Mini Disappointment....: (

Hi All,

Yes I must admit to feeling a little disappointed with a couple of my online purchases. Above is a snap I took this morning when the early morning sun happened to be flooding the twins room.Real sun, no lamps....; )I had a trial run with my new arrivals, it looks quite sweet but I am disappointed in the colours of the wall paper and the Aubusson rug. I purchased both of these from Itsy Bitsy Miniatures On their website they look a definite blue but the overall effect is without question green, not a french antique blue with a cream boarder but green. It actually looks better in the photo than it does in real life.

As for the "Fabric" I ordered it is not fabric at all, I intended to use it to cover the little foot stool and perhaps as curtains in the cabinet/armoire but it's really only slightly more pliable than paper. Oh well, I guess you live and learn, I will just have to make do with what I have, I guess it's now a green room and not a blue one.

Please bear in mind that the colours of the furniture I am intending to change so they don't work together at the moment, this is just a play to check on positioning. I have very high ceilings on the ground floor so I will have to add some interest in the space above the beds. The dresser, armoire, foot stool and coffee table all came from the same seller on a well known auction site. That was not so successful either, the items are vintage Bespaq, originally from a miniature shop that closed 20 years ago, great buys, and I love the pieces but the dresser arrived in the box with one of the back feet broken off and the varnish crackling and loose in the box and 3 of the handles off. I originally intended on painting these items but close up the wood is lovely and I don't even mind the varnish looking cracked it's just I have no idea how to fix the foot of the dresser, it's not a clean break and looks like it's been like that for a while. I was supposed to get a winged back chair with the foot stool also but that didn't come because it was apparently damaged (I wasn't charged for it). I don't want to contact the seller about the dresser because during the communications he told me his wife had just died so rather than bother the man I would rather fix the dresser and keep it.

So all in all, not a lot of success with online buying. I will be more cautious in future, I guess it was a bit of a gamble buying vintage items anyway. Sorry it wasn't a more UP post, I promise next time to have some good things to show!

Welcome to my new followers and thank you for taking the time to have a look.

Happy minis every one!

ML Fi xx

Work Place?

Hi Every One,

Just a quick post today. Last night (my time) Si posted a picture of his work place and made a subtle suggestion that others do the same. I think it's interesting to see the place we all spend so much time crafting our miniatures, some of us spending a little more time staring off into space dreaming up ideas, right Si?? Any how, I couldn't very well leave Si out in the cold so I here are some snaps of my work place. The thing is, I don't have a work place exactly, how I would love to be able to leave my mess every where and shut the door. We have a study down stairs where the "study" is hopefully done by others but my spot is up here, yes, I am now sitting in that seat typing away on my laptop. Up here is one of our living areas so I have to keep it presentable, now I'm not going to pretend it is neat all the time but I have to at least try to keep it that way. The white cupboard is where I keep all my mini stuff, my tool box, wood, glue etc....... underneath the table you can see a soft box bursting at the seams with stuff I can't remember.

To my right is our Dollhouse, I couldn't very well show my work place with out it. I had never intended to until I had re done the out side to look like the Taby Manse I have posted about before, I think at the very bottom of my page there is a link to that post. Please remember Mia and I chose this look when she was 9 to go with the decor of her room, so the blue roof and shutters are not at all how i envisage Ambrosia Place to look. I'm sure when the time comes you will all give me plenty of guidance on how to achieve the look I want. Until then this is how she looks. I would like to show you the rest of my room as i have a nice view of the water behind me but there are a few recognisable houses in the view and considering my experience on the beach last year I don't want to give away where I live.

Just preempting a few questions, the Horse painting is a John Lee Joo For and whilst it doesn't quite fit the decor it is very special and I have to have it hanging, and yes that lump of twigs is a birds nest I found on the side of the road.The desk is actually a french polished dining table my father made and whilst it doesn't go with the coastal look I am to sentimentally attatch to get rid of it, the day bed my Grandfather made and like wise. Now you would wonder how someone with a furniture making family could not know what a Jig is??????

Well that took longer that I thought, now you can check mine out Si after I scrutinised yours!

Happy Minis every one and welcome to my new followers!

ML Fi XXX

Twin beds.

Hello Every one,

My New Year resolution was to post as I go. Not only does it keep me more in touch, but it doesn't seem like such a mammoth job to explain how I did each detail once I have completed the room. So, win, win! Here is one of my stages ( kits to start after this one) for the Twins room, I have two Iron beds from Pheonix  which I have painted off white. I used oil paint to paint the metal as it is more likely to stay put and not flake off, the only thing is the drying between coat times. I use liquin Original that helps speed up the drying time. I don't want a pristine look to Ambrosia Place, patina is one of my favourite things so I am now adding a bit of age and rust to the iron. I have added just a touch of faded gold for a high light but I don't want to over do it. I also painted in the little casters in the bottom as I think they are a nice little detail of the moulds. In my final photos I will show a close up.

Well thats it for today. Welcome to my new followers and enjoy your minis every one!

ML Fi xx

P.S. I forgot to add the one on the right is has the finished detail, the others were still waiting but are now done!! Yay!!

Kit nOOb!!

Hello every one, in my recent search for some nice furniture for our Dollhouse I came across this package of 5 The House of Miniatures kits for $14.95, yes thats right $14.95 for the 5 of them, of course I had to pay for postage but all in all it was cheep enough and I thought I could have a play whilst I waited for my other ready assembled furniture to come.

Clearly I am a complete kit nOOb because some how I didn't imagine they would come in quite SO many pieces, I don't know what I was expecting but my son and I laughed when I opened the first package. Oh well, they will certainly keep me out of trouble while I wait for my wallpaper to come. Yes Elga, I can hear you giggling, what am I worried about?? You measure, cut, turn all your pieces before you so much as put them together.....I hate reading instructions.....what was I thinking????

Oh well, start with the easy one first, the little candle stand is looking good at the moment. Any tips on putting them together successfully would be greatly received.

Happy minis every one!!

ML Fi xx

Wonderful Sigh......

Hello Every one!

A very big welcome to my new followers, thank you so much for taking the time have a look and thank you for joining.

Yes...... wonderful sigh.....I mean Si......of Miniature Enthusiast  was so generous to offer this exquisite Lucy Askew Chinoiserie Mirror  as a give away to celebrate 200 followers. Now, I suppose it's not hard to guess who the lucky winner was?  ME!!! This is the first time I have won a giveaway and I feel so fortunate to have this exceptional Artisan piece in my possession. Far more breathtaking in RL, I have tried to do it justice with my photos but they never completely do. It will be perfect for my Chinoiserie drawing room and it has so inspired me to get to work. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Si, you have no idea how much it cheered me the day I looked at your blog and found I had won. It will always be a special piece for me, not only because of it's beauty but because it came from such a dear friend!!

Thank you, Thank you Si!!

Below are some more photos that I hope show the detail. I love the way the Ducks on either side look into the mirror.In the back ground is a tile I have hanging in the bathroom and the Tea Cups belonged to my Mother. I thought it all worked with the Chinoiserie theme.

Well thats it from me today. I will have a bit more to show you all in a few days. Until then happy minis every one!!

ML Fi xx