........and then my computer died! Good God! Can't a girl get a break here? I'll be back when my life isn't so ridiculous!!!

Katie

Mini Memories

I have gone through a Lot of photos this past week........and while I was looking.......I remembered I had this shoebox to fill........

So when I ran across these:

....the idea came to me! Index prints are already printed in the right scale!! So I pulled out the paper cutter and cut them down into 2 different sizes. (That way everything wasn't uniform inside the shoe box.) Cute, huh?!

This one's for you Grandma....

Yesterday, when I came home from my youngest son's football game....I couldn't believe what I saw sitting on my front porch.....(Story to follow story about my love of Siamese cats, and how my Grandmother ties into all this)

Meet Caesar!

I knew at once he had to be some one's kitty...he was too darn pretty, and he's huge!!! I happened to be starving so I ran inside, grabbed a couple slices of turkey, and headed back out side to talk to him.

So we sat and talked, ate the turkey....and seeing how friendly he was.....

...I knew someone had to be missing him! So I talked with some neighbors at my end of the road...and no one knew where he lived......Then I went down to the other end of the road...and the other 'cat lady' was sitting on her porch. And, immediately she knew who I was talking about! Two doors down from her, and I was knocking on the right door. The gentlemen that came out was so excited to know that I had had spotted their kitty, Caesar....and explained to me that they had left the window open the night before, and when they over slept and he didn't get his breakfast on time, he pushed the screen out of the window...and ran away. Now I knew from talking to the kitty that he had never been outside. His coat was soooo shiny, and the trees were scaring the crap out of him.

So the guy came down and tried to call Caesar, but Caesar would not come. Then Caesar's Momma came down and tried to hoax him out from under my trailer, and he still wouldn't come.

Let me tell you now, it was a long afternoon. She waited, and waited......and still he wouldn't come to her. Then we tried to climb under the trailer and chase him out....and that didn't work either, and instead made the kitty very angry. After hours of trying, we all decided to give him a break, and go back at it in a few hours......But, he still wouldn't come. I ended up falling asleep last night, and sometime during the night, my other neighbor happened to see him, and got him to go in his kennel! :) .........So when I got up this morning, I was able to call Caesar's Mom with the good news that her kitty was safe!!!! .......he has since been picked up and now is at home:)

....And now for the other story.....

My Grandmother past away Thursday evening, and I was unable to make it out there. I really don't feel like reliving the whole thing, so I'm going to skip right through it, ok. I will say she went in peace, and all of her Children were there with her. .......So, A long time ago......My Mom brought this cat home from work. He was some one's pet, who had tried to kill the families prize parrot, and the owners were going to have him put to sleep. My Mom talked them into giving her the cat, and planned on taking him to California, so he could go live with my Grandmother. LOL, Her first mistake was bringing him home! As soon as I saw him I feel in love! And he was mine! Ebenezer never did make it out to Ca......and shared a long, happy life with me and my family. Lots of fun stories there.....but I'm only going to share a few! I used to dress him up and take him for strolls around the lake in my pram when I was younger.....and when I started high school, my cat literally walked me to school everyday, and was sitting at the back gate when I came out of school....So as you can see.........I have a special place in my heart for Siamese cats!

So when I saw this Beautiful kitty yesterday, I got excited! And I was even more happy this morning when I called his parents to tell them that Caesar was OK!!! It was an amazing end to one of the hardest weeks I've gone through!

A little of this and a little of that

First....some minis. I had to clean up my desk this morning, and totally got side-tracked when I saw that one of the cats (Not naming any names here....), but one of the cats had knocked over everything inside Katie's Corner. One day.......I AM going to find a darn glass case to put this thing in.....I am so tired of putting it back together.....but anyways, I figured while I had it out....I'd add some personal photos to the mirror. I also put a pink candle on the dresser. Oh, and I added some flowers to that glass bead on the silver tray. Still haven't cleaned off my desk, and now I'm watching Transformers 2 again. (If you haven't seen it, It's awesome! At least I think so!! But then again, I have seen the first one so many times, that I've memorized all the lines.)

As for my personal life.......I'm still getting checked out by the doctors, It's been one problem after another....but I went to my PCP yesterday....and finally got them to order some to tests. Grandma is.......Well, I dunno. Her vitals are good, but she's not really alert.....Hospice was there yesterday to tell the family that she will probably pass on in the next month or so. She had surgery several weeks ago to clean out her colon, and has just never really recovered. My parents, my Aunt and Uncles....and most of my cousins are there now, and it kills me that I am stuck here. I just don't want to miss being able to say good-bye, you know. Hopefully I can get this mess straightened out out here....and then we'll see what happens.

You guys would like my Grandmother! She's an amazing Quilter.....and she's a cat lover~ who also feeds strays!

So......until next time.

What a Surprise!

Before you actually write your blog, how many times do you rehearse it in your head. Do you write blogs, only to delete them, because after you read it, you realize people really don't need or want to know all the details?? Do you find yourself 'blogging' to yourself even when your not on the computer?? I do.......

And then there's days when I find it hard to write. I can't write complete sentences....or it ends up making absolutely No sense. Yesterday (seeing as I'm editing a blog I wrote last night) was one of those days.

Casey from http://caseymini.blogspot.com/ sent me an award today.......
......And it couldn't of come at a better time. My grandmother is really sick, and as soon as I can get clearance from the doctor, I'll be on my way to California. I will go into the details when I know more, But for now, I ask for your prayers!

The friendship award really hits home with me today, Thank-you Casey! ......And as Casey said Picking 3 Is hard. So many of you have helped me learn so much about minis, and are so encouraging when I can't find my muse! And then there's those of you that check up on me and my health. Thank you for being there for me when I need a friend!!

It was Kathi of Beautiful Mini Blessings http://beautifulminiblessings.blogspot.com/ that made this award....please make sure you stop by her page and Thank her for creating such a heart warming award!!

So, Here's the rules for this award:
"The rules are simple. Just pick three friends - I know that's hard! Choose someone who has inspired you or brought joy into your life. Let them know how much you appreciate them by giving them this award and ask them to pass it on! Then please link back to this post so I can see who receives this award! That's it! Hope you enjoy sharing this award with your friends!"

In no particular order.....My 3 choices are

Mercedes from http://libertybiberty.blogspot.com/

Ana from http://miniaturesforever.blogspot.com/

and

Chris from http://candidcanine.blogspot.com/

Thanks for being my friends Ladies!!! Big hugs to You!

Katie

Vintage Printables

Just wanted to drop off a few websites that have some beautiful prints!! Have fun!
http://www.panteek.com/index.htm



http://vintageprintable.com/wordpress/


http://www.finerareprints.com/index.html

And now for the minis

Well.....although I got a little further ahead today, I still feel as if I did nothing. I have several plates around here with half finished projects, and well....it is time for me to clean up, so I can make a new mess, Know what I mean? So, on one of the plates, was all that bread and cheese I made. I had wanted to make some prep boards.....but I don't seem to be very good at it, lol.

Yeah, they look OK.......But I'm not impressed! I spent all day rearranging things.....and then rearranging some more. Even had to get the bfs advice on the matter. I did get 6 boards finished, and they look OK, so I guess that's OK.........But I have learned one thing.......

I don't like arranging these prep boards.....there's tooooo many ways to do it! Anyone got any special tips on how they arrange stuff?? What's the secret???? LOL!!!

OK.....I'm off to find something else to clean up.
Until Next Time.....

Because I can....

I'm not sure if it's because there's 3 new kitties in the house.....But Otis has been doing some really strange things these past few weeks.

I bought another litter box so we'd have one at both ends of the house......and Otis decided to sleep in it instead!

Then he decided he wanted to explore higher grounds....he;s actually never been up there before, Or should I say I've never caught him up there before.....And man was it funny watching him wiggle himself into that 3 inch gap!

I also found him napping in a basket in my son's room.....I've never seen him sleep here either!!

This is where he normally sleeps (when he's not on my lap that is)....but he normally doesn't sleep like that either. And Yes, He's sleeping!! So was she.......but me being in there with the flashy thing made her open her eyes...She sleeps sitting up sometimes.

Here they are again....they're so cute together when he's being nice!

And for my last pic.....Thought I'd show you where he sits when one of us is on the computer...He's sitting in my son's lap in this picture, but like I said before, He's normally in my lap! I think he likes reading the blogs along with me!!

I still need to get some 'good' pics of the kittens......they tend to sleep all day under the bed, but are starting to hang out with us a little more. I can actually get them all to purr now.....and I even got the little girl to sit in my lap for a couple of hours the other day:) The little black one gives me head butts now......and the little tabby one is still confused! You can tell he wants attention, he rubs up against everything he comes in contact with....but as soon as you try and pet him, he runs under a bed. He's sweet on roast beef though....catch the bf in the kitchen all the time handing it out to all of them!!! Naughty bf! Saw Momma and Rufus this afternoon......So all is well in Kitty Land. Oh....and finally told my Mom about all the cats, YIKES!!! Knew I shoulda kept my mouth shut........But I just can't help it.....never could really. I have this soft spot for kitties, What else can I say?? Thanks for looking........I'll be back later with some minis, Promise!! :)

It's award time:)

I was just thinking the other day that it had been awhile since I had seen any blog awards going around, and next thing I knew, Nikki from http://nikkinikkinikki72.blogspot.com/ awarded me with two!! :) Thank-you Nikki!! Then Doreen from http://doreensminiatures.blogspot.com/ sent me the Dream Blog award again......and then last night I received both awards from Casey at http://caseymini.blogspot.com/. So here are the awards.....along with the rules......

*First is an award for blogs you dream about....

The rules are:

1. Show the image of the award, and state rules.

2. Post the link of the person that gave you the prize.

3. Display 10 blogs to which you grant the award.

4. Advise the blogs listed

*Second is what looks like an award for creative blogging:

The rules for this award are:

1. Thank the person who gave this to you.

2. Copy the logo and place it in your blog.

3. Link the person who nominated you.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that no one would really know.

5. Nominate seven 'Kreativ Bloggers'

6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

And now for my part of this.....

Here's the 7 things you may not know about me:

1. I do not follow any blogs.....I know it's terrible, but when I started blogging, they didn't even have that function, and well....I'm not one to do something because everyone else is doing it. However....I have 110, I think, blogs over in my bloglist that I read on a regular bases.....If you don't see your blog, drop me a line, and I 'll add it! I love eye-candy!!

2. I don't have a credit card, or a pay-pal account....ect, ect, .....First off, I can't work, so I have no business buying anything that can't be eaten, or worn....and even then I get most of my clothes from my little sister.

3. I'm not all that into clothes. If it fits and it's comfortable, I'm wearing it. And anything with an elastic waistband is OK on my book.

4. I read a lot of blogs Everyday, but often forget to comment.....I'm really trying hard to not do this.....but it still seems to happen.....I call it 'blog-hopping'!! LOL

5. I have Lots of unfinished gifts sitting on my craft table! One day I will get them all finished....and hopefully get them in the mail. And I feel awful for not doing it sooner....but I'm sure people know what it's like when money is tight!

6. I Love Craft Mac and Cheese! So much that the kids complain when I make it! LOL...They're tired of eating it!!

and

7. I'm the worst procrastinator! Eventually I'll get 'er done....but it take me months, if not years to do so. And nothing ever really gets finished. When I started miniatures I had one house that I wanted to finish......now I have 5 that are close to being done, and a million more ideas floating around in my head.........

Ok...so If I'm correct, I've got to nominate 7 Creative Bloggers and then nominate 10 blogs that I dream about. So..........Here Goes~

The 7 Kreative bloggers are.............

1. Lirael from http://liraeldreams.blogspot.com/

2. Marlies from http://marliesminies.blogspot.com/

3. Sabiha from http://sabsminiinteriors.blogspot.com/

4. Shelley from http://notesfromhalfland.blogspot.com/

5. Chris from http://candidcanine.blogspot.com/

6. Deborah from http://dlsarmywife.blogspot.com/

7. Kim from http://flowerkim.blogspot.com/

And for the 10 blogs I dream about:

1. Carmen from http://wimsyfolkartist.blogspot.com/

2. Fairchild from http://fairchildart.blogspot.com/

3. Christine from http://dandelionfair.blogspot.com/

4. Ara from http://afminimansion.blogspot.com/

5. Rachel from http://miniaturesbyrachel.blogspot.com/

6. Sumaiya from http://thefantasyforest.blogspot.com/

7. Lorell from http://lorelllehman.blogspot.com/

8. Karin from http://karincorbin.blogspot.com/

9. Sylvia from http://lotjesdollshouse.blogspot.com/

and

10. Debora from http://petitpunt.blogspot.com/

My goodness......there's so many great blogs out there, it Was hard to just pick a handful. I tried not to send them to people that had already received it, and I tried to shed some light on some of the new people out there......So if you get a minute go check them out! Again, thank-you for the awards ladies! And I hope you enjoy the ones I'm sending out!

So......until next time........

A School Project in Miniature....

Friday, Cora came home with a project to do for school. She had to choose a group of Indians, and then build one of their houses. She chose the Iroquois Indians.....who lived in New York......and lived in long houses. The whole family got involved in the project.....And as usual the inspector was close by!

Although, he did object to the horses. You see the horses were not native to the Americas....it was the colonist that brought them over here. So, No horses went into her project.

Cora and BF spent most of the day Saturday building the frame for the house. And I spent the day digging through my stuff finding things as they needed them.....glue, paint, trees......

Originally she wanted to do a garden, you can see where it was going to go in the front right corner. In a minute I will explain what we did differently. She also has a pond for fishing.

And this is what we ended up with. The long houses were originally covered in elm bark, so we found a big fallen log, and I used a flat-head screw driver to get all of it's bark of. (The branch/log itself it is still sitting on the porch, I hoping to get the bf to cut some table bases for me with it?!)

The trees I found in my stash were covered in snow, and seeing as these Indians lived in New York.....we decided to cover the whole thing in snow. And seeing as everything is covered in snow, having a vegatable garden just didn't make sense anymore.......

So we used that area to make a place where they could cook those fish they were catching......(Yes, it's ok to laugh at the fish, We did!!! LOL) The cooking table it stacked up slate with a fire underneath. There's also a fire inside the house, but you can't see it now that it's covered in bark.

We even glued plastic Indians all over the place. I must admit, it was a fun project to do.....but gluing all that bark was pretty darn boring!!! But, see....we even covered the house with snow....how cool is that????

Hopefully her Teacher likes it too!!

A couple of tips...

Someone recently asked me how I melted the crayons, and well.......a picture is worth a thousand words!! I do want to tell you though that this takes patience!! I light the tea-light, then wait for it to totally turn to liquid before I add the crayon. Also, the more crayon you use, the harder it is for the candle to burn...they still burn, but you'll see they don't burn as well. And don't forget to stir it up!! Stir slow, or you'll make a mess! I use the crayon to stir it....just make sure you get rid of all the lumps!! Now, I am sure there is an easier way to do all this, but this is what I had on hand....so this is what I used. Also....you can use water in between steps to cool down the candle: however, I find doing this with this mini candles just takes longer....you actually have to stop and blot the candle, to remove the little bubble of water that collects at the bottom. (Thanks Cindy!! though for the suggestion.....my son had been telling me for days that I was doing it all wrong! But I like the slowness of the process, it's very relaxing!)


And now I have a mess, Haha!! This is what's left over from this weeks project. Hopefully tomorrow I can get out the griddle and rig something up to get the rest of that wax out of the bottom of those tea-lights. Wouldn't want to throw away anything that I can still use!!

OK....While I'm here I wanted to show you what I thought up of the other night. Well, I didn't think of it, but it came to me.....lol, You know what I talking about!! LOL....It was one of those Duh! moments!! It's so freakin' easy it hurts!!! So....I've been trying to figure out what to put in Cora's Fridge to fill it up....and then I saw the perfect solution the other night. I was watching late night cartoons with the bf, it was some clay animation show~ The PJs, I think.....when the Momma opened the fridge.....and I saw it........Leftovers!!!! How perfect! How easy!! All I did was take some pots...rolled up some foil, and put it in the contains- to look like there was something in it, and then covered it with foil!! Look!! I'm so excited!! Her fridge is gonna get full some way or another!

And for those of you that are curious....the kittens are settling in!! All 3 are using the litter box......we've only had one accident, so I'd say that is pretty good! The little black one is actually letting us pet him.....and he likes it! He actually head-butted me this afternoon, so I think he approves of his new residence!! I am sure the other 2 will warm up soon, too.

Ok.....until next time:)

Yup! I'm still making candles...

And the ideas are starting to come to me......Do you know how many things I could make?? You can carve things into them, you can make molds for them....and....


You can pour them into neat containers....Like this:

*I also have a teapot I want to try to make a candle out of. But it's one of my favorites minis, and I'm not too sure I want to 'mess it up', ya know! And then there's those really pretty candles with seashells and sand........You see what I mean, this could be quite addicting!!

When I counted them this morning, I had 154....and that's just the ones that have been hand dipped.....My goodness! Looks like I'm been productive, doesn't it!! LOL!! ............I have!

Burn baby, Burn!!!

OK then......Let's talk Candles! See the green one in this picture?? It was made from a metallic Crayola crayon!!

And here is how I made these.........Yes! they are real candles, in miniature though! I just used DMC floss (the stuff you use to cross-stitch) and cut it into a 2 inch piece, then I separated the strings! from this one little piece....you can get 6 wicks. Then the dipping begins. I start by dragging the string through the wax, being careful not to set it on fire. I was using tea-lights to make these, and had to learn to pay attention quick! OK, so dip, and set aside to harden...then dip again...and set aside to harden......and, well, You get the picture, Right?? Look at the numbers in the next picture...it might help. Once you get a little built up on the wick, you can start to shape it...hence #3~ one is long and one is short and round. #4 shows you what it looks like after you've dipped it a lot!! Don't worry about how wonky it looks, once you burn it down, and the wax starts to drip down the sides, it will look like it was meant to be!

See what I mean. I used a crayon called Robin's Egg Blue to make this one...and thought of Nikki and her Robin Eggs the whole time;)

And the bf even got involved. He used an elephant bead....and made a mold out of polymer clay. He's still 'perfecting' his idea, But I think it's pretty freakin awesome for his first try! I'll make a miniaturist out of him yet!!! And no the elephants feet aren't dirty~ He used a glitter crayon to do this one, and all the glitter settled at the bottom.

....and here's my growing collection.....LOL! Red, and Yellow and Pink and Green, Purple and Orange and Blue....I can sing the rainbow......Oh, sorry, but I've been singing this song for the past few days, and it's stuck in my head! OK.....I'll just put it this way........My Mom bought the kids a box of crayons that has over 150 different colors.....and well....they should of hid it from me if they thought they were ever going to use them, Hahaha!!! I know I am a terrible Mom!!

And here are some of the ones that I have burnt down. I dunno, is it me...or did you ever play with candles when you were younger? Did you ever take a bottle and melt wax down the side to see what happened??? Well, I did, and I find it very addicting! The problem is though, with these~ you only get to watch them burn for a minute or you'll end up with no candle! And they're so addicting!! Oh, and you will see some candles with thick wicks, and some with thin. That's because at first I was using the whole 6 stands, until the bf came along and told me it was to thick...so I started using 1 stand instead.....The thicker wick makes for a bigger flame, too.


Well, I can't find my book with all the juicy details.......so I'll have to wing this. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here. The wax balls are conjure balls. They are used to cast spells, and when I was reading about them the other night, I thought they'd be really cool in miniature. I think that your suppose to through these up on your roof for protection......or you can make black ones for evil spells......I want to wrap these up, but can't seem to find my cellophane, so you'll have to do with a repeat picture to remind you of what I'm taking about. I just dipped a little moss into the wax, and formed a ball out of it. You have to melt the wax first....then let it harden up a little before you start playing with it! And I warn you know~ IT"S VERY MESSY! I've got it on my clothes...the table, a blanket, the carpet....but not Otis, yet, LOL!!

So, until next time......I'm off to play with the kittens....In case you missed it~ I posted a blog this morning updating you on the feral kitties! 3 just moved in the house!! :) Oh My!!

I miss them already!!

Thought I'd give you an update about the kittens.....and hopefully later today I can get back and tell you about the candles.....

So Friday morning we woke up and Fuzz, one of the feral kittens I have been working with, was gone. And then Saturday morning Possum (another feral kitten) disappeared:( And...well....I was beside myself. I have walked all over and haven't found them, so maybe that's good news. Maybe by me working with them, it made them people friendly, and they got picked up by someone amazing, who wants to give them a forever home. Or at least this is what I keep telling myself. Fuzz and Possum were the 2 most friendliest kitties I had, and the easiest to catch. So...like I said, hopefully there sitting in some one's house.....living the good life.

Then, yesterday afternoon, I woke up from a nap in the afternoon to the bf luring the rest of the kittens into the house. It took him a lot of bribing, but we finally got them in here. It's not the first time they've been in here, we lure them in all the time, we've just never shut the front door on them, until last night......and I am surprised how good they did. The spent the night under my son's bed.....and woke me up around 7 this morning...but then again, that is what time I normally feed them....so they were right on schedule.......

And after breakfast......Otis taught them how to use the litter box, lol.

I swear that it wasn't but 2 minutes after Otis got out, that the little girl, Bella....got in! Good Girl!!! I knew she she was smart!! And do you see how fluffy her tail is?? It's as big as she is! LOL!! That's T-boy watching (short for Tabby Boy, lol, what can I say, the kids named all but Possum~ he was my favorite!!)....and Sphinx, the all black one, is hiding at the moment......

I'm not sure how this is going to work out.....I guess time will tell, huh! But for now, everyone is napping (T-boy is now In the bed!! See...beats laying in the dirt, doesn't it Buddy!!).......and Otis is curled up in my lap, peacefully sleeping. He's doing OK with them......he just makes sure he watches every thing they do.