Spring is almost here! Little lavender pots to brighten the day

Hello Friends,
Just a quick little post while I am waiting for the furniture delivery men.
I am awaiting our new sofa and loveseat.  Please don't take that as braggadocio, lol, if you saw our ten year old sofa you would understand. The dogs and children have done their duty - it is a filthy, saggy mess and I cannot wait to see it leave my home and go on its way to sofa heaven.

So, anyway, here are some little miniature pots and planters filled with lavender and other greenery. These were made using the ground up paper from my last post.

 Have a great day!

~Daphne

Promises, Promises or Make Your Own Flower S O F T for Lavender and Other Flowers

Yes, promises...I do solemnly promise the tutorials for the corset, stockings and tuffet are coming but I was so excited that this couldn't wait!
This has been stewing and bubbling in the little idea closet of my mind for probably about a year.

I wanted some of that Flower Soft stuff to play with but I always felt like it was a little pricey. I mean, it's just some kind of ground up something or other, right? (I must be truthful, I've never felt any of that stuff with my own hands but have seen photos of it in use.)

Anyway...do you have a little food chopper, old blender or food processor? Maybe a food processor you use for polymer clay or a blender that is languishing in the cabinet in the kitchen because you learned your lesson the hard way the last time you had Margarita Night? ;) *snicker*

Yep...see that paper up there in  pic? That is Bazzil card stock..it has a white core...I really don't think it matters which brand or that the paper has a white core, that's just what I happened to have in the colors I wanted to use for some lavender.  I used three shades of purple.  I would be willing to bet you could use construction paper but it might not hold up as well - haven't tried it.

So, yes, tear that paper up into...ehm, maybe one inch squares? I apologize, I was so excited, I forgot to take any pics of the process but it's not rocket science.  Throw some torn bits of paper into that poor, disused blender and then drop in a couple drops of water...not too much! We don't want to make paper pulp. I tried it first without any water and it created a lot of super fine dust and built up a lot of static.  The water really helped...just wet your fingers under the faucet and shake them off into the blender/food chopper cup.  I set my little chopper on high but you might want to first start on a little lower setting and see how things go.
You want the paper chopped up fine but not pulverized to dust.

 

Voila! Is that cool or what?  I'm sure I will think of lots of uses for this but for now, I made some little Lavender stems with florist's wire (the wire needed to be a little bit finer but this was an experiment) and my super sticky favorite glue in the whole wide world.
Easy Peasey.
I know, you, my friends, will make something wonderful with this idea! I'd love to see what you do.

I Am Covered in Paint, Stain and Varnish....

...but like a pig in a mud puddle, I couldn't be happier than when I have worked hard and made a mess. ;)
Do you like the new look for the blog? Let me know your thoughts, I don't want to make anything hard to read or hard to find, etc.

Here are some things I have been working on this week, some are up in my etsy shop.

I couldn't really capture the grandiosity of this armoire. It is really striking in person.

I'm not entirely sure of the official name of this dresser? Anyone know?
**EDIT** It is called an 'Empire Chest'. I Googled "dresser with columns" ;)

I've been making corsets and stockings. Fun!

I am still working on the tutorials for you! Would you like a tutorial for the stockings?  I've seen lots of tutorials for the corsets but never for the stockings (not saying there aren't any but I couldn't find any).  Hope you've all had a wonderful week and here is to hoping you have an even better weekend!

XO
Daphne

Another Bombe

I can't get enough of these. One day I will find one for my 1:1 scale home but till then...

This is the first time I've attempted faux marble. It was fun to do. I would like to try a black base with white veining next.

This piece is for sale in my Etsy shop.

I'd also like to invite you to visit my web shop. www.courtofgypsies.com
There you will find many DIY miniature items. I am still stocking the shop, there is lots more to come, it's just very time consuming.  I will have furnishings from JBM, HanaMini and many others. Lots of accessories and building/decorating items as well.  I will announce sales and specials and new items here on the blog. :)  Please feel free to contact me with any requests. The shopping cart is not currently set up to accept international orders but you may certainly contact me and make arrangements for shipment outside the USA.

Have a wonderful day!

~Daphne

A Fantastic and New (to me) Sculptress and Battling Facebook and Other Social Media

;)  Hello Friends,
How does that title grab you? Haha!

So, I ran across these little 1:12 figures on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/181494789/ooak-miniature-artdoll-112th-by-tatjana

 

Her name is Tatjana Raum. Tatjana, I hope you don't mind me posting your photo here.

You can see a gallery of her works on her website - http://www.chopoli.com/index.htm

and her blog - http://www.chopoli.blogspot.com/

Prepare to pick your jaw up off the floor. ;)

On to other, less pleasant topics.

Battling social media.  What? Why? You say?

I've been catching up with blogs for days now and I've noticed a trend.  Many bloggers have mentioned in one way or another the lack of posting by many (I plead guilty!!) and a decline in blog traffic. One blogger mentioned that she can remember a short while ago, opening her blog reader and being overwhelmed by the number of posts and not being able to keep up and read them all.  I have been thinking this myself. Where did all the beautiful posts and photos go? I really enjoy reading wordy, informative posts accompanied by beautiful photos!

 Many have pointed to social media as the culprit. I agree to a point. I think the combination of Google's betrayal by way of totally ruining/dropping Google Reader along with Facebook, Twitter and the multitude of other social media goodies out there has resulted in scattering us all to the four winds. 

Here is my challenge.  Let us do battle with the other social media venues! Let's start posting again on our blogs and promoting those posts via social media.  If you are having a giveaway, by all means, post it on Facebook, but direct traffic to your blog, have entrants post a comment on your blog rather than on your Facebook post. Push readers to your blog, entice them to slow down and once again discover the delight of a full blog post rather than a few lines of text. So many, more intimate friendships to be attained! 

I have nothing against Facebook (I just plain ole' don't get Twitter...bores the heck out of me, I'm too visually oriented for Twitter). I use Facebook often but I love blogging; blog posts to me, are akin to hand written letters from distant friends....Let's keep that alive!

Stepping down from the soap box. ;)

Have a wonderful weekend my friends.

~Daphne