Moving Forward

Hi my blog friends, this is me. I hate having my photo taken but I am putting it out there - this is me:

Taken today - no make-up - but it is me.

I haven't been around as much over the last year. Two years ago my husband lost his management job which left us in a difficult financial situation. He has had a few temporary jobs in the interim but we have been unable to really get ahead. This resulted in us having to sell our house at a large loss last month and we are now living in an old rental property - on the bright side we no longer have a mortgage. Our future is uncertain as my husband is trying to get back into an IT position and we could end up moving at any time. During those two years my Mum also passed away and my father-in-law had a major stroke among other things. It has not been an easy two years but luckily if anything it has brought my husband and I closer together with a focus on trying to map out a good future for ourselves and our 13 year old daughter. One thing that did suffer was my creative endeavours - apart from having a nil budget I found it hard to focus on anything.

However, that is in the past and I am now determined to move forward both creatively and in other areas of our lives. While things are still financially tight I realise I don't need to let that restrict my creativity and I need to challenge myself to create again. I respond to being challenged - it gives me a goal to work towards. I am also focusing on trying to get fit and healthy and move myself from obese to healthy. My gorgeous daughter saved her money and bought me a Fitbit for Christmas which is motivating me to move more, eat more healthily and drink more water.

Speaking of my daughter, Jamie starts High School this year - I can't believe how quickly she is growing up.

 Dressed up for her leaving dinner at the end of her Year 8 Intermediate School year.

Ready to go into her dance medal test in October with her proud father in the background. 

(He wants me to note that he has a bit more hair now).

Anyway, while I have done little creatively lately I have given things a lot of thought. I realise that while I love my blog and my blog friends I had got to a stage where I stopped letting myself just do things on a whim because I kept pressuring myself to try and come up with something miniature to put on my blog. I found sometimes I was trying to persevere with things my heart just wasn't in. Unconsciously, I had stopped doing this for me. So while I am looking forward to getting back to blogging there will be changes.

In the past I have explored a number of hobbies - porcelain doll making, teddy bear making including miniature bears, basketry and macrame, book binding and book arts, fabric dolls, a little dabble at felt making, paper making and paper crafts, a bit of embroidery and more lately adult colouring in. I realise I am not good at limiting myself to one thing. While I want to continue in miniatures I do not want to limit myself to only miniatures. I am in the process of teaching myself crochet which has been a goal for quite some time - hopefully I can scale it down to miniatures. I also want to dabble more in embroidery, more book art and doll making in different forms and improve on my wood crafting skills. I am sure there are other crafts out there I will want to explore as well. Of course whatever crafts I do learn and experiment with I will probably want to explore in miniature. I also used to really enjoy photography and want to get back into that as well.

Therefore in the future I am likely to blog about whatever I am doing at any given time. I will be doing things just because I want to do them not because I feel I have to do them.

I am sorry this is a bit long winded but I am getting this down in print as much for myself as to explain to my blog friends where I have been and where I am heading.

I have managed to set up a small work space in the rental and I am ready and rearing to go. Pride of place on my work desk is a gorgeous calendar received from Birgit of BiWuBaren on the Blog.  It will be a pleasure to move on creatively with Flubby and Rosey by my side.

I was very happy and surprised to receive a Christmas package from Birgit in December. As well as the calendar and some marzipan chocolates I received two beautiful decorations to add to my Christmas box.

The gorgeous red and green candle decoration on Edward Elf's table.

The lovely wooden decoration at the back of this shelf. Love it.

Also included were these stars that I can use to make something for the Christmas box.

Finally there was this gorgeous Christmas card. I just love Birgit's work and also her photography.

I love the little characters with Flubby, especially the one on the left as I adore snowdrops.

Anyway that is it from me for today. I will be back soon. It is my last day of the Christmas holidays as I head back to work tomorrow. 

Best wishes to everyone for 2016 - it is going to be a good year.

Christmas Swaps

I know it is February but it is only now that I can post photos of the gifts I sent my two Christmas Chain Swap partners. Fabiola and Drora. Unfortunately due to losing my Mum in early December and then with my husband's Dad having a major stroke two days later I was a bit late posting them. I posted them before Christmas but Fabiola has only just received hers a few days ago.

 

I did a post on the lovely swap gifts I received from Fabiola and Drora here:

http://myrtlemanorminiatures.blogspot.co.nz/2015/01/back-to-work-tomorrow.html

 

From Fabiola I received:

 



and from Drora I received:

 

Below are photos of the swap parcels I sent Fabiola and Drora:

for Fabiola

for Drora



Just looking at these photos I took it has become obvious to me that I failed to put a little glass jug in with Fabiola's gift. Sorry Faby, it was certainly my intention to do so. I somehow must have overlooked it in my rush to get the parcels posted.

 

Adding to the delay in getting the parcels posted was my rush to get the little paper chains finished. Each link of the chain is made with little pieces of quilling paper 1/8 inch x 3/4 inch. I think they look effective and I enjoyed making them but they are fiddly and time consuming to make.

 

The Christmas stockings and the teddy bear are buttons, the vase of flowers is a bead with some paper scrapbooking roses in it and the angel and fancy cake plate and cake tongs are made from jewellery findings.

 

This is a close up of a cake plate and angel so you can see better the findings I used:

 

I do prefer a solid bead for the head as in the ones I used for the swap gifts.

 

I enjoy playing around with beads and jewellery findings to see what I can come up with - enjoyable play time.

 

Thank you to Fabiola for organising the swap. It is always lovely to receive miniatures from fellow miniaturists from around the world.

Merry Christmas

 

Edward the Elf, his companion dog Prince and I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy and creative 2015.

Where Oh Where Has My Creative Ability Gone...

I don't know - you get days like that where nothing you put your hands to turns out the way you want it to!

 

For Christmas last year I made some little Christmas bird houses as gifts for Christmas swap recipients.

http://myrtlemanorminiatures.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/christmas-chain-swap-2013.html

 

As per usual I never thought to make one for myself. I decided today I would try to make one to go in my Christmas workshop scene. While I did manage to create one I am not particularly happy with it.  I think the paper needs to be brighter and the bird smaller (you can't see the hole for the bird to enter the house) and unfortunately I didn't get the snow looking lovely and icy like I did last time. In fact I had to cheat and add some glitter to the roof.

I just tend to create and make things as I go and until recently never wrote down how I made things. I'll probably have another go next weekend and see if I can improve on it. I know I can do it - I've done it before. In the meantime this weekend's effort will sit on the shelf in Edward's workshop until I create a better one.

Talking about shelves, I added an extra shelf to the side wall of Edward's workshop so I could make room for the bird house.

I also made a little Christmas tree today from a tinsel pipe-cleaner, some glitter and a glass star.

I need to make some paper chains which I am going to hang on the inside door which Edward will hang on the North Pole Christmas tree closer to Christmas. He also likes to give some to his fellow elves to decorate the Christmas trees in their little North Pole cottages.

 

When I was flicking through reading some other miniaturists blogs this morning I came across one from Jane of Minifanaticus.

http://minifanaticus.blogspot.co.nz/2014/11/keeping-up-blog-things-i-am-doing.html

 

Jane mentioned some gingerbread houses which she is going to do as a workshop with some children. This reminded me of another unfinished Christmas project I have.

 

In January 2011 (aarrrhhhh where does the time go) when I first got back into miniatures after a break of about 17 years I started Joann Swanson's Sugar 'n Spice project. You can find the project here:

http://joannswansondiyminiatures.blogspot.co.nz/2010/11/sugar-n-spice-part-one.html

 

Her project is shown on the paper in the following photo:

 

 

I have added to my project some shelves I made at a workshop tutored by a Jewel Lewis at a NZAME (New Zealand Association of Miniature Enthusiasts) Convention in the 1990s (based on a 1920s kitchen). I have also added the stove which I had in my stash.

 

 

I even made a little cookbook with a 'Gingermen' recipe.

 

The main thing that is missing is some lovely little gingerbread houses. I will have to see if I can make some to finish the project. The project needs a few more little accessories and a dog under the table. I think it is probably about time this project was finished.

 

While we are on the subject of Christmas I came across an ornament my grandfather made me (probably about 45 years ago) when I was a little girl. I thought I would show it to you as it is quite a nice idea for holding a little miniature scene.

 

As you can see from the photos below the decoration is made from varnished pieces of log (bark included). He has just put one sloping piece of glass in the front and a removable piece of perspex in the back. You could easily replace the back with a background picture mounted on some cardboard.

 

 

It could lend to a lovely woodland fairy scene with some foliage, flowers and fungi or a number of other little scenes.

 

Lastly for today, and not a Christmas thing this time, I managed to pick up this second hand book to provide me with some inspiration for my Victorian Del Prado house. There are some lovely photos in it.

 

 

Now to decide what to make next.

 

Perhaps a knife cleaner:

 

 

or a butter churn:

 



 

We will see!

 

Have a great weekend everyone.



Edward's Workshop - Progress Made

For those of you who haven't met Edward Elf yet he was created by Melanie Frank (Melli) of Germany. Melanie's blog is http://pippibaerenbande.blogspot.de

 

Edward grew up with such a love of Christmas that he was invited by Santa to be an honorary helper elf at the North Pole. As time went on he worked through the ranks and gained the respect of Santa and is now the Master of Decorations and decorator of the North Pole Christmas tree. Being a German elf he is a bit bigger than the North Pole elves but he is fully accepted by all his fellow elves and is always happy to help them when they can't reach something.

When Santa told Edward he could make arrangements to have a special workshop built for himself,  Edward chose a design that looked like a Christmas gift box because of his love of all things Christmas.

I have made some progress on Edwards workshop today. First of all I added a few more gems, especially on the inside.

I then added some shelves for some of the special decorations Edward has been working on. I also added a few essentials - such as a pot belly stove for warmth, a box of chocolate truffles for energy and a companion dog for company.

The Workshop so far.

Some of the things I added today are:

 

I found the skier in an antique shop. I think it has come off a German Christmas decoration. It looks similar to some of the vintage Erzgebirge ornaments. I made the little wreath and the lovely cherub ornament was a Christmas surprise I received last year from Melli of der Pippibaeren (the creator of Edward).

The lovely 'Merry Christmas' wreath is one of a pair earrings I found at a local op shop. I was lucky enough to win the three tiny Christmas characters which were a giveaway prize from Sylvia of Mijbil Creatures. The tallest character is only 9mm high. The silver angel I made from jewellery findings. The bells are a charm from an 'Avon' Christmas bracelet. The three stockings are buttons from a scrapbooking shop. The wooden Santa and his Christmas tree was another op shop find.

Under the shelf is a string of cards which are from Paper Minis. The box of chocolate truffles are also from Paper Minis. I made the woven box holding the coloured paper. I have made a tutorial to make this which you will find here. I also made the paper chain Edward is making. The dog 'Prince' was an antique shop find and when he saw the pot belly stove he decided this would be a good place to live. He thought Edward looked very kindly too. The pot belly stove is actually a pepper shaker. Other miniatures are just from my stash.

 

 

 

Edward seems pretty pleased with his workshop so far. He is really pleased Prince has volunteered to be his companion. Towards Christmas Edward can spend hours making last minute touches to all the decorations and decorating the North Pole Christmas tree. He will be glad of the company.



An Early Start

Lying in bed this morning I was determined to make a space for doing some miniatures even though we had a fairly busy day planned - but what to do?

 

I considered doing a little Halloween scene and entering a photo in Kyle Lefort's Halloween challenge. While traditionally we have not celebrated Halloween in New Zealand it is starting to be celebrated by some and I have always thought it would be fun to do a Halloween scene. However, as it is the 27th I have left it a bit late to do a good job - next year Kyle!

 

That led me to thinking about Christmas. Every year I say I will do a Christmas scene but again I always leave it too late. Not this year. I am making an early start. Today I started my Christmas scene. The box I am setting my Christmas scene in and around I purchased Christmas 2012. It is high time I got it out and did something with it.

 

As for the resident of the box, Edward Elf, he has been more than patient waiting for me to create his workshop. Edward Elf is the official Christmas decoration maker for Santa and also the decorator of the North Pole Christmas Tree.

 

I think the box is so beautiful I don't want to cover too much of it so he will just be sitting in the box with a few shelves and hooks inside to hold all the wonderful Christmas decorations he is going to create. Of course we will also need to create a North Pole Christmas tree eventually .

I have previously blogged about the box and about Edward here:
http://myrtlemanorminiatures.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/thinking-of-christmas-meet-edward.html

Edward Elf was made by Melanie Frank in Germany.
Melanie's blog is http://pippibaerenbande.blogspot.de

The front of the box.

Inside the box.

Edward Elf.

I love his oversized feet.

Edward is busy working on a paper chain (made by me).

I recently got a large jar of 'seconds' gems from an op shop. Some have little chips or are not quite the shape they should be but many of them are just fine for enhancing some of the lovely detail on the box.

Some of the gems.

 

 

 

Unfortunately it is a dark gloomy and wet day here today so very hard to take photos showing the gems but hopefully the above gives you an idea of what I am working on at the moment.

 

I need to think about what I am going to do for shelving and hooks now. Hopefully I will have solved that dilemma before my next post.

 

See you then.

My Christmas and Swap Gifts

Well, after all the build up another Christmas has been and gone. It is now late afternoon on Boxing Day in New Zealand (26th December).

New Zealand is the first country to greet each day and we are therefore also the first to greet Christmas. I thought of my mini friends around the world and imagined you still preparing for your Christmas Day or fast asleep hoping that Santa would visit.

Guess what I got on Christmas Eve? - A COLD!!  Luckily I felt reasonably okay and my husband Pete, daughter Jamie, our friend Ben and I travelled the hour to have Christmas with my family and my nephew's 'in-laws to be' and relations that had travelled over from England. My nephew and his fiancé are getting married on 4 January. A group of about 22 of us had a lovely Christmas day but by late afternoon my cold starting setting in again and we drove the hour back home where I pretty much crashed out for the rest of the day. I had fully intended to get a blog entry done yesterday but I just didn't feel up to it.

We were all rather spoilt with lovely gifts from family and friends. My husband bought me Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 (photo editing) and Adobe Premiere Elements 12 (video editing) for Christmas so hopefully I will be able to use those to improve on my blog entries once I have learned how to use them.

Our Christmas tree.

 One of our dogs, Smudge, proudly showing you his new

black and yellow socks he got for Christmas.
 

While my mind is struggling to function properly today I just wanted to thank my two swap partners in Fabiola's Christmas Chain Swap 2013 for the wonderful Christmas gifts I received from them.

First of all, from Francesca of Italy - Blog: Mini Ricamo  http://miniricamo.blogspot.com
I received this exquisite little mat of such fine needlework. It is a beautiful design and lovely colours. I just know it is going to look fabulous in one of my mini houses.

 

My other swap partner was Maribel of Spain. Blog: Miniaturas Isabel http://maribel41.blogspot.it/
From Maribel I received:

 This exquisite little tea-pot with blue roses.

 

 This lovely cushion.

 

 This crocheted baby carry-cot with bedding.

I had the perfect little baby doll to tuck inside.

 

 Beautiful crocheted scarf beret and cap and a lovely towel.

 

Everything together. What a beautiful range of hand-crafted items.

Thank you so much Maribel. Your work is just beautiful.

I love miniature crochet and have always wanted to learn to crochet, so I have set it as a challenge to myself to learn crochet over this Christmas break. I have bought Jamie and myself a crochet hook each. Wish us luck! Now I just need to find a tutorial.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas day shared with family and friends, celebrated in a way that is meaningful to them through traditional, family and cultural traditions. For me Christmas is about special time spent with family and friends.

I will post a blog entry soon on the swap gifts I sent to Maribel and Francesca.

In the meantime I just wish to send you my best wishes for your Christmas break and best wishes for a Creative 2014. I look forward to following your blogs throughout the year. I am hoping to be much more creative in 2014.