Holiday Swap package received!

Mandy Vlak hosted a Holiday Swap on her blog, Mini Modern Mind. I was lucky to participate, even though I came in a little late. Another blogger, Annie, had also asked for a partner after the deadline and so we were paired together. Here is Annie's blog: Petite Wonderland. Do check it out!

This swap was very cool and I had a lot of fun putting it together!

According to Mandy's page, 

"Each swap has to contain six items.

Nr. 1:  one of the items must be something big! Like for instance furniture...
Nr.2: the second item has to be an accessory. What kind is totally up to you
Nr.3: the third item has to be something for a dollhouse Christmas…
Nr 4: the fourth item has to be something that’s related to the room I’ve picked out of the hat for you.
Nr. 5: the fifth item has to be something you’ve made your self. This can be whatever you can think of!
And Nr 6:  is a surprise item."

 There was a lot of room to have fun with this one! 

Well I just received my package from Annie today and wanted to share the awesome goodies she sent me!

First there was a lovely card:

 Then, in box #1, some "big" items (aka furniture):

I love these!!! They are similar to a saucer chair I have in my (real-life) bedroom AND I love white wire furniture! They're perfect!

Next, came box #2 (accessories):

How generous! Two beautiful Mexican woven rugs (I think I have places for these!), a cute little bird house and bird feeder, as well as some adorable little pots!

Box #3 had Christmas stuff in it, and this is what she sent:

Working Christmas lights! I love these! I think I might have to see how these look on the Glencroft. :)

Next is Box #4, something kitchen related (that was the room Mandy picked for us):

So cute! Some dishes (everyone needs dishes!), an adorable little rolling pin and mixing bowl, and a cute little retro cookbook!

Next came Box #5, something handmade by the sender:

Annie, I love these!!!! The pillows are perfect with the finest detail! And the little knitted pieces could be couch pillows, floor cushions, meditation cushions, smaller scale bean bag chairs - so many possibilities!

And last, but not least, box #6, which held some special surprises!

A little chest (I love these!), a skeleton, and a jacket. I love the variety of the items you sent along, Annie!

Thank you so much for a fun swap! I hope my package made it there safe and sound!

Birthday gifts!

Last weekend, my fiance treated me to an amazing weekend in Vermont for my birthday. We stayed at an awesome little place called the Manchester View (in Manchester, VT) and enjoyed a fireplace and a lovely Victorian-decorated room. I loved it!!!

Not only did he treat me the whole weekend, but he spoiled me with some wonderful (crafty) gifts, too. (And a dress from the Marimekko outlet!!!)

Anyway, here's the eye candy:

The little shelf with hooks and basket are from Memoriesnminiature on Etsy. The book is one I have been wanting for a while and has lots of cute crafts, many of which are definitely applicable to miniatures. :) Maybe I'll share some stuff I make from the book. :-D And of course, a cute little maple leaf punch which are really hard to find in any of the chain craft stores around here. :)

 The cute little stamp is from Terbear Collectibles, also on Etsy. And of course, more HoM stuff to grow my collection. The book is one I think I already have in my collection (my bad, since I likely didn't update whatever wishlist he used). He mentioned he didn't mind if I did already have it, that it would be good for another giveaway. ;) What a sweetheart! I will announce that in the new year.

It was a fun birthday and we had a lot of fun.

Today, I have been getting ready for Christmas. I made gift card holders and money holders for some of our family members.

And I decorated the dollhouses, too. :)

I still have lots of baking to do, as well as wrapping presents, but I have most of my shopping done, which is nice. :) I hope all of you are having a good holiday, no matter which one you celebrate. :-D

HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY WINNER(S)!!!!

Hi everyone!

Welcome to December! Wow! I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by.

We had some snow overnight so I woke to this dusting on the ground...

Hmm...kinda gets me in that holiday spirit!

Speaking of holiday spirit... ;) Today is the drawing for my holiday giveaway!

Now, since I opened the giveaway a couple weeks ago or so, my blog followers have hit the 200 mark and I have over 105 subscribers on Facebook. I want to thank ALL of you for following along with my adventures in this hobby!

So, on to the part you've been waiting for!
*drum roll please*
Random.org picked a number out of 40(!) entries from this blog and facebook and chose:

This matches with: 

Congratulations, Kelly! I will announce this on facebook, too! Please message me on facebook or email me at lindasminis @ gmail . com (without the spaces) with your mailing address! Thanks!

But wait, there's more!

I didn't want to leave my blog readers out of this and have decided to draw for a second prize!!! The second prize is a little surprise with some holiday goodies as well. So, I grabbed all of the names of the people who entered here on my blog and drew a second number...

This number matches with:

So, Jazzi, you have a special happy mail surprise coming your way! Congratulations! Please email me at lindasminis @ gmail . com (without the spaces) with your mailing address! Thanks!

And, again, I want to thank ALL of you for your comments, friendships, and also your very very fun blogs to read!!! I read everyday and love to see the wonderful creations out there! Miniaturists are really an amazingly fun and creative bunch! And do stay tuned for some future giveaways - these are just too much fun!

Featured Friday!

Hi everyone,

I am still full from yesterday's Thanksgiving dinner! It was so good. My fiance and I stayed home this time but will be traveling to see both of our families (they live 4-5 hours apart from each other and over 4 hours from us!) over the Christmas/New Years' holiday.

Lots of fun things going on out there in blogland! I am excited to have entered into a swap and can't wait to put that together. I'll post more on that later. :)

Since today is Featured Friday, I want to show you what I just added to my shop yesterday!

These are vintage pieces of artwork. I made the frames for them. I found a bunch of these recently; I believe they are originally from old cigarette packages? And from the information on the back, they may be British in origin. I have three available at the moment, but if there is a flower you are looking for that isn't included in the listing, I may be able to find it (I would need some time to check my source). These would be cute in almost any setting. :)

Hmmm, what else has been going on? Well, we didn't brave the crowds for Black Friday. I have a Christmas list ready and a good number of the people on there are already taken care of, or will be easily. The rest are likely to receive homemade, handcrafted and/or locally purchased gifts. No need to fight the crowds, something I am definitely not interested in! lol

Here's a photo of the cross-stitch project I had shown you previously here on the blog. It's now in its current home in the historical society:

I think that's it for today! Don't forget to enter my giveaway! You can enter here AND here (I pinned the relevant status at the top so it will stay there for all newcomers)!

Hope everyone has, or is having, a fabulous weekend!

Holiday 2012 Giveaway!

That's right!!! I finally decided to go ahead and do a giveaway for all of my wonderful followers here on the blog AND on facebook! I was going to wait until I hit a follower milestone of 100 on facebook or 200 here, but I am close enough and can't wait! Hahaha!

So, here's what you get:
Lots of Christmas trim, including silvery and blue snowflake garland, red beads, and some neat pine-style stuff that can be used for wreaths or for evergreen garland.
Some antique lace doilies
A mini tree
Red and green books
A wagon
A gift bag and tissue
Cookies in a tin from my shop
A green scarf
Some tiny toys (including Zinkies and a Filly Princess - all of which would look good under your dollhouse holiday tree!)
Some wreaths you can use to make your own Christmas decor!

Here's how to enter:
1) Be a follower of my blog and leave a comment on this entry!
2) Optional: share on your blog!
3) For an additional entry: Like "Linda's Minis" on facebook and comment on the Linda's Minis facebook status about the giveaway (Link: https://www.facebook.com/LindasMinis)

Get your entries in by November 30 at 11:59PM US Eastern Standard Time. I will conduct the drawing on December 1 at Noon (US EST).

Here's some more eye candy!

Cross-stitch

Hi all. I just want to share a small cross-stitch project I finished this evening. I've been working on it off and on just for fun. I've been in the mood to do needlework lately and decided to start with something simple.

Here it is:

The piece of canvas I used was intended to be a bookmark, but I think it makes a nice dollhouse rug. :) I am going to start on an embroidery project next, I think. I picked up a pattern from Etsy for a vintage PA Dutch distlefink design I have been wanting to do. I'll share it when it's complete!

New items added to shop plus a few more treasures

So I just added some new things to the shop! :)

They include: two cool little crystal balls and the prep board, which includes the tray, a little jar of apple butter, English muffins and a tiny knife.

I've also made a couple things that might go into the shop, but I haven't decided yet.

 This little work table needs a few more touchups on its paint before it goes into the shop, but that won't take long, so expect it to be added pretty soon. :)

These were my first attempt at peanut butter cookies, but I didn't get them in very uniform sizes, but they are cute. I also need to get some clear glitter to better show up as sugar. But these are pretty festive. I am planning a Christmas-themed giveaway so these may be included! :)

These oranges and lemons are going to be part of some colonial Christmas decorations that I am going to be making for the shop soon. :) Can't wait! They were fun to make, too!

And lastly, this crystal ball was my favorite! The bead is a little irregular but it will look great in the herb shop, so this one is for me. ;)

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable day! 

I've finished the bed!

The bed I was working on the other day is all done and dressed. I am really pleased with the color. I painted it with Martha Stewart Crafts Lake Fog mixed with the same brand Antiquing Medium. It turned out great! I made the box spring and mattress, pillow covers and dressings. I love how it turned out! This bed kit was awesome and it was so much fun to make - easy, too! I wish Daisy House hadn't gone out of business, but if I see more of their kits, I am going to snatch them up! I put this bed in the Glencroft and it's *perfect* there! That's where it will stay. The brass bed was nice, but this is a much better look for this room, I think. :) Now I have to figure out what to do with the brass bed, whether I want to keep it or not. :)

Anyway, on with the pics!

Closeup of the footboard. As you can see, I added some lovely embossed paper to both the headboard and footboard as I built the bed.

Close-up of the pillows! :) I love the fine lace detail.

At home in the Glencroft bedroom. I added Dale's Dreams' pillows which were on the old bed, as well as the cute pajamas I won from Little House at Pine Haven a while back. :) Oh, and of course the teddy bear! :) I really think this fits nicely in this eclectically decorated room.

Home sweet home!

Featured Friday: Food!

It is Featured Friday, where I feature an item or maybe several from my Etsy shop! Today's feature are a few food items I have made that are for sale, just in time for a harvest banquet scene! ;) First up is a set of bowls of beef stew. :) These were a lot of fun to make!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/106887013/beef-stew-set-of-2-bowls-112th-scale

I also want to feature one of my personal favorites: a bread board with challah, a knife and a little jar of honey!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/96645073/ooak-dollhouse-miniature-challah-bread

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed looking at these! :)

Stuff I've made recently

So the last couple days, I've been busy at my desk just brainstorming ideas and making things. I've just been in the right mood lately and I find it very pleasant to sit and create.

Here are some of the things I've been making since Monday:

This is a sign I made for my desk area. :) I got the idea from watching so many craft videos on Youtube and a lot of the crafters there had made these cute signs. Maybe I'll use it in a future video!

These are some new crystal balls I made. I'll be adding them to Etsy very soon. I like these new bases. :)

This is an experiment I have been playing with. It's a lotus floating in a bowl of water. I found some plastic flowers at A.C. Moore and repainted them to look more lotus-like and I put them in an acorn cap filled with Triple Thick/Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. It seems to work. Perhaps I'll make more and/or do a tutorial.

I finally made a sign for the historical society! I named the little town it is in "Kleinburg" because I needed something that sounded German/PA Dutch and "klein" means "small" so...I think it's pretty obvious. ;) It was fun to make and it even has that aged, weathered look! Here's a pic of the whole front porch. :)

This is a Daisy House Kit bed I put together tonight. I was going to dress it and consider selling it, but I like it a lot and might replace the brass bred in the Glencroft with it. I do need to make a mattress as the ones I had bought do not fit quite right. I will enjoy dressing this, though! I love the blue accents. I am also thinking of painting the unfinished part, but not sure what color, I think I'll go really light or really dark with it.

I hope you enjoyed the eye candy! :) I have a few ideas for Christmas minis as well as some other stuff for the shop, so stay tuned.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

I'm having an Etsy Sale!

Type in HALLOWEEN when checking out in my Etsy shop and get 10% off! Today and tomorrow only! (Ends 11:59PM US EST on 11/1/12)

Mention Monday

The winds are picking up here in upstate NY and my work closed early today. We are staying safe inside and thankfully still have power! We have plenty of candles and flashlights should it go out, though!

Anyway, I am debating on what to do with this windfall of extra time and so I am considering some mini projects. I have lots of kits I'd like to make up and maybe even get some new holiday minis started. Who knows?

In the meantime, it is Monday and a long, long time ago, I decided that meant that I would mention some fellow bloggers out there that you might be interested in! Of course, it's been months since I had a Mention Monday post, but here goes...

1) Jazzi Minis is doing her Monday Link Party (as she does every week) over at her blog. You can include a link to your own blog and Etsy shop and check out what others have posted. I have found it's a great way to promote my shop as I have seen several shop views come directly from her Link Party! Thanks, Jazzi!

2) Illyria is having a giveaway of some amazing books she created that are perfect for Halloween or a spooky scene any time of the year!

3) My Miniature Menagerie just finished an amazing dollhouse, 120 Copper Court, with so much realistic detail, you just need to see it for yourself! To celebrate, she is doing a scavenger hunt-style giveaway! I loved the extra challenge in this giveaway since you get to look through her blog posts about building and decorating this beautiful house! So much eye candy! :)

There it is - an edition of Mention Monday. :) I'll challenge myself this week to try to post everyday through Friday. We'll see how it goes. ;) (And if the power holds out!!!)

Findings and reorganization

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share with you a few finds I have made at our local Hobby Lobby. Sometimes I go to the craft store for one or two things, and then decide to look around a bit to see if there is anything interesting I could use for future projects. This habit, of course, gets quite expensive if I am not careful! ;)

I like to use jewelry findings in many of my projects, including Etsy goodies, and decided to stop by that department. Well, I spent some time looking at the charms, surprisingly not items I look at very often. I found some great charms that are perfect for 1/12th scale. Here they are:

On the left is a lovely hand mirror which really reflects, and on the right is a keyring with some old-fashioned keys. Both of these are now in the historical society. I placed the mirror in the display case and the keys are sitting on the curator's writing desk.

Another thing I have done recently is rearrange the herb shop. I took out everything, cleaned out the dust, and rearranged items. This resulted in leaving some items out completely to make room, but I like the way it looks now. Here are some pics:

I am finished with my work that has to be done before tomorrow and have laundry in the dryer so I am free to make some minis. But what to work on...? ;) It might be time to dig through my stash for inspiration!