Flowers For Ira's Garden Swap

Material: Plastic, paper (stems & leaves) 

 Measures 3" (flower portion) + stem is 4" each 

(not assembled)

Plant on resin log (assembled by me)

Measures about 1 1/2"- 2" (depends on size of plant)

Clay Flowers (beads-not assembled) 

Leaves (plastic) (available separately) 

Sizes of each flower ranged from 1/2" -3/4"

Cactus plant not available, just flowers.

Mahendra's Roses and my 1st attempt at flower arrangement (clay flowers and plastic leaves)

 (from way back when..)  

Paper Flowers (Last Year's Giveaway) 

Limited Numbers (Roses Only) 

Gifts, Swaps & Thrills - Sylvia

I made my 1st miniatures for someone else. I know it's corny but it took some courage. Anyway, after I received the gifts from Sylvia, I thought it's time I make something for the people who have spent their precious time making things for my palace. And I guess, Sylvia was the "lucky" first although Mercedes, if you are reading this, you know I wanted to make you something sometime back but for for the lack of a crucial part. Didn't help that you kept receiving beautiful minis from Sylvia!!

I was inspired to make a wind chime for Sylvia after I saw her beach house. My own home has like a hundred of them . I hang 2 on my poster bed! Which means I think every beach house should have a wind chime. In line with the sea theme, I used tiny dolphins and 2 Indian cushion bells in the blue of her beach home. I made it "shabby" and tried to make it rusty or at least with paint that is wearing off. I wanted it to look home made and I am sure I succeeded.

Above is the 2nd version and below is the 1st:

Version 1 doesn't look so bad today but I didn't think it look like a wind chime that day. It also was too long. So I took it apart and made it in progressive lengths. Also added another bell hoping that it would chime louder. Kept testing it by shaking it at my ear. Does it chime well, Sylvia?

The barrel of flowers were much easier to make. I used dried moss from my home. So Sylvia, you have the Singapore soil in your beach house !


I dried tiny flowers picked from the road side and sprayed them "French Blue" again to match the house. Painted the barrel off white. The red flowers are from my pot pourri.

I made all these while staring a lot at Sylvia's house on my computer and visualising where she can put these. I picked the exact spots where she could place them and she did! (see her pic above which you can click through to her post about my parcel).

Sylvia thanked me in her post. She said they made her happy. The funny thing is when I saw her put my work at her porch, I really wanted to thank her! It's a deep deep satisfying feeling. Very pleasurable.

It was also a tremendous experience, making something for someone far far away, just by looking at their pictures.

Three days ago, you had that mini in your hand and today , they are in the Netherlands , in a far away home. Its not the same when you buy than when you make even though I take a lot of care in choosing my gifts.

So, I have quite a few tiny creations in the pipeline for houses far away that I have come to love and for the people who has come to mean so much. You know who you are. And don't worry, I won't be upset if they are not suitable. Just return them to me and I will make you another.

Gifts, Swaps & Thrills - Mercedes & Taenia

In the one week before I left for Taiwan, I sent out a few parcels and 2 more have reached my new friends from far and wide. When I was in Taiwan, I also sent out a few postcards and Taenia also posted hers on her site. This is an extract of her post on Taenias Grimmauld Place:

Hallo San!

Thank you sooo much for this beautiful creature!
I'm sure that I will find the perfect place for it in my Grimmaul Place house.
And thanks for the postcard form Taiwan.
I was very surprised to receive a postcard form Taiwan and I am very happy to get one from a place so far away from my home.

----

Love

The creature I gave Taenia is actually from a series of 12 animals of the Chinese Horoscope. This one is a goat. The 8th creature in the line-up. I bought it specially for Taenia because I was moved by her really sweet gesture in offering a miniature painting of an elephant for my palace and I thought this one will fit nicely as a mythical creature in her Grimmauld Place. I actually pick another one for her and changed my mind the last minute for the goat.

I found out subsequently that Taenia was indeed born in the year of the Goat. NOW, how wonderfully weird is that?

Shortly after I came home, Mercedes also got her parcel and this is an extract of her post entitled Tour Eiffel de Singapour!

A couple of days ago Liberty and I received some more lovely mail! This time from Sans in Singapore. In the package was the tiniest Eiffel tower! SO tiny, just 21mm (7/8 inch) tall! I had told Sans I was looking for one here but had only ever found one as part of a necklace and it was ridiculously expensive. Everyone who sees this Eiffel tower is just blown away by how small it is. She also included two sweet little candles (you can see one up there in the new blog header by the blue jug.)

A while ago Sans sent me some flowers. I used the yellow paeony looking ones in the basket arrangement on the table here. In the latest package there were some tiny flowers that I have 'planted' in my little garden.

Some of the large flowers had holes in them so they could be used as beads, Liberty has had great fun making jewellery!

There were hairclips for Liberty which she loved so much she's gone to sleep in them and a little porcelain doll - which Liberty wasn't too sure about at first but today it had joined her family of dolls and was having a great time! LOL! I'm sorry I don't have pics of everything, today turned into a crazy day.Mercedes

In the past couple of months, Mercedes and I have become regular e-pals. We write sometime once a week, sometime twice a day. Often it would be a full page of what's going on with our mini life , and then there is the quick one liner where she wrote "Go To Bed " after she saw me make a late post.

I have said it often enough that my love for miniature is a passion unshared as dollhouses are not that common here. "Hobby" is a word hardly uttered and "time"? The usual answer is "No time". And so, when my mini projects are vexing me or my usual sanctuary is giving me scarce comfort like now when the carpet I am working on looks nothing like the others', I take refuge in Mercedes' email because they invariably bring a smile to my face.

Gifts, Swaps & Thrills - Sylvia

A record has been broken. The parcel I sent to Sylvia reached her in 3 days ! I was in Taiwan when she received it. And tonight, whilst I was catching up on the posts I missed while away, having just reached home yesterday, I read this one she posted on the 9th April 2009 and the unabashed "cut and paste" of an extract is as follows:

Mail from Singapore and Italy

Today I receive the mail from Sans and Rosanna, soooooooo beautiful!!!!!!

From Sans two lovely but lonely chicks, mother crane has left them in an old shop in Chinatown, Singapore ( and Sans send them to the Netherlands)

One of them is going to live in the Flowershop, the other one in the Big house near me.

They are beautiful and thank you very much Sans!!!!!!!!!!

I saw these orphan babies at an old Chinatown shop lined up in a row waiting . I immediately thought of all the lovely birdhouses Mercedes made for everyone, including Sylvia. I also remembered Sylvia hanging one of her bird houses in the flower shop she was making.

How nice if these chicks should have a lovely home instead of a dusty old shop for shelter ! And so I took these home and promptly wrote to Sylvia. These babies may never grow up to their full potential but they are lovable nonetheless.

To my pleasant surprise, I found the siblings of the baby cranes at the Miniature Museum of Taiwan as well, sitting on a very expensive looking table in a very very classy room. I took pictures so I can show them to Sylvia. As I was trying to find the picture, I realise, to my amazement that I have taken about 1400 pictures at the MMOT alone. For the rest of the trip, I think I took 20!

Well, Sylvia, it may take me a while to find it, but I will post them when I do. One thing is for sure, the chicks that are with you are luckier than those at the MMOT.

Gifts, Swaps & Thrills - Rosanna

Rosanna received her teapots yesterday. This is the post she made about them and I have shamelessly lifted it wholesale from her blog and pasted it here. I am sure Rosanna won't mind.

posta

Finalmente è arrivato un pacchetto anche per me. Grazie (grrrr) alle Poste Italiane sembra che non ci sia mai posta per me, non arriva mai niente.

Oggi invece ho avuto la bella sorpresa di ricevere il pacchetto di Susan di Singapore.

La scatola è già bellissima con una splendida immagine del suo futuro palazzo e dentro c'è un'intera collezione di teierine!

Io le colleziono (grandi e piccole) perciò non poteva scegliere meglio.
Grazie mille Sans.

mail

At last it has arrived a parcel for me too. Thanks (grrrr) to Italian Mail it seems that there is never mail for me, nothing ever finds the way of my home.

But today I had the beautiful surprise of receiving a parcel by Susan from Singapore.

The box itself is beautiful with a splendid picture ot hers going to be Palace and inside there is a whole collection of small teapots!

I collect them, either small and big, therefore she couldn't choose any better. Thank you so much Sans.

It took a week or slightly less for my parcel to reach North Italy from Raffles Place Post Office, Singapore. I am really impressed with Singapore Post. Another gold medal for us *cough.

Anyway, you know what I think is the sweet thing about swaps? Surprise, thrills and the fact that it is from someone far far away. And when your gift makes someone smiles, even for a fleeting moment, or allow her to forget, for the teeniest while, that she is suffering from the meanest migraine, then that is reason enough, to do the things you do, reason enough to make time so you can say to someone "hey, you are in my thoughts..."

My Maharajah Palace-Indian Side Table

I made an Indian side table for the evil Maharajah today. This is not the Maharajah whom I am building the palace for but another. You see, Maharajah Ranjit has squandered his privy purse so fast, (on the ladies of course), that he is now a carpet trader travelling between Persia and India. The table is in fact standing on one of Ranjit's priced Turkoman carpet bought from Turkey more than 10 years ago. So you can say it is an antique piece.

This post however is about his table and not about him or his carpet.

Now, the table stands at about 1 7/8" high and the top is about 2 1/8" wide. It is made from dismantling 2 fretwork Chinese fans I bought last week. I cut the ends for the base parts because they are stronger. I then cut the "floral" bits as embellishments for the table top as I have yet to master marquetry. For the top itself, I used the inside of a cover from the container of Body Shop's Coconut Body Scrub which cuts like butter and smells heavenly, until the paint, that is.

Before assembly, I spray painted the parts and after I fit them together, with Tiger Glue, I spray painted the whole table again. If you see the pic on your right, you will see that I had wanted a gold table top at first but the flaws were too obvious and nothing hides flaws like Homogeneous Wenge so there, until I can accomplish the making of Moorish tables like Kimberly (Day 25), I won't be too adventurous with colours.

Well, the table is no masterpiece but then again, Ranjit isn't exactly paying me top dollars either.

And so Ranjit, rather pleased with the table for the pittance he paid (emphasis added), tried it with the vase of flowers a.k.a Mahendra's Roses of Mis-givings which he had taken from the palace.
Oh, it was quite perfect! Too bad Prince wanted a matching carpet (which explains why the vase is with Ranjit) and not a table.

He then tried putting it at the verandah of his bedroom,

O dear, the table almost disappears into the timber flooring so out of the window it went..the idea, not the table.

Ahh yes! Are there not a new batch of gorgeous perfume bottles from all the way down south made by this really talented perfumer, Mercedes? Can we not use the table as a display stand?

Oooh! He cooed. What a versatile table and the perfumes look really expensive on it too , Ranjit thought with a greedy glint.

And while he is already counting the extra rupees he has yet to earn from the wares he has yet to display, what better use for the table than to hold his pot of hot assam tea as he dreams on.

Musings-Thoughtful Gestures

Since the start of this hobby, I have been gifted with so many kind gestures, I am still reeling.

It started with my siblings' gifts (planning and rendering my palace) and of course, meeting so many wonderful fellow hobbyist and great craftsmen albeit only through the blogosphere. In my country where few share what many regard as frivolous and impractical, this is my "club" and a place of belonging.

And this week has been another one of those amazing one of receiving these humbling but treasured gestures.

A STRANGER'S KIND GESTURE

I was at a drinks stall at Bras Basah Complex on Sunday when I saw these mini Tiger beer bottles hanging at the cash machine. I must have got really excited because the people at the stall just told me to "Take it if you like" when all I wanted was to ask where I could get it . I was even prepared to buy the beer if I have to even though I rather dislike beer unless it is with 7up. So cheers, Strangers, have a Tiger on me!

TIME AND THOUGHTS FROM A NEW FOUND FRIEND
I made a swap with Mercedes from Liberty Biberty and while I wrapped my parcel with an envelope, she did hers with so much care, I was put to instant shame.The beautiful cover of the outer box is a gift wrap which she had cut and pasted on the box.

The treasures inside, most of which she made will be saved for posts in My Maharajah's Palace. I will however reveal that in the box which says "Palace Perfumerie" are gorgeous mini bottles of perfumes that Mercedes made and she had printed my sister's rendering of my palace, added the words and put it on a box. So, Mercedes, merci de toutes vos bontés


SWEET NOTHINGS AND MY OLD OLD FRIEND
Yen, who stays in Shanghai, often remarked at how he simply could not understand my fascination with dollhouses. But when he chanced upon a mini shop in Shanghai, he took some pictures with his mobile phone because he thought I would like them and he was right. When he was here early last week, he showed me these pictures but I could not download them because he did not have his connectors with him.

He left and in Shanghai, emailed me to say he had to buy the cables to send me the pictures. "If not buy you the real thing, back in mid April".

On Monday night, I received these pictures in my email.

Whatever he did in order to email me these pictures, Yen had done it amidst his extremely busy schedule. Yen, Xie Xie Ni.

Finally, let me share this poetry with you

A simple hand towards the way,
A kind bow before you pray
That which leans towards the moral way
Such acts of simple kindness make one's day.

Holding open the door
For a bystander to walk through
Holding a child's hand
As they see the world while they come to
With their young and tender eyes wide open
They look upon you
With gentle care and love so near
A child to his birth givers care

To hold something for another
While they need an open grip
To care about the loss of one's mother
And to feel the heat of one's coffee before the sip

Many things beyond these here,
The common sense and polite way
Though seemly lacking, they're somewhat clear
In the light of our modern day.
---------- Tetsanosuke

Tasha's School Room-Materials & Purchases

I was sooooo excited when I found this house on Sunday. Yay! Tasha (my niece) will have a school instead of just a school room. You see, I was going to build her a Victorian school room for her birthday in November (yes, I will need this much time).

I got the idea when I found these 6 Victorian Dollies measuring 3"h (below) about 2 weeks ago . They were used as key chains and selling for a song at a wholesale place. Although they cannot be used for My Maharajah's Palace, I had to get them because they are so cute and cheap (at S$1.50 each).

Since then, I had bought another little girl who is lame also 3" high, (found her leg broken when I reached home) and was going to look for a roombox which will fit everything. Until I saw the house. The size for this house assembled will measure h 19 1/2" w 17 1/4" d 14 1/4". I bought 2 houses (for the other niece or she will hate me) and 9 little packs of other things including furniture and playground sets on Sunday. On Monday, I went back and bought even more kits. I think I have 2 windmills and more furniture sets, 6 car kits for my 4 year old nephew and 2 more dollhouse kits. Here are some of the other sets I bought on Sunday:



They were bought from Popular Bookstore at Bras Basah Complex and as it happened, there was also a huge booksale at its foyer. I found these wonderful books at a huge discount, all in some ways related or relevant to dollhouses. I highly recommend all of them.

Books on Dollhouses or related topic:

If you have the good luck to chance upon this book, you should realy grab it quick especially when it costs S$6.00. The book has so many colour pictures although this was a 1999 reprint. There are even tutorials on making baskets and upholstering a winged back chair!

I really love this book and wish I can crochet or knit or even sew but since I cannot, I bought Timesaving Sewing by Singer and hope I can learn something cos yes, I don't know how to use a sewing machine either. I think I can upholster better. And the next book Upholstery Styles is another amazing reference book with a history on 16th century fabric and furniture. I think the book is already out-of-print.

Other reference books:

Other reference books I bought yesterday at another book sale: