What's come in the mail recently!

Finally, my urns have arrived! :)

They are from Golden Unicorn Minis, her shop has been on vacation, but it is now up and running again. :)

Don't they look fantastic? All the way around the plants are different, which is why I took a few pictures, I love all of the detailing, just like what I would have done with real life urns. Someday, they will flank the front door of my dollhouse.

If you would like to see the tutorial for faux finishing these aged urns, click here.

Porch or lawn chairs from Inside-Out Minis. She's taking a break at the moment, but, be sure to bookmark her shop for future reference. You can look at her sales to see previous work.

She customised these for me in black. I have these vintage chairs in real life and plan on vamping them up this summer and painting them black.

A mug tree, also by Inside-Out Minis. Another custom request from me, plain (without mugs) and painted black. Looks like iron work, doesn't it?

I have a tutorial from the gal at Inside-Out Minis to make clay tea cups. If one of you DIY'ers are interested in it, let me know in the comments. Some of you know, I'll never touch the clay, so I'll pass this along. If more than one are interested, I'll do a draw. It is completely detailed with color photographs, instructions and tools to accomplish it.

Table is by my buddy Ray of minibuilder on etsy.

I was able to get my mug and my husband's at a local craft shop, but, because my children have unusual names, they weren't available. :( 

But, I managed to find a guy on ebay named facetmulti and he created the mugs that I couldn't find. :)

I've been crazy busy as usual with life, family, custom orders and collaborations. I'm way behind on my blog reading, more than usual. Probably doesn't help that I've discovered Facebook, lol, but,  I see a lot of you out there, so that's nice. :)

I'm terribly behind on my personal correspondence and I'm hoping to get up with that soon, I haven't forgotten about you! :)

My giveaway is on Sunday, so if you would like to be included in it, just make a comment on that posting.

I'll see you on Sunday with the results. :)

As always, click on the pink links and poke the pictures to see them larger. :)

Current Projects Updated

I've been busy getting things done, that is always a good feeling!

This is what I made with the florals from Sans. She mentions the "largest bouquet to be dispatched from a virtual palace in Singapore in the week before and after Xmas '09." (giggles) I love her sense of humor! You can see that post here.

While I was creating that, I was inspired to do this. :)

I love, love, love how these came out.

They're in my etsy shop now.

Then, there was the mission couch from Ray.

Here's the inspiration photo.

I think it came out pretty close.

I know I go on and on about Ray's work, but I just can't help it! I loved the mission couch he did in the past. You can see where I blogged about it here. But, honestly, he's out done himself with this one.

Look at the details here.

Just amazing. Those are mortise and tenon. Just incredible!

(maybe I should be getting a cut for all of this promoting, LOL! I'm making myself laugh)

His work is just really that good. You can find his shop here.

The pillows weren't a part of the order, but, looking at the inspiration photo got me thinking about some vintage Waverly decorator fabric in my stash. They aren't the same style as the inspiration, but I thought they gave the same sort of "feel" in miniature. (They are going off as an extra goodie, shhhh... don't tell!)

Of course, I made a few extra and put them in my shop. :)

I got this picture from one of my customers.

It looks so real, doesn't it? I had to do a double take. There on the table is the runner I made for Christmas decorating. I think her scene looks fabulous, don't you? :)

Another new follower to welcome! :)
kimsminiatures and she has two blogs you can find them here and here.
Thank you for following Kim. :)

Now, I have to figure out what to do next. ;)

I'm baaaaaaack! LOL! ;)

Hello everyone!

Happy New Year!

I truly did not mean to be gone for so long!

I've really missed blogging and reading everyone's blogs.

What was just going to be a couple of weeks off, turned out to be longer than I expected, but, that's life sometimes, isn't it?

I hope everyone had a most enjoyable holiday season and hope that the new year is off to a good start for all. :)

Isn't this tree darling! I love it! I'm thinking about maybe hot pink and lime green ornaments, what do you think? I got this from De, she made it custom for me. You can find her shop on etsy here and her blog here.

Thanks, De! :)

Look at this!

A little something, something from Sans. She was celebrating her blog anniversary. Isn't that sweet? A hundred roses! I know exactly what I'm going to do with them, too. A subject for another post! (I love to tease, can you tell?lol) You can find Sans blog here, she has one of the best blogs and is a real doll, too!
Thanks, Sans! :)

Just because I haven't been blogging, doesn't mean I haven't been making minis! I've been working on some custom bar stools for an art deco bar for my friend Richard. You can find his blog here and his etsy shop here. He's just listed his first art deco room box.

I'm just about to upholster this!

Sorry, it's a little blurry. It's a custom order for Ray, his etsy shop is here.

Look what I found tucked behind the Christmas decorations in the attic!

My girls minis. I wonder if they still want them... hmmm...

You know I saved them because I thought they were important.

Now, all I want to do is play with them! lol ;)

So here it is 2010 and I'm diving in!

Lots to do and much in store for the new year!

I even have some more followers to, as they say, "Welcome to the Party!"

They are:

callsmall

Jane Smith

miniaturemaid

mia

sMac Thoughts

MiniKat

danitza zarate

A. Wright

Nuri

Little Scotia

Bear cabin miniatures

Christina 

Wow! That's a lot of new additions! :)
Welcome to you all and thanks for following me. :)

As usual, anything in pink on my blog is clickable, so click away and check them all out!

One last bit of news before I end this post. I've been chosen to be on the second Community Counsel at etsy. I am honored to have been chosen and will do my very best to represent my community. :)

I've added a couple of new items to my shop, so if you haven't been around in a while, check it out here.

Now, I'm off to see what you've been up to!

(fears catching up will take weeks!)

LOL!

Adding Contemporary Elements to Your Period Dollhouse

Yes, you can! :)

If fact you can do anything you want with your dollhouse. There are no rules that you have to abide by. Do what you want! lol ;)

You can take that tudor dollhouse and turn it into a shabby chic cottage if you want!

You can add modern design to Victorian dollhouses.

Collect what you like, design and decorate as you see fit. It's your house after all. :)

A touch of Asian in any room, lends an international feel, like a world traveler.

Contemporary and antique furniture can be mixed to form a classic traditional style.

Large scale pieces add a modern look to spice things up.

Go ahead, mix as many patterns and colors as you like.

You might just find that all of the things you like, end up blending together to show your own signature style in designing your dollhouse decor.

Hey, but that's just what I think. ;)

The chair is from minibuilder, the table is from turningsin, the blue and white china are from my private collection and the rest is in or will be coming soon to my etsy shop. :)

Now that I can see my followers again, I can welcome the new ones! :)

They are; Julie Old Crow who blogs mostly about mini food and has another blog here.

Deborah posts from the Netherlands about small stuff

elminimundodevane I don't see a blog or website listed

Anama who's coming back to blogging about minis after taking some time off.

Lest I forget Reisl Today, who got neglected the other day when I couldn't find her blog.

That's all for now, glad to be able to "see" my followers once again.

Hope I've given you some food for thought. :)

More Furniture from Minibuilder in my Collection :)

This is the first piece I bought from Ray.

It is so darling, it sat on my desk for weeks as a source of inspiration for mini making.

Then, I got this table, actually, I got two of them for end tables for either side of the couch in the living room.

I'm not really a light wood kinda person, but, I wanted some diversity in what I use to display the minis I have for sale. This is a cute set and it has a country or cottage appeal to it.

I love these chairs, of course, they're not upholstered yet, as I can't decide what I want on them.

Maybe, I'll make several different seats so I can play with them a bit more.

Ray had sent me this dining room set for me to upholster the chairs and I knew immediately when I opened the box that I had to have them!

Here's just the chair. Again, no upholstery. lol ;)

Ray sent me this as a gift. I love it!

It's going to look great with a plant on it. :)

In real life, I have a thing for tables and footstools, I'm sure it's going to be the same thing in the dollhouse. That and stuffing it full with as much stuff as I possibly can. ;)

I was really busy making miniatures last week. I'll share some of what I was working on next time. So busy working, that I'm behind on keeping up with my blog reading. Hoping to get to a bit of that this week, it's always so interesting to see what other people are up to with their minis. :)

Welcome to new followers, Angela, Kiva, who makes miniature food and has a funny sense of humor (I found her through Tom's blog) and Richard another team mate from teamMIDS, who doesn't blog, yet ;) but, you can find his etsy shop here.

So, three followers away from 100 now. I'll be celebrating you followers soon with a giveaway!

This weekend is the Philadephia Miniaturia, I'm going! Anyone else out there in blog land going to be there?
I am so looking forward to it. :)

Mission Couch

It was a busy week of miniature making in dalesdreams studio. ;)  Since sunshine couldn't be found outside, I turned on all the lights and made my own sunshine inside. :)
This is a mission couch I upholstered for Ray of minibuilder on etsy.

His work is so incredible.

I used to work in an antiques shop and after a while, your hand knows what the good stuff is by the way it feels in your hand.

Fine glass, you can tell when you hold it, same with fine china. A strand of real pearls, I'll never forget the first time I held a strand of real pearls, I absolutely know why women love them so much! ;)

That is the same with handling one of Ray's creations. Fine detailing and craftsmanship, this couch feels so good in your hand.

I love this fabric, it looks like aged leather in 1/12th scale.

Last time I looked, it wasn't in his shop yet, but, I'd keep an eye out for it. It's a wonderful compliment to the mission chair and ottoman he has in his shop now.

Not many trick or treaters this year. :(

Could have been the damp weather.

Hope you have an enjoyable Halloween. :)

Oh, some funny thoughts before I go. What unusual things turn up in your work room? This week, I had a pot lid and a large bread knife in my studio. Hubby was afraid to pick up the pot lid, he thought there might be a mouse trapped under it. Not!

The pot lid was a template for a circle to make a pattern for a table cloth. By the way, did you know most plates are around 10" in diameter? I needed a nine inch circle.

The bread knife, I used to shave down a piece of half inch foam into a piece of 1/4" foam. Not an easy task I tell you. ;)

Alright, until next time! :)

***Update, he's listed the couch, you can find it here.***

1/18th Scale!

This chair is 1/18th scale.

I had never heard of such a scale, but, I certainly don't know everything. ;)

   

It was made by Ray of Minibuilder on etsy.

Since it's in a tinier scale than what I normally work in, it's really small!

It measures less than three inches tall.

Can you imagine?

Yup, it's tiny.

And, that's all I'm going to say about the chair for right now.

You, my dear readers, are going to have to wait to hear more about this chair and.... ;)

Welcome to another follower, Marilyn, she has a blog called Dolls, etc.