Summer swap

Before I get to the summer swap.... I just wanted to let everyone know that we're OK! Other than a few branches in the yard, and losing cable.... Nothing big happened at our house..... LOL... and as usual I slept through most of it:)
OK... so

I participated in Cockerina summer swap this year:) It was my first swap.... and I am soooo glad I was a part of it!

This is what I got from Auxi! I've always wanted something crocheted in mini! And was so surprised when this tiny little bikini came... And look- it fits perfectly on my pig:)

Auxi sent a hat and blanket, too! I can't tell you how much I'm in love with this set! This is what I had packed to take on vacation with me.... I had planned on doing a photo shoot on the beach with her, but mother nature had other plans! So hopefully here in the next couple of weeks, I will take her to the beach here and take pictures! I even bought her buckets to build mini sand castles with!


And this is what I sent to Sonya! When I found out she was my trade buddie.... I sat down and went all through her blog to give me an idea of what to make.... And when I saw her American home... I knew she need a red, white and blue birdhouse. I have to say... this is one of my favorites!!!

So I thought I'd show you a little bit about how it was made. I make all my birdhouses this way.. First I build a shell...which is the base for the birdhouse. With the house... I knew I wanted stripes... so I took a few sticks, painted them, crackled them and aged them before I attached them to the house. I used a color called linen instead of white because I wanted it to look old.

One by one they got cut out, sanded down some more... and then were added to the sides.

Next I built a base and went ahead and finished the top. The stars were made using a pencil eraser, lol.... I cut out several before I found one I liked.

After I crackled the base I went back and scraped off the sides, sanded it down and then I went back over the whole thing with watered down brown paint and filled in where I sanded off.

...just a close up pic of the roof- Love those stars!!

And this is what I ended up with... :) And the best part- Sonya loves it as much as I do:)

I am so glad I did this. Sometimes... it's good to challenge yourself to see what Else you can do.

Until next time.....

Well.... We're home early!

What a strange week! An earthquake and a hurricane?! wtf? We didn't feel the earthquake in NC, but my bf felt it here in Va... and my other sister felt it in DC.... crazy!

We got kicked out of North Carolina yesterday due to the hurricane that's coming..... in a way I'm kinda glad, cause I'd rather be here with my trailer and cats! We've been praying for days that it would just go away.... but I fear it ain't listening to us!

So while I can... I thought I'd jump on here and show you a little bit of our week!

I took this picture Wednesday evening...... Stunning! I can't wait to blow it up and frame it!

We stayed in a house that was called the Happy Crab! Which was perfect considering my Nephew's birthday party was all done in Sponge Bob:) The house was huge.... with a whole lot of stairs! We sure got our exercise considering the kitchen was on the 3rd floor! It's a good thing I've got 3 kids, cause I don't think I would of been able to run up and down all day!

We celebrated my Nephew Gavin's 1st Birthday Wednesday! He's so awesome! And busy! LOL

I spent the morning baking, and my sister decorated these:) Aren't they so cute.... and Yummy!

My favorite part though was watching him eat it:) Too cute!

We found out Wednesday evening that we were being evacuated Thursday morning.....Which was the day of the wedding. Luckily the Preacher moved up the time for us... So my sister was still able to get married.... But we had to do things a little backwards. (but if you know my family, we do everything backwards, so why not that day, too....lol)

We had to have the car packed when we left for the wedding, because we had to drive out of Duck, NC and into Kitty Hawk, and they wouldn't let us back into Duck.... So we did the wedding cake before the wedding! I wanted to make sure my sister had the traditional pictures of cutting the cake.

Speaking of the wedding cake.... Isn't it cute! I've done cakes before, but never like this, so I was kinda proud:) My Mom made the fence around the cake, and I did all the chocolates.

And this is what they did to it. We couldn't take it with us.... And were actually going to leave it in the fridge for the home owners.... But.... It started with everyone eating the chocolates, then they started using the chocolates as spoons and dug out the middle of the cake. LOL.... At least they enjoyed it, huh! Honestly... It didn't bother me! I was just glad everyone liked it!!!

I rode with my nephew to the wedding, and the poor thing slept the whole way. He's so cute.... He held that rope the whole time!

And my sister had her dream wedding on the beach! That's me on the left... then the preacher, then my BROTHER in law (I'm a little excited about that, I've never had a brother! And he's awesome, Fits right in with us!!!) Next to him is his best friend holding Gavin.... And then the guy on the right is my Dad.... Getting ready to hand of my sister! I think we all cried!!! Actually getting tears again now thinking about it!

All in all it was a good trip, just wish I didn't have to say goodbye to everyone at the end though.... I miss them already!

So... we're home.... and now we've got a hurricane coming, Awesome! I just PRAY that it doesn't take my trailer!

Until Next Time!

Duct Tape!

I figured out what I want to cover the outside of my 'Cat Litter Box' Apartment Complex with...... Duct Tape! Recently I saw at AC Moore's a whole end cap shelf Full of different color rolls of duct tape. I'm thinking I saw white-which I think would make a good outside wall! However.... I'm hoping they have a brick red color.... Cora thinks I need to do a real brick wall.... but I want this to be an easy project- Something I know I'll finish.....

Today I took everything out and added a few stickers to the bottom floor. Some ABC stickers for the nursery......

And I added a big blue frame sticker to above where the kitchen table will be. (I love the numbers on this sticker!) I figure I will use this space as a bulletin board area. Maybe I can get my little friend in New Zealand to make me a few mini pictures that I can hang up in here?!

So many ideas.... and not enough time.

I'm suppose to be starting/finishing a few custom orders.... I'm suppose to be practicing my 'chocolate sea shells' for my sisters wedding that's next week.... an I really need to get a dress.... oh... and we really should start packing for.....
A week at a beach house in North Carolina!! Yup! Next week, the whole family will be heading to the beach for a week:) My sister will be getting married... and my Nephew will be celebrating his 1st Birthday! I can Not wait to see him!! Or my sister for that matter! .... and I have a mini photo shot planned:) LOL.. now that I think about it- I have my miniatures packed, but I'm not.... now that's funny, LOL!

Not sure if I'll be blogging... But you know I can't stay away from the computer but for so long....

So
Until Next Time!!

One Empty Box of Cat Litter...

That's all it took to entertain me today. LOL!

I was laying in the bed last night thinking of all the things I want to do, but can't afford... so then I started to think about the things I had around here that I could use instead.... And it hit me! The empty box of Cat Litter that I was getting ready to throw away......

So I took some foamcore board and cardboard and cut out all the walls. Then I went back and covered those walls with scrapbook paper.... Ok ok... so if I had had my choice I would of used different paper, but I was working with what I had on hand. Measuring everything out to make sure it fit right was the hardest thing... But All in All it is a really easy project!

I still have to cover the outside... but my brain is thinking bigger, and I've decided that I need an apartment complex, Hahaa..... You just wait- one day I will have a skyscraper.... Bah ha ha!

So.... let's talk about what's going on inside. I decided that this place was going to be a daycare- where the owner lives upstairs. Cora had this really cute set of babies that I wanted to use.... and I still had several Calico Critters' furniture sets to use up... SO I put 2 and 2 together.

The wood stuff came from Michael's... It needs to be painted and prettied up some:) But this area will be her bedroom.

And on the left is her living room.

....and one of my favorite parts?..... The fireplace lights up.....

Downstairs on the left is the kitchen.... Although I have since rearranged everything again. I can't figure out which way I want it.... But there's a mix of stuff in here. The pink chair is from a generic set I bought as a kid.... And the microwave and its stand came from Cora's set. The little green beds in the front came from either the Mapletown or Sylvanian sets from the 80s. So did the rabbit. The rest of the stuff came from recent furniture sets from Calico Critters.

But I have to admit..... The nursery is my favorite room!

I just love those little critters with those tiny pacy's in their mouths:) I'm sure If I keep looking around here I can find more stuff to put in here.... But for now.... I'm going to go day dream about cat litter, lol....

...until next time...

Watch out Otis! I'm getting smarter than you!

Yesterday.... A box of supplies arrived from HBS. Of course most of them are supplies for more birdhouses.... But I did order a few things for myself. A tub of wax and some blu-tac:) Naturally I got side tracked and started tacking things down in Marshmallow Manor. So I thought I'd show you what I've done. I finally tacked the stuff on the back of the counter down. The pumpkins came from Nikki's shop... and everything else I've added. Most of the things came with a Calico Critters sets, and I've repainted them and added strawberry nail stickers. The tiny pitcher on the end, and all the veggies I made some time ago.

I do believe the cake came from the Dollhouse Shop here in Ghent.

I stacked up the stools that go with the table to give Grandma and Grandpa more room to walk around. On the top of that is a bright red flower pot filled with apples.

I also spent some time upstairs. Everything has been tacked down.... including the carpets. I rubbed a little wax all the way around it to get all of it to stay down and it worked perfectly! I even found another tree stump to use as a foot stool.

Then this morning.... while I was cleaning.... I came across a jar of buttons and remembered I needed some candle holders for my yellow candles.

I still have tons of little things to make to go here and there.... But I like this part! I don't worry myself about it.... Those pieces will come with time.... You know... when you're out somewhere and you find that perfect piece for a house....

...now to see what I can 'glue' down next.....
until next time...

Let's talk Movies, TV and books

The kids and I went to the Library yesterday. My youngest loves Star Wars... and while I was showing him where the movie books were.... I came across 2 that I feel in love with. The first is 'The Art of Dreamworks How To Train Your Dragon.' If you ever need eye candy for dragons or Vikings.... this is your book. But I still can't believe that I missed this house in the movie... I'm going to have to watch it again and see what else I missed. Anyways.... The house is an old ship turned on it's side- How smart is that?! I love all the moss on it...and the shields.... and the little birdhouse by the door..... and the wind chimes made out of bones. Oh how I would so love to build this in mini!!!

Oh... and there's a lot of history in the book about the girl who first wrote the story. Did you know she was about 8/9 when she started writing this. You'll have to read the book to learn more about her summers in Scotland... What an amazing childhood she had!

The other book I got is called "Coraline... A Visual Companion" by Stephen Jones. Another beautiful book...... And this house I know about:) As soon as I first saw it in the movie, I wanted it. A pink house! How sweet is that.

But when I started at looking at the behind the scenes photos, I realized I missed my calling in life. I shoulda been a set designer! OMG- I could spend all day working on this- How about you?

This book has been a good read, too! Did you know they had to use over 200,000 faces for Coraline.... Or that someone had to make over 450 Scottie Dogs for the movie scene. Crazy huh! There's a lot of work that went into this movie! And the story- well it came from a Dad that told these stories to his little girls at night. I just love learning about all of this.... It is so inspiring!

OK... Now first let me apologize about the fuzzy pictures. I sat the other night and watched all 13 episodes on Youtube.... and while I watched I took pictures of things(lol... I won't tell you I took over 150 pictures, lol!!!) Anyways...... Remember the Wuzzles? They are one of my all time favorites! How cool would it be to build the Land of Wuz??

We start with Bumblelions house! It's a Big beehive with a sports theme....

And then there's Butterbears house! I just love all the pink! And the fact that there is a butterfly roof! And butterfly shutters..... So pretty!

And then what about Hoppo house! Love the big bow above the door and how the bow tails become curtains! I also love the angle on the front of the house... Just so different! And again so inspiring!

Hope you've enjoyed the pictures.... I'm off to think about all the things I should be doing....lol

until next time....

I added Travertine to these...

While at the Home Depo buying house paint the other day, I picked up a few Travertine 1 inch tiles.

On this one, I used one at the top, and one at the bottom, I can use it either way, too. I love the texture and the softness of the Travertine.

I used a darker tile for the brown one, I think it goes well with the white bust:)

The one at the bottom is a wooden egg holder, crackled and aged.... I like how they look together!

...until next time...

The Lions are up in Etsy

Just wanted to let you know that I got the lion heads listed in Etsy:)

I added a picture to show the hole through the middle:) I can't wait to see what you do with them:)

Until Next Time....