Just to say hello

It's definitely about time I reappeared! It's been so long since I posted that I have moved past feeling guilty and now feel exceedlingly virtuous for even showing my shamefaced self in blogland after such a long absence. I haven't been here at all - haven't even had time to read any blogs or anything. It's not through lack of enthusiasm, just overwork and lack of time. I didn't completely stop blogging, though.... .....if you want to see where my blogging energy has had to go, have a look by clicking here.

Anyway, now the crazy rush of the Spring season at work is starting to die down (oh, please, please let this be true), I am hoping to have more energy for the other things in my life, including miniatures!!
I did have one very happy moment in the middle of a very stressful time. I was the very very lucky winner of Daphne's wonderful giveaway. (If you haven't visited her blog - In the Court of the Gypsies - then go and check it out!!) I was so excited because I had never won a giveaway before. Thank you so much, Daphne, for these beautiful miniatures!!! They realled cheered me up just when I needed it! I just love the French shabby chair and the flowers and picture and antiqued flower tub are just lovely! I feel really lucky to have won this giveaway. And they arrived just when I really needed cheering up. What a lovely surprise!

Unfortunately, being so busy means that I don't have very much to show you this time. There are a couple of small additions to the cottage that you might like to see. I bought a cute little French planter from Pei Li - it is just so sweet! I have put it just inside the door of the cottage - I might pop some mail in it or maybe the lady of the house casually throws her keys in there when she comes in from outside.

I liked it so much that I couldn't resist doubling up by buying another one, this time with a pretty flower in it. This one is outside the cottage by the front door and I really love it. It is so pretty!
I recently attended a dollshouse show (sorry, I didn't take my camera) and bought a pretty porcelain candlestick from the neighbouring stall - here it is on the bookcase.

Earlier in the Spring, before life had ground me to a pulp, I decided to re-do the plate display in my "real" house. The chintz patterned plates are all Crown Ducal. The bottom plate had two corners broken off and badly glued back on when I received it. I managed to remove most of the old yellow glue-globs with acetone. Whoops - removed too much glue and the corners fell off. So I glued them back on and now it looks as good as new. The two plates with floral rims are Royal Doulton and the small one in the centre is a very hard to find (well, I found it hard to find!) pattern by Winton called "Caravan", which I really love. Hubbys comment: "Are you going to cover the whole wall with plates?!" No. Just these ones.

So, here I am back in the land of the living again, and realising that while I was a.w.o.l. I have undeservedly reached 500 followers. So one of my next posts will be a little giveaway to celebrate getting through the Spring season (yes, I know Spring is lovely, but it gets awfully busy when you work at a seed company!), and to celebrate still having some followers even though I haven't blogged for ages.

Thanks for still being there! xxxx

A lovely addition to the cottage

Yay!! I think I've finally figured out how to load photos without it driving me crazy! Don't know why, but recently I've had so much grief trying to add photos to my blog. I used to be able to load them in and them move them around to where I wanted them fairly easily but lately it's been a complete mission. Anyway, now I've figured out that if I actually plan which ones I want to use and then load them in reverse order, then they will all end up in the desired order and all I have to do then is enter my comments and it's done. It was driving me crazy! How typical - I should've been planning it better. That's my whole life in a nutshell but I'm not sure that's a lesson I'm going to remember, going on past experience.

Anyway, what I am all excited about tonight (hubby is away so I can stay up really late blogging without annoying him) is this little bench which arrived in the mail. It is just so perfect for the bedroom of the Shabby Cottage. I had always meant to make something for the end of the bed but I've been lazy about working with wood lately. But isn't this just so lovely?? This was a gift from the lovely Norma, who planned it out and carefully checked measurements with me and chose just the most beautiful soft shade of blue and sent it over to me even though she hasn't been well. Thank you so much, Norma! I love it!

I set this arrangement up just for the photo but liked it so much that I have left it this way. The little gerbera flower was made by Pei Li - it is sitting in what is meant to be a scent bottle made of cranberry glass by Phil Grenyer of Glasscraft. I took the stopper off - it is just right as a little vase instead of a scent bottle. The shoes were made by Sylvia Rowntree and Linda Carswell made the little shoebox, which is full of the most delightful miniature mail. I was so glad to find the little Eiffel tower charm....it is so cute.

After my last post, a few people wanted a closer look at the little doll who was hidden away in the corner....here she is, looking very pleased to have a bench to sit on!

She is very sweet and even has bendable arms and legs and tiny pantaloons!

She also quite likes to be tucked into her cosy corner.


Now don't worry about the next photo. It doesn't look good but here's how it happened....

It is school holidays here now (and it is the middle of winter). Last week, my dear little seven year old Ella, followed closely by her nine year old brother Matthew came sheepishly into my room to tell me, in fear and trepidation, that they had accidentally landed a karate kick on the Shabby Cottage. So I went to see the damage and thought you might like a photo of the living room after Cyclone Ella had struck (could have been worse). Well the few things that were blu-tacked down stayed put but everything else (in all the rooms) went for a tumble. I'm not one for sticking things down much as I like to move things around a bit. I was very kind to Ella as she obviously felt terrible. Matthew's comment (wise from years of experience): "See, Ella....I told you it's best to tell her straight away." Anyway, no harm done. It's all back in place now. Wish tidying my real house was as easy.

I thought I would show you this cute little thingy. Don't know what to call it. I think it might have been meant as a candleholder or a too-small fruit bowl or something. Someone was giving away their unwanted miniatures and I was lucky enough to get this little cupid thing. The purple sparkly thing on top is a tiny bead I bought (thought it would make a good lid for something one day). I'm glad I've finally found a home for it before I lost it.

And here it is on the little table in the living room.

Oh....I have a funny story to tell you!

I received an email the other day from a journalist who works for NZ House & Garden magazine. She had stumbled upon this blog accidentally and wanted to know if my real house was similar in style to the dollshouse, in which case she would like to send a photographer down and do a feature on it. I had to disappoint her (and myself) and tell her that no-one in their right mind would want to do a feature on our very average family home, with train sets in the lounge and plastic compost buckets in the kitchen. But thanks for asking. Well I didn't say it quite that way (I was awfully polite) but you get the idea! I was pretty chuffed to be asked, however, and emailed hubby at work all excited about it. "It's a scam, don't answer" was his take on it. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I will never have a home fit to feature in NZ House & Garden but at least my dollshouse is worthy of consideration. How cool is that??

Today I have been messing around with paint and some little metal miniatures that have been sitting around here for ages, and these little jugs are the result. The smaller one was meant to be a coffee pot but I ditched the lid because it didn't fit properly.

They look quite cute as a pair in the little kitchen. I'm still moving them around to find the right place for them.

They look quite cute up on top of the pantry cupboard but you can't really see them too well because they are right up by the ceiling. Not sure they go too well....maybe they should've been white....but I can't bear to part with them....I think they are cute!

Hope those of you who live in the Northern Hemisphere are enjoying the summer....it is winter here and cold and wet. Looking forward to Spring

Christmas is coming early!

It feels as though Christmas is coming early at the Shabby Cottage. Last week I opened a parcel to find the most beautiful little miniatures, which had been sent by Iris (Lataina). She hasn't got a blog for you to read (maybe we can talk her into it!!). I was amazed at all the little things she has made. These are her first attempt at minis, so I am most impressed!

Iris had included some absolutely gorgeous little birdhouses to add to the "birdhouse wall". I just love them. She is certainly a dab hand with the crackle glaze and has an eye for putting colours together.

Among the presents was this absolutely stunning little peg board for the little boy's room. It is so beautifully done! And Iris even went to the trouble to find out what the New Zealand flag looked like and has painted an approximation of it on the sails of the little boat. Iris - thank you so much - this is so lovely.

....AND THEN....

... a couple of days later, before I had even had a chance to put any pictures or thank yous on this blog, ANOTHER box arrived from Iris, with more amazing little minis!

You can see how good she is at crackle paint effects - this little tub is just gorgeous with its pretty pink and blue.

And it is just the right size to fit these flowers! You can also see Jenn's cute little birds egg soaps, which I don't think I've shown you before.

Iris made all these tiny pencils!! They look adorable in the little boy's room.

Here is a photograph showing all the little birdhouses. My father visited in the weekend and said that they were all too close together because birds are teritorial and don't like to use nesting boxes which are too close together, so I have spread them out a bit. I'm not sure if imaginary miniature birds are as fussy as real birds.

It was my friend Dorothee who inspired me to want a wall of birdhouses. She has made some for her cottage (we all made a cottage from the same kit)....this is picture of her cottage wall with its birdhouses.
And when she saw that I had started adding birdhouses to my cottage, she brought these ones round as a gift! Thank you Dorothee!

So you can see that Christmas has come early for the Shabby Cottage, with all of these lovely things arriving recently.

I haven't forgotten the tour of my first dollshouse - I will show you the living room next....

Wow, Frederica!

I couldn't believe my eyes the other day when I opened a little envelope that arrived in the mail and out popped a whole lot of treasures from Frederica!!

She had sent a whole lot of lovely little presents - they are so sweet and I can see that the little brocante shop she is working on must be absolutely gorgeous with these lovely little things inside! She had made the most beautiful hand knitted cardigan, complete with tiny buttons and pretty silk ribbon threaded through! I took it to work and everyone was amazed, even though they are not miniaturists. It really seems as though everyone has a fascination with tiny things, and can appreciate beautiful work when they see it! And there was even a tiny knitted hat to go with it!

Some of the other things Frederica sent were these little bottles on a lovely aged tray and there are even gift tags and cards included!

I feel so lucky - I must admit I had really really longed for a little cardigan like the ones I had seen on Frederica's blog - I even bought some thread and knitting needles to see if I could manage it myself, but I must admit it isn't very likely I could make something like this! So thank you so much, Frederica! I love my little gifts and you are lovely to do this!

Here is the cardigan in pride of place in the bedroom. You can also see the little shabby picture in this photo. The photos are all a bit blue today, but never mind. At least they are the only thing in my life that is "blue" at present!

I think bloggers are the most kind, geneous people! Don't you agree??

Some lovely presents!

I am a very lucky girl.....I have some lovely little bits and pieces to show you! I was very excited that at our recent Convention I knew that I would get to see Marion. She is just lovely, and I was looking forward to spending a bit more time with her before she went back to Australia. On her last day, she popped round to visit. I really wish I hadn't been so busy and had had more time to spend with her! She made these beautiful miniatures for me! This gorgeous basket has been so beautifully made and given a wondeful shabby finish! And inside it are a whole lot of lovely tiles that she has made herself from air-drying clay. They have the most beautiful pictures of flowers and birds on them! I just love them....thank you so much Marion!

Here they are in the bedroom, next to the washbasin. The colours are just right!

Marion and Dorothee had also been busy making little cats that sit on a door frame. I am a bit short of door frames in my little cottage but one of my little cats looks very much at home on the picture frame in the living room. Sadly there are still no curtains at the window, and the window looks as dirty as my real windows in this photo, but the cat is very cute!!

Now that it isn't long until Christmas, it is time to fill the house with Christmas goodies. My Dad always had bowls of nuts at Christmas and here is a lovely big bowl of walnuts in the dollshouse. The wooden bowl is absolutely gorgeous....it was given to me by a lovely gentleman who does the most beautiful woodturning....he had the stall next to me at the recent Convention and this was his parting gift .... I probably need to show a photo of it empty to show it off properly.

I was pretty happy with these little walnuts, and so I have to share the secret with you. I work for a seed company, and one of my jobs is filling packets of seed (we still do it by hand). I really like seeing how all the different seeds look, and of course can't help looking at them with a miniaturist eye! And the other day I had to fill Euphorbia Marginata (Snow on the Mountain) and the seeds looked just like walnuts! So here are a few of them waiting for Christmas in the cottage.

This is what the plant looks like.

I had a really amazing parcel arrive today so I will post some photos of the contents soon!

Tiny Bear

In my last post, I said that I would try to get some better photos of the little bear who arrived the other day in an envelope. Here he is on the bed in the little boy's room upstairs in the shabby cottage. He is just 2omm tall when sitting down!!! I can't believe that Alison managed to make such a teeny weeny bear, all beautifully jointed. Alison is a bearmaker who makes fullsized teddybears... she made this bear as a special gift after I was talking to her about wanting a tiny polar bear for the shabby cottage.....my little boy Matthew's favourite toy is his polar bear Snowy (pictured with the miniature Snowy). What a nice surprise. Thank you so much, Alison!!