A Day at the Races

 

Hello every one and welcome to my new followers.

Today I have decided to give you a little taste of Australian Culture. Whilst you have all been busy with your pumpkins and and witches we have been preparing for one of our biggest and most glamorous sporting events......The Melbourne Spring Racing carnival. There are six major Horse Racing events that make up the carnival. The Caulfeid cup, Cox plate, Derby Day pronounced Dar -bee, The Mebourne Cup, Oaks Day and finally Emirates stakes day.

The last four races are held over one week with Derby Day opening the Melbourne cup week. Derby day is considered to be the most prestigious days of racing in Australasia with four races in the elite group 1 level. The Fashion is almost as important as the Horse racing it's self and black and white is traditionally worn on the day. It is, for a lot of us, all about the out fit and many going to great lengths and expense to coordinate Hats, dresses, handbags and of course shoes. The hat is the central focus of the ensemble  often a work of art in it's design. Many of our major corporations position Marques with elaborate furnishings and catering the most prestigious being the Emirates Birdcage with a guest list of  Australian and international celebrities. This year our most famous visitor was our own lovely Nichole Kidman dressed in an Audrey Hepburn my fair lady inspired out fit.

Here are a few pictures i have taken from the internet to show you a small sample of the beautiful fashions of the day.

I thought I had better add in some mens fashion but I must say there are no where near the amount of mens fashion images as women's.

Today is Melbourne Cup day and you may have heard we have a holiday to mark the occasion. Yes thats right, a holiday for a horse race! The Melbourne cup is the highest prize money of all the races offering $3,600,000 for first place. Makybe diva being the most successful consecutive winner of the cup three times in a row. Most amazing because she was a mare and still one it with extra weights in the last race.

The fashions for  cup day are more vibrant and the general atmosphere is very festive. Oaks day is considered ladies day and the tradition is to wear brightly coloured frocks.

Finally I will leave you with some photos of the Flemington Roses that are a beautiful spectacle and are famous for marking the season. My apologies for some double up on the images and i hope you didn't mind me slotting in a picture of yours truly with my handsome husband.

Ilona's gifts.

Hello Every One,

I would like to give a very warm welcome to my new followers, thank you so much for stopping by.

I finally had the right light to photograph the beautiful little gifts I received from Ilona after commissioning her to make a Magnolia branch for Ambrosia Place. Every little detail has been thought of, notice the Magnolia Fragrance bottle in the centre, an envelope complete with a Magnolia post card inside, some printed canvases for framing and the white linen I have shown you before. All the little feminine bottles are made by her careful hand including the tiny little nail polish bottle with a lid that comes of and brush inside. So many lovely things that will add a feminine touch to Ambrosia Place, I just love the candle and the hat is so elegant trimmed in apricot roses, I couldn't resist placing with my CoCo mademoiselle.

Thank you so much Ilona, you know how I will always treasure these thoughtful gifts.

Much love to you all, Fi xx

P.S I didn't photo shop those top photos, it's all the real thing.

Artists Choice?

Firstly, Hello and welcome to my new followers, it's lovely to have you stop by, I really appreciate anyone that takes the time to have a look at my Blog.

Today is just a quick one as Paul and I have been away this week end and I haven't got to any miniatures recently. I must say whilst I love and adore my children it was a whole new experience to have each others undivided attention over the weekend without the interruption of teenage expectations. We stayed at The Blackman hotel which is part of a series of Hotels dedicated and named after some of Australia's most significant Artists. Charles Blackman is one of my favourites and if you click on the link you will see a little about the Hotel and the Artist. Yesterday we spent the day at the Heide Gallery of Modern Art which is something we have been meaning to do for some time. I had a wonderful day, Heide is a very important mark on the Australian Artistic landscape. The original house was the home of John and Sunday Reed who were two very influential people in Australia's Modern art movement. They supported a community of  Artists who today are known as our finest and as you can imagine there are all sorts of tales of love and betrayal that emerged as the group came in and out of each others lives. I will leave you to read about them if you wish by clicking on the link above. Needless to say we had a wonderful time exploring the Art and the grounds not to mention the wonderful food and wine.

Now given the Artistic tone so far I thought I would show you the little experiments I have been doing. I have for some time liked the idea of making authentic miniature stretchers to paint on, by authentic I mean as a quality artist would make and that is with an oak frame and a linen support. Easier said than done!! Firstly I don't have a mini saw to cut small straight lengths, I can cut them okay but they must be perfectly straight to get a straight frame right? Not going to happen. Okay, I can cut a straight piece of oak and then stretch the linen around it, yep, I can do that but when it comes to hammering the pins in, (pictured in front of the white stretcher ) not only are they incredibly small and I can't hold them in place but the oak is so hard I have no chance of penetrating it. Okay I'll glue it down, yes that works but not how I wanted it to be and  I like the look of the nails down the side of the stretcher......grrrr!! Okay, next try, wrap the linen around a piece of balsa wood and press the pins in, yep that works, if I can cut down on the tiny pins flying through the room and landing in the sisal mat never to be seen again ( except by the vacuum cleaner) it has the look I'm going for but not the quality. What to do? Perhaps painting directly on the oak (with a ground of course) would at least be a more authentic way of painting a picture? Yes that might have to be the answer if I am to have a piece of artwork that is close to real life. I tried painting on the linen (the little chicken) just to see wether the weave might be too thick but I think it worked okay. The little chicken was just a tester, I can use as a filler in the storage of the studio when I get to it in the next 5 years....lol 

I'll keep you posted on the final results of painting on the oak board.

Meanwhile.......

Santa, can I please have a mini saw????

Happy minis every one.

ML Fi xx

Ilona......Ilona

Magnolia - Magnolia Grandiflora how beautiful and perfect for Ambrosia Place and made by the exacting hand of the beautiful Ilona from mimimumloon . Many weeks ago Ilona showed us a beautiful magnolia she made. After reading my post about Ambrosia Place she was inspired to create, as soon as I saw the beautiful blooms I knew they must find their way to live in our house. Finally the Magnolia branch arrived and I have to admit to having a tear in my eye as I held it in my hand. I had a strong feeling of my Mother looking over my shoulder and admiring the careful detail that was in the delicate and striking flowers. Every detail has been carefully crafted right down to the rusty under leaf, the lichen moss and the pollen, even a slightly browned petal. This is perfection and my photographs do not do the detail justice.

Please take note of the careful detail in every petal and leaf on the back as well as the front, it doesn't matter which angle you look, it's all there, even the little buds of flowers. Ilona was so kind that she also sent to me a collection of beautiful gifts that all had the magnolia signature that is so perfect for Ambrosia place. Above you can see some tiny linen  towels and soaps and believe me there, were many more. I sadly ran out of light before I could photograph and I have been waiting for some good light but we have been pounded with the most awful weather, it wont clear for days. So I thought best to post what I have now and the rest when the light is better, I really would like to do this kindness justice.

Dear Ilona, thank you so much for your kindness, you know how much it cheered my heart. 

Thank you my dear friend. XX

Much love to you all and happy minis.

Fi xx

Foot note : I just wanted to clarify that I commissioned Ilona to make the Magnolia after she made this lovely post about being inspired by my story of  Ambrosia Place. Click here to see the post. I'm afraid I have given the impression it was a gift, the gifts are to follow.

Coming soon

Hello every one,

My goodness when I look at the date of my last post I realise just how long ago it was. It has been very hectic here for a while but I can now see light at the end of the tunnel.

I would like to welcome my new followers and I have notice I now have hit 100 so I will be preparing a give away shortly just as soon as the holidays hit next week. This weekend was the first one in a while I have had a chance to play with my miniatures. As you can see from the photo I have finally finnished my kitchen except for one little painting I would like on my shelf. I took a quick snap so you could see that after many frustrations I have completed the range hood lighting I had so much trouble with.The difficulty was working out how to get access to the bulb without effecting the out side wall. Both the flue and the hood are completely removable in case of any problems and I am so glad I have that access as just as I was about to take the photo the light went out due to a loose bulb. A quick bang on the wall fixed that......; ) but I will be able to remove the hood and tighten the bulb YAY!!

Next week should give me a bit more time to take photos of all aspects of the kitchen and some very special miniatures I received in the mail this week, I can't wait to show you.

Until then happy minis every one and apologies for not keeping up with every ones blogs I promise I will make up for it shortly.

Much Love, Fi xx