MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I am sending you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS greeting and a big THANK YOU for another incredible year of blogging. I just can't get enough of all of your wonderful creations! All of you make blogging such an incredible experience full of inspiration. I have never smiled so much in all of my life.
Much love, Patty

Robbie

I have been so busy lately with my real life that I haven't been able to do anything with miniatures!!! I went to the Good Sam show a few weeks ago and bought some wonderful little miniatures. Once I take photos I will share them.....in the meantime I thought I would post a photo of one of the few boy babies that I have made in the past. My clay always seems to want to make girls!! I have no control of the outcome when I am sculpting!! LOL I made the carrier that he is sitting in too. I am looking forward to having the time to sculpt again. I am so ready to see another new baby's face emerge from my clay!

FALL

I love this time of year! Our weather hasn't cooled down completely yet, but you can smell Fall in the air. I wanted to show you a little cat that I made last year. He is a take off on those 1930's candy containers. I love his goofy face. I have been making some pumpkins in the last couple of weeks and will share them as soon as I photograph them. Hope everyone is enjoying the Seasonal change that has arrived!

TOMATO HARVEST AND A TART

I managed to grow a heart!!!!!!
So many incredible tomatoes! I have been taking a colander out to the garden every day and filling it up!!! This is a small sample. We also planted some wonderful yellow cherry tomatoes that taste like candy!!!
This is the most incredible caramelized onion,tomato,goat cheese tart! It came out really great. Every recipe that I have tried of Ina Garten's(Barefoot Contessa) has been so easy to prepare and so delicious. I thought I would share the link for the recipe. It is so easy to put together and you can impress your guests!!! LOL....mine were loving every bite!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/tomato-and-goat-cheese-tarts-recipe/index.html

SSHHHHHH!

Such a sweet scene! I had purchased this basket on ebay awhile ago and covered the interior with fabric and trim. The sleeping baby has on my first attempt at a disposable diaper.

CHUBBY BABY CHLOE

Here is my latest little one! She turned out to be quite chubby!

GONE FOREVER..........part 3

Just thought I would share two more photos I just found and realized they are gone now too. We are still waiting for Summer to arrive in California! It has been a very strange Spring and feels more like Fall. Very cold and we are supposed to have a rainy weekend!! Unusual for June. I personally love it as I have planted a vegetable garden and love the free watering.

GONE FOREVER...........part 2

A couple of weeks ago I had one of my customers contact me to let me know that she had a house fire and has lost all of her collection of miniatures which included almost 35 of my dolls! I feel so bad for her!! She also had wonderful pieces by Kerri Pajutee , Teresa Summers and several other artists. I can't imagine losing your whole life of belongings like that. I have been in touch with her insurance agent and am compiling a list for them for the replacement cost of the dolls. Quite the undertaking and I can't help but mourn the loss of some of my past work as I am going through my books and remembering some of their little faces(am I strange???). It is hard enough sometimes to ship them off, but now knowing they are burned up and gone is a bummer!!!! I talked to my customer on the phone and she mentioned a couple of the dolls and we were both moaning about it! I thought I would post a few that she had. Even my little Gracie in the gingham dress in my header photo is gone!!!
I sent her a new baby in the hopes that it would cheer her up a little. She was such a great customer and collector.She also bought dollhouses in need of repair and would fix them up to give to some little girl whose family couldn't afford one. I always thought that was so sweet of her. I am posting her address and see if anyone out there has some little extra miniature that is collecting dust or that you have double of and see if you wanted to mail it to her. I really feel bad for her loss. It might let her know that things will get better!! I am going through my things too, because I know I have been buying like crazy for the last few years!! Anyway.....just a thought I had for a fellow miniature lover and avid collector. I am adding more information about the address as Anne requested.............(I even corrected the spelling on the state!!...sheesh)<---LOL
New Hampshire is a very tiny state located on the East coast of the US in between Vermont and Maine.

Teresa Chrimes
P.O. Box 187
(city).... North Haverhill,
(state).... New Hampshire
USA
03774

HAPPY BIRTHDAY............

to me!!!!! OH yeah.......another one has come upon me too fast! They seem to fly by now! I barely get used to saying my new age and it changes again!!!

SWAP from Marlies

I joined in on the Mother's Day swap that Dale had and I was lucky enough to have Marlies of
http://marliesminies.blogspot.com/ send me a surprise!!! I wanted to share it with you! You should see all of the details in this wonderful little nightie and corset. The cosmetic bag with soap,lotion,lipstick,powder,etc. is so incredible too and perfect!!! Thank you so much Marlies and also a Thank you to Dale for organizing the swap!!
I just received a letter from Fabiola that her Mother's Day swap gift from me finally arrived in Italy! Whew!!! Packages taking their time to arrive is always so frustrating! I am glad that it finally is there!! Here is a photo of what I sent her........something for Mother.

WINNER OF A NEW BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all I would love to Thank all of you who joined in on the fun and signed up for the giveaway! I ended up with 117 total. (Caterina was included as she had to email me to say that she couldn't log into my site for some reason). It was such a tremendous turn out and alot of new Followers joined in! Thank you for all of the sweet comments. I hope everyone had a Wonderful Mother's Day! I was completely spoiled by my daughter,sister and niece who hosted a Brunch for my Mother and I.

The WINNER is:

CATHERINE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please email me with your address so I can send Baby Addison your way!
Catherine has a wonderful blog that you should all visit. She makes wonderful miniatures!!
http://kilmouskiandme.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Catherine!!!
Thank you all again!!!! I really had fun with this giveaway and only wish I could send all of you babies!!!!

CELEBRATING ONE YEAR!!!!!!!! GIVEAWAY TIME!!!!

SIGN UP FOR GIVEAWAY OPEN UNTIL MAY 7
It has been almost one year since I began blogging and so it is time for a GIVEAWAY!!!!! I signed into blogger last year in January so I could leave comments and not be anonymous! My actual blog was launched on April 22. I have been in mini heaven since then!! I have loved everything that has been posted by all of you around the world and have realized that I am a mini voyeur! I LOVE looking in the dollhouses that everyone has created!! YOU ALL ARE such an amazing,talented group of artists!! THANK YOU ALL for the comments that you have left for me over the past year and also for having the generosity of sharing all of your helpful hints and inspiration.

I am giving away another baby for one winner. Just be a follower(check to see if you are) and leave a comment on this post. If you want to post a link on your site that would be great. I will choose a winner on MAY 8..........MOTHER'S DAY in the USA..............Do you want to be a new Mother??

Leni

Here is the other little one that I managed to dress this week! Leni is 2 1/4". She has leather shoes too! I made a little footstool for her from the top of a bottle. Someone shipped something to me inside this top and I thought it was the perfect size for a stool!

KATIE

Here is one of my newest sculptures. I have tried my hand at an older chid. She would be about 3 1/2" to 4" if standing. She has leather Mary Jane shoes!!

MORE GATHERING

Here are the exquisite chairs and sofa that I purchased from Kris Compas
Her work is Stunning!!! Every portion of this furniture is so well made and spotless! If you are in the market for any upholstered furnishings for you dollhouses she is the best! You can put in a request for the design you want and also send her fabrics that you would like her to use! I was so amazed when these pieces arrived. They are perfect 1:12th size and Wonderful!!! And the added bonus is that her prices are so affordable!!!

BABY PHOEBE

By a quarter for size reference!
My Blog Anniversary is coming up soon. Hmmmm.......I wonder........do you think I should give another baby away? Stay Tuned!!!!

NEW ETSY STORE

My daughter has launched an Etsy store today. She has just started to teach herself how to sculpt and has come out with tiny "Wild Things" for your enjoyment! She is also making gift tags and Greeting cards with some of her drawings! Have a peek!!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/happymoonbelly
Here is Flowerzilla!!!

SPRINGTIME BABIES

Here are a couple of little one's with a bunny and duck added to their clothing! Is it Spring yet? I am ready for some nice weather!!

VALENTINE BAKING!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! I hope everyone is enjoying a little love!!! Last year I tried my hand at some miniature baking and thought I would share it with you. I made the little cake stand and hand painted it. I was experimenting with frosting on the cake and decided to use some "spackle" which makes the cake look really home made!! LOL There is also a platter of heart cookies!

PERFUME SHELF

When I first started trying my hand at making something in miniature(before sculpting) I came up with an idea of making a perfume shelf. I had so much fun putting this together even if I didn't know exactly what I was doing! As you can see I didn't use wood glue which was a big mistake. The wood on the back side has split over the years. I didn't realize either that you shouldn't really have a piece like this too glossy or it will not look right. I added a few images that I decoupaged and really loved how that turned out!! I have learned so much since this first attempt! Thank goodness!!! This piece is what began my addiction to miniatures!!! My obsession is still growing!!

ELOISE

This little girl ended up looking very tired to me! Looks like the poor thing had a long day at school! Up too early and hard work all day! She moved to Austrailia awhile ago! I made the small doll for her and her cookie too!

TINY BABIES

This photo is perfect for everyone to have an idea of how small these dollhouse babies are!! Five babies in my hand. Another favorite group photo of mine that I love.

NURSERY CART

I wanted to share a little cart that I made for Roberta as part of the International Swap that Caterina put together. I loved participating and challenging myself to step out of the box and try my hand at something completely new and different from anything I had tried before. I was so pleased with the way this turned out. It is made of wood(base) and card stock. I managed to have the wheels work too!! I need to make another one soon so I have one too!!

MINI VALENTINE'S

I just received these darling Valentine's in the mail and they are so amazing. They have been made by the very talented Betsy Niederer. Here is a link to her CDHM page where she sells items.
http://www.cdhm.org/user/kachookie

Everything is made perfectly!!! Aren't they darling? The small heart candies are wonderful too!!

BABY dressed by ZOE BARINGO part 2

Here is another one of my babies that a customer had Zoe Baringo dress after she purchased her. I just love how delicate her knitting skills are and how sweet she can dress a baby! If you are not familiar with her work follow the link!

SOMEONE IS HUNGRY!

This little one is patiently waiting to be fed!

LASER FRAMES

Christmas presents Part 2

My daughter gave me three kits to make these wonderful laser cut frames from Cynthia Howe's website.... http://cynthiahoweminiatures.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=40
I have only taken a photo of two of them to show you. There is a lot of great detail on these and it looks like the instructions are very basic.......sand gently,paint...etc. The kits are very reasonable too.