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I'm so excited - slowly but surely - after 40 years of being in love with miniatures, I reached an odd milestone recently lol . .
When I was 9, I was lucky to stumble upon my first miniatures shop. Who knew such an oasis excited!? I was immediately hooked. My personality must have been similar then - enthusiastic! - because the nice man who worked there came over and handed me a great gift, a catalog of miniatures to take home! I was mesmerized. I took it home and spent hours paging through that catalog, dreaming and making wish lists of all that I would buy. . . of course, I had never earned money but that didn't squelch my spree till I stopped and did some math. Unfortunately, math was a good subject for me and my hunger for dollhouse accessories was vast. I was disappointed and thought, "Someday.".
We had moved to a new state, new town, new house that year. We had lived in a modest home in New York yet when we transitioned to Atlanta, GA, the house was new with updated features like . . .Much to my delight . . . my new room had a small walk in closet with 3 shelves! The lowest 2 were at my level. (Does anyone remember the days of sitting in a chair with your legs dangling? I thought "I'll be really grown up when they touch the floor!" lol - Just an aside for those of us that are vertically challenged.
My mother was deep in "feather the nest" mode so she had lots of fabrics and other samples that caught my eye.
We had moved in the summer and I didn't know anyone. Luckily, I was a bright and creative child and my attention turned to my closet and my mind was clear to imagine. I created sofas from cookie boxes, a Christmas tree from the Holly bushes, wrapped Christmas presents with the playing card boxes. I don't remember much more detail and I don't have photos but the experience stayed with me forever.
Over the years, I learned to create more miniatures. I learned an old art form to make handmade rugs.
I hope I can remember the technique to create them for the shop. I love the way they look - very romantic, vintage.
Fast forward . . . In the wonderful of Etsy, I found miniatures again. I began collecting from all the beautiful artists. My creative passion welled up again and I started creating again as a great distraction to personal issues, illness etc. I opened Miniature Rose Garden in late 2011.
I recently chose from my personal collection, items that either I had made or many that I bought from all over the world (I love that about Etsy!!). I furnished my 1st house since those shelves 40 years ago
I'm delighted to share these pictures with you. (It's like a coming out party!)
This beautiful cherished house was made by my friend, Caroline Dupuis.
She creates a world that everyone wishes they could live in! You can find the books that she's authored and her handmade creations in Etsy at CinderellaMoments.
This is her armchair below - the detail and love that Caroline puts into her pieces is truly touching!
You can see Etsy's MinisbyNana babies playing in the corner. Vanessa creates such special dolls that - I'll tell you a secret: I always carry one or 2 in my purse in a special lace lined box - so that I can look at them whenever I need a smile. They never fail to re-happy my day.
The toys that the girls are playing with are from the dear sweet women at LugArtPetit on Etsy. Two talented women whose Joie de Vivre comes right through in their art. Say hi to Maria Jose and Monica when you check out their creations. Their Facebook page is super to see their work also.
The fabulous plants to the left are made by Georgie Steeds of the TheMiniatureGardener on Etsy. Georgie's from the UK and has such a fabulous shop of every most beautiful plant kit that you can imagine.
I love sharing wonderful Etsy artists with you. You deserve them and they deserve you.
Here's a change of subjects, does anyone have a Golden doodle? We'd like to adopt. (A puppy lol)
My husband is such a dog lover but I have developed rather bad allergies (like to cigarette smoke) - They came with a severe case of asthma so I'd really like to be careful. All I can really do is avoid triggers rather than control them.
I understand that these dogs are allergy neutral - or an expression like that lol. I'd love to hear about your experiences, your advice and input with this breed. Or if you have others that you strongly recommend.
My email is MiniatureRoseGarden@gmail.com.
I'm really excited about the changes taking place at the shop, so please check her out and let me know what you think :) Http://www.MiniatureRoseGarden.etsy.com.
