Hello! :)

 Oh, my! I cannot believe how long it has been since my last post. Twas never my intention to just walk away, but, it is what it is.

So much has happened in the past two years, gees, this year alone has been a roller coaster ride of good and bad for me and my family. I won't bore you with all of the details. ;)

Let's get up to date! :)

Please do let me know what you have been up to as of late!

Most recently, I exhibited at Philadelphia Miniaturia for the third year in a row. Best time evah! and best show to date! So happy to be included with so many fabulous artisans. I feel so privileged to be included in such a fabulous show.

This year I had the opportunity to teach that went really, really well. My students were so happy with their mini creations and I am so bummed that I completely forgot to bring a camera. I will try to remember for next time.

For now, some pics of my table at the show;

My very sweet son took this pic;

and I took this one of the table;

I have more pictures on the ipad, but have yet to figure all of that out completely yet. I'm still learning, even though I am old! lol

Okay, so bear with me, this old dog is going to have to learn new tricks, after being away for so long, everything is so new and different, I have much to learn, but I will keep on trying!

Thank you for still being around and interested. I really appreciate it. :)

There is much in store for dale's dreams in the coming months and coming year and many new minis to be seen. I hope you continue to join me in this miniature journey. I'm still loving it and I hope you are as well.

Many blessings sent out to you and yours!
As ever,
dale :)

Sharing Sundays! :)

Welcome to sharing Sunday's, this is where I get to share my private collection with you, promote some of my fave artisans and document my minis all at the same time. :)

Pitcher of Peonies

Miniature Patisserie, Pei Li 

Pei Li is such a sweet lady and I am just enamored with her creations. :)

Shop 

Blog

Floral Cake Plate

Carolyn's Little Kitchen

Isn't this just the sweetest little cake plate? :)

Shop 

Blog

Indian Handbag

Ewa

Ewa is such a generous soul! I saw these on her blog and asked if I could buy one and she simply would not hear of it. :) She is too kind. :)

Blog

Little House on the Prairie Book Set

Tree Feathers

I do not know what has happened to this gal. :( I love my boxed set of the Little House on the Prairie series. Sadly, her etsy shop is no longer around, but her blog is still up.

Blog

Decorative Columns

Victoria Dark Squirrel

Victoria makes a lot of witchy/goth type stuff. When I saw these in her shop, they were aged. She was so sweet to do a custom order for me and make them in white. I see these in a living room some day, flanking the fireplace with plants on top. She also threw in some lovely mini fabrics for me, how sweet is that? :)

Shop

Blog

Assorted Foods

Petit Plat, Stephanie Kilgast

Stephanie makes some of the best food around and these are just some of the pieces I have from her. :)

Shop

Blog

I hope you have enjoyed Sharing Sundays with me. :)

Be sure to check out their shops and blogs, they are all clickable links.

Until next time!

:) 

Christmas Swap Results!

Caterina hosted a Christmas Swap on her blog. I got paired up to give to Flor, and I was quite tickled about this and to receive from Pepi. Pepi, I did not know, but through the help of google
translate, we were able to exchange our information.

This is what I received from Pepi.

It looks like just a plain envelope, but, look at the cute little box inside.
What is inside the box, you ask?

A ton of Christmas goodies!

A sweet little box, a wall hanging, a counted cross stitch pillow, and a tiny little card from Pepi. :)
But, what is in the little box?

A tiny perfume bottle and a single long stemmed red rose.
Thank you so much, Pepi! I love all of my swap items, it was a pleasure to have you as a partner! :)

For Flor, I popped over to her page on facebook and nosed around in her pictures to see what could I make that would compliment what she already has and would be in her style.

I discovered this Christmas scene, note the gingerbread men. :)

Well, off I ran to the fabric store and I discovered a tiny print fabric that featured gingerbread men. Great!

I made her a tree skirt (shown here with my tree that I purchased from De), a pair of pillows trimmed with bunka, and bunting- all made from the same fabric. 

Recalling what her salon looked like, I thought some pillows from my shop might blend in well if she were to decorate the room for Christmas.

Her decor seems to have almost a Scandinavian feel, so I thought these pillows with their minimalist approach would suit nicely.

While I was at the fabric store, I discovered these foam gingerbread men and other decorations in the craft section. I know that Flor is pretty creative, so I added these in, thinking she could do something fun with them.

Well, there you go, there is my portion of the swap. :) Pop over to Caterina's blog to see all of the blogs. Remember, anything in pink is click-able in my postings.

Enjoy! Until, next time! :)

Sneak Peek, News and Updates!

These wreaths and swags and hopefully more, will be heading into my etsy shop shortly. :)

I have been creating like a maniac as of late. Which makes me behind in all other affairs, home, life, correspondence and of course, blog reading! Am hoping to catch up with everything soon.

There just always seems to be so much going on.

I guess that is just life. :)

I finished up a custom order recently and totally forgot to take a picture. Well, I remembered after I had it all packed up. Oh, well! lol

I joined up with the Christmas swap on Caterina's blog. She runs the best swaps. :) Just mailed out my swap to Flor, so tickled to have her as my partner. I hope she likes what I have sent her. You have to wait until Christmas to see the results of the swap. :)

I want to show you what I recently received in the mail, but first, I have to share with you this little guy.

The stories get related, don't worry. ;)

I don't think I ever shared with you all our latest addition to our family.

This is our little Tommy.

A feral kitten found abandoned by the side of our house. We discovered him on probably the hottest day of the year, back in July and I bottle fed him since he was four weeks old. 

Here he is more recently.

That he discovered the light box and feels so comfy in there should have been a heads up for me.

Here is the basket that Sans! sent to me, she wove this herself and I have to tell you how adorable and how well made it is. She never ceases to amaze me with her creativity. :)  Thank you, Sans!!!

I made the mistake of leaving the little basket in the light box as a reminder to take a picture of it to share with you all. Then, I discovered it's absence. Yes, Tommy had scooted off with it. I looked every where around the house. I almost cried. The basket was very special to me because of who made it, that they made it for me and a basket itself is almost a symbol of friendship. Woven together.

Don't worry! The story has a happy ending.! My son found it the next day. Tommy had scooted it under his bedroom door. I woke to a little basket being dangled in front of my eyes and I gave my boy a big hug and a kiss. :)

Black Friday thru Cyber Monday Sale

I am having a sale for Black Friday thru Cyber Monday in both of my etsy shops. Use the coupon code BFCM2011 for 25% off of both shops, links below.

dalesdreams

dalesdreamsII

Thanks for stopping by! :)



Latest Acquisition and WIP

I bought a new dollhouse last week. :)

Did I need a new dollhouse? 

Absolutely not, if you recall, I have two other houses already.

This one, that I left with my friend Richard over the summer, he's wiring it for me. :)

Which reminds me I have to send him some fixtures to put in it!

Wow, this is in far rougher shape than I remember. ;)

And, this one, that my hubby surprised me with, he nabbed if off the curb. I was so tickled when he found it. He wasn't sure I wanted it, but, of course I did!

So, yup! Another house. This one is actually in the best condition of all that I have.

View of the inside. There are two more rooms on the top floor, but you look down on them through the roof when removed or just peek in the windows.

The first thing that had to go was the pink accents. It just really dated it back to the 80's.

I wanted the majority of the house to be a dark charcoal gray.

Many people have suggested using the little paint samples that you can get from your local hardware or paint stores. I was worried about it not being enough paint, but took a chance and only bought the one container. It is just the right amount, thank goodness! This is Besalt D36-7 Paint Pod from Ace.

The white trim was just a bit to stark and bright for me. I toned it down with Oyster White from Ceramcoat. It is just the most subtle difference from white to off white, but, I think it has a richer look to it. 

Cutting in around and in between the gingerbread and trim was so tedious! 

It's so dark it looks almost black, but it's just a dark charcoal.

And what is more welcoming than a red front door?

This obviously needs a few more coats on it.

Does anyone else think Elizabeth Arden Red Door?

As cute as it is, the quality of craftsmanship is not the best, but, I'm not going to complain all that much, because I am not a builder! Originally, I had the window trim on the third floor painted the oyster color. But, it just cried out how crooked those dormers were, so I painted them black along with the roof. They seem to fade back now a bit.

Still need another coat on that door! That is Folk Art Lipstick Red.

The roof is Crafter's Edition Acrylic Paint , Black.

And, with the roof on. I still have a bit of touching up here and there to do, that blue base must go!

I'm pleased with the progress so far. :)

Amazing what a difference a bit of paint can do, isn't it? :)

I hope all those that are celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends have a wonderful and safe time. :)

Making Miniatures for and with Children

A while back, I was asked to donate for a Girl Scout function from someone on etsy. 

I have a special place in my heart for girl scouts, I was a girl scout, my daughters were, I was craft-mom for the scouts, cookie mom for five years. My sisters were scouts, my cousins, my mom. My aunt was a leader, my grandmother was a leader. I guess you could say scouting runs deep in my family. ;)

I did my research and made sure that it was a genuine request for a real troop. Well, when I did, I was quite impressed with the troop and it's leaders. They did a lot of philanthropic work in their area/community.

They were having a girls day and it would be of girls of all different ages, I was asked if I would provide a gift for a giveaway and perhaps a project?

Of course, I immediately thought of pillows. I know for myself as a child and lover of dollhouses that pillows were one of my first creations and, also one of the simplest things you can create. 

I chose these two fabrics for the fronts and backs of the pillows. Although they were produced by different manufacturers, I thought they worked really well together.  I especially liked the fabric featuring the girls. It spoke Girl Scout to me, because it represented all different types of girls, just like scouting does.

I sent the fabric cut so that the girls could easily put them together and sew them up by hand. Yeah, I sent along something for the giveaway and little extras for the girls, too. I later heard back that it had been a great success and they had appreciated my contribution. It's nice to do something nice for others, isn't it? :)

When I visited my girlfriend in June for her daughter's wedding, of course, I could not help noticing the Fisher Price dollhouse she had for her grand daughter. She's just a little thing, so I wanted to make her something that was relatively safe, but that she could have fun with as well. :)

In my etsy shop, I create for the adult collector. The majority of my items are too fragile to be used as playthings for children, plus, I don't have my items tested according to CPSIA requirements. I feel I have to make note of this for those of  you that do buy my miniatures. Those that I create for sale are not intended for children.

But, I can create gifts for the special people in my life. :)

I remembered the fabrics that I had picked out for the scout troop. When making things for and with children, I like them to be tactile. That both of these fabrics were flannels, just felt so right for a little person. It feels nice and soft, you can rub it on your cheek. :)

So, I made as many pillows with the different gals as I could and made her a little quilt to play with as well.

Serendipity!

I discovered it could even be a learning tool! You could play a simple version of tic tac toe with the pillows on the quilt. Tic tac toe is probably one of the earliest games I learned to play with a piece of paper and a pencil. Good for hours of quiet play. :)

My one gf once told me that I was very intimidating when it came to raising my children. I couldn't understand what she meant. She said I was constantly teaching my children. I never realized it, it was just instinct, just what I did. :)

So, if you have a little person in your life and you want to get them started with miniatures, think about sewing a little pillow together. Even very young children can sew a simple pillow together if they are being supervised with needle and scissors.

Keep your eye out for vibrant fabric such as this, that feels soft to the touch.

If you are going to venture out to make miniatures or any items to sell for children, make sure you are informed about the requirements for CPSIA.

Happy Crafting!

dale :)

New listings.....

are now live!

Come take a peak!

click here^^^^^

Thank you!!! :)

Just a taste! ;)

Just a taste of what is coming to my etsy shop Sunday night! :)

Click here to see my etsy shop. :)

I hope you'll stop by and join in the fun. :)

A huge thank you goes out to all of my customers for their continued support in my creative endeavors. You all mean the world to me and making your dreams come true is making my dreams come true. :)

Creatively yours,

dale :)



Faux Painting, a Shabby Chic Tutorial

I needed some shabby chic furniture to use for display for some of the items I make for my etsy shop.

I had this country bench from my younger days, but, I was just never really thrilled with the color of the stain.

So, I thought I would update it with a new look and give it some great, shabby chic styling. :)

First, I sanded it down with a rough grit sandpaper to remove the sheen of the stain and to give it some tooth to allow the paint to adhere well.

Then, I gave it a good dusting with this paint brush. 

I use this a lot when my minis get dusty from being left out too long, it does a wonderful job of removing any dust. Did you know, that is how museums keep a lot of their artifacts clean? With a paint brush, yes!

I picked out a green paint to use as my base color.

I love these little jars of acrylic paint that you can pick up at the craft store inexpensively.

The one I chose was Folk Art "Yellow Citron" by Plaid.

Well, I decided it was just too yellowy for my liking, so I grabbed another green, America's Mint Julep Green from DecoArt.

I mixed with my favorite and most universal tool, the bamboo skewer. I use these skewers for everything, they are just so handy for so many different applications. 

These dispose-able food containers are great for mixing paints in. Just make sure you mix enough paint at one time so there is enough for your entire project. The lid can be placed on the container while you wait for a coat to dry, saving your paint from drying up.

I wasn't trying to be matchy matchy with the items for my etsy shop, as I would be keeping the bench, but, as so many of you know what I mean, I had a color in my mind's eye and that was what I wanted.

I call it Vintage Green. ;)

Finally, I was happy with the shade of green.

Two good coats were just what this piece needed.

Next to begin the shabby chic process.

I diluted Folk Art "Wicker White" paint from Plaid with water to make a white wash.

I didn't want a solid coverage for the top coat of paint.

Another coat of the white wash or two.

It looks more like a solid coat than it actually is, there is some of the green visible on the bench, it just didn't photograph as well, as I thought it did. ;)

Lastly, an all over sanding with a fine grit sandpaper to show some age, wear and tear.

I didn't add any type of clear coat to this, as I preferred the rustic, matte finish.

I think it has a lot more charm and character than it did before, wouldn't you agree?

Now, it's perfect for using in displays for my minis for sale and eventually, it will end up in my dollhouse in the shabby chic bedroom.

So, don't be afraid to experiment and have fun with your minis. It doesn't have to be all rule oriented, do what you want! 

You don't even have to be an expert painter to make use of the shabby chic styling.

Would you like to see some other tutorials I have made?

Click here, to find a tutorial on how to faux finish some resin planters to make them look aged.

Click here, to find a tutorial on how to make replacement cushions for a popular rocker glider.

Enjoy! :)

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