Captured on June 24, 2015

She is made of porcelain. I dressed her in vintage millinery leaves, antique metallic lace and vintage French ribbons. She has tiny 1/2 mm diamonds on her lace top and a real opal. Her wings are from a glass butterfly. Her hair is made of silk.

Walnut Shell Gypsy Caravan

Having lost their caterpillar to his own agenda of spinning a cocoon, the travelers are going to have to camp for a few days while they look for an obliging beetle (or some other creepy crawler) to pull their caravan. It's no easy task to convince an insect to wear a harness or go in the direction you want him to for that matter. They tend to want to stop all the time to chew on a leaf or a berry.

When the walnut gypsy wagon occurred to me, I knew I was going to have to try it. As usual as soon as it started to come together I had several other designs pop into my mind. I am sure I will have to try another one eventually.

I am still waiting for clear 3 mm round beads to arrive for the front lanterns. Those fixtures may change entirely before I am finished, they are just waxed in place for the present.

I had intended for this one to have a polymer clay insect hitched up to the wagon. While I was working on it I realized that it would have to be mounted on a base or the poles that extend from the wagon to the bug would surely get broken over time. Anyway... I really prefer the houses not mounted. The wheels do turn so gluing them down to a base would have been a shame. 

Disappearing Artisans

A blog friend in England was kind enough to ask me if there was anything I wanted when she went to London to the Kensington Dollshouse Festival. I told her collected Terry Curran's blue pieces. She didn't find these at the festival though. She found them in a shop. I was thrilled when she found so many.

 I have noticed Terry's work is slowly disappearing. Occasionally, I find a piece for sale online. The pieces I see on Ebay are going for as much as much four times the original value. Depending on the piece of course. So when I find something for the original price I buy it. No matter what the color. I know will be able sell those someday if I want to.

We are loosing so many artisans either to retirement or sadly they have passed away. I no longer hesitate to collect something, thinking I will get it later when my mad money jar fills up.

Who's work do you collect that has vanished?

Giant Bubbles

 

My new neighbors have four children. They are the nicest kids I have ever met. Polite, thoughtful and truly sweet.

I had to devise a way to spend some time playing with them. They are always outside jumping on the trampoline or shooting basketball. They have great toys so I wasn't sure what I could come up with. I decided on giant bubbles. There are lots of soap solution recipes on the Internet and wand designs to make.

It was a perfect day for it. Not too hot and no wind. We had a great time. We went through two gallons of soap. Some of those bubbles were nine feet long!

Then a couple of them disappeared while I was talking to their mother. They returned 40 minutes later with a plate of brownies they baked for me and three hand written thank you notes for the bubbles.

Finished Aunt Olga Petit Point Carpet

I am delighted to tell you I have finally finished my carpet. I am so excited to get on with other projects that have been whirling around in my mind for months. I have another crazy nut house in mind and I want to start making some windows. 

 

 

The Back

 

 

Somebody slipped me a Mickey and I woke up like this!

                         
                                                      A little nap after a big day out.

Poor Merlin had been so neglected for so long, his fur on his body had turned into a solid thick mat. His entire chest, tummy and behind his back legs was a mess. There was only one thing to do. Wait until it got warm enough and take him to the vet and get him shaved.

I can tell he feels better. He has been grooming himself ever since we got home this morning. I never saw him bother much before. I bet there was a lot of wild life living under that matted mess.

It was good to find out he is a neutered male. I was pretty sure he was a boy. He is about three years old and in good health. He got all his shots too.

He's a little worried about what all the other kids are going to say. I don't think Puffy and Groupie have seen him yet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Finn_%28drugs%29 

To Hell And Back... A Note From Catherine

Many of you may already know my appendix ruptured in February. It's hard to believe but  I didn't know it for weeks.

 

I started becoming very, very ill. My lower back hurt and became very swollen on my right side. It had a huge egg shaped swelling in the mix. Even the skin turned very red and angry looking. The skin felt like it had a thousand bee stings.  I couldn't raise my right leg more then an inch off the floor. I thought I had done something to my back working in the house that was causing all the symptoms I was having. So I just kept waiting for it to improve. A week later, things became much worse.

 

I now know I was septic. The highest priority in a hospital they told me. My blood white count was 21,000. A normal number should be about 10,000 or lower. I had an abscess between two muscles in my gut the size of a large Coke at McDonalds. That was discovered via a CAT scan. After being in the hospital for six days they discovered another abscess in my back. It was smaller but required surgery. I will spare you all the gory details of this ordeal. Just thinking about it myself makes me cringe.

 

I still have to go back to the hospital have my appendix out in a couple of months. They want everything cleared up before they can do that.

 

On the bright side..... I am still here. The Doctors have told me if I had stayed home a few more hours, I would be gone now. 

 

To those of you who knew and sent well wishes, good vibes and prayers, thank you very much!!!

 

My hands have finally stopped shaking from all the Morphine, general anesthetic and other drugs they pumped in me for eight days. So.... I can get back to finishing my petit point carpet now. :-)

 

Catherine XXX

Sterling silver fountain Pen by Mike Sparrow. The caps really clicks when you put it back on.