Time for Dressing!!

The last room, the ground floor shop, has finally been completed!! Wohoo!!! Of course the lights I bought worked during every test but chose to fail as I was about to install them. Of course!! Yay to my stash and hoarding habits a new one was found although it was considerably de-brassed. so shiny. But anyways it now means I can start dressing rooms up. Painting up furniture and all that fun stuff. That's where I hit the wall. It had been so long since I had played dress-ups I had quite forgotten how to do it. Also had forgotten where all the goodies I have been buying for the last 18 months ended up. Woe! So four hours later I mostly sort off finished up the we laundry/washroom in the Maison. Four hours!! Argh, I did find most of the goodies though. Anyway it's a start so I can see what else needs doing.

The hanging clothes dryer thingy actually worked. I'm still stunned and I walk into my workroom every morning fully expecting to see it in a matchstick heap on the floor. I had no idea what I was doing and just went an old images of the real thing. 

 For folded linen I mostly used heavy paper towel and loo paper. It's all so lovely now and smells pretty.

 The box of Paris memories I bought from Teruka on Etsy.

I love these colours!!

Thanks for stopping by, be safe. Carriexx

A Little Bit of Mini-ing.

I thought I would just post a couple of pictures of my mini ventures. I get soo busy making and selling that I don't really get much time to play with what I make. So I took a little time this very hot afternoon and had a bit of a play.

The orange iced cupcake was a gift from a friend. The Lavender was a gift from Susi at MiniEden Tienda.

I had bought this toaster when I first discovered minis years ago. I love all retro kitchenware and had a go at transforming it to something snazzier. I think it turned out well.

The delicious ring cake I bought from My French Cuisine on Etsy.

Blessings to you all!! Carrie :0)

Christmas in Australia!!!

Christmas is very different here is Australia and I thought I would share some of what we do. I live in Townsville in far north tropical Queensland. It is summer and very very hot!!! About 32 C every day, nights are only a little bit cooler and very humid. So humid sometimes everything feels wet. There will be no cooking for our Chrissie fare. Cold meats, chicken and ham with lots of different salads and garlic bread. Ice cold fruit punch to drink. A spiked batch for the adults!! Maybe roast potatoes because we just love them so much. Seafood is a huge deal for Christmas lunch. Prawns are a must. Kids are outside playing in the water while the full stuffed adults lie back and 'supervise'. Pudding and custard for afters. We will be eating left overs for days. Aussie Christmas is very much an onslught of the digestive system. Too hot to do anything else but eat!

 

Townsville or the 'Ville' is where I live. You can see Magnetic Island as well. 

Boxing Day is usually spent at any one of the wonderful water parks are local council have available free of charge. The Strand Waterpark is one. Beach on one side and the city on the other. Surf life savers always patrol. We come here a lot.  I find a spot under a shady palm catching the see breeze in my camp chair while the kids get drenched.

We spend afternoons and nights here at The Strand. A walk way that stretches the length of the beach. The Waterpark is here, BBQ facilities, playgrounds, large park area for night markets. A pier that goes out into the water. For New Years Eve a pontoon is floated out and the fireworks are shown of it. Everyone gets a great view.

The Space Net on the beach for the kids, big and small. It's in front of the only stinger net in Townsville. Living in the tropics and having palm lined beaches and aquamarine water may look pretty but we don't swim in it!! Criminal I know. We have the box jellyfish which is about all Spring and Summer. It's sting can is extremely painful and can sometimes be fatal. So councils along the coast put up stinger nets every season so you can swim safely and they are always patrolled by trained life savers. So if anything should happen they can treat you immediately.

 

At the north end of the Strand is the Rock Pool. Nearly every summer it is closed at least once so that a crocodile or two can be removed!! Usually baby ones. Occasionally a reef shark will be washed in. They are harmless but still give you a fright.

A river goes through Townsville, I don't live far from it. Along it is more walkways that goes for kilometres. In one part we have another free water playground. It is two massive split level pools or lagoons joined by cascading waterfalls. The top one here has a gallery and cafe right on the water. There is seating and tables in the water! At night in summer a giant screen is put up and you sit in the water having a drink or two watching the latest movies. The bottom pool below is lined with giant trees and more for the kids. It is a wonderful place and my kids love it. As the weather is warm here all year round we can use these places all year. We may get a week or two in winter where I might throw on a jumper. We don't have heaters. Don't need them.

 

Our homes up here are like this. Called Queenslanders. The old ones are like this anyway. Mine is and we love it!! Always up on stilts to keep us cool and to keep flash flooding away. Always a verandah and lots of casement windows. But we do have air conditioning and I would be lost with out it on hot humid nights!!

 

We do hope this doesn't happen. This time of the year is cyclone season!! Cyclone Yasi hit us last February on my 40th Birthday!! But if is does then the Army is always there to lend a hand. We have two large military bases here. My brother in law is one of the guys who fixes helicopters. I am so lucky to have been able to go up in these incredible machines on three occasions now. It is such a buzz and a great way to see everything way up there. Yay to family days!! They are very loud though, very.

 

This is some of what I do here in Townsville and how we do Christmas.

 

HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

CARRIE,

 

Shameless Plug

This is as the title suggests, a plug!! For my sister's work!! Our views, life and loves etc are the exact same but what we are drawn to in styles is so very different. For her it is Tudor and Moroccan!! Here's a pic of her latest creation. More pictures can be seen on her blog http://lavenderbliu.blogspot.com.au/. Please have a look!!!

Tuscany in a Book

I was sooo frustrated in projects taking sooo long to complete (mostly due to the time it takes for mail to be delivered,  Aussie is a big country but dollhouse wares are not readily available and are cheaper to buy from overseas, that takes weeks!!) where was I? Yes, that I marched into my mini mess room and declared 'enough'!! Determined was I to do something that showed the fruit of my labours and choice use of frustrated language that I wasn't leaving till I had produced a something!! A finished something!!! Children you know how to use a microwave!! Mummy ain't coming out till there is the sound of 'wohoo I've done something!!'. The universe had heard me for as I walked into a favourite craft haunt I saw something I had given up on ever finding. A stash of those paper mache book box things. So wonderful for doing vignettes and the such. I had searched the proverbial high and low for months for something like this. When ever I was able to tackle down a staff member of any shop and enquire about such book box things I was always greeted with the bewildered look that one receives when speaking in another language. But I grabbed a few of these recycled paper beauties and took off home!! After going through my pile of placcy boxes of mini stash looking for doors and windows I was again agog at how much I had collected over the years. And still in all that Aladdin's Cave of miniature treasure I did not have door handles. ??? So I had to buy them online and am waiting the two-four weeks it will take for them to get here. Groan. But anyhoos here are some pics of my little bit of Tuscany. I have found all my Pascale Garnier kits while scrummaging amongst other things and will make this a conservatory of sorts. Wall fountain and the such. I have a battery wall light coming as well. They are so wonderful!! No wiring, ahhhh. Race is on to see which one will be here first, handles or light.

 

 

I placed a window in the back to allow more natural light to filter though.

The wonderful table was made by Susi at MiniEden Tienda on Etsy.

 

 

Cheers from the Eternally Sunny Land Down Under and be well!!!

A Small Bit of Work Done

I got to finish a few more little things this week. I thought I would add a couple of photos. The suitcase and the pretty box on top of the cupboard I got from Susi at MiniEdenTienda on Etsy. I have only the bottom book store floor left to do on the townhouse. Then the fun of filling it full of lovely little things!! The French Revolution doll is called Genvieve. My boys wanted to know why she was wearing a pirate hat. They got a bit of a history lesson but still thought the idea of her being a pirate princess was far more interesting!! Be well!!!

 

A Little Bit of This.

I have had a little bit of spare time while I have been waiting for stock to fill orders. I did that awful thing we have to do at least once a year, clean up my work room. Groan. Then I went through my stash of goodies. Furniture to be exact. I had very much forgotten how much I had accumulated over the years. Yikes. Anyways out came the paint stripper and I had some fun. Here's a few things I did over the weekend. I have listed all of them in my shop on Etsy. Wish it was this easy to make over RL furniture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I adore this last painting. I don't know who it is done by unfortunately. Anyways back to it. I have a bed waiting to have it's corners and edges sanded. Then I'll have to go and buy more goodies!! There's space, albeit a little one, in my room now!!! My room will cave in from the vacuum!!!! Blessing to you all!!!!   Carriex