Birthday Bash Giveaway #4

This is the fourth of eight giveaways I'm having to celebrate one year of blogging and to thank all of my blog friends! I'm calling it the Birthday Bash Giveaway! :-) It's not too late to enter giveaway #1, giveaway #2, and giveaway #3 (see my blog's sidebar for those prizes). I'll announce a new giveaway each Friday for eight weeks. All giveaways will end Thursday, May 3, 2012 at midnight Pacific Daylight Savings Time. Good luck, my friends!

What You Could Win: You could win this romantic silk corset with silk trim, the matching corset box, and the antiqued perfume bottles (made from Czech glass) and tray, all handmade by me. The paper roses are included too. Here's a romantic and luxurious prize for my blog friends. May everyone have good luck!

This giveaway ends Thursday, May 3, 2012 at midnight Pacific Daylight Savings Time, and I'll announce the winner on Saturday, May 5, 2012. I'll pick the winner from the pool of qualified entries using a random number generator. I must hear back from the winner by end of day Friday, May 11, 2012. If I don't, I'll pick another winner, again using the random number generator. This giveaway is open to anyone anywhere who meets the below criteria. The postage is on me.

Giveaway requirements:

1) Be a follower / member (or become one now) of this blog using Google Friend Connect (on my upper right-hand sidebar). (Required)
2) Leave a nice comment on this post. (Required)
3) Please help me spread the word about this giveaway by publishing it on your blog (not required, but very much appreciated). :-) Use the images above or below! ;-)

For help in how to post a giveaway image on your blog's sidebar, there are instructions here.

I hope you like this giveaway prize! If it's not your cup of tea, check back next Friday for the fifth giveaway prize. :-) Thank you to all of the friends of Plushpussycat. Good luck in the draw! Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Precious Swap with Maria of Pretty Things Ireland

Red rose and bottle of champagne from Maria.

I asked Maria of Pretty Things Ireland if she'd like to do a miniatures swap with me. I noticed on her blog that her swap presents were always so sweet and pretty. I also wanted to get to know Maria better. Maybe we'd become friends. :-)

Perfect for the Lovers Cottage.

I got my presents from Maria today! Wow--she spoiled me rotten! Her gifts are sweet and pretty, yes, and also thoughtful, plentiful, and wrapped with care. Maria is an expert at making you feel like a treasured friend with her special gifts.

Pillows, a jewelry box, and special scented soaps!

Mirror, tray full of breads, and romantic chocolates!

I feel so fortunate. Thank you so much, Maria! I love everything! I hope Maria gets her presents from me soon. :-)

Wow! So many pretty things!

If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing Maria's blog, I suggest you do it now. Maria is so sweet and likes to laugh. There's always something fun going on there. :-) Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Valentine's Day in the Lovers Cottage

Looks like some lucky couple is going to share a box of chocolates together....

For context, see previous posts on the Lovers Cottage here and here.

Happy Valentine's Day! Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer 

Blog Friends Are Real Friends

One of the really special things about blogging is the friends you make. Anna of LITTLETHINGS blog and I "met" when I won an adorable giveaway prize in her recent giveaway. In that process, we exchanged addresses, and we started following each other's blogs.

Blog friends are real friends.

Anna has been tracking my progress in building and decorating my 1920s lovers cottage. When I mentioned in a blog post that I wanted to add a bathtub to the room, Anna was quick to send me this fun photo of her niece's bathroom in Germany:

I love the view from that bathtub--talk about relaxing, right?! And how thoughtful of Anna to think of me!

Then recently Anna sent me these precious gifts in the mail, because she thought they would look lovely in the Lovers Cottage. How sweet! She signed her note "Best wishes and a hug from your blog-friend!"

That reminds me of Sans!' wonderful phrase "Blog friends are real friends." You can see that I borrowed her phrase and put it under a photo of Houndstooth Pup and Raccoon on my blog's right-hand sidebar. Thanks, Sans! ;-) And thank you, Anna! It is a blessing to have such sweet friends. :-)

By the way, there's still time to enter my New Giveaway! The prize includes all five of my greeting cards plus a surprise miniature. The giveaway ends this Saturday, January 28, 2012, and I'll announce the winner the next day. Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Lovers Cottage Additions

I'm still playing with ideas and adding pieces to my romantic miniature lovers cottage. I haven't done any more to the structure, although I know I'm going to be using wood putty, more paint, and glue in the very near future!

Instead, I've been playing with the furniture arrangement and making romantic accessories for the lovers cottage. First up is the silk corset I made. It really sets a tone for the room, as does the antique lace handkerchief under it (to get a feel for what a lace bedspread will do for the room). I've made a few of the corsets and really enjoy putting them together and seeing the results of my work. Expect to see a few in my Etsy shop soon. :-)

Ahh, and here is the corset alongside the fireplace, with our 1920s wedding couple as the main focal point of the room. I'm pretty sure I'll be painting the fireplace white to match the walls, but that will be a while yet.

Another piece that I would like to fit in the room is a bathtub. My sweetie and I spent our honeymoon in a remodeled turn-of-the-century cottage with a four-poster bed, a fireplace, and an antique claw-foot tub with running hot springs water. It was so romantic and luxurious--a special treat! Hmm, this miniature lovers cottage is starting to look awfully familiar! ;-)

I'll be creating more accessories for the cottage in the next few weeks, and I'll be sure to show you each piece as it is added. This lovers cottage is turning out to be such a fun project! Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Lovers Cottage

I finally decided on a theme for my miniature shabby chic cottage: it will be a lovers cottage. Once I decided to leave the walls white, I kept getting a romantic retreat in my mind. Then I won this miniature framed 1920s wedding photo in an ebay auction, and my ideas started to solidify:

Caroline of Cinderella Moments suggested that I use things in the house that I find irresistible. I want it to be  romantic, with flowers, a fireplace, a luxurious bed, perfume bottles, sexy lingerie, and so on. I love all of that romantic stuff!

So now I'm trying things out:

The room is so tiny that I'm limited as far as how much I can put in it, but that will help me to tell the story well with just a few key miniature items. I've been trying out existing pieces of furniture in different floor layouts. Eventually I'll paint everything white and shabby "chic-ify" it. For now, I'm still experimenting. Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer