Winner! Plus 3-Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway!

Yay! We reached the magical number of 1000 followers! Thank you to everyone who helped to make it happen. On February 16, 2011, I wrote my first Plushpussycat blog post, so I am celebrating three wonderful years of blogging too! The last three years with all of you have been a blast!

So, it's time to pick a winner in the 1000 followers giveaway. Flossy and Sophie are at the helm, ready to pick the winner:

Sophie will do the draw:

Ah, she has found the winning slip of paper. Who will be the lucky one this time?

And the lucky winner of the pink coconut cake with the extras is:

Steinworks!

Congratulations, Steinworks, aka Marisa! Please email me with your mailing address as soon as possible, so I can post your prize!

Now, the celebration continues. It's time for our next giveaway, the 3-Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway:

This time the prize is two miniature loaves of heart shortbread with white icing artfully dripping down the sides by Asakomini on Etsy. The prize also includes a cake stand with paper doilies, a set of tea towels, and a miniature cookbook, all made by me.

To join this giveaway for a chance at the prize above, just:

1) Be a member of this blog or become one now using the Google Friend Connect gadget on my blog's right-hand sidebar.

2) Leave a positive comment on this blog post stating your intention to participate.

3) Not required, but very much appreciated: Please post this giveaway (with a photo and link back to this post) on your blog. If you have no blog, then post it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, etc. For help in how to post a giveaway photo on your blog's sidebar, there are instructions here.

This giveaway will end Thursday, March 13, 2014, and I'll announce the winner on Friday, March 14, 2014. Thank you and good luck everyone! Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

1000 Followers Giveaway!

***Yay!!!!! We're at 1000 followers, so the giveaway is now closed to further comments! I will do the draw and write a new post announcing the winner PLUS a new giveaway! Expect to hear from me within a few hours.***

Hi everyone! I'm so grateful to all of you who follow this blog. Having so many blog friends is a real blessing in my life. Your supportive comments mean the world to me and help keep my creativity flowing. On that note, I couldn't help but notice that as of this writing my Google Friend Connect followers gadget shows 990 followers. Soon it will be 1000, so why not celebrate now?! ;-) Let's have some giveaways, shall we?! :-D

Today's giveaway (and there will be at least one more to follow) will end when I have 1000+ followers. As soon as I wake up and see 1000 or more, I'll close the comments, and we'll draw a winner. Here is the prize that you could win:

It's a gorgeous pink coconut cake made by Asakomini on Etsy. Included is the cake stand with doilies, a shabby chic tea towel that I made from vintage fabric and lace, and two china teacups with saucers. Are you ready? :-)

To join this giveaway for a chance at the prize above, just:

1) Be a member of this blog or become one now using the Google Friend Connect gadget on my blog's right-hand sidebar.

2) Leave a positive comment on this blog post stating your intention to participate.

3) Not required, but very much appreciated: Please post this giveaway (with a photo and link back to this post) on your blog. If you have no blog, then post it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, etc. For help in how to post a giveaway photo on your blog's sidebar, there are instructions here.

Thank you and good luck everyone! Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

But Wait, There's More! Valentine's Day Swap with Jane

Jane Smith of MiniFanaticus blog and I recently did a Valentine's Day swap. Here's how it went: Jane showed some amazing Valentine cupcakes, cookies, and chocolates on her blog and said she loved to do swaps. As soon as I saw that, I rushed with a comment on her blog: "Me, me, me, please! I want to swap!"

Fortunately for me, Jane said yes, before the snowstorms hit and before she got both ear and sinus infections. And even with all of that to deal with, Jane sent a huge number of mini masterpieces. Here's just a hint:

OK, now Flossy wants to show you the amazing gifts that Jane sent, all handmade by her. This is table #1, full of romantic Valentine's Day gifts:

Gorgeous flowers in a vase, a shabby chic jewelry box with beautiful jewelry inside, exquisite chocolates in a heart-shaped box, a perfume bottle with old romantic love letters, and a toy teddy bear, plus jars of Valentine candies! Here's a close-up on the jewelry box, chocolates, and love letters--amazing!

So, so beautiful! The jewelry box includes a "diamond" bracelet, earrings, and a big ring! It looks like Flossy might have a secret admirer! ;-) But wait, that's not all! Here's table #2, full of cookies that Jane "baked":

Don't they look scrumptious? Oh my! Flossy's feeling hungry! And here's that close-up photo from the top of this post again, highlighting some of the cookies and Jane's masterpiece cherry shortcake:

Yum yum! Flossy might have to start weighing herself regularly since Jane sent all of these amazing desserts. ;-) But wait, there's more:

Table # 3 is full of some extra wonderful wishes fulfilled by Jane: cherry-blueberry bundt cake, blueberry and cherry cheesecake, s'mores, donuts, Halloween treats, and more! Jane, you're amazingly talented AND incredibly generous! Thank you so, so much!!! Most of all, thank you for your sweet friendship. Big, BIG hugs!

BTW, Jane still hasn't received my Valentine swap gifts in the mail, but they should be there very soon. I had so much fun making Valentine gifts for Jane and look forward to her opening them. Look for an update soon.

For those who don't know Jane's blog, please check it out. She has a wonderful sense of humor, and she very generously shares how she makes her incredible clay creations. In fact, she showed how she made the chocolate chip cookies, cake, and cheesecake crust here--yay! Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Miniature Gifts, Guinea Pigs, and More!

Hi Everyone! I think you all know how much I love guinea pigs, especially my little Rufus, right? Sarah K., aka The Mama Pirate, of sayruhk.com blog knew I did, and she emailed and asked if I could provide a good home for a dollhouse miniature guinea pig. :-) Sarah's downsizing her miniatures collection and has consolidated her blogs. You may have followed her previous blogs, including A Little Dollhouse and The Mama Pirate. You can check out her new blog to see her work on finishing her dollhouse.

It looks like the new guinea pig from Sarah (made by Magda of 1717mk on Etsy) is going to live with Strawberry Shortcake:

Here's a close-up photo of the sweet little guy. Isn't he cute?

The real question is, will he be able to get along with the others? It looks like he might have to throw his weight around to get to the food:

Sarah generously sent some other mini treasures with the precious guinea pig:

The lid comes off of that metal teapot, and the frames will be so useful. The needlepoint rug is gorgeous! Already, the cute teddy bear book, which has pictures inside too, has found its way inside Dad's Dollhouse mouse house:

And all the other cute items will find their spots over time. Thank you so much for your thoughtful gifts, including the sweet guinea pig, Sarah! I really appreciate them. And thank you for following my blog too!

Speaking of guinea pigs, little Rufus was the lucky winner of a blog giveaway hosted by Buffy, Broccoli, and Lola, the three guinea pigs who write the blog posts at Cavy Savvy blog. To celebrate their 300th blog post, they gave away two prizes. Rufus won the second prize, a bag of Oxbow Organic Barley Biscuits, which he loved. Thanks Buffy, Broccoli, and Lola! You're the best, and your blog is so fun! Buffy, Broccoli, and Lola do a lot of product and fresh food reviews, plus they educate humans on how to care for their guinea pigs--nice!

Everything has shut down here in Portland, Oregon since a big snow storm hit us a few days ago. We have at least six inches of snow with a layer of frozen rain on top. I'm so grateful to have greeting card design, miniature making, and blogging to keep me busy while I'm housebound. I hope the rest of you aren't too buried in snow. ;-) I took this photo before we got more snow plus ice--yikes!

Finally, I can hardly wait to show you the handmade Valentine's Day gifts Jane of Minifanticus blog has sent me. You're going to be amazed! I'll show you later this week, but before that, there may be one more post. Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Mavis Mouse Remembers Her Wedding Day

Mavis Mouse's sailor husband went back out to sea not long after Mavis married him. Since then she had a baby, and her mother has moved into the big, lonely house to help out. Sometimes Mavis thinks wistfully about her wedding day not so long ago....

Mavis has pulled her wedding dress out from storage.

She pulls it up against her body, remembering that special day.

Mavis twirls around...

...and twirls back again.

She sighs. Now it's back to the kitchen to cook up
more tasty treats. :-)

Mavis as reflected in the mirror, still holding
her dress.

Until next time, keep it fun! xo Jennifer

Dad's Dollhouse Sunset Magazine Plans

Just as I was writing my last post about how I finally completed decorating Dad's Dollhouse as a mouse house, I contacted my local library system to see if they could find the original plans for Dad's Dollhouse.

I knew the plans were from Sunset magazine and that my dad had built the house sometime between 1973 and 1975. Off the information went, and within a few days I received an answer. Thank you to Ross and the Ask the Librarian program of the Multnomah County Library! Ross kindly sent me a scan from the December 1974 issue of Sunset, page 88, which I've photographed:

This is definitely the house, only mine looks a little bit different:

These are the photos I took back in March of 2011 for my original "Dad's Dollhouse" blog post. The photos show the house before I changed out the shag carpets(!), wallpapered the upstairs study, and decorated the house. As you can see, Dad added a third floor for me, shingled the roof, and painted the house my requested "wedgewood blue." The front porch columns are spindles from an antique chair we had in our real life basement. 

I've got a bad cold, so I'm not going to write much more today, but it is such a thrill for me to see the original magazine article again. I remember looking at it many times as Dad and I discussed ideas, plans, and dreams. I couldn't wait to be that little girl in the pictures, playing with my own dollhouse. Thanks, Dad! Until next time, keep it fun! xo Jennifer