MY MINI DIARY, page 13

13 February, 2004:
I've gotten some nice surprises in the post again.. Anna-Mari sent me four different sand samples (collected from Australia), and Marja sent me mystery sand - you can see all the sand samples on my sand page, and here's a photo of Anna-Mari's envelope as it was so beautiful:

Also, I got another parcel from my dear Velcro Sister Marie. This one took two weeks to arrive, so the plantain (banana) she'd included had turned into brown goo, but luckily everything else was fine! I'm only putting photos of the mini stuff here:

I got some paperclay, which I've never tried before.

The three rocking horses had some banana stains on them, but it only makes them look aged, so my dollhouse will now have some "antique" toys ;)

This plastic cap is lovely, I think I'll make a little lamp of it.

Beautiful decoration for Christmas..
         
Some pictures from the banana funeral, too.. Barbie and three Irish cousins came to say goodbye..
         
Poor plantain in his garden grave..
         
And here's the grave covered..

Rest in peace..

Today, I got a lovely surprise from Raija - she'd sent me three paintings (printed on fabric), which I really like:
         
This one and the next one will go nicely with whatever I'll make of that plastic cap I got from Marie!
         
I might eventually make a pale minty green room as that's what I'm picturing in my head..

Ah, and some Raphael.. I've always loved these two angels! *Kiitos Raija!*

26 January, 2004:
Amazing, I got my swap parcel from Finland in two (?) working days - after it took over a week for my swap items to get there!! Anyway, we had yet another swap at the Finnish dollhouse group, and this time the theme was dressing table. So, we got to do anything that you'd find on a dressing table.

The lot - I'll be back with names later on.. I have to go to the group homepage, and check who made what as I've already forgotten - having opened everything so hastily!! LOL

(From top left) Saija made a box with a hair dye set inside - the picture on the box is a picture of herself.. Henna made a pale blue bow, and a white mirror.. Riikamaria made an unbelievably tiny diamond ring, and a black display box for it.. Satu made an exotic flower.. Eeva-Maria made a perfume bottle, a bracelet, and a tiny ring (they are on the oval tray).. Maija-Leena made a tiara.. I made a potpourri bag.. Minna L. made a pink mirror and a lipstick.. Tarja made two wristwatches on red velvet tray.. Anne made a white fan with gold details..

Henna's bow and mirror, and Minna L.'s mirror and lipstick.

My potpourri bag, Anne's fan, Satu's flower, and Saija's hair dye set - in this photo, you can see the bottles from inside the box, and the other side of the box.

Tarja's wristwatches, Maija-Leena's tiara, Riikamaria's ring in the box, and Eeva-Maria's perfume bottle, ring, and a bracelet (she had included that oval tray just for packing material, but I like the shape of it, so I'm keeping it as a tray)

On the top, Minna T.'s gorgeous pearl necklace on a black display stand, then, Renée's tissue box, Elina's two perfume bottles (one cap had come off in the post, but I'm not going to glue it back as I think it looks like someone has just used some perfume, and has left the bottle open), Jonna's cotton bag, and Marjukka's make-up bag and a little mirror.

Sari made a round jewellery box, but I only realised later that you can actually open it - and there was a little lipstick inside! (see the next photo).. Brita made a table lamp.. JJ made a colourful perfume bottle, with the text "pot pour Stella" on the side! (we each had our own name on the bottle!).. Eija made a tissue box and a lace garter.. Sanna made a little towel, a leather make-up bag, a perfume bottle, and a mascara!.. Jukkis made a gold mirror and a hairbrush, using VELCRO for the brush!! *fantastic idea!*

Sari's jewellery box opened.. It's really luxuriously lined with pale blue velvet, and you can see the lipstick in the box..

17 January, 2004:
Well, when I started putting the surprise together, I noticed that the house was actually an Armorer's Shop - not the apothecary shop mentioned in the instructions! (I have yet to check whether it was accidental or not.. I've heard stories about Dragnoz' sense of humour, from a mutual friend..... hehe) Anyway, it wasn't too hard to do without instructions, either. Here's what I've done so far:

Most of the ground floor put together.. I'm not sure if I'll put any arms in the display window - I'm tempted to put some greenery there instead! (I told him I was gonna customise it a bit..) Also, I haven't actually used glue as I was too lazy and "my office" was messy enough already, so I've mainly used masking tape and double sided photo stickers instead! I will finish with glue and paint, though..

Upstairs.. You can see a picture of the finished house on the Dragnoz Nest website - see "Armorer's Shop" from their menu. (Or wait until you see my photos of the finished house, which might look a bit different, though.. I'm planning a little village scene..)

16 January, 2004:
I got a very nice surprise in the post today: a net friend who sells house kits and other miniature materials online, sent me a lovely "Apothecary Shoppe" kit, some "gold and silver" pebbles, and even some sand!

This picture shows what the model will look like when put together, and it came with very clear instructions.

These are the house sheets - they are printed on strong card, and the amount of detail is high, and the colours look good.

Here's that "gold and silver" stuff, which is fantastic! I can imagine so many mini uses for this stuff - you could make a treasure scene, a mining scene, a fantasy scene... And there's enough in the bag, for many purposes!
Expect more pictures anyday soon as I can't wait to put this shoppe together, and to use the pebbles for something cool =) ... Oh, and don't forget to check out the Dragnoz Nest website, where you can see all the different house kits and materials, and buy them if you like!