They arrived!!!

My microbeads and trim arrived today (for different companies).

I'm so pleased - tonight I'll finish the lace pillow and hopefully the chair as well.

Both were shipped so quickly.

The beads were from:
www.minikitz.com

And the lace and trim was from:
www.miniatureluxuries.com

Hope to have photos to share with you all later (or tomorrow).

Welcome new followers... I think

Well I think pretty much every blog is complaining about the changes to the followers lists that Blogger has made. So I have 2 new followers but I can't really figure out how to link them! Sorry. so I'll give it a go!

So welcome:
Karen Clark of Crystal Velvet Weddings. It looks like she has 3 blogs (or 3 links). This seems like her main one - please check it out.

And welcome Mary. She is new to miniatures and has just started a blog. Welcome to the world of mini blogs!! Here it is - Widdle Hinges.

Welcome De

I'd like to welcome De to our little (but growing!) party!

Thanks for following. De has a great blog here - De~lightful Minis.

Photos at last!

I did manage to get some photos done tonight - that's about all I did though! Hubby had a good day (lots of important stuff done!) so he wanted to go out to dinner to celebrate. As my mom is staying with us (she goes home to England in a week), we thought we would take advantage of the built-in babysitter!!! So no mini-ing tonight!

Oh and yes, that time of my post is correct! It's nearly 3am! I always do this, eat too much and have too much red wine and then I can't sleep! I'm not one of these people that can survive on a few hours sleep either, less than 8 hours and I'm a mess! Tomorrow (or should that be 'today'?) is going to be a LONG day!

Anyway, on to what you really want to see! The photos of what I've been doing!

Here's the table cloth. I used a laundry detergent lid as the base and covered it with 2 fabrics - 1 from a thrift store (the solid blue) and the other from Joanns. The trim is some picot that I got from a miniatures store (Ron's in Orlando). I followed the tutorial from Casey's Blog (Here) and I have to say it was EASY! So I'll definitely be making more of those! I just need to think of things to go ON the tables now! This one is going to end up in the kitchen of the McKinley, just got yo decorate the rest of the room now. But at least I've got a color pallet now!

Here's the chair. I've ordered some antique gold braiding to go around the seams. I made a bit of a mess of them! But for a first attempt I'm pretty pleased with it. Not as messy as I thought it would be! As I mentioned before I've got an incomplete kit for the matching sofa and another chair. Not sure if there will be space for the sofa (the Mckinley's rooms aren't very deep), so I think I'll just do the chair. Need to look at the kit in more detail to see what I'm missing - maybe I can use parts from the other kit to complete it. Otherwise I'll just get another one from eBay!

I didn't get the drapes hung tonight, so no photos of those. and I want to do a bit more work on the lace pillow before I share photos!

Right I'm off to bed! Hopefully I'll sleep. Wish me luck for the day! I'm in the process of potty training my son, sleep deprived and potty training just don't go together!

Lots more people...

Lots more people following my blog! So thank you and welcome to:
Brenda and you can see her mini blog here: Brenda's Miniatures
Daisy, who has 5 mini blogs - you can see them here
Suzeeez who has just started a blog. Looking forward to seeing what you post (Here).
And Sandy, who has a some absolutely beautiful (full size) jewelry on her blog.

I promise I will post more pictures of what I've been working on soon. I've actually be making quite a few things! I've made good progress on the bobbin lace pillow for my mom - it's nearly finished now. Just waiting for some microbeads to be delivered (any day now!) so I can finish the bobbins! I have to say it was my first piece that I've built from scratch with no tutorial to follow, and I'm really pleased with how it's come out.

Also I've put together one of that House of Miniature Chippendale armchairs. I've got a sofa and another armchair still to do, but I've just discovered they have parts missing! So now I'm not sure if I should just scrap them and buy more (eBay here I come!) or try and make the missing parts.

And lastly, last night I worked on the drapes for the living room. They look really good! I'm so pleased with them! I'll put them up tonight and get some photos.

Oh and I also made one of those skirted table cloth tables the other day. Again very pleased with myself! So lots to photograph for you all to look at! I promise I'll get to it tonight! The kids are napping now, so I have to get on with some real-life work! No rest for the wicked!

Welcome Debbie

And another welcome is in order. This time to Debbie. She has 4 blogs in total - 3 about miniatures and one about her beautiful Shetland Ponies! Check her out here: Debbie

I'm also very jealous of her links page! It just goes on and on... and so well organized! One of these days I'm going to do something similar for all my bookmarks. One of these days.......!!!!

My progress

I'm making pretty good progress on my McKinley (I've really got to come up with a better name!).

The living room is virtually decorated now - floors, wallpaper and molding are done. Just needs curtains and then a LOT more furniture!

The 2 cats names are Albert and Victoria. Victoria is the cat on the floor, and Albert (always in trouble) is on the table. I just hope Victoria doesn't decide to join him and knock the roses off the table! And their long suffering doggy friend hasn't got a name yet!

The bedroom is looking pretty good, still more work to do on the molding though - I need to finished the chair rail. Then, of course, the bed needs dressing and the windows need curtains. Do you notice a theme here? All the fabric projects still to do! I love fabrics, and I have a pretty good stash, but I can never find that 'perfect' piece!

And here's a final picture of the whole house. As you can see - still a lot of work to do! I am pretty slow my most people's standards I guess. I only get an hour or 2 each evening to work on minis. And then I have to pack everything up after I've finished and lock it away in a child-proof cabinet!!! A bit of a pain, but I really don't need my 3 year old 'helping' me!!!

Right off to do mini-ing. Tonight actually I'm working on making a bobbin lace-making pillow and stand. My mom is a bobbin lace maker and saw a mini pillow and stand that she fell in love with at Ron's Miniature's in Orlando, but it was $140. So I thought I could try and make her one! We'll see how it goes... !!!

Thanks for Following...

So I've only got 1 post and already people are following my Blog! Thank you for joining me... now I really feel so pressure to write something interesting!

So welcome to:
MiniMaker who has a wonderful blog with lots of 'how to' videos - MiniMaker
Doreen who has 2 interesting mini blogs - Doreen's Miniatures & Doreen's Mini Projects
Tallulah-Belle who is also new to blogs, but has made some beautiful mini plants - Tallulah-Belle

And so it begins...

I feel bad that I read so many other people's blogs but don't have one of my own! So I'm going to start one! I'm not going to post everyday, life is just too busy for that. But I hope to keep you up to date with my mini progress and maybe share a few tips I learn along the way.

I'm pretty new to miniatures, but the addiction hits hard and fast!!! I'm currently working on a Greenleaf McKinley for my daughter (well... I say it's for her, but she's only 1 year old!) and I've got a Greenleaf Country House rehab to get to one day... As well as plenty of other ideas for room boxes etc. I just wish I had more time. My 3 year old son, Jack, my 1 year old daughter, Annabelle (Annie), my husband and my 2 dogs - Strider and Josie - keep me pretty busy most of the time!

So here's a bunch of roses I made to officially welcome you to my blog! Cheers!