Bird Gallery/Shop - It Needs a Name

As I have said at times throughout my blog I love bird items. I think this might have first started when I was very young and fell in love with my grandmothers embroidered bluebird of happiness supper cloth. I've been looking on the internet this morning and I have decided to start a collection of antique/vintage bird brooches, pendants and little bird items which I will eventually display in a miniature gallery/shop. I will also collect/make some bird miniatures for display inside and outside the gallery/shop and will hunt out vintage bird images to make pictures/furniture.

I'd love for you to tap into your imagination and suggest a good name for such a gallery, e.g. Flight of Fancy, Chirp & Cheap, or ???????

Special Things

This is a photo of the New Zealand Tui. Isn't he grand. They have a wonderful tuft of white feathers on the front of their neck and make the most wonderful bird sounds. They are considered quite intelligent birds and can mimic other sounds. I have to credit my husband Pete with taking this photo. This Tui is on a flower from a flax bush which is their favourite source of food.

I love birds and I love things with images of birds on it.

When my Mum and I made miniatures in the 1990s my Dad, a cabinet maker by trade, took up the challenge of making miniature furniture. Unfortunately we lost Dad many years ago to cancer, so the pieces he made for us at the time are very special.

 This set Dad made based on the Oak bedroom suite Mum and Dad had when they married. He made two sets, one for Mum and one for me. Apart from a few experimental pieces this was the first set of miniature furniture he made.

 He followed that by making bedroom furniture in New Zealand Kauri.

He also made the little table in this picture, as well as the two little 

turnings and the little easel.

This little house is a kit I made last night from a Paper Minis kit,

Little Red Riding Hood Cottage.

Well I had better go and get some housework done so I can try and get back to my minis later. I hope you enjoy seeing the lovely furniture made by my Dad.

Back at Last

I can't believe it is six months since I started this blog. So much for it keeping me accountable to put bum on seat and do some miniatures. My sister is still waiting for her dollshouse and my Christmas scene is no further ahead. However, I am pleased to report that this weekend I finally made some me time and created some miniatures. I decided to try to make some gingerbread cottages for my Christmas scene... but somehow I got distracted and made a selection of fimo foods and a bird house scene instead. Not one gingerbread house in sight!

Some of the food... my daughter's Little Pets and Sylvanians were the recipients of some of my less successful attempts.

I made the glass cake dish out of three clear buttons and a clear push pin. I read how to do it somewhere recently and it reminds me how much fun it is to use everyday items and bits of 'junk' to make miniatures. One man's junk... is a miniaturist's treasure!

This is the birdhouse scene. I really enjoyed working on this, although cutting the individual leaves was fiddly. I also didn't have the right glues but 'made do' with what I had. I need to work on the base but it is not quite dry yet.

Anyway, I'm just glad I've got something to report on for a change. I really enjoyed my weekend of crafting and will try and blog again soon.