Liberty Biberty

A 'Little' Valentine's Day Room

2012-02-14T22:37:00.000+13:00

I've borrowed the party room from above the bakery for a little Valentine's Day fun!

The roses were made by Sabiha.

The bed was a little unfinished one that I bought in Paris.

Everything else I made myself...I had a great time putting this little room together!

And now 'Real Life' size...

I made these cookies for Valentine's Day...I slipped one into Liberty's lunchbox today.

And here's one Liberty made to surprise someone special!

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Thank you for all the emails asking if I'm alright.

I haven't had much spare time lately...I've somehow become a children's party planner!

And my camera broke...had to save up for a new one...it works really well!

I hope to find more time for blogging!

Mercedes

Visions of Sugarplums!

2011-12-22T17:08:00.000+13:00

Yesterday I had the inaugural 'Visions of Sugarplums' girls craft day at my house.

Nine perfectly behaved little crafters came along.

They were all 5 - 7 years old with one 9 year old there to help.

I couldn't resist a little festive decorating for the occasion.

Any excuse to pretty things up!

Of course the day started with a cupcake!

Our first craft was decorating little gingerbread houses.

You know how much little ladies love icing!

The weather was beautiful (for a change!) so the icing dried quickly and we were able to assemble the houses easily.

It was a very serious business!

The girls also iced Christmas cookies for their daddies.

Here is Liberty's finished house.

The decorations came with the house kit.

Gingerbread house city!

Patiently waiting for lunch.

Here's one of the reasons I haven't been blogging this month.

I've been baking and selling these cookies, they've been very popular!

My friend Pauline came to help me (thankfully!), we were so busy we forgot to take photos of all the crafting.

The girls made bath salts for their mothers, crepe paper roses and beautiful gift tags.

The tag making was the most popular activity, they kept asking if they could make more!

They also made ballet dress Christmas decorations.

And folded paper decorations.

They all had such a good time.

It was a very busy day, but we all had such fun!

And they're all wanting to do it again!

Now I have three days to get this place ready for Christmas...

Merry Christmas to you all!

Mercedes

A Ballerina Tea Party!

2011-11-23T10:10:00.000+13:00

Recently a friend asked me to help her plan a 'ballerina tea party' for her daughter's fifth birthday.

It was a great thrill to be asked and a lot of fun to plan!

These are the invitations I made.

I thought you might like to see some pictures of the party...

Here is the sweet little birthday girl, Lillyana, with my Liberty.

The party was in a big hall.

I've never had a hall to decorate before.

That's my helpful hubby up the ladder - I couldn't have done it without him!

I was going to make the frilly hanging pompoms but we were able to borrow them from a friend.

This frame usually hangs on the wall in my lounge, I made some pretty birthday bunting to go in it.

The papers and letters are from 'Grace Taylor Designs'.

My beautiful Cinderella dress!

A party ballerina came along to play games with the 20 girls who were there.

Wall decorations.

Gift boxes.

Inside the gift boxes were little china trinket boxes and inside those there was a pearl necklace with a silver ballerina charm.

A table set with vintage china for 20 little ballerinas!

And tables set for the mothers of the ballerinas.
We had a small glitch with the pink chairs we were going to use, the black ones would have had bows around them if we had known we were going to use them.

Vintage ballerina placemats.

Most of the food was pink and white!

Strawberry teacup jellies.

I made those ballerina dress cookies - still can't believe I made them!

There's a fabulous tutorial here.
I didn't have a cookie cutter, they all had to be cut out by hand, time consuming but well worth the effort!

I made this tutu skirt for Liberty to wear to her book day parade at school the week before the party.

(more about that in another post.)

A cupcake tower for the birthday girl!

The art table.

Frills everywhere!

I love frills!!

I made ballet bags for all the guests to take home.

Yes! I made those cute ballet slipper cookies too!

And just beacause I felt I needed to finish things off, I made these thank you cards.

I'm very happy to tell you that the party was a great success!

And I really enjoyed being a party planner!

Mercedes

My wonderful trip!

2011-11-18T17:28:00.000+13:00

My trip to Europe really was the 'trip of a lifetime'.

Now I'm back it all seems like it was a dream.

This time last year I would never have thought that I would be meeting Sylvia and Sabiha.

Those two girls gave me the most wonderful time. I stayed at Sylvia's house for the first few days and really was treated like a Princess from the moment I arrived!

I took about 600 photos in the ten days I was in Europe...I'll show you just a few.

The photo above was taken in the incredibly beautiful town of Zaanse Schans.

Here we all are at the restaurant where Sylvia's son is a chef.

We had the most fantastic and delicious five course meal here, I ate all sorts of things I would never eat at home, lol!

Sylvia took me to Utrecht to meet her daughter.

Never in my life have I seen so many bicycles!

Rosanna flew in from Italy to meet me!

We all such fun together, lots of talking, laughing, presents and playing with Sylvia's dollhouses!

Sylvia took Rosanna and I to Amsterdam where there were so many beautiful old buildings.

We went for a long walk to meet...

the fabulous Karina!

Karina's mouse mansion is truly a sight to behold and she is just the loveliest person!

The day after Rosanna left Sylvia, Sabiha and I went to Paris together (we were living the dream!) on the high speed train.

Macarons at McCafe!! LOL!

We spent an afternoon walking around Montmartre and enjoyed the views from the magnificient Sacre Coeur.

We managed to find our way to Lea Frisoni's tiny shop.

Doesn't it look just like a dollhouse!

The buildings in Paris were just beautiful.

I think we took more pictures of rooftops, windows and doors in Paris than anything else!

We took an 'open top bus tour' so we could see all the sights.

We were able to get off the bus and on the next one wherever we liked.

Although it was sunny it was freezing!

I don't think I have ever been so cold in all my life!

And of course we made our pilgrimage to Laduree.

Which was every bit as fabulous as I had imagined it would be!

After Paris I stayed at Sabiha's beautiful home where I continued to enjoy the life of a Princess!

Here is the table all set for breakfast.

Sabiha took me to see some very famous windmills near Dordrecht.

All too soon I was back at the airport to make my way back home.

The Netherlands are a VERY long way from New Zealand! About 23 hours flying time. On the way there I had a 16 hour stopover in Malaysia - so it took me two days to get there.

But it was worth every minute of the travel time.

Friends here at home ask me what the best part of my trip was and I can honestly say that every day was the BEST! I really cannot pick just one day!

Thanks to my wonderful friends in Europe I really did have the time of my life!

Mercedes

Mr Nylon in Holland!

2011-10-19T08:10:00.001+13:00

Mr Nylon is relaxing in The Netherlands.

As you can see he has found some very comfortable accomodation.

Who's that going into the most fabulous antique shop?

Yes! Can you believe it, Bri Nylon let his wife come along on this trip with him.

Mrs Nylon isn't the sort of person who sits around relaxing when she's on holiday.

She rarely has time without the kids around so she has to make the most of it.

When there are new shops to explore nothing is going to stop her!

She can hear Bri groaning and moaning but she's decided to just ignore him and enjoy herself.

'I do wish he'd just wander off and entertain himself for a change,' she thinks.

Well, Bri did wander off but he took Silky with him.

Bri found the most enchanting little atelier and thought he might take up painting...nudes of course.

But he couldn't convince Silky to disrobe for him...she was too busy looking at the view and wondering if there might be a suitable place to live around these parts.

Soon enough Silky found the perfect property...

'Hmmm,' thinks Silky, 'it's a little grubby here to say the least.'

However, she's a hard working woman and she can see the place has huge potential.

Feeling rather worn out after trudging around the streets of Amsterdam Silky finds a cool spot to sit and rest her weary feet while she wonders where Bri has disappeared to.

If she'd only been able to turn her head (she's had a lifelong problem with her neck).

There he is, just lying around again!

'What's a guy got to do to get some entertainment around here?' thinks Bri.

Once he realised no one was going to turn up to entertain him Bri moved on.

He found an abandoned attic with more alcohol lying around than one man should drink in an afternoon.

He's looking pretty pleased with himself once again...could have something to do with the bottle of vino.

'This could be a cosy place to live,' he thinks (remember he's had a lot to drink)...'with a little cleaning, hmmm, where is that wife of mine?'

On his way to find his wife Bri stumbles (remember ALL that alcohol) into a disused factory...'things sure are in a sorry state around here,' he thinks.

Finally, Bri shows up at the place his wife has chosen as her favourite place to live (although she is considering something a little cleaner).

I'm not so sure Bri is looking too good after all that alcohol!

Yes, we're all having fun in the Netherlands!

Sylvia (chief photographer), Rosanna (photographer's assistant) and I (model management) had much fun with the Nylon's today.

Early tomorrow morning my trip of a lifetime continues as Sylvia, Sabiha and I head to PARIS!!!!!

Mercedes

Where in the world is Mr Nylon off to?

2011-10-09T05:05:00.000+13:00

Hmmm, Mr Nylon's looking pretty pleased with himself...once again... maybe it's just his look.

Looks like he's going somewhere with that suitcase...I wonder if he'll take the wife this time?

I can tell you that Mr Nylon is off to the other side of the world.

In three days time he will be leaving for the Netherlands!!!

I know you're thinking that's an awfully small suitcase for someone to be taking on such a long journey. But I'm sure you know by now that Bri's the type of man who (if he was packing his own bag) wouldn't take anything more than the bare essentials.

And I think we all know his wardrobe is very limited!

On Tuesday night I leave for the trip of a lifetime to visit Sylvia and Sabiha in the Netherlands. Rosanna will also come from Italy to join us for a few days.

It's all happening because months ago my husband saw a half price airfare to Europe and said I HAD to go and visit my friends!

It's just after 5am on Sunday morning here and I've been awake for an hour already!

It's all TOO exciting!!

Mercedes

A little French inspired roombox

2011-09-08T21:36:00.000+12:00

I made this little roomboxand everything in it for a friend's birthday.

She loves French things!

It's very small and was quite hard to photograph.

I think the box was once a photo box, Liberty found it in the rubbish collection!

This last photo was taken before it was finished.

Lately I haven't been making minis so much, I've been working on things in the real house...and Liberty's playhouse...much more to show you soon!

I am very happy to tell you my dear friend Sabiha, who is not only a very talented miniaturist, she is also an interior decorater, has a blog called 'Lifestyle Interiors' and she is having a fabulous giveaway!

Visit her blog to participate!

And I must thank you all for your lovely comments on Liberty's birthday party.

I think I'll print them out to show her when she's a teenager, lol!

Mercedes

The muffin recipe...

2011-08-30T20:59:00.000+12:00

For those of you who asked here is the muffin recipe I use.
They are very ordinary muffins!

50g butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
3/4 cup plain baking flour
2 teaspoons mixed spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
3/4 cup milk

Topping
Mix together:
50g melted butter
1/2 cup of oats
1/3 cup brown sugar

Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl. Beat in egg. Sift wholemeal flour, flour, mixed spice, baking powder and salt together. Return husks from sifter to bowl. Dissolve the soda in the milk. Add sifted ingredients alternately with soda to the creamed mixture, mixing just to combine. Spoon mixture into greased patty tins. Cover each muffin with the topping then bake at 200 degrees Celcius for 12-15 minutes.

The topping is my own addition. I love it because it makes the tops super crunchy and sweet. If any of the topping gets burnt don't eat it, it tastes awful!

And for those of you who asked just how cold it gets here, well...we had our coldest daytime temperature ever recorded, it was 8.2 degrees celcius (it gets colder at night). And we had snow for the first time since 1939, although some of the experts say it was 'graupel' or soft hail.
Now I know some of you will be laughing at the 8.2 degrees being 'cold' but here in Auckland we don't have central heating in our houses, during the day you only heat the room you're in and at night you don't heat anything! As our house is over 80 years old if it's 8.2 degrees outside it means it's just as cold inside the house! You can usually see your breath when you wake up in the morning, makes it very difficult to get out of a cosy bed. And poor Noah has to wear shorts to school all year round, whatever the weather. Happily the weather has warmed up considerably in the last week.

Enjoy the muffins!

Mercedes

Muffins!

2011-08-22T19:55:00.000+12:00

The weather has been VERY cold here lately.

So to warm the kids up after school I thought I'd try and be 'Mother of the Year' (lol!) and have some tasty, freshly baked muffins waiting for them.

And what should arrive in the mail on the same day but a basket of the tinest little muffins!

These sweet little miniature muffins were a gift from Anna of 'It's the Little Things'.

Anna makes the sweetest little baked goods and these teensy muffins are just perfection!

They were a wonderful surprise on one of the coldest days we've ever had - the weather is crazy here this winter.

Thank you Anna!

Mercedes

(oh, yes...the kids did appreciate the homemade muffins and for a few minutes I was the world's best mother!)

Liberty's Cake Decorating Party!

2011-08-09T16:50:00.001+12:00

Can you believe another year has gone by and Liberty has just

turned seven!!

She had been planning her cake decorating party almost since her 6th birthday!

I made the invitations in a great rush, just before school finished for two weeks holiday, using things I had at home.

Welcome to the party!

The 'Liberty's Bake Shop' sign was made for Liberty by Iris who (doesn't have a blog) is just the sweetest person.

I hung it on the front door with a wreath of silk roses.

(I found the roses at an Op shop for just $3!)

Last minute preparations - it seems no matter how much time you have, you will always be working right to the last minute!

The party was held on the last day of the school holidays so we had two whole weeks to get ready.

I had a lot of fun making the 'Cupcakery Bakery' sign one evening.

I just used whatever I could find in my scrapbooking pile.

Here's the back of the cupcakery sign. I had been keeping the piece of wrapping paper with those desserts on it for years just waiting for the right thing to use it for.

I made the bunting from 'Laura Ashley' fabric scraps given to me by a friend.

There was a colouring activity for the kids to do when they arrived.

It's always good to keep them busy until the last guest arrives.

We printed carnival letters for the 'Happy Birthday' banner and coloured them in.

My seven year old!

I found a fabulous tutorial here for making the coffee filter balls.

I really wanted to make a coffee filter garland but didn't have enough filters.

The round fluted filters that they use for these balls aren't readily available here in New Zealand. I was so excited when I found a pack at an Op shop!

These little goody bags were for a game we didn't have time for but they all got to take them home at the end of the party.

Here's what was inside the goody bags.

Party food!

The tea cups filled with jelly were very popular!

For the second year in a row we had a beautiful sunny winters day for the party.

Here's what we used Lamina's beautiful tea towel for.

'Pin the Cherry on the Cupcake'

We used stickers with the kids initials for the cherries.

We also had an egg and spoon race.

There were bowls of buttercream frosting. We filled snap lock bags with royal icing and taped one corner before cutting a little 'V' shape in it to pipe with - they worked really well for little hands!

Sophie, Holly and Pauline - my three wonderful helpers.

I made them all aprons from pretty furnishing fabric samples.

Pauline took ALL the photos!

The sewing machine was busy all week!

I made simple aprons for all the little guests.

The girls apron fabrics are ' Laura Ashley' scraps given to me by a friend!

I added some cupcakes to the front Liberty's apron.

Yum!

Hard at work!

The children all really enjoyed themselves.

There were two boys at the party and they had a great time.

They were thrilled with their aprons too!

After frosting a couple of cakes each Sophie (my teenage helper) showed the kids how to make a simple fondant person.

Liberty added a scarf to her persons neck.

I collected glass candlesticks from the Op shops. I even found six matching little glass dishes (at different Op shops!) and turned them into cupcake stands. I just blu-tacked the dishes to the candlesticks.

Here's the birthday cake!

'Hmmm, that looks rather boring', you're thinking...

We let the kids do the decorating!

There was complete silence while they were decorating the cake, they were really concentrating.

The happy result!

Eight happy sugar filled kids!

One happy SEVEN year old!

The party was a great success!

Having just eight children there and three extra helpers (plus hubby and myself) made it much easier.

I always find a lot of inspiration from seeing other people's parties, so if anyone's considering a cake decorating party I hope this post helps!

If you need any more information just ask!

Mercedes

A visit from Norma

2011-08-06T21:16:00.000+12:00

At the beginning of June I was lucky enough to have a visit from Norma of 'Make Mine Mini'.

Norma made these beautiful gifts for me. I love those chairs and the sweet little wooden tray. The little resin angel she sent me when she returned to Sydney.

Norma sent this chair to Liberty for her dollhouse which was under construction when she came...sorry to say it's still under construction two months later. (I'm finding it hard to get motivated to do anything this winter! Although this week I have made an effort to get things moving with Liberty's house.)

Norma also gave Liberty this absolutely stunning screen printed (life size, lol!) tea towel.

It was made by the fabulously talented Lamina at 'Do A Bit'.

It's far too beautiful to be used as a tea towel...we did however use it at Liberty's birthday party last week...I'm just sorting through the party photos now and will show you that next week!

Frederica (on the right) of Frederica's Little World came over and joined us for lunch.

It was a fun day!

And here's a little surprise that landed in my mailbox recently from Katie at 'Katies Clay Corner'.

Two of the sweetest little birdhouses with cake decals on them.

When Katie saw the mini bakery she thought they would look perfect there!

Thank you Katie!!

Mercedes

Here it is! - The Shabby Bakery

2011-06-13T20:42:00.000+12:00

Finally! I can show you what's inside the renovated building.

It's something Liberty has wanted for a long time - a shabby bakery!

Our wonderful friend Kim Saulter made ALL the food.

This gorgeous counter filled with treats was a Christmas gift from Kim.

Once that arrived I knew the bakery HAD to be created!

That's a photo of my cousin and I (I'm on the right), when I was three years old, having a tea party.

The tea and coffee packets were made by Sabiha.

'Donna Hay Kids' is Liberty's favourite magazine.

And here's the 'Party Room' upstairs.

I've cut doorways in the side of this building so that one day I can build the rest of the house beside it.

Well, that's the plan at this stage!

The bakery isn't entirely finished there are still a few more things to make.

I exhibited it at my miniature club's biennial show a couple of weeks ago and I thought you might like to see it too.

Mercedes

Parquet and Panelling...

2011-05-30T22:48:00.001+12:00

Continuing with the little building renovation here is the upstairs room now.

I got a lot of inspiration from Lea Frisoni's book - "Le Grand Livre de la Maison Miniature".

I LOVE how the wood panelling turned out.

This was the result when I attempted to make the parquet flooring as in the book. I soon realised I didn't have the patience to figure out the instructions properly (I like things to happen fast!) so I just made it up as I went. Although it's nowhere near perfect I was surprised as anyone and very pleased at how well it turned out!

I have filled this little building with some very special minis from a wonderful friend.

If we get some sunshine this week I'll take some pics to show you.

Mercedes

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T21:45:00.000+12:00

We've had lovely Easter Sunday here.

The torrential rain the forecasters predicted stayed away so the Easter bunny was able to hide his eggs in the garden.

Imagine Liberty's surprise to see the Easter bunny had delivered lots of bunny things in her playhouse!

We have been looking after the bunny rabbit for some friends while they are on holiday.

Liberty will miss him when he goes home!

On Good Friday we baked our Easter cupcakes.

Very yummy!

Our egg tree with all the beautiful eggs Sylvia made for us.

I found this delightful book about the Easter Bunny at an Op shop.

It has the most gorgeous illustrations.

These two wonderful chooks came from Sylvia.

One for the real house and a mini one!

Easter came to the mini garden too!

Thank you all for your lovely comments on Easter at the barn.

I hope your Easter weekend is going as well as ours has!

Mercedes

Easter at the Barn

2011-04-22T06:38:00.000+12:00

I've had a lot of fun making Easter things for the barn this month.

Easter Basket a gift from Kim Saulter.

Jacket with tiny butterfly buttons made by Sylvia.

Beautiful bunny sign made by Sylvia.

Hope you enjoyed that little Easter excursion.

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter!

Mercedes

A little peek in the barn!

2011-03-30T21:33:00.000+13:00

Of course there's still a LOT more to go in the barn but I thought you might like to see a little of what I've been making.

I saw a shelf like this at the garden centre but I couldn't afford it in real life so I made it in miniature!

The rusty bench was originally white metal. I wasn't going to make it quite so rusty but I always get a little carried away when it somes to rust.

The 'Bistrot de Paris' box I made from a kitset.

Katie made the basket which I filled with pillows.

I decided the basket needed a rusty stand so I made one.

I made this little cupboard from some painted sticks that someone at my club was throwing out.

I haven't fixed the door in properly yet but I love the way it turned out.

Just look at that sunlight coming through the window!

Unfortunately it's the last of the summer sun, there's a definite autumnal chill in the air these days (I'm not too happy about that!).

Mercedes

A little building renovation...

2011-03-09T21:53:00.000+13:00

When I first joined the miniatures club they were building Victorian shops to be displayed at their next show and I was asked if I'd like to build one too. I said 'yes' and was given the pre-cut pieces of wood to build the shop. One of the ladies from the club helped me with the building and wallpapering - it was a great way to learn the basics.

The bricks were the most tedious part. They're made of sandpaper that I added a little grey paint to before I cut it up into bricks. I can't say I ever want to brick anything again!

I made the upstairs shop a Victorian photography studio called 'Liberty Art Portrait Studio'.

The downstairs was a toyshop called 'Noah's Arkade'.

But that was five years ago...and I've grown tired of looking at these shops and thinking how much better I could do things now that I (almost) know what I'm doing...

So I've been renovating and here's the downstairs shop now.

All shabbied up of course! It's not quite finished yet.

I had to make a new front window which turned out to be quite a challenge - the weather was so humid the glue wouldn't dry.

I love that wallpaper (Roosevelt Rose by MiniGraphics).

The flooring and ceiling are scrapbooking papers.

The newly shabbied brass light.

It's not a toyshop any more...soon I'll show you what it's going to be.

I'm having so much fun with this little renovation!

Mercedes

Chair makeover

2011-02-26T06:27:00.001+13:00

Late last year hubby went away to his brother's wedding in England for two weeks.

Hubby doesn't like change around the 1:1 house much so I decided to have a little furniture makeover fun while he was gone. I knew he'd be so happy to see us when he got back that he probably wouldn't notice a few new bits of furniture around the house.

My friend Frederica gave me the wine table and I quickly painted it and shabbied it.

I had a list of furntiure I wanted to find at second hand shops while he was away...this chair was not on the list.

But when I saw it I just HAD to have it - the price tag of $5 may have had something to do with that!

It was a very pretty shape...perfectly shabby.

(The power tools are not mine, lol! Hubby had the camera so I had to take the chair to my sister-in-law's house to photograph. I did get a little help while I was there with some other projects!)

What I didn't realise, when I so hastily bought it, was that it had at least 500 industrial strength staples keeping that ugly green fabric attached to it.

I almost gave up on the chair several times because of those staples, it took days to get them out using pliers and a chisel.

I wasn't going to paint the chair because it was really lovely oak but when I put it in the lounge it was just screaming to be painted. I can't say I enjoy painting life size furniture.

The upholstery is less than perfect - I'm hopelss with a staplegun on my own, it nearly shoots me across the room when I try to use it.

A friend gave me the toile fabric which was a furnishing sample. Amazingly there was exactly enough to cover the chair! Even though I added some extra padding I have to say it's not the most comfortable chair in the world.

I was pretty pleased with the result and hubby was very impressed so the chair was allowed to stay!

Only the spool on the left is really vintage. The other three came from the Japan shop and I aged them.

As for the tall blue weathered 'thing'...

it was another Op Shop find, here's what it looked like when I bought it. It's made of brass.

That's something I did enjoy painting!

Meet my sweet little niece Mia.

I look after her five days a week so finding time for mini's and other projects is a bit of a challenge these days! But there's plenty more half finished projects - big and small - around here at the moment...more to show you soon!

Thank you for all your messages regarding the Christchurch earthquake. New Zealand is a very small country and you'll find nearly everyone knows someone in Christchurch. It has been a very harrowing week watching all the news reports on the television. And still so very hard to believe that such a tradgedy could happen here.

Mercedes

Earthquake in Christchurch

2011-02-23T04:04:00.000+13:00

Thank you to all the people who have emailed me reagarding the devastating earthquake which hit Christchurch at lunch time yesterday. I live in Auckland (near the top of the North Island), over 1000 kilometres (over 400 miles) away from Christchurch (in the Canterbury region in the middle of the South Island), and no effects were felt where I live.

Christchurch is the same place that had a huge earthquake last year on September 4th.

Yesterdays earthquake was much worse and this time there are many fatalities and people trapped in collapsed buildings. Search and rescue teams are coming from across the world to help out.

It is a shock to all New Zealanders to see the devastation in Christchurch, it really isn't something we ever expected to see here. There are pictures and information here: New Zealand Herald.

My thoughts are with all the people in Christchurch.

Mercedes

Valentine's Day at the 'little' B&B...

2011-02-14T16:06:00.003+13:00

Tiny tart by Naomi Machida.

Cream blanket by Sylvia.

Tray by Kim Saulter.

Heart cookies by Kim Saulter.

Mirror by Eva.

Cupcake by Kim Saulter.

Cake by Kim Saulter.

So who has got this little romantic love nest ready...

Well, I did see Mr Nylon there earlier today...

He's looking pretty pleased with himself but he's a gentleman (doesn't dress like one, I know!) so he's not telling who he's waiting for...that's for to you to guess!

The B&B is just a temporary roombox (the box actually belongs to Liberty and she wants her things back in it!).

I just decided to have some fun last week putting this little scene together.

Hope you all have a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Mercedes

From Christmas decorations to Valentine decorations

2011-02-14T16:04:00.000+13:00

Here's a craft we did to 'pretty up' the house for Valentine's Day.

I was at my local craft store the other day and they were selling off the last of their Christmas decorations for $1 a bag. Each bag had ten decorations in it. These little hearts came in pairs - that was even better value!

So I got 40 little hearts for just $2.

At Christmas time they would have cost me $6 a pair - and they're only plastic.

So that's $120 worth of decorations for just $2 - BARGAIN!

We set to work painting them.

The crafting starts early in the morning (every day) at our house, this was before breakfast!

Rather than try and paint dots on them I painted some paper and puched out the dots with my little vintage hole punch - which I found at the Op shop for 50cents last week!

A coat of 'Mod Podge' made them all lovely and shiny.

I was going to hang them on a branch but I could find one I liked, so we just strung them up as a garland.

Liberty presented me with this sweet little roombox this morning.

It was her Valentine's Day present to me!

She worked on it with her daddy in the garage. She found a wooden box and painted it white then got her dad to add a piece of wood for the porch, which she had him score floorboards on.

Liberty asked me if she could borrow some of my dollhouse stuff, lol!

This morning she said she needed to go outside to get some fresh air ( I wondered why!) and she came back in with this precious little gift of love!

Mercedes

Liberty's tea party in Miniature!!!

2011-02-09T20:50:00.000+13:00

Today Liberty recieved the most fabulous gift in the mail from the super talented Kim Saulter.

Kim was so inspired by Liberty's summer tea party that she recreated it in 1:12 scale!!

So, so, so beautiful!

You may have heard our squeals of delight on the other side of the world.

Butterfly cakes on a cake stand that looks just like our real one!

Cupcakes!

Cream filled pastries!

Kim even made the Eiffel Tower cookies!!!

Perfection!

Jelly and cream in tea cups!

This is something Liberty wants at her next tea party!

Just so you can see how tiny everything is!

Kim knows that little girls like to play with their minis so she's left it up to Liberty to arrange everything.

I can assure you those tables will be rearranged every day!

(Liberty had her first ballet lesson today which is why she is wearing a leotard - she won't take it off!)

Absolute perfection from one of the sweetest miniaturists!

And we haven't showed you what Kim sent us for Christmas yet...let's just say we're working on a very sweet, special little project!

Thank you Kim!

Mercedes and Liberty

Some new things in the Country House...

2011-02-07T20:34:00.001+13:00

Just look at this tiny 1:12 scale exquisitely embroidered cushion!

It is the work of Sandi Quance (from Canada).

Sandi asked Liberty and I what we would like to see on a cushion and we suggested a few animals.

Sandi outdid herself with not one but three perfect tiny cushions!

The beautiful wicker chair came from Wendy Brown (of England).

Wendy asked if we could do a swap and she made the most beautiful wicker items.

This beautiful wicker chest is another of Wendy's creations. It fits so perfectly in the corner of the girls' bedroom it looks like it was made to go there!

The baskets all come out and are fully lined with gingham fabric.

Wendy made the blue chair and cot in half scale especially for Liberty and the tiny pink chair in quarter scale for me.

That little pink chair is only an inch high and just perfect!

Here's another one of Sandi's spectacular cushions in the country lounge.

This little bambi cushion is my favourite.

I've long wanted this bunny cushion for my real house.

It looks just perfect in the country kitchen.

The cushions are petit point embroidery - Sandi tells me she used 61 count silk gauze and silk threads - and the pictures really don't do them justice, each one is a masterpiece!

Thank you Wendy and Sandi (neither of whom have a blog!).

Mercedes

Many mini gifts!

2011-02-06T06:43:00.000+13:00

Finally the kids are both back at school. I was beginning to think the school holidays would never end!

I've been wanting to show you all the wonderful gifts I have received in the last couple of months.

This gorgeous little pram was made by Sylvia.

The pram even has a little tiny dolly in it.

Fabulous French looking basket made by Sylvia.

And here are all the goodies that were in the last few days of Sabiha's advent calendar.

Vintage boxes made by Sabiha.

Gorgeous statue from Sabiha.

Spectacular squeegees made by Sabiha.

Stunning knitting and wirework done by Frederica.

A pattern for making dollhouse things! from Betty Ann.

Tiny boxes, cushions and a hat cake! along with some beautiful cupcake papers from Claude.

Sweet little things for Liberty from Claude.

Beautiful prepartion board made by Naomi Machida.

Mrs Nylon was very happy to see this!

Lovely little basket of fruit made by Naomi Machida.

The pear has real gold leaf on it. This looks perfect outside the shabby house front door.

I did another swap with Susanna and she sent me this spectacular lemon tree.

More about where that's going soon!

Little rock fountain and beautiful books made by Susanna.

Fruit tarts made by Susanna.

These goodies came from Sophia.

Liberty has claimed the plates of Christmas food!

Boxed bouquets from Sophia.

Gorgeous gummboots from Sophia.

I love tiny gumboots!

The beautiful pink roses and yellow lillies are from Sophia.

They're in this garden for now but I have other plans for them...

Thank you everyone for your thoughtfulness and generosity!

Mercedes

A summer tea party...

2011-01-30T23:00:00.000+13:00

Last week Liberty had a little summer tea party in our backyard with her friends.

She got the idea from a magazine and had been planning her party for months!

The party had to be in summer so she could have it outside.

We had to postpone it twice because of the torrential rain we've had in the last couple of weeks.

We made all the food (apart from the strawberry sticks) ourselves...

cream filled pastries with raspberry icing...

tiny meringues...

Eiffel tower cookies...

butterfly cakes...

strawberry sticks...

tiny champagne glasses filled with pineapple juice...

sweet cupcakes...

and pretty tea cups filled with strawberry jelly...

The tea cups filled with jelly were Liberty's favourite part!

Liberty wanted her friends to do crafts with her, so she came up with the idea to make fairy wands.

She found all the supplies herself and showed everyone just what to do!

The girls all got Eiffel tower cookies to take home.

The party was in the morning at 11am.

We had the most beautiful weather! It turned out to be a very hot day.

I asked Liberty if the party was just like she had wanted it and she said, "No...it was much better!"

She was very sad when it was all over...I think there will be a lot more tea parties in her future!

Liberty's spectacular dress is made by LIFEbaby and is from their Bohemia range.

It was a gift from our dear friend Sans who lives in Singapore.

Liberty just loves that dress!

Thank you for all the holiday wishes. We had a wonderful time at the lake and caught up with old friends while we were away - that's always fun!

The school holidays finally finish this week...then I might be able to get back to blogging (I have many things to show you!) - as you can see Liberty has been keeping me rather busy!

Mercedes

Sending you sunshine!

2011-01-03T16:12:00.000+13:00

Yesterday - the beach...

Even though there are many beaches close to where we live hubby likes to find remote uninhabited ones.

It was a 1 hour drive and a 40 minute walk up and down a very steep hill to get to this one.

Well worth the effort!

Tomorrow - the lake.

This little person can hardly wait!

We're off on holiday for a few days...not sure when we'll be back...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Another year older...

2010-12-28T22:50:00.000+13:00

Today is my birthday!

This is my favourite photo from Christmas Day, today the weather has not been so nice.

The plan was to party at the beach but that has been put off until tomorrow.

I've had a lovely day, in spite of the rain and howling wind, and received some spectacular gifts!

This beautiful notice board was made by Sabiha.

It's real life size in case you're wondering!

This fabulous cushion cover came from Sylvia.

Liberty is enjoying the cushion too!

And from hubby...a funny little table.

I know you're wondering what sort of husband gives his wife a table like that?!

Well...he found it on the side of the road the week before Christmas, lol!

He tried very hard to restore it before Christmas but didn't quite make it...

so, as times are tough, it became my birthday/Christmas gift.

I think you'll agree he did an awesome restoration job!

The table is an odd height - too high for a coffee table and too low for a hall table.

It has a drawer in each end.

The plan is to find some castors to give it a little more height.

We did see some castors today but they were $23 each, I just laughed as I left the shop!

I LOVE the way the tabletop has turned out!

The giant candlestick and little tin candlehouse were from Sylvia and the perfect bird candle came from my friend Freddy.

Beautiful glass cake stand came from my brothers wife and she made the most delicious hazelnut meringues.

I ate far more of those than I should have!

From one of hubby's sisters - some gorgeous coasters.

For Christmas hubby took Liberty to my favourite shop - Bed, Bath and Table - and let her choose a present for me. I drag Liberty into that shop far more often than she likes.

After considering everything in the shop Liberty carefully selected this tin sign.

She told her daddy she just knew I would LOVE it!

And I do love it, but even more so because it was specially chosen by her!

Thank you for all the birthday messages I have received, you've all made my day wonderful!

Now, I think I hear the last of those meringues calling me...

Mercedes

Christmas Day 2010

2010-12-26T09:25:00.000+13:00

From my family to yours -

Merry Christmas!

A shabby little Christmas with Mr Nylon!

2010-12-23T20:40:00.000+13:00

After buying himself a coffee Mr Nylon entered the cottage and found himself in a room filled with shabby Christmas delight!

'Hmmm, not exactly my cup of tea', he thought, 'but I'm sure there would be some that would like it. Best thing about this place is that it's quiet.'

Cookies by Kim Saulter.

Cinnamon scrolls by Kim Saulter.

After taking a good look at his shabby surroundings Bri made himself as comfortable as he could on the pretty couch.

Looking rather pleased with himself he enjoyed a good magazine and his coffee in peace until he realised that something wasn't quite right.

'Maybe it's just a little too quiet', he thought...

Christmas cookies by Kim Saulter.

Advent calendar made by Maia.

Bri rushed back home to the welcoming arms of his (rather forgiving) family.

But where's the baby you ask?

Baby Peach is crawling as fast as she can when she spies a Christmas decoration on the floor.

That's no toy for a baby! I hear you say...oh, well, I guess it's not going to be peaceful for long!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

It wouldn't be Christmas without a little drama would it?!

Thank you for all your Christmas wishes, I hope you all have a very happy Christmas!

Mercedes

A Country Christmas with Mr Nylon!

2010-12-22T09:54:00.000+13:00

Mr Bri Nylon, his wife Silky and their children, Molly, James and baby Peach

would like to wish you all a

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mrs Nylon and the children have been busy getting the house ready for Christmas...looks like they might have done a bit of shopping at the barn, lol!

Snowglobe and wreath (below) were made by Susanna.

Food made by Debbie and Sabiha.

Angel from Sylvia.

Boxed decorations from Susanna.

And here is Mrs Nylon today trying desperately to get her Christmas baking done.

But her unruly children are making it almost impossible!

'Where is Bri when you need him', she thinks.

After days of rain Bri is making the most of a little morning sunshine on the front porch. He's looking very calm and relaxed...until he discovers there's a plant gowing in his coffee cup!

(He's the sort of man who prefers a good cup of coffee instead of an artfully arranged Christmas display)

Mr Nylon thinks it's time he got away from all this Christmas chaos.

Bri decides to take a stroll down the street...

And what has he found?

A charming little cottage and it doesn't even look too Christmassy from out here.

Feeling a little like Goldilocks Mr Nylon tries the door handle...

To be continued...

More from the Advent calendar...

2010-12-21T16:22:00.000+13:00

December seems to be flying by so quickly!

But the highlight of every morning is opening Sabiha's Advent calendar.

Here are some more of the fabulous surprises!

This lot are in no particular order...it's pretty chaotic here these days!

So many fabuous tiny things and I love them all.

The fun part is finding homes for everything!

You can see the minis I made for Sabiha on her blog and together (even though we live a world apart, lol!) we made an Advent calendar as a surprise for Sylvia.

Mercedes

Sabiha's Advent Calendar

2010-12-06T21:28:00.000+13:00

Sabiha sent me this most spectacular Advent calendar.

It's so exciting to open a little bag every morning.

Here are all the goodies from just the first five days!

The prettiest Christmas decorations.

Gorgeous plants and plant holders.

Awesome magazine boxes, magazines and wrapping paper.

Fabulous boxes and a spectacular Dudok apple pie.

Beautiful tray with bottles and ...

the world's tiniest lipstick!

Sabiha you are a wonderful friend, thank you!

Mercedes

A little Christmas in the barn!

2010-12-01T23:08:00.001+13:00

Many of you have been very patiently waiting to find out what was going in the barn.

The barn is going to be a shop!

A shop that sells vintage goods.

It's nowhere near filled up or finished but I just couldn't resist adding a little Christmas!

Birdhouse from Katie.

Rusty wreath from Susanne.

Vintage bauble wreath - fun but fiddly!

Somehow I always manage to send the beads flying everywhere whenever I make one!

Plenty more decorating to do!

Loads more things to make!

Lots more fun to have!

Merry December!

Mercedes

Tiny baby things and other gifts!

2010-11-18T17:20:00.000+13:00

I was beyond thrilled to recieve this fabulous set of beautifully crocheted babywear in the mail this week.

They were gifts from Susan at 'Minicrochetmad'.

How Susan can crochet anything that tiny is incredible!

Even hubby was speechless when he saw how perfect these things were!

I LOVE baby shoes!

Susan also crocheted this beautiful, fine, tiny doily which has found its way into the shabby house.

Thank you Susan!

Also in the mail this week was this sweet little tiny basket made by Sylvia.

Like me you're probably wondering how a woman having so much trouble with her eyesight can make something so perfectly tiny...as Sabiha says 'she is amazing'!

Thank you Sylvia!

And these little Greengate beauties were gifts from Carolyn, who I caught up with a few weeks ago at a miniatures convention here in New Zealand.

Thank you Carolyn!

And thank you for all your comments on Liberty's costume, she was thrilled to read them!

(and now she thinks she should have her own blog, lol!)

Mercedes

A little crazy old lady...

2010-11-08T17:34:00.000+13:00

Last week was 'book week' at Liberty's school.

On Friday they had to dress up as a character from a book.

Liberty chose to go as 'a crazy old lady called Daisy O'Grady'.

Daisy is a rather witchy character in this book.

I made the costume on Thursday - nothing like a last minute rush.

(the fluffy thing above Liberty's head is a pirate standing behind her, lol!)

This book came free when Scholastic Book Club couldn't fill our order earlier in the year.

It has the most wonderful detailed illustrations.

Liberty's a details girl (funny that!) so it had to be just right!

One of the bead belts came apart just before we left for school and had to be threaded back together in great haste!

Here's Daisy from the book.

Liberty didn't want a hat, she was worried she would put it down somewhere and lose it.

I found some bat stickers in my scrapbooking pile so was able to re-create Daisy's buttons.

Most challenging part was making a fox!

I've had that (synthetic) fur lying around for years...knew I'd need it someday.

I made the coat (top pic) from some fabric that was given to me and only had to buy the dress fabric.

Total cost of the whole outfit was just $6!!! I had everything else.

And another $2 for the can of black hairspray - which was the most important part of the look for Liberty!

Liberty won the prize for the best girls costume in her class!

On Tuesday the teacher read 'The Paper Bag Princess' and the children were all given a paper rubbish bag to make into an outfit of their choice.

I went and helped them - absolute chaos!

This dress was all Liberty's own design.

Here's what she's laughing at - two ducks came to visit us in our backyard today!

Mercedes

An update on the country house

2010-11-03T21:19:00.000+13:00

A few weeks ago I was asked to display my dollhouses at a local retirement village.

The country house was in a state of chaos because I'd been changing rooms around.

I hastily sorted it out and made a few new bits of furntiture.

I thought you might like to see how the house looks now (it's not entirely finished).

Cake, rice krispie treats and pancakes are all recently arrived gifts from the awesomely talented Kim Saulter.

It was a nightmare transporting the houses to the village, I don't like sticking everything down and I went over a bumpy road and heard everthing go flying!

It took me an hour and a half to set everything up again when I got there and I was thinking 'never again'!

However, so many people got to see and enjoy the houses that weekend it made it all worthwhile.
In fact so many people came to look that they had to get extra staff in the village cafe to cater for them, lol!

Mercedes

A Thrifty Apron for Liberty

2010-10-21T22:48:00.000+13:00

Liberty LOVES to bake!

So I thought I should make her a pretty apron.

It really all started with this funny little chair I found at an Op shop for just $2.

You may be wondering how buying that chair led me to making an apron...

Well, you see, this super sweet fabric was covering the cushion on the chair when I bought it.

I didn't want the chair at all, just this piece of fabric!

I was surprised to find the chair cushion still had the original fabric on it.

I've had the fabric lying around for about 18 months...I finally decided it was time to get sewing.

A friend gave me the pretty striped fabric and the buttons came off Liberty's old clothes.

No pattern...I just made it up as I went!

I've said it before but sometimes I really surprise myself with what I can do.

I bought those super gorgeous measuring cups and spoons and the cupcake cookie cutters and rolling pin for Liberty for her 6th birthday.

The spatula we bought later, I took her to a kitchen shop and let her choose it, she had a great time!
The sweet little jigsaw puzzle came from Sabiha.

My happy little baker - dancing with delight!

And that little $2 chair...

after washing and repairing the original cushion I sold it on an auction website for $34. LOL!!

So that's got to be the thriftiest apron ever!

Mercedes

Mail!

2010-10-20T22:01:00.000+13:00

The postie has been kept very busy delivering beautiful mini's to my home.

This gorgeous tiny box of cookies was a swap gift from Naomi Machida of 'Noa Miniatures'.

Dessert in ramekin made by Naomi.

Tiny little tart made by Naomi.

Just so you can get some idea of just how tiny that little tart is!

Liberty and I received a box brimming with goodies from Katie in America, at Katies Clay Corner.

Love Katie's little Santa (gorgeous colour too!)

And her handmade candles made it here without melting!

Super cute wooden signs.

Heaps of Mary Englebreit goodies.

Gorgeous fabrics!

And for Liberty, Katie sent even more fabulous bits'n'pieces, all proudly set out for the photo by Liberty herself!

It was like Christmas here!

Wire baskets and wreath from my mini-making friend here in New Zealand, Frederica.

Gorgeous flowers were a giveaway from Titta at 'Tiny Little Life' in Finland.

A very busy mother with two young daughters and a beautiful new baby!

Thank you to everyone!

Mercedes

Dollhouse furniture makeovers!

2010-10-06T22:31:00.000+13:00

I just felt the need to paint something blue and white.

This furniture came with the big dollhouse when I bought it.

Here's the only 'before' pic I can find.

I'm loving how it turned out!

This was a new little cupboard with a mirror but I changed it to mesh because like to see what's inside dollhouse cupboards.

Liberty has her eye on all this furniture...there's a special project she's asked me for...but more about that when I get it started...

Mercedes

Adding a little more shabby to the 1:1 lounge!

2010-10-01T17:14:00.000+13:00

Here's my new shabby chic coffee table.

Painted by hubby, distressed by me.

I brought this home from an Op shop a few weeks ago. It was beautiful mahogany (I forgot to take a pic before hubby sanded it). But it had a big crack right down the middle of it so it was only $20!

It was pouring with rain and took me three goes to finally fit it in the car.

I wasn't too sure about how happy hubby would be to see it but much to my surprise he is embracing the shabby lifestyle! (probably because it's cheaper than anything 'new')

I LOVE my 'new' table!

And I also LOVE the new pitcher sent to me by Sylvia.

Two more furniture transformations are awaiting hubby in the garage now...lol!

And here's a craft project that Sylvia sent to Liberty.

'Paint your own gumboots'!!!!!!

These are the coolest things, if you don't like what you've painted you can wipe the paint off with the special wipes.

And once you've painted them they're waterproof!

Liberty painted them three times before she was happy with the result.

So much fun!

Thank you Sylvia!!

Mercedes

More on the barn coming soon, lol!

Mail from Denmark!

2010-09-29T10:11:00.000+13:00

Recently I was thrilled to be the very lucky winner of Susanne's giveaway at her blog 'Miniature Dreams'.

I chose for Susanne to make me some 'French Antique' minis and these are the gorgeous things she sent me.

I LOVE her style!

A perfectly tiny little spray bottle.

Susanne also put some 'Princess Shabby' in the package.

She must have known how much I loved these exquisite little cushions when I first saw them on her blog.

I have the perfect place in mind for all these little treasures...

Thank you so much Susanne!

Mercedes

I built a Barn!

2010-09-14T21:02:00.000+12:00

A few months ago I told my miniaturist friend Anne that I wanted to build a barn.

Anne consulted some books, discussed architectural details with her hubby and drew up some plans.

Then we started building. That's Anne (happy in her work!).

Anne is just the most phenomenal and lovely miniaturist.

Anne had some old cedar strips that had been lying in her shed for 20 years, she let me use them for the barn, it gives it a real vintage feel. All the newer wood I painted to match the cedar.

The stairs I bought a long time ago, I just aged them.

The arched window in the back was given to me by a sweet little old lady at our club (I doubt she ever thought it would be used in a barn!).

Here's Anne's husband, Derek - the builiding inspector.

He kept a very close eye on our building methods!

It's 1:12 scale but built just like a real building.

The inspector won't give me a certificate of compliance until it has more bracing, lol!

Anne made the rectangle window and helped me build the door from scratch.

I've been going to Anne's house every now and then for the past few months to work on the barn.

Once we had built the 'bones' of the barn Anne sent it home with me to do the exterior.

It was a bit scary to be working on my own.

But one Friday a couple of weeks ago I just told myself to 'get it done'.

So I spent a day cladding the outside.

Anne and Derek loved the end result - for me that was a great compliment!

I still have to make the roof flashings.

So far I've only made the loft lights (and they work!!)

There's still a few details to be finished but I thought you might like to see it.

Soon I'll show you what's going inside, for me that's the real fun part!

Mercedes

A scene in a little birdcage

2010-09-06T16:35:00.000+12:00

Here's a little something I made for Sabiha's birthday.

The cage is 11cm (4 and a half inches) high.

It wasn't until I finished it that I realised I made EVERYTHING in the cage myself!

Thank you to all the people who have emailed asking about the earthquake that occured here in New Zealand at 4:35 on Saturday morning. I live a long way from where the quake hit and no effects were felt here.

The quake registered 7.1 on the Richter scale and the devastation it caused in Christchurch (NZ's second largest city) is unbelievable you can see pics here.

Many historic buildings have been destroyed.

But the most incredible thing is that no one died, which is really amazing when you see the destruction.

Mercedes

Balustrade Candlesticks

2010-08-26T16:45:00.000+12:00

I'd love to have some of these in real life.

Giant candlesticks made from old stair balustrades.

But because I haven't seen any real life ones here I thought I'd make them in mini!

I was a very lucky girl to recieve this in the mail from Sylvia the other day.

How cute is that card?!

Incredible work! I especially love that tiny bag.

It would seem there is nothing Sylvia cannot do!

Mercedes

Mr Nylon gets a gift!

2010-08-10T17:16:00.000+12:00

Bri Nylon is a very happy chappy!

Look at the fabulous gift he received in the mail last week - a lawn mower!

Sent to him especially, all the way from America by Kim Saulter.

Bri thought he'd try out the new mower in the garden.

"Sacre Bleu!", he exclaims (he still thinks he's at the Petite Maison) as he almost runs over a skipping rope.

"Those %&$# kids, can't they put anything away...do I have to do EVERYTHING myself around here!"

Meanwhile Silky Nylon is admiring the latest renovations to her kitchen.

Newly painted rustic style kitchen cupboards, tiled splashback and butlers sink.

All specially handcrafted by the Nylon's personal decorater.

I know, there's still no oven!

While Mr Nylon is out of the house Mrs Nylon seizes the opportunity to enjoy a little late afternoon treat (beautifully made by Kim).

'Oh, yes, this is the life', she thinks as she enjoys a little peace and solitude, 'if it keeps him out of the house that mower might just be the best thing Bri has ever been given!'

Thank you Kim!

Mercedes

Gorgeous Gifts!

2010-08-07T10:32:00.000+12:00

Liberty wanted to show you some of the prettiest and sweetest things she got for her birthday.

This super sized cookie arrived in the mail all the way from the USA from Kim Saulter.

The very long dog and the world's cutest towel came from Sylvia in Holland.

The prettiest stationery came from Liberty's Dutch friend Ilayda.

And this adorable little vintage look puzzle came from Sabiha in Holland.

But imagine my surprise (and great joy!) to find gifts for me with Liberty's birthday presents!

Sabiha sent me these pretty things for my studio.

I LOVE those little cups!

And here are some gorgeous gifts from Sylvia. That beautiful notebook has a picture of her miniature atelier on the cover.

Sylvia made the sweet little birdhouse and the cushion (is there anything that woman can't do?! LOL!)

And she sent me that spectacular little trumpet made by 'Art of Mini'.

Thank you all for brightening our rainy days!

Mercedes