Thatcham Moving Along.

Amazing it is that something as small as my little house can take so much to 'fill' up. The kitchen was easy. Kitchens especially old ones have lots of lovely interesting things to put in them. In fact I had to pull up the reins there as I was filling it up so much that no little person in their right mind would work under such claustrophobic conditions. The lounge is a struggle however. My own house if full of bits n bobs picked up haphazardly from years travelled but when you have to make them to put in a house it a little bit more awkward. So I'm still working on the downstairs. Basics covered but it the little things that make a house a home that are eluding me. The little table still needs a finish and lots of plump cushions of course. My sewing machine sits glaring at me from across the room. We are currently on speaking terms only. It knows it's too fancy for me and I just don't treat it the way it feels I should. That is why the curtains are for the time being made out of paper. The kitchen needs a rag rug I think. Whipped up the little sewing basket, took hours! The basket is still a work in progress but I used this one for now. I'm making a lidded one. Well I'm having a go at making one anyway. But it is school holidays here in Queensland so I'm off to the bush for a week. See you then!!


Yes this photo is terrible. I used my Iphone which had just had it's third drop in water for the week. Remarkably it still works.

A Warm Kitchen

Told the kids to look after themselves on the weekend, I had a kitchen to do. They did for the most part. I haven't done much to my little house for quite some time. The boys took in turns to get sick and Etsy orders to fill. As well as other general life stuff that gets in the way. But the majority of that was all settled and I sat down and finally put all the bits n pieces I've been hoarding into some use. This side of the kitchen is done for the most part. Need to add a few things here and there. Hanging bunches of herbs, more utensils, tea towels and fire wood. Stuff. The other side will now get my attention. A pretty shelf over the table and a little cupboard to go behind the door for all of Mrs. Thatcham's pots and bowls. It is so nice to see it finally come together. Canned food is just lengths of dowel cut painted silver and printed out labels gluesticked on. The jars of preserves are filled with clear silicone with a drop or two of food colouring and then polymer clay slices pushed in with a toothpick. The muslin tops were off an old quilt. The cotton had worn down so much into lovely soft muslin. Squares lightly glued on the top then very fine gauge wire around to hold. Then trim off the muslin. Had a go at ageing enamel canisters. Now where as scary as I thought.

Looking through the net on how women cooked with open fires I discovered all sorts of cast iron 'technology'. One of which was a swinging plate to cook on directly or to put pots on. I made one up from carboard cirlces glue together to for the plate. Electrical cable bent and glue to another smaller cardboard plate that would be glued to the brickwork. All glued together and painted black it works a treat.

Miniature Children's Books

I loved making these! Although it took days to redo every page in Photoshop and line it all up and make it all fit, print them out and then put them together!! But I loved doing them. I have done over twenty or so and I'll put them up when I can in my shop. All children's books from in and around the turn of the last century. Every page is printed and some you can read without a magnifying glass. Some of the books have sleeves while others are fixed . The illustrations in some them are so beautiful. Can't beat books.

More Lovely Little Plates

I love this design. My new favourite.I haven't been able to get much work done. Both my boys have been ill for the last two weeks plus I have had a few orders to fill. But I did get some plates done last night. I found some lovely smaller plates and I am now doing some settings. I love this one below. A child's birthday plate. Also a cake stand that was so accepting of a decal that I kept checking it for I was sure I had done something wrong!
These are all available in my Etsy shop.

Beautiful Tiny Butterflies

I came across these most beautiful dainty butterflies quite by accident surfing the net. I knew I had to have some. Julia Cissell is the artist and her work is beyond words. She has an Etsy shop called God's Flying Flowers which is currently undergoing a renovation. I bought four of her tiny masterpieces. Do be so very careful when the parcel arrives. She ships them in little lidded containers all lovingly padded but a breath of air can make them vanish. I pull them out for to show people and use tweezers. When I have finally completed Warm Thatchum and have the acrylic case made up only then will these little beauties come out. I so wouldn't want to lose one! They are so beautiful.

Love of Blue and White China

I do love so very much blue and white china. Whether it be plates, jugs etc. I made some more little plates up last night. The pattern below has become my favourite. they are all available in my Etsy shop.

Rugs and Clocks

I had a go at printing fabric on the weekend. It was now where near as horrible as I thought. Had visions of the printer going berserk and ink going every where! But no it is as easy as printing on paper. Just a bit more preparation. I had some 'pretend' linen. Not the real thing, bit out of my budget range. Gave it a good iron. Sprayed an A4 sheet of paper with spray glue and laid the fabric on top. Patted it down to make it adhere. Sat a heavy book on it for a bit to let it really set. Trimmed off the fabric . Making sure it was neat and exact. Print it out on the glossy photo setting. I let it sit for a bit to let it dry and then gave it an iron on dry setting ink side down. Now the ink is not set. Meaning it will run if it gets wet. I have tried all sorts of things to set it and so far none of it has worked. You can buy a rinse I think that will do the job but I didn't want to spend anymore money and I don't know how well it works. Alternatively there are fabric sheets I could have bought but again more money I didn't want to spend. I have however given my rugs a quick going over with my spray matt and that seems to do the trick but I still wouldn't wet it completely. Just allows for sprays n sprinkles that seems to happen. I cut them out with a rotary cutter. Left half an inch at the ends. I used a light iron interfacing to back the rugs to add a little body and to help stop fraying. I sewed along the edge of each print so that I could fray the edges. I set my stitch length to 1.5. It also helps to add body as well as stopping it from fraying too much. So many rugs can be found doing a Google image search. I made the little alarm clock out of bead spacer, pins, findings and buttons. The main body of the alarm clock is just two buttons glued together. Backed with a finding cause it pretty. Cut off brass pins stuck into the back through the holes for the little turny things. Bead spacer for the donger thins on top and another cut off pin for the hammer. A tiny bead cap for the foot. Printed out a clock face. Ages ago I found these see through scrap booking things that are perfect for the domed glass. Love those $1 bins! The wall clock was made out of cardboard and an assortment of brass findings. I used a hole punch and cut out four circles from a cereal box and glued them all together for the clock body. Then just arranged the findings and glued them in place. The same thing again for the clock face. Working on doing one with a chain and pendulum.