitis. But, after the doc told me to take some rest and handed me this familysize package of antibiotics, I decided to be a good girl and listen. I feel lots better now although I'm not out of the woods yet. I still need to take it easy but me and taking it slow just don't match.

First thing's first so let me tell you what I've decided to do the coming days/weeks/month. First of all I'm participating in the International Christmas Swap. Caterina organizes this swap every year and it's loads of fun. If you participate you are linked to someone and you exchange some Christmas miniature gifts. This swap is worldwide and it's a lot of fun being hooked up with someone from far far away. I'm a little late telling you so if you want to join, please hurry!

All the details are found here: http://leminisdicockerina.blogspot.com/

I've secretly been doing some mini's. As I've already posted I've been to the dollhouse miniatures show in Apeldoorn and I was lucky to meet some of the BIG names in miniature land. I've shaken hands with Jane Harrop , Ruth Stewart and Carol Kubrican !

I did some Dutch translations for the beautiful kits Carol sells and in return she showered me with gifts. I haven't been able to do all the kits she gave me (she gave me so much!!) but here are the ones finished so far.

The huge load of gifts I recieved from Carol

The finished kits so far....

Pretty in French style: boxes with dishes

Forsythia branches in a French pitcher

I can't wait to finish the kits, they are really stunning!

What else is on my to-do-list? Let's see... I still need to photograph the miniatures I made for the webshop and update the site (yep..those cats are for sale).There are still a lot of miniatures that aren't finished yet and are patiently waiting for my attention. I have to finish two workshops I promised for an advent calendar the dollhouse forum, of which I'm member, is organizing. Ohw...and there is the usual rush of life (groceries, laundry, cleaning), how could I forget?

 

And yes...no worries...I will take the rest the doctor prescribed...somewhere in between!

Meeeow!

The last few days were wonderful!

I had time to do some miniatures AND I went to the Dollhouse&Miniatures fair at Apeldoorn.

I bought some supplies I badly needed to finish some of my miniatures and I was surprised by some beautiful gifts. As soon as I've finished on the presents I recieved I'll take some pictures to show you.

 

   In the meantime here's a peek at some of the cats I needle felted.

I've also worked on some dogs and I promise to keep you updated on those too.

It's really difficult to get a good picture of those munchkins. Maybe because of their tiny size or bad lighting...or maybe just because I'm not a good photographer (huge grin). 

 

Here is a close-up. All cats are multicolored and have bows, tiny beady eyes and whiskers.

All of them say meooow to you and wish you a perfect day...

 

 

p.s. Please don't forget to sign up on my give-away!

 

 

 

A bunch of little compartments in a row.

You probably know the feeling: as soon as you start with dollhouses and miniatures you find yourself collecting all scraps and bits for future creations. Nothing gets thrown in the bin without careful examination and being looked at with miniaturist eyes...hmmm...maybe I should save that! And before you know it you have a box for ribbons, another for buttons, a shoebox for wooden pieced you're sure you going to use and a plastic containers with undefined parts that are undoubtedly handy in the future.

After seeing your boxes pile up to Mount Everest height you decide to label them. And for a while you're able to find your treasures again...

 

When I was in an arts&crafts store I saw the most efficient way to store all those tiny bits and pieces: a cabinet with drawers that had loads of little compartments. The cabinets were used at printer compagnies to store all those tiny metal letters.

 

After searching and searching I finally found one, not in the best shape but affordable. After the necessary restorations, a lot of scraping of old paint, sanding and new layers of  varnish the cabinet looked amazing.

 

 

Now I have enough room to store all my precious miniatures to be!

 

Wow...I think I'm getting organized.

 

Give Away Time!

You gals (and guys) made me so excited, over the moon and ever so proud.

Isn't it amazing?! There are over 400 people following my blog.

 It's time to celebrate this milestone and I would like to host a give-away

. Lately I've been doing some needle felting and this is what I came up with. I sure hope you like it...

 

 

Yep, it's a sleepy cat on a chair in french style.

 

 

If you would like to to win this miniature then please;

- Be a follower of this blog.

- Leave a comment beneath this post.

- Keep your fingers crossed till saterday 17th november when the draw will be held.

- Posting a link on your blog would be appreciated, in fact your name will be put in twice for the draw (please mention you've linked the give-away on your blog).

 

Good luck everyone!

Stocking up!

During the summer break I've been real busy making new miniatures for my webshop and I was able to list them last weekend. Here are a few pictures of the new items I made.

French Country style cabinets and chairs

A new theme: Ballet

 

Nostalgic toys

 

Shabby chic

There is lots more, all the new items are listed on the page 'new items (september)'. It would be absolutely great if you would take a peek at http://www.anothercosyshop.nl

Thank you all!

Summer break is over!

Today all the kids went back to school and here I am, sitting at my laptop with a coffee in hand and suddenly it hit me...summer is over. It's so quiet in house...

 

..................

 

These were the first lines for my new blog post but as soon as I had typed them the following happened: one of our sons came back in the house, he went to school only to find out he had to start at 1 pm. So he arrived at school at 8.15 am and got the surprise of his life realising he was the only student there. He failed to check the school program last night (even though I asked him several times).

Oh well...it happens...

 

But then one of our other sons came running back in the house. He's starting college this year and had to take the bus and train to his new school. And guess what? He couldn't find the bus he needed to take. My jaw nearly dropped to the floor since the busstop is so easy to find and I certainly didn't expect this. So, we hopped in my car and I broke some speedlimits trying to get him there on time. He was only a few minutes late.

 

...............

 

Today the kids went back to school and here I am, still trying to catch my breath, looking at a cold cup of coffee and I can't stop myself from grinning. Who ever said it would be quiet after the summer break?

 

Time flies...

Is it already july 14th??? I've been so busy lately time just seems to fly. In between birthday celebrations of our youngest son and the festivities because one of our elder sons completed high school, I even found time to make some more miniatures for my webshop.

I've been totally into the shabby chic theme lately,  i'm even thinking in pink and blue, roses, lace and bows . Yesterday I've been filling the webshop with the new items but I just can't resist showing off a bit here. Here are some pictures to give you an impression.

Shutters...geese...crowns...containers...shelves....

banners...tables...birdhouses...

and lots of chairs...

I mean really lots!

Roses and dots...

Pinks...whites...blues...

By the way...I'm stunned how fast the miniatures sell. I have one eye on my email and the first orders are coming in. Yeah!! (hands up in the air).

See you all soon, I'm off to get some groceries and I really..really should mop the floor. On the other hand, the kids love pizza and the floor isn't sticky yet. I'm going to upholster some miniature chairs!