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Christmas swap gifts: part 2

2012-01-14T15:31:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon everyone. Here are more of those pictures I promised. Paqui sent me so many goodies. I hope everyone had just as good an experience as I did with Caterina's swap. Now without further ado here are my pictures. Pictures that are new and improved thanks to my discovery of Instagram!

Christmas swap gifts: part one

2012-01-13T11:41:00.000-05:00

Hello all! Here is a sneak peek of the Christmas miniatures I received from Caterina's swap.

I recieved a pretty amazing package full of goodies and I will share the rest of the pictures as soon as I get them organized.

Kibbygirl

holiday home tour

2011-12-14T08:44:00.001-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Christmas hugs to all my readers!!

Kibbygirl

Getting into the Christmas spirit

2011-12-10T09:57:00.001-05:00

We decorated the house the other day so I decided it was time to get out the Christmas minis too! A few years ago I found some tiny tree decorations and I thought they would be perfect in a dollhouse. I didn't even have a dollhouse at the time but I hoped someday I would so I held on to them. The little Santa, the soldier, the bird, the angel, and the wreath on the door are all from that collection. I just snipped the wire that had been attached to hang them and they were perfect mini holiday decor. The pointsetia, isn't it beautiful, I bought last year at a Toronto miniature show. The picture frames I made from beads that I had painted and the book I made as well. It is blank inside. The Christmas cards I printed from the About miniatures site I believe. To top it all off the potted tree I bought at the buck store. You gotta love the buck store!

Soon I will post pictures of the whole decked out dollhouse. Until then, enjoy your day everyone!

Kibbygirl

Mini Christmas wish list

2011-12-02T16:39:00.001-05:00

Dear Santa,

I have been a good girl this year. Really I have. I have discovered some really great things for my dollhouse so please, please, please can you help me fill my wee home with pretty thing this Christmas? Just to help you and your elves ( I know you are awfully busy this time of year ) I have picked out my favorites and showed you where to find them. I hope you and Mrs Claus can enjoy your holiday season this Christmas. Thank you Santa,

Love Kibbygirl

at Etsy here by MiniaturePatisserie

Beautiful baking table by Kim Saulter found here

Find these sweet kitchen boxes here

Caroline of Caroline's little kitchen made this and you can find it here

This shabby chic jug is for sale here

Love, love, love macaroons. Find this wee book here

box filled with Christmas goodies by Gypsy Boudoir Miniatures

beautiful Christmas set by Misty Mountains

International Mini's swap 2011

2011-11-20T11:18:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone,

I wanted to let you all know about a great miniatures swap going on right now. Caterina organized this last year and it was a great success. You do need to have a blog to participate in this but otherwise the rules are pretty simple. Just create something christmas themed for your partner to enjoy! It can be anything you would like to make. I recieved a pretty fantastic package last year and had a ball making my own gifts. I cant wait to see what gets created this year. Caterina will post pictrues of all the goodies at the end so we can all see what was made and get inspired for our own creations. Pop over to her blog here for all the details and to sign up.

Kibbygirl

Easy Peasy Miniature Scarfs

2011-11-18T10:18:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone, I woke up this morning to a sky that was threatening to douse me in my first flakes of snow. I have seen a couple of wee flurries but so far nothing too heavy. I've known its coming of course, but I have hoped for a delay in the inevitable. Well, one good thing about the snow is that it makes for the perfect time to stay inside were it is warm and cosy and craft! I don't know about all of you but I have bits of scraps of fabric all over. Sometimes the pieces are so small I am not really sure why I have saved them at all! One day I was hemming and hawing about throwing them out all together when I had a great idea to use these bits to make mini scarfs. These are great for draping over a chair or bed, or for hanging on a wee hook at the front door.

Simple cut a length that suits you, tie off the ends with a little piece of string or embroidery floss in a matching colour, then fray the ends. Viola! A mini scarf ready to hang. These scarfs are more wintery but I have made them with light, floral summery fabrics too. So many scraps of fabric, so many possibilities. Have fun!

Happy Crafting everyone,

Kibbygirl

raspberries

2011-10-21T10:39:00.000-04:00

It is getting cold and stormy around here and my garden is getting ready for winter. Most of the plants are done for the season but for some reason the raspberries are still going strong. This is only our second year growing raspberries so I am no expert on them but it seems strange to me that the same plants are giving us a second batch this season. Oh well, no complaints here you know! I already have a nice sized bag of frozen berries we can dip into this winter but we love our fruit around here so I will take as many as I can get. Since the cold has started and so has the morning frost I decided to bring some of the branches inside. I discovered completely by accident that the berries continue to bloom after the branch is cut if it is kept in water and sunlight. One of the branches broke during a storm this summer so I decided to put the stalk in water and low and behold the raspberries kept on coming. So now the branches are in my kitchen and we have been enjoying fresh berries for days. Not too shabby!

Here's to hanging on to a slice of summer. Have a great day all,

Kibbygirl

Halloween House

2011-10-15T13:42:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon everyone! It is a grey and windy day around our house so it is a perfect time to play inside. I dug out my box of miniature holiday things. I actually have enough collected now that the stuff requires a box! Not a big box but still, we are talking mini decor. This is a peek at what I have done so far to the house for Halloween. Note the complete lack of a door and window. Someday I am going to have to stop messing around with the decor and finish the basics... lol. Anyway, this is the look so far. Like it? It needs some tweaking but I am liking the general look. Hope your weekends are filled with fun, mini and life sized!

Kibbygirl

pumpkin spice dougnuts

2011-10-13T11:27:00.000-04:00

Well I found a recipe for pumpkin doughnuts on another blog and I just had to try it! Of course I did. I love the ones you can get in the fall at Tim Horton's so how great would it be if I could make them at home. I am not a huge foodie so my cooking skills are average but these were super easy to make and boy did they go over well. I made one batch for home and one for a big family Thanksgiving dinner. I am really happy with how much people enjoyed them. Head on over to The Shoebox Kitchen and try them out yourselves. I promise you will love them!

Have a great day all,

Kibbygirl

Pay It Forward

2011-04-16T19:29:00.000-04:00

You want to know the 'new', 'cool' thing to do? Pay it forward! I just signed up at Kim's blog Flowers and Art to participate in something called Pay it Forward 2011. Here's how it works. The first five people who leave a comment on this post telling me you want to participate will receive a gift that has been handmade by me. You also need to create a post on your blog explaining Pay it Forward. Then for the best part, make and send a gift to the first five visitors who comment on your post and who agree to do the same. There is no set time limit.

This should be a fun way to make new friends and share your creativity.

Pay it Forward is about friendship and sharing.

So what do you say? If this sounds like fun, let me know and get your name on my list!

Kibbygirl

Nesting

2011-04-14T15:05:00.000-04:00

For various reasons I haven't done a whole lot of crafting, or for that matter, blogging lately but I did recently make my first wee nest. The 'eggs' did not turn out so well so I will have to retry those but my little twine nest turned out great. I got the bird cage from the jewelry supplier and I am eventually going to try to rust it up a bit. If anyone has some tips for how to make it shabby looking I would love to hear them.

Have a great day everyone!

Kibbygirl

A Little Easter Fun

2011-03-29T18:46:00.000-04:00

I haven't gotten around to a whole lot of crafting in recent days but I did make a cute little Easter basket with some pink glittered eggs. I just love the colour palette that Easter gives us. I want to make more!

I'm loving my wee glitter Easter eggs!

Have a great night all,

Kibbygirl

Mini Easter Inspiration

2011-03-24T17:37:00.000-04:00

Image from Country Living

Image from CraftJr.com

can be found at Etsy here

I need to get my craft on again so I have been looking for some easter inspiration. These are a few of the things that caught my eye. Hope you are all having a great day!

Kibbygirl

A stained hutch and 'silver' pots

2011-03-04T14:48:00.000-05:00

A little bit of crafting I have finally gotten around to taking some pictures of! Enjoy. I am off to a basketball tournament this weekend so I will catch up with you all again next week. :)

Kibbygirl

Hanging in through the febuary blues

2011-02-26T14:08:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately everyone, but what a month this has been! First for the good news. As I have mentioned here before, I am not a big fan of winter. Oh sure it tries to charm me with soft, pretty snowflakes but I'm not falling for it. I tire too quickly of its cold, wet attitude. My husband knows this and even though we hadn't planned on taking a trip to warmer pastures this winter he surprised me by booking a last minute trip to Mexico! It was fantastic. We went to an eco resort so we got the beach and lots of wildlife. The boys had a bet going on who would catch a lizard first. Best of all I got to spend lots of good time with my two guys.

The less good news is that since we have been back we have had computer problems and I have been sick, sick, sick. Now the computer is sorted out and I am, hopefully, on the mend so with any luck I can get back to my crafting soon.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Kibbygirl

CSN Stores giveaway winner!!

2011-01-31T10:34:00.000-05:00

As promised the random name drawn as the winner for the CSN gift certificate is....................................................... by- the- bluegrass!! Congratulations! I will email you with the details. Thank you to everyone who entered.

Kibbygirl

Contest Extended until monday

2011-01-28T20:11:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the $35 CSN gift certificate giveaway will continue until Monday! If you haven't left me a comment letting me know what you would like to spend it on do it now. I will do the draw Monday morning. Have a great weekend

Kibbygirl

The CSN Contest continues

2011-01-23T10:21:00.000-05:00

Good morning all. In the spirit of my latest giveaway I am posting some ideas on what I might spend the gift certificate on. Hopefully this gives you some inspiration. Don't forget to get your name in on the post below. The rules are super simple. Just let me know what you would love to spend the $35 on. I will be choosing a random winner on Friday.

All items are from the CSN chain of stores. Visit here for even more ideas.

Kibbygirl

Shake off the winter blues contest

2011-01-19T08:33:00.001-05:00

If you're like me winter is not the most fabulous of all the seasons. Summer is my favorite. I can't get enough of the sunshine and garden. Spring and fall aren't too bad themselves but winter I have a hard time working up a fondness for. It's not winter's fault of course. Its just being what it was created to be, but oh how I long for summer. To help give winter a better name I decided to have a contest. A kind of 'make your own sunshine' sort of thing. How does a $35 gift certificate sound? Money you can spend on just about anything you would like. You can even put it towards a truly summer thing like a swing set! Really! The great people at the CSN Stores have offered a $35 gift certificate for me to give to one of my lucky readers. How cool is that? Consider it a little boost to brighten someones wintry days. I have checked out their site for swing sets and more found they have all sorts of summery play things. I think my favorite was the kids play cafe tent. It is a little tent complete with an awning so your kids can set up their own wee bistro! I would have loved that as a little girl. Actually, I could have fun with that now! For under $40 it is pretty neat.

So to win this all you have to do is visit the link and let me know what you would love to spend the gift certificate on. Easy peasy right? I will choose a random winner from the comments next Friday. Good luck to everyone!

Kibbygirl

Thrifty gifts

2011-01-17T18:11:00.000-05:00

If you are like me you like to plan ahead, especially if it comes to gifts. Now that Christmas is over I am planning for birthdays and next Christmas. I love giving gifts. Its fun. Not just actually giving them but, finding them or creating them too. Even mentally going over "what would this person really like" is fun. Satisfying too if you come up with a great answer. It's even more satisfying when said gifts are creative and not too expensive. Don't you think? I am always on the hunt for great ideas and I thought I would share some of them with all of you.

This is a present I made for my niece who love horses and rides a lot. I just decorated a matchbook case and lined it with velvet. Inside is a horse charm for a necklace or bracelet. You could use any size matchbook and put any neat trinket inside. You may remember the one I did with a pair of earrings inside for a giveaway. I don't have pictures unfortunately but I also made plaques with a version of the Keep Calm poster. For my sister who likes bees I made one saying Keep Calm and Bumble On, along with a bee graphic from the Graphics Fairy. For my dad and his wife I made a wine lovers plaque with the saying Keep Calm and Drink On. I painted the wood an antique white and distressed it. They both turned out pretty great if I do say so myself. As I come across more ideas I plan to share them with you. For example, here is a recipe I found for homemade scrubs.

Recipe #1 – Brown Sugar Scrub

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/4 cup of almond oil

1/4 cup of liquid Ivory hand soap

1/4 tsp of vanilla

Recipe #2 – Lemon Sugar Scrub

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

1 TBS lemon zest (grated)

How great would one of these be in a pretty jar. Possibly a thrifted coloured glass jar. Hmm, maybe a big ribbon, an old key and a vintage note card. Yep, I like it. I have some birthdays coming up and I may just make some of these. For now though, a cup of tea is what I need so I am off to make it! Have a great night everyone,

Kibbygirl

The dangers of going to the dark side

2011-01-05T11:56:00.000-05:00

If the title of this post drew you in, let me explain. The dark side I am referring to is hair colour. Now let me take you back a few years to my university days. I was happily brunette and had, up unto that point, not been a hair dyer. One day though, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try out the life of a blonde. Why you ask. Youthful impetuousness I suppose, and although the highlights were pretty I didn't notice any great increase in fun having. It was pretty much life as usual only blonder. The problem arose when I was sitting with my boyfriend ( who is now husband ) who turned to me and said "I am so glad you are a natural blonde and not one of those girls who dye their hair!" Oh no! Tell me he didn't just say that. Well, I had just had it done before we met so I had forgotten that he wouldn't have seen me any other way. I had to break the news to him. I wasn't going to stay blonde forever after all. Plus someday there would be roots! Oh the roots, he is not always the most observant but he might just question those roots. Bless his heart he took it pretty well and said he loved me no matter what colour my hair was.

Sweet right? Well, let me tell you, those pretty words aside he never really got over the hopes that I would return to the blonder me. Sure he has been the best husband a girl could ask for but deep down he harboured the hopes I would go back to those hair colouring days. So, a year ago, as a thank you to my sweetheart I embraced the light once again. Just like last time my hair turned out great. It was kinda fun to do something different and to wear clothes that never seemed to go with my colouring before. In the end however, I am a brunette. I am a proud brunette. I like my hair just the way God made it, so of course the time came when I had to return to my roots so to speak. Now this is where the aforementioned dangers come in to the story. I chose a box of colour that should be close to my natural look and set about returning my hair to its former glory. Now, did you notice my use of should? Yeah... its black. Not a rich dark chocolate, but black! " ohhh, can I call you Elvira?" asked the love of my life. He means well people, really he does.

So now here I sit, bemoaning my choices to all of you and wondering what can be done. Do I believe my husband when he says it looks fine? Do I rush to the drug store in desperate search of help? Or do I find a hat and slink back to my hairdresser and hope the lecture on home hair colour is short? Hmmm? Any thoughts?

Kibbygirl

Caterina's Christmas swap

2011-01-01T12:14:00.000-05:00

Happy new year to all my blogging friends! We have had a great holiday around here and I am looking forward to a quiet day around the house today. In that spirit I thought I would post the pictures of the gifts I received in Caterina's Christmas swap! I love it all but the candle set is so creative and so intricate, I can't wait to use it in my Christmas decor next year. Have a great day everyone!

Kibbygirl

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T10:45:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I just wanted to get that in now since the next couple of days will be fun craziness around here! Also, check out the little Christmas surprise I found among my ornaments. This little birdhouse was part of an ornament that I found was broken when we unpacked everything this year. The ornament it was attached to is no good now but the bird house is perfect for my dollhouse! It even has a hook perfect for hanging it out front on the dollhouse porch. What a serendipity! Hope you all have a great Holiday!

Kibbygirl

Thinking outside the box

2010-12-19T17:10:00.000-05:00

Lately I have been finding some great jewelry charms and findings to use in my dollhouse. Have a look.

This birdcage I may paint and fill with a nest as I have seen some of you do.

some vanity items

I love this crown that is sitting on the bedroom shelf

A wee set of keys that are now sitting on the kitchen table

Some frames and a setting to use as either a frame or tray

A tiny pair of scissors

A tray and star decoration

Kibbygirl

Free Shipping

2010-12-15T16:23:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to let you know that I am offering free shipping for all miniature items in my Etsy shop. Visit here to see what is available.

In the meantime I hope everyone is getting in to the Christmas spirit. We sure are around here!

Kibbygirl

Christmas in the family room

2010-12-14T11:58:00.000-05:00

Have a great day everyone,

Kibbygirl

A contest over at Lara's Miniature World

2010-12-07T09:20:00.000-05:00

Lara of Lara's Miniature World is having a contest to celebrate over 400 followers! She has made some fantastic miniatures to give away so go check them out and leave a comment. You might just find them in your mailbox one day!

Kibbygirl

If O can do it...so can I

2010-12-06T16:11:00.000-05:00

Before Christmas comes I thought I would share a few of my favorite things. Maybe they will inspire you. Maybe they will just make you laugh! Either way, here is a sampling of my favorites. Too bad I can't give them all away like Oprah does!

The ones I have are knock offs but I love them and the colour goes with everything.

This is maybe the handiest thing I have ever splurged on! I love coach and this just clips on to my purse so I never loose my keys inside!

Pretty self explanatory but this particular kind is extra yummy.

I have a bit of a make up problem... I soo like to play with it. It's like an adult art set. This set you can get at Sephora right now and it's on sale for $25!

Have you smelled this?! Soft and pretty.

Lavender body scrub. This one you can find here in Etsy. Body scrubs were a great invention and I just love the smell of lavender.

I'm no artist but I love to look! This is one of my favorites paintings by one of my favorite artists Janet Hill. Find her here

I don't think I could live without my Ipod touch!

I love to read and I am reading this now. So far I am really liking it.

That's all for now,

Kibbygirl

Christmas Contest Winners

2010-12-04T17:17:00.001-05:00

Will Lataina, who won prize #1

and

Vonlipi, who won prize #2

please email me your shipping information to seapunk@gmail.com.

Congratulations to you both!

Kibbygirl

contest countdown

2010-12-02T08:23:00.000-05:00

Just two more days to leave a comment on my Christmas contest post!

Christmas contest is on!

2010-11-29T10:25:00.000-05:00

Well it's about time I got this Christmas contest ball rolling! I have put together two different prizes. The big box has all sorts of goodies. There is a red rose adjustable ring, a cute pair of green heart earrings, some mini's for all you dollhouse lovers and a bunch of crafting bits and pieces! The second prize winner will be the recipient of a cute pair of amber coloured heart earrings, wrapped in a sweet little box. To keep things simple all you need to do to be entered is leave a comment on this post. You have until Friday December the 3rd when I will randomly pick the winners. Best of luck to everyone!

Kibbygirl

Christmas giveaway Sneak Peek

2010-11-25T08:52:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone! This is a sneak peek in to my Christmas contest. Have a great weekend!

Kibbygirl

Christmas Contest coming soon

2010-11-20T13:23:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone, Check out my latest minis! I really like how the scarf turned out. It is just a piece of an old sweater tied at the ends with brown thread!

Stayed tuned for my newest giveaway to celebrate the upcoming Christmas season. Until then,

have a great weekend,

Kibbygirl

Christmas is coming sale!!

2010-11-09T09:13:00.000-05:00

Image courtesy of FreePrettyThingsForYou

In anticipation of Christmas I am having a sale in my Etsy store. From now until December First I am offering free shipping on all orders! Now is the perfect time to find a great gift for someone on your list.

Have a wonderful day everyone,

Kibbygirl

True Colours Swap results

2010-11-03T20:36:00.000-04:00

This past month I participated in a True Colours swap that was dreamt up by the creative Jessica of Duck Duck Cow. The idea was to pick your favorite colour and your partner would find items to fill a box of goodness in that shade. As you can see I choose pink. I'm such a girl, I know! What can I say, I have been in a very pink and girly mood these days. Jessica herself was my partner and wow did she do a great job of finding pink treasures! I loved the entire thing. Everything was even wrapped up all pretty in pink paper and brown ribbon. This is now the third swap I have done and I had a blast. Picking things that were blue in theme was so much fun and opening my box of pink awesomeness was pure joy! Really, I even started singing "its the best day ever" from Sponge Bob. There were so many great things to open I was speechless. Thanks so much to Jessica for hosting this fun swap and for choosing little ol me for her partner. Great Job Jessica!

Kibbygirl

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T13:37:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Welcome New Followers and printables

2010-10-29T18:56:00.000-04:00

To my newest followers I just wanted to say hello and welcome to my little spot on the blog!

As a wee welcome I scanned two things that can be printed out and used in for your dollhouses. Of course you can also enlarge the envelope to use in real life. Just print the template in whatever size you need on a pretty piece of patterned paper and your good to go!

You can add any logo you want to the mini box.

Kibbygirl

Halloween House

2010-10-27T17:41:00.000-04:00

Happy almost Halloween everyone!

Kibbygirl

another sneak peek!

2010-10-24T17:28:00.000-04:00

We are gearing up for Halloween around here. How about you?

Kibbygirl

beautiful bracelet giveaway

2010-10-23T08:22:00.000-04:00

Oh, I found the cutest little blog today. Jody from Home and Heart is a crafty mom who makes the prettiest jewelry. Her blog is worth a visit all on its own but to make things even sweeter she is holding two giveaways for some wonderful jewelry. One is just for followers and one is open to everyone. In her Hands of Friendship giveaway she offers up two great necklaces to anyone who leaves a comment. The black and white design is so elegant, don't you think?

Go check out her blog here and get your name in for one of these great designs! She will draw names on November first so don't delay.

Kibbygirl

A Halloween sneak peek

2010-10-21T15:38:00.000-04:00

Here is a sneak peek of my spooky dollhouse scene!

Kibbygirl

My first miniatures show visit

2010-10-17T19:12:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone,

Today I did something I have never done before, I attended the MET Show. That would be the Miniature Enthusiasts of Toronto Show. This is the first show I have ever been to so I was so excited I got up early. On a Sunday! Yeah, like I said, I was excited. So, I left the boys at home and headed in to Toronto with dreams of 'mini' tea pots and flowers in my head. It was great, although it was a little smaller than what I had dreamed up. Over all though it was wonderful to wander at my leisure while browsing all the little things on offer and displayed for a jury. I did buy a tea pot and a holly plant too! I also picked up a mailbox, a basket, some jars, and some mice for my kitchen!

Kibbygirl

free miniature cross stitch designs

2010-10-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

If you are looking for some designs to stitch for your dollhouse I have found a sweet site with all sorts of patterns that are tailored to miniature work. The best part is, the designs are free! Oh I love free stuff. It is one of those little things in life that make me sooo happy. The patterns available are really nice too. If you are new to this blog, like I was, enjoy browsing all the patterns. If you know of it, check back in because they have recently added some great new stuff. So, without further ado, here is the link http://nuestrasminis.blogspot.com/ Have fun everyone!

Kibbygirl

New 1:12 furniture from CSN Stores

2010-10-14T20:37:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon everyone. You know what's great about the Internet? It brings people together. Really! First it has connected me to all of you who read this blog. I have met some pretty great people that I count as friends through blogging, and I treasure each and every one of you who visit me here. Second, thanks to web and most especially Pay Pal, I have really gotten to know my local mail delivery guy! He's a nice guy too by the way. He is always happy and polite. I shudder to think what I would do with out him. Why, only yesterday he brought me the most wonderful package. It took me hours of pouring over the CSN Stores site and debating back and forth with myself about just how much I just had to have but I finally made my decision and lo and behold it's here.

As you can see, I decided on some dollhouse furniture for the living room. I love it! Love it, love it, love it! I set it up just to give you all, and me, an idea of what it will look like. Ignore the piece of paper where the door will one day be. When you see my Halloween set up on the front porch you will understand why it is there. That, I will show you another time but for now, check out a book I did for the scene.

They are not the best pictures but you get the idea. The skull picture is from The Graphics Fairy. I just shrunk it to mini size and put it onto a book I covered in black fabric. The red bit you can sort of see in the picture is a book mark.

Have a great night,

Kibbygirl

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

2010-10-10T17:42:00.000-04:00

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and we are having our turkey dinner here tonight. The place is smelling pretty great right now! We have also started to do some holiday decorating. I found some white little pumpkins at the local grocery store and made up a 'spooky' sign. What do you think?

The second job of the day was to attempt to make carmel apples with my son. It was the first time I have ever made them and we haven't tasted them yet, but they look good! Have a great weekend everyone,

Kibbygirl

opinions needed.. wish lists wanted

2010-10-06T18:37:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, today I come to you begging for feedback. My step dad, you remember the handy guy that fixes and builds stuff for me, is looking to build some miniatures for all of you too! Before he gets started though he would like to get an idea of what miniature enthusiasts such as us would love to see being made and sold. This is our chance to dream big so please, please comment and let us know what dream project or dollhouse item would you love to see being made. Would it be a unique type of dollhouse? A specific type or style of furniture? How about a hard to find accessory. Tell us your ideas and remember, no wish is too big to dream!

Kibbygirl

photo from: https://junoandjove.com/

picture from: http://shopcinderellamoments.blogspot.com/

Sunday smile

2010-10-03T12:31:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon all! I found this picture in our local paper and I just had to share it with everyone. Enjoy!

Is it sad that I know that feeling? Have a great day!
Kibbygirl

Joyful giveaway

2010-09-25T17:56:00.000-04:00

Have you heard of Terri Conrad? I have been a fan of her blog, and her art for awhile now. She is an artist who makes all sorts of beautiful things for your home as well as some digital designs. Her style, you ask? I would describe it as 'pretty' and 'serene' and country with a vintage edge to it. Of course, that is just my humble assessment! She has done a very cute "Cottage Chic" collection but I think my favorite is still the "Farmington" collection. Take a look at her blog here and see for yourself. While you are at it enter her contest for a journal. You can also sign up to have email updates to keep you informed of what she is up to.

Kibbygirl

A trip to Michaels brings inspriation

2010-09-11T20:42:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, I just wanted to pop in and share a picture of some things I found at our local Michaels store. Both of these things are sold as 3 dimensional stickers but work great as dollhouse miniatures! How cute is the apron with the pockets and wooden utensils? It will be perfect for my kitchen. I will have to make some pegs so hang it from. The sandals are pretty cute too. I couldn't resist. These make me want to make some of my own design. I may be over run with shoes, slippers and sandals soon. I got some other kitchen things as well that I will show you at a later date. Needless to say I found the sticker section at Michaels has some great ideas for miniature inspiration!

Kibbygirl

You heard it here.. More giveaways!!

2010-09-03T18:48:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, here are a few more contests going on right now in the "mini" world!

Lara at Lara's miniature world is having a great give away going on right now. She has three prize packages to win and they are all great. I love the little stationary set she has made. I love the colours, the patterns, everything. Three chances to win is not too bad either!

Carmen at MiniShabby is having a contest to celebrate her followers with some really sweet shabby chic items! Just look at that shabby table! The clock is an ingenious idea too.. I love the crown on it. She has two sets, both of which are beautiful so go check it and her blog out!

Carol at LeftCoastMini is having a contest for this cute market umbrella. Check out her blog too, she has a dollhouse with a more modern twist. It is very unique and charming.

Pedret at Pedrete Minituras is having a give away for reaching 100 followers. Head over to his blog and maybe you will win this set of pink girls things. He is also working on an amazing looking house so check that out too.

Sofia is holding a draw for a miniature surprise to say thank you to all of her blog readers. She makes miniatures and has some for sale. She has some great painted furniture made as well as lots of different accessories. I'm curious to see what she makes for the winner.

Have a great night and good luck to all!

Kibbygirl

A few great giveaways

2010-08-31T22:42:00.000-04:00

There seems to be a run of giveaways going on at the moment. Some great bloggers are offering up some pretty amazing things so be sure to stop by their blogs and leave comments.

First up is Anthoula and her blog A Miniature Life. She is celebrating her birthday with a giveaway of a great and very realistic looking apple pie prep board. To enter you need to be a follower and leave a comment on her birthday post. Easy peasy.

Next is Annie from Obsidian Hall. She is having an Autumn giveaway of some really beautiful mini things. There is a wonderful knit sweater, some yarn, some birdhouses and lots more. Her picture makes me think of crackling fires, tea and a good book. The rules are also easy. You need to be a follower and leave a comment.

Lena from Miniatyrmama is celebrating all of her followers, she is over 400 now! She has put together a great set of miniatures as a prize. I love her rustic signs and the bird pillows are so pretty. Be sure to check out her blog, follow it and leave a comment if you want to be included. Check out the pictures of her newest project while you are there. She has made some really cute things for a miniature modern shop.

Carolyn of Carolyn's Little Kitchen is also having a contest to celebrate her followers. She is offering up a sweet prize of some really adorable plates she has made as well as a table and some books, a chocolate pot and a cake stand. I really like her girly, shabby chic style. I would totally have that table and accessories in my house for real!

Caterina is having a treasure hunt on her blog. She is rewarding her followers with some surprise gifts and to participate you need to be able to answer a question related to her and her blog. To see all the details go here.

Suzanne of Miniature Dreams will be picking a lucky winner soon for a surprise miniature gift as well. Her draw to thank all of her followers will be held September 7th so head over to her blog and leave her a comment. The winner will get a gift in either princess shabby, green garden, or a french antique theme. Hmm... hard to choose.

Chances are I am missing someone's giveaway so if I am, please let me know! Good luck everyone,

Kibbygirl

Time to get cooking.. with a little help from CSNStores

2010-08-28T21:34:00.000-04:00

Since I have been getting lots of good stuff out of my garden lately I have been on something of a baking kick. That got me thinking of bake ware and serving ware and dishes and Corelle. You know those super resilient dishes, well it turns out they have a bunch of other great things like tea kettles!

I'm loving this one!

and pretty bake ware!

I also really like this dish set but I am a little concerned I would get tired of it.

The good people at CSNStores decided they liked how things went with our giveaway here awhile back and they have asked me to work with them again. This time I will be doing a review for them and that means choosing something from one of their 200+ stores! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy how lucky am I! I will let you all know how it goes when I have done my review, but for now... I shop.

Have a great night everyone,

Kibbygirl

Mini containers continued

2010-08-27T18:48:00.000-04:00

A smaller pink and cream distressed pitcher with some pink flowers.

A 'silver' painted french chic pot with flowers.

A somewhat 'rusty' silver pot with flowers.

Kibbygirl

A few mini containers

2010-08-26T15:13:00.000-04:00

A 'coffee' jug filled with dried flowers for the moment

A pink and cream plant container

A scalloped old soap ad container

More pictures to come!

Kibbygirl

Thrifty glass reuse

2010-08-19T19:32:00.000-04:00

I love my garden. We don't often go away in the summer because we really enjoy our home in the warmer months. There is plenty for my son to do around the neighbourhood and his friends can hang around with us in the pool or playing basketball out front. The best for me though is the garden. The previous owners of our house did a wonderful job planning out the garden so I get to spend my time caring for them and enjoying the fruits, or flowers, of my labour. I also really like to use some cut flowers from the garden to give as gifts when going to other peoples houses. Giving my flowers away means I need to find something to give them in. That gives me an excuse to shop the second hand stores for fun things to use as vases. These glasses caught my eye and I thought "why not"! Just because it wasn't created to hold flowers doesn't mean it can't. I also have been trying things like painting soup cans and decorating them to use. Whatever works!

Have a great night everyone!

Kibbygirl

2010-08-09T17:10:00.000-04:00

Hello all, I just wanted to share a few photos of some mini projects I've been doing.

I tried my hand at some faux shabby signs.

I think this one turned out the best. I am still getting used to this aging technique.

Some things for the kitchen

A couple of velvet and floral pillows

This beautiful set I didn't make. This was a gift from JemJoop who has a shop in Etsy. I bought a couple of things for the dollhouse from her and she sent me this! It is beautiful painted pottery.

Have a great night everyone.

Kibbygirl

Little pictures

2010-08-06T21:43:00.000-04:00

One of my recent trips to the local thrift store found me coming home with a bag full of little, round plastic beads. As soon as I saw them I thought 'minni picture frames'! A little paper and spray paint and I have myself a bunch of table top picture frames. To make them them sit on the table properly I simply folded a tiny piece of card stock and glued it on to the back of the pictures.

one of my new pictures on the bedroom dressing table

the plastic beads were a bronze kind of colour originally so I spray painted them cream

the finished pictures

What do you think?

Kibbygirl

If it makes me happy...

2010-07-29T19:54:00.000-04:00

What is it about a new pair of shoes that can make a girl soooo happy? I can't answer that but I can say that I smile every time I see a cute pair of shoes. These ones were no exception, plus I actually needed them. No really, I did! Honest! The summer sandals that I normally wore broke so I had to find something else suitable, right? Ok, so I have flip flops and slides, I no longer had sandals per say. Definitely not brown, strappy, cute things to parade about town in. These sweet things I found calling my name at an Aldo outlet in Brampton the other night. It wasn't love at first sight, but as soon as I tried them on I knew it was a match made in retail paradise. Normally I wouldn't have gone for the wedge, even though I am not exactly blessed with great height, but the cork is so comfy to walk in I can still use these every day. Sigh.

Now that I have gushed about my most recent purchase, has anyone ever heard of freeganism? I caught a bit of Oprah today while I was folding laundry and it was pretty interesting. People live off as much free stuff as they can to make a statement about consumerism and to try to limit their own out of control buying. Hmmm, I do get happy when I come across free stuff, but how far is too far? Food and everything. I don't know, but it does make you think about all the 'stuff' we buy.

Aren't my shoes cute!!

Kibbygirl

The good, the bad, the confusing...

2010-07-23T13:13:00.000-04:00

Well, first of all I would like to say thanks once again to Eileen and the CSN chain of stores for sponsoring my giveaway. I thought it was really sweet of her to take notice of my little blog and offer to reward one of my readers. I really appreciate everyone that checks in here from time to time so this was a fun way to say thank you to all of you. It came at a good time too since I was feeling a little down about this blog. You see, I have suffered from depression for awhile now and sometimes I don't feel overly productive. Sometimes that's just a feeling and sometimes I'm really not getting a whole lot done. Hearing from all of you and being inspired by your blogs and lives means a lot to me so you can imagine how happy I was to see several new followers join me through this contest. Now imagine how sad I was when some of them dropped me as soon as I announced the winner of the draw! Following the blog was not a requirement so I thought they just enjoyed my little spot on the web. I guess not. Ah well, truth is I am over it now but it got me thinking about those of you who have listened to me ramble and watched me attempt to create some fun things for the dollhouse. I appreciate each and every one of you!

Kibbygirl

P.S. our camera has been taking some crappy pictures lately ( I refuse to think it's me! ) but the picture at the top of the post is one of the ones that sort of came out OK of the prinites I was going to show you. I have lots to show off though so I will keep working on it!

CSN Stores winner!!!

2010-07-19T21:04:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Kim of Flowers and Art!! She has won the drawing for a $40 gift certificate to the CSN chain of stores. Kim has been reading my blog pretty much since the beginning and she is such a sweet girl. She has a great blog of her own too where she shows off her creativity through miniatures as well as 'real life' projects. Way to go Kim!

I have some paper minis to show you all soon, so until then, have a great night,

Kibbygirl

CSN deadline

2010-07-13T20:58:00.000-04:00

Good evening everyone, I just wanted to let you all know that you still have time to enter the giveaway for a $40 gift certificate to the CSN chain of stores. Leave me a comment on what your dream home or dollhouse item would be before the end of Sunday. Followers of my blog will get an extra entry as well. Best of luck to everyone! I will pick a winner on monday.

I also wanted to welcome my newest followers. Thanks for joining me. I have really enjoyed all the comments so far too so keep them coming!

Enter the CSN giveaway

2010-07-09T20:43:00.000-04:00

OK everyone, today is the day my first ever sponsored giveaway begins! I hope you all participate for your chance at a $40 gift certificate to any of the CSN Stores more than 200 online stores, which feature beach toys, board games, cookware, dining room sets, baby accessories and anything else you can think of. To enter all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what your dream house or dollhouse item would be. As you heard in my last post I would love a new kitchen table and chairs. I spent a bit of time pouring through CSN Stores dining room sets and I saw a few I would love for my house and in mini for the dollhouse! I will also give you a second entry if you are a follower of my blog. Unfortunately they do only ship to Canada and the US so keep that in mind when you enter.

In the meantime I am going to share one of my favorite parts of where I live... my garden. The picture is a view from my back deck. Everything has been growing like crazy this season since we have had lots of rain and lots of sun.

Have a great night all,

Kibbygirl

My first ever sponsered giveaway!!

2010-07-08T15:44:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon everyone,

A little while back I was contacted by a lovely lady from the CSN chain of stores. She had come across my blog and liked it, which is sweet in and of itself, but she also suggested we work together to promote my blog and the stores she represents. Her idea was for me to blog about the CSN stores and they would host a giveaway of a $40 gift card. Was I interested? Ah.. yeah! The first thing I did was check out what they had to offer. While there is everything from dog beds to dinner ware available, I decided to look into the dining room sets since I am currently not so thrilled with what is in our kitchen. We have a huge table in there right now that was left from the previous owners and I would love to change it sometime. There is a white, round shabby chic style set that I love so I am putting that on my wish list! Check back with me tomorrow for all the details of the giveaway!

P.S. You can visit all the CSN stores through the dining room sets link above.

Another giveaway

2010-06-30T11:29:00.000-04:00

Visit Puno's Mini's for a giveaway contest.

The winner gets their choice of hat and bag set! Best of luck to everyone.

Kibbygirl

Thrift Score!

2010-06-28T16:02:00.000-04:00

Thanks to a number of rainy weekends my garage sale expeditions have been pretty limited so far this summer. In the winter months I can satisfy my need for cheap retail therapy by trolling the many thrift and antique stores around but there is really nothing like a good garage sale haul. If nothing else the price tags can't be beat! Where else can you find several antique hard cover books for under a buck? If you do know of somewhere else please, share your secret haunts. I am always open to new thrifty opportunities! Like I've mentioned though, this year has been a little rain filled on those sale possible days so I finally gave in and trekked out to a nearby Value Village. I have to say I'm glad I did. Not only did I find a nifty silver serving tray that has three fold able parts to it, but I scored some sweet embroidered napkins that will work well as dollhouse linens and three pieces of wooden dollhouse items. All of that for less than ten bucks! Not too shabby eh. The books are some of the ones that I have found at various local yard sales. I love books, I love reading, but there is something extra special about beautiful old books. I like to imagine who bought them, who read them, and who cared for and saved them all these years.

Have a great night everyone!

Kibbygirl

new mail and new projects

2010-06-26T19:56:00.000-04:00

Good evening everybody,

We are back from our camping trip and aside from a bazillion bug bites we had a great time. The lake was clear, the bonfire was roaring and the smores were gooey! When I got home I discovered another small package in the mail. I love mail. I love good mail that is. I love the kind of mail that brings me good news, sweet pictures or, as in this case, treats. I ordered a mini shelf from an Etsy seller and it arrived while I was gone. It is so cute. I love the little hooks. I have also had a chance to finish my latest rug.

I hope you are all having a great weekend,

Kibbygirl

welcome to the jungle!

2010-06-19T16:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the jungle.. or maybe I should say, zoo! The bearded dragon we got for my son decided to hibernate six months ago. He just dug a hole for himself in the sand in his cage and fell asleep. Who knew a desert creature would do that? Not us anyway, and when we looked it up on the net we discovered they can 'sleep' for up to a year! Well, for the last half a year I have had this huge terrarium in my living room and one dead to the world lizard. Last weekend my sister and her husband were here and he made the comment that we should dig the bearded dragon up out of his sand cave and make sure he is still alive. Wouldn't you know it but two hours later he crawled out on his own. He is alive and well, and active once more. My son is thrilled.

Outside we have a small pond and this year we have had lots of polliwogss. It is so cute when a bunch of them group together on a rock to sun themselves. You can see in the picture how some have yet to lose their tail. We also have several big frogs, fish, a turtle, some crayfish and snails. Not to mention the king of the castle, in his mind at least, our cat Spook. Its actually not as many animals as we sometimes have but the boys are working on that.

Have a great weekend everyone, I am off to go camping for a few days tomorrow!

Kibbygirl

I've got mail!

2010-06-13T11:53:00.000-04:00

Good morning all! It has been a rainy weekend in my neck of the woods so the boys and I have been treating ourselves to a couple of movies. Right now there are several out that my son would like to see, and more importantly, can see. His first choice was the new Karate Kid but when we went to the theatre Friday evening it was sold out. We decided to try The A-Team instead and my son loved that. What ten year old boy wouldn't I guess! We ended up trying the Karate Kid again yesterday afternoon and this time we made sure we were there good and early. I really liked it. The boys did too, but after seeing the A-Team, they felt there was some unnecessary sappiness. Of course as far as my son is concerned there is no call for romance in any movie! Not yet anyway. :) We all enjoyed it though. It was well done.

I got a nice surprise in the mail yesterday as well. I had purchased a few things from a lady in Britain a while ago off of Ebay and was trying to wait patiently for them. I don't need to wait any longer though. I love everything I got. Is it wrong that such little things can make me so happy? I chose a metal cookie tin whose top opens and is decorated with a regal looking lion. Very shabby chic. The egg cups with the eggs and spoons might just be my favorite. They are just so darned cute. I am going to try to decorate the crates and maybe vintage them up a bit. The orchid I couldn't resist. I love orchids but I just cant seem to take care of them in real life. At least this way it will always stay beautiful. Just one of the many benefits of creating a mini world, don't you think?

Have a great afternoon everyone,

Kibbygirl

Rachel Ashwell Contest

2010-06-07T16:48:00.000-04:00

Attention lovers of all things shabby chic, there is a great contest going on right now to celebrate the launch of her new website. Check out Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture!!!!! Talk about eye candy. Oh my, her style is just so inviting. I want to sink in to one of those sumptuous couches with a cup of tea, a super soft blanket and a good book. Dreamy! Now, for the contest:
Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture

is generously sponsoring an amazing giveaway!

One lucky reader will have his/her choice of one of these stunning books!

AUTOGRAPHED!!

Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Interiors,

My Rooms, Treasures and

Trinkets

Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic

Sumptuous Settings & Other Lovely Things

To get all the details and to enter please go visit the blog DustyLu. Good luck to everyone,

Kibbygirl

A quiet rainy day

2010-06-03T19:29:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone,

It has been a slow, and rainy day for me. Normally I prefer lots and lots of warm sunshine but sometimes days like today come along and practically scream at me to chill out and craft to my hearts content. Sure, there is another, much quieter voice that reminds me there is cleaning to be done around the house, but I find that one much easier to ignore! I'll admit I took some couch potato time and watched Twilight while working on some minis. I made a few more paper things that I will have to 'age' later and I finished a new carpet. I tried something new with the blue background. I wasn't sure I would like it but I do. The pictures don't do it justice. I really do need to camera shop. Hopefully you can get a decent idea of what it looks like though. The little purse I made on a whim with some bits of fabric and ribbon. I basically made a shorter pillowcase then trimmed the top with a thin piece of ribbon with a thicker type of embroidery thread looped on either side for handles. It was pretty quick and easy. I am going to have to try more of that.

When the rain took a break so did I and I spent it poking around my garden. Some of the peony's broke so I put them in the vase in my kitchen. I love fresh flowers in my house so I have lots of cutable flowers in my garden for just that reason. The mini roses were too small for the big vase so I looked around and thought ' what the heck' and tried the little teapot I had out. I think it looks cute. It all smells great too.

Have a wonderful night everyone,

Kibbygirl

Just messing around

2010-06-01T20:43:00.000-04:00

Good evening,

We are just back from my sons soccer game and while they didn't do too well it was a perfect night for sitting out at the fields watching. Now I am looking forward to diving into bed and getting back to my current book. I wanted to share a couple of pictures with you first though. Even though the house is no where near being finished I am impatient and have been playing around. I have been getting a kick out of setting up little scenes.

thanks for humouring me!

Kibbygirl

Giveaway: have a tast of the good life.. at least in mini!

2010-05-25T14:12:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone,

I found a "yummy' giveaway today. Robertta is having a contest for a mini Italian style feast. She has lots of cheeses, sweets and a delicious looking coffee among other things. We have until June 2 to stop by her blog and leave a comment. You can find her and her contest here. Best of luck to all of you who enter.

Kibbygirl

my mini attempt

2010-05-23T14:30:00.001-04:00

Good afternoon everyone,

We are off to a family bbq later this afternoon so I am hoping the weather stays nice. It was sunny but the clouds have started to roll in. Maybe they will just keep rolling away. I will keep my fingers crossed. In the meantime, I thought I would show you my attempts at making my own miniature jugs and cans. I haven't quite gotten the knack of finishing them properly. I would like to shabby them up a bit so I am going to keep playing around, but I think these first versions turned out alright. The tutorial I used for these can be found at Marlies. She explains how to make them so that even I can come up with something that resembles what she intended! I am going to try to get some better pictures as well as some updated versions of the pitcher to show but for now I couldn't wait to share what I managed to create. Hope you like it,

Kibbygirl

I'm Alive

2010-05-20T20:52:00.000-04:00

Hello all,

Just a quick post to let you know I am still here! I have made a few dollhouse things in the last couple of weeks so here is a preview.

Kibbygirl

The painted house.. so far anyway!

2010-04-27T16:13:00.000-04:00

Hello all, I know it is Tuesday but my brain is still living in the weekend. Lounging in the back yard, soaking up some sun and admiring all the painting and gardening I accomplished. That's right, accomplished! I am one of those 'too many things on the go at once' types. Somehow I always have ten things on the go and nothing finished. Well, for now my list is a little bit shorter. It was bound to happen sometime right? As you can see the dollhouse received some attention. The outside of the house I painted a basic antique cream. I have shutters to put on the windows for a touch of colour. The roof, believe it or not, is done with scrapbook paper! I found it wandering the isles of Michaels one day. It was a kind of unevenly corrugated brown card stock that I thought might just work. I wasn't completely sure how I was going to make it work when I first saw it but I ended up glueing the paper to the roof and painting it a very dark gray. The pictures may not do it justice but I think it worked out great. I am quite happy with the overall effect so far.

Aside from the dollhouse I finally got around to painting my bathroom. The people who owned the house before us had painted the walls a bright, urine yellow colour! I can't even tell you how gross it was. I considered taking before pictures but then why subject you all to that kind of visual torture. I'm guessing the original intent was to mask any "mishaps" near the toilet. Hey if you have boys around you know what I mean! Still, I figure making the whole room look like pee kind of defeats the purpose. Now, however the walls are an off white with just a teeny tiny hint of green, so today there is a green and cream theme in there.
It is so much more soothing and easier on the eyes, which is important in a room don't you think?

So, add to all that some gardening, cleaning out the garage, playing with my son and general house work and it is no wonder it has taken two days to post about it. Now if only I can keep finishing the things I start I will thrilled with myself. Oh who am I kidding.... I'm going to go take a nap!

Have a great rest of the day everyone,

Kibbygirl

I almost kissed the postlady today!

2010-04-19T17:37:00.000-04:00

Ohhh boy did I get some great treats in the mail today! First there was a tiny package that held my ebay purchase of two wee dollhouse 'glass' hens. They are the cutest. I have to get moving on finishing my dollhouse so they can be shown off apropriately. The other package was much bigger. Recently I participated in a Secret Garden Swap hosted by Sarah of My So Called Junky Life. My swap partner sent the most fantastic box of goodies. I almost cried it was so beautiful! There were little goodies everywhere along with the most beautiful teapot and cups. Cream coloured and perfect. Really, it is exactly what I would have picked out and it is going on the self over my sink with my other cream pieces. See... perfect! Then there are the tags, the lace, the fabrics, the glitter, the angel, the soap, the lotion, the paper bird, the ornate key, the earings and the sweetest vintage picture. Whew, I can't even tell you how much I love it. Thank you so much Lee! If you visit her here and see her style you will see why I was so lucky to have her put my present together.

Hope everyone is having a beautiful day,

Kibbygirl

working hard with givaway prep

2010-04-13T12:22:00.000-04:00

Well, the Spring Fling party has started and I hope you all are getting your names in there for the loads of giveaways today. There are several every hour all day today so keep at it and keep checking back with the four main blogs I listed in yesterdays post. I am working furiously today to prepare lots more things for my Etsy shop. My contribution will be $50 to spend there. Best of luck to everyone!! I am off to check out this hours prizes.

Kibbygirl

p.s. I couldn't resist adding this picture of my boy after the teams 2nd place win in the provincial finals this past weekend. :)

Spring Fling Giveaway day

2010-04-12T20:56:00.000-04:00

Just a quick reminder that the Spring Fling is this Tuesday, April 13th and four prizes will be given away every hour on:

SITSgirls

Tip Junkie

Skip to my Lou

Today’s Creative Blog

Over $10,000 in prizes will be given away and it will be EASY to win! already giving things away. Don’t miss out on all the free stuff!

I will be participating along with many,many others. It all starts at 7am Eastern Time. Come join the fun and check out all the great stuff being given away.

See you all tomorrow!
Kibbygirl

A few new projects and a free pattern

2010-04-05T21:35:00.002-04:00

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. We sure did. The weather was beautiful and boy did we take advantage of it. I was especially thrilled because I was able to hang up my laundry outside for the first time this year. It's one of those little things that make me happy! Now that the sunis down and my boy is in bed I can sit at the computer and share some of the things I have been working on. I really do love wandering the web and visiting peoples blogs. There is a whole world of creativity out there and I feel blessed to live in a time when we can all share it.

One of the projects I was looking forward to doing was a plaque for our front door. I wanted kind of a Pottery Barn, typewriter key look so I used a font I got at Lettering Delights that is part of a halloween set. I found a plaque with a fruit picture on it at our local ReStore for 50 cents and I painted it black. Actually I painted it an light cream colour first since I wanted to 'antique' it a bit which I did around the edges. The garden tag was from Terry Conrad Designs. I subscribe to her email list and this was one of her gifts to her readers. She makes the most beautiful stuff. Last is the bird and that I found at The Graphics Fairy. Over all I think it turned out pretty great. I can't wait to see it hanging on the door. Do you think my husband will notice when he gets home? No, me either!

I have also been playing around with some gift tags. I have so much extra paper and bits of, well, everything that this seemed to be a good way to use some of my supplies up. Its something easy to do while watching Amazing Race or The Big Bang Theory with the boys too. I am one of those people that find it hard to just sit and watch tv, I have to be doing something. It is how I get lots of my crafts done!

Speaking of crafts, or technically writing about crafts, here is a pattern for miniature shopping bags. I actually clipped this out of an old Martha Stewart magazine eons ago. I have tried making some bags and they are actually pretty easy. The original instructions were to enlarge the pattern for a real gift bag but the mini ones work great. I glued mine on to some cardboard so it is easy to trace and holds up over time. You can use any patterned paper or graphics that you like. The possibilites are endless.

I will be linking up at The Graphics Fairy for Brag Monday!

and

Have a great night everyone,

Kibbygirl

Spring Fling and some new friends

2010-04-02T10:35:00.000-04:00

Good morning everyone,

I have two new followers I would like to welcome. First off is Vonlipi from Vonlipi's Favorites. Like many of us she is a thrifter and she is a fellow canadian! She writes about her adventures and experiences and I am tempted to tell my husband about the fried lard she showed on her bog. If I do though he might just run out and scour the country side for it!

Next the Romantic Pansy stopped by and liked my blog enough to follow. Thank you, thank you. She is a crafty girl and has an etsy shop with lots of her cute items. If you get a chance pop over to their blogs for a visit.

If you haven't heard about April 13th's Spring Fling giveaways you are going to want to! I am participating along with many, many others. Here are the details straight from Today's Creative Blog:

To celebrate our new communities on the BlogFrog, the SITSgirls, Skip to My Lou, Tip Junkie and Today’s Creative Blog (the Chic Chick gals) are hosting a Spring Fling!
We will be hosting a giveaway every hour on all 4 of our blogs on April 13th from 5:00 am to 8:00 pm (CST). Which will total over $6,000 worth of products given away in one day!
Yep that’s right it’s going to be an entire day of FREE products from Tip Junkie Mom-preneurs. Everything will be over $50.00. This is a great time to stock up on all your wish list items for yourself, Mother’s Day, birthdays, and even Christmas.
More details coming. All I can say is SO MANY GREAT PRIZES! This is no April Fools Joke.

Sounds pretty good right! I can't wait to see who all is participating.

Have a great day,
Kibbygirl

A warm welcome and

2010-03-31T14:31:00.000-04:00

I want to start off with a warm welcome to a new follower. She is the writer of the blog My Reality. Like many of us she has a love of dollhouses and shares pictures and stories of her many dollhouses. I like her saying of " I never met a dollhouse I didn't like!".

I would like to welcome Dee. I couldn't make the link to her site work so Dee if you could update me I would be happy to let my readers learn more about you.

I also wanted to share a picture I found on the site The Fashion Doll. It is a site for Barbie sized dolls and all the extras that go along with them but todays feature was a modern bedroom that I thought would be so cool for a dollhouse that had a modern theme. There are so many details that caught my eye including the closet doors, the tea set on the bed and the over all black and white theme of the room. The whole thing would make for a very fun dollhouse bedroom!

Last but not least I found a home for my wee home. I have put it on top of a bookself in our bedroom. This way I can see it all the time! It is not nearly done but I have been playing around with it lately, so here are some pictures of it so far.

Kibbygirl

Another cool giveaway, the start of a spring display, and some minis

2010-03-26T19:24:00.000-04:00

Good evening everyone,

My son is having a sleep over tonight so I thought I would blog while I had the chance, and the energy! I found another great giveaway for you. Shaunna at Perfectly Imperfect is having a 100 + follower giveaway celabration. She has put together a very nice package of things for the lucky winner including vintage napkins and handmade soaps. She has a really sweet blog to so pop over sometime.

I made a great find the other day when I was bumbling around some thrift shops. For two dollars I got a bag of miniature settings. I'm not sure how I will use them all yet, but I consider them a sweet find. I especially like the round table with the tea service.

Lastly I wanted to show you all the start of my spring display that is over my kitchen sink. It is hard to tell from the pictures but there are some eggs that I painted cream in the large vase at the back. I want to get some nesting type stuff to help fill it. The bird I found at Michaels for just $2.95. It has a crackled finish that is also hard to see in the pictures. The wee nest beside that is from the dollar store. There were a couple in a pack but they were bright yellow so of course I painted that as well. The brown speckled eggs were a part of the original package too. I am not sure what else to do with this so if any of you have suggestions I would love to hear them.

Kibbygirl

Giveaway

2010-03-24T21:22:00.000-04:00

Book Giveaway Time!
Three lucky CRAFT readers will each receive a copy of the book, Sherri Haab Jewelry Inspirations. Enter by march 29th. Here is the link for that contest. Good luck to everyone.

Kibbygirl

Door plus poster = great art!

2010-03-22T15:40:00.004-04:00

I am so impressed with myself! I not only finished several projects that had been waiting patienty for me, I finally got some pictures on to the computer so that I can show them off. I have had all these ideas knocking around in my head so it is nice to clear some of them out. Trust me, I can use the room. :) So, without further ado, here they are.

This is a long cabinet door I got at Ikea in the seconds section. There was nothing wrong with it but it was all alone and without any of the hardware. I found it years ago but I saved it knowing I would find a way to use it. The poster I got at Michaels a while back and I love the shabby chic feel of it. I have been seeing all these modge podge projects in blogland and some thing clicked. I am planning on having my husband 'help me' put it up over the bed.

This is another modge podge attempt. The plaque I bought at our local ReStore for 25 cents and the picture I printed out from the computer. The plaque was originally a plain basic pine so I painted it and applied the picture. This is going in the kitchen of course.

I decided to save a cardboard tea canister thinking I would get creative with it and this is what I came up with. I wrapped it in wallpaper, then glued on a ribbon and topped that with a flower I cut out of another wallpaper scrap. The top which isn't in the picture I just painted cream.

I also cut tags out of various wallpaper bits. I can tell you I will never run out of tags now!

Last but not least I painted some dollar store jewlery pendants an antique cream and used them to frame some miniature flower pictures. These too have a shabby chic feel to them which I relly like. I made a few different sets.

Thanks for checking out my latest creations everyone.

Kibbygirl

march break

2010-03-20T10:51:00.000-04:00

Good morning everyone,

It has been so warm and beautiful around here that sitting at the computer for too long seems wrong so I have been getting done what I need to and running outside to join the kids who are off school for march break. The temperature yesterday said 21 degrees at one point. Awsome! I took advantage of the nicer weather to drag some larger things, like a bookshelf, outside to paint. I have been on a bit of a painting spree lately but sadly I am no where near done. Most rooms in our house need a good coat of paint but that will come bit by bit. One of the hardest parts of painting is the decision making! What colour for the wall? What colour for the trim? What about the accessories? See I am a frequent mind changer I have learned to stick with fairly basic colours when it comes to the big stuff so that I can change everything else when the need strikes.

Right now, as I try to motivate myself to get ready for a family gathering I see flurries start to fall. Ahh Ontario weather! I suppose it makes me even more thankfull for the past couple of days worth of sunshine. Since I don't have any of my projects to show you yet I will leave you all with a picture from one of the boys recent basketball games. It is a terrible picture but I love it because it shows what great team spirit they all have. The raised arms are their way of silently cheering for a team mate when they are making a foul shot. Each of the kids on this team are truely supportive of eachother, in the good games and the bad. It makes me thankfull for each and every one of them. Wouldn't it be amazing if we all treated each other that way? No tearing down, just lifting up.

Have a great weekend,

Kibbygirl

Ideas that make you say hmmmm

2010-03-13T16:03:00.002-05:00

Well, the rain is back but I am thankful the snow is melting away. It is also giving me a chance to play catch up with a few projects. I have painted some more. A few minis, two candle sticks and a tray that I am planing on using for a craft project I saw on one of my blog wanders. Once they are all finished up I will take some pictures to share with all of you.

In the meantime I came across some great ideas for re using and re purposing different things around the house. Most of these ideas came from various magazines. Hopefully some inspire you as they did me.

1. Use a coat rack to hang cookware in the kitchen.

2. Use an old medicine cabinet in your front hall as a place for mail, keys and what not. You

could also replace the mirror with a chalkboard or cork board for a message centre.

3. Rinse out and re label a clean wipe container to use as a coin bank.

4. Make place mats and napkins using fabric remnants.

5. Old cupboard doors can be converted into plaque like photo frames.

6. Convert a flat bed sheet into a decorative shower curtain.

Have a happy weekend everyone!

Kibbygirl

Busy day and Secret Garden Swap

2010-03-11T18:58:00.003-05:00

Well, today was a busy one. I am not sure what possessed me to do it but I decided to paint my kitchen today! It was a gross terracotta brown and I had planned on painting it someday but I looked at the paint I had purchased for my bathroom and thought, what the heck. The way my kitchen is set up there isn't a whole lot of paint able surface anyway so I just went for it. Now the walls in the kitchen are an antique white and I am quite happy with it. Next is the back splash and counter tops but that is definitely for another day.

Another thing I did today was join Sarah's My Secret Garden swap. Sarah's blog is My So Called Junky Life.

I discovered it today through a link party and was extra happy to discover she is hosting a swap involving vintage-y, garden inspired things. I am looking forward to putting my package together as much as seeing what comes in the mail for me.

Have a great night everyone,

Kibbygirl

Danone DanActive Review

2010-03-03T17:28:00.003-05:00

The sun is starting to fade now and since we have the night free of activities to rush out to I am going to snuggle in with my boy soon so we can practice our couch potato impressions! Before I do I thought I would share a quick bit about a Bzz campaign I signed up for. My husband actually found this site and steered me toward it. When you sign up to be a Bzz Agent you try and review products. The idea is to create word of mouth advertising but they do encourage honest assessments. My first campaign has been with Danone DanActive. I was sent a 'kit' with a free product coupon, $1 off coupons to share and contest cards. My family and I have tried the drinks and our overall impression was positive. They taste great and are a good thing to have on hand when we are constantly on the go. One thing I was disappointed about was the portion size. The bottles are pretty small. Still, with a coupon or if they are on sale I will probably get them again. If you are interested in checking out the Bzz Agent site head here and see what it is all about. If anyone decides to join let me know. There is no bonus for me I am just curious to hear what you all think.

Until next post...

Kibbygirl

Talented Tuesday at My Frugal Family

2010-03-02T16:18:00.003-05:00

This is an old calender print I had just waiting for a home. I painted a boring old brown one a nice shinny black an it looks pretty great if I don't say so myself.

Finally, it is 6 degrees and sunny in my neck of the woods today! What a relief it is to actually see blue skies and melting snow. You may remember me mentioning awhile back that I am not exactly a big fan of winter so having this for the day is a big blessing. Soon, so soon, I will be sitting on my back deck, sipping an iced coffee, reading a good book, listening to the sounds of our pond and watching the birds fluttering around the feeder. Ahhh, heaven.

The past week however I have been re purposing my kitchen table in to a craft station. I have finally started some of the painting jobs that I have been meaning to get working on for weeks. OK, months but please... don't judge me. Well, anyway, once I got started I went all out and got most of the small stuff done. I painted our two kitchen chairs that were a very basic Ikea pine a very stylish black. All the appliances are black so they fit in nicely now. I also painted several picture frames, a cork board, an old spice rack, a small cabinet, several miniatures, and two peg boards! Whew. I still have a few big things to paint but I think I will wait for the warmer weather for those. In the meantime here are some of the projects I did. The others I will have to show you in a couple of days when I get the finishing touches done. I am once again linking up to Heather's Talented Tuesday linky party at My Frugal Family. She has been getting lots of great contributions so definitely wander over.

This isn't the best picture but remember that spice rack I decided to use as a holder for perfume and nail polish, well here it is with a couple of fresh coats of paint. The little cabinet used to be blue but this looks much better I think.

This is a signed numbered print I got at Value Village a week or two ago for $3. I painted a frame I already had and voila.

This is the cork board I had. It was just the basic brown you get anywhere which is boring so I painted it black and used an old calender print as a background.

There is more to come but for now I hope you all have a great night!

Kibbygirl

Another great blog and giveaway

2010-02-18T18:55:00.002-05:00

Hello, hello. I am back tonight bearing news of a sweet blog and a very sweet giveaway.

French Charming is having a fabulous contest. She is going to give to one lucky duck a grab bag of all, that's right all, the things seen in the picture above! Her blog itself is worth a visit. Lots of great eye candy, especially the cupcakes she made. They look almost too good to eat. Hey I said almost! Check it out and leave her a comment for your chance to win an awesome package of goodies. Good luck,

Kibbygirl

cute contest

2010-02-17T16:59:00.002-05:00

The Little Green Bean is having a contest. The winner will get one of her sweet little stitched birds. If you are really talented she also shows her readers how she created them. I know my limits and I am not up to that level of craftiness yet! Even if we don't win she has several in her Etsy store. I am loving the little nests she has made too. Very sweet. Check out her blog here for all the details. Good luck to everyone!

Kibbygirl

My new Ipods new home

2010-02-16T15:38:00.003-05:00

Its a grey day where I am but sometimes, ok not often but sometimes that is a good thing. Every so often this kind of day motivates me to flip all the lights on, crank up the music and actually get some stuff done. My music of choice today was my 'cleaning' playlist on my itunes. Its full of Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce, a little Simple Plan, Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry and more. All songs that make me want to move! As for getting stuff done, first was the requisite cleaning and then in was craft time. Back in the days when the Ipod classic was the new big thing my husband splurged and got me one for a present. He knows I love music and that Ipod became my most treasured possession, next to my childhood stuffed bear of course. I travel a fair bit and that Ipod came with me everywhere. Even around the house and town it served as my music source, my alarm clock, my portable games system, my portable movie player and a place to keep any pictures I might just want to show off. It was invaluable when I was out running errands and my son was bored to tears, or if I was stuck sitting in a gym during his basketball, or some other sports practice. All of this leads to my complete heartbreak when my beloved companion died after many years of faithful entertainment. I'll admit it.. I cried. My husband, bless his heart, saw my pain and rushed out to get me the latest Ipod touch. At first I had trouble accepting it. Sure it was a nice thought but it was new, it was foreign and it wasn't "my Ipod". I quickly came around though. I can only live so long without my music now. In fact I may have lasted a day or two at the most!

After setting the new Ipod up my problem became how to protect it. This sucker is going to be with me for a long time if I have anything to say about it. It's just so hard to say goodbye to a good friend and I don't want to do it again anytime soon. So I scoured the web for something to keep my precious safe and unscratched. Most things out there are expensive so I ended up making my own. The pictures are my finished case. You know me and re purposing so the material is actually from an old skirt. I folded the material I had cut around a cardboard cut out of my Ipod and with a fair bit of allowance I sewed the bottom and side then turned it right side out again. I had left a bit of extra material on the back half for the flap and on to that I sewed a strip of the same material. I fixed a Velcro dot I bought from the dollar store to the strip and the front part of my cover, using stitching glue to make sure it stayed. I was going to affix a button to the front of the strip just for decoration but I found a flower shaped brad and I used that instead for a pop of colour.

So now my Ipod is safe and sound in its new cover and all is right and good in the world again!

Have a wonderful evening everyone,

Kibbygirl

I am also linking this post to My Frugal Family's Talented Tuesday MckLinky party

new craft site discovery

2010-02-14T15:28:00.003-05:00

Happy Valentines day everyone!

I hope you all are having a great weekend. My son and I have been baking up a storm and I can't wait to taste test! We are giving some away for valentines day but of course we are saving some too. I also have been wandering the web while he plays video games and I came across a fun craft site I thought I would share. Maybe you have already been there, but if not check out Wee Folk Art . They have all sorts of free craft patterns. I have picked out a few that I would like to try and make. The owl bookmark looks pretty cool. I may have to start with that one. DMC also has a blog now for all of us stitchers. You can find that here. They also have lots of free patterns available. I find all sorts of inspiration for miniature stitching projects in regular patterns. Any small patterns can be used to make dollhouse carpets, pillows, and bedspreads. One project they feature is from Happiness is Cross stitching, a blog about, well.. cross stitching! If I get brave enough I might try the bottle cap pin cushion. Too cute.

I may just have to adopt the motto "so may crafts, so little time"!

Until later, happy wanderings!

Kibbygirl

A few wee things

2010-02-11T12:56:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone,

I finally got my scanner to do what I wanted this morning so here is a sample of some projects I have been working on. I experimented with a mini checkers board and I think it turned out pretty great. It has a wood frame I painted black. The little red beads I thought could be some pieces. The two small pictures are going to be framed. I really like how the rocking horse turned out. Last but not least is my first attempt at a stitched blanket. I lined the back with fabric but I don't think I would do that again. It seems much stiffer that way and I don't think it will drape nearly as well this way.

Have a great afternoon,

Kibbygirl

post less but still kicking

2010-02-07T19:55:00.002-05:00

Good evening everyone,

I have been pretty post less recently. Sorry about that. All three of us have been sick with a bug that will just not let go. Aside from that there has not been a whole lot going on in my little world worth rambling about. This weekend has been an exciting one however. My son's basketball team had a tournament in Unionville and while the boys didn't win overall they did come home with a bronze medal. More importantly they all had a great time and the games were fun to watch.

Even though I have been falling behind in the blogisphere I have been getting a few crafts done. One thing I tried was a animal 'skin' carpet. I have an outline of one so I re sized it and used left over patterned wallpaper for the effect. I'm not too sure how much I like it. What do you all think? A little too fake looking is what I am thinking. Maybe if I found some fabric? Hm mm. I will have to look around. If anyone else has some give it a shot and let me know how it worked out.

The other pictures will have to wait until tomorrow since my scanner is currently uncooperative. I will hopefully be able to show off my newest carpet and a bedspread I am working on. Until then, have a great night,

Kibbygirl

back to crafting

2010-01-21T19:11:00.003-05:00

The boys and I had a great weekend in Niagara Falls. The boys didn't win the basketball tournament but they all have great attitudes so they left feeling they did the best they could and had fun doing it. It is nice to see that none of them get upset with each other if a mistake is made or a play doesn't go well. They all support each other really well. If they lose a game they are disappointed but that is all. It is a great atmosphere for the kids and the adults. We are home now and I have had a chance to get back to some crafting. The pictures are two of the projects I have finished recently. The carpet is a compilation of several patterns I have lying around. None of them are meant for that but I think it works. I especially like the little Fleur De lis on the corners. The sewing basket is something I have wanted to put together for a while. I finally got all the bits and pieces I needed for it. I have more on the go and I will try to take pictures as I go. I know I love to see what everyone else is creating.

Right now it is time to tuck the boy in. He has had a busy day snowboarding with his school. They came back late and he is now sore, stuffy and very tired. Come to think of it, a soft warm bed sounds really good to me too! Night all.

Kibbygirl

New friends, New stuff

2010-01-18T18:18:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon,

I have been falling behind around here but I would really like to welcome some new followers to my little spot on the web. The Recycle-ista has decided to join me on my journey and I am glad she has. Welcome to you. Kathy from My Net Finds has also joined us. I recently found her blog and I am glad I did. She lets us know about all sorts of interesting things going on out there. Stop by her site and check it out. You might find a great contest or a cool new site to explore.

I also got a package in the mail today that I was pretty excited about. It doesn't take much I tell you, but that's OK. I bought a package of assorted miniature food and kitchen items from eBay recently and they come today. Yeah! There were some pretty neat things included in the lot. There was a pizza slice, a cup of tea, a pitcher, a couple of plates, some pantry items, a glass of wine and some other little food stuffs. They are just a few small things but they made me smile.

I am off now to check out what you all have been up to lately but I plan to take some pictures of my latest projects and post again tomorrow. Until then...

Kibbygirl

Grunge Queen is having a giveaway!

2010-01-15T10:31:00.002-05:00

Grunge Queen is celebrating one year of blogging! To do this she is having a contest. Stop by her blog to see how you could be the proud owner of Domino - the book of decorating and or a vintage necklace! She is a thrifter like me and is always looking for great 'new' finds and fun ways to use them. Wander over and say hi and you may just be her one year anniversary winner!

The family and I are off to Niagara Falls this weekend for my son's basketball tournament so I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. See you all next week,

Kibbygirl

cool site discovery

2010-01-14T08:58:00.002-05:00

Good Morning all,

The sun is finally shinning here. The sky is blue and I am feeling hopeful. Not a bad start to the day, huh. Best of all our computer is in the family room right by a big window so I have that as a backdrop for this mornings surfing. This time, on my virtual walk about I discovered a great site for free vintage images. Check our Abigail Mooney's site called The Vintage Moth . She is offering her visitors vintage art and images for our crafting pleasure. I have all sorts of ideas bouncing around in my head now. Maybe some decoupaged coasters? Definitely some great pictures for minis! In fact I am going to make this post short and sweet since my head is spinning with creative ideas! Enjoy your day everyone,

Kibbygirl