Friday, March 28, 2014

Good Thursday!



Hello crafters, Good Friday comes once a year but for me yesterday was a good Thursday. My hubby dear was out of town on a conference and so I decided to go downtown to have some fun. 

Firstly I was  meaning to visit a miniature shop from quite a long time. Since the time I started the doll house hobby I always wanted to visit a miniature store and see how small things look. When ever I see the pictures in a doll house book it is hard to make out the actual size of those miniatures,yesterday my dream came true. When I was looking online for a miniature shop in my area a certain shop called ' Through the key hole' came up. I called the shop to confirm the address and came to know that the shop will be closed permanently and tomorrow is the last day. But the good thing was everything 75% off :), I felt sad and happy. Sad because the shop owner told me that she owned this business for 40 years, and now she is out of business. I was happy because finally I got to visit a miniature store. 

There is a long list of items to show and I request my readers to bear with me. Firstly I would like to talk about my favorite thing since I was a kid, 'Tea sets'. Even as a kid I use to love tea sets among all other toys I had. I bought some and broke some and finally there is one blue and white tea set which is intact and is well preserved at my parents house. I always wanted to buy a tiny blue and white china and yesterday I bought many. This picture below shows the glimpse of all the tea sets I purchased.



This particular tea set with a leave tray is perfect for a fairy garden. In this spring I am planning to make a fairy garden, I did not expect to find this particular tea set yesterday, I was lucky to find this one.



This is my favorite among all, but unfortunately this is not a complete set. I could not find the cup and saucers for this set.


This is the tiniest among all that I purchased.


This set is complete, it also came with a tray.


This set again is incomplete. I could not find rest of the missing pieces from this set. As you may see the plates are chipped off slightly. Nothing that I have bought looks new, that means they might even be 40 years old,so this makes an antique collection. 

This tea set is perfect for a doll house Christmas. Looks very festive.

Always a table full of food gives an excellent look to a doll house. These are some of the things I could find when it comes to food.


Animals with clothes always fascinates me. I was happy to find 'Three little pigs'.


I was also happy to find these tiny books and news paper.


Again this is a great find for a fairy garden or even for a regular garden. That wooden watering can is my favorite.


I was glad to find this porcelain sink. I love the details on this piece. This is perfect for a country cottage dining room.


I love bamboo baskets. Now may be my basket collection is complete. I have smallest to biggest in my collection now. That sewing basket is an excellent idea. 

I love the size of this tiny baby and the rocking chair, they are less than half inch.


Finally, I am in love with this beautiful doll. Perfect for a doll house. She does belong well to the family of the paper dolls that I made recently. 

Well, after all these findings, I could still not find some things like lamps, candelabra, wine glasses, wine bottles etc. May be next time I get to visit another miniature store.

After all these I visited another shop called ' Toy maven'. It's a huge store with all kinds of toys ,games, puzzles and much more. I saw the complete collection of 'Calico -Critters '. I love all their pretty animal families with those beautiful clothes. I already have 'Silk cat family'
As it says on the packet I want to collect them all. I loved this living room set,the dolls have to be purchased separately.flower vase is the best thing about this living room.


Isn't she cute? I love the tiny feeding bottle. 


This completes my doll shopping. 

Later I made a quick visit to a half price book shop and found this doll book. 

There was a book sale at the library and found these cute picture books, including all time favorite, Disney's 'Bambi' and 'The lady and the Tramp'. I am quite curious to read that Russian fairy tales.


That's all folks! And now you know why I had a good Thursday.

Thanks for your patience.

You all have a wonderful weekend! 






Saturday, March 22, 2014

Samuel sprout, The Greengrocer .

Greetings!
Last year I knitted Little Dumpling village ladies. Now I decided to complete The Little Dumpling village by making the village men as well. These dolls are created by my favorite designer Jeangreenhowe. 

In the village of Little Dumpling, Samuel Sprout sells the best vegetables. If you are feeling morose this morning, just take a walk to Samuel's stall and admire the splendid array of vegetables and refresh your mind. Even Macintosh, lord Lancelot's dog is impressed and he doesn't even like vegetables! 



As always I am quite impressed with the beautiful and vibrant colors Jean has used. Such a delight to our eyes. When I started knitting Dumpling village ladies Miss.Muffin attracted me a lot and I knitted her first. When it comes to men Greengrocer is my favorite :). It was quite time consuming but I loved the finished project. 

Jeangreenhowe always gives importance to details. Varieties of veggies, potted plants, the stall it self is quite amazing. I am pretty sure that this beautiful set, will bring a big smile on anyone's face. 

I like the way she has designed Samuel sprout. With his apron, red sleeveless sweater, his yellow straw hat, he looks quite gorgeous.



Samuel 's shop is made out of cardboard box. The veggies consists of (from top left corner) mushrooms, leeks, marrows, lettuce, cauliflower, carrots, cucumber  and tomatoes. Below the stall is a sack of potatoes and the potted plants.


He uses paper bag to pack the veggies for his customers and also requests them to recycle the bags later. How thoughtful!

Make sure to visit his shop if you are in Dumpling village.

Before I sign off I would like to share all the comments that we exchanged on the knitting forum.


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 Mar 21, 14 19:06:55
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bwtyer wrote:
Really cute- I love Jean Greenhowe's patterns.


Thanks. Even I am a very big fan of hers 
 
Revathi akshay
 
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 Mar 21, 14 19:06:58
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Wow! Very nice!
 
 
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 Mar 21, 14 19:07:14
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Unbelievably adorable! What is the height of these wonderful pieces?
 
judeanne
 
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 Mar 21, 14 19:07:54
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Oh my goodness. That is just too cute and SO MUCH WORK. Great job and thanks for sharing.
 
grandmere101
 
 
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 Mar 21, 14 19:08:52
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Dear,Revathi, This is spectacular. Sometimes the smaller gifts are the nicest. You are an inspiration.
 
Patricia (PLeclerrc)
 
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 Mar 21, 14 19:11:06
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That is just adorable. Your work is outstanding.
 
beejay
 
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 Mar 21, 14 19:12:34
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Absolutely beautiful,you did a magnificent job.      
 
kiwiannie
 
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judeanne wrote:
Unbelievably adorable! What is the height of these wonderful pieces?


Thanks a lot. The doll is around 6 3/4 th inches. The stall is around 6 inches wide. The vegs bigger ones may be 2 inches smaller ones 1 inch appox.
 
Revathi akshay
 
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 Mar 21, 14 19:16:22
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Thanks a lot everyone. I made his shop out of card board box. Making this whole set was indeed a lot of work but happy with the results 
 
Revathi akshay
 
 
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 Mar 21, 14 19:38:47
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The veggies are amazing.
 
Grandma G.
 
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 Mar 21, 14 19:57:59
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Adorable! 
 
Naneast
 
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 Mar 21, 14 19:59:42
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just as cute as can be   
 
Keep swell,Cindi
 
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 Mar 22, 14 00:37:56
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This is fabulous. Your knitting is wonderful! Just look at all those tiny veggies and flowers... You are gooooooood.
 
 
 
Knitting Paradise® - Knitting and Crochet Forum

 
 
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 Mar 22, 14 12:55:03
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What fabulous knitting, so cleverly done.     
 
janis blondel
 
 
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 Mar 22, 14 13:49:16
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That is brilliant! Great job!
Jeangreenhowe is a tallented designer.
 
Patty Sutter
 
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 Mar 22, 14 14:57:36
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I adore the greengrocer. When I was in Israel I took beautiful pictures of the fruits and veggies in the stands and turned them into a collage which is hanging on my wall.
 
Marilyn p-k otherwise known as Marimom to my 8 grandchildren. Is knitting an ART or a CRAFT. Creativity is everything!
 
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 Mar 22, 14 15:09:57
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great hav all her patterns not knitted them all but lol
 
crafty carol
 
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 Mar 22, 14 15:17:20
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I love these all. Wonderful.
 
Munchn
 
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 Mar 22, 14 15:24:26
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You are amazing. Everything is adorable. Thanks so much for sharing your photos, they are so sweet and brought a big smile to my face.
 
Gramma Bunny
 
 
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Gramma Bunny wrote:
You are amazing. Everything is adorable. Thanks so much for sharing your photos, they are so sweet and brought a big smile to my face.


Thanks. What a sweet comment
 
Revathi akshay
 
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Thanks everyone, all the credit should go to Jeangreenhowe.
 
Revathi akshay
 
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 Mar 22, 14 15:36:27
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OMG this is remarkable. Brilliant. You are an artist!
 
saskgayle
 
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 Mar 22, 14 15:37:54
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Like him and his shop??? I LOVE him and his shop. They are marvelous and the vegetables? Fabulous. Sam even has a little brown bag to put his veges in. How wonderful!
 
iShirl
 
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 Mar 22, 14 16:58:23
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You are very talented to do such a great job. Samuel Sprout and his little store are fabulous. Makes me want to grab a cucumber and some carrots and make a salad.   
 
"They would not have believed him or his truth, for people always believe what truth they have to believe to go on being the way they are."
-Robert Penn Warren
 

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 Mar 22, 14 17:03:28
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iShirl wrote:
Like him and his shop??? I LOVE him and his shop. They are marvelous and the vegetables? Fabulous. Sam even has a little brown bag to put his veges in. How wonderful!


Thanks. I am glad you noticed his bag 
 
Revathi akshay
 


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 Mar 22, 14 02:00:52
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Amazing, just amazing
 
Gai
 
 
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 Mar 22, 14 03:59:45
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wow! amazing work! So much detail, just wonderful!!
 
 
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 Mar 22, 14 06:24:48
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That is awesome! What a wonderful job!   
 
Marie from NC
 
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 Mar 22, 14 07:28:58
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I am so impressed with what you have created. It's a work of art.
 
NRoberts
 
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 Mar 22, 14 07:35:37
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Everything is amazing! Beautiful work!
 
BarbaraBL
 
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This is so cute !! Where do you purchase a pattern like that ?
 
God's Girl
 
 
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 Mar 22, 14 08:49:45
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Well done, I did all these 15 years ago, I have all Jean's books. I just love them
 
Roseknit
 
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 Mar 22, 14 08:49:46
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Absolutely amazing!!!
 
bjb from canada
 
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 Mar 22, 14 08:57:50
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How cute! Fabulous pattern and fabulous knitting 
 
Brianna9301
 
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Superb work luv him
 
Izzibear
 
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 Mar 22, 14 09:57:33
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Wonderful! Cheered up already!
 
Corndolly
 
 
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God's Girl wrote:
This is so cute !! Where do you purchase a pattern like that ?


Thanks. I bought thus from Jeangreenhowe's website 
 
Revathi akshay
 
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 Mar 22, 14 11:34:21
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Thanks a lot every one for all your beautiful comments 
 
Revathi akshay
 
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 Mar 22, 14 11:35:57
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Very, very cute. I think your knitting is great.
 
Hazel Anne
 
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 Mar 22, 14 11:40:56
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Absolutely adorable and beautifully done!
 
Toby