Merry Christmas to you all!

I haven't done much about miniatures, except for embroidering the oriental rug. Preparations for Christmas with my two boys and work are taking all of my time. Loving it though!  They are both here and so far the eldest has shaved off the beard (yes, that's right the beard). Should I say thank goodness or stay quiet about it? Now it's just a question of getting him to a hairdressers and feeding him properly for a few weeks...

Meanwhile here is an update on the oriental style rug.

The sides are half way and the first branch is complete. The update on the 10th every month on the Yahoo Petitpointers group is keeping me going with the background stitching. There's nothing like a deadline, even if it is self imposed.  I'm still more or less on track for 400 hours of stitching. I'm hoping to finish up to the half way mark by the next Petitpointers update, and who knows I might even do that, because we all have so much time over Christmas, now don't we...  :))

Merry Christmas to you all and thank you for following my blog in 2012!

The ...... Antiques shop?

I've agreed with a miniatures friend that it won't be called the boxfile anymore. Actually, I was told Not Ever to call it that again, or else... I should start treating it as the upmarket, really?, antiques shop it will eventually be. It still needs a name, though. Maybe once I get going on the outside, the name will suddenly reveal itself. Come to think of it, I've never done a project inside first, but this one just doesn't want to tell me what it wants to be on the outside.

The outside is giving me headaches! I took some photographs of the little garden corner I made last year. I still have some of the brick stuff left, and could give the antiques shop brick walls, but I also want to make steps up to the door, as it opens outwards, and that means it needs a pavement in front of the shop. The steps could be stone with railings on either side and the pavement brick, just like the village High Street here.  Too much brick, maybe?

Wall detail with Freda's clematis

The inside is more or less decorated, now it's paintings, and some small items on a few shelves, books, linen in the cupboard and weird stuff in boxes on the floor to make it into more of an antiques shop and of course, lamps, candles and wall sconces to complete the inside.

The tulip vase looks quite at home in here. 

I've just realised that I have a pot of tulips in the garden corner that I could try out in the tulip vase. Got to run, I'm off to play...

Happy mini time,  Idske