Free Printable of 20's hats, TV shows

TV shows set in the 20's and 30's are always my favorite. I love Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, especially the beautiful costumes, so fabulous! Miss Fisher books are so interesting too. Love Downton Abbey too and wish it were going to have more seasons. Also Agatha Christie's Poirot TV series with David Suchet are terrific, wonderful furniture and settings too. The cars are so magnificent. These hats really reminded me of the 20's era of straw or shaped felt, very sophisticated and such a terrific reminder of an interesting era. I loved the way this illustration looks like a 3 way mirror with items laying on the table. This free printable was from a vintage magazine from June 1929 and I thought you might like it for a miniature hat shop, magazine cover or other items you are making.

For New Years we went with friends to a wonderful event that was 20's themed, great fun to dress up.

Mini Hugs, Jean

Free printable & My Reading List of favorites for 2015

This lovely young girl sitting on a bench I thought you might enjoy using for a gift card or other personal item you might make. I loved the sheep on her dress, all the colours are so lovely. This beautiful illustration was on the cover of an 1927 magazine.

I love to read!! In a blog of 2010 I decided as a New Year's Resolution would be to try to read one book a week...this has really expanded and I read 80 books last year. My favorites were

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society by Ann Shafer and Annie Barrows
Paris in Love by Eloisa James

Do you have books you really enjoyed reading lately?

Mini Hugs, Jean

3 Free Printables, Sepia Hooked Style Rugs for Miniatures or Crafts

After mentioning making miniature or dollhouse hooked rugs with bunka I remembered these Hooked Rug images from a 1932 vintage magazine. I scanned them, cleaned up the images for more clarity and colourized them in an autumn, sepia shade. These could be printed onto fabric and used as they are, coloured or used for bunka designs.There are other personal projects you could use these rugs for too. The first is a Grape-Vine Motif with an interesting border. The second would look good in a breakfast or dining room. The third rug's motive would look nice in front of a hearth or in an entrance way.

Mini Hugs, Jean

My Grandmother's Aprons

 When I was looking through a lovely old magazine from 1932 this morning I came across an ad for aprons and the illustrations reminded me so much of my maternal Grandmother's aprons. My mother was born in 1921 so she would have been only 11 when these aprons were so popular. These style of aprons were what my grandmother wore as long as I remember. Since she lived with us from the time I was 9 until I was 18, I remember her wearing this style on Saturday mornings especially when it was her baking day. (Monday was her washing day). She used to make the most delicious scones and potatoe scones that used to be rolled up and eaten with butter and jam melting out of them. She also made a huge raisin cinnamon pie in a baking sheet and her shortbread was the best. I loved the old aprons of my mothers and grandmothers and kept many of them for sentimental reasons. I do enjoy displaying a couple of them on old doors we have in our atrium. I found a couple more of her aprons to show you how similar in style they were to what she wore. The middle apron in the photo above was never warn because it still has a tag on it in paper. There is also a towel that I remembered of hers when I was little. The 2 photos above shows her aprons that are very similar to the ad, one has lovely embroidery too. Interesting what will trigger memories of lovely baking smells and times.

I was thinking that the ad could be useful if you are designing and sewing miniature or larger aprons of your own. I found a lovely designed apron from Portugal last year in a second hand shop, that is yellow with bright primary colours. It is such a treat to wear it while cooking or baking. The bright colours make me feel energized.

Mini Hugs, Jean

Free Printable Miniature Carpets or Rugs

This morning I thought I would add another couple more miniature dollhouse rugs or carpets to my blog. The top rug, which could be for a baby or children's room from the 20's on was from a vintage children's book that makes up into rooms. The second was from a small image in a magazine that I had to fiddle with in Photo Shop, it is a bit skewed but looks quite home made by rug hooking. Good for a house with a miniature lady who loves making had crafted items for her home. It might look nice in a farm house or older home by a bed or entrance way. A suede like fabric or fabric with a bit of a nap works well if you use an iron on transfer for your rugs.

I taught a bit of rug hooking years ago and I remember at the time and there was a group called The Happy Hookers, a very innocent group that loved to hook rugs. My mother used to hook rugs too and she would strip woven wool into many strips and dye them in lovely soft rose tones, she started a beautiful rug but never finished it, sometimes it is all about the journey. Making miniature hooked rugs with bits of pulled bunka glued onto a background with your design drawn on it is fun too. I did a few of those and they look good in many settings. There are also some miniaturists who make beautiful hooked rugs that I have bought from, wonderful work.

Mini Hugs, Jean

Free Printables a Rose Miniature Carpet, Baby in Pink Painting and Important Google Followers update

I thought miniaturist's might enjoy this carpet which can be printed onto fabric for other scales to for your personal projects. There was just a small part of it in an antique magazine but I loved the design so I cloned some of the parts and gradually turned it into a full carpet. The edges are not as nice as I would have liked them to be but if you could trim it or add fringe to match. I loved the baby painting and thought you might to. It is also from an antique magazine. I thought you might like to use it for gift cards or framed in miniature etc.

As of January 11 there will be an update on Google Blogs and I am posting the info below. I wanted to add this update from Google about everyone who is not Google Blog connected will be removed from our followers.

Posted: December 21, 2015

In 2011, we anounced the retirement of Google Friend Connect for all non-Blogger sites. We made an exception for Blogger to give readers an easy way to follow blogs using a variety of accounts. Yet over time, we’ve seen that most people sign into Friend Connect with a Google Account. So, in an effort to streamline, in the next few weeks we’ll be making some changes that will eventually require readers to have a Google Account to sign into Friend Connect and follow blogs.

As part of this plan, starting the week of January 11, we’ll remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other OpenId providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. At the same time, we’ll remove non-Google Account profiles so you may see a decrease in your blog follower count.

We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Google Account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.

We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers.

Posted by Michael Goddard, Software Engineer to Google Blog members

Project for Miniature Perfume Bottles and Roses

Happy New Year for 2016!! 

Welcome to 2016. I hope you have had a wonderful holiday and are excited about starting a New Year with new projects and ideas. Here I have added a simple project I wrote for Artisan's in Miniatures magazine's Christmas Projects http://artisansinminiature.com/issue10.html

This December issue of AIM magazine is full to the brim with projects you might enjoy.

I also scanned in lovely roses from an antique needlework magazine that was from a gardening ad. I thought you might like to use the roses in your own projects, gift tags or other ideas.

Hugs, Jean

Shelly's Wonders in Miniature Show opens later tonight! Nov. 12 to 15

 Shelly's WONDERS IN MINIATURE SHOW opens NOVEMBER 12 to 15, the doors are actually open later tonight. I am showing a photo of the home page. Over 50 artists have been working behind the scenes preparing their tables and pages for everyone's enjoyment of a fabulous online miniature show. They have also provided terrific Roundtables, Mega Roundtables and Workshops which are now open to the public before the show opens. I have shown a few of my roundtables in this photo with information too. Here is the link to the show. http://wondersinminiature.weebly.com/
This is a link to the Roundtables page http://wondersinminiature.weebly.com/roundtables.html
Please enjoy yourself, if you have time come see my page too, under Jean Day Miniatures, I have many new laser cut lace kits and some kits you maybe haven't seen before..Hope to see you there.
Hugs, Jean

New Laser Lace Cotton Baby Bunting Clothing Kit in 1:48 or Quarter Scale

I just realized it has been a long time since I have posted, seems the older I'm getting the quicker time flies....really!! Thank you so much to those who sent their regards about Lesley, I will pass them on to her family too.

Above you can see a kit I designed as a shop window filler kit for the Quarter Scale NAME Day that is happening this weekend in Quarter Connection. It is a Quarter Scale Cotton Laser Lace Baby Bunting Clothing Kit. I really enjoyed designing it using some of the kits I had already designed in one twelfth scale. You can see, or not, LOL, the tiny butterfly on the onsies and a bunny on the blue long sleeved shirt.

It is always so much fun and there are so many activities happening in Quarter Connection. For those of you who are not familiar with Quarter Connection, it started in about 1999 by Sally Dohrman, (such a lovely lady who has since passed away) and is a Yahoo Group. I've been a member since about 2001 and started doing quarter scale in the 80's when I would sell the inexpensive furniture through my small mail order shop we had in our home. I would highly recommend the group for either a beginner or someone more experienced in quarter scale miniatures. There is such knowledge in the group with lots of files for accessories and projects. You can be a lurker if you feel shy about talking in a group but it is more fun to get involved.

The kit shown above is going to be divided into the three kits for Shelly's online show the end of October and beginning on Novemeber called Wonders in Miniature and as roundtables in Quarter Conneciton.

Bye for now, Mini Hugs, Jean

Lesley Ansell-Shepherd 1953-2015 About Miniature's Expert has passed away.

Lesley Ansell-Shepherd 1953- 2015

I posted this message on my Facebook page but I thought it would be good to put it on my blog too to let more people know, who might not be aware of Lesley's passing. The photo above I took when she brought her new puppy Hobbes over to visit last year. Lesley passed away July 30, 2015. I went to a lovely celebration of her life on Sunday. So many friends and family attended.

It is with a very sad heart that I wanted to tell you that my dear friend, AIM member and About Miniatures Guide, Lesley Shepherd passed away July 30. It has been such a shock to her family and everyone who knew her. She died from complications of advanced cancer.

Lesley and I used to love getting together once a week, to make miniatures and talk. She was always so excited about her projects and came up with such brilliant ideas. I loved her spirit and passion for so many things. She was a full scale garden designer (she had a degree in horticulture) and created wonderful miniature plants as well, but her main passion was sharing her creativity with others and helping them with her ideas at About miniatures. Lesley enjoyed doing projects that were with supplies and techniques that were accessible to everyone and could be done and enjoyed by beginners or by advanced miniaturists. I was honoured to have her as a friend and will really miss her.

Cheers Jean

A Mini Miniature Show and some of my latest kits

Above I am showing some of my new cotton laser lace designs in one twelfth scale at Shelly's Show. These are also available on my website http://jdayminis.com I also offer more of the items above as well as hankies on finer cotton, baby items and lace doilies in 1:48 and 1:12 scales. 

I am also offering my new 1:48 scale 4 piece French Country Bedroom Suite Kit shown below as a workshop and I have accessories too. Two of my roundtable kits for the show are shown below as well. Both is 1:48 scale, one is a Gardening kit and the other a Wicker Look Chair Hat and Bag Kit.

Shelly's on line fabulous, terrific mini show started Thursday and goes on until Sunday. A Mini Miniature Show. Above I am showing 2 of the 1:48 scale roundtable kits for $5.00 US I will be offering. There will be over 60 dealers in the show and so many doorprises, roundtables and workshops you will love as well as spending time at the dealers online tables. Check it out. http://aminiminiatureshow.weebly.com/ it started on Thursday and goes on until Sunday! The great thing is you can be part of the show in your PJs.

I have been busy been working on so many new kits first for the West Coast Miniature Show and Sale in June and then for the Quarter Connection Convention and now for Shelly's Show. 
All the very best and thanks for looking!!

New Quarter Scale 1:48 Laser Kits, A Mini Miniature Show Mar.19-22 with over 75 dealers

 This is my most recent kit addition to my 1:48 scale roundtable kits "Spring Bunny Accessory kit" and mega kit I have available at Shelly's show that starts March 19th to the 22 and has over 75 fabulous dealers. I've had a chance to have a look at each of their offerings and they are amazing.

I hope you will all join us, there are door prizes too. The roundtable kits, mega kits and workshop pages are now open to the public from links at the top of the show home page but the show opens late on the 18th. http://aminiminiatureshow.weebly.com/

I will also be offering 10% discount on our kits from our website http://jdayminis.com during the show which is in Canadian funds so that is a significant savings to our US customers because of the exchange rate making the discount about 30% combined savings.

Here are more of my 1:48 roundtable laser cut and engraved kits that will be offered for $5.00 as roundtable kits at the show.

This Quarter Scale French Country Sofa that matches my chair is a Mega Roundtable kit at the show for $12.00.

Hope you enjoy the show!!

Hugs, Jean