Birthdays

Sorry for being a bit absent lately. We are nearing the end of our holiday trifecta in Jemjoop land. It starts with Valentine's Day and then seven days later our middle guy has a birthday (8 this year) and seven days after that our oldest has his birthday (18-and he's getting his driving license too gahhhhh! ).

I bake when absolutely necessary and sometimes by special request, preferring savory stovetop simmering instead. I can make a pretty good meatloaf.

Saturday morning little one requested his favorite; a chocolate fudge cake with butter cream frosting. So while the baking cupboard was open and the oven was hot I also made 35 lemon yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting (so he could bring them to school) and a batch of brownies for my oldest and hubby who don't like cake.

There are no pictures, they were just standard utilitarian lopsided things. After that picture was taken, I let little one put the sprinkles on his cake (because I forgot them) and his method of choice was dumping half a bottle smack in the middle. No doubt to ensure maximum sugar intake per slice. The cupcakes ended up all different sizes, some were pretty much triangular. The brownies were slightly burned around the edges. I am not the baking goddess that is Kim .

This Saturday is easy, my oldest's birthday request was homemade chocolate chip cookies. Even I can't mess those up.

*UPDATE* March 1st
Two batches and counting, they keep eating them like little cookie-eating things...

Blythe by kimbergercreative

Blythe is a gorgeous 1:6 Art Doll from a new Etsy Shop called kimbergercreative

Happy Valentine's Day!

♥♥♥ Happy Valentine's Day! ♥♥♥

Teeny Tiny Matchbox Rooms 144th Scale

At the moment, I'm struggling for the time to work on new miniatures for myself for fun. In progress are a couple of 1/24 little wooden cottages (Irish cottage & Scottish cottage) and a 1/12 chocolate shop that I am desperate to work on. But, needs must and for now I'm focusing on baby, home, and working on mini orders for the Etsy shop.

In the meantime, here are two little projects to share with you that were really fun to make for a mini club challenge:

1/144 scale Quilt Bedroom & Shaker Kitchen

Both sold on eBay and sent off to new homes

Paper printed quilts, floor rug, and readable books were received in a 1/4 scale swap. The calico paper is from Jim's" Printables website. The lamp is a metal finding and there is also a ceiling light. On the right side are a shopping bag on the floor and two hanging silhouette plaques. The little plastic bed and chair were found in Toys R Us as furniture in some sort of stuffed bear's tiny dollhouse. The bed was painted black to resemble iron and there are gold beads as finials, very Bedknobs & Broomsticks I thought!

Made mostly with wood, card, and paper. The metal hanging lamp is a finding and those are tiny plastic bottles on the table. The broom is just strands of raffia wrapped around a twig and tied with one strand of embroidery floss. The wooden floor is a thin piece of balsa scored into "planks" with the back of an Exacto knife.

Too Many To Do's

"There is no use trying," said Alice; "one can't believe impossible things."

"I dare say you haven't had much practice," said The Queen. "When I was your age I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes, I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."


-Lewis Carroll,
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Gabriel Grasshopper of the Thicket People

Miriam and Christel of Fairy Studio Kallies in Germany are such talented miniaturists. Their work takes my breath away!