Work on the little shop

Well, last night Meg was hogging the tele, watching The Polar Express, Hywel was busy cutting mini beams for my ceiling and Dean was burrowed deep in the realms of his bedroom... as teenagers do! So, after 10 minutues of wandering around, loudly proclaiming, 'I am home mind, not working tonight... Day off... atttention please'... to no avail, I sat down and did a little work on the shop's interior. I know, I should be doing the outside first, but the inside is just too tempting, I am all back to front on this one!

So... I stuck the counter together, it is just two off cuts of MDF and some pine for the top. Then I stuck a piece of pretty paper to the front to cover the MDF. Whilst that was drying, I measured out some banisters. I know they take up space in what is a small shop, but they will come in handy for hanging bits and pieces over. Once the carpet was stuck down, I glued the banisters in place and then spent 15 minutues standing in a very uncomfortable postion waiting for the glue to dry enough for me to let go. I know, I  can hear you, why didn't I use a mini clamp? Because, it was so precariously put together, the clamps we have are too strong and would just topple the banisters over.

Then in moved Bono. I have had him for years and he tends to move around a bit! I wish I had kept the makers name, I could buy another then and he wouldn't have to move around so much!

These are Hywel's ceiling beams, they are going to be perfect for the shop. They are pine, which he waxed with medium brown beeswax, so they should age perfectly over the years.

I have had a little play around on the computer, translating English to French for the shop name. Here are a few I have come up with. What do you think?

La Petite Boutique De Couture.... The Little Sewing Shop

Les Tapisseries Peu ... The Little Tapestrys

Or my favourite so far,

La Tapisserie Petite Boutique ... The Little Tapestry Shop

I just hope these transaltions are right and that google translator isn't having me on!!!

Any more ideas greatly welcomed.

Off to Tescos now, have a great day everyone.

Julia xxx

Before I knew it, I have 101 followers! Welcome all :0)

Just before christmas, I noticed that my followers were on 96 and so made a mental note to keep an eye in the hope I would reach 100! And today I have turned on the computor to find I have a 101 followers. I am thrilled that so many people are interested in my ramblings!!

So....  A HUGE WELCOME TO MY NEW FOLLOWERS

And..  A big thankyou to ALL my followers

Julia xx

Ideas for the little shop

I had some lovely comments yesterday about my little shop and what I planned to put in it. I know I want to use it to display my tapestries and cushions and I am leaning towards a french feel as this is something I haven't done before and I follow a couple of french blogs and adore their houses and minis. So, unable to sleep last night after a very hard day in work, what better way to unwind than to have a little play and this is what I have come up with so far. Bear in mind, nothing is fixed in place or finished, so they may a little wobbly or scruffy around the edges!!

This is the basic inside, lots of work needed here! The wooden floor boards are down, the raised floor to the front door is in, but not glued and I have ragwashed the walls in pale blue. I wanted to blue wash the cladding as well, but Hywel had already waxed them, so we'll stick with waxed. I am also thinking of putting in a beamed ceiling, I could then use the lower beams to display dried flowers and baskets.

I have put a few bits of furniture in to see how they would look. It is a small shop, so I have to be careful not to overfill it and spoil it. At the moment, I know I do want the sofa to stay in and I think the dresser will look good if I distress it in cream. I was thinking of displaying soaps, candles, wood turnings and pretty glass on the dresser.

This is the view through the window. I like the little fire, not sure what to do with the steps though. I may carpet them in the same carpet as the raised floor level, which is a rich blue. Any ideas warmly invited :0)

I also need a name! French perhaps!!

Julia xxx

Christmas presents :0)

I have been reading some of my favourite blogs and ooing and ahing over their pressies, so I thought I would do a quick littlle post to show off a few of my lovely christmas presents. Hywel has made me the shell of a little shop to fit on the bottom shelf of my dresser. I have loads of ideas for it and am trying hard to resiste the urge to rush it!

I also had a little hand turned pot and a pretty christmas jug with a delightful little mouse running up the side.

And I joined in Rosanna's http://lastanzadigiuggiola.blogspot.com/ christmas swap and these are my lovely gifts from Karin F. Thankyou Karin. .

I sent my gift to Eva, I hope you liked the little bear

I hope you all had a lovely christmas.

Julia xx

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Gathering at the Chapel

Merry christmas to all my followers and anyone who pops in from time to time. My first year of blogging has been a great adventure, where I have met many lovely new friends, seen wonderful photos of beautiful cities and homes and been allowed to peek into other bloggers lives and dolls house collections. This year has seen the opening of our own little Etsy store and we were thrilled to be accepted as members of AIM - Artists In miniature and even have one of my cross stitch patterns published in the AIM Advent Calendar. On a personal note, it has been a hard year, with Hywels major accident, but many of my blogging friends have been there to offer words of support either on comments or via email and that has been wonderful. I know some of you have also had a hard year healthwise and I hope 2010 will be healthier for us all.

Next year, I will be working on my little shop that Hywel has been making me for christmas, so I will be popping that on the blog. To finish of this post, I have popped some photos of my christmas miniatures on, I hope you will like them and maybe they will inspire some!

A couple of little christmas presents to myself!!

Everyone has been popping pics of their christmas trees on, so I had to be awkward and pop a pic of my fireplace on :0)

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE.
Have a lovely day and see you all after the big day ;0)

Julia and Hywel xxx

Christmas at Pumpkin House

Well, christmas is nearly upon us and I am still rushing around, where did the time go? But today I have a little spare time as I can't get the car out of the drive, so I have to stay put!! The snow missed us, but we had lots of sleet which froze in a thick layer overnight. Our drive is very steep and is like an ice rink, we started to try and de-ice at 6.30 this morning and gave up at 7.15. We used 2 tins of de-icer, but it was useless, the slush just kept freezing back up, before we could wipe it off!
Anyway, as I have a little time, I thought I would show you the little christmas bits I have put in Pumpkin House.  Hope you like it :0)

And here is a snippet of my christmas present! Hywel is making me a little shop, I have seen it as it progresses, but I am not allowed to touch untill christmas Day :0(

Christmas at Victoria Villa

 
I haven't had a lot of time to decorate Victoria Villa for christmas, but I thought you might to see what I have done. Excuse my tree, it looks a little scraggy, but it is on my 'To Do' list for next year!

I think you should just be able to see the christmas card on the fireplace, it is a little handsewn card, there is another one on the side table below.

Cook has been busy in the kitchen, cooking up lots of yummy christmas cakes and cookies. So busy, in fact, she's too tired to eat her piece of cake!!

The view through the conservatory window, sorry,  not a great photo, the light kept bouncing of the glazing.

And thats all I have managed to do!!! I am off out now for a christmas meal with the girls from work :0)

Julia xx

Making Christmas Cards

I have been busy stitching christmas cards of late. They are 'Real life 'size and are stitched using my favourite blackwork. This is the first year I have made cards and if I say so myself, I think they turned out ok!!! They were nice to stitch, but as usual, I left things a little late and ended up rushing the night before I was due to go my mums with them. Well, because I was rushing, clumsy fingers decided to appear and  I lost a needle.... still haven't found that one... be careful when you sit down, kids! Then I dropped the reindeer button, we hunted high and low and couldn't find him, so I had to use a different one, only to find him in full view in the middle of the floor when I was tidying away? There are naughty pixies at work here, I am sure! Then... to top it all off, just as everything was packed and tidied, I turned around and knocked the chess board.... all over that now tidy floor... arghhh. That will teach me for rushing :-(

Today, I have managed to be a little organised and I have sorted out the children's xmas presents. I like to make sure they each have the same amount of presents, as we open the presents one at time by the tree. Well, Little Meg is one short, so I am going to try and stitch her a normal size sampler for her new girlie bedroom. Hmmn.... did I just say I was organised? How long have I got left to stitch it, 10 days? I better stop nattering and get sewing!

Julia xx

PS I was outbid on the special item I wanted for my santa cabin, it was Julie of Bellabelles dolls Mrs Claus and she was delightful. It has to be fingers crossed for next year now!

Santa's Cabin

A few years ago, Hywel made me a little cabin to use for our christmas display. Inside are lots of my little creations and every year I add a little special something that I buy from a favourite maker. Looking through the window, you can my Santa that I had commision made last year. The lady who made Santa sells on Ebay and her seller name is Margmurphy. Santa is holding his christmas list, which has a little mouse sitting on the bottom. This maker also sells on Ebay, her seller name is streets_hill_miniatures and she makes wonderful items, each listed with their own little mouse or rat tale. She is definately worth a visit, her tales of Bernard the mouse and Matthew and Gary the rats are hilarious.

Hywel made the crooked old window and I added a piece of old lace which I found in a box of scraps of my nans. I always remember her sewing, so I guess thats where I get it from :0) On the window sill there is a little wooden candlestick and a wooden pot of candy canes... made by me!!

I wanted a floor to ceiling christmas tree and luckily I found the perfect tree in Marks a couple of years ago. I have decorated it with little hearts, bows and some little bear baubles. I bought the bear baubles from Ebay seller Karens-mini-bears. She makes lovely bears and has now started making little children. They are wonderful, but unfortunately out of my price range now, she lists at 99p, but they always sell for a great deal more, so I was lucky to get these when I did. The little panda beside the tree, our own little Meg made for me the year Hywel made the cabin.

On this side of the cabin, is a little soot covered boy sitting on his sledge, maybe Santa has been giving him pocket money to go down the dirtier chimneys for him!!!! I bought him in Miniatura some years ago and can't remember the makers name, but he is lovely. If you click on the photo, a bigger photo will pop up and you will be able him better. The rest of the little bits I have picked up from various sellers on Ebay or made myself.

This is part of the outside, where Meg has had fun arranging decorations and snowmen!

I haven't bought my 'special something' for the cabin yet, this year, but I do have my eye on something. Fingers crossed xxx

Christmas at the Olde Abbey

There is still quite a bit of work to do on the Olde Abbey. I have more 'ageing' to do on the internal walls, weeds to plant outside and that huge window still needs its stained glass! But with christmas nearly upon us and two days off, I decided it was time to make a little christmas scene in the Olde Abbey. So in has gone the tree, surrounded by pressies and the pews and aisles are filled with everybody I could find from my various houses. Quite pleased with how it is looking, I took my photo when the light was good and downloaded it to my computor. Then... in walked the son.... who has an eye for everything and never misses a thing.... and guess what..... he has spotted a mistake! One of my candles on the candle table has fallen sideways and is now leaning against my angle, my protests of 'Well it's not lit!' has fallen on deaf ears and now I have to take everything back out to get too that pesky candle. I will be glueing it down this time, not just tacky waxing it!!!!

Julia xxx

Bearcabinminiatures pattern published today in the AIM Advent Calendar

I was thrilled to be able to particitate in the fab Advent Calendar which the Artists In Miniature Group are running throughtout December. I haven't mentioned it on the blog before as I wanted to wait to see if my submitted article looked ok... a bad case of nerves here I think!!

Today door number 7 has been opened and there we are!!
My contribution is the pattern and graph  for stitching my scandanavian style christmas cushion and stool.

Pop over and take a look, there are loads of fab projects behind the doors and a new door gets opened every day.

The link is http://www.artisansinminiature.com/photo_25.html

I hope the above link works, if not click on the AIM logo on your right and there is a link to the calendar, from the main AIM page.

Back to putting up my decorations now... with a smile :0)
Julia xxx

Eight ball

I have had the Eight ball game passed onto me by Debbie at Tiny Treasures,  http://debbiestinytreasures.blogspot.com/ 
Thankyou :0)
There are 8 questions for me to answer and then I have to pass it on to someone else. So.. here goes....


1. Names that I am called by:- Julia, Jules, Mommy (by Meg), mother (by Dean), Miss, Nurse, Doctor (I Wish!!) Oy you!!!
2. Three Items I am wearing:- My cargo pants, which little Meg says look like Gramps gardening trousers! A warm chennile cardi and my fluffly lined boots.
3. Three things I did yesterday, last night and today:- Yesterday I went to work! Last night I curled up in front of the TV, watching Batman Returns and stitched some christmas cards. This morning I've caught up with all my favourite blogs :0)

4. Name two things you have eaten:- A couple of weeks ago, one of the boys in work gave me seaweed and sushi to try!!! Don't think I will try it again!! This morning I had fruit and nut weetabix for breakfast.
5. Two people I have rung today:- I am terrable, I don't really ring anyone, I know I should, but I feel guilty spending precious time sitting down to talk on the phone. Hywel has just rung me on my mobile, but thats ok, because I can still get things done if I am my mobile and I don't feel guilty if they rung me! I tend to text or email!

6. Two things I will do today:- Finish putting the christmas decorations up and go into the village to buy my mum and dad a wedding anniversary card, they have been married for 53 years!

7. Three Best Loved Drinks:- Tea, I drink loads, especially in work, it has to be strong with no sugar though, Baileys over ice and Cranberry and Rasberry juice.
8. Three Things I Intensely Wish:-
1. That next year is easier for us all...
2. More advances in Phsychiatric medicine, I am a psychiatric nurse and I would dearly love to be able to say they have found the cure to Schizophrenia and psychosis.
3. An end to fighting, where ever it may be.

I now pass the Eight Ball to:- Debie over at Piskies and Poppets, http://piskies-and-poppets.blogspot.com/  if she would like to play along... xxx

Hello and Welcome to my new followers

Hello and welcome to my new followers. I have just quickly popped over to their sites and wow, I will be following them too. If you have time, take a look.

Ron is a professional model maker, scroll down and take a look at his stained galss door and storeybook cottage... wonderfull.  http://artisanofocala.blogspot.com/

Lisa paints beautiful angels at http://schererart.blogspot.com/

Sylvia is currently making a fab Antique shop at http://lotjesdollshouse.blogspot.com/

A candle table for the Abbey and Christmas cushions

Its not a great photo, I know, but I thought I would quickly show off the candle table Hywel made for the Olde Abbey. It fits perfectly in the corner and has been aged well to look old and a bit worn. I made the candles by melting a normal candle into a straw... watch those fingers.. it gets hot!! When it had cooled, I then cut the straw into the sizes I wanted and peeled off the straw to reveal my little church candles.

I have just popped these two christmas cushions on Etsy. I didn't enjoy stitching these, the dark green of the canvas gave me eyestrain and I think the red edging braid doesn't sit quite right. I know, I am too fussy and critical of my work. Anyway, they are on Etsy, at a reduced price if anyone is interested. They are listed at $7.49 for the two, which is approx £4.50

Off to get the washing in now, before it gets damp. It has been a cold, crisp day here in my part of Wales today, so hopefully it has dried :0)

Julia xxx

A little preview of our christmas minis!

I can't believe how fast christmas is approaching this year. If only I had a pause button to press, so that I could get on with my projects and stitching whilst time stood still!!! I have so many christmas design ideas, but alas with time against me, I think my ideas will have to be jotted down on paper and stitched up ready for next year.  I also think next years,  New Years Resolution should be.... to be more organised and not leave everything to the last minute!

Anyway, for now, I have a 10 minutes free, so I have quickly looked through my photos and found some of last years pics of our christmas cabin to share with you. Hope you like them.

The photo above shows part of the front of the cabin and in the photo below you can see Santa relaxing with his feet up and a cup of tea! If only I had the time to do that.....

Back soon, with a longer post, hopefully. Now where did I put that pause button?????????