A bird and a mouse

Yesterday this gift came from Irmgard in Germany. I have been admiring her birds for a long time, and asked her, if I could buy one from her. She offered me a swap instead. Lucky me, it is fantastic work, it looks so real and the details are perfect. And look at that sweet little mouse, she sent me as an extra surprise!

Thank you so much, Imgard!
Take a look at Irmgards blog http://miniarche.blogspot.com/

Beauties from Sonya

Look what I got! A little while ago, I amired Sonyas beautiful dishes, bowls and vases and wrote a comment on her blog. She wrote back to me and offered to send me the vase and the bowl, and I naturally offered her some of my miniatures. What a wonderful swap, Sonya made so much more for me, than we had talked about, and she also included some supplies, nice beads and a great ornament. The ornament will be just right as a table top, and take a look at those big bead caps..they will become great lamps!
Thank you so much, Sonya for being so nice to me, and your gifts are on their way too!

Gifts from Ana Maria!

Look what I have got in the mail today! I am so lucky to get these beautiful goods from Ana Maria in Portugal. In the spring, I won this fantastic painting in a giveaway from Ana Maria, but unfortunately she was so unlucky to break her ancle very severely. She had a hard recovery and it still hasn´t ended, she still needs operations in her food. I feel so sorry for you, Ana Maria, and I am so greatful that you felt able to send the gift for me anyway, and so surprised and happy that you included extra gifts. Thank you, Ana Maria, so sweet of you and I´ll hope you´ll recover soon!!

As you can see Ana Maria also included a lot of small presents and materials to work with in just the shades of colors, I prefer. I think the small doiley is made of orchis, as we call it in danish, I am not really sure of the english word. But it is an old technique for making laces, that most people have forgot nowadays. My grandmother used to do that way back in the 1960 ties, and I wish I could still learn from her. Or is it just very small chocheting?
As for the ribbons, I can already see hats, baskets and bags...and I can´t wait to paint the small figures for a christmas crib...I am not sure, I will not use it in another way though..gosh..lots of possibilities...

Thanks again, Ana Maria, I will get back to you! Please visit her blog and web.

Love, Susanne

Lucky me!

I got a package from Annie today with miniatures and materials, she had put into the Susanne-Box for a period of time. Just love those packages with both very inspiring materials (only miniature creators will know which treasures they are ), things she bought, and Annies own wonderful miniatures, this time pretty boxes, a very feminine handbag and a necklace (I forgot to include it in the pictures, sorry) and great flower sticks. There were actually a lot more, that I didn´t photograph yet, the beautiful necklace, flower leaves, a small bowl and a pattern for boxes. So much! I love her style and sense of details, texture and colors.
You are so kind to me, Annie, thank you. I appreciate our friendship very much. My Annie-Box is gradually getting filled too, and this time it is my turn so send.

My favourite shoe brand

Look at these beautiful shoes and boots that arrived in the mail today. They are from LOTTE, my favourite miniature shoe brand. A woman got to have shoes, lots of shoes! Thank you so much, Lotte.

I am working on a surprise for Lotte too...

A room with a view

I invited Caterina to go to Tuscany with my family. Here are some pictures from our journey, we had a wonderful time together. I sent her some books in advance about Tuscany, the food, the landscape, the architecture, living and history, so that she could make some preparations. Though she is italian, she told me that she had not been in Tuscany since her school days.


Our first stop were Pisa, where our plane landed. I bought a large sketchbook and some pencils for Caterina, so she could draw her inspiration for miniatures during our trip. I love doing that myself.


Of course we had to see the leaning tower. I don´t know where Caterina went when I took the pictures. My son and my husband are looking for her at the picture.


The sun was shining bright and it was about 35 degrees, so I realized, why all the people around us wore straw hats. I bought one for Caterina too along with a matching bag. She immideately put her golden shawl into the bag, no need for that on such a hot day.


Then we drove to Montecatini Terme in our rented car. Here is the hotel, that we stayed in. It´s very old and situated in a large park.


Catherina and I spent a lot of time studying the details wanting to do it all in miniature. We realized that it would take some time though.





We had lunch in Montecatini Alto in the mountains, its a very small town with a stunning wiew.



It was also here, I found my special present for her. I won´t tell you what it is, because she hasn´t recieved it yet, but I´m sure, she will let you know, when she comes back home...I sure hpe she likes it...well its something for her garden or courtyard. I´am glad she prefers miniatures, because we had to fly back with Ryanair...



Then we saw Firenze (Florence) with all its amazing statues and the Cathedral...


..but Caterina was hiding again..where did she go? Maybe she doesn´t like to have her photo taken?
Anyway, thanks for a wonderful trip, Caterina, and thanks for organizing this swap! You will recieve your miniatures in the mail very soon..

Holiday gifts from Spain

Today I recieved my holiday swap gift from Alicia in Spain. The beautiful gifts all have a beach or sea theme... Look at all the details in the little box. Books about fishes, letters, maps, and magazines about miniatures of course. I would pack the bag and go to the beach reading and dreaming. And home again I would look at the sea shells, put the largest one up to my ear and recall the sound of the sea. I really need to make a beach- or summer house some day...
The gifts were so neatly wrapped. "I hope we keep exchanging gifts in the future", Alicia wrote to me. We will, Alicia, and thank you so much for the beautiful miniatures!

Getting ready for my vacation

I have been making some hats and a beach bag to day. Don´t you think, I ought to bring a straw hat for my vacation in Tuscany? I hear the sun can be wery strong there...
I took the photos with the items placed on the danish magazine, Isabellas, I find it very inspiring, though 1:1 ;-)
Click on photos to enlarge..

Gifts from Lisette

Yesterday I recieved these wonderful gifts from Lisette. I had asked her how to make a terrazzo floor for the bathroom, and she kindly showed me her tutorial AND promised to send me some flakes to use for the floor. But Lisette also sent me more. Look at this beautiful little book, that Lisette made, its was sent in a little box with the sweetest fabric. I´ll use the book as a guestbook in the hall and make a feather pen for it. Thank you so much, Lisette, I am making plans for my gifts for you in return.