A Newsstand

My latest miniature shop is a newsstand or newsagent's shop. I've put New Straits Times as the main sponsor for the signboard, as it is a Malaysian daily and thus brings me closer to home. (http://www.nst.com.my/)

Besides that I'm also a columnist with the paper, writing about my day to day living experiences in Ireland. (http://soo-livinglifeasitis.blogspot.ie/)

Now, let's have a look at what this shop sells... newspapers, magazines,and often items of local interest

The shelves are assembled and then glued together with liquid modelling glue.I used card stock for the walls. Pictures are folded with a spine in the middle to resemble books and newspapers. The lamp is actually a piece of lace stuck to a cylindrical piece of paper. The bulb and wires are then inserted into the lamp with the battery hidden behind the shop.

A Paper bag Mini for Susan

This is a mini album that I made for my good friend Susan who has just returned from a 3 - month vacation to the States.

When she was away we connected via facebook and I could follow her journey as she uploaded her photos. So I thought I would make her a welcome home present by printing out her photos and mounting them in a mini album. I put the photos together in a collage form so they would be small enough for the pages. 

This mini is made from 6 paper bags sewn together. Some pages of the mini have pockets with inserts so she can document the memories. A pull out tab with a letter is stuck to the insert. The letters arranged vertically form the word LOVE which is what Susan will get from her friends when she returns to Ireland.

My Cake Shop

I have always enjoyed baking and there have been thoughts about setting up a little bakery cum cafe. So in the meantime, this is my miniature cake house with buns and all.

As expected, the instructions are not in English and the manual is not clear. But this being my second model, I can make sense of the procedures.

I assembled the plywood and chipboard furniture and glued them with liquid model glue. The buns are made of resin. The paper bags are then handmade and the bottles filled with coloured sand. I used cardstock to wall paper the shop.

And now to make my third shop ... a newspaper stand! Ummm, that will be meaningful as I am a columnist.

Miniature Grocery shop

When I watch friends actually putting up a shed together, it never fails to amaze me...But since I have neither the strength nor the know-how, the best I can do is put little shops up. So I bought a few DIY kits for both small and big shops.The little manual enclosed in each kit is vague and the worst part is that the instructions are not in English. But I love challenges and will not leave a problem unsolved especially one that has to do with creativity. If I cannot understand the diagrams or instructions, I can create. So this is what I have done.

                                                                   Shop Front

First I assembled the walls of the shop and connected the facade to the rest of the shop with butterfly hinges. I decorated the shop front with embellishments from my craft stash. The awning was made of cloth and then stuck on paper. I then distressed the wooden parts, including the door to give it an aged look.

Inside of the shop

I used liquid model glue to fix the shelves together. Every canister was cut out from a sheet of plastic. The baskets were made of paper and twine was wound around them. The boxes were simple origami boxes. The most challenging part for me was fixing the light. The last time I handled a circuit plate was when I was in secondary school. So I thought it would be tricky but when the bulb really lit up, it felt good.

So where is the shop now?

One of my friends came, saw, and conquered it .........

Tea light candle card

One of my friends, Eileen has just retired. I thought I would make her a special card to celebrate the occasion. So I purchased some lavender and vanilla tealights and made a card box to pack them in. May all her days ahead be as fragrant as lavender and vanilla.

The inside of the card

Since I still had leftover tea lights I thought I'd make another card for good measure.

If you would like to learn how to make this card, check out Christina Griffiths on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNKc-t0AxbI

Mini Album Makeover

My children gave me a mini album for my birthday and when I was not looking, my labrador Hachi decided to have a look as well. The original fabric cover was too delicious for a huge dog who still thinks himself as a puppy. So before I knew it, there were deep teeth marks and copious amounts of dog drool everywhere.

My heart sank but the restorer in me surfaced. Out came my boxes and tins of this and that and a new cover was born. Little embellishments that reflect me - a heart of love, my obsession over time management, my penchant for shoes, ribbons and crochet and of course the key to show my unfettered being

The album holds so many memories for me especially when two of my older children Sonya and Samuel are in Malaysia and I'm here with my youngest Audrey and my better half Michael.

Awwww........................

Congrats to Audrey!

This is the day that every mother dreads. The day when the Leaving Cert results are released! In fact I had been having sleepless nights a few days before and even when I slept I had weird dreams about what my daughter's results would be....dreams like failing the subject she is best at or not getting enough points to make it to university.

So she left for school to collect her results while I waited at home. Her no.1 choice on her CAO form was Psychology and Sociology in Trinity College Dublin. The points needed for it ? 

A cool 585 points out of 600. And apparently those who managed to get those points didn't even get a place last year as there were too many applicants. Nevertheless, she put it on her CAO and surrendered it to God.

                                                                      Audrey

But we serve a faithful and wonderful God who takes care of details. We have moved here from Malaysia, and  the last three years have been so challenging for me, what more for a teenager!

And God gave Audrey 595 points out of 600! We were overwhelmed by His goodness because He has promised in Luke 6:38: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

The school management was amazed. This was the first time the school had such excellent results.


                                     Audrey with the school principal, Ms. Aideen Walsh, and her friends

So I made these little fridge magnets to welcome her back from school. They're simply wooden pegs, painted in acrylics and mounted on chipboard with button magnets stuck to the back of them.

Where it all began...

Then with a little bit of imagination, acrylics and a coat of varnish....

So with my youngest going to college I can now take a hard earned rest until it's time to volunteer 'coaching' my grand kids on the path of excellence. Once a lecturer, always a lecturer. We don't retire.......

Memories of finding faith in Ireland

When Pastor Kevin announced in church last Sunday about VOX magazine editor, Ruth Garvey-Williams coming to join us for an evening worship and asked whether anyone would be able to provide accommodation for a night, I told him she was very welcome to my home. Now, I have never met Ruth so I thought I'd go google VOX magazine and see what she looks like. It was indeed a pleasant surprise to know that Ruth had embarked on a historical journey to gather stories on how God has impacted the lives of all who live in Ireland. http://www.vox.ie/blog/item/197-findfaithtwo   I was very excited about it and decided to be part of her trip. I thought about a gift for her and then it dawned on me that making a mini album would be lovely.

Then I searched the VOX website again http://www.vox.ie/ and found some lovely photos which I downloaded and printed. I decided to stick the photos of Day 1 and Day 2 of her journey into the album to start it off.

And I waited for Ruth to arrive. 

We had a lovely time chatting and the next day, I laid out a fusion breakfast for her. East meets West - coffee, brown bread, butter, jams, cheese + dim sum.

We are proud that Ruth is at the helm of VOX magazine, asking for  so little and giving so much. Michael and I are happy to have Ruth with us. God has given us so much and seen us through thick and thin, this is just a small way of giving thanks back to God.

Acetate cards

When I was using transparencies for the overhead projector in the classroom a long time ago before the LCD projector was invented, I used to have a lot of leftover acetate sheets. These have now come in handy for my card making. You can also find acetate sheets on toy packaging (so you can see the toy inside) or boxes for DIY models.

The acetate sheet used in the card below gives it a see-through effect - something different and special.

                                                          Acetate card with pocket and tag

For the next card, I made use of satin ribbons to create a lattice effect before fixing the acetate sheet on top. This is like a window that protects the satin ribbons.

Acetate card with latticework