A fantastic gift

Giving is fantastic, but I have to say; getting presents can be quite fantastic too ;)
One day before Christmas (you know we Swedes celebrate Christmas eve the 24th, and get our presents from Santa that day, I know for example you Americans have to wait another day for that ;) )
Anyway, the 23/12 I got a package with many great things from Sushi flavour. I won her competition/giveaway and a gift voucher of 100kr in her webshop. Such a pleasant surprise. I just went ahead and ordered straight away =) This is what I got:

Air drying clay, deco glue, fake sugar, mini-beads, and extra presents; ice cream glasses and 2 canes

Johanna even added some extra gifts, 2 ice cream glasses and 2 fimo canes. I was very happy! Still am ;)

Thank you very much Johanna!!
You should all go visit her shop and her blog. She makes wonderful jewellery and have lots of fun crafting materials. I look forward to make some ice cream out of this later. I have never worked with air drying clay like this before, looking forward to try =)


I can take the opportunity to show my mini-related Christmas presents too =) I got a big bag from my mum, to keep my crafting things in, and she already filled it with lots of great stuff.

Filled with fabric, fimo gloss varnish, wooden sticks, fimo clay and doll clay (and much more).

And my grandmother gave me some furniture to build =)
(And some ribbons I put in the bag.)

And some tools for cutting things.

I got so many presents this year, I most have been really nice ;)
Hope you all, like me had a great Christmas among people you love!

I will keep having the Christmas spirit and enjoy the company of my family. My mini-making seem to take a break, but I hope to be back after the holidays =)

Take care

Hannah

Meet the Pettersson family

When I was a kid I loved miniatures, making small things and playing with my dollhouse and my Barbies, and to draw and write stories. I think I could combine all these interests now too, by writing on my blog, coming up with a story about my dollhouse family and make miniatures (and collect vintage Barbie dolls). 

So I had a bit of fun coming up with names for my dolls =) I thought they should have a typical Swedish last name, a "sonnamn" (name ending with son) I married into a name like that =)

I thought they should be the Pettersson family =) (Petter is a man's name, so it means Petter's son, but nowadays the whole family have the name, even if the girls aren't a son ;) and even when their father doesn't have that particular first name, families inherits the name in many generations instead of taking the fathers name) Anyway =) I started thinking of how many they should be, and their first name =)

I started with the mother (who has a twin sister in a drawer here...) =) She got the name Lisbeth and the father who haven't got any cloths yet, he's Konrad =) And they have 3 kids, and Lisbeth is pregnant with a forth. The boy is called Jon and the girl Lovisa. But the baby haven't got a name yet... He/she hasn't even got a body yet ;)

Here they are:

Konrad, Lisbeth, Jon, Lovisa and "the baby"

I have done the body for both mum and dad, and mum's cloths. I don't think anyone is "finished" yet. I haven't even started on clothes for Konrad. And I'm thinking of giving Lisbeth hair, don't know if it's even possible (for me anyway)... And Jon, he is bought all finished, but I'm thinking of changing something.. I don't know what, but I would like to make him more unique... And the baby obviously needs a body =) and clothes, just like Lovisa.

When I was looking for the girl, I found 3 of them! I had no idea I had 3 similar dolls =) But every one has something different from the other, skin-tone or hair-tone..

 

Since the family has been very nice this year, they haven't even complained a bit about me not finishing there house, and having to sleep in a drawer and not having clothes... I gave them a surprise ;) They got to visit Santa in his unfinished house =) I think they were very hungry, because there is missing lots of food =)

I plan to set up a full typical Swedish "julbord" later, I started making food last year (isn't it great that polymer clay food doesn't rotten ;) ) but there are lots of food still missing, that needs to be done..
(I will write a post about how I made my Santa later =) )

As you can see Santa brought them all gifts. 

Jon got a train (can't remember were I got this from =) ) Lovisa got a Winnie the Pooh figure (This one use to be a necklace =) ) And the baby got a needlefelted teddy bear. Lisbeth got a book (I copied a book I have and printed it, glued it to a catalogue and cut it, very simple) And the kids all got books too (That I have got from Anna) =) And Konrad got a shirt (he could really need one.. but this is only a "fake" shirt.. folded fabric with fake buttons from polymer clay in a box I've made of paper)

I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture of our Christmas tree, this year we have a real one =) (Hopefully I will be able to make a miniature tree one day too.) We use to have a fake plastic tree, but it's nice to have a real one too, it smells good and is very beautiful. (We are missing a star at the top..)

 Take care

Hannah

Snow!!

 I got this lovely knife a few days ago. I won Doriens giveaway =)

Very well-made and  beautiful! Thank you very much Dorien!!

And now to the snow, this is more like it ;) We had a storm here in Sweden a few days ago, worse in south Sweden and not much here in the middle/north... But there were some wind and it did snow quite a lot. I was so happy =) (Because I love snow)

Can you feel it? I think I do now =) The Christmas spirit is seeking up on me =) And.. I manage to do one more dog. (Not from the new wool I was washing, I used some "old" one first) I don't know if I'm finished with this one... or if I should add brown, grey, curly fur, long fur or something.. I have no clue what breed it is.. it was suppose to be a west highland white terrier, then it became a big chihuahua, then I made the ears go down and made it into...nothing...

Do you have any idea what breed it is? =) Should I add some wool to make it look more like a special breed, or just let it be a mixed breed?! =)

My daughter was very happy for the gift, she plays with the "dollhouse" and opens the door and make a baby doll go trough it, and close it again =) And then she plays with the furniture out side of the "house". Her favourite is the toilet =) and the bed.

We are very careful to put pictures of our baby on the net, so this is all you get, a picture of her back ;) But its a pretty back, the worlds prettiest I think!

Today we got to light the second candle (out of 4 before Christmas) and I wish you all a: "God 2:a advent" (Happy second advent)

Take care

Hannah

Christmas?!

I love Christmas, snow, candy and good food and family. But this year I haven't got the Christmas spirit, yet, I believe it was the lack of snow, but today we finally got snow, not just a thin layer, "real" snow =) I want looooots of snow for Christmas...

Any way, my daughter will be 2 years old this week. Time flies, really!! She is still my baby, and that's what she calls her self, baby =) But she is so big now, she is walking and talking like a big girl =)

She loves the doors in my dollhouse, and I'm longing for the day she is big enough to play nice with a dollhouse, but she is a bit young, still =) But I couldn't resist, so I made a roombox for her.. Its not pretty, but it has a door, and I got lots of great wooden furnitures for smaller children from a girl in a Facebook group about dollhouses. So This is what she will get for her birthday, and then I have even more furniture to give later. I might have to make some more rooms, to fit all the furniture =)

This is very, very simple. I thought I might ask her to paint the walls and maybe we can make a floor together too. She will get a real house later, but since she is so young I thought this will be enough for now =)

She might use her duplo figures in this house, she loves duplo =)

Her duplo figures. 

She calls them mormor (grandmum) bebis (baby) pappa (dad) mamma (mum). The bigger girl is suppose to be the mother, and the shorter is the little girl.. But she change the two of them ;) So I'm the little blond girl... =)

Back to my miniatures =)

I have been cleaning wool. I got some wool from a nice girl. Shropshire wool. I liked the colour when I got it, looked nice, then I put it in some water, and like magic, it became white! It's a nice colour now too, but I would like to have some beige/cream coloured wool too. I might try to colour some wool later.

I have dried it and now I'm just waiting for inspirations to make more dogs ;) Meanwhile I have been making some bags. Again =)

My lady tried one out =) She liked it ;) But these three will be added to my pile of things to sell =) As you know I'm saving things to sell, I need to work a bit faster if I want to have a full table next year.. =) I'm too slow to actually earn money from my hobby, and I get to attached to things too =) But I'll give it a try.

I did try to make a new dog today, but it didn't work.. I teared it apart and gave up, I might just not be in a good mood for dogs right now, maybe I'll try a teddy bear tomorrow, for no I'll just enjoy watching the snow =)

take care

Hannah

Shoes and cradles

I've said this before, I love shoes =) I love to buy them in "real size", not as much to wear them as I love buying them ;) But when I had a full wardrobe I thought I could make some in miniature instead. But I gave up.
At the fair in Stockholm I bought a pair of shoes, very nice ones, that moved in to my new wardrobe. I started thinking, I most try that again, and clogs, they most be easy to make.... So I started carving, and realized, as always, it' harder than it looks... I thought I should start of with one pair, but, all a sudden the two shoes were very different sizes, so I had to make two new ones, so I got two pairs, and they did match, good enough (until I stared adding the leather). But if I thought carving was the hard part, I was wrong... attaching the leather is not my thing... I tried making leather shoes before, but failed, and now I can truly say that leather is NOT my favourite material! I did manage to finish one pair of clogs, but they are not exactly the same size =( Don't know if I can make some better matches later.. But I haven't even finished the second pair yet, so I will finish them before I even think of doing even more of these =)

I made these of balsa wood and leather from a glove. I tried making the second pair from thicker leather, but that was even harder (off course) But I shaved the leather to make it thinner, but that's hard too, I got some wholes instead... Maybe I'll just keep using the thin leather, but it would be fun to make the second pair in another colour...

Inside my husbands "real" clogs =) I have never had any clogs myself, but my husband is born in the 70's and I guess everyone had clogs in Sweden back then, and he still have some =) Perfect to wear at the balcony for example =) I'm more of the flip flop generation ;) But clogs are more Swedish, so its funnier to make in miniature than my flip flop shoes =) (but I might do some flip flop too one day)

Anyway I was just about to put the schnauzer in my box for things to sell at the fair later, when he run away, to the lady of my house, and he looked at me with those big brown dog-eyes... So I guess he will be moving in with the family later ;)
I'm glad I switch materials now and then, if I keep making 3 dogs a month (like I did this month) I will have to open a kennel real soon =) But I might do that later, but it would be nice to be able to sell some of the dogs too, but I suffer of separation anxiety.... (I'm very glad I don't have to feed and walk all these mini-dogs ;) )

Now he is guarding the cradle while I keep working on the house.

Like I said before I'm working on several cradles right now =) This is the first one to get all finished, or I have to make a pillow and a cozy blanket too.
My baby without the body tried it out, and I think he/she likes it =)

That's all for now =)
Take care

Hannah

I just want to welcome my newest followers too =)

Kati (Can't find your blog right now, please leave a comment with your address, and I will add a link =) )

Plushpussycat

Yvonne Eriksson 

Maisa

Lee Mar

New book

I try to list every book I get about miniatures and write a little about them, you can see more of my books here: http://hannahsminiatyrer.blogspot.se/search/label/Books

Small dogs by Susa Sachiko
I bought this book on Etsy. It's in Japanese, I don't understand a word of it, but I manage to translate some things using this site: http://www.ocr-extract.com I have only browsed through this one yet, but it looks good! Great instructions! Maybe even better than my first book about needle felting. But the first one is in Swedish, and when it comes to books I really prefer Swedish! I sometimes have a hard time reading English books, because I want to read super-fast, and I'm not as fast in English as in Swedish =) But Japanese takes the price of hard to read books... ;) Impossible! But like I said, great pictures!!

Finally, some dogs

I love dogs. And when I first saw a book about needlefelted dogs I knew I wanted that book, and to try make some of my own. I got the book from my mother for Christmas one year. And I tried... and I was very disappointed. It didn't look like I wanted.. And it was hard making dogs, maybe because I love dogs and know how they really look. But still it's hard to know everything about the anatomy, and you need to know some, to make a realistic dog. So I started making teddy bears, sheep and cats instead, I'm quite afraid of cats actually =) and maybe I didn't have that high demands on myself with the cats, as I have for the dogs, so I got quite happy with the result, it didn't really look like a real cat, but it was cute ;) And it didn't have any scary claws! ;)

But I did get pleased with at least one dog, the miniversion of my Chinese crested. I made it out of wool and his fur. Now the miniversion is all I got since he died in May. So I'm very glad I have a mini-version of him at least.

And as always, I write a lot, I could just have wrote: I have finally made some wool-dogs.

But I got caried away ;)

This poodle is actually the first dog I made, I realized some days ago that just because I was finished once, doesn't have to mean I cant work on it some more later, and fix it, so that I would like it better, and I think this dog went through a good make over =) Hope you agree with me, and like the second picture better than the first....

Before

After

I think she looks better after I added that curly wool. =)

And I started a more regular pudle too, the first one is more of a showdog, this one is cuddling at home, with a shorter cut curly fur ;)

And then I made this schnauzer too. I most say it looks like the picture in my book, but when I googled this breed, it didn't really look like this.... But mine is more a cartoon than a real dog I guess ;) I might go for cartoon on every dog I make, and maybe they will finally look like real ones.. ;) Because every time I try making it realistic, it end up cartoonish...

And a group shot of the new dogs =)

 

I hope to make more dogs soon! Many different breeds =) I'll just work on them until I get sick of it, then I'll do something else for awhile, as always, and after awhile, I might feel for more wool again =)

I hope I will get better and better as I practise, I hate to practise, I want to be great from the start... but who can manage that?! In every thing =) I will keep working on the eyes, I'm not really satisfied with my result so far, but I think it has gotten a little better as I go.

Take care

Hannah

It's a mess

My dollhouse is very messy at the moment =) The poor family live in the worse renovations mess ever ;)

My pregnant lady were just lying exhausted on the bed (without pillows and quilts) There are so many things to be done to this house and her husband is lying in a box for things that needs to be fixed.. He has no clothes.. And I haven't decided on have many kids there will be in this house, I love dolls and babies =) So she risks having a lot.... ;) One girl is missing hair and clothes and another girl needs clothes and a boy is bought with clothes on, but I don't know if I want to give him new ones... and the baby misses a body =)
And the house... well it's easier to say what I have done, than the things need to be fixed =)

But the lady is very happy I got her a new wardrobe, she started cleaning up the bedroom and hanging in her dress and putting in her shoes right away, even before I got to make the sliding doors..

I found my lady looking around at night, I believe she was looking for the wardrobe, but I had to take it out to build that sliding doors I'd planed =)

This solution is not the best, it looks good, but its very fragile! I have one mirror and one plastic-door. Its a bit hard sliding them... but it will have to do. But I would like to have a blurrier plastic door. Will look for that later, or find a way to make the one I have more blurry =)

Right now I'm working on some cradles, it's a lot of fun. And I thought I could add some to my "to sell box".  =)
I haven't finished the first one yet, but I have cut out the legs now, just need to paint them.

But I haven't forgot about what needs to be done at the house, and the family ;) The dishwasher is on the making...and the last floors in the house still need some fixing up...

I'm thinking of giving names to the dolls =) I just can't decide what... I do know which number the house is, it's 13 =) because the year is 2013 and several people say that 13 is an unlucky number, so I've always loved that number ;)
But I don't know what to make about the facade...
I might redo the outside of the house in several years, I just want to decorate and make furniture now, not make a facade =)

One last picture before I go to sleep... People talk about messy workspaces... they haven't seen mine.. I can't work here any more, but I like to sit in the living-room in the sofa, with a tray, I have a lot of full trays by now too... ;) The strange thing is that I always find what I look for, it's more a working-storage-place and everything is exactly were I put it ;) If I clean, I cant find a thing =) But, I will have to clean soon, it's getting a bit crowded.. I'm glad it's not Christmas yet, because the Santa-house is buried underneath a lot of stuff...

That's all for now, take care
Hannah