A new season brings new inspirations...

     

Hello sweet friends! I just want to start this post off with a big "Thank you"!! I realized I've come to 2002 friends and followers of my blog and I am just so grateful and thankful to all who stop by and share my passions with me, you are all so wonderful! I'm going to prepare another give-away soon to celebrate, so stay tuned! :) For now, onto a few new miniatures and my work over the last couple of weeks. I get so inspired with the beautiful weather we are having   (finally!) and my thoughts and creativity come directly from the new season we are in and whats to come! I've also designed a new header for my blog. It was time for a very tiny changed to celebrate the new season too :)

  

 

Making pies is still one of my favorites things to do in miniature. Probably because baking and eating them in real life is also one of my favorite things :) But I've also enjoyed making new books this week, I love scanning Google and finding vintage or cottage style cookbooks and creating them for my scenes. I've also designed some myself which has even been more fun! Coming up with cover ideas is a real treat for me. And playing on photoshop is always fun too :)

 

 

And speaking of photo shop, when I can't find something in miniature from the retail sites, I often find ways to create them myself and that's always been the biggest joy for me. Something that is created from conception to finality and has the look I'm looking for when I'm finished, is a great feeling of satisfaction. So if you're not seeing or finding things you love and want for your miniatures, always give it a try yourself! I created these "cupcake mixes" and "flour" sacs, and it was so rewarding to see my design come to life.

I also worked on a few pie bakery boxes, and cake boxes. I'm still learning how to perfect them, but they've been much so much fun working on. I wasn't happy with the color card-stock I was using here, (they were practice ones) but after a trip to Micheal's I finally found the white Swiss dot and cardboard color too I had wanted them to be. So I'm still working on the new ones.

The new ones I'm making have the wording right on the paper, (via printer) verses what you see here, which is an applied label. I've also designed some bakery stickers too that I'll use for the top. Playing is such fun! Isn't it?!

This canning shelf unit was another project I worked on. Another favorite thing in miniature for me is canned fruits, vegetables, and herbs in oils etc. Again , it's something I love in real life too.  This shelf unit was inspired by my love of canning. I've been making jams and honey's  for my mini creations for a long time. But I've always want one place to showcase them in a cottage. So I worked on this until it felt complete. There's something very special about shelves filled with a beautiful harvest and letting the sunlight highlight all their beauty. I'll never forget a movie I saw years ago called Funny Valentines. It was set in the deep south and one of the characters had a little cottage shed in the back yard filled with all her canning and bottles of herbs. It was such a magical scene when she spoke about her passion for what she did , and the camera showed every jar filled with light and bounty. It's stuck with me every since. I've tried to get the movie in DVD, but it isn't yet available. It's an older movie (1999) so I'm not sure it ever will, but I loved every part of the movie. Here's a link to my inspiration from one of the scenes. (Ignore the first few moments of the clip about a marriage gone wrong lol. Its after that scene when she goes into her sisters barn that I love! Click HERE to view. I hope this link works, and forgive the quality, it seems to be the only clip anywhere! Boo-hoo! But I think you'll get the idea of how incredible it was to see on the big screen. :)

Putting together the collection was blissful....There's something very calming about the "putting up" of jars and jars of  jams, honey's, and creating layers of fresh picked fruit and herbs.

Making them in different sizes and heights helps to add to the beauty of the shelves.

 

This one is almost 8 inches tall, so it's hard to photograph with detail and see it all at once...

This was such a passionate project for me. It makes me excited to get canning again this season in real life too!

And lastly, here's a little Vintage style Pie cupboard I put together this week for my Etsy shop. I adore the vintage chippy soft pink backdrop for the pies and vintage items, it's so nostalgic to me.... and I hope it's new owner loves it too :)

I had to add some homemade jelly and honey , of course  :)

With the photo below, I played around with photoshop, I like mixing a little bit of black and white photography in a photo. I think when you're trying to create a vintage look, it makes it interesting and a little magical. And after all, isn't that what miniatures are anyway?...... Magical :) 

So now I'm off to enjoy a little of the gorgeous weather today, get inspired again by planting my fruit and vegetable seeds for the window sill. It's the perfect place to start them. Then hopefully soon, it's off to plant them in the earth and begin again, the new season of natures beauty!

I wish you all a beautiful week ahead!  And again , Thank you to every one who pops into my little cottage of dreams! I love you all!

Cynthia xo