I'm Back

Hi everyone. I've had a number of friends and family point out to me lately that I haven't blogged for five weeks. I won't make excuses. Life just took over and I lost my creative energy. So today I made a promise to myself that I would do something worthy of blogging about and make a blog entry by the end of the day.

I also have to confess that I am so far behind with reading the blogs I follow that there is no hope of catching up. You guys out there have been very busy blogging lately.

 

I needed to reorganise my craft room to fit a bed in as my mother is coming to stay for a few days so I thought that might be a good start to trying to find my creative energy - surely it might be buried somewhere in my craft room.

 

I spent a fair bit of time trying to reorganise my craft room so most of my dolls houses etc are along one wall of the room.

 

Here are a few photos of my room as it is now:

 I had spectators. Squiggle discovered the comfort of lying by a heater. Dash was a bit more cautious and is lying under the table behind Squiggle.

 

 

 

 The above four photos show the dolls house side of the room.

 

My Snow White house has gone up on a shelf on the wall.

 

 My work desk which can extend out bigger.

 

 

Even though I still have a bit to sort out I eventually decided I had better stop tidying and try and do something creative. After spending a bit of time trying to decide what I could create I came across a Petite Properties bookend kit and made a start. I didn't get too far with it but at least I have made a start.

 

 

 

I have painted the interior yellow. You only see glimpses of the inside through the windows and, to be honest, I feel like a bit of sunshine yellow at the moment.

 

Finally, I was speaking with a miniaturist friend the other day and she mentioned she had a mouse tin like mine (shown below). We have decided we will both start working on that project soon so I've started looking on Pinterest etc for ideas. If anyone has any good mouse house ideas I'd love you to point me in the right direction. I even want to make my own mouse characters for the house.

 

 

I must say I do feel good for doing a blog entry after leaving it for so long. Hopefully I might have found some of my creative energy again.

 

Have a good week.



Op-Shopping

I am sure I have mentioned before that I love op-shopping. I have not let myself spend much on myself lately because of the situation with my husband losing his job but last week I needed to fill in some time in town and I let myself do a bit of op-shopping.

I got myself a pair of near new shoes for about the price of a cappuccino from the Salvation Army shop.

At other op-shops I got the following, all for about NZ $12.

Lace Net Embroidery

Chocolat

Basic Steps for Weaving Cane Furniture

Woolen Baby Wrap

Tourist-type Russian Dolls

(I also got a folder of crochet know-how and patterns but I have not included these in the photo)

Over time I want to experiment with the lace net embroidery and the cane furniture in miniature. The woolen wrap I will cut up to make miniature blankets etc which I will edge and embroider. There is only two dolls as below and I may just use the bottoms as miniature planters once I have trimmed the top edge of them. As for the book Chocolat, that is my favourite film which I have watched many times but I have never read the book before. The felt toy book is from 1953 and has some lovely designs in it. Some of the simpler designs I will try to make in miniature but I will also probably make up some of the designs in their full size as well. I've always loved the old felt toys.

and yet more:

Little Brown Bird

Basketry the Easy Way

More Macrame

Basket Making Made Easy

Applique and embroidered table cloth

With this group I want to experiment with basketry and macrame in miniature. When I was quite young I remember doing both in full size. It will be fun trying to scale the techniques down into miniature. The Little Brown Bird book contains designs which combined make a large quilt using applique/embroidery/stitching and painting, with many of the designs containing birds. I love anything to do with birds. While I am not a quilter I thought I could take ideas from the book for miniature items. The table cloth I will cut up to use the applique and embroidery for miniature items and the cloth can be used to make miniature sheets.

So that was my op-shopping.

Finally, I couldn't resist a 960 page 1813/14 Girl's Realm Annual I saw on an on-line auction. I got it for NZ$3 plus postage. I couldn't believe my luck. The seller had described it as being in quite bad condition which may have put people off bidding, but I was happily surprised when I received it as it is not in that bad a condition at all, especially for a book that is 100 years old. I love flicking through these old annuals and they often have some lovely craft ideas in them as well as pictures of old fashions etc.

I definitely intend to make at least some little thing in miniature this weekend so check back with my blog in the next day or two.

Have a great weekend everybody.

We have names... (for now)

This is just a quick post to follow on from my last post where I introduced the two kittens I received for Mother's Day and asked for name suggestions.

First of all thank you so much for the fabulous name suggestions. We all loved receiving them and I loved many of the names. The difficulty was in trying to find a name that my husband, daughter and I all agreed on.

You also asked whether the kittens were boys or girls. When my husband and daughter picked up the kittens they were told they were boys. Admittedly they were very little and were only about 6 weeks old. Since then another lady has looked at the kittens and thinks we have two girls. We will have another good look at them in a week or so when they are a bit bigger and hopefully will be able to tell.

Anyway we have named the kittens but there is always the chance we may change the name when we are sure of their sex.

Firstly the little black kitten is called DASH. We called this kitten Dash because of his/her speed and playfulness and also because of the dash of white on his/her paw.

The tabby kitten we have named SQUIGGLE because of the mix of colours and also because of a popular New Zealand biscuit called Squiggles which has squiggles of hokey pokey on top of chocolate. Squiggle has hokey pokey colouring in amongst his/her other colours, especially a patch on top of his/her head.

We are trying to slowly introduce the kittens and our dogs. The funny thing is that our large dog Jasper (a total sook) is scared of the kittens and won't go anywhere near them.

And while we are on non-miniature matters I just thought I'd update you on my husband's employment situation. We have had a lot of kind thoughts sent our way since my husband lost his job. After 5 months of unemployment Pete is currently training for a position working with intellectually disabled that live independently within the community. At the moment is it only part time but hopefully within the next 4-6 weeks it will turn into a full time position and we will be able to start living a near-normal life again (if there is such a thing).

And finally I will finish with something to do with miniatures. I have finished the stitching on the table cover apart from needing to do hem stitch along one side so I can trim the table cloth and then fringe the two ends. I am really pleased with the way it has turned out.

I promise I will try to get back into making miniatures this week. I found some paper clips at work that are making me think of stand up photo frames. I just need to find some suitable photos to have a play.

Name Suggestions Please...

I got an early Mother's Day present today - two gorgeous little kittens. They are siblings. One is a lot darker than the other. We are having trouble naming them. We would really appreciate some suggestions for suitable names.

My next few weeks will be spent introducing the kittens to our three dogs and refereeing!

We look forward to hearing your suggestions. Have a great weekend.

What is this?

Hi blog friends.

A friend of mine has a wonderful old sewing box full of antique treasures and I am trying to help her find out what this item is:

It is a round brass object with retractable spikes. The knob on the top moves the spikes in and out but there does not seem to be a mechanism for locking the spikes when they are out. The back is flat but with a raised rim on the outside. If this is a needlework tool of some sort it gives room for a needle to go underneath threads.

I did look at the crochet doily in the bottom picture which came out of the same box and it made me wonder if it could be a tool for making lace flowers or to start some other form of needlework but it seems odd that you can't lock the spikes.

I have spent quite a bit of time on the web this morning to no avail so I just thought I'd see if any of you can shed some light onto what this item was used for.

It was made in Italy and has the wording ES - D.R.P. - BRFVETTATO - (a Crown) - PATENTE.

If anyone knows what this tool is used for and how it is used I'd really appreciate you commenting below. Any links to anything on the internet would be appreciated.

I'm still hoping I might finish my blackwork table cloth this weekend so hopefully I will be able to post a picture of it in the next day or two. Then I'm keen to have a go at scaling some vintage felt bag designs down into 1/12th scale.

This is part of a vintage felt knitting needle holder with felt flowers.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Blackwork

I have started a needlework project. It is a blackwork table cover from the book Embroidered Projects by Sue Hawkins but I have decided to throw a bit of colour into it. I had a few false starts and lots of unpicking until I got into the flow of it but I am going well now. Hopefully I can finish it before next weekend. It is on 36 count using one strand of embroidery thread. The measurement of the finished table cover in the book is 2.5 inches by 4.5 inches (6.4cm by 11.3cm) but I might need to alter mine slightly to fit onto the piece of fabric I have. I am really enjoying doing it and it is making me think of other embroidery projects I might enjoy. I am thinking of making some miniature felt bags with embroidery on them.

Hope you have all had a good weekend.

We Will Remember Them

In Flanders fields the poppies blow 
Between the crosses row on row, 
That mark our place; and in the sky 
The larks, still bravely singing, fly 
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

from 'In Flanders Fields' by John McCrae

Today in New Zealand (25 April) it is a public holiday, ANZAC Day.

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. It commemorates the landing of the ANZACs at Gallipoli, Turkey during World War I in 1915. Close to 3000 New Zealand soldiers died during the eight-month Gallipoli campaign.

At the time of WW1 New Zealand had a population of approximately 1.1 million people. Of that population 103,000 men served overseas. Of those men 18,200 lost their lives and 41,300 were wounded.

The present ANZAC Day is a time to remember all New Zealanders who have served their country in wars and conflicts around the world. Many New Zealanders attend parades, dawn services or commemorative services.

When I did my big OE in 1989/1990 I did visit Mathausen concentration camp in Germany and I did visit some fields of remembrance in Europe where rows of white crosses showed the silver fern (a New Zealand icon) just reading A New Zealand Soldier. It is very sobering seeing places like these. I think it is the first time I really thought about the World Wars.

This year I have to confess I have watched footage of the dawn parades and documentaries on TV from the comfort of my lounge and I won't deny I do appreciate a day off work, but it is a good time to reflect and consider how lucky we are. We should not only remember the men who went away to war but also the men and women who kept things going back in New Zealand and to the many handcrafts and 'make do' inventions that came about at a time when many things were scarce.

I have just read a fabulous book called 'Thrift to Fantasy' written by Rosemary McLeod about home textile crafts of the 1930 - 1950s. I was surprised at what a good read this book was and it really made me think about how thrifty and creative women were in those years, especially during WWII and the Depression Era, and what a throw-away society we live in today. I would thoroughly recommend this read to anyone but especially to New Zealanders. While I have always loved the old handcrafts I am certainly looking at old handcrafts I see in op shops with a whole new appreciation now and I want to try to recreate some of these handcrafts in miniature.

Unfortunately I really do not know a lot about the history of our family's involvement during the world wars and those that would have known the stories are no longer with us, so while watching coverage on TV today I have been heartened to hear about the many initiatives for recording the stories of those that have memories of these times and about a project by a group of professional photographers who are taking a photograph of the returned servicemen that still survive as they are today.

One story that really made me smile today was on a New Zealand news site on the internet. It was about a 101 year old gentleman who had served in WWII. He had attended a commemoration service in Christchurch, New Zealand with three generations of his family. The photo showed a man full of life and pride with a big beaming smile shaking hands. He said this would probably be his last parade but his daughter said "He always says that". He is apparently known for his sense of humour, was still able to walk with the aid of a walker, still drove his car and did not require reading glasses - but did have hearing aids. He credited his long life span to a mixture of garlic and rum. As I read the article I found myself smiling at the man on the page and thought what a lovely photo for his family to remember him by when he does eventually join his comrades.

We Will Remember Them.