Birth Announcement Finished!

I finished the birth announcement on Saturday night whilst FH was out with "the guys."  For obvious reasons I cannot publish the personal information on the stitching, so I've censored it.  At least this way you can see most of it.

The panda on the left looks a little annoyed.  Probably because I took so long in getting him done.  I may go back and fix his "angry" eye later.  For now I need to press forward.

The other thing I managed to do Saturday night was start playing with ideas for the rug design.  There's a mini motif in a book one Guild member owns that might make a good center design for the rug.  There's also a couple of small commercial cross stitch kits that I could use.  I'm not sure which of the possibilities I like more.  Of course I'm not the one stitching it... someone else has volunteered to do that.  I just have to provide a design.

Time to get back at it.  See you tomorrow!

Treasures from Katie!

When I got the mail on Monday there was a package from Katie at "Katie's Clay Corner" waiting for me.  Look at all the fun things from inside:

Four sweet pandas and a green bear.  A girl can't have only pandas after all. 

I think the littlest panda (far right) might be small enough to sit on Kathi's diaper cake.  I'll be checking on that as soon as it arrives. 

Some of you know Katie has been making really cool aged signs, birdhouses, and furniture lately.  She was generous enough to send not one, not two, but five(!) signs for the Nursery.  [I have censored the baby's names in this picture.  I assure you the signs are perfect and gorgeous!]

I know at least three will fit... I'm hoping for more.  I especially like the "cherish" and "treasure the moment" signs.  I think they are very fitting.

Next up are the printies.  My printer is dead so these are much, much appreciated.  Katie left them unglued so they wouldn't get smooshed in the mail.

More books!  I swear the baby will never lack for stories and diapers.  Two very important things. :-)

And a few fun extras including a shelf that I've been given orders (by Katie) to repaint.  Probably white or green so it shows up against the blue of the wall.

I don't know if you can see, but on the packaging of the panda eraser there is a tiny, pink cartoon panda.  I'm giving some real thought into putting it in the little picture frame. 

There were two more things in the package from Katie, but they're for me!

More cross stitch patterns!  I LOVE the Halloween chart!  I'm thinking it will be given a high place in my project queue.  Whenever I get the time to stitch again that is.  There are a few motifs in the other book that have captured my attention as well.

Thanks for everything Katie!  As always, you rock! :-)

Wainscot Installation Started

I took Sunday off from posting.  Spending time with FH, the critters, and minis was more interesting than getting stuck on the computer all day.  Especially since I worked on the Guild website on Friday and Saturday.  I'm sure you all can relate to that.

A few things got worked on, the most important being the wainscot.  So far only two sides are done.  I have to cover the wainscot with an old composition notebook and then set heavy things on that to hold the pieces down as they dry.  It takes some time.  But here's what it looks like so far:

Another thing I played with was narrowing down some fabric choices.  I want to re-cover the mattress in the cradle and I've whittled the possibilities down to two.

I'm not sure which way to jump.  I'll probably wait and see which looks better with the tatting thread I've ordered for the crocheted blanket.

More tomorrow.  I have to do real housework now.  Maybe I'll get the wainscot finished too.

More Nursery Things in the Mail

First let me get the two little things I ordered from Kitz! out of the way.  Nothing too special, but cute and something I didn't have to try and carve out time to make.  [And for those of you who are always looking for flocking and other random supplies, check Kitz! because 9/10 times they have what I'm looking for.  And no I don't get a discount for saying it. ;-)]

 Something inside me decided there needed to be *some* pink in the baby's room.  I'm planning to try and add more in other creative ways.

Now for the good stuff!  Apparently N.W. is on a roll.  She sent a few more lovelies for the Panda Nursery.  They arrived this morning and were a hit with everyone who was here.

Here's a detailed look at the contents of the diaper bag.  And there's another book!  Gotta have books on the go!  Love the panda rattle too!

A close up of the dress and bonnet with matching hanger.  N.W. said she used vintage lace from the 1940's.  Gorgeous!  I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of the bow on the back of the dress.  It's as perfect as the one on the hanger.

And more books!  What child's room would be complete without lots of stories for their grownups to read them?  Heck when my mom went back to school she recorded books on tape so I'd still get stories at night.  Books are very important.

Thank you again, N.W. for your exceptional generosity!

Real life and Guild commitments have been taking their toll on my time but I'm planning on only working on the Nursery tomorrow...when I'm not frying chicken for supper.

See you tomorrow!

Panda Rocker is Here

And isn't he sweet?

Kim from Flowers and Art made him for the Panda Nursery.  I think he's absolutely perfect!

Here's a picture of him inside the Nursery in progress.

Just the right size! 

Thank you so much Kim! 

Fun and Fruitful Guild Meeting

I was the hostess for today's Guild meeting, which meant I had to bake last night. 

It might not look too exciting, but when it was cut:

The only irritating bit about this cake was I forgot I had planned to dye the yellow part green.  Oh well.  It tasted great.

As I've mentioned before there are a few ladies in the Guild that also do miniatures in addition to stitching.  One of them gave me this kit that was in her stash to use in the Panda Nursery.

That's going to be interesting for sure. 

Also I managed to get a few more stitches in place on the birth announcement.

I even managed to avoid getting chocolate on it....somehow.

I'm going to go try and get the silly thing done now so I can move on to another bit for the Nursery.  I don't know how successful I'll be since it's Thursday and I normally call two of my best friends tonight... and then we talk for hours.  We'll see.

Progress and Minor Setbacks

Well I managed to get the walls painted a lovely shade of blue. 

 

The floor is now stained, varnished, and installed.

The exterior has been measured for the panda mural paper and prepped with gesso.

The wainscot trim and baseboard are white.

But the stuff I'm using for wainscot and the exterior molding needs a third coat of paint.

We're heading into another cold snap which means spray painting won't work very well, not to mention I'm about out of paint since I also sprayed some things for the Porch whilst I had everything set up.  I may have to paint the third coat by hand (the horror!) and then repainting the trim and baseboard to match.  Oh well.  At least the wood is primed.  And it gives me something to do today.

Construction Begins

The room is beginning to take shape.  I've got the walls and floor glued in place and the base strips on the bottom of the room now. 

In this picture the bottom piece of edge molding is taped in place to keep the strips positioned correctly.

The inside walls sections that will be blue are now primed.

I ran out to Hobby Lobby and restocked my white paint selection.  I'll be painting my make-shift wainscot, the baseboards, wainscot trim, and a few pieces of railing for the Porch (hey I'll have the white paint out so why not?) in the morning.  I also plan on measuring the wooden flooring and starting in on it.  Depending on the gesso I'll probably mix up a lighter shade of blue for the walls and get at least one coat in place.

There's a Guild meeting tonight and if I go I'll be taking mini needlework (the birth announcement) and the supplies to re-chart a rug design with me.  Happily I made enough green chili stew for dinner tomorrow so I don't have to stop working at anytime in order for FH to get fed.  [For those of you who don't know, darling FH is completing the final two courses he needs for his master's degree this semester.  This means I'm doing most of his chores on top of my own since he's still working his crazy schedule.  Only two more months and things are back to normal!] 

In the interest of actually getting as much work done today (it's after midnight, therefore it's Tuesday) as possible I'm going to try and stay away from the computer.  I will check my email in the morning before I start working in case anyone tries to contact me about the project, and again whenever I stop for food.  Other than that I'm going to be incommunicado for the day.

Parcels and Envelopes!

I was going to work on the birth announcement today and show you all but all kinds of goodies for the Panda Nursery have arrived!

First let me start with the gift from A. Wright at Every Little Thing.  These decorative buttons came last week and somehow I forgot to post the picture.  I'm not sure why, but here they are:

Aren't they adorable?  I can't wait to use these, especially the yellow rubber duck!

Next up are the items from N.W.  She doesn't have a blog, which is unfortunate because her dollhouse is beautiful and the minis she makes are too awesome for words.

N.W. made the changing table and everything on it.  Look at the diapers!  They squish and sound crinkly and everything! 

I'm in awe over these minis ladies.  Thank you both very much for contributing to this project.  Speaking of both awe and "awwww" if you'd like to see some of the other minis being sent hop on over to Beautiful Mini Blessings, Flowers and Art, and Katie's Clay Corner for sneak peaks.  I say "sneak peak" because apparently Kathi is on a roll and keeps making things and Katie only blogged about part of her gift.

I'm also expecting a package of furniture from San at The Dollhouse Diaries and a little something from Debie at Piskies and Poppets.

Now for the really crucial bit.  The roombox kit arrived today!  Just as I was about to start the posting I heard a thump at the front door.

Along with the cradle and a few mini books that I had when I was little.

The cradle needs new linens, but that won't take long.  I'm going to crochet a blanket some time in the next couple of weeks. 

So now I'll really be working on the room and feel less like a slacker.  Everyone else has been so productive and I've just been stitching here and there. It's time to get to work! ;-)

When the Husband Asks Nicely for Help...

Really, really nicely... then I have no real choice but to help.  FH needed a second pair of hands this evening for bottling some beer he made.  Carboys are heavy, even when they're empty and bottling is messy.  But it was fun.

These are from bottling the porter FH and his brother brewed on New Year's Eve.

This is an orange and ginger mead that could not be bottled due to FH discovering carbon-dioxide still present in the liquid.  We moved it to a clean carboy so the gas could bubble out and the mead would not have to keep sitting on top of dead yeast.  It has a gorgeous color and the smell is heavenly.

I'll show my progress on the birth announcement tomorrow.  Maybe I'll even get it done whilst I wait for the UPS man to bring the roombox kit.

Stitching and Everything That Goes with It

As of today the growth chart and two receiving blankets have been stitched.  The blankets are directly out of Eileen Folk's Needlework Design for Miniature Projects.  Everything still need finishing, but that will wait until I have a few more pieces done.  I'm working them up on the same piece of fabric.

There are six colors of Weeks Dye-works floss in use: Butterbean, Seaweed, Robins Egg, Union Blue, Icicle, and Mascara.  I have a skein of Amber as well but haven't needed the contrast yet.  I'm stitching on 22-count ivory Hardanger.

Like the growth chart I have also re-charted the birth announcement and a stuffed toy from the same book to feature pandas instead of bunnies.  In case you're wondering about re-charting it's easy but time consuming.  Currently I lack any sort of computer program that would allow me to fill in pixels quickly.  I've been hoping FH would take care of that for a while, but he keeps on getting me other things that prove to be equally useful.  So I re-chart the "old-fashioned" way. 

This has the advantage of an immediate paper copy since the printer is out of commission.  The top paper is one of my doodle pages.  I try out ideas for pandas and bamboo on it before putting them into a design.

If anyone out there wants to try something similar based on these designs, please remember to credit Eileen Folk for the original charts.  What I have done is a variation on her work.  She is responsible for the original designs. 

Grasshopper Cupcakes v2.0

These are the treats I made for Tuesday's Guild meeting.  I've made them before and posted here.  The original recipe can be found here.This time around I made a few changes.

 I started by unwrapping 30 mini York peppermint patty candies.  The hardest part was not eating any.  Once they were unwrapped I dumped about a tablespoon of cocoa powder on top of them and tossed them until they were coated.  This would insure their continued placement in the batter as it baked.

Then I poured one box of Devil's food cake mix into a large mixing bowl.  I used the same amount of oil as the box required, but then I ignored the rest.  I substituted 4 eggs and one cup of soured milk (1 c. milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice) for the water.  [This method is from Hello Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson.]

Next I spooned in just enough batter to cover the bottoms of the paper liners ad topped each one with a cocoa coated peppermint patty.  (Say that 5 times fast.)  Then I topped off each liner with batter until they were approximately 2/3 full.

350 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until the tops sprang back when I tapped them.  If you try and stick a toothpick or knife into these guys, it will come out covered in melted peppermint candy.  This recipe yielded 30 cupcakes.

Now for the frosting... 1 stick of butter warmed to room temperature and then creamed.  Nearly a pound of confectioner's sugar went into the butter, alternated with 1/4 cup of milk + 1.5 teaspoons of peppermint extract mixed together.  Once everything was smooth I colored it pastel green.  The only thing I'd do differently is remember the real cream sitting in the refrigerator.  How I could forget about it I do not know.  Anyway there was just enough frosting to ice all 30 cupcakes with no waste. 

FH "volunteered" to try one Monday night so you could see it cut in half.

Ta da!  The last time I made this the peppermint patty sank to the bottom while they baked and created a heck of a mess.  The cocoa powder changed the viscosity enough to hold it in place.  You could also roll them in some of the cake mix, or flour if you were baking a non-chocolate cake.


Originally I planned to have this post update automatically on Wednesday.  In fact I typed it Monday night.  Then all kinds of wonderful people started asking about things to make or send for the Panda Nursery and then I had an epiphany and changed the plans for the interior.  So this post got moved over to Friday.  I am lost in the calendar...it's still actually Tuesday as I type this.

Sorry This is Late

I've been running around today with the car. I picked up some useful and interesting things for the Panda Nursery.

 

If any of you heard some colorful language coming from my area of the world earlier, it's because I have to work some frog stitches (rip it rip it) on the growth chart.  I'm less than pleased.  The last panda and piece of bamboo are off by one stitch.

 

I'm going to go try and get the silly thing finished now.  There is a post scheduled for tomorrow already.  Hopefully on Saturday I will have this really finished and maybe a couple more things.

The roombox kit and related items will be here at the beginning of next week some time.  Until then I'm going to try and stitch and sculpt as much as I can.  I do have a date day planned with FH on Saturday.  If I don't get a post up until Sunday you'll know why.

General Plans for the Panda Project

It's Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and I'm thanking my lucky stars I haven't had a moment to sit down and order things for the nursery yet.  I completely changed the basic structure of the interior.  The colors are still the same, as is the theme, but the painted mural on the inside is out.  Instead I found an awesome panda mural to put on the outside of the roombox.

On the inside I'm going to use white wainscot around the base of the walls and paint a pale blue above it.  That way I can hang green, black, white, brown, or whatever-color things on the walls and not a) make it look too busy or b) cover up a hand-painted mural.  My friend who offered (as a last resort) to paint the original mural is happy she doesn't have to now.  But she's not getting off that easy.  I'm going to ask her to paint some bamboo on the bashed Michael's hutch that I'm using as a shelf.

The floor will likely be hardwood, either real wood or some of that nice hardwood look paper from the UK. 

The dimensions of the roombox kit I'm ordering are 15.25"w x 10.25"h x 9.75"d.  Plenty of room for furniture, toys, and other accessories.

And speaking of those things here's a list of the plans for those things:

Furniture-

cradle: I've chosen the mahogany version of the Lincoln cradle at miniatures.com; I'll be placing the order for it, the roombox, and construction materials after I'm done typing this post

changing table (with some accessories):- I received an email from a wonderful lady (I will call her N.W. here until she gives me permission to use her name or her blog alias) who has offered to make the changing table.  I can't find a blog for you, N.W.  If you have one please let me know.

child's bench: Kathi at Beautiful Mini Blessings has offered up an adorable bench that she's decorating

bookcase/toy shelf: I'm kit-bashing a Michael's hutch from my stash

rocking chair: I have one in my stash I can use.  I think it will look nice once it's repainted

high chair: I don't know if I'll use one in the scene, but I have one in my stash that will look nice once it's repainted... it's the same "dollar store red" as the rocker

*edit-I knew I forgot someone! Sorry Sans!*
Sans of The Dollhouse Diaries: My Maharaja's Palace was one of the first people to offer to help.  Not only is she on the lookout for panda beads, buttons, or anything that will become a mini, but she's sending some furniture items all the way from Singapore!  Talk about above and beyond the call for help.  Thank you Sans! 

Decorative items-

I'm planning on doing several things myself: lamp(s), the height chart, a few stitched receiving blankets, some toys, framing a picture of the baby for the wall, crocheting a crib blanket, and I found a punch needle kit of a panda in my stash that might look like a latch hook wall-hanging if I can figure out how to make it work without stabbing myself

I have a few baby bottles in my stash that Katie sent me a while back for my own nursery projects.  Somehow I doubt she'll disown me if I use one or two in this room.

Again some changing table accessories are being made by the wonderful N.W.

A.Wright from Every Little Thing has offered up some spare things from her own nursery project. 

 I'm on the lookout for various things I can't make like bottles of baby shampoo, lotion, tubes of diaper cream... those sorts of things.  I'm also looking for more children's books.  I have a few, but I think more would look better. 

There will be poly-clay pandas being sculpted soon, in various sizes.  I'll have the car on Thursday so I can go look for little bear-shaped buttons to paint or regular ones to use as part of a lamp base.

I apologize if I've forgotten someone who's offered to contribute.  Just email me and I'll amend the list.  Also if anyone else would like to contribute, please send me an email.

I saw my friend on Tuesday morning and told her about all of the wonderful ladies who are making minis, on the lookout for items, and coming up with ideas.  She was overwhelmed with emotion.  Quite frankly I know many of you ladies via your blogs and I'm still overwhelmed.  Thank you again, this time from both of us.

***edit***
Debie from Piskies and Poppets is making one or two panda bear toys.  This way all the bears won't look the same.

Kim from Flowers and Art has volunteered to try and make a panda bear rocker.   

Panda Growth Chart-In Progress Still

I spent most of Monday cleaning and doing things in the real house, including cleaning and reorganizing my mini workroom.  It looked like a tornado had spun through and there was no way I'd be able to find any tools or supplies in there once I'm ready to start constructing the roombox.

Then baking for the Guild meeting Tuesday morning took a front seat.  (It's still Monday night as I type this.  The post will appear as I head out to a Guild meeting in the morning.)  So perhaps most post for Wednesday will have the finished piece.  But for now I thought you'd like to see the progress.  Sorry about the picture, it's dark and I forgot to dig out my "upstairs" true color lamp.

As you can see I'm about halfway down.  There are three pandas in the design and four bamboo motifs.  I based the design off of the bunny-themed growth chart in Eileen Folk's Needlework Design for Miniature Projects. 

It's hard to tell in the picture but my threads are all variegated over-dyes by Weeks Dye Works.  Really the only color that you will be able to see any variation in is the light green.  But I loved the bright white and soft black and then the dark green came along for the ride.

This version of the design is being worked on ivory 22-count Hardanger.  I have another color of 22-count that I also liked.  The plan is to work the second one and decide which goes better in the room later.  Here is a picture of both fabrics with the fibers.

The darker color has a hint of green in it.  I'm not sure if it will be too green or just right when it's finished.

Now I would like to take a moment and thank the blog friends who are out looking for panda things, offering to make minis for this projects, and trying to come up with more ideas for the room.  You all are too fantastic for words.  I will be responding to your emails as soon as I can.  Thank you so very much.