Sneak Peek

What I am currently working on.

I LOVE to make people smile

A couple of weeks ago Rosanna emailed me asking if she could purchase some of the flowers I recently made.

She chose her two favorites...the paper whites and the geraniums in a teacup.

Of course I was delighted to send them to her and even more pleased when they arrived safely today.

And she loves them which makes me extremely happy.

I love the reaction I get from people who become the new owners of my creations.

Even with putting a penny in the pictures it is so hard to show just how tiny they really are or to capture all the tiny details.

I truly put my heart and soul into the things that I make and, as hard as it is to part with them, it makes me beam with delight when someone new gets to love them.

Thank you so much Rosanna.....I look forward to seeing them in place in La Casa Rossa.

Thrift Stores, Yard Sales & Coupons

From reading many peoples posts through there it would appear that a lot of you do this.

For some, very strange and unknown reason I have a real problem with all of them.

When I first moved here I was amazed at how many coupons were available and the amount of people that 'clipped' them.

But me, I just couldn't do it. The thought of handing over a coupon to save 10c on something just mortified me. Then I saw how they could add up.....collect a few and you have saved $5, $10, $15.

I guess it is like the old question...what would you do for a million dollars ? Well I didn't wait till I'd got that much in coupons but it did take me a good couple of years to be comfortable with them. Now I clip like the best of American wives :-)

Which leads me on to Thrift Stores. Something else I was not entirely comfortable with. Although a tad more so than coupons. Yes we have them in the UK and yes I'd go in them occasionally but I always feel a little odd. Why .... I have no idea...call me crazy.

And then we come on to Yard sales. Hmmmm....these I seem to have a real problem with. Last weekend there was one just up the street from me and I passed it while I was out walking. They had a large vase that looked interesting but I just couldn't bring myself to cross the street and ask the price. Stupid I know.

I did manage to cross the street to a yard sale last weekend and inquire about a mirror. She wanted $25 which was more than it was worth so I just walked. I could not for the life of me offer her less.

My entire working career has been in sales of some kind. I have spent most of my adult life negotiating. Whether that be trying to convince a client that the ad was right for the campaign or dealing with corporations and trying to sell them the right employee. All the while negotiating cost. Yet I can't manage to ask someone to knock $10 off a beat up mirror lol.

And it isn't that I have any aversion to buying things second hand...I have been doing that for years but normally things from the paper or craigslist.

So there you go.....my dirty little secret laid out for all to see. While you all whizz around leaving a frenzied trail of dust behind you looking for the best bargains, I am the one skulking around with my hood pulled up and the dark glasses on :-)

Anyhow, the point of this post is a thrift store visit a couple of weeks ago.

I was after an old map or two but they didn't have any so I had a mooch about and I came across this.

I honestly couldn't make my mind up if I loved it or not or where I would even put it. I had already decided that I would only buy things for this house if I truly loved them.

Then I flipped it over and saw this.....

Frank Saldwell.....whoever he was made this. I have no idea who Frank is or when this was made. What I do know is that there is so much detail in this piece that he must have spent hours making this and the thought of it languishing on a thrift store shelf almost had me in tears.

So that was that....it came home with me. And I do love it . Would I have loved it if it were mass produced cast resin ? Probably not. But knowing this is hand made and all the work that must have gone into this just makes it really special to me.

I just wish I knew who Frank was so I coud tell him how wonderful his work is :-(

More hours......please

Anyone know the secret :-) Just another 4 or so in the day would do me just fine.

I don't know if it because I haven't made anything in such a long while or what but my brain is on fire with ideas. At the moment just an odd word or picture can set me of on a whirlwind of "I can make that"

Some are plants, some are sculpts and some are things I want to do to this house.

I actually have notebooks I write everything down in. The theory being I can get them out of my head but not forget them. But they keep on coming and I had to get up at 2am this morning when an idea struck me in my sleep lol.

My workroom is almost done. Mick put some neat shelves up over my desk last weekend. This clears up a lot of my working space and allows me to have things I want to do out on display. More inspiration lol.

Hopefully by next week I can start working on some plants and a sculpt. The sculpt will be different to anything I've thought about before...definitely more fantasy oriented. It is an idea I've had for a long, long time and this one is knock, knock, knockin' right at the front of my skull. I just need to find a rock so I can start planning it.

In them meantime I'll keep plodding along, unpacking my workroom and house stuff, trying to keep on top of all your blogs, painting cupboards, moving furniture, draught proofing doors, cleaning up the mess the previous contractors left behind...oh and then there's all that good wife stuff...you know, preparing dinner, vacuuming and all that :-)

For My Mom

He would have been 75 today.

Every year on his birthday thousands of fans visit Graceland for a big celebration. With a wind chill factor of only 5 F (-15c) degrees I feel for those die hard fans that are gathered outside there today.

Here is a clip of Elvis at his very best...in my opinion :-)

My Mom fell out with her best friend over the Love Me tender movie.

It was 1956 and she had just turned 13. Banned from seeing the movie, yet requiring a parent to accompany them, my Mom managed to talk her way into becoming the' daughter' of a stranger in line. Her friend did not and never forgave her.

And on that note, I am going to put BBC radio on and listen to Elvis all day. Mick will sure be glad he isn't working from home today :-)

For Sale

Well after battling my way around Front Page trying to add these to my website for a couple of hours I gave up.

I can use FP and can find my way around html but not fluently and ,although I get there in the end, it takes me a while.

After a bit the 20c etsy listings became more and more attractive so I put them on there :-)

New flowers ....at last

Gosh it has been too long since I posted some mini flowers.

Actually, these were made at the back end of last year. I wanted to get a collection together to put up for sale. Then we decided to move and you know how that went.

So, into a box they went...until today.

I'm not sure whether to put these up for sale on eBay, etsy or just on my website. I've been doing commission work so so long it's been ages since I've actually made something for general sale. What do you all think ?

Anyhow, enough blabbering...here are the new flowers.

I actually made these gargoyle and dead flower statues ages ago but they must have got packed away by mistake as I only found them when we moved this time :-)

Another year, another decade....

Another decade gone. It doesn't seem like 5 minutes ago I was partying like it was 1999. It is certainly true what they say about time going quicker as you get older.

I have had some HUGE life changes over this last decade.

I was married. I got divorced. 

I met Mick again after 14 years and got married again.

I sold a house, rented 4 more and bought another house.

I moved from England to California to Minnesota and back to California.

I abandoned all of my earthly possessions and had to start again.

I left my family and my friends.

I left my career as a head hunter.

I became a stay at home wife and had to learn how to cook and clean.

I visited 44 US states and saw some of the most wondrous sights this country has to offer.

I started making dollhouse miniatures.

I started to learn how to sculpt.


I started a blog and got a website.

My favorite part of the last 10 years….making my Mom’s dreams come true and taking her to Graceland. She is a huge Elvis fan and never thought she’d get to visit there because she was terrified of flying. She has traveled all over Europe by motorcycle, car or boat…but she had never flown and swore she never would.  Until 2007 when Mick flew back to England to fetch her. We knew that she’d never get on a plane by herself so Mick went back to fly with her.

We surprised her with the gold suite at the heartbreak hotel and a VIP pass to visit Graceland as many times as she wanted during our stay in Memphis.

And of course we added in Sun Studios and his birth place in Tupelo, Mississippi.

We drove south  from MN and went all the way down to FL and back up the east coast so they got to visit 16 states in that road trip.

It was a trip of a lifetime and I am so very grateful to Mick for making it possible.

I wonder what the next 10 years will bring. I’m not even going to venture a guess. In 1999, if you’d have told me I’d have done all of  this in the next 10 years I’d have laughed my socks off. Who knows that the future holds for any of us.

I wish each and everyone of you a Happy new Year and 

I hope that 2010 brings you everything you are dreaming of.

So here it is.....Merry Christmas

I am guessing most of you won't be around much over the next week or so, so I thought I'd say

 Merry Christmas

to you all now.

I have to confess to not loving Christmas much these days.  I used to be really into it but since I  moved here, so far away from my family and friends,  I just don't enjoy it anymore. If I could I'd just fast forward straight through to next year :-(

I truly envy those of you who have kiddies at home....the whole belief in Father Christmas is just so much fun.

When Aydn was little I'd wait till he went to bed and hang out of my bedroom window ringing bells. Within minutes he'd be in my room yelling 'Mom, Mom can you hear him' 

I would dip my shoes in flour and leave footprints up the stairs and in the hallway to be discovered next morning. Aydn was so little it never occured to him that there wasn't any snow outside :-)

One year my Mom, who lived 2 doors away, stuck an inflatable Santa on a long pole and started tapping it on the outside Aydn's bedroom window. Goodness knows what the neighbors thought seeing her walking though the streets with Santa on a pole lol.

I do miss those days....they aren't little long enough. Not that I plan on starting again mind you :-)

Our new neighborhood is beautiful at this time of year. Everyone's houses are decorated inside and out.  Except ours...I feel like the resident Grinch but really don't have the money to buy something as frivolous as as tree this year.

And then I'd have to buy ornaments. What I really want is a tree with old ornaments. Going out and buying brand new just doesn't seem right to me...far too sterile. I want old ones with history and character...not some plastic made in China junk. Oh well...maybe I'll see if I can organize and old ornament swap next year and have a tree after all.

Anyhow, enough from Tallulah the sad old drama queen.....I'll leave you with this clip to listen to. You Brits are probably sick of it now but to all you others...It just ain't Christmas in England till you hear ol' Noddy singing.

Merry Christmas everybody xxx

Some house pics.

I have finally managed to set up a new blog to journal the new house.

All I have up so far are 2 posts showing the outside of the house and the gardens but if you'd like to take a look just click on the photo below.

If anyone of you have more of a clue about gardening or home decorating than I do (and I am sure that is all of you ) I'd love you to follow me over there as well. I need all the help I can get :-)