Tuesday 12 November 2013

Gifts from My Friends!


" We'll be Friend's Forever won't we Pooh? asked Piglet

Even longer, ' Pooh answered - A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh






 ( this is Fatima in front of her 'infamous' Garfield doll's house )

I have been blessed to have two Extraordinary Friends and the fact that these two friends of mine are also both Extraordinary Miniaturist is a double blessing!  

Everyone who reads my blog has heard me speak of Janine of MINWORKS ( and her sidekick hubby Bruce ) on a fairly regular basis and just in case you didn't know this already, Janine and I have been friends for about 30 years.  That number seems outrageous to me when I think about it!  But it is true!  However, I haven't known Fatima that long, maybe only since the late 90's but again, it feels like we have Always known each other and the 3 of us make up what Fats has dubbed as
 "The Miniteers".  
While Janine and Bruce were away this past Spring, touring their homeland Downunder; Fats and I held the fort here and got ready for the West Coast Miniature Show which Fats actively helped organized and which took place this past June with great success.  Immediately following the show, she threw herself full throttle, into wedding plans for her daughter Sheena, and the 2 of them put on a wonderful wedding celebration where Fatima and her daughter, did the majority of the decorations, the cake and the, flowers and the entertaining of out of town guests and that
too was a resounding success!
 ( Fatima is a Powerhouse, a one (wo) Man show, the 'go-to' person if you want to get something done, and done RIGHT.)
So FINALLY, Janine returns after having been away for months and months. The Miniteers got together once again, meeting here at my house and Yes, we had presents for each other.  Janine brought Fats and I a wonderful Empire Sofa kit that had been on hold with her sister in Australia for a long time and here it is ....
I love this!  I have just the house to put it in when I get the Arthur doll's house finished.
I shall leave you in suspense for awhile but the kit is Perfect for that future build.
Fats also gave me something special...
She wrapped it up, and when I opened the box inside was an assortment of memorabilia of Green Dolphin Street!  Movie poster, record covers with mini albums inside and movie stills from the movie.
All Green Dolphin!

There are books and book jackets of Green Dolphin Street!
WHO KNEW THAT THERE WAS SO MUCH VARIETY!!!?
I used one of  the wonderful little books and placed it in the Parlor on the sideboard. 

 It is right at home there,

But there was MORE in the box that I  almost missed until Janine pointed it out.
Fats made me a Scrapbook!
Look at that cover!
And inside there was.....
YUP!
Green Dolphin Street clippings

 and photos and sheet music from the movie score, and book jackets 


Fats even downloaded photos of my doll's house from my blog and made them into mini photos and included them in the pages!!!
the 2 on the right are of the bedroom; bed (before bedcurtains) and the fireplace mantle
Dried flower pressed between the pages
movie stills and more of the movie score

this photo on the right, has my Parlor form the very first set up!

And this one has the fireplace and The DOOR

A vintage book jacket died flowers and the theme music from the movie 


What a Wonderful Gift!
What I find so Amazing is how she finds the time to do all of the research and make this in between all of the 10,000 other things she is constantly involved in.  To see the Paris Scrapbook that she made for Janine just go to MINWORKS blog.  Janine  has had Bruce take some really professional photos of hers and She Loves It!!!

BUT THAT IS NOT ALL

Last week it was my birthday and as Jane Smith of Minifanaticus says
I'm 29 again!
heehehe
This time We 3 celebrated it at Fatima's house where we enjoyed a lovely lunch made by Fats and a Scrumptious dessert of homemade Lemon Cheesecake

(my favorite dessert)
made by Janine
THANK YOU LADIES!
Janine gave me a gift card which I have used on a non-mini present for myself
(my favorite perfume) 

and Fats gave me this...
No NOT Lana Turner from Green Dolphin Street, but do you see what Lana Turner is wearing?
This is the actual REAL LIFE dressing gown that Lana Turner wore in the movie 
And this is what Fats made!
a miniature copy of the real life gown from the movie 
Happy Birthday to ME!!!!
And she made some matching slippers too!

The collar is hand embroidered and beadwork is added just like the real McCoy

And lets not forget the buttons that go down the front!

The fabric that she used drapes Beautifully and flows and puddles onto the floor with no effort at all
and I can even hang it on a hanger because of the way that she has made the yoke.


The slippers have real wooden heels and the tops are decorated with lace and beadwork
The workmanship is so detailed and so Perfect!!!
I can not begin to tell you how surprised and how happy I am to have this  gracing my doll's house.  So Thank You Fats and Thank you Janine for your extreme generosity.  You are both
near and dear to my heart.!


And just before I go, I would like to say that Fatima will have her web page,
BEAUXMINIS

on line very soon.
  Janine and I got a sneak preview last week and I don't think that you'll be disappointed.  Fatima will be selling her wonderful and marvelous things through her site so you can all go shopping and all enjoy her many and diverse talents! :D
***

Meanwhile,

 I'm going to go and play with my doll's house again.
 And
I have the
perfect place to put those  lovely green slippers...

right next to my bed!
ahhh Friends!
blessings from God

elizabeth





















DO OVERS! a Glencroft Living room redecoration

    Back in April of 2022, I made up a storyline for my Glencroft renovations, which went something like this...   "After due considera...