New Friends and Acquaintances...

 I peaked into the top of the Rusty Needle this morning.  Tessie is explaining everything to Letty.

She is introducing her to new places and new friends now that she is a modern woman...

I over heard Tessie telling  Letty that she could have the quilt shop. "Since you like to do needlework I will let you have this one. I hate needles and pins, I will let you have it if you make me a new quilt...

Next she introduced Letty to Eskiaga and Cordelia.  She told her that Eskiaga always has a big plate of tacos and other Southwestern food on the table if she gets hungry.

I do believe that is the reason that Cordelia hangs out there a lot. She loves tacos.

Then she got just a little to free with my stuff. She offered Letty the use of MY craft cottage if Letty would paint her a couple of pictures to hang in her next house.

I will let Letty use the cottage, but I may just shrink and use that one myself, once in a while...It's much nicer and well organized than my big one!

The last place that she took her for today was to Albert's house.

Daisy, Albert and the basket maker were enjoying the afternoon...

Tessie barged in on their conversation to introduce Letty to them. 

I think that the two men liked the new addition to the community. Letty was impressed when Tessie told her who Albert was and that he was a great scientist.

About that time I told them that was enough for one day.  Letty can meet more of the people around here tomorrow.  I have a feeling that Tessie is trying to keep her away from Zar. 

I am not going to get in the middle of this.  Usually, if it is a new man, Zar gets introduced first.  Not this time.

I am going to just stand back and watch for a few days to see what happens...

Back to work.  See you tomorrow.

Taking the Day Off!!!

I took one look at Zar and Tessie, sitting around doing nothing and decided that I wanted a day off too!

Tessie is still gloating over the pink purse and I am not making more until I do something for me!

I started looking around and found that Albert and Daisy were settled in for the duration.  They were chatting about the universe and the time-space continuum. They could care less about what I was doing this morning.

I refuse to work when nobody else is doing anything. They are all just wasting away the day.  No work at all!

The last straw was Eskiaga and Cordelia. They have been sitting there in the living room of Eskiaga's home for at least five or six years.  They don't do anything but go to parties when someone has one.

I am on strike today. If they can do it, so can I.

Walter is playing golf four days this week.  I think that makes it legal if I take the day off and do something fun.

No more "Back to work.  See you tomorrow.

I am taking the day off. So there!!!

See You tomorrow.

Let's NOT Get This Party Started!!!

Tessie invited the Skeleton Crew to stay at her townhouse until Halloween...

It's not going to happen. 

They moved in last night and this morning when I got up, there was a party in full swing!

One of the skellies is passed out in the swing chair.  Another is amusing herself by wearing one of Tessie's aprons and playing with the rubber chicken.

It seems that one and all wanted to meet their late relatives...

I went up to the second floor and Tessie has engaged one of the skeletons to clean her closet... Remember the one that was half in the bedroom and half in the closet? 

She let one of the skeletons wear one of her aprons and a mob cap for cleaning purposes.  It doesn't look to me like there is much cleaning going on... The one in the chair has taken a liking to Tessie's new hat.  Just wait until Tessie turns around and gets a load of that!  There may be a small war soon.

And the guy that was sleeping in Zar's bed yesterday is sleeping in Tessie's today...

On the top level, the lady from the shower, yesterday, is taking a bath today... She must have gone without a bath for a long time in her last life. Cordelia is patiently waiting with a towel.  I think that Tessie put her up to it, so that the skeleton wouldn't leave to many rings in the tub.

The ones in the  potions room are the ones that I am most worried about.  Uncle Reggie is keeping an eye on them, but who knows what their occupations were in their former lives...

I am thinking that it might be a good idea to lock them all in a box until the day before Halloween.  Elsewise there might just be a bit of trouble around here.  They all seem a bit suspicious to me.

Now where can I find a box that will lock and keep eight trouble making skeletons out of trouble, until Oct. 30?

I am off to hunt for a nice prison cell.  See you tomorrow.

Good Housekeeping?

OK... So the Mystery House moved to the living room this morning.

And yes, I did clean the inside. Bottom to top.

Would you believe that Cordelia moved back home.

Just like all the others, she waits for me to do the work and then she claims the property...

 
 

This is her sewing loft.  Tessie keeps borrowing it.  Cordelia doesn't seem to want to do any sewing.

Too bad that Tessie doesn't have a sewing room in the townhouse.  She could use one.

The cleaning was all for naught.  I am planning to put the face of the house out. and decorate with snow and pines. 

Be patient.  I will get there.  All I have to do is figure out where I put all of the little trees...

Meanwhile, I decided to put Daisy's Cottage and Time Machine in the family room.

That way I can work on other things in the bedroom. 

As I said... Face out is best.  That way nobody can see what is happening inside.

Just ignore me.  I am making a bigger mess and having all kinds of fun.  Just as long as it gets finished by Christmas, I will be fine...

See you tomorrow.



Still Miles to Go.....

Lucille was feeling sorry for the "Poor Threesome" in the comments yesterday....Poor threesome,
 my foot!!!

While I get stuck with the cleaning and straightening, there they sit.  Lettice said something about the current price of tea in China and they all turned and looked at me...

Tessie glared at me and said, "That's what we need.  Bring us some tea and cookies. And don't forget the lemon."

Poor threesome indeed! 

Tessie found her "Mini Me" and is now clamouring for more work on the 1/4" scale half timber wall house.  I will put it on the list.....

I am doing pretty well so far, but it is going to take time.  I have about a quarter of the space all cleaned out, but with the "stream of consciousness method" it is slow work.  I pick something up to put it away....Then I have to decide where it goes.  Then I go to the spot where I think it should live, question the validity of the placement, then turn around and head in the opposite direction....By that time, I have no idea where to put said item.  And on it goes...

I did get the closet straightened and a couple of the bookcases.  I really need to get rid of something.  There is no longer room for anything new. Maybe after I finish putting things away, I will be able to find a few unnecessary items to discard.

I am trying for the old saying "Use it up.  Wear it out.  Make it do or do without."  So far, I am not using it up or wearing it out fast enough!

Anyway, I am doing pretty good when I am not staring out the window or at the TV...

While I am working, I have another website to keep you out of mischief. 

Sharon T. sent me this one yesterday afternoon.  That's another reason I am not finished yet....Any excuse will do.

You have to see this one.  It's the best yet of the ones that have a lot of old books magazines and catalogs on line.  It even has movies and music to download.  I went for the furniture and different needlework books first.  So many books.  So little time.

There were also some really neat house plans among other things.  You name it, this site has it.  http://archive.org/index.php  At the top there are categories.  I spent most of the evening in the "text" section. The only drawback that I could see is, it looks to me like you can only download things for a week.  I don't know what happens after that. I guess they must just disappear. Mostly I probably will just use the site on line.

So...Now that you have something to keep you busy, I am going back to work.

See you tomorrow.

A Little of This. A Little of That....

It's a beautiful morning...Except for the wind that is blowing sideways.  I am opting to stay inside and keep away the allergies and sneezing.

Therefore, I am wandering here and there.  I am in
my "stream of consciousness" mode at present.  Whatever hits my eye, gets done...Kind of.

First of all, Heleena asked about the pattern for the Tudor rug.  I am posting it as is.  As usual, it is not for resale or profit.  You may copy it for your own use.

I am still going to make some adjustments on it with more detail.  Keep in mind that you will have to poke the photo to make it larger if you want to print it off to work on it.  Also, go back to the preceding entry and look at the original photo for the true colors.  I designed this so that I could more easily see the pattern.  The background is really brown, not white.

 
After I took the photo of that, I did this....Yup.  More half timbers.  I probably still don't have enough.  I have to do the outside sides and the whole inside of the main building, not to mention door frames and windows.

Now comes staining....Ick!!!

While I was thinking about what to do next, I went hunting.

I don't know how many of you have iPads or something similar...Kendles, iPods etc., but if you do, I hope that you know about all of the old, free books that you can download.

Poke the photo and have a look.  These are from project Gutenberg and listed as e books on mine.

Most are from the turn of the last century.  All are wonderful.  I have had a lot of the needlework books for a while now.  This morning I found some great Mission Furniture books with patterns in them, some interior decorating books from that time period and some costume books, among other things.

I have this thing about trying to read books from and/or about the period that I am working on in miniature.  One of the books that I found this morning is "Manners, Customs and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance".  The title alone, is a book. I cant wait to start reading this one.

 But first....Tessie and Cordie are giving Lettice a guided tour of the area, since she is in unfamiliar territory....

Showing her my workroom this morning was not a good idea...She went into shock at the sight of it.

I know just how she feels.  I guess it's time for some "stream of consciousness" cleaning...Pick up something and put it away...Spot something on that side that belongs somewhere else and put it away....What is that shoe doing in the wallpaper shelf?  Put it away.  What is the loaf of bread doing in with the shoes?  You know what I mean...

Go look at some of the books or make a rug.  I'll get back to you later....Much later.  I have a room to clean.

See you tomorrow.

Trading Places....

What have I done??? I just found out that I am getting Tessie as an in room neighbor!

While I was sleeping, she somehow talked Cordelia into switching houses....That is, Cordelia will now be living in the townhouse that Tessie loathed. Tessie? She is moving into Cordelia's house with a few conditions.

She put a rider on the contract, saying that she had full use of the potion room, 24 hours a day and the same for the roof garden....I do believe that she is going to sneak in and use the bath too...Or she will talk Zar into letting her use the shower tower. There is no bathroom in the Mystery House(Cordelia's place).

Anyway, when I looked in on them the first time, there was Tessie packing. I had to pull Spike out of one of the larger boxes several times. She kept putting him back in. I finally told her that I would hand carry him to the new place. I don't see why she didn't just zap him over. That's what she did with everything else.


By the time I deposited Spike on the bed, she had zapped everything else over, including herself.

She didn't even have time to change positions before she arrived.

Perhaps I waited a fraction of a second too long. She also zapped my hand carved walnut be and dressing table into the room. She has had her eye on those two pieces for years.

As soon as she arrived, she started shouting at Spike, "Get off of my new bed, right now!!!"

She has been a busy bee. She also put in a chase to match the bed and a wardrobe. Hmmmmm...All new furniture. I do believe that she has been planning this for a while...Where's Cordelia?

Tessie did get a sewing loft out of the deal. She does like to sew.

After she got the bedroom settled, I found her and Spike in the kitchen area eating breakfast...By the way, if any of you are planning on moving and need boxes, Tessie bounced around on the computer keys with her pogo stick and came up with Sherree's site.
https://picasaweb.google.com/sherree2 That's where we both go for anything printed. She bounced down to the "Office Supplies" section and there found a sheet of six packing boxes. She made me help her re size them last night...For some reason, I didn't ask what she needed them for...Maybe it was something in the hot chocolate that she so nicely offered to make me just before she asked. You will be amazed at the number of useful things that Sherree has on that site. I once made miniature chocolate chip cookies and she had the packages for all of the ingredients. That's also where the gang gets all of the beer and sodas, by the case for their parties. Lots of neat stuff!
Tessie didn't change a lot about the main floor. She did put a new wicker chair in the corner. Other than that, she let Cordelia keep all of the stuff in the other house....

However, in reviewing the contract, I see a clause that states that Tessie has the right to retrieve any furniture, as long as she replaces it with something of similar shape and value....I wonder if Cordelia has some hot chocolate to sip whilst signing...?

I must say that Tessie has better taste than Cordelia did. The second floor is much nicer now.

I finally went looking for Cordelia...

I found her sitting in the bedroom of the town house, staring at the far wall. I don't think that she knows what hit her yet....

Tessie, when Cordey wakes up, you are going to be in sooooo much trouble!

I am going to go somewhere and hide now. I think that Cordelia is almost fully conscious...

So much for a nice quiet Saturday!

Don't forget to vote! Thanks!

See you tomorrow.

Waiting For the Glue to Dry.....

I fixed the table leg this morning and what did Tessie and Zar do? Seriously. They settled in to watch the glue dry.

So far, so good. Tessie fell on her nose a couple of times, but picked herself up, dusted herself off and went right back to watching....

Personally, I don't get the fascination that they seem to have for this activity. I don't think that Zar is as enthralled with it as Tessie is. He just seems to be hanging around to keep her from falling off the table again.

In order to fix the table, I had Walter help me move the townhouse down to the floor last night. Of course the cats immediately thought that I was giving it to them as a playhouse.

I covered it with a sheet and pinned that in place around the house to keep them out. That seemed to work.

However, the cats were very disappointed.

Cordelia made up for my mean spirited actions with a little help from her friend, Tessie.

I wasn't happy with the worktable in the bedroom. There's not enough natural light in there. I moved that back into the family room, where it was before. I will probably wait until tomorrow to move the house back onto it.

I wonder how much Tessie would charge to zap it?......Probably an arm and a leg.


Back to Cordelia. She got Tessie to zap the house, table and all into the bedroom. Then she wheedled a new table covering out of me.

When I put it on, she made sure that I left a couple of openings in the back corners...OK....The table doesn't have corners, but I think you know what I mean.

Anyway, Widget is now happily asleep in his new tent. It won't be long before Mookie is under there too.

Sorry that this is a little short on minis today, but I still have a lot of moving to do before nightfall.

See you tomorrow.

Odd Socks.....

Well, for a pair of mismatched socks, they sure are popular. April and Walter both want them for Christmas!There isn't that much difference in the size of their feet and the socks are stretchy anyway.

I am finding that I like my socks a little more orderly than this. I guess if I was wearing long pants and nobody could see the tops they would be OK for me, but as they are, they are just too weird for me. At least they are finished!

Tessie is still nagging about the tree vignettes. This is one from last year and I just put a padded stool in it. No sooner than I had done that, Cordelia and Eskaiga arrived and took it over. I am beginning that there is something going on there. Ever since the Mid Century Mod housewarming, they have been spotted here and there together.

I discovered one tiny(big) problem with the new cupboard. It wouldn't fit in the only vignette that I have left.

Tessie filled it with food and drink as soon as it was dry. When I told her that it wouldn't fit, she told me, "Make a new vignette for it!"

I refused. She zapped it and vanished. I had to go hunting for her. She managed to balance it on one of the branches of the tree and wedged it in. There it is and there it will stay unless someone shakes the tree vigorously.

Anyway, the party is gaining momentum day by day. Three more days to go. Who knows what other guests will show up? I guess we will just have to wait to find out.

See you tomorrow.

May I Borrow Your Sofa?

Tomorrow, I am hostessing Wednesday Witches.....I couldn't invite them in with the townhouse in hurricane mode. Could I?
Wanting to make a good impression, I started clearing out the whole thing this morning.

While I was cleaning....Tessie and Zar sat in the rooftop garden relaxing and eating chocolate chip cookies.

That was the only part of the house that was habitable, according to them. I didn't want to admit it, but they were right. It does seem like they could have been a little help, but no......They didn't feel that it was their place to do menial labor.

I started at the top and worked down. The bathroom was in pretty good shape. All that is left to do in there now, is fastening everything down and getting the ceiling fixture installed. If I could only find one that Tessie will OK....

The workroom is another story. I can't install the ceiling, but I also can't take it out. I have it wired, but no ceiling trim installed to hold it in place. I did paint the back panels of the bookcase this morning. There was a bit of glued area around each of the holes that wouldn't take stain. Instead of fighting it, I simply painted the back panels midnight blue to match the walls.

The table is finished. It is all one color. I didn't stain it. I just let the walnut show through. I am not sure why it looks two toned in the photo.

Don't forget to poke the photos. For some reason, they turned out pretty small this time.

I won't bother to show you the second floor. Tessie pushed the bed and dresser out onto the floor this morning. She is starting from scratch again...."The bed is to frou frou and it doesn't match the rest of the house.".....So....Once again she is poking about in boxes and drawers looking for something that she likes better. I have a feeling that I am going to be making another bed.


She and Zar invaded Cordelia's living room this morning and insisted on borrowing her sofa...Tessie wanted to see if a sofa that size would fit into the livingroom. I think it was really because Zar wanted a place to stretch out.

Cordelia refused to let them take it unless she got to go along and see what progress was being made on the townhouse.

Personally, I don't think that she trusted the two of them to return the sofa without her watching to make sure that they did.

Size wise, it is almost perfect. Style wise, I think that Cordy is safe. Tessie wants something more mid century modern. No camel backs for her.

While cleaning out, I realized that Tessie has put her red director's chair somewhere for safekeeping again. I started looking for it, but I fear that it is going to take a few days of hunting to find it. She has no idea where she saw it last. I looked through the photos on the blog and the last time it was spotted, it was on the work table in the dreaded workroom....Oh well....Another treasure hunt to keep me occupied. Wish me luck.

For now, I have to concentrate on cleaning up the family room so that the witches will have room to mini tomorrow.

See you then.

I think I've Got It.....

As promised, I did the smaller "dome" this morning. I learned a lot and will correct the way I do it if I can find more of the vases at Dollar Tree.

The first thing I did was wrap a piece of computer paper around the top to make a pattern for a valence. I let it overlap by about a quarter of an inch. Drew a line to indicate the overlap and then folded the paper. I wanted six points, so I folded it in half, then in thirds. You could do any kind of a design on the bottom edge.

I cut that out and made sure that it fit. Then I Wonder Under-ed two layers of the fabric together and traced the pattern onto that. I cut it out and made sure that it fit again. Then I cut one circle of fabric the inside circumference of the vase and one the outside circumference. These were also Wonder Under-ed.

I glued the inner circle in place. Then I wrapped the valence around the vase and clipped the top in Vs so that it would lap over the top to glue. It all fit. I glued that down.

Then I glued the outer circle on top. Next time I will make a decision about the trim that I am going to use and glue it onto the pieces before I stick everything together. I was getting dizzy just trying to twist and turn the vase to get everything stuck to the valence. Mistake #1.

Sorry there aren't more photos of the process. It is hard to glue and take pics at the same time....Especially when your hands are glued to some part of the thing that you are trying to photograph... Mistake # 2.

The base is done the same way as the larger one. A circle of foam core was cut to fit inside with a bit of extra space for the carpeting. The carpeting was glued around it and then the whole thing was glued to the base, so that the dome sits around it.


If I do this again, I will make the valence shorter. It is hard to see Tessie without getting down to eye level with her. Mistake # 3.

My last mistake was trying to talk Cordelia into posing....She is much smarter than Tessie. She claimed that she had no idea how to do it and needed someone to show her....Yup. Tessie volunteered.

I should have just asked Tessie in the first place. Now she has both Cordy and Zar pointing and laughing. She swore up and down that she was never getting under a dome again.....There she is.....I wonder how long it will take her to realize that her zapping powers are back....She hasn't used them for a week! When she figures it out, I wouldn't want to be the two on the outside.

Maybe I should go play hero and rescue her before she does something she shouldn't.

See you tomorrow.

"I Hate Turquoise!!"

Guess who said that? Yup. It only took a couple of days for Tessie to decide that she hated the new outfit. She started in with, "Suede is toooo hot for summer." Then it was, "I can't move around in this vest....". Lastly it was, "Cordelia's apron is much nicer than this one.....I want one like hers...Only different and nicer."

Tessie found the other half of the antique handkerchief that was the material for Cordelia's apron and insisted that I use it.

I caught her repeatedly sneaking up on Cordelia's front porch, ringing the bell and hiding in the bushes. Why? "I wanted to get a good look at her apron to make sure that you didn't copy it for mine. I need much more lace."

So, rather than argue with her, I went to work and made her new clothes.....I don't think that she really needs a Millinery and Apparel Shoppe. She has me.......

Poor Cordelia is being run ragged answering the door with nobody there.

Thank goodness, Cordelia is happy with her clothes. I have to keep her separated from Tessie. I don't want her picking up ideas. Would anybody like to bet on how long it is going to take Tessie to hate the new apron? And a bet on how long it will take her to influence Cordelia........?

Today is the witches mini meeting, so I am kind of coasting.

Before I go get ready, I have to show you Mookie's latest hideout.

For the past week this has been his favorite napping place. The cat has good taste. That is my miniature, Minutiae shop that he is using as a bed. We can't figure out why, all of a sudden, this is a cat bed. Oh well. At least he hasn't tried to get into the shop through the front door lately. He used to reach a paw in and drag minis out to play with. Better that he sleeps on top than I provide him with mini toys.

I have to go get ready to go now.

See you tomorrow.

Mini Quilling For Fun.....

I did the basket yesterday,not knowing that it would get me going on minis that I had forgotten about.

When I first started in minis, there was a lady that used to come into the mini store where I worked with quilled pots, plants and other items to sell. She taught a couple of classes in quilling and I picked it up.

Then yesterday Ann Martin of "All Things Paper" http://allthingspaper-annmartin.blogspot.com/ left a comment about the basket. I went to visit and found wonderful things on her blog. If you are interested in doing anything with paper, hers is the place to see.

After looking there and remembering what we used to do with quilling, I went to the drawer where I keep quilling paper.....Mind you, I have never purchased quilling paper in a store. I just kept picking it up for a quarter or so at garage sales over the years.

This is another thing that I need to actually use, instead of just storing it in a drawer.

Soooooo......First I made a mini pot. I rolled three strips of gold paper on my handy dandy quilling machine. This was also a garage sale purchase. It is great for doing anything that needs coiling.

You slip the end of the paper into a little slot and turn the handle....In no time you have a flat coil.

After I got three pieces tightly coiled, I glued the end and slipped it off. Then I eased up the sides and made it bowl shaped. I covered the interior with glue so that the bowl would stay in shape.

Then I started cutting little slivers of green quilling paper in two shades. Simply a long diagonal on one end and flat on the other. I curled the leaves over a sharp edge and glued the flat end into the edge of the bowl....When I got all the way around, I made a loose brown coil to fit inside the center. Then I glued more leaves into that one and finally did a third smaller one in which to glue the center crown of leaves.

I took several lengths of purple and slashed them along one side. A serious quiller would do this with a little machine....I don't do it often enough to justify 50.00 for one of the machines...Fiskars scissors work well, even if they do take a little longer.

Back to the coiling machine I tightly coiled about 1 1/2" of the purple for each flower. Then I fluffed them out with my fingernail.

I tucked them into the leaves. Don't ask what kind of a plant this is.....It is just a fictional flower.

About the time I took the photo of the finished plant, to my surprise, Cordelia showed up. She has been very quiet for a while now. She took one look at the plant and said, "You have ignored me long enough, lady. I demand equal time to Tessie, Zar and especially Spike. Am I not, at the very least, more important that that silly dog?"

With that, she grabbed the bowl and added, "I want my house finished. After all, I was here before Tessie and my house is still wanting.... Your six year old's attention span is getting somewhat tiresome."

There she sits on the front porch. I believe that she has been around Tessie too much. She has officially started a long list of "Tasks that must be done immediately" for her house. That's what it says at the top of the paper she just handed to me.

Evidently that is how she thinks that she will get her house finished first.....Right. I will just put it on the pile with all of the other lists from Tessie and Zar. The stack is about six inches high now.....I will think about it tomorrow.....

See you then.