Long time, no blog.

Last year I made my last blog post here on the 7th April, 2013. Why did I stop after that? I have no idea! I guess life just got in the way, as it does.

But now, on the second day of 2014, I'm filled with all the well-intentioned goals that everyone else has: to start afresh, and stick to it! (we shall see ;) )

Here's how the rest of my 2013 went, in pictures:

Easter 2013 involved lots of delicious cupcakes with these cute little fluffy chickens

A lot of work went on in my sewing/dressing/closet/work room. These are my new shelves from Ikea, which I love!

This made me laugh, A LOT. Both the original and the chicken version.

 

So many beautiful sunsets last year

 Lots of visits to beautiful places throughout Ireland too

Probably spent too much time here

But it was all in aid of my newly refurbished Etsy Shop

I renamed it 'Fleurette' and started working on some cute hair accessories for it

The above are some of the hair bows I've made, I hope to work on lots more (including miniatures) for sale in 2014

At the start of December I took a trip to the UK to visit a friend. We spent one of our days in Brighton taking long walks on the pier, and I got to drool over the window at Choccywoccydoodah

 

And then Christmas arrived with little or no warning and it was tacky decoration time (yay)

I loved every minute of December - the excitement, the stress, the present buying, the present wrapping, the last minute running around...I'm just sad that it's over now.

My poor dolls house fell by the wayside... Work on it ceased; it sits forlornly where it sat last April, but maybe 2014 will be the year that it gets finished

 (I hope so, my husband will kill me if he falls over one more time!)

 2013 brought great times and challenging times. I am disappointed I didn't put more work into this blog but with the new year comes new ideas and I'm hoping I can share them here with you - whoever is out there :)

 So expect a series of random posts; I have realised that making miniatures, while so exciting and fun, is incredibly time consuming and I don't always have the hours to spend applied to it. But I hope to share all the others things I love and make - fashion-wise, crafty-wise and home-wise.

How was your 2013?

xx

DIY Crystal Chandelier

So after a long few weeks of zero production in the miniature department, I finally got going on a project I had been thinking about for a long time.

Way back when I started my doll house renovation I had purchased these chandeliers for my boutique (right), but after a few months of blog-hopping I decided that I wanted to try and attempt to make my own instead.

I had ordered crystal beads on Ebay in few different shapes. But the teardrop ones I was waiting on took WEEKS to arrive (from China, silly me), so when they finally got here I could finally start working on my light.

Using the electrical fitting from the light I bought, I sewed/glued/tied/fixed the beads and findings around it until I had what resembled a 'crystal chandelier'.

I didn't take pictures of any part of the process because I wasn't entirely sure if it would actually work out. But it did, and I'm delighted with the finished result. I can't wait to make all the light fittings for the rest of the boutique now!

Here's what it looks like without light; there are four 'lamps' with the curved arms joining these and eight strings of crystal holding it to the light fitting.

 

And with light:

And that's it for the moment! Next up, my hat display stand!

See you then :)

Stuck in a Rut!

It's been a shamefully long time since I've posted here. My job in 'real life' is taking up a lot of time at the moment (stupid rent/bills to be paid!!) and despite my best intentions to get my bum in gear, I have about twenty mini projects in mind, but none even slightly finished.

So this post will be short and (bitter)sweet unfortunately.

BUT! That said, here are a list of projects that I have started. (They stare at me from various corners of the room in their unfinished states, taunting me. Feckers.)

1. New curtains for my boutique. The fabric is waiting for me, cut out.

2. A display stand for all my mini hats with a mirrored backdrop - a bit like a dressing table. I started making this with a recent craft discovery I had: balsa wood! I never knew it was so soft and foamy (don't mock me!)

3. Crystal lighting features for my boutique. I have the beads, I have the findings....what's stopping me??

I'm blaming this lack of enthusiasm on a lot of things, mainly the fact that it is SO COLD here in Ireland at the moment. Where are you, Spring?

And it's so hard to want to do crafty things when you're creeping from room to room swaddled in four jumpers, multiple pairs of socks and fleecy trousers, hugging the radiators.

As I write, the wind is howling and beating branches against the windows, and although we don't have palm trees here, I imagine the view outside is something like this:

Of course, I may be exaggerating, slightly. 

Hopefully I will get the enthusiasm to make some pretty things this weekend when I have daylight hours, and I'll have something to show you instead of just whinging.

Huge welcome to my new followers and sorry about the lack of posts. I'm really delighted to have you here!


See you soon :)

Brown paper packages, tied up with string....Part 2

In my last post I showed you a quick preview of some mini mail I've been working on, so here's the rest of it!

 I designed the letters, envelopes and parcel wrappings on my computer first, using a vintage paper effect and though you can't really see them, there are true to the time, authentic postal stamps on the envelope and parcel.

I printed these on a light paper and cut them to size. The envelopes I just folded into shape, fixing them with some glue. For the parcels, I cut some balsa wood down to fit, wrapping the paper around them and gluing it in place to give the authentic effect.

 I'd love to get this lot in the post...sigh.

Here's some more shots:

And here's some shots to show the scale of the letters and parcels.

And lastly, a miniature writing desk :)

See you soon!

Brown paper packages, tied up with string...

Receiving packages in the post is definitely one of my favourite things, and having made a couple of orders over the last month for dolls house supplies, I was delighted to get most of them this week.

In one of my many orders was velvet in a 'soft gold' colour to replace the hideous stuff from the previous curtain post.

  See? This is what I was looking for in the first place!

I also got some  jewellery findings and pretty cut glass/crystal beads. I am planning on making some lighting fixtures of my own because I'm not happy with the ones I've bought.

 

 I've some more beads en route too - teardrop crystals for my future chandelier project. Excitement!

Lastly, I got a range of trimmings - braid, fringing, lace in  range of shades/shapes. That gold fabric in the background is the taffeta that will soon become a pair of fetching curtains....fingers crossed!

With all this talk of post and packages I was inspired to create a quick mini project while I'm working on my bigger projects, here's a preview:

But more on these soon :) x