Things to keep myself busy

Thought I'd show you the fireplace I've been talking about. As I said before... this came out of Cora's first house- if you click on 'house' you can see what it used to look like. It has come a long way:)

OK...So you're going to have to use your imagination here... The fireplace doesn't have a mantle yet and I've just got it propped up against a piece of scrapbooking paper:) But this is what I have in my mind....I've used some of my crackled pumpkins here and there... and One of my signs above the fireplace. And if you look closely at the fireplace-

 You can see the bunting I've made. And of course I can't just make one....

 And I couldn't stop there- I had to make some for the 'Bakery', too. In the first set I used thread.. and in this set I used DMC floss. I liked using the thread better- you can move it around really easily- but I like the look of the floss better...go figure:)

 While I'm here- thought I'd show you a sign I've been working on for the bf's Man room. My poor ink pad is down to it's last drop...so it didn't print as dark as I would of liked... But we really like the idea of it. It's bigger than what I normally do- but that's how I envision it...

 ....And then my heart meds kicked in- Or should I say- my Lack of heart meds, lol. I'm on day 3 of no meds- and am pretty much floored..... So I've been doing odd things to keep my mind busy while I lay still in bed. Yesterday I needed to get out of the house- so I went over to a friends house, and laid in her bed, and we painted our nails, lol. She's got all kinds of fun nail stuff. And now.... I have One multicolored painted hand. I left it on so Cora could see:)

 And then..... That dang on Pinterest got me...I found this picture that led me to this link..... And the rest was history. I love coloring... and I love colored pencils! It felt good to just relax and doodle! ((It's not finished- my hands were cramping up the other night so I had to put it to the side.)) But I still wanted to share it with you:)

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Until Next Time:)

New Product in the Scrapbooking Aisle

Has anyone else seen this stuff:)

 You can find it in the scrapbook section at AC Moore's- I haven't seen it at Michael's yet...and those are the only 2 craft stores here. Anyways... It's just beautiful! And it comes it several different colors! It's a paper type of 'fluff'? After you stamp an image- you can go back and add glue and then add this stuff to make it look pretty- For example they had a flower basket stamped out... and added this to it to make it 3-D. But you know how us Miniaturists think! I saw plant flocking!

((Not sure what I was thinking yesterday when I wrote this- but this stuff is actually in the rubber stamp section- next to the inks...my mind is just not here!))

 So I found a plant that I liked at PetSmart- for a dollar!- and this is what I did...

 After taking it apart I repainted all the pieces with several coats of green paint. (They only have one coat in this picture)- I started with a dark green, and then will dry-brush these with lighter greens before...

 I Flock...or whatever you want to call it. At first I was using a toothpick- putting a dab of glue on each tip...But that took way to long- and by the time I got 1/2 way through it- I was using the glue bottle and just gluing everywhere...lol.

 I LOVE it! Ok, it may be a little too tall- but I'll figure that out. And now that I know what the 'finished' product looks like, I can just think of all the mini plants that I could Updo:)

 And as promised.... here's a few more things that I made for myself:) This is one of the end tables that I should you a few posts ago- I just added paper to the back of mine:)

This is one of my favorite scrapbooking papers- I just love the green against the tiny pink flowers:)

 This little chair was a gift from my sister. It used to be neon green, lol.

 I painted it red....then added rust spots. It's going to live on the front porch of MarshMallow Manor.

 And I've made books- sketch pads- journals.

I used the end of legal pads for the inside paper...One day- if I can find some more legal pads, I will show you what I mean. I just can't think of how to explain it:) Duh!

I still have a few more things to show you.... so...

Until Next Time...

The Coffin

Over the past few weeks, in between everything else...

I have been able to get a few projects done for myself. Hopefully over the next week or so I can get them posted so you can see:)

We will start with my tiny coffin first:)

OK.... So I have this idea in my head for a fireplace mantle. (I have the fireplace- it came out of Cora's first house- but it still needs a mantle) Anyways...

I have this vision for a white/creamy Halloween.

I want to use one of my linen colored Halloween signs above the fireplace... along with some of my crackled pumpkins..

But I needed/need something small to fill in the gaps.

 So.... the other night.......I took out my scrap pieces of wood and built a coffin:)

 I used scrapbook paper for the inside.... and a nail sticker on the front.

 And it has a paper hinge so it can open and close.

I just love it when a good idea works out:)

Until Next Time...

The Light Box

Well.... At least- That's what I'm calling it:)

So- As I was explaining in my last post- Winter is just around the corner..... and all of my 'pretty' background flowers have died for the year...So, I needed something that I could use to take good pictures~other than the sidewalk! And this is what I came up with.

I took a cardboard box.....  Taped one end shut- and cut off the other end. Then I shaved down the sides a bit to help with those shadows. Next, I cut out a piece of poster board and wedged it in like you see in the picture.... And~ TA-DA!

The Perfect picture is taken:)

No more propping a piece of poster board up on a fence or the cat....

Yes! Fred helps me everytime I take pictures!

No more trying to get someone to hold the poster board at the perfect angle while the wind blows...

WooWho!

I found these little end tables prebuilt at a discount store- and they just begged me for a crackle coat. These and the little flower pots will be listed sometime in the store.

((**So...About the doctors.... He thinks I have both! Awesome!

A dysfunctional autonomic nervous system and an autoimmune disease!

How Fun!!

Looks like if I want to try the meds he suggests I have to go through with the testing to prove to the insurance company that I need it. I think it's BS...but whatever. So... Tuesday- I have to come off all my meds for a week.... so that the following Tuesday they can run their tests. I am not looking forward to this at all. I'm just getting back on all my meds- just getting readjusted to everything, and now I get to go back through withdrawls for a week. yuck! Sorry to complain. But I'm tired of this crap. I thought I was at a point in my life where I had some hope... and now I feel like I'm back at the beginning and I just want to kick something.

All I can say... Is Thank "God" I have my Minis!

Instead of kicking something....

I'm going to go sand something:)

Until Next Time...

PS...I think I might be able to get used to this new look of blogger after all?!

New Halloween Signs are in the Store

OK...Let me start by saying....What in the Heck has happened to Blogger. Why in the world do they feel the need to keep changing this on us is beyond me.... I don't like change.... I don't like how this looks as I type it... It's actually messing with my head. LOL... Which is not hard to do these days- But really- Can you leave well enough alone??

So....Now that I'm confused....

and annoyed...

Let me see if I can't get back to where I was...

Oh Yes- A cute picture of Pork Chop! His Daddy has him in a head lock here, and I just love how his tongue is sticking out.

 I also wanted to tell you about the new signs that are in the store:) I started listing them over the weekend....

                                 

 

And will have a few more to list later this week. If you get a chance- come check them out. I found the neatest Halloween drink label set- and they work perfect for my signs:)

These will probably be the last of the Halloween signs for the year.

 I am ready to move onto other ideas. I have lots of other items to list this week... And now that I've built a box for pictures, it should make life a lot easier. Winter is coming and all the flowers are dying. No more honeysuckle or roses to use as my background...and I really don't like using dried up fall leaves for a background. So.....I built a box. I will take a picture of it... and show you what I did. Wouldn't you know that after I spent all that time 'putting' it together.... The battery dies on my camera- LOL- Just my luck. So after it charges- I will have another pic for you.

So...I gotta admit. I'm getting a little scattered brained again. Maybe it's the medicine... maybe it's stress. But my mind is all over the place. I got a call last week from the doctor that did all the blood work Months ago to schedule some more tests that I don't wanna do. I asked the nurse if that meant that all my blood work came back normal and she said NO. My blood work shows that I have Hashimoto's Disease (An autoimmune disease).... but the doctor still wants to rule out the other things. And at this point I was really confused. Really? A thyroid disease? But haven't they been testing my thyroid every few months for the last 2 years? How did they miss this? Didn't I just have an ultrasound done last week on my thyroid that showed that it had grown a tiny bit, but it's No big deal- And "Everything is OK"- according to my endocrinologist???) I don't get it. How did everyone else miss this? Or is this something that just started. ....So.. I wouldn't let the nurse schedule any more tests until I could sit down and speak with this doctor. (Which will be tomorrow) He wants to do nerve biopsies- which I just had down- so I'm getting those results sent to him. And he wants me to do a Tilt Table Test... Which I really really don't want to do. Who in the world wants to be strapped to a table. feed meds that make you high and then tilted up and down till they pass out? NOT ME! It's stupid sometimes the things you have to do to prove to your doctors what your saying is what your saying. I'm tired of being a guinea pig- and I thought I was at a point where I could sit back and relax... But No... We're back to square one again with a new diagnoses....Yuck!

It's a good thing I have my minis to keep me Sane!!!
LOL
Until NExt Time:)

I got sidetracked!

My Poor work area just keeps getting larger.... and larger.... and larger. I am totally guilty of starting a project- getting it almost done... and then I think of something else to do- and off I go. I have several paper plates* sitting here full of birdhouses.... and yet- I had to make some cupcakes. lol!

*When I work, I keep the items I'm using for each project on a paper plate- or bowl- or whatever else is handy. Right now I'm up to 5 plates of Almost finished items. Terrible! I know. But bear with me:)

I do love making miniature food, I'm just not very good at it. (At least in my mind) ...Nor do I have the patience to do it every day to get better. But I do like playing around:)

....So the other day while I was in the Dollar store- I found a pack of electrical caps with 5 different sizes in it, And thought- Perfect! I can make big cupcakes- regular cupcakes... and mini cupcakes/muffins. So...the process of getting sidetracked began, lol. I made my molds.. and spent an evening pushing out cupcakes. I like mine fat on top:) I bake like that, too... I fill up my cups with as much batter as I can get in them:)

I have made mini cupcakes before- You can find out more about that and the DIY 'molds' here.

After they were textured, they were chalked and then baked. Then comes the part where I'm still playing. The decorating:) I want piping... and for the longest time I've been trying to find a 'medium' that would work well for this. I had some nail fruit slices put away- so I used those on top. On the single cupcakes I used puffy paint for t-shirts.....and on the plate with the "Strawberry Lemonade and Blueberry Limeade" cupcakes I used joint compound that I tinted with acrylic paint. Both work OK.... But it's not really what I'm after. I have used liquid sculpy before, but I wanted to try something different this time. It is always fun to just play:) ...oh- and the plain 'muffins' on the table have poppy seeds in them- but I went a little overboard with the chalk and you can't see that, lol. I even tried to make cupcake wrappers- not too bad, but I'm thinking a thinner solid color paper might work better next time.

I did, however, manage to get the little birdhouses done- well.... that's not true. They still need a coat of sealer. But they all have roofs now:) I think the Tinker Bell ones are my favorite.

....ohhh.....and look at what I found:) Harry Potter Crest nail stickers. These will be sold as a set... and I have a few extra single ones as well. I thought these were too cool!!!

Let's see..... I found a new stamp set:) I think the font works perfectly for the Bakery signs!

And while watching the movie Julie and Julia the other day.... I came up with a few more signs:)

I think that's about it. Now that the kiddos are back in school- I'm having a lot more free time to get lost in my work. If I could only stay focused....... LOL

...ok....here's a link to some of the other cakes I made- way back in 2008, lol. Some aren't too bad. And please excuse the little doll- she makes every thing look really big.

Until Next Time:)

My honeysuckles are starting to bloom:)

In between the little rain showers we've had here the past few days, I've been taking full advantage of the honeysuckles that are starting to bloom.

I've been loading up the store for Halloween and have made a few of 'The Sweet Life' signs in purple.

And, as always.... trying to create New beach signs:)

I know the ones that say 'beach' and 'ocean' sell... but I really like coming up with ones that only a few people might enjoy.

Hope everyone is enjoying their last week with their children. We all know how much we'll miss them when they go back to school next week, hehehe:)

So..... Until next Time:)