Notes from A Cottage Industry

A little Christmas in July

     I need some advice today.
     I've always had a thing for miniatures. So fun to see something real, in teeny, tiny form. I was part of the Club Little House swaps that Amy started a couple of years ago. *sigh* So.Much.Fun.
     I used to have a very large doll house. It was such a fun hobby. My girls and I went through a time period when they were around eight and ten, where we really had a ball arranging and playing with it. Time passed, the novelty wore off, the doll house got dusty and I sold it. (Good God, what was I thinking?!)
      About two years later, I bought a small doll house kit and decided to create a Santa's workshop.


When I first began this labor of love, I invested many, many hours into the little workshop, building and painting, and making the sign above the door and posted the workshop hours...
 
     I even hand painted, a' la (Sp?) Mary Engelbreit, a work table (there is an identical one to the right of it, still awaiting a paint job...)

     I made an office for Mr. Claus upstairs, complete with his globe and maps for planning his route...

and even added framed miniature photographs of his three favorite children.

     *sigh* Oh, I need some direction here. Why? Because, again, time has passed, and  this little treasure is barely more than half completed.
     I have managed to hang on to the dear little workshop, moving it twice now, although it sits in a lonely guest room closet, waiting for me patiently, to find the time to finish it up and enjoy it.
    I am not even sure where I can showcase this little workshop at holiday time. It takes up quite a sizable amount of space.
     We do not even have a miniature shop in Reno anymore, which means I would have to be shopping online (and in Portland!) should I decide to get with it and complete this project.

    Do I keep it (someday I'll surely have grand babies that will love it too) or do I sell it or donate it now and move on? I'd love your input and ideas. Really.

Bloom where you are planted...

I mentioned Club Little House a few posts back.

We are now in the second go round of our fun little club, and the items are due to the fabulous Amy by next Monday. I have been embarrassingly s-l-o-w about creating my little things this time. Not because I was too busy, or didn’t have any ideas. No, my plan was to buy little wooden chairs for everyone in the club and paint them up all whimsical. Kind of Mary Engelbreit/MacKenzie-Childs looking, ya know. Well, we have NO miniature stores left in little ol’ Reno, Nevada. Nope, none. We used to have a pretty nice one a few years back, but it’s gone, and for the life of me, I do not know where miniature enthusiasts go to get their stuff if they live here.
I looked online, checked here and there…anyhow, to make a long story even longer, I found myself Tuesday frantically thinking I was not going to be able to make anything. ( I mean, these girls are amazingly talented at crafting the most darling things for us, so the pressure is on!)

At last, Tuesday afternoon, I had come up with a plan AND supplies. I spent all afternoon crafting and creating and I had a lot of fun making my little prezzies for the Club Little House girls!

When they were done, I packaged ‘em up and off to the Post Office they went. They are now on their merry way to Amy.

I can’t wait to see what else is being crafted!

Club Little House

A short while back, Amy (who has a fabuous online shop called Inspire Company )  created a wonderful club. The club consisted of 12 members , and each of us were to send in 12 matching items in 1/12 scale (dollhouse size) She gathered all the items and sorted them, packing them in such a charming, lovely  way..and then shipped them to each of us, from California to Italy!.
My package arrived last friday and it was so much fun to open!
I carefully tore into the box and it was just like Christmas! Each treasure as cute as the next. Such creative friends!!!!
Here are a few pictures of some of the tiny treats....
You'll find more pictures from Club Little House on Alicia's Blog, Vicki's Blog, and  Amy's Blog as well.

Amy is going to be doing another Club Little House, so watch her Blog for more information!