Monday Moodboard: Domestic Goddess

Fold Top Shoulder Bag by StarBags
Sewing forever, housework whenever by dindi

Crafting Cindy Desk Organizer by lessandmore
Purple Felted Pincushion by colouritgreen

I've made the decision: The time has come for me to buy (and learn to use!) a sewing machine. It's on my Christmas list, so hopefully by the new year I will be sewing beautiful clothes for all my family and friends!!! (Well, I can dream, can't I?)

Have a magical week ;-)
Naomi xxx

Psssst! Love Moodboards? Find more wonderful Moodboards at Fleur's blog!

Refurbishing my studio - Part 3

My studio is finally finished! I can't believe how much I have missed having my own creative space to work in. It is 10 times better than it was before. I have added loads of extra storage space - who would have thought the materials for making tiny little mice would take up so much room?! The walls are plastered - no more bumpy peeling wallpaper, yay! I have a nice new wooden floor. Now I can get on with crafting more mice than ever before. I hope you enjoy this tour around my shiny new studio.

Lots of new shelves and cabinets. Can you spot ArtMind's babushka dolls on my shelves? I think I need to buy some more soon. I love wind chimes and dreamcatchers hanging from my window. I wish I had more room for plants too.


My little photo corner with my light boxes. Soon I am going to write a tutorial on how to make a light box and use photo editing software to get your photos looking bright and beautiful.

My ribbon board is full! I think I am going to need to make another one soon. I have a little tool box full of beads and flowers, it is hanging on the wall under my pin board. I put my writing board on the wall and forgot to wipe off the old writing. It looks very odd with the writing on sideways! My new favourite addition to my work table is a pair of magnetic strips of metal on the wall. I can stick all my scissors too it and keep them out of my way.

Thanks for stopping by!

Artist Interview - Petit Plat

I have always had an admiration for anyone who can produce miniatures with realistic detail. The skill involved in working so small is just amazing. This weeks Featured Artist has this skill in abundance! I am blown away by the detail in her tiny creations! I hope you will enjoy her interview and marvel at her tasty art.

Berries in Pink on Cupcake - Silver Sterling Earrings

Tell us a little bit about yourself

I’m Stéphanie and I live near Paris. I’m a happy mix of origins going from Russian to Polish, through German and French, but my nationality (the one on my passport) is French.

Other than creating art, what else do you do?
I’m still studying architecture, if everything goes fine, I’ll finish in a bit less than 2 months. I don’t intend working as an architect right now, though.

Have you always been an artist?
I see myself more as a sort of artisan. But since I remember I always crafted a lot, drawing, painting, knitting, …

Actually I wanted to become a painting artist when I was little :)

Tell us a bit about your creative process

I work in ‘our’ bedroom/room/living-room on two tables, which don’t have the same height. The higher one is good when I work on miniatures so I can sit straight. The other ‘normal’ height’ table is both for architecture and miniatures. Miniatures are always lying a bit everywhere, because I mostly don’t know right away how to arrange them.

I don’t have a weakly planning on when I miniaturize. I just do when I feel down or have time.

Selection of Breads on Bakers Tray - 1/12 miniature

How did you learn to create such detailed work? Are you self taught?

Yup. Self taught. But my friend google helped me a lot in my research of the best miniature work so I had a lot to look at in order to make my owns.

After this first google phase I bought the book Making Miniature Food from Angie Scarr. It’s a very well known book among miniaturists. I also got her second book which was published in April.

Are there any foods you particularly enjoy making?
I used to love making doughnuts, but that vanished. Now I would say breads and fruit tarts. Fruit tarts are a life time favourite I guess :)

I also really enjoy making “preparation boards” and gingerbread houses!

Ok chocolate is great as well!

Which of your creations is your favourite?

It really has to be this one

I really do love that salmon board and I’m still thrilled that my first attempt at making salmon turned out that great!

Where can we find you online?
Gee! I’m just everywhere, it’s hard for me to keep up!

So I sell on these sites:
PetitPlat.etsy.com
PetitPlat.artfire.com
PetitPlat.dawanda.com
cdhm.org/user/petitplat

And you can see my work on:
PetitPlat.110mb.com
flickr.com/photos/_sk
PetitPlatBySK.blogspot.com

Chocolate Orange Supreme - 1/12 miniature

If you would like to be considered for Featured Artist, please leave a comment under this post and tell me which Stéphanie's creations of you love the most! (you can pick more than one, I know it is hard to choose)

Refurbishing my studio - Part 2

The plastering is done, the flooring has been pulled up and the studio is already painted! Dave the builder does not hang around! He'll be back on Monday or Tuesday to put down the new flooring (you can see it leaning up against the wall in the last photo) and skirting boards. He is also going to be plastering our hallway, which is why you can see the orange primer on the walls through my studio doorway. Tomorrow I am going to paint my radiator and put up some new cabinets for my studio. I love home decorating! More photos coming soon.

Refurbishing my studio - Part 1

Yesterday we started work on refurbishing my studio. I am so excited about having a nice clean, fresh and tidy space to work in. I took a "before" shot for you, but my camera ate it (it must have been hungry) so you will have to imagine from the photo above what my studio used to look like: Peeling wallpaper with a horrific bumpy pattern, badly DIY'ed laminate flooring and old tired shelves that I had put up myself.

Yesterday our builder Dave came to start work stripping the wallpaper, clearing the room and priming the walls for plastering. He makes it look so easy!

Today he is plastering and the room will start to take shape.

The orange paint is the primer for the walls, it helps the plaster stick to it properly.

In this part of Holland they build so fast that everything is made from huge walls of solid concrete, with all the wires and pipes visible. Most Dutch people don't seem to mind seeing the wires, but because I am British they drive me crazy. I will be so happy when they are hidden away behind plaster.

I'll be back with more photos soon!

Featured Artist - ingermaaike

Inger is a talented artist who freely admits she is obsessed with felt and all the forms it can take! You can find everything from shawls and bags to sculpted plants in her store. She has an endless imagination!

If you would like to be considered for Featured Artist, please leave a comment and tell me which item in ingermaaike's shop you love the most!

Don't forget to enter my May Giveaway to
WIN a FREE MOUSE!

ArtMind is feeling creative

Creative

Over the last few months I have watched in awe as my friend Mitsy set about creating a unique collection of 99 ceramic babushka dolls, each representing a different emotion. Mitsy has kept me glued to her blog with updates and beautiful photos of each and every one of her feelings as she made them. You can see the whole collection in one place on in her flicker page.

The sensitivity and humor that has gone into these feelings is so wonderful, they really do make you feel as you look at them. I am a firm believer that the simplest ideas are the best, Mitsy took a simple babushka doll shape and transformed each into a feeling with the use of texture and wonderful craftsmanship.

The instant her dolls were fired and in her store ArtMind.etsy.com I bought one. I have loved "creativity" since I first saw her and am absolutely thrilled to own the first one of this style she ever made - it even has the number 1 stamped on its base!

I leave you to enjoy some of my favorites from
Misty's 99 Feelings...

Explosive

Angry

Torn

Hungry

Jabba the Hutt Mouse

This evil gangster wants your money or he'll put a bounty on your head and keep you as his slave! This slug like mouse is grim and gruesome and somehow cute all at once. He has a little tongue sticking out of his mouth, watch out he doesn't lick you!

For sale in my Etsy store
www.thehouseofmouse.etsy.com

Nikki the Cross Stitching Mouse

Crafty Market in Tilburg

The Crafty Markt in Tilburg is a craft fair that runs for a whole weekend in October. Every stall is packed with handmade goods made by the sellers themselves. I took the plunge in having my first ever craft fair stall here! I spent a lot of time preparing for this weekend, I had no idea how much organization goes into a craft fair stall, but I think I covered everything. The market was located in two places around the textile museum in Tilburg. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side, the Saturday was very cold and the Sunday was wet and windy. I made enough sales to cover my expenses but I do wonder what sales would have been like with better weather. Here are some photos I took just as the market opened on the Saturday.


This is my stall, it was 4 meters wide and I was worried I wouldn't have enough stock to fill it all up. Luckily I managed to spread it out well enough. I think it looks pretty good for a first attempt.


The little stairs my mice are standing on I made myself from wood and then covered them with fabric.

The fair was fun to do, I got to meet some of my fellow Etsy sellers there bndesign.etsy.com and Mirthquake.etsy.com had stalls next to mine. Loads of people walking by picked up my business cards so I hope I will have more sales in Holland now too.

I've been a bad blogger

I know, I know - blogs are supposed to be updated regularly. I claim extreme busyness as my very lame excuse for not blogging for a long while. I have my first ever craft show coming up on October 4th and 5th. Preparing for this is the reason for the extreme busyness!

I'm a bit anxious about the show, having never done one before I am not sure what to expect. I hope it goes well anyway. The craft fair is in Holland, in Tilburg by the textile museum. You can learn more about it here craftymarkt.hyves.nl (if you speak dutch!) If any of you are in the area, come stop by and say hi to me and all my mice!

I promise a nice long posting after the show with photos and everything but for now I will just show you some of the new mice I have been making.

Remote control Helicopter Mouse
(Custom order for a friend of mine)

Wall.e Mouse
(another custom order, Wall.e character from the pixar movie)

Batmouse

Police MouseGhost Mouse

Sinterklaas Mouse
Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet are charecters from dutch tradition. To learn more about them check out this Wikipedia page


Zwarte Piet Mouse

Lawyer Mouse

This little Lawyer Mouse knows the law and works to uphold it in court. He is so cute that he wins all his cases! He comes complete with traditional grey wig and robes, and he carries an attache case with some evidence sticking out of it. He is the perfect gift for a lawyer or for anyone aspiring to become one.

Made of felt, silks, ribbon, wire, paper, glue,
monofilament, and stuffed with polyfil.

He stands approximately 2,5 inches tall (6,5 cm)

For more photos, prices and other information, please visit
www.thehouseofmouse.etsy.com

~x~

Dr Who Mouse

Introducing...

Dr Who Mouse
(David Tennant)

For all those fans of the hit British TV show Dr. Who... This little Dr Who Mouse is almost as cute as the actor he is inspired by :) He comes complete with blue suit, red tie, brown coat, glasses and his signature hands in pockets. He is a must-have for any Dr Who or David Tennant fan.

Made of felt, silks, ribbon, beads, glue, wire, cardboard,
monofilament and stuffed with polyfil.

Mouse stands approximately 2.5 inches tall (6.5cm)

For more photos, information and prices please visit my online store!
The House of Mouse


~x~

It's my birthday!

Yay it's my birthday! I'm not doing anything special this year, just a nice dinner with my husband. I'm just hanging out end enjoying the rare good weather.

I have some new mice to show you...

Baseball Mouse

Biker Mouse

Rocky Horror Mouse

And...
Chewbacca Mouse

Check out my Etsy store to see more of my mice
www.thehouseofmouse.etsy.com